About the study 

This study aims to examine if it is possible to improve the life chances and opportunities of the most disadvantaged and hard-to-reach children through early intervention. DFES/DCSF research has shown that the quality of young children’s interaction with their parents and their learning experiences with them are a major determinant of social inequalities.  

The intervention is the first in the UK and Europe to combine a parent training curriculum with a parent literacy programme and is supported by promising preliminary results in the reduction of anti-social behaviour and the improvement of reading attainment in children from at-risk families (Scott & Sylva, 2004). There is still much to understand about which interventions work best for young children with conduct problems, in which circumstances, and why. These issues are the focus of the HCA study. 

The Helping Children Achieve (HCA) research is evaluating the effectiveness of these interventions and examine what works, for whom and why. The sites participating in the study cover inner-city, multi-ethnic communities living in some of the most disadvantaged conditions (Hackney, London) and typical conditions characteristic of 90% of families in England (Plymouth).  

Families with children in school Year 1 and 2 two are being recruited from schools in Hackney and Plymouth. All families with children who meet the study criteria are invited to participate (except parents who are not fluent in English or children with clinically obvious global developmental delay, a diagnosis of Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder [ADHD] or autism). Participating families are randomly assigned to be offered one of four intervention programmes: 

• a behavioural programme only; or 
• a reading programme only; or 
• a behaviour and reading programme together; or 
• no intervention. 

Parents and children undergo semi-structured interviews, answer questionnaires and are directly observed in structured and unstructured settings using DVD recordings, to assess family history, parenting approaches, parent and child psychopathology, behaviour problems, parent-child interaction, family discord, verbal and nonverbal IQ, reading abilities and poignant life events. DVD recording is essential for coding verbal and non-verbal indicators of the relevant domains from the in-depth interviews. Families are assessed at three time points, pre-intervention, eight months later and a final assessment one year later. We aim to recruit over 200 families from Hackney and Plymouth.