Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-tf8b9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-23T04:06:06.199Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Maternal perceptions of children: Qualitative differences among mothers of behaviour problem and nonproblem children

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 October 2015

Marita T. Brack  and
Deborah B. Erickson
Marita T. Brack*
Affiliation:
University of Sydney
Deborah B. Erickson
Affiliation:
University of Sydney
*
School of Psychology, University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Phone: 61 2 9351 8591, Fax: 61 2 4628 6101, E-mail: [email protected]
Get access

Abstract

Oppositional defiant and conduct disorder are two of the most common childhood adjustment problems. Given the serious short-and long-term implications of these disorders, much research has focused on the assessment and treatment of these behaviour problems. However, most of the large body of literature on these problems has relied upon maternal responses to either forced-choice questions or directed questioning, limiting the qualitative input that the parent may contribute.The present study investigated the qualitative perceptions that mothers held of their child, with and without problems. Significant differences were found between mothers of clinical and nonclinical children. Many of the results supported past quantitative research, but there are new insights into the tendency of clinical parents not only to make more negative and critical comments about their child but also to qualify any positive remarks they made about the child.

Keywords

Maternal PerceptionsQualitative ResearchBehaviour Problems
Type
Research Article
Information
The Educational and Developmental Psychologist , Volume 18 , Issue 1 , 2001 , pp. 61 - 76
Copyright
Copyright © Australian Psychological Society 2001

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Achenbach, T. (1991). Manual for the Child Behaviour Checklist/4–18 and 1991 Profile. Burlington, VT: University of Vermont, Department of Psychiatry.Google Scholar
American Psychiatric Association. (1994). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th ed.). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association.Google Scholar
Bates, J.E., Pettit, G.S., Dodge, K.A., & Ridge, B. (1998). Interaction of temperamental resistance to control and restrictive parenting in the development of externalising behavior. Developmental Psychology, 34, 982–995.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baumrind, D. (1991). Effective parenting during the early adolescent transition. In Cowan, P.A. & Hetherington, M.E. (Eds.), Family transitions: Advances in family research (Vol. 2, pp. 111–164). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Berkwits, M., & Inui, T.S. (1998). Making use of qualitative research techniques. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 13, 195–1998.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Biederman, J., Faraone, S.V., Milberger, S., Jetton, J.G., Chen, L., Mick, E., Greene, R.W., Russell, R.L. (1996). Is childhood oppositional defiant disorder a precursor to adolescent conduct disorder? Findings from a four-year follow-up study of children with ADHD. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 35, 1193–1204.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Carlson, C.L., Lahey, B.B., & Neeper, R. (1984). Peer assessment of the social behavior of accepted, rejected, and neglected children. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 12, 187–198.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Colvin, A., Eyberg, S., & Adams, C. (1999). Restandardization of the Eyberg Child Behavior Inventory. Manuscript in preparation.Google Scholar
Darling, N., & Steinberg, L. (1993). Parenting style as context: An integrative model. Psychological Bulletin, 113, 487–496.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Davis, C., Martin, G., Kosky, R., & O’Hanlon, A. (2000). Early intervention in the mental health of young people: A literature review. Adelaide: The Australian Early Intervention Network for Mental Health in Young People. Retrieved June 6, 2001 from http://auseinet.flinders.edu.au/Google Scholar
Eisenstadt, T.H., McElreath, L.H., Eyberg, S.M., & McNeil, C.D. (1994). Interparent agreement on the Eyberg Child Behavior Inventory. Child and Family Behavior Therapy, 16, 21–27.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Elliott, D.S., Huizinga, D., & Ageton, S.S. (1985). Explaining delinquency and drug use. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Engle, V.F., Fox-Hill, E., & Graney, M.J. (1998). The experience of living-dying in a nursing home: Self-reports of black and white older adults. The Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 46, 1091–1096.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eyberg, S.M., & Pincus, D. (1999). ECBI & SESBI-R-Eyberg Child Behavior Inventory and Sutter-Eyberg Student Behavior Inventory Revised. Professional Manual. Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources, Inc.Google Scholar
Eyberg, S.M., & Ross, A.W. (1978). Assessment of child behavior problems: The validation of a new inventory. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 7, 113–116.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Farrington, D.P. (1978). The family backgrounds of aggressive youth. In Hersov, L.A. & Berger, M. (Eds.), Aggression and antisocial behavior in childhood and adolescence (pp. 73–93). London: Pergamon Press.Google Scholar
Funderburk, B.W., Eyberg, S.M., & Behar, L. (1989, August). Psychometric properties of the SESBI with high SES preschoolers. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association, New Orleans, LA.Google Scholar
Hamdan-Allen, G., Stewart, M.A., Beeghly, J.H. (1989). Subgrouping conduct disorder by psychiatric family history. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 30, 889–897.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Harvey, A.G., & Bryant, R.A. (1999). Brief report: A qualitative investigation of the organization of traumatic memories. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 38, 401–405.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hinshaw, S.P. (1992). Externalizing behavior problems and academic under-achievement in childhood and adolescence: Causal relationships and underlying mechanisms. Psychological Bulletin, 111, 127–155.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hinshaw, S.P., Lahey, B.B., & Hart, E.L. (1993). Issues of taxonomy and comorbidity in the development of conduct disorder. Development and Psychopathology, 5, 31–49.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kaplan, S.J. & Pelcovitz, D. (1982). Child abuse and neglect and sexual abuse. Psychiatric Clinics of North America, 5, 321–332.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kaufman, J., Birmaher, B., Brent, D., Rao, U., Flynn, C., Moreci, P., Williamson, D., & Ryan, N. (1997). Schedule for affective disorders and schizophrenia for school-age children: Present and lifetime version (K-SADS-PL): Initial reliability and validity data. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 36, 980–988.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kazdin, A.E. (1985). Treatment of antisocial behavior in children and adolescents. Pacific Grove, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Kazdin, A.E. (1987). Conduct disorder in childhood and adolescence. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Kazdin, A.E. (1995). Conduct disorder in childhood and adolescence (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kazdin, A.E. (1998). Psychosocial treatments for conduct disorder in children. In Nathan, P.E. & Gorman, J.M. (Eds.), A guide to treatments that work (pp. 65–89). Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Kazdin, A.E., Siegel, T.C., & Bass, D. (1992). Cognitive problem-solving skills training and parent management training in the treatment of antisocial behavior in children. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 60, 733–747.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kelso, J., & Stewart, M.A. (1986). Factors which predict the persistence of ACD. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 27, 77–86.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Loeber, R. (1982). The stability of antisocial and delinquent behavior: A review. Child Development, 53, 1431–1446.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Loeber, R. (1988). Natural histories of conduct problems, delinquency, and associated substance use: Evidence for developmental progressions. In Lahey, B.B. & Kazdin, A.E. (Eds.), Advances in clinical child psychology (Vol. 11, pp. 73–124). New York: Plenum Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Loeber, R., & Schmaling, K.B. (1985). Empirical evidence for overt and covert patterns of antisocial conduct problems: A meta-analysis. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 13, 337–352.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lytton, H. (1990). Child and parent effects in boys’ conduct disorder: A reinterpretation. Developmental Psychology, 26, 683–697.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mandel, H. (1997). Conduct disorder and under achievement: Risk factors, assessment, treatment, and prevention. New York: John Wiley.Google Scholar
Moffitt, T.E. (1990). Juvenile delinquency and attention deficit disorder: Developmental trajectories from age 3 to 15. Child Development, 61, 893–910.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moffitt, T.E. (1993). “Adolescence-limited” and “life course persistent” antisocial behavior: A developmental taxonomy. Psychological Review, 100, 674–701.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Olweus, D. (1979). Stability of aggressive reaction patterns in males: A review. Psychological Bulletin, 86, 852–875.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Patterson, G.R., DeBaryshe, B.D., & Ramsey, E. (1989). A developmental perspective on antisocial behavior. American Psychologist, 44, 329–335.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Patterson, G.R., & Dishion, T.J. (1988). Multilevel family process: Traits, interactions, and relationships. In Hinde, R.A. & Stevenson-Hinde, J. (Eds.), Relationships within families: Mutual influences (pp. 283–310). Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Pettit, G.S., Bates, J.E., & Dodge, K.A. (1997). Supportive parenting, ecological context, and children’s adjustment: A seven-year longitudinal study. Child Development, 68, 908–923.Google Scholar
Pinto, A., Folkers, E., & Sines, J.O. (1991). Dimensions of behavior and home environment in school-age children: India and the United States. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 22, 491–508.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
QSR International Pty Ltd. (2000). N5 software for qualitative data analysis. Bundoora, Vic: QSR International Pty Ltd.Google Scholar
Reid, J., Taplin, P., & Loeber, R. (1981). A social interactional approach to the treatment of abusive families. In Stewart, R. (Ed.), Violent behavior: Social learning approaches to prediction, management, and treatment (pp. 83–101). New York: Brunner/Mazel.Google Scholar
Robins, L.N. (1978). Sturdy childhood predictors of adult antisocial behavior: Replications from longitudinal studies. Psychological Medicine, 8, 611–622.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Robins, L.N. (1981). Epidemiological approaches to natural history research: Antisocial disorders in children. Journal of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry, 20, 566–680.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Robins, L.N., & Price, R.K. (1991). Adult disorders predicted by childhood conduct problems: Results from NIMH Epidemiologic Catchment Area Project. Psychiatry, 54, 116–132.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rutter, M. (1989). Pathways from childhood to adult life. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 30, 23–51.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sanders, M.R., Dadds, M.R., Johnston, B.C., & Cash, R. (1992). Childhood depression and child conduct disorder: I. Behavioural, affective, and cognitive aspects of family problem solving interactions. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 101, 495–504.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sanders, M.R., & Markie-Dadds, C. (1992). Toward a technology of prevention of disruptive behaviour disorder: The role of behavioural family intervention. Behaviour Change, 9, 186–200.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sanders, M.R., & Markie-Dadds, C. (1996). Triple P: A multilevel family intervention program for children with disruptive behaviour disorders. In Cotton, P. & Jackson, H. (Eds.), Early intervention and prevention in mental health (pp. 59–85). Melbourne: The Australian Psychological Society.Google Scholar
Scott, S., (1998). Conduct disorder. In Howlin, P. (Ed.), Behavioural approaches to problems in childhood (pp. 1–27). London: Mac Keith Press.Google Scholar
Straus, M.A., Sugarman, D.B., & Giles-Sims, J. (1997). Spanking by parents and subsequent antisocial behavior in children. Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, 151, 761–767.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sturge, C. (1982). Reading retardation and antisocial behaviour. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 23, 21–31.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Van der Merwe, A.S. (1999). The power of women as nurses in South Africa. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 30, 1272–1279.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Vuchinich, S., Bank, L., & Patterson, G.R. (1992). Parenting, peers, and the stability of antisocial behavior in preadolescent boys. Developmental Psychology, 28, 510–521.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Webster-Stratton, C., & Hammond, M. (1997). Treating children with early-onset conduct problems: A comparison of child and parent training interventions. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 65, 93–109.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Zoccolillo (1993). Gender and the development of conduct disorder. Development and Psychopathology, 5, 65–78.CrossRefGoogle Scholar