2024/10/30 by Jacqueline Allen, Ross Hömel, Daniela Vasco +1 · 1 voice
Social Sciences · #Youth Education and Societal Dynamics #Research in Social Sciences
paper · pdf · doi:10.52922/ti77567
openalex publication_date 2024/10/30 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/06/11
This paper investigates the effects on court-adjudicated offending to age 17 of comprehensive, community‑based support offered through the Pathways to Prevention Project to families of preschool and primary age children. The sample is 543 children from a disadvantaged region in Brisbane, 192 of whom, at age four in 2002 or 2003, participated in the standard preschool curriculum plus a program designed to strengthen oral language and communication skills, and who transitioned to a local primary school where family support remained available. Family support (involving 41% of families) was associated overall with a heightened risk of offending, reflecting the high level of need in these families, particularly in the later primary years. However, family support combined with the communication program corresponded to a very low offending rate. This suggests that family support should be combined with both high-quality, early-in-life preventive initiatives and with evidence-based child and parent programs in late primary school.