Child maltreatment and the early onset of problem behaviors: Can a programof nurse home visitation break the link?

This study investigated the relationship between child maltreatment and the early onset of problem behaviors in the Elmira Nurse Home Visitation Progr am. Participants were predominantly low-income and unmarried mothers and th eir first-born children who were randomized either to receive over 2 years of home-visitation services by nurses or to be placed in a comparison group . Data were drawn from a follow-up study that took place when the children were 15 years of age. Results demonstrated that, in the comparison group, c hild maltreatment was associated with significant increases in the number o f early onset problem behaviors reported by the youth. For the youth in the nurse-visited g-roup there was no relationship between maltreatment and ea rly onset problem behaviors. We suggest that this finding was due to the ef fects of the intervention in reducing the number as well as the development al timing of the maltreatment incidents. Results suggest that prenatal and infancy home visiting by nurses can moderate the risk of child maltreatment as a predictor of conduct problems and antisocial behavior among children and youth born into at-risk families.