Antisocial behaviour and conduct disorders in children and young people: recognition and management

Why this is important

The evidence for parent training programmes is well established for children with conduct disorders aged 11 years and younger, with well-developed models for the delivery of care. In contrast there is little evidence for these programmes in older children despite the recognition that parenting problems continue to play a part in the development and maintenance of conduct disorders.

This question should be answered using a randomised controlled trial (RCT) design reporting short- and medium-term outcomes, including cost effectiveness, over at least 18 months. Attention should be paid to the adaptation of parent training programmes to older children, and to training and supervision of staff delivering the programmes to ensure robust and generalisable results. The outcomes and acceptability of the intervention should be rated by parents, teachers and independent observers. The study needs to be large enough to determine the presence of clinically important effects, and mediators and moderators of response should also be investigated.