Best behaviour

Educational charity The Sutton Trust highlights inequalities in the incidence of behavioural problems amongst pre-school aged children. Researchers found around 35% of boys from the poorest 5th of households had clinical-level symptoms of behavioural problems at age 3 (compared with an incidence of 15% amongst the rest of the population). Moreover there is little improvement between the ages of 3 and 7. The study looked at two cohorts of children, born in the early 1990s and the early 2000s and measured behaviour across hyperactivity/inattention, conduct problems, emotional symptoms and peer problems. The Department for Education has published an interim report the Parenting Early Intervention Programme, which provides funding for local authorities to offer parenting skills programmes to parents of 8-13 year olds who are concerned about their child's behaviour. It confirms that PEIP has successfully targeted lower income families and that parents valued the programmes and reported that they had worked. Final analysis will be published next year.