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Indirect Effects of the Fast Track Intervention on Conduct Disorder Symptoms and Callous-Unemotional Traits: Distinct Pathways Involving Discipline and Warmth

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Abstract

Little is known about intervening processes that explain how prevention programs improve particular youth antisocial outcomes. We examined whether parental harsh discipline and warmth in childhood differentially account for Fast Track intervention effects on conduct disorder (CD) symptoms and callous-unemotional (CU) traits in early adolescence. Participants included 891 high-risk kindergarteners (69 % male; 51 % African American) from urban and rural United States communities who were randomized into either the Fast Track intervention (n = 445) or non-intervention control (n = 446) groups. The 10-year intervention included parent management training and other services (e.g., social skills training, universal classroom curriculum) targeting various risk factors for the development of conduct problems. Harsh discipline (Grades 1 to 3) and warmth (Grades 1 and 2) were measured using parent responses to vignettes and direct observations of parent–child interaction, respectively. Parents reported on children’s CD symptoms in Grade 6 and CU traits in Grade 7. Results demonstrated indirect effects of the Fast Track intervention on reducing risk for youth antisocial outcomes. That is, Fast Track was associated with lower scores on harsh discipline, which in turn predicted decreased levels of CD symptoms. In addition, Fast Track was associated with higher scores on warmth, which in turn predicted reduced levels of CU traits. Our findings inform developmental and intervention models of youth antisocial behavior by providing evidence for the differential role of harsh discipline and warmth in accounting for indirect effects of Fast Track on CD symptoms versus CU traits, respectively.

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Acknowledgments

Members of the Conduct Problems Prevention Research Group, in alphabetical order, are Karen L. Bierman, Department of Psychology, Pennsylvania State University; John D. Coie, Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Duke University; Kenneth A. Dodge, Center for Child and Family Policy, Duke University; Mark T. Greenberg, Department of Human Development and Family Studies, Pennsylvania State University; John E. Lochman, Department of Psychology, University of Alabama; Robert J. McMahon, Department of Psychology, Simon Fraser University and the Child & Family Research Institute; and Ellen E. Pinderhughes, Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Study and Human Development, Tufts University.

This work was supported by National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) Grants R18 MH48043, R18 MH50951, R18 MH50952, R18 MH50953, K05MH00797, and K05MH01027; National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) Grants DA016903, K05DA15226, and P30DA023026; and Department of Education Grant S184U30002. The Center for Substance Abuse Prevention also provided support through a memorandum of agreement with the NIMH. Additional support for this study was provided by a Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research Postdoctoral Fellowship to Dave S. Pasalich, and a Child & Family Research Institute Investigator Establishment Award and a Canada Foundation for Innovation award to Robert J. McMahon.

We are grateful for the collaboration of the Durham Public Schools, the Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools, the Bellefonte Area Schools, the Tyrone Area Schools, the Mifflin County Schools, the Highline Public Schools, and the Seattle Public Schools. We appreciate the hard work and dedication of the many staff members who implemented the project, collected the evaluation data, and assisted with data management and analyses.

Conflict of Interest

Drs. Bierman, Coie, Dodge, Greenberg, Lochman, McMahon, and Pinderhughes are the Principal Investigators on the Fast Track Project and have a publishing agreement with Guilford Publications, Inc. Royalties from that agreement will be donated to a professional organization. They are also authors of the PATHS curriculum and donate all royalties from Channing-Bete, Inc. to a professional organization. Dr. Greenberg is a developer of the PATHS curriculum and has a separate royalty agreement with Channing-Bete, Inc. Bierman, Coie, Dodge,Greenberg, Lochman, and McMahon are the developers of the Fast Track curriculum and have publishing and royalty agreements with Guilford Publications, Inc. Dr. McMahon is a coauthor of Helping the Noncompliant Child and has a royalty agreement with Guilford Publications, Inc.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, Canada

    Dave S. Pasalich & Robert J. McMahon

  2. Child & Family Research Institute, Vancouver, BC, Canada

    Dave S. Pasalich & Robert J. McMahon

  3. University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, USA

    Katie Witkiewitz

  4. Tufts University, Medford, MA, USA

    Ellen E. Pinderhughes

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  1. Dave S. Pasalich
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Correspondence to Dave S. Pasalich.

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Pasalich, D.S., Witkiewitz, K., McMahon, R.J. et al. Indirect Effects of the Fast Track Intervention on Conduct Disorder Symptoms and Callous-Unemotional Traits: Distinct Pathways Involving Discipline and Warmth. J Abnorm Child Psychol 44, 587–597 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-015-0059-y

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