This study investigated the relationship between child maltreatment and the early onset of
problem behaviors in the Elmira Nurse Home Visitation Program. Participants were
predominantly low-income and unmarried mothers and their first-born children who were
randomized either to receive over 2 years of home-visitation services by nurses or to be placed in
a comparison group. Data were drawn from a follow-up study that took place when the children
were 15 years of age. Results demonstrated that, in the comparison group, child maltreatment was
associated with significant increases in the number of early onset problem behaviors reported by
the youth. For the youth in the nurse-visited group there was no relationship between
maltreatment and early onset problem behaviors. We suggest that this finding was due to the
effects of the intervention in reducing the number as well as the developmental timing of the
maltreatment incidents. Results suggest that prenatal and infancy home visiting by nurses can
moderate the risk of child maltreatment as a predictor of conduct problems and antisocial
behavior among children and youth born into at-risk families.