The study also found that families who experienced low levels of social support and high levels of financial hardship usually struggled, even when the number and intensity
of child behaviour problems were low.
Although much research has focused on differential
reports of child behaviour, discrepancies between parent and teacher reports of children's school readiness are less explored.
Higher
levels of child behaviour problems were associated with more severe parental depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms and stress and lower levels of mindful parenting.
Our results suggest that the father's quality of parenting, rather than frequency or share of routine care, is associated with lower
risk of child behaviour problems.
Data were collected on team functioning, workshop satisfaction, parenting stress levels and feelings of competence and general
levels of child behaviour.
The standard family environment model [6] predicts that positive father involvement might aid the development of emotional regulation, social skills, and other
aspects of child behaviour [7].
To date, those studies that have attempted to address the longitudinal
impact of child behaviour problems on parent outcomes [e.g. 7, 15, 81, 85] suggest that child behaviour may mediate the degree of adaptation in mothers raising a child with ASD over time, with mothers of older children reporting greater wellbeing.
Some longitudinal studies have continued to use the Strange Situation Procedure up until school age, in combination with parental reports and standardised investigator ratings of child behaviour [19, 20], while others have developed their own semi-structured interviews and rating scales [21].
The use of distinct age ranges to assess the impact
of child behaviour on maternal outcomes also limits the generalisability of findings.
Findings in the same research syntheses also demonstrate a relationship between parent support program practices and the social and emotional development of young children.26, 22,27,5,28,29 The measures
of child behaviour included enhanced positive child social - emotional behaviour and attenuated negative child social - emotional behaviour.
In a sample of 52 children and drug - dependent mothers participating in a residential intervention programme emotional and behavioural problems were studied in the children by use
of the Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL).
A third finding, also consistent with previous research, was that controlling for the number and
intensity of child behaviour problems [measured using the Developmental Behavior Checklist; 92] reduced the strength of the association between impairment type (diagnosis) and family life congruence to non-significance.
Fathers» level of education, stress and depression, and
perceptions of child behaviour difficulty were linked to program content and delivery preferences.
The reductions in aggressive behaviour reported here could be attributable to change in the school's
management of child behaviour or an increase in extracurricular activities which may, themselves, have preventive effects.4 None the less, the effects of reducing media exposure and its effect in combination with other effective school based programmes5, 6 merit additional studies.
Dr. Thomas Phelan is a US - based clinical psychologist who is the author of several books in the
area of child behaviour problems.
Mother - child interaction quality as a partial mediator of the roles of maternal depressive symptomology and socioeconomic status in the
development of child behaviour problems
Of course, this body of research does not really explain why certain behaviours are problematic or stressors for parents and families.2 Moreover, parent distress may be the antecedent rather than the
outcome of child behaviour problems: High parent distress is associated with less optimal parenting and more negative parent - child interaction which, in turn, predicts child behaviour problems.
One argument which has been raised against a population based approach to the provision of parenting programmes is that this would attract parents least in need — that is, those from more highly educated «middle class» families with little
evidence of child behaviour problems, while uptake would be poor among families most in need.6
An ADHD scale was constructed from the emotionality activity sociability (EAS) temperament measurement scale [44] and one item from the hyperactivity
subscale of the child behaviour checklist (CBCL / 1.5 — 5)[40].
However, the small sample of children with ASD (n = 16) and the potential mediating
role of child behaviour problems, limit the generalisability of findings.
Positive results on an
inventory of child behaviour problems were reported for one small study (n = 24) with the caveat that results were only positive when parent training was delivered to individuals and not groups.
Thumb sucking or using a dummy (pacifier) is a common
aspect of child behaviour, and it can seem completely natural for a child to stick their thumb in their mouth, or use a dummy for a substitute.
SGTP incorporated 8 sessions (4 group sessions and 4 telephone consultations) and taught parents to identify the
causes of child behaviour problems, promote children's development, manage misbehavior and plan ahead to prevent child behavior problems in «high risk» parenting situations.
The Programme significantly reduced: the perceived number and
intensity of child behaviour problems; parental depression, inward irritability and outward irrirability; and the level of perceived chlid conduct problems, impulsivity and anxiety.
Participants» responses to open ended questions are expected to give insight into the
impact of child behaviour on the family, their expectations and hope for change, and their experience of the intervention, including unplanned or unanticipated effects.
Other factors for poor response to treatment identified in the literature [12, 15, 28, 31] and those observed from personal experience of delivering the programme (Unpublished) include lack of partner support, resistance to change in the home, parents» unrealistic and developmentally inappropriate expectations for children, adverse child rearing practices, and negative cognitions and
perceptions of child behaviour.
Inclusion criteria were: randomised controlled trial; of structured, repeatable parenting programmes; for parents / carers of children up to the age of 18 with a conduct problem; and at least one measure
of child behaviour.