Children are naturally impulsive. Part of growing up is learning to keep this impulsiveness at bay. But what happens when children fail to learn self-control and what, if anything, can we do about it?

Studies have consistently demonstrated that high impulsivity and lack of self-control is a strong predictor of subsequent antisocial behavior. This behavior can often lead to involvement in the criminal justice system.

So what can we do about it? Michael Gottfredson and Travis Hirschi, towering figures in the field of criminology, argue that the justice system is largely impotent when it comes to reducing crime and recidivism. They argue that state interventions usually take place too late and are ill equipped to tackle the roots of the problem. What we need, they argue, is earlier interventions to help children learn to put on the brakes on before they get into trouble in the first place.

But here is the rub - impulsivity has proven extremely resistant to change. It is considered by many to be a largely innate characteristic, one anchored by an individual’s genes and immutable personality.

But all is not lost. Recent findings present a more nuanced view. While these characteristics may indeed become fixed over the course of development, there may be a critical window - before the age of ten or twelve years - when an individual’s impulsivity is amenable to change.

To test this hypothesis, Alex Piquero, Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Florida State University, along with colleagues Wesley Jennings and David Farrington, undertook an exhaustive systematic review of the available research on impulsivity. They looked at nearly 250 reports of intervention efforts that sought to improve the self-control of children under the age of ten. They then applied strict inclusion criteria to narrow these studies down to only those of the highest quality.

What remained were 44 randomized controlled studies (RCTs). All looked at interventions that were designed to help children learn to stop and think before they acted. Some were delivered by teachers in schools; others involved interactive video delivery or role-playing with peers.

So what was the verdict? Did any interventions actually work? The results are promising. Self-control does indeed appear to be malleable if you address it early enough—that’s before the age of ten. Programs targeting young children demonstrate positive and respectable average effect sizes in the region of 0.3 for independent objective observations.

So far so good, but does this improvement translate to reduced delinquency, problem behavior and crime? For childhood and adolescent delinquency and problem behavior the answer is yes, but the magnitude of these effects on delinquency is only about half as strong as for direct effects on self-control. Average effect sizes are small; closer to 0.15.

There is a dearth of long term research that has looked at this issue but so far the news is cautiously positive. Despite once being considered an immutable risk factor resistant to change, it is possible to alter how much self-control individuals have - but only if you intervene early enough. This in turn leads to improved behavior and reduced delinquency. It is yet to be seen whether reductions of this critical risk factor will translate to reductions in crime and involvement with the criminal justice system.