Parenting skills have become a popular focus of TV shows, and the issue has been highlighted as part of the Government's ‘Respect Agenda' which aims to tackle anti-social behaviour. This guidance from NICE and SCIE will help parents and carers by setting out the type of training and educational programmes that can help parents improve the relationship with their child, and so help improve the child's behaviour.
Conduct disorders are more serious than ordinary childhood mischief or teenage rebelliousness and need to be diagnosed by a specialist. Children with conduct disorders exhibit persistent and repetitive antisocial, aggressive and defiant behaviour, which may include destroying property, theft, deceitfulness or serious rule breaking. In children aged 5 to 10 years old, just under 7% of boys and 3% of girls have conduct disorders, with figures rising slightly to just over 8% of boys and 5% of girls in children between 11 and 16 years old.
The guidance recommends parent training/education programmes in a group setting to help parents and carers address conduct disorders in children under 12 years old, or in children with a developmental age of under 12. Programmes or training on an individual basis are only recommended if the family's needs are too complex for group work.
Children with conduct disorders are more likely to experience a range of related health and social problems in adulthood. Around half of children with conduct disorders will be diagnosed with antisocial personality disorders as adults, and others will receive diagnoses including substance misuse, schizophrenia and depressive disorders. They are also at a high risk of experiencing future disadvantage through poor school achievement and long term unemployment.
Conduct disorders can also cause problems for society through juvenile delinquency and crime. Data shows around 40% of children with conduct disorders become young offenders later in life and that almost all young offenders have a past history of conduct disorders during childhood.
If this guidance is put in place as recommended, then after 10 years of operation, an estimated £14m will be saved each year across the health, social care and education public services. Effectively addressing conduct disorders in childhood benefits not only the families involved, but also has a positive impact on the public sector and wider society.
More information about the guidance Parent-training/education programmes in the management of children with conduct disorders is available on the NICE website.
