Earlier violence prevention: Implementing a CBT-based social skills training for school-age children with aggressive norm-breaking behaviour

Research problem and specific questions Manual-based interventions for children with aggressive and norm-breaking behaviours (ANB) that target risk factors in both parents and the child have relatively robust moderate-to-large effects.

However, dissemination of such child-focused treatments is low, and the availability within Swedish social services strikingly poor.We examine implementation requisites for the Coping Power Program (CPP), a license-free CBT-based skills training program recommended for 8–12-year-olds with ANB.

We identify implementation barriers and facilitators and develop and evaluate training procedures for nationwide upscaling.

Data and method  Interview data from CPP group leaders on factors that facilitate or complicate CPP use are supplemented with interviews with social service heads and actors such as the National Board of Health and Welfare, county administrative boards and patient organisations about conditions for dissemination and implementation.

A pilot training of CPP trainers is developed, tested and scaled up in collaboration with CPP developer, prof John Lochman.

We use quantitative before-after analyses of ANB symptoms and qualitative deductive content analysis according to the CFIR implementation framework.Plan for project realisation   Therapists from 10 collaborating social services are trained as CPP group leaders. Parents rate treatment effects and group leaders assess feasability and implementability.

We conduct interviews with group leaders, government and advocacy group representatives to identify systemic obstacles and enablers for implementation.

Trainers-of-trainers in CPP are trained and manual fidelity and group leader skills compared to training by an expert.Societal relevance and utilisation  Children with ANB have substantially increased risks of violence, criminality, mental illness, substance use, social marginalisation and premature death.

The worrying prognosis and psychosocial treatment gains are not matched by program availability in Swedish social services.

At the same time, preventive, accessible and knowledge-based work is strongly emphasized in the Social Services Act that enter into force in 2025.

Improved knowledge on implementation of effective interventions for children´s ANB is central to social work with these children and their relatives.

Also, the social importance is high by contributing to knowledge-based crime prevention by reducing serious and violent antisocial child development.