Behavioral and Socioemotional Outcomes of the Legacy for Children™ Randomized Control Trial to Promote Healthy Development of Children Living in Poverty, 4 to 6 Years Postintervention

Abstract

Objective: The objective of this article was to assess the impact on behavioral and socioemotional development, 4 to 6 years postintervention (depending on the curriculum), of Legacy for Children™, a public health approach to improve child developmental outcomes among families living in poverty.

Methods: Mothers who were recruited prenatally or at the time of childbirth participated in a set of Legacy parallel design randomized control trials between 2001 and 2009 in Miami, Florida, or Los Angeles, California. Of the initial 574 mother-child dyads, 364 completed at least 1 behavioral or socioemotional outcome measure at the third-grade follow-up. Intention-to-treat analyses compared Legacy and comparison groups on behavioral and socioemotional outcomes.

Results: Children of Legacy mothers in Los Angeles were at lower risk for externalizing behaviors and poor adaptive skills than children whose mothers did not participate in the intervention. No significant outcome differences by group assignment were found in Miami.

Conclusion: Group-based positive parenting interventions such as Legacy may have a sustained impact on children's behavioral and socioemotional development several years after intervention completion.

Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00164697.