Maltreated Children's Emotional and Behavioral Problems: Do Teachers and Parents See the Same Things?

We examined whether parent/caregivers and teacher/therapists differ in their perceptions of the behavior problems of young maltreated children. The sample consisted of 33 maltreated preschoolers (58% neglected, 24% sexually abused, 18% physically abused, 59% African American, 41% Caucasian) enrolled in a metropolitan-area treatment center providing an educational/intervention program for maltreated children and their families. Most (82%) of the participant families had an annual income of $10,000 or less. Parent/caregivers and teacher/ therapists provided data about the children, employing the Colorado Child Temperament Inventory, Child Behavior Checklist, and Preschool Behavior Questionnaire. The results indicate that the teacher/therapists and the parent/caregivers perceived the same child as behaving differently. Implications concerning how teachers and parents might communicate are discussed, as well as possible reasons for the two different perceptions of the same child. Three potential reasons for the differences are that they are due to the different perspectives of parents and teachers in assessing child behaviors, to situational variation in child behavior (e.g., home versus school), or to some combination of both effects.     

The Role of Family Processes and Coping Strategies in the Relationship Between Parental Chronic Illness and Childhood Internalizing Problems

Sixty-nine families (father, mother, and one child) in which the father had hemophilia, approximately half of whom were HIV positive, were assessed in an examination of the relationship between parental chronic illness, family functioning, child coping strategies, and child adjustment. Latent variable path analyses with partial least-squares estimation procedures (PLS) were used to test a model of the relationship between parental chronic illness, family process variables, child coping strategies, and child internalizing behavior problems. The severity of the father's illness predicted family process variables, which predicted the coping style of the child. The use of more avoidant coping strategies was associated with more internalizing problems.     

Cross-informant consistency in externalizing and internalizing problems in early adolescence

The concept of cross-informant consistency has long been a topic of interest for those involved in assessment of behavior problems in adolescence. The purpose of the present study was to replicate and expand the existing literature by including four informants (mother, father, teacher, and adolescent self-report) and examining correlations among them as well as differences between reporters on an absolute level of both internalizing and externalizing problems. Fifty-two young adolescents (ranging in age from 11 to 15 years) and their mothers, fathers, and social studies teachers participated in the study. The Conduct Disorder subscale, Socialized Aggression subscale, and Anxiety/Withdrawal subscale of the Revised Behavior Problem Checklist were used. Results indicated that teachers showed little agreement with other informants on conduct problems (teachers reporting fewer problems), while parents and adolescents showed significant agreement. Informants showed no agreement on the measure of covert problems (socialized aggression), and all reports showed agreement on internalizing problems (although teachers continued to report fewer problems). Implications for assessment of young adolescents are discussed.This research was supported, in part, by the William T. Grant Foundation and the University of Georgia's Institute for Behavior Research.     

Self-focused attention and reactions to conflicting standards

A fundamental postulate of self-awareness theory that has received considerable empirical support is that self-focused attention increases behavioral consistency with “standards of correctness.” This appears to be true whether the standards are internal (such as attitudes or values) or external (e.g., norms). There is some question, however, as to what happens in situations in which an important personal standard conflicts with a salient external standard. Research by E. Diener and T. K. Srull (Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1979, 37, 413–423) has suggested that under such circumstances the social standard is likely to predominate. However, there is reason to believe that the standards employed in their study may not have been very salient nor very important to the subjects. In the present experiment, subjects with either conservative or liberal sexual attitudes were exposed to information suggesting a prevailing norm of sexual liberalism. They were then asked to respond to a number of sexual and nonsexual attitude measures while their attention was or was not self-directed by means of a mirror. Primary results indicated that self-awareness enhanced conformity to the social standard (as in Diener & Srull, 1979) for the conservative subjects; however, correlational analyses within the self-focused and non-self-focused conditions indicated that self-aware subjects did not “abandon” their personal standards when responding to the conformity pressure. Instead, their responses tended to be more in line with their previously expressed attitudes than did the responses of the non-self-focused group. Results are discussed in terms of the effects of self-awareness on reactions to potent, but conflicting behavioral standards.     

An analysis of children's oppositional behavior

The purpose of the present study was to examine the relationship between children's oppositional behavior and the following two variables: number of commands issued and time from command presentation. Twenty-four five year-old children and their mothers served as subjects. The results indicated an increase in oppositional behavior as the number of commands increased. Furthermore, most oppositional behavior occurred immediately following the presentation of a command.This study was part of a larger investigation examining the effects of time-out on noncompliance (Scarboro & Forehand, 1975).The investigation was supported by a grant from the University of Georgia research council.     

The Papago Psychology Service: A community mental health program on an American Indian reservation

A community psychology service run by the Papago Indian tribe and staffed largely by Papago Indians who have been trained as mental health workers is described. This service is unique among mental health services for Indians in that the tribe has complete control of the funds for the service and sets its own policies. It was developed for a rather traditional Indian group, and the culture, the traditions, and the wishes of the Papago community were respected. Consultation with medicine men was built into the program from the start, and adaptation of mental health techniques to fit the culture is stressed. Before this clinic was established, few mental health resources were directly available to the reservation. Similar to other Indian tribes, the Papagos are economically disadvantaged, with an unemployment rate of over 50%, low educational attainment, and very high rates of alcoholism, suicide, and vehicular accidents. The topics covered are the tribe's view of health programs for its people, the present Papago community and traditional means of treatment, traditional psychotherapy adapted to Papago culture, the indigenous Papago mental health worker, and the non-Indian professional consultant.     

An examination of disciplinary procedures with children

In Experiment I the effect of the contingent application of negative attention (a verbal reprimand plus a brief period in which the authority person glares intently at the child) and repeated commands on the noncompliant behavior of children was examined. Thirty-two mother-child pairs served as subjects. The results indicated that negative attention decreased noncompliance whereas repeated commands did not. In Experiment II the effectiveness of negative attention, isolation, ignoring, and a combination of procedures (the alternate use of isolation, ignoring, and negative attention with the same subject) in reducing noncompliance and maintaining it at a low level during a recovery period was examined. Twenty-eight mother-child pairs served as subjects. The results indicated that each of the four disciplinary procedures reduced noncompliance. However, negative attention was associated with less off-task behavior than the isolation and combination procedures when discipline was being imposed and a lower level of noncompliance than ignoring during recovery, whereas the combination condiiton was the only procedure that maintained noncompliance during recovery at the treatment level.     

Methodological considerations in the evaluation of the convergence of psychiatric diagnoses and parent-informant checklists

Psychiatric diagnoses and objective parent checklists are alternative ways to describe child adjustment problems. There has recently been interest in evaluating the degree of agreement or convergence between these sources of information. This paper addresses three issues neglected by researchers in this area. The appropriateness of the use of indices of sensitivity and specificity to describe the correspondence of diagnoses and checklist scores is questioned. Implications of failure to consider the reliability of diagnoses in interpreting diagnosis-checklist agreement are discussed. Also, possible parameters of diagnosis-checklist agreement that should be identified by researchers are reviewed. Suggestions for improving research in this area are offered.