Can a program designed to help kindergartners with behavior problems protect their grandchildren from violence, decades before those grandchildren are even born? A new randomized controlled trial following families for more than 30 years suggests that it can. Findings from the Fast Track intervention—a long-running, multilevel prevention program for children with early conduct problems—indicated that intimate partner violence (IPV) in one generation was linked to more parent-to-child violence (PCV) in the next. This in turn was associated with greater mental health and behavior difficulties in the grandchildren of the original participants; however, that intergenerational pathway of violence was broken for parents who received the Fast Track intervention as children.
What were the researchers studying and why?
The researchers examined whether patterns of domestic violence are transmitted across three generations, and whether participation in the Fast Track intervention interrupted that process. The central question driving this research was whether exposure to domestic violence, including IPV and PCV, in one generation predicts violence and psychological harm in the next two generations, and whether Fast Track could disrupt that transmission. Specifically, the researchers examined whether IPV experienced in the first generation (G1) was associated with an increased risk of IPV or PCV in the second generation (G2), and whether that risk was linked to worse psychological adjustment in the third generation (G3). This question matters because domestic violence remains a major public health concern, and its effects often extend beyond the individuals directly involved.
There is a lack of longitudinal, multilevel, multicomponent studies exploring whether and how interventions have long-term, enduring effects across generations. No prior study had investigated whether an early preventive intervention in one generation could alter IPV or PCV trajectories in subsequent generations. This gap matters because evidence is needed to show that prevention efforts aimed at children can ripple outward, protecting not just the child being treated but future generations.
How did the researchers conduct the study?
The study used data from the Fast Track trial, which began in the early 1990s in 53 high-risk elementary schools across four U.S. states. Kindergartners identified by both teachers and parents as showing elevated aggressive or disruptive behavior were randomly assigned by the school to either an intervention or a control condition. Fast Track was a 10-year, multicomponent intervention delivered from grades 1 through 10. It combined parent behavior-management training; child social and cognitive skills training; academic tutoring; home visits; school-based social-emotional learning; and support focused on peer affiliations; decision-making; and parent monitoring in adolescence.
To examine intergenerational effects, researchers gathered data across three generations: grandparents (G1), the original child participants (G2), and G2's children (G3). G1's history of IPV and PCV was self-reported when G2 was 6, 13, and 14 years old. Decades later, when G2 participants reached age 34, they reported on their own experiences of IPV, their parenting behaviors, and the behavior and mental health of one of their children (G3). Violence in G1 and G2 families was measured using the Conflict Tactics Scale, which assessed verbal and physical aggression toward a partner or child. Behavioral and mental health outcomes were assessed using the standardized Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, with subscales including total difficulties; hyperactivity/inattention; and conduct, emotional, and peer problems. The analyses used path models to test direct and indirect effects across generations, controlling for relevant covariates and applying robust maximum likelihood estimation procedures.
What did the study results show?
Within the control group, the results demonstrated a statistically significant and consistent intergenerational mediating pathway: from G1 IPV, through G2 PCV, to G3 behavioral and mental health difficulties. In the control group, G2 individuals whose parents (G1) had engaged in higher levels of IPV during G2's childhood were significantly more likely to use violent parenting practices with their own children. Those PCV practices predicted greater behavioral and mental health difficulties in G3 children, including more conduct problems and hyperactivity. This full mediating pathway was statistically significant in the control group (e.g., total behavioral and mental health difficulties: indirect effect = 0.93, SE = 0.45, p = .04), but not in the Fast Track intervention group, where the same pathway was small and nonsignificant.
Notably, this protective effect held even though Fast Track was never designed specifically to target domestic violence—it was built to reduce childhood aggression and conduct problems more broadly. The intervention also reduced the correlation between G2's own experience of partner violence and their use of violence in parenting, suggesting a protective effect within, as well as across, generations. Overall, Fast Track eliminated the intergenerational IPV→PCV transmission observed in the control group.
What is the potential impact of these findings?
The effects of the Fast Track intervention—delivered across home, school, and peer contexts—align with developmental theory and demonstrate long-term protection against violent parenting and the subsequent risks to child behavioral and mental health. These findings extend the evidence base by demonstrating such effects in a third generation of children. Moreover, the analyses reveal a previously unidentified and specific mediating pathway: high-risk children who witness G1 IPV show a greater likelihood of perpetrating G2 PCV, which in turn increases the risk of behavioral and mental health problems in G3.
These findings matter because they suggest that a sustained, multicomponent childhood intervention can break a key intergenerational link in domestic violence. They offer strong evidence that early, ecological, skill-building approaches yield long-lasting benefits, not only for direct participants but also for their future children. The pathway analysis underscores the importance of interrupting intergenerational transmission at a specific point: the link between witnessing G1 IPV and later perpetrating G2 PCV, which reduces the risk of behavior problems in G3.
Although multicomponent, 10-year interventions may be challenging to implement at scale due to their long duration and intensive nature, prior analyses of Fast Track have demonstrated its cost-effectiveness. These new intergenerational benefits further strengthen the case for ongoing monitoring and targeted support for families with histories of violence.
Citation
Gorla L, Rothenberg WA, Godwin J, Conduct Problems Prevention Research Group. (2026). The randomized controlled trial Fast Track multilevel intervention for children with early-emerging conduct problems breaks intergenerational transmission of violence across three generations. J Child Psychol Psychiatry, 67(8):1254-1268. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.70133. PMID: 41670608; PMCID: PMC13182863.
