Trajectories of Conduct Problems from Ages 3 to 11

最近向政府提交的独立报告强调了制定干预措施以促进儿童健康发展的重要性。特别是，幼儿期的行为问题已被确定为人生机遇的一个重要决定因素，具有广泛和持久的个人和社会影响。行为问题在很大程度上助长了健康不平等，是不利条件代代相传的一个关键机制。行为问题的终生成本很高，即使是适度的改善也可能产生早期干预投资的回报。虽然越来越多的人一致认为需要早期干预，但制定有效的干预战略并不是一项简单的任务。先前的研究表明，儿童表现出不同的发展途径的行为问题，这取决于他们暴露于风险和保护因素，反过来，有影响的长期结果。然而，很少有研究探讨轨迹的行为问题，从早期的年龄使用当代纵向数据集与全国代表性的儿童样本。我们的目标是通过使用千年队列研究（MCS）调查儿童的行为问题来填补这一知识空白。我们建议的计划有五个主要目的：（1）调查行为问题在3岁、5岁、7岁及11岁儿童中的普遍程度，以及这些问题与其他精神健康问题（例如情绪问题及过度活跃）同时出现的情况;（2）评估行为问题随时间的发展途径，并按发病年龄、持续时间及严重程度，研究行为问题的不同发展模式;（3）研究行为问题在儿童中的发病情况;（4）研究行为问题在儿童中的发病情况;及（5）研究行为问题在儿童中的发病情况。（3）确定不同年龄的风险和保护因素的相对重要性;（4）研究行为问题对其他生活领域的连锁效应;以及（5）向决策者和从业人员提供关于设计和实施有效的早期干预措施的信息。MCS涵盖了约19个具有代表性的样本，2000/01年在英国出生的000名儿童，并收集了大量关于该队列儿童、他们的父母和他们的哥哥姐姐的详细信息。我们将重点关注通过优势和困难问卷（SDQ）（Goodman，1997）发现的轻度至严重的行为问题。MCS有几个独特的功能，我们将使用它们来创建新的见解。首先，SDQ分数在3岁，5岁，7岁和11岁时可用，因此我们可以检查行为问题随时间的发展途径的变化。第二，使用家长和教师报告的SDQ的反应，我们可以比较不同的记者的反应。第三，很少有研究记录行为问题发展中的种族差异。MCS提供了一个独特的机会来检查这些差异，因为它已经被过度抽样的少数民族（约16%的样本）。第四，关于年长兄弟姐妹SDQ分数的信息使我们能够控制一个家庭的其他未观察到的特征。最后，有各种各样的风险和保护因素的信息，可在MCS，使我们能够探索累积和/或互动的影响，并检查发展changes.Improved了解轨迹的行为问题是重要的，不仅从研究的角度来看，而且因为它的临床实践，服务提供和国家精神卫生政策，更广泛的社会政策的相关性。通过IoE的定量社会科学部门和心理健康中心之间的战略学术/第三部门合作伙伴关系，我们的目标是在不同的背景下传播研究结果，并进行有效的沟通，远远超出了研究界。

Recent independent reports to the Government have highlighted the importance of devising interventions to promote the healthy development of children. In particular, conduct problems in early childhood have been identified as an important determinant of life chances, with wide-ranging and long-lasting individual and societal impacts. Conduct problems contribute strongly to health inequalities and are a key mechanism for the inter-generational transmission of disadvantage. The lifetime costs of conduct problems are high and even modest improvements are likely to produce a return on investment in early intervention. While there is a growing consensus on the need for early intervention, devising an effective intervention strategy is not a straightforward task. Previous research suggest that children exhibit different developmental pathways of conduct problems, depending on their exposure to risk and protective factors which, in turn, has implications for longer term outcomes. Yet, few studies have examined trajectories of conduct problems from an early age using a contemporary longitudinal data set with a nationally representative sample of children. We aim to fill this knowledge gap by investigating children's conduct problems using the Millennium Cohort Study (MCS). Our proposed project has five major objectives: (1) to investigate the prevalence of behavioural problems at ages 3, 5, 7 and 11 and their co-morbidity with other mental health conditions such as emotional problems and hyperactivity; (2) to assess developmental pathways over time and examine different patterns in the trajectories of conduct problems according to age of onset, persistence and severity; (3) to identify the relative importance of risk and protective factors at different ages; (4) to examine the cascading effects of conduct problems on other life domains; and (5) to inform policy makers and practitioners regarding the design and implementation of effective early interventions.MCS covers a representative sample of around 19,000 children born in the UK in 2000/01 and has collected a large body of detailed information on the cohort children, their parents and their older siblings. We will focus on conduct problems from mild to severe detected by the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) (Goodman, 1997). There are several unique features of the MCS which we will use to create new insights. First, SDQ scores are available at ages 3, 5, 7 and 11 so we can examine variations in developmental pathways of conduct problems across time. Second, using parent and teacher-reported responses to the SDQ, we can compare responses by different reporters. Third, there have been few, if any, studies documenting ethnic differences in the development of conduct problems. MCS offers a unique opportunity to examine these differences, as it has been oversampled for ethnic minorities (about 16% of the sample). Fourth, information regarding SDQ scores of older siblings enables us to control for otherwise unobserved features of a family. Lastly, there is information on a wide diversity of risk and protective factors available in MCS, allowing us to explore cumulative and/or interactive effects and examining developmental change.Improved understanding of trajectories in conduct problems is important not only from a research perspective but also because of its relevance for clinical practice, service provision and national mental health policy, and wider social policy. Through a strategic academic/third sector partnership between the IoE's Department of Quantitative Social Science and the Centre for Mental Health, we aim to disseminate findings in different contexts and to communicate effectively, well beyond the research community.