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Mothers of 36 month olds were reported to show more acceptance of their child’sbehaviour (i.e. through less slapping, scolding, physical restraint) when living in SSLPareas, as compared to comparison communities.Non-teenage mothers (86% of mothers) appeared to show less negative parenting.The children from relatively less disadvantaged families (i.e. non-teenage mothers)benefited somewhat from living in SSLP areas, perhaps due to positive effects onparenting.SSLPs seemed to affect only children aged 36 months and effects varied across subpopulations.Some children of non-teenage mothers had fewer behavioural problems, with thereverse true for teenage mothers.Children of teenage mothers, like those in workless and lone parent households,scored lower on verbal ability tests.Nonetheless, as can be seen, the study also demonstrated that children from moredisadvantaged families (i.e. teen mothers, lone parent and workless households) appearedto be adversely affected from living in a SSLP community. Additionally it was reported thatthere was substantial variability in the degree to which SSLPs proved more and lesseffective, with evidence that programs led by health agencies generated greater beneficialoutcomes.The statistical results behind these findings are presented in Table 3-21.TABLE3-21: SSLP ,S AND COMPARISON GROUPS SIGNIFICANT MEAN SCORE DIFFERENCESSource: Belsky et al (2006).91