Behavior problems in elementary school children

Two-year follow-up data for an ostensibly normal sample of children who had been previously characterized on a number of behavior problem dimensions by their teachers and peers were analyzed. In addition, 1-year follow-up data were presented for a group of extreme behavior children from the same school. The behavior dimensions of Distractibility and Conduct Problem were fairly stable over 2 years for girls and boys. In addition, Inadequacy—Immaturity was stable for girls and may mark more severe behavior problems for young girls. Behavior problems of young girls were more predictive of later achievement difficulties while behavior problems of boys were more prdictive of peer and teacher difficulty. Finally, teacher's clinical judgment was demonstrated to be useful for indexing behavior for hyperactive boys.Portions of this paper were presented at the New England Educational Research Organization Meeting, Provincetown, Massachusetts, May 1975. The authors wish to thank Dr. Raymond Pressman and the teachers of Hillside Elementary School, Niakayuna, New York, for providing valuable assistance in support of this study. This study was supported in part by the Research Foundation of New York, Grant number 020-7315-A.