Multidimensional assessment of emotional and behavioral adjustment problems of low-income preschool children: development and initial validation

The Adjustment Scales for Preschool Intervention (ASPI) was developed and tested for use in preschool programs serving low-income children. The ASPI is a measure of emotional and behavioral adjustment problems observed within routine classroom situations. Principal components analyses revealed five reliable behavioral dimensions: Aggressive, Withdrawn-Low Energy, Socially Reticent, Oppositional, and Inattentive/Hyperactive and two higher-order dimensions: Overactive and Underactive problem behaviors. Concurrent criterion validity of these dimensions was supported by multivariate indicators of peer social competence and classroom behavior problems. Age and gender analyses indicated that boys showed higher levels of overactive behavior than girls and that younger preschool children evidenced more underactive and inattentive behavior than older preschool children. Situational analyses indicated that situations requiring more initiation and self-regulation were associated with more problematic behaviors.     

Predictors of discrepancies between informants’ ratings of preschool-aged children's behavior: An examination of ethnicity,child characteristics,and family functioning

The present study examined predictors of discrepancies between mothers’, fathers’, and teachers’ ratings of 3-year-old children's hyperactivity, attention problems, and aggression. Participants were families of 196 3-year-old children who took part in child and family assessments. Ethnicity was one of the most consistent predictors of discrepancies. African American mothers and fathers were more likely to rate their children's hyperactivity, attention problems, and aggression lower than teachers. In contrast, Latina mothers were more likely to rate their children as more hyperactive and inattentive than teachers. ADHD/ODD diagnoses, parental depression, number of children, and children's pre-academic skills were also predictive of discrepancies for some measures for some informants. These findings provide insight into factors that may contribute to informant discrepancies in ratings of preschool children.     

Validity of the diagnostic category of attention deficit disorder without hyperactivity: a review of the literature

The validity of the diagnostic category of Attention Deficit Disorder Without Hyperactivity (ADD/WO) has been the subject of debate since it was first introduced in DSM-III. The differentiation of two syndromes of ADD is supported by factor analytic studies that indicate two dimensions of maladjustment: (1) inattention and disorganization, and (2) motor hyperactivity and impulsive responding. Cluster analyses of these two dimensions have yielded two profiles of deviance that correspond to the DSM-III subtypes. Furthermore, clinic-referred children who meet DSM-III criteria for ADD/WO have been shown to exhibit less serious conduct problems, are less impulsive, are more likely to be characterized as sluggish and drowsy, are less rejected by peers but more socially withdrawn, and are more likely to exhibit depressed mood and symptoms of anxiety disorder than children with Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity (ADD/H).     

Individual, family, and neighborhood factors distinguish resilient from non-resilient maltreated children: a cumulative stressors model

OBJECTIVE: Children who are physically maltreated are at risk of a range of adverse outcomes in childhood and adulthood, but some children who are maltreated manage to function well despite their history of adversity. Which individual, family, and neighborhood characteristics distinguish resilient from non-resilient maltreated children? Do children's individual strengths promote resilience even when children are exposed to multiple family and neighborhood stressors (cumulative stressors model)? METHODS: Data were from the Environmental Risk Longitudinal Study which describes a nationally representative sample of 1,116 twin pairs and their families. Families were home-visited when the twins were 5 and 7 years old, and teachers provided information about children's behavior at school. Interviewers rated the likelihood that children had been maltreated based on mothers' reports of harm to the child and child welfare involvement with the family. RESULTS: Resilient children were those who engaged in normative levels of antisocial behavior despite having been maltreated. Boys (but not girls) who had above-average intelligence and whose parents had relatively few symptoms of antisocial personality were more likely to be resilient versus non-resilient to maltreatment. Children whose parents had substance use problems and who lived in relatively high crime neighborhoods that were low on social cohesion and informal social control were less likely to be resilient versus non-resilient to maltreatment. Consistent with a cumulative stressors model of children's adaptation, individual strengths distinguished resilient from non-resilient children under conditions of low, but not high, family and neighborhood stress. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that for children residing in multi-problem families, personal resources may not be sufficient to promote their adaptive functioning.     

The interactions of normal and hyperactive children with their mothers in free play and structured tasks.

Groups of 20 normal and 20 hyperactive boys ranging in age from 6 to 12 years were observed interacting with their mothers in 15-min free-play and 15-min structured-task situations. Using a 15-sec interval coding procedure, 1 observer recorded the mother's response to specific antecedent behaviors of the child while a second observer recorded the child's response to specific behaviors of the mother. Hyperactive boys proved more active, less compliant, and less likely to remain on task than nonhyperactive peers. Mothers of hyperactive boys were less likely to respond positively to the child's social interactions, solitary play activities, or compliant on-task behavior. In addition, mothers of hyperactive boys imposed more structure and control on the child's play, social interactions, and task-oriented activities. It is suggested that the controlling intrusive style observed among the mothers of hyperactive boys, while initially a response to the child's overactive, impulsive, inattentive style, may further contribute to the child's behavioral difficulties.     

Are reading and behavior problems risk factors for each other?

Two questions were investigated. First, are children with reading problems in first grade more likely to experience behavior problems in third grade? Second, are children with behavior problems in first grade more likely to experience reading problems in third grade? The authors explored both questions by using multilevel logistic regression modeling to analyze data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Class (ECLS-K). After statistically controlling for a wide range of potential confounds, they found that children with reading problems in first grade were significantly more likely to display poor task engagement, poor self-control, externalizing behavior problems, and internalizing behavior problems in third grade. They also found that children displaying poor task engagement in first grade were more likely to experience reading problems in third grade. Collectively, these findings suggest that the most effective types of interventions are likely to be those that target problems with reading and task-focused behaviors simultaneously.     

Predictors and correlates of anger toward and punitive control of toddlers by adolescent mothers

In this study, the impact of rejection/acceptance experienced during the adolescent mother's childhood, social support received after the baby's birth, and infant irritability on angry, punitive maternal behavior are tested, and possible links between such maternal behavior and indices of child anger and noncompliance, low confidence, and social withdrawal are investigated. 40 mothers who gave birth as adolescents and their 2-year-old children participated in the study. When mothers experienced both rejection during childhood and little support from a partner after birth, they were likely to exhibit angry and punitive parenting. Infant irritability did not predict maternal behavior. Angry and punitive mothers had children who were angry and noncompliant and who distanced themselves from their mothers. Taken as a main effect, infant irritability was unrelated to later child behavior. However, the association between maternal behavior and 2 aspects of child behavior was stronger for children as irritable at 3 months postpartum: when irritable infants had angry and punitive mothers they were more likely to be angry and noncompliant and to exhibit less confidence than less irritable infants who experienced the same pattern of parenting.     

Nonverbal learning disability,school behavior,and dyslexia

The aims of the study were to investigate whether children showing a low nonverbal/high verbal (LNV) WISC-R profile are more likely to exhibit behaviors conducive to school failure than children with a low verbal/high nonverbal (LV) profile, and to examine the relationships among these behaviors, the LNV/LV profiles, and reading ability. The 65 subjects included 27 LNV and 38 LV children, aged 5 to 11 years. Results confirmed earlier findings (Badian 1986) that LNV children are perceived by their teachers as significantly poorer than LV children in many behaviors associated with school success. There was a dichotomy, however, between LNV good and poor readers. All LNV subjects displayed problems in organizational skills, but those who were dyslexic were poorer in social behavior (e.g., acceptance of criticism and peer relationships) than either LNV good readers or LV good or poor readers. It was concluded that children with a low nonverbal/high verbal profile and a probable right hemisphere dysfunction, who appear to be dyslexic in the early school years, are at high risk for both social behavior problems and school failure, and that these children are a more high-risk group than poor readers with a low verbal/high nonverbal profile.     

Preschool outcomes of children of depressed mothers: role of maternal behavior,contextual risk,and children's brain activity

Children of depressed mothers are at risk for behavioral and emotional problems. Infants of depressed mothers exhibit behavioral disturbances and atypical frontal brain activity. The mechanisms by which children develop such vulnerabilities are not clear. Three-year-old children of mothers with (N = 65) and without (N = 59) a history of depression were assessed in terms of behavior problems and brain electrical activity. Children of mothers with chronic depression exhibited lower frontal and parietal brain activation compared with children of mothers without depression and those whose depression remitted. Depressed mothers reported higher contextual risk (e.g., marital discord and stress) and their children had more behavior problems. Children's frontal brain activation and contextual risk level mediated the relation between maternal depression and child behavior problems.     

Effects of diagnostic label,race, gender,educational placement,and definitional information on prognostic outlook for children with behavior problems

Across the United States, children with behavioral and emotional problems receive one of a variety of labels if they are determined eligible for special education services. Labels like SED, EBD, and BD can result in lowered or negative expectations that others have for these children. This study investigated the effects of label, child's gender and race, child's educational placement, and availability of definitional information on prognostic judgments for children with behavior problems. Three‐hundred‐sixty‐three undergraduate students enrolled in teacher education courses read a vignette and completed a prognostic outlook questionnaire. The questionnaire items asked for judgments about the likelihood of further behavioral disruption, the likelihood of developing and maintaining adequate interpersonal relationships, and requested an estimate of overall adjustment of the child. The vignette described an elementary school child with behavior problems and its content was held constant. Gender (boy vs. girl), race (African American vs. Caucasian), educational placement (receiving special education services full‐time through inclusion vs. self‐contained), diagnostic label (BD vs. EBD vs. SED) and definition of the disorders (present vs. absent) were varied. There was a label × race × placement interaction and a label × definition interaction for the behavioral disruptiveness dependent measure. Under the inclusion condition White children who had the SED or EBD label were rated to be significantly more likely to be disruptive than children with the BD label. For the 2‐way interaction when no definitional information was given children who had the SED label were rated more likely to be disruptive than children who had either the EBD or BD labels. There was also a significant gender × race × definition interaction on the overall adjustment measure. However, post hoc contrasts were not significant and no conclusions were drawn other than that the effect was minimal. There was a significant main effect of gender on the interpersonal relationships variable. Girls were judged as significantly more likely to develop appropriate interpersonal relationships with others than were boys. No other significant effects were noted. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

内江城市在职居民不参与休闲体育活动人群调查

运用多种研究方法对内江城市在职居民不参与休闲体育活动人群进行调查研究.结果表明：这类人群按年龄结构呈现两头小、中间大的形态;性别差异较大;职业分类以体力劳动为主且工作不稳定的比例大于以脑力劳动为主且工作比较稳定的职业;学历越高,不参加休闲体育活动的人呈现出不断减少的趋势;当居民的收入能基本满足生活需要后,随着收入的增加,不参加休闲体育活动的比例呈逐渐减少的趋势.     

The prevalence and correlates of abuse among children with autism served in comprehensive community-based mental health settings

OBJECTIVE: To determine the demographic and psychosocial correlates of physical and sexual abuse among children with autism. METHODS: Data collected from 1997 to 2000 through the national evaluation of the Comprehensive Community Mental Health Services for Children and their Families Program on 156 children with autism were used. Data included a baseline assessment of child and family psychosocial experiences and presenting problems associated with referral into system-of-care service, demographic information, and a clinical record review to obtain psychiatric diagnosis. Binary and multinomial logistic regression was used to determine the association of different characteristics of children who were abused compared with those who were not abused. RESULTS: Caregivers reported that 18.5% of children with autism had been physically abused and 16.6% had been sexually abused. Physically abused children more likely had engaged in sexual acting out or abusive behavior, had made a suicide attempt, or had conduct-related or academic problems. Sexually abused children more likely had engaged in sexual acting out or abusive behavior, suicidal or other self-injurious behavior, had run away from home, or had a psychiatric hospitalization. In adjusted multivariate models, the relationship between sexual abuse and sexual acting out, running away from home and suicidal attempts persisted. CONCLUSION: Based on the prevalence of abuse and its association with various behaviors, clinicians should be as attuned to the psychosocial histories of children with autism as they are for other children, and consider the potential of abuse when these behaviors are observed.     

Reciprocal Relations Between Maternal Depression and Child Behavior Problems in Families Served by Head Start

This study used longitudinal cross-lagged modeling to examine reciprocal relations between maternal depression and child behavior problems. Data were drawn from 3,119 children (40% Hispanic, 30% African American, 20% White, and 10% other) from the Family and Child Experiences Survey of 2009 (a nationally representative sample of children served by Head Start). Results documented reciprocal relations between maternal depression and child behavior problems across early childhood (i.e., child age 3–5). Furthermore, the effect of child behavior problems on maternal depression was moderated by child race/ethnicity during children’s first year in Head Start, such that the negative effect of child behavior problems on African American mothers’ depression was more pronounced compared to Hispanics and other racial/ethnic groups.     

Information processing deficits in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, inattentive type, and children with reading disability

We examined the information processing capabilities of children diagnosed with the inattentive subtype of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) who had been characterized as having a sluggish cognitive tempo. Children referred for school-related problems (n = 81) and nonreferred community controls (n = 149) participated. Of the referred children, 24 met criteria for ADHD, 42 met criteria for reading disability (RD), and 9 of these were comorbid for RD and ADHD. Children with ADHD differed from those without ADHD on a visual search task but not on an auditory processing task; the reverse was true for children with RD. Decomposition of the visual search task into component operations demonstrated that children in the ADHD group had a slow processing rate that was not attributable to inattention. The children with ADHD were not globally poor at information processing or inattentive, but they demonstrated diminished speed of visual processing.     

Behavior Concerns Among Low-Income,Ethnically and Linguistically Diverse Children in Child Care: Importance for School Readiness and Kindergarten Achievement

Research Findings: Recent research and teacher reports have highlighted the importance of early behavior skills for children’s school readiness and academic success in elementary school. Significant gaps in school readiness and achievement exist between children in poverty and those more affluent. Low-income children are also more likely to exhibit behavior concerns than their more financially advantaged peers. The current study examined the importance of behavior skills at age 4 for school readiness and academic achievement in kindergarten among an ethnically diverse sample of 1,618 low-income children (63% Latino, 37% Black) in an urban setting. Children’s early behavior concerns at age 4 were significantly associated with children’s school readiness scores and end-of-year kindergarten grades above and beyond the contributions of family and child demographics and children’s early cognitive and language skills. In addition, behavior problems were more strongly related to school readiness and kindergarten performance within English-dominant Latino children as opposed to Spanish-dominant Latino children. Practice or Policy: The findings from the current study provide support for targeting behavior skills, and not just preliteracy and/or number skills, prior to school entry as a strategy to increase the likelihood of low-income diverse children’s school readiness and school success. Behavior interventions are discussed.     

Behavior problems of peer-neglected and peer-rejected elementary-age children: parent and teacher perspectives

Rejected, neglected, popular, and average-status children were selected on the basis of positive and negative sociometric measures from a total sample of 870 8- and 11-year-old children. Teachers completed the School Behavior Checklist and parents completed the Child Behavior Checklist for selected children. No age or sex differences were found. On both scales, rejected children were found to exhibit more behavior problems than neglected, popular, or average children. Neglected children did not exhibit more behavior problems than children of average status.     

Inattention,hyperactivity and low parental education in children with conduct problems and poor reading skills

Concerns over the poor reading performance of children with conduct problems are often expressed by their parents and teachers. In order to intervene effectively with these children, it is necessary to know what their difficulties are, both at school and at home. To date, there is still a lot of ambiguity in relation to the specific difficulties children with conduct problems and coexisting poor reading experience in important academic domains and in the family context. The aim of the present study was to compare the problems of attention and hyperactivity in the classroom and parental education in four groups of children: conduct problems only (CP); conduct problems and coexisting poor reading (CP‐PR); poor reading only (PR); and a comparison group (COM). A sample of 2nd Grade Greek children (n = 113) was selected on the basis of the Conners' Teacher Rating Scale‐28 (CTRS‐28), Conduct Problems Scale and the Reading Ability Detection Test. The CTRS‐28, Inattention and Hyperactivity scales and a brief questionnaire on parental education were used to assess attention, hyperactivity and level of parental education, respectively. The results showed that children with CP‐PR were significantly more inattentive and hyperactive than the other groups of children. Their parents were also more likely to have spent fewer years in school than the parents of CP only and COM children. The earlier findings have implications for intervention planning and theoretical understanding of childhood conduct problems.     

Attentional and executive function behaviours in children with poor working memory

The purpose of this study was to explore the profiles of classroom behaviour relating to attention and executive functions in children with very poor working memory, and to test the hypothesis that inattentive behaviour and working memory problems co-occur. Teachers rated problem behaviours of 52 children with low working memory scores aged 5/6 and 9/10 years on teacher rating measures of attention and executive function behaviours. The majority of children with low working memory scores obtained atypically high ratings of cognitive problems/ inattentive symptoms, and were judged to have short attention spans, high levels of distractibility, problems in monitoring the quality of their work, and difficulties in generating new solutions to problems. These results extend previous findings that working memory problems and inattentive behaviour co-occur to a non-clinical sample. It is suggested that reduced working memory capacity may play a causal role in the problem behaviours of these children.     

The diagnostic utility of sexual behavior problems in diagnosing sexual abuse in a forensic child abuse evaluation clinic

OBJECTIVE: This study examined the utility of sexual behavior problems as a diagnostic indicator of sexual abuse. The hypothesis was that sexual behavior problems are multiply determined and consequently are variably related to sexual abuse in a clinical sample. METHOD: A sample of 247 children evaluated for sexual abuse at a multidisciplinary forensic child abuse evaluation clinic were included. Results from the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) and the Child Sexual Behavior Inventory (CSBI) were analyzed and compared to the results of a structured abuse assessment performed independent of these scores. RESULTS: The forensic team assessment found evidence of sexual abuse in 25% of cases, and no evidence in 61%. Children in this sample exhibited an elevated level of both sexual and nonsexual behavior problems. However, considerable variability was noted in sexual behavior problem scores. Thus, in this study a high score or a low score had no relationship to the diagnosis of sexual abuse. Indeed, nonsexually abused children were just as likely to have high CSBI scores as sexually abused children. CONCLUSIONS: This study found no significant relationship between a diagnosis of sexual abuse and the presence or absence of sexual behavior problems in a sample of children referred for sexual abuse evaluation. The finding suggests that community professionals should use caution in relying on sexual behavior problems as a diagnostic indicator of abuse.     

Identifying and predicting problem behavior trajectories among pre-school children investigated for child abuse and neglect

Objective

Young children involved with child welfare services are at high risk for behavior problems. This study aims to identify externalizing behavior paths that preschoolers in this high-risk population follow over a 6 year period, and the predictors of membership in normative and problematic pathways.

Methods

Using data from the National Study of Child and Adolescent Well-being (NSCAW), the sample included 246 4-year-olds who remained home after investigation. Latent class growth analysis (LCGA) was used to estimate the number, size, and shape of subgroups of preschoolers following distinct behavioral pathways. Early predictors of membership in the resulting groups were then examined.

Results

Four groups of preschool children following distinct behavior trajectories over 6 years were identified. Weighted results show that more than half (61%) of the children followed a low/normal problem behavior trajectory while just over one tenth (12%) were on a persistent high trajectory, remaining in the clinical range throughout the study. Improving (23%) and worsening (4%) problem behavior groups were also identified. Internalizing problems, attention problems, child ethnicity, and maltreatment type reported at age 4 predicted membership in the trajectory groups.

Conclusions

Internalizing behavior problems and maltreatment type may distinguish preschool children who are more likely to experience worsening or persistent problematic externalizing behaviors from those likely to follow a normal behavior trajectory.

Practice implications

Identifying early indicators of externalizing behavior problems and addressing them with evidence-based interventions to reduce negative behaviors may avert long-term negative outcomes.