A Randomized Controlled Trial That Looks at Early Intervention and Behavioral Outcomes

How often are we trying to determine if early intervention for behavioral issues truly makes a difference? We think it’s the right thing to do, but what’s the evidence that says so — and how good is that evidence? This week, Nordhov et al. (doi: 10.1542/peds.2011-0248) help strengthen the quality of the evidence supporting the need for early intervention programs. They share results of a randomized controlled trial of one early intervention program in terms of behavior at five years of age for a cohort of infants born preterm compared to similar preterms who did not get the intervention and a control group of term babies. What was detected by parents and preschool teachers makes for some interesting results and should make you eager to read the full text of this article. I certainly found it interesting, especially in terms of if parents or teachers noted a difference from the intervention and those who did not.