Tackling behaviour problems in early childhood may reduce a young person's risk of alcohol and drug misuse later, a new study indicates.

According to Canadian scientists, it is already well established that children with behaviour problems are more likely to go on to abuse alcohol and drugs. They set out to investigate whether actively tackling these disruptive behaviours early on could have an effect on substance use later.

Some 172 boys with behaviour problems were looked at. All came from poorer families.

Almost 50 of the boys took part in a two-year intervention programme when they were between the ages of seven and nine. The programme focused on teaching the boys how to practice self-control and reduce their disruptive and antisocial behaviour.

It also aimed to help parents to recognise and deal with disruptive behaviours among their sons.

The rest of the boys were observed but did not take part in an intervention programme. All of the participants were monitored until they were 17 and alcohol and drug use was assessed during this time.

The study found that the boys who took part in the intervention group when they were children used less drugs and alcohol during their teen years compared to the other boys.

This reduced use of drugs and alcohol continued right up until the boys finished school.

"Our study shows that a two-year intervention aimed at key risk factors in disruptive boys from low socioeconomic environments can effectively reduce substance use behaviours in adolescence - not only in early adolescence but up to the end of school, eight years post-intervention," the scientists explained.

They said that this finding is particularly important because ‘the effects are stronger and longer-lasting than for most substance use interventions that have been studied before'.

They suggested that the intervention programme worked because ‘it reduced the boys' impulsivity and antisocial behaviour during pre-adolescence - between the ages of 11 and 13'.

"Our study suggests that by selectively targeting disruptive behaviours in early childhood, and without addressing substance use directly, we could have long-term effects on substance use behaviours in later life."

They added that more research is needed to see if the same results apply to girls and to ascertain the costs of such an intervention.

Details of these findings are published in the British Journal of Psychiatry.