Behavior Problems in Young Children With or At Risk for Developmental Delay

We examined the prevalence of behavior problems and their relationship to child, parent, and family factors in 76 children with or at risk for developmental delay. Parents reported that 42% of the children had behavior problems. Child Behavior Checklist (CBC) scores revealed that 25% of the sample scored above the borderline cutoff. Although the total, externalizing, and internalizing mean CBC scores did not differ from the normative group (same-aged peers without developmental delay), each of the syndrome subscales was significantly higher in the study group. The Reiss Scales for Children's Dual Diagnosis revealed that, as compared to older children (4 years) with developmental delay, the study sample scored significantly lower on the total score and 8 of the 10 subscales. Increased CBC total scores were significantly related to dependency and management of the child, birth weight, gestational length, paternal illness, maternal depression, perceived personal burden of care, maternal escape-avoidance coping strategy, family disharmony, and financial stress. CBC total scores were significantly negatively correlated with being of a multiple birth, paternal education, maternal employment, two-parent family, family social support, and family income. Multiple regression analyses revealed that an empirically-derived combination of child, parent, and family variables accounted for 31% of the variance in CBC total scores. Our findings suggest that 2-year old children with or at-risk for developmental delay may already be showing signs of increased risk of behavior problems relative to peers without developmental delay. We identified several child, parent, and family variables that may help to pinpoint children at increased riskxs for psychopathology.