Even modest interventions can prevent some disruptive kids from growing into adult criminals. The question is: just how do these programs work? Keeping kids out of trouble as teens is one route to success, a Canadian study finds.

A little girl scrapes her knee. Crying follows. A little boy laughs at the girl. A decade later, antisocial behavior follows. An exaggeration? Or could it really be true? A recent study makes a strong argument that the link is real.

Although conduct disorder, ADHD, and oppositional defiant disorder are considered separate diagnoses of chronic behavioral problems, research suggests they are triggered by similar childhood environments. A recent review investigates the overlap.

You say “mum” and I say “mom.” You prefer tea and I prefer coffee. But 2+2=4 on both sides of the Atlantic, right? So why does a US-developed cooperative learning program deliver good math results in its home country, and none at all in the UK?

Can a $60,000-per-child intervention be cost-effective? Yes, if it’s well targeted, argue the developers of Fast Track. The program may be 10 years long, complex, and hardly cheap – but it works for children who are at the highest risk of developing life-long conduct disorders.

Recently we reported on early steps taken to test the acceptability, feasibility, and effectiveness of a peer-led parenting support intervention. While the results were promising, the study design was not particularly rigorous. Will a tougher test of the program produce more compelling results?

Getting providers to adopt single evidence-based programs can be hard enough. So what about the far tougher task of persuading government to implement a national evidence-based strategy? It can be done – and here, the developers of Austria’s national anti-bullying program tell how they did it.

A precondition for effective prevention is a robust research base, but a review of the evidence on interventions to reduce self-harm among adolescents shows that there is still a lot to be done.

Every September, thousands of fresh-faced new college students wave goodbye to their families, move away from home, start making new friends – and set out to discover how much they want to drink when Ma and Pa aren’t interfering. A combination of parent discussions and peer training can help with the transition, a recent study finds.

There are no silver bullets for crime reduction. But massive changes do happen – as the drop in New York crime over two decades shows. So where does change come from? It’s the accumulation of “a thousand small sanities,” a court reform organization argues.

“Booster interventions” are designed to maintain or enhance the impact of initial interventions. But can they boast a big enough effect to justify their use? New research on the SAFEChildren program offers some of the first reliable evidence.

Sex education programs targeting teenage pregnancy and sexual health have struggled to find the secret to success. One curriculum, called Reducing the Risk, decreases sexual risk-taking among teens – but variations on the program show there’s more to learn.