The result of many studies is that developmental problems are coused by many socio-psychological factors in the environment of children. The purpose of the study is to investigate those factors.

The factors have been examined: characteristics of family functioning in a primary family and in a parents’ families; methods that parents use in upbringing and commitment of parents to the function of upbringing; basic personality structure of mother including her psychopathology. The sample: 90 children from a development counselling services and 61 children with no diagnosed disorders. Instruments: questionnaire about socio-demographic characteristics, GRADIR-test (measures family functioning), NEO FFI (measures basic personality structure), DELTA-9 (measures psychoticism proneness).

By factor analysis: a) two factors of characteristics of child behaviour (1. socially adapted child and 2. child with weak impulse control) b) three factors of characteristics of father (1. punishing father, 2. disinterested father, 3. traumatised father) c) three factors of characteristics of mother: (1. traumatised mother 2. mother who is not a victim 3. permissive mother) were extracted. One canonical discriminatory function has been extracted (r=0, 59; Wilks` Lambda=0,653; χ2=46,60923 ; t< 0,003) that expresses a system consisting of a well functioning mother, aggressive, punishing father and a child with a weak impulse control (externalisation).

The identified differentiating structure represents the composition of children symptoms, parents’ personality/behaviour and family problems that is most often detected by paediatricians as problematic and recommended for further treatment in a development counselling services.