Journal of Abnormal ChildPsychology, VoL 7, No. 1, 1979, pp. 61-75
Behavior Problems of Preschool Children: Dimensions and Congenital Correlates James P. O'Donnell 1 and Mark Van Tuinan
Southern Illinois University at Carbondale
Factor analysis o f a revised Behavior Problem Checklist for a sample o f preschool children yielded six oblique primary factors and two orthogonal secondorder factors. Scores on these factors were correlated with activity level, grossand fine-motor incoordination, minor physical anomalies, and sociability. There were sex differences and factor differences in the resulting patterns o f correlations. The patterns o f correlations also indicated that the six primary factors couM be collapsed into two broad (Conduct and Personality) and two narrow (Distractibility and Attention Seeking) factors. One of the most frequently used instruments in research into children's behavior disorders has been the Behavior Problem Checklist (BPC) (Quay & Peterson, Note 1). The 55 items of the BPC were the most frequent referral problems from a representative series of child guidance cases (peterson, 1961) and thus appear to be broadly representative of childhood psychopathological symptoms. Research with this instrument (Quay, 1977) has revealed that over half the variance among these items can be accounted for by three dimensions: aggressive, acting-out behavior (Conduct Problems); anxious, inhibited behavior (Personality Problems); and problems of age-inappropriate passivity or lack of interest (Inadequacy-Immaturity). Although these dimensions have emerged from ratings of elementary and junior high school children (Peterson, 1961; Quay & Quay, 1965), an assess-
Manuscript received in final form April 28, 1978. Address all correspondence to James P. O'Donnell, Department of Psychology, Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, Carbondale, Illinois 62901. 61 0091-0627/79/0300-0061503,00/0 0 1979 Plenum Publishing Corporation
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O'Donnell and Van Tuinan
ment of the dimensionality of the BPC for preschool children has not been undertaken. Because of the increased emphasis among mental health professionals on the early detection of behavior problems, because of the practical utility of behavior checklists as a part of early screening efforts (Richman & Graham, 1971 ; Schultz, Manton, & Salvia, 1972), and because of the representativeness of the BPC items, an investigation of the factor structure of the BPC for preschool children seemed appropriate. Early research with this checklist has been criticized for yielding too simplified a classification system for children's psychopathology because too few factors have been extracted from the intercorrelation matrices (e.g., Dielman, Cattell, & Lepper, 1971). Refinements in the methodology of factor analysis, however, now make it possible to decide relatively objectively how many factors to extract from a data matrix (Gorsuch, 1974). Thus one purpose of the present study was to investigate the dimensionality of the BPC for preschool children while using objective criteria to govern the decision of how many factors to extract. Based upon extensive research with older children (Quay, 1977), a general expectation was that primary dimensions of acting-out and anxious-inhibited behaviors would appear. There were no a priori expectations as to the content of other dimensions. In order for factorially derived symptom patterns to serve as a framework for describing children's psychopathology, each dimension should be embedded in a network of relationships with other biological, personality, and life history variables such that the pattern of relationships for one dimension is at least somewhat different from that of other dimensions. If the patterning of correlates is different for each primary dimension and if these patterns do not parallel a higher order factor structure, then there is justification for employing the primary factors as the basis of a classification system. A second purpose of the present research was to explore this possibility. Several investigators have commented on the significance for the development of children's behavior disorders of such congenital characteristics as activity level, motor incoordination, and minor physical anomalies (Bell, 1968; Stott, Marston, & Neill, 1975; Thomas, Chess, & Birch, 1968 ;Waldrop & Halverson, 1971), as well as on sex differences in these characteristics (Maccoby & Jacklin, 1974; Waldrop & Halverson, 1971). Sex differences in behavior problems have also been observed with boys exhibiting more acting-out behaviors and girls more symptoms of withdrawal and inhibition (Quay, 1972; Werry & Quay, 1971). The presence of sex differences both in behavior problems and in congenital characteristics suggests the possibility that there might be different patterns of correlations relating congenital characteristics to boys' and to girls' behavior problems. The third purpose of tiffs research was to explore this possibility.
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63
FACTOR ANALYSIS OF THE BPC
Subjects A total of 196 preschool children (101 boys and 95 girls) served as subjects for this study. They represented the entire population of children attending three nursery schools in the spring of 1973 and in the spring of 1975 whose parents did not refuse participation. Their ages ranged from 38 months to 72 months (M = 53.2 months, SD = 7.9 months). The three nursery schools attended by the children served predominantly middle-class families. Ninety percent of the children were white, 5% were black, and 5% were Oriental.
Behavior Checklist The BPC was modified by deleting six items that were obviously ageinappropriate (stays out late at night, steals in company with others, belongs to a gang, loyal to delinquent friends, truancy from school, and has bad companions). Six other items were substituted: (a) Two items were borrowed from the Connors (1970) list (sucks thumb, chews on things; and wants help on things he should do alone). (b) Two items in the BPC were expanded by combining them with items from the Connors list (restlessness, can't keep still, always into things; and fighting, hits or kicks other children). (c) One item was expanded on advice from a consulting teacher (attention seeking, demands adult attention either verbally~physically). (d) Finally, one item combined a teacherwritten item and an item from the Connors list (bossiness, picks on other children, wants to run things). There was a total of 56 items on the final version of the checklist. Each item was rated on a 3-point scale: never occurs = 0, sometimes occurs = 1, frequently occurs = 2. Nursery teachers rated the children on the basis of each child's nursery school behavior during the previous 2 months. Children had been known to their teachers for a mimimum of 4 months.
Statistical Analysis Fourteen items with less than 10N endorsement were deleted. The remaining 42 items were submitted to iterative principal axis factor analysis (squared multiple correlations as diagonal elements). Cattell's scree test (Gorsuch, 1974) was applied and indicated that six factors should be retained. To ensure that the male and female data could be legitimately combined for one analysis, six factors were extracted for each sex, rotated to the biquartimin criterion, and
O'Donnell and Van Tuinan
64
compared via congruence coefficients. The coefficients ranged from .72 to .90 (Median = .76). Since these coefficients were all statistically significant beyond the .001 level (Schneewind & Cattell, 1970) the data for males and females were combined. For the total sample the six retained factors, accounting for 53.8% of the total variance, were rotated to varimax, biquartimin, and covarimin criteria. The biquartimin rotation yielded the best approximation to simple structure: Designating .40 as a significant factor loading, only one item, boisterousness, loaded significantly on more than one factor, and only three items (tattles, problems of sucking, and passivity) did not saturate at least one factor. All other items saturated one factor and had negligible loadings on the remaining factors. Results and Discussion
The six biquartimin-rotated common factors are shown in Table I. Factor I loaded negativism, disruptiveness, destructiveness, impertinence, and fighting. This factor seeems to describe hostile, acting-out behavior and, following Peterson (1961) and Quay (1972), is named Conduct Problem. Factor II loaded feelings of inferiority, shyness, lack of self-confidence, and anxiety. It describes anxious, insecure, inhibited behavior, and appears similar to the Personality Problems factor obtained by previous investigators (Peterson, 1961; Quay 1972). The presence of these two dimensions as firstorder factors for preschool children confirms and extends earlier research with older children using the BPC (Quay, 1977). Since comparable factors have been obtained for preschool children by investigators using other checklists (Behar & Stringfield, 1974; Kohn & Rosman, 1972), it appears that available research confirms the presence of both acting-out and anxious-withdrawn patterns of psychopathology among preschoolers as well as among older children. The third factor, defined by high loadings on social withdrawal, sluggishness, preoccupation, doesn't have fun, and aloofness, seems to describe an apathetic social withdrawal. Earlier investigators have found a similar factor and variously labeled it autism or immaturity (Quay, 1972). We label this factor Social Withdrawal because the items convey an absence of social participation. The salient items of Factor IV (attention seeking, jealousy, and wants help on things he should do alone) seem to describe attention-getting behaviors and so this factor is named Attention Seeking. This factor has no counterpart in previous research and may represent an age-specific factor. Factor V was saturated by restlessness, hyperactivity, easily startled, tension, and rowdiness. It describes restless, undirected, hyperactive behavior. This factor has been named Hyperactivity because of its similarity to the clinical syndrome with the same name. Comparable factors have been obtained by Behar and Stringfield (1974) for preschoolers, and by Connors (1970), Dielman et al.
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Table I. Biquartimin-Rotated C o m m o n Factors a
37. Negativism 8. Disruptiveness 36. Destructiveness 38. Impertinence 24. Sneakiness 30. Uneooperativeness 21. Fighting 29. Disobedience 41. Irritability 10. Boisterousness 4. Bossiness 19. Inattentiveness 3. Show-off behavior 18. Lack of self-confidence 9. Feelings of inferiority 13. Shyness 6. Self-consciousness 25. Hypersensitivity 26. Anxiety 11. Crying over minor annoyances 20. Easily flustered and confused 32. Passivity 14. Social withdrawal 39. Sluggishness 12. Preoccupation 5. Doesn't know how to have fun 31. Aloofness 7. Lack of emotional reactivity 23. Reticence 1. Oddness 22. Attention seeking 15. Jealousy 42. Wants help 16. Tattles 27. Problems of sucking 2. Restlessness 34. Hyperactivity 40. Nervousness 28. Tension 35. Distractibility 17. Short attention span 33. Clumsy aDecimals omitted.
I
II
III
IV
V
VI
h2
87 79 78 77 77 70 70 68 64 54 51 51 48 -05 -12 -14 06 09 -18
-07 -06 -07 05 -02 09 02 -14 12 -04 01 10 -06 82 78 76 71 70 66
12 -05 03 10 07 07 -14 07 -16 -16 -25 03 -07 08 11 22 00 -00 10
04 05 -22 22 -09 -13 -01 07 -02 15 25 -11 30 -04 03 -02 16 15 04
01 21 01 -12 -31 15 06 25 08 40 01 17 28 15 19 06 05 -00 19
10 06 04 -05 -03 19 07 01 -02 01 14 38 17 -01 -04 01 30 -08 16
75 81 61 67 57 67 57 65 47 69 43 60 53 71 69 73 50 56 61
02
47
-15
25
07
06
36
12 02 -07 -14 -07
43 33 20 06 10
04 29 70 67 66
07 05 04 26 -04
-11 -01 -09 -13 10
31 30 01 24 15
39 40 65 61 53
-12 05
04 17
61 55
17 -03
08 -04
30 -31
47 47
09 32 31 01 21 01 27 -09 34 35 12 14 37 34 01
01 19 -14 11 15 35 17 24 -09 -05 36 25 -16 18 21
54 42 41 12 -03 08 05 10 -09 -14 -02 -00 02 -06 05
-07 05 -07 68 54 45 31 24 09 08 -08 -05 13 -13 -04
-14 -21 24 12 -27 -04 01 03 66 61 60 58 -03 15 13
26 01 -12 -13 25 23 08 04 -00 01 -06 03 63 44 40
40 40 30 57 48 52 27 17 74 69 47 46 62 50 30
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Table II. Product-Moment Correlations Among First-Order Common Factors a
I Conduct II Personality III Social withdrawal IV Attention seeking V Hyperactivity VI Distractibility
II
III
IV
07 -
02 20 b 29c 24c -04 -
V
VI
26 c -00 -10 26 c -
18 b 20b 03 07 40 c
a Decimals omitted. bp < .05. Cp < .01.
(1971), and Lessing and Zagorin (1971) for older children. Thus this factor also appears to have rather broad age generality. Factor VI has been named Distractibility because of the salient loadings it received from distractibility, short attention span, and clumsiness. Victor and Halverson (1975) obtained a similar factor from the teacher ratings of elementary school children. This factor also contains elements of Quay's (1972) Immaturity factor. Thus this factor has also been confirmed for other samples. Table II shows the intercorrelations among the six biquartimin-rotated common factors. Examination o f this table reveals significant correlations between Factor I and Factors IV, V, and VI; between Factor II and Factors III, IV, and VI; between Factors IV and V; and between Factors V and VI. To examine the patterning of these correlations objectively, a second-order iterative principal axis factor analysis was conducted. Since the scree test indicated that two factors should be retained, two factors were extracted and rotated to the biquartimin criterion (see Table III). The initial second-order factor was defined by primary factors V (Hyperactivity), VI (Distractibility), I (Conduct), and IV (Attention Seeking). The other second-order factor was defined by primary factors II (Personality) and III (Social Withdrawal). These two factors
Table III. Rotated Factor Matrix for Two Second-Order Factors a
Conduct Personality Social withdrawal Attention seeking Hyperactivity Distractibility a Decimals omitted.
I
II
34 23 -04 33 87 45
-00 99 30 12 -26 05
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67
are clearly the Conduct Problems and Personality Problems originally reported by Peterson (1961). The correlation between these second-order factors was -.07. Thus, for preschool children, the complex primary factor structure can be conveniently subsumed under two orthogonal second-order factors, one defined by acting-out, aggressive behaviors and the other by inhibited, anxious, and insecure behaviors. Investigations of elementary-aged children have typically obtained sex differences and occasionally age differences for factors extracted from the BPC (Quay, 1972; Werry & Quay, 1971). To examine the influence of age and sex on the six primary factors extracted in the present sample, a median-split was used to divide the children into older and younger groups and a series of six 2 • 2 analyses of variance were conducted. The dependent variable for each analysis was a factor score computed by summing the raw-score ratings for the salient items shown in Table I. It was found that boys had significantly more problems than girls on both the Conduct (F(1, 192) = 8.026, p < .005) and hyperactivity (F(1, 192) = 14.864, p < .001) factors, which parallels previous findings with older children. Post hoc analysis of a significant sex • age interaction for Attention Seeking (F(1, 192) = 4.180, p < .05) indicated that older girls had more such problems than younger girls (Tukey a = 3.71, df = 4,192, p < .05). No other main effects or interactions were significant. Finally, the reliability of the factor scores was obtained by computing product-moment correlations for the independent ratings of two teachers for all 39 children attending one nursery school. The resulting coefficients were as follows: Conduct = .65, Personality = .53, Social Withdrawal = .60, Attention Seeking = .37, Hyperactivity = .68, Distractibility = .44. Not surprisingly, the greatest agreement was for those scales (Conduct and Hyperactivity) whose items are most open to direct observation, while the lowest reliability was for the brief, three-item scales (Attention Seeking and Distractibility). For the second-order Conduct and Personality factors the interrater reliabilities were .64 and .46, respectively.
CONGENITAL CORRELATES OF BEHAVIOR PROBLEMS
The importance of studying the influence of congenital characteristics on behavior problems has been noted by several investigators (Bell, 1968; Stott et al., 1975; Thomas et al., 1968). Activity level has been shown to be under at least partial genetic control (Scarf, 1966; Willerman, 1973) and a chronically high level of activity has been associated with a variety of acting-out behaviors (Chess, 1960; Stewart, Pitts, Craig, & Dieruf, 1966). Gross-motor and finemotor incoordination have also been linked to acting-out behavior problems (Stott et al., 1975). In the present study, it was anticipated that these characteristics would be positively related to acting-out, hyperactive behaviors but uncorrelated with anxious, inhibited behaviors.
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The 18 minor physical anomalies described by Waldrop and Halverson (1971) are indicators of altered morphogenesis (Smith, 1970). An anomalies score was included in the present study as a biological marker variable. On the basis of previous research (Waldrop & Halverson, 1971) it was expected that minor physical anomalies would be related to boys' uncontrolled hyperactive behavior and to girls' withdrawn, inhibited behavior. Finally, observations were made of four categories of social behavior (adapted from Maccoby & Feldman, 1972), which appear to represent friendly, social interaction. It was assumed that these categories reflect sociability, a characteristic under at least partial genetic control (Bell, 1968; Scarr, 1969), and that a score based on these behaviors would be inversely related to anxious, inhibited behaviors and unrelated to acting-out behaviors.
Subjects From a total of 90 children attending the same three preschools, completed data were collected on 86 (39 girls and 47 boys). Attrition was due to lack of cooperation (N = 3) and withdrawal from school (N = 1). The children ranged in age from 38 to 72 months (M = 51.6, SD = 8.2). All of the children were middle class, 82 were white, 4 were black, and 4 were Oriental.
Materials and Procedures Activity Level. Each child was observed during free play for 20 10-second intervals on each of 3 different days. The intervals were distributed across a 45-minute free-play period and observations were separated by 5 to 7 days. At the end of each 10-second interval the child was rated for the occurrence of an ann, a leg, or a trunk movement. The dependent variable was the total number of intervals in which a movement occurred. Interobserver agreement averaged 92% for 10 randomly selected children. Gross-Motor lncoordination. Three tasks from the McCarthy Scales of Children's Abilities (McCarthy, 1970) were administered to each child; Walk a Straight Line, Walk Backwards, and Stand on One Foot. Each task was scored 0, 1, or 2 according to standards given in the manual, with high scores reflecting poor coordination. The dependent variable was the sum of the three task scores. Fine-Motor lncoordination. Two tasks, both taken from the Merill-Palmer Preschool Scales (Stutsman, 1931)were administered in order to assess finemotor incoordination. The Wallin Pegboard (B) and its six square pegs were laid on a table before the child as described in the manual, and the child was instructed to replace the pegs in their holes. Three trials were given and the time to replace the pegs (in seconds) was recorded for each trial. For the Buttons and Buttonholes task, three pairs of 7.52 X 15.2 mm strips of cotton flannel were
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69
presented to the child one pair at a time. One member of each pair contained either one, two, or four 1.52-mm buttons and the other member contained corresponding 2.3-mm buttonholes. Using demonstration, the child was instructed to button the strips together. Time in seconds to complete each pair of strips was recorded. The dependent variable for this task was the total time on all trials for both tasks. Thus high scores denote fine-motor incoordination. Minor Physical Anomalies. Each child was rated for the presence or absence of the 18 minor physical anomalies described by Waldrop and Halverson (1971). The dependent variable was the frequency of anomalies observed. Reliabilities as high as .70 have been reported for this measure (Waldrop & Halverson, 1971). Sociability. Four categories of behavior reflecting social interaction were adapted from Maccoby and Feldman (1972): Verbalization to Others, Smiling to Others, Interaction with Children, and Looks at Children. Each child was observed during free play and rated (0, 1, 2) following each of 16 30-second intervals, 4 intervals on each of 4 days. Ten minutes separated the intervals and 1 week separated the observation days. Interrater agreement for the four categories ranged from 63.2% to 91.1% (M = 79.5%). The dependent variable was the sum of the ratings across intervals and days.
Results and Discussion Table IV shows product-moment correlations between the congenital characteristics and each behavior problem dimension separately for each sex. Examination of this table indicates that, for boys, significant correlations in the expected direction (p = .05, one-tailed) emerge between Conduct and Hyperactivity, on the one hand, and activity level, gross-motor incoordination, and minor physical anomalies, on the other. For girls, activity level and gross-motor incoordination, but not anomalies, also are correlated with Conduct. However, girls' Hyperactivity is significantly related only to gross-motor incoordination. Furthermore, as expected, sociability is unrelated to either Conduct or Hyperactivity for either sex. Further examination of Table IV shows that boys' Distractibility is significantly related to both gross- and fine-motor incoordination, and to minor physical anomalies (p = .05; two-tailed), whereas girls' Distractibility is uncorrelated with any dependent variable. These findings partially confirm the earlier results of Victor and Halverson (1975), who obtained a significant negative relationship between physical fitness and Distractibility in their sample of elementary school children. For Personality and SOcial Withdrawal the only correlations that emerge as significant and in the predicted direction are with girls' sociability (Personality: r = -.26, p < .10; Social Withdrawal: r = -.53, p < .05). The significant (p = .05; two-tailed) correlations between boys' Social Withdrawal and activity level
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Table IV. Product-Moment Correlations Between Congenital Characteristics and Behavior Problem Dimensionsa
Conduct Personality Social withdrawal Attention seeking Hyperactivity Distractibility
Boys b Girls b Boys Girls Boys Girls Boys Girls Boys Girls Boys Girls
Activity level
Gross motor
Fine motor
Physical anomalies
Social behavior
29 c 40 c -25 -03 -31 e -30 10 15 31 c 20 07 24
41 c 30 c 22 -25 06 06 18 -05 27 c 28 c 51 e 11
-03 11 -07 13 -04 13 06 51 e -17 19 30 e 18
29 c -09 20 -15 31 e 03 22 -11 33 c 02 49 e 11
03 22 -05 -25 d -15 -58 c 11 02 05 17 -08 -07
aDecimals omitted. bFor boys, df = 45 ; for girls, df = 37. Cp = .05, one-tailed. dp = .10, one-tailed. ep = .05, two-tailed.
and minor physical anomalies are unexpected.: Finally, a significant (p = .05, two-tailed) but unpredicted correlation appears between fine-motor incoordination and girls' Attention Seeking, whereas boys' Attention Seeking is unrelated to any independent variable. Thus the data suggest that the patterns of correlates for each of the behavior problem dimensions are somewhat different. To evaluate possible sex differences, Fisher's r to z' transformation was performed and t tests were computed between corresponding boys' and girls' correlation coefficients for all pairs where at least one member was significantly different from zero. All t tests were two-tailed except for anomalies, where previous research (Waldrop & Halverson, 1971) leads to the expectation that there should be a stronger relationship between anomalies and acting-out, distractible behaviors for boys than for girls. The results of these t tests indicate that the correlation between anomalies and Conduct is significantly higher for boys (t(84) = 1.769, p < .05), that the correlation between anomalies and Hyperactivity is marginally higher for boys (t(84) = 1.431, p < . 1 0 ) , and that the correlations between gross-
Since withdrawn behavior was defined somewhat differently in the present study from the way it was in previous studies and since previous research (e.g., Waldrop & Halverson, 1971) has not reported a correlation between anomalies and withdrawn behavior for boys, this correlation will not be further interpreted.
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motor incoordination and Distractibility and between anomalies and Distractibility are marginally higher for boys (t(84) = 2.222, p < .05). No other t's attained statistical significance. These significant differences between correlations indicate the presence of sex differences in the patterning of variables associated with Conduct, Hyperactivity, Distractibility, and Attention Seeking. Sex differences in the patterns of correlates for Personality Problems and Social Withdrawal do not emerge. Thus, despite the similarity in the factor structure of behavior problems for the two sexes, there appear to be sex differences in the patterns of congenital variables associated with four of the behavior problem dimensions: Conduct, Attention Seeking, Hyperactivity, and Distractibility. The principal sex difference that emerges for Conduct, Hyperactivity, and Distractibility is the consistent association of minor physical anomalies with these dimensions for boys but not for girls. These findings are consistent with the results of previous research (Halverson & Victor, 1976; Waldrop & Halverson, 1971). The presence of minor physical anomalies is generally thought to reflect variations in chromosome structure (Smith, 1970). Thus the significant correlations between anomalies and behavior problems for boys suggest a biological contribution to these problems. Examination of Table IV indicates that, within each sex, the significant correlates of Conduct and Hyperactivity are the same and that the magnitude and direction of the correlations are highly similar. Since the correlation between the Conduct and Hyperactivity factors is significant (see Table II) and since the patterning of the correlates of these dimensions is highly similar within each sex (Table IV), it appears that the present data do not warrant treating these dimensions as separate constructs. Werry (1972) reviewed several investigations of correlates of the hyperkinetic syndrome and concluded that the data did not warrant treating this syndrome as distinct from Conduct Problems. The present findings are consistent with Werry's conclusion. A similar situation appears to obtain for the Personality and Social Withdrawal dimensions. Both factors are positively correlated (Table II), and the patterns of correlates are highly similar within each sex and are not significantly different between the sexes. Therefore, these factors also appear to reflect the same construct. Although the Distractibility factor is correlated with Conduct, Personality, and Hyperactivity (Table II), the patterns of correlates for Distractibility are somewhat different than for Conduct or Hyperactivity (and completely different from Personality). Also, there are marked sex differences for congenital characteristics associated with Distractibility. Therefore, the data suggest that this dimension is conceptually separate from the remaining behavior problem factors. Similarly, both the pattern of correlations and the marked sex differences suggest that Attention Seeking is also a conceptually distinct behavior problem dimension, at least for preschool children.
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Table V. Beta Weights and Multiple Regression Coefficient a
Conduct Social withdrawal Hyperactivity Distractibility
Sex
Activity level
Gross motor
Boys Girls Boys
37 c 46 c -31 d
44 c 38 d
Boys
37 c
28 c
Boys
37 c
Fine motor
Anomalies
R
~b
33 d
59 55 44
55 51 39
3 , 4 3 6.20 c 2 , 3 6 6.29c 2 , 4 4 4.03d
27 d
53
48
3 , 4 3 4.21d
42 c
68
65
3 , 4 3 10.72c
20
22
df
F
a Decimals omitted. bMultiple correlations corrected for shrinkage. Cp < .01. dp < .05.
For the Conduct, Social Withdrawal, Hyperactivity, and Distractibility dimensions there is more than one significant correlate. In an effort to determine whether each of these correlates accounts for significant variance in the behavior problems variables independently of the other correlates, a series of multiple regression analyses were conducted. Only the significant correlates were entered into the regression equations in order to eliminate the influence of suppressor variables. The results of these analyses are given in Table V, the body of which shows standardized regression weights (beta weights), multiple correlations (R), and multiple correlations corrected for shrinkage (R') according to the formula given by Cohen and Cohen (1975). The F ratios in the last column are for the corrected multiple correlations. Examination of the beta weights in Table V reveals that, for both sexes, activity level and gross-motor incoordination contribute statistically significant independent variance to the explanation of Conduct Problems. However, boys' anomalies score is not independent of activity level and motor incoordination. Similarly, for boys, activity level, gross-motor incoordination, and minor physical anomalies all account for statistically significant independent variance in Hyperactivity; and gross-motor incoordination and anomalies account for independent variance in Distractibility. Thus the regression analyses indicate that congenital characteristics such as activity level, gross-motor incoordination, and minor physical anomalies contribute independent variance to the explanation of Conduct (both sexes), Hyperactivity (boys), and Distractibility (boys). These findings suggest a multiple congenital determination for these problems.
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G E N E R A L DISCUSSION
In finding six oblique primary factors in the BPC ratings of preschool children, the present results are congruent with those of Dielman et al. (1971). Although these two studies rated children of different ages and used somewhat different checklists, both suggest that the factorial domain of children's psychopathology is more complex than previously described. However, whether many narrow factors or fewer broad factors would be more useful in generating a framework for describing and organizing children's psychopathology depends also upon the network of correlations relating these dimensions to other biological, family, and life history variables. Both Kohn (1977) and Peterson (1961) have favored using broad higher order behavior problem dimensions in the investigation of children's psychopathology. Some of the present findings are consistent with such a position. Since, within each sex, the correlates are the same for Conduct and Hyperactivity and since the multiple regression analyses indicate that boys' anomalies are not independent of activity and gross motor, it appears that the first-order dimensions, Conduct and Hyperactivity, could be combined into a higher order Conduct Problems dimension for both sexes. Similarly, the absence of either sex differences or differences in patterns of correlates for Personality or Social Withdrawal suggests that these dimensions could be combined into a higher order Personality Problems dimension for both sexes. On the other hand, the presence of both, sex differences and differences in the pattern of correlates suggests that the first-order factor, Distractibility, should be retained as a conceptually distinct dimension. This finding agrees with that of Victor and Halverson (1975), who investigated elementary-aged children. For the same reasons, Attention Seeking should also be retained. Thus the combination of factor analysis with correlational analysis suggests that the domain of behavior problems for preschool children can be represented by two relatively broad dimensions (Conduct and Personality) together with two narrow dimensions (Attention Seeking and Distractibility). With the exception of Attention Seeking (which may be age-specific), the resulting framework bears a remarkable resemblance to three of the dimensions described by Quay (1972). Finally, in the present study, the finding that congenital characteristics are differentially related to children's symptom patterns has implications for etiological theories of children's psychopathology. Both Bell (1968) and Thomas et al. (1968) have discussed the importance of such characteristics as contributors to symptom development. These discussions suggest that congenital characteristics may create a vulnerability in children to other stressors. However, a determination of the ways in which these characteristics interact with parent child-rearing practices and other psychosocial events to produce behavior problems awaits further research.
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O'DonneU and Van Tuinan REFERENCE NOTE
1. Quay, H. C., & Peterson, D. R. Manual for the behavior problem checklist. Unpublished manuscript, University of Miami, 1975.
REFERENCES Behar, L. & Stringfield, S. A behavior rating scale for the preschool child. Developmental Psychology, 1974, 10, 601-610. Bell, R. Q. A reinterpretation of the direction of effects in studies of socialization. Psychological Review, 1968, 75, 31-95. Chess, S. Diagnosis and treatment of the hyperactive child. New York State Journal o f Medicine, 1960, 60, 2379-2385. Cohen, J., & Cohen, P. Applied multiple regression~correlation analysis for the behavior sciences. New York: Wiley, 1975. Connors, C. K. Symptom patterns in hyperkinetic, neurotic, and normal children. Child Development, 1970, 41, 667-682. Dielman, T. E., Cattell, R. B., & Lepper, C. Dimensions of problem behavior in the early grades. Journal o f Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 1971, 3 7, 243-249. Gorsuch, R. L. Factor analysis. Philadelphia: Saunders, 1974. Halverson, C. F., & Victor, J. B. Minor physical anomalies and problem behavior in elementary school children. Child Development, 1976, 47, 281-285. Kohn, M. The Kohn Social Competence Scale and Kohn Symptom Checklist for the Preschool Child: A follow-up report. Journal o f Abnormal Child Psychology, 1977, 5, 249-263. Kohn, M., & Rosman, B. L. A social competence scale and symptom checklist for the preschool child. Developmental Psychology, 1972, 6, 430-434. Lessing, E. E., & Zagorin, S. W. Dimensions of psychopathology in middle childhood as evaluated by three symptom checklists. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 1971,31, 175-198. Maccoby, E. E., & Feldman, S. S. Mother-attachment and stranger reactions in the third year of life. Monographs o f the Society for Research in Child Development, 1972, 37 (1, Serial No. 146). Maccoby, E. E., & Jacklin, C. N, The psychology o f sex differences. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1974. McCarthy, D. M. McCarthy scales o f children's abilities. New York: Psychological Corporation, 1970. Peterson, D. R. Behavior problems of middle childhood. Journal o f Consulting Psychology, 1961, 25, 205-209. Quay, H. C. Patterns of aggression, withdrawal, and immaturity. In H. C. Quay & J. S. Werry (Eds.), Psychopathological disorders of childhood. New York: Wiley, 1972. Quay, H. C. Measuring dimensions of deviant behavior: The behavior problem checklist. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 1977,5, 277-287. Quay, H. C., & Quay, L. C. Behavior problems in early adolescence. Child Development, 1965, 36, 215-220. Richman, N., & Graham, P. J. A behavior screening questionnaire for use with three-year old children: Preliminary findings. Journal o f Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 1971, 12, 5-33. Scarf, S. Genetic factors in activity motivation. Child Development, 1966, 37, 663-673. Scarf, S. Social introversion-extraversion as a heritable response. Child Development, 1969, 40, 823-842. Schneewind, K. A., & Cattell, R. B. Zum problem der factoridentffication: Verteilungen und vertrauensintervalle von Kongruenzkoeffizienten fiir personlichkeitsfaktoren im bereich objektiv-analytischer tests. Psychologische Beitrage, 1970, I2, 214-226.
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Schultz, E. W., Manton, A. B., & Salvia, J. A. Screening emotionally disturbed children in a rural setting. Exceptional Children, 1972, 39, 134-137. Smith, D. W. Recognizable patterns o f human mal]ormation. Philadelphia: Saunders, 1970. Stewart, M. A., Pitts, F. N., Craig, A. G., & Dieruf, W. The hyperactive child syndrome. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 1966, 36, 861-867. Stott, D. H., Marston, N. C., & Neill, S. J. Taxonomy o f behavior disturbance. London: University of London Press, 1975. Stutsman, R. Mental measurement o f preschool children. Tarrytown-on-Hudson, New York: World Book Co., 1931. Thomas, A., Chess, S., & Birch, H. G. Temperament and behavior disorders in children. New York: New York University Press, 1968. Victor, J. B., & Halverson, C. F. Distractibility and hypersensitivity: Two factors in elementary school children. Journal o f Abnormal Child Psychology, 1975,3, 83-94. Waldrop, M. F., & Halverson, C. F. Minor physical anomalies and hyperactive behavior in young children. In J. Hellmuth (Ed.), The exceptional infant (Vol. 2). New York: Brunner/Mazel, 1971. Werry, J. S. Organic factors in childhood psychopathology. In H. C. Quay & J. S. Werry (Eds.), Psychopathological disorders o f childhood. New York: Wiley, 1972. Werry, J. S., & Quay, H. C. The prevalence of behavior symptoms in younger elementary school children. American Journal o f Orthopsychiatry, 1971, 41, 136-143. Willerman, L. Activity level and hyperactivity in twins. Child Development, 1973, 44, 288-293.
Behavior Problems of Preschool Children: Dimensions and Congenital Correlates James P. O'Donnell 1 and Mark Van Tuinan
Southern Illinois University at Carbondale
Factor analysis o f a revised Behavior Problem Checklist for a sample o f preschool children yielded six oblique primary factors and two orthogonal secondorder factors. Scores on these factors were correlated with activity level, grossand fine-motor incoordination, minor physical anomalies, and sociability. There were sex differences and factor differences in the resulting patterns o f correlations. The patterns o f correlations also indicated that the six primary factors couM be collapsed into two broad (Conduct and Personality) and two narrow (Distractibility and Attention Seeking) factors. One of the most frequently used instruments in research into children's behavior disorders has been the Behavior Problem Checklist (BPC) (Quay & Peterson, Note 1). The 55 items of the BPC were the most frequent referral problems from a representative series of child guidance cases (peterson, 1961) and thus appear to be broadly representative of childhood psychopathological symptoms. Research with this instrument (Quay, 1977) has revealed that over half the variance among these items can be accounted for by three dimensions: aggressive, acting-out behavior (Conduct Problems); anxious, inhibited behavior (Personality Problems); and problems of age-inappropriate passivity or lack of interest (Inadequacy-Immaturity). Although these dimensions have emerged from ratings of elementary and junior high school children (Peterson, 1961; Quay & Quay, 1965), an assess-
Manuscript received in final form April 28, 1978. Address all correspondence to James P. O'Donnell, Department of Psychology, Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, Carbondale, Illinois 62901. 61 0091-0627/79/0300-0061503,00/0 0 1979 Plenum Publishing Corporation
62
O'Donnell and Van Tuinan
ment of the dimensionality of the BPC for preschool children has not been undertaken. Because of the increased emphasis among mental health professionals on the early detection of behavior problems, because of the practical utility of behavior checklists as a part of early screening efforts (Richman & Graham, 1971 ; Schultz, Manton, & Salvia, 1972), and because of the representativeness of the BPC items, an investigation of the factor structure of the BPC for preschool children seemed appropriate. Early research with this checklist has been criticized for yielding too simplified a classification system for children's psychopathology because too few factors have been extracted from the intercorrelation matrices (e.g., Dielman, Cattell, & Lepper, 1971). Refinements in the methodology of factor analysis, however, now make it possible to decide relatively objectively how many factors to extract from a data matrix (Gorsuch, 1974). Thus one purpose of the present study was to investigate the dimensionality of the BPC for preschool children while using objective criteria to govern the decision of how many factors to extract. Based upon extensive research with older children (Quay, 1977), a general expectation was that primary dimensions of acting-out and anxious-inhibited behaviors would appear. There were no a priori expectations as to the content of other dimensions. In order for factorially derived symptom patterns to serve as a framework for describing children's psychopathology, each dimension should be embedded in a network of relationships with other biological, personality, and life history variables such that the pattern of relationships for one dimension is at least somewhat different from that of other dimensions. If the patterning of correlates is different for each primary dimension and if these patterns do not parallel a higher order factor structure, then there is justification for employing the primary factors as the basis of a classification system. A second purpose of the present research was to explore this possibility. Several investigators have commented on the significance for the development of children's behavior disorders of such congenital characteristics as activity level, motor incoordination, and minor physical anomalies (Bell, 1968; Stott, Marston, & Neill, 1975; Thomas, Chess, & Birch, 1968 ;Waldrop & Halverson, 1971), as well as on sex differences in these characteristics (Maccoby & Jacklin, 1974; Waldrop & Halverson, 1971). Sex differences in behavior problems have also been observed with boys exhibiting more acting-out behaviors and girls more symptoms of withdrawal and inhibition (Quay, 1972; Werry & Quay, 1971). The presence of sex differences both in behavior problems and in congenital characteristics suggests the possibility that there might be different patterns of correlations relating congenital characteristics to boys' and to girls' behavior problems. The third purpose of tiffs research was to explore this possibility.
Behavior Problems of Preschool Children
63
FACTOR ANALYSIS OF THE BPC
Subjects A total of 196 preschool children (101 boys and 95 girls) served as subjects for this study. They represented the entire population of children attending three nursery schools in the spring of 1973 and in the spring of 1975 whose parents did not refuse participation. Their ages ranged from 38 months to 72 months (M = 53.2 months, SD = 7.9 months). The three nursery schools attended by the children served predominantly middle-class families. Ninety percent of the children were white, 5% were black, and 5% were Oriental.
Behavior Checklist The BPC was modified by deleting six items that were obviously ageinappropriate (stays out late at night, steals in company with others, belongs to a gang, loyal to delinquent friends, truancy from school, and has bad companions). Six other items were substituted: (a) Two items were borrowed from the Connors (1970) list (sucks thumb, chews on things; and wants help on things he should do alone). (b) Two items in the BPC were expanded by combining them with items from the Connors list (restlessness, can't keep still, always into things; and fighting, hits or kicks other children). (c) One item was expanded on advice from a consulting teacher (attention seeking, demands adult attention either verbally~physically). (d) Finally, one item combined a teacherwritten item and an item from the Connors list (bossiness, picks on other children, wants to run things). There was a total of 56 items on the final version of the checklist. Each item was rated on a 3-point scale: never occurs = 0, sometimes occurs = 1, frequently occurs = 2. Nursery teachers rated the children on the basis of each child's nursery school behavior during the previous 2 months. Children had been known to their teachers for a mimimum of 4 months.
Statistical Analysis Fourteen items with less than 10N endorsement were deleted. The remaining 42 items were submitted to iterative principal axis factor analysis (squared multiple correlations as diagonal elements). Cattell's scree test (Gorsuch, 1974) was applied and indicated that six factors should be retained. To ensure that the male and female data could be legitimately combined for one analysis, six factors were extracted for each sex, rotated to the biquartimin criterion, and
O'Donnell and Van Tuinan
64
compared via congruence coefficients. The coefficients ranged from .72 to .90 (Median = .76). Since these coefficients were all statistically significant beyond the .001 level (Schneewind & Cattell, 1970) the data for males and females were combined. For the total sample the six retained factors, accounting for 53.8% of the total variance, were rotated to varimax, biquartimin, and covarimin criteria. The biquartimin rotation yielded the best approximation to simple structure: Designating .40 as a significant factor loading, only one item, boisterousness, loaded significantly on more than one factor, and only three items (tattles, problems of sucking, and passivity) did not saturate at least one factor. All other items saturated one factor and had negligible loadings on the remaining factors. Results and Discussion
The six biquartimin-rotated common factors are shown in Table I. Factor I loaded negativism, disruptiveness, destructiveness, impertinence, and fighting. This factor seeems to describe hostile, acting-out behavior and, following Peterson (1961) and Quay (1972), is named Conduct Problem. Factor II loaded feelings of inferiority, shyness, lack of self-confidence, and anxiety. It describes anxious, insecure, inhibited behavior, and appears similar to the Personality Problems factor obtained by previous investigators (Peterson, 1961; Quay 1972). The presence of these two dimensions as firstorder factors for preschool children confirms and extends earlier research with older children using the BPC (Quay, 1977). Since comparable factors have been obtained for preschool children by investigators using other checklists (Behar & Stringfield, 1974; Kohn & Rosman, 1972), it appears that available research confirms the presence of both acting-out and anxious-withdrawn patterns of psychopathology among preschoolers as well as among older children. The third factor, defined by high loadings on social withdrawal, sluggishness, preoccupation, doesn't have fun, and aloofness, seems to describe an apathetic social withdrawal. Earlier investigators have found a similar factor and variously labeled it autism or immaturity (Quay, 1972). We label this factor Social Withdrawal because the items convey an absence of social participation. The salient items of Factor IV (attention seeking, jealousy, and wants help on things he should do alone) seem to describe attention-getting behaviors and so this factor is named Attention Seeking. This factor has no counterpart in previous research and may represent an age-specific factor. Factor V was saturated by restlessness, hyperactivity, easily startled, tension, and rowdiness. It describes restless, undirected, hyperactive behavior. This factor has been named Hyperactivity because of its similarity to the clinical syndrome with the same name. Comparable factors have been obtained by Behar and Stringfield (1974) for preschoolers, and by Connors (1970), Dielman et al.
Behavior Problems of Preschool Children
65
Table I. Biquartimin-Rotated C o m m o n Factors a
37. Negativism 8. Disruptiveness 36. Destructiveness 38. Impertinence 24. Sneakiness 30. Uneooperativeness 21. Fighting 29. Disobedience 41. Irritability 10. Boisterousness 4. Bossiness 19. Inattentiveness 3. Show-off behavior 18. Lack of self-confidence 9. Feelings of inferiority 13. Shyness 6. Self-consciousness 25. Hypersensitivity 26. Anxiety 11. Crying over minor annoyances 20. Easily flustered and confused 32. Passivity 14. Social withdrawal 39. Sluggishness 12. Preoccupation 5. Doesn't know how to have fun 31. Aloofness 7. Lack of emotional reactivity 23. Reticence 1. Oddness 22. Attention seeking 15. Jealousy 42. Wants help 16. Tattles 27. Problems of sucking 2. Restlessness 34. Hyperactivity 40. Nervousness 28. Tension 35. Distractibility 17. Short attention span 33. Clumsy aDecimals omitted.
I
II
III
IV
V
VI
h2
87 79 78 77 77 70 70 68 64 54 51 51 48 -05 -12 -14 06 09 -18
-07 -06 -07 05 -02 09 02 -14 12 -04 01 10 -06 82 78 76 71 70 66
12 -05 03 10 07 07 -14 07 -16 -16 -25 03 -07 08 11 22 00 -00 10
04 05 -22 22 -09 -13 -01 07 -02 15 25 -11 30 -04 03 -02 16 15 04
01 21 01 -12 -31 15 06 25 08 40 01 17 28 15 19 06 05 -00 19
10 06 04 -05 -03 19 07 01 -02 01 14 38 17 -01 -04 01 30 -08 16
75 81 61 67 57 67 57 65 47 69 43 60 53 71 69 73 50 56 61
02
47
-15
25
07
06
36
12 02 -07 -14 -07
43 33 20 06 10
04 29 70 67 66
07 05 04 26 -04
-11 -01 -09 -13 10
31 30 01 24 15
39 40 65 61 53
-12 05
04 17
61 55
17 -03
08 -04
30 -31
47 47
09 32 31 01 21 01 27 -09 34 35 12 14 37 34 01
01 19 -14 11 15 35 17 24 -09 -05 36 25 -16 18 21
54 42 41 12 -03 08 05 10 -09 -14 -02 -00 02 -06 05
-07 05 -07 68 54 45 31 24 09 08 -08 -05 13 -13 -04
-14 -21 24 12 -27 -04 01 03 66 61 60 58 -03 15 13
26 01 -12 -13 25 23 08 04 -00 01 -06 03 63 44 40
40 40 30 57 48 52 27 17 74 69 47 46 62 50 30
O'Donnell and Van Tuinan
66
Table II. Product-Moment Correlations Among First-Order Common Factors a
I Conduct II Personality III Social withdrawal IV Attention seeking V Hyperactivity VI Distractibility
II
III
IV
07 -
02 20 b 29c 24c -04 -
V
VI
26 c -00 -10 26 c -
18 b 20b 03 07 40 c
a Decimals omitted. bp < .05. Cp < .01.
(1971), and Lessing and Zagorin (1971) for older children. Thus this factor also appears to have rather broad age generality. Factor VI has been named Distractibility because of the salient loadings it received from distractibility, short attention span, and clumsiness. Victor and Halverson (1975) obtained a similar factor from the teacher ratings of elementary school children. This factor also contains elements of Quay's (1972) Immaturity factor. Thus this factor has also been confirmed for other samples. Table II shows the intercorrelations among the six biquartimin-rotated common factors. Examination o f this table reveals significant correlations between Factor I and Factors IV, V, and VI; between Factor II and Factors III, IV, and VI; between Factors IV and V; and between Factors V and VI. To examine the patterning of these correlations objectively, a second-order iterative principal axis factor analysis was conducted. Since the scree test indicated that two factors should be retained, two factors were extracted and rotated to the biquartimin criterion (see Table III). The initial second-order factor was defined by primary factors V (Hyperactivity), VI (Distractibility), I (Conduct), and IV (Attention Seeking). The other second-order factor was defined by primary factors II (Personality) and III (Social Withdrawal). These two factors
Table III. Rotated Factor Matrix for Two Second-Order Factors a
Conduct Personality Social withdrawal Attention seeking Hyperactivity Distractibility a Decimals omitted.
I
II
34 23 -04 33 87 45
-00 99 30 12 -26 05
Behavior Problems of Preschool Children
67
are clearly the Conduct Problems and Personality Problems originally reported by Peterson (1961). The correlation between these second-order factors was -.07. Thus, for preschool children, the complex primary factor structure can be conveniently subsumed under two orthogonal second-order factors, one defined by acting-out, aggressive behaviors and the other by inhibited, anxious, and insecure behaviors. Investigations of elementary-aged children have typically obtained sex differences and occasionally age differences for factors extracted from the BPC (Quay, 1972; Werry & Quay, 1971). To examine the influence of age and sex on the six primary factors extracted in the present sample, a median-split was used to divide the children into older and younger groups and a series of six 2 • 2 analyses of variance were conducted. The dependent variable for each analysis was a factor score computed by summing the raw-score ratings for the salient items shown in Table I. It was found that boys had significantly more problems than girls on both the Conduct (F(1, 192) = 8.026, p < .005) and hyperactivity (F(1, 192) = 14.864, p < .001) factors, which parallels previous findings with older children. Post hoc analysis of a significant sex • age interaction for Attention Seeking (F(1, 192) = 4.180, p < .05) indicated that older girls had more such problems than younger girls (Tukey a = 3.71, df = 4,192, p < .05). No other main effects or interactions were significant. Finally, the reliability of the factor scores was obtained by computing product-moment correlations for the independent ratings of two teachers for all 39 children attending one nursery school. The resulting coefficients were as follows: Conduct = .65, Personality = .53, Social Withdrawal = .60, Attention Seeking = .37, Hyperactivity = .68, Distractibility = .44. Not surprisingly, the greatest agreement was for those scales (Conduct and Hyperactivity) whose items are most open to direct observation, while the lowest reliability was for the brief, three-item scales (Attention Seeking and Distractibility). For the second-order Conduct and Personality factors the interrater reliabilities were .64 and .46, respectively.
CONGENITAL CORRELATES OF BEHAVIOR PROBLEMS
The importance of studying the influence of congenital characteristics on behavior problems has been noted by several investigators (Bell, 1968; Stott et al., 1975; Thomas et al., 1968). Activity level has been shown to be under at least partial genetic control (Scarf, 1966; Willerman, 1973) and a chronically high level of activity has been associated with a variety of acting-out behaviors (Chess, 1960; Stewart, Pitts, Craig, & Dieruf, 1966). Gross-motor and finemotor incoordination have also been linked to acting-out behavior problems (Stott et al., 1975). In the present study, it was anticipated that these characteristics would be positively related to acting-out, hyperactive behaviors but uncorrelated with anxious, inhibited behaviors.
68
O'Donnell and Van Tuinan
The 18 minor physical anomalies described by Waldrop and Halverson (1971) are indicators of altered morphogenesis (Smith, 1970). An anomalies score was included in the present study as a biological marker variable. On the basis of previous research (Waldrop & Halverson, 1971) it was expected that minor physical anomalies would be related to boys' uncontrolled hyperactive behavior and to girls' withdrawn, inhibited behavior. Finally, observations were made of four categories of social behavior (adapted from Maccoby & Feldman, 1972), which appear to represent friendly, social interaction. It was assumed that these categories reflect sociability, a characteristic under at least partial genetic control (Bell, 1968; Scarr, 1969), and that a score based on these behaviors would be inversely related to anxious, inhibited behaviors and unrelated to acting-out behaviors.
Subjects From a total of 90 children attending the same three preschools, completed data were collected on 86 (39 girls and 47 boys). Attrition was due to lack of cooperation (N = 3) and withdrawal from school (N = 1). The children ranged in age from 38 to 72 months (M = 51.6, SD = 8.2). All of the children were middle class, 82 were white, 4 were black, and 4 were Oriental.
Materials and Procedures Activity Level. Each child was observed during free play for 20 10-second intervals on each of 3 different days. The intervals were distributed across a 45-minute free-play period and observations were separated by 5 to 7 days. At the end of each 10-second interval the child was rated for the occurrence of an ann, a leg, or a trunk movement. The dependent variable was the total number of intervals in which a movement occurred. Interobserver agreement averaged 92% for 10 randomly selected children. Gross-Motor lncoordination. Three tasks from the McCarthy Scales of Children's Abilities (McCarthy, 1970) were administered to each child; Walk a Straight Line, Walk Backwards, and Stand on One Foot. Each task was scored 0, 1, or 2 according to standards given in the manual, with high scores reflecting poor coordination. The dependent variable was the sum of the three task scores. Fine-Motor lncoordination. Two tasks, both taken from the Merill-Palmer Preschool Scales (Stutsman, 1931)were administered in order to assess finemotor incoordination. The Wallin Pegboard (B) and its six square pegs were laid on a table before the child as described in the manual, and the child was instructed to replace the pegs in their holes. Three trials were given and the time to replace the pegs (in seconds) was recorded for each trial. For the Buttons and Buttonholes task, three pairs of 7.52 X 15.2 mm strips of cotton flannel were
Behavior Problems of Preschool Children
69
presented to the child one pair at a time. One member of each pair contained either one, two, or four 1.52-mm buttons and the other member contained corresponding 2.3-mm buttonholes. Using demonstration, the child was instructed to button the strips together. Time in seconds to complete each pair of strips was recorded. The dependent variable for this task was the total time on all trials for both tasks. Thus high scores denote fine-motor incoordination. Minor Physical Anomalies. Each child was rated for the presence or absence of the 18 minor physical anomalies described by Waldrop and Halverson (1971). The dependent variable was the frequency of anomalies observed. Reliabilities as high as .70 have been reported for this measure (Waldrop & Halverson, 1971). Sociability. Four categories of behavior reflecting social interaction were adapted from Maccoby and Feldman (1972): Verbalization to Others, Smiling to Others, Interaction with Children, and Looks at Children. Each child was observed during free play and rated (0, 1, 2) following each of 16 30-second intervals, 4 intervals on each of 4 days. Ten minutes separated the intervals and 1 week separated the observation days. Interrater agreement for the four categories ranged from 63.2% to 91.1% (M = 79.5%). The dependent variable was the sum of the ratings across intervals and days.
Results and Discussion Table IV shows product-moment correlations between the congenital characteristics and each behavior problem dimension separately for each sex. Examination of this table indicates that, for boys, significant correlations in the expected direction (p = .05, one-tailed) emerge between Conduct and Hyperactivity, on the one hand, and activity level, gross-motor incoordination, and minor physical anomalies, on the other. For girls, activity level and gross-motor incoordination, but not anomalies, also are correlated with Conduct. However, girls' Hyperactivity is significantly related only to gross-motor incoordination. Furthermore, as expected, sociability is unrelated to either Conduct or Hyperactivity for either sex. Further examination of Table IV shows that boys' Distractibility is significantly related to both gross- and fine-motor incoordination, and to minor physical anomalies (p = .05; two-tailed), whereas girls' Distractibility is uncorrelated with any dependent variable. These findings partially confirm the earlier results of Victor and Halverson (1975), who obtained a significant negative relationship between physical fitness and Distractibility in their sample of elementary school children. For Personality and SOcial Withdrawal the only correlations that emerge as significant and in the predicted direction are with girls' sociability (Personality: r = -.26, p < .10; Social Withdrawal: r = -.53, p < .05). The significant (p = .05; two-tailed) correlations between boys' Social Withdrawal and activity level
O'Donnell and Van Tuinan
70
Table IV. Product-Moment Correlations Between Congenital Characteristics and Behavior Problem Dimensionsa
Conduct Personality Social withdrawal Attention seeking Hyperactivity Distractibility
Boys b Girls b Boys Girls Boys Girls Boys Girls Boys Girls Boys Girls
Activity level
Gross motor
Fine motor
Physical anomalies
Social behavior
29 c 40 c -25 -03 -31 e -30 10 15 31 c 20 07 24
41 c 30 c 22 -25 06 06 18 -05 27 c 28 c 51 e 11
-03 11 -07 13 -04 13 06 51 e -17 19 30 e 18
29 c -09 20 -15 31 e 03 22 -11 33 c 02 49 e 11
03 22 -05 -25 d -15 -58 c 11 02 05 17 -08 -07
aDecimals omitted. bFor boys, df = 45 ; for girls, df = 37. Cp = .05, one-tailed. dp = .10, one-tailed. ep = .05, two-tailed.
and minor physical anomalies are unexpected.: Finally, a significant (p = .05, two-tailed) but unpredicted correlation appears between fine-motor incoordination and girls' Attention Seeking, whereas boys' Attention Seeking is unrelated to any independent variable. Thus the data suggest that the patterns of correlates for each of the behavior problem dimensions are somewhat different. To evaluate possible sex differences, Fisher's r to z' transformation was performed and t tests were computed between corresponding boys' and girls' correlation coefficients for all pairs where at least one member was significantly different from zero. All t tests were two-tailed except for anomalies, where previous research (Waldrop & Halverson, 1971) leads to the expectation that there should be a stronger relationship between anomalies and acting-out, distractible behaviors for boys than for girls. The results of these t tests indicate that the correlation between anomalies and Conduct is significantly higher for boys (t(84) = 1.769, p < .05), that the correlation between anomalies and Hyperactivity is marginally higher for boys (t(84) = 1.431, p < . 1 0 ) , and that the correlations between gross-
Since withdrawn behavior was defined somewhat differently in the present study from the way it was in previous studies and since previous research (e.g., Waldrop & Halverson, 1971) has not reported a correlation between anomalies and withdrawn behavior for boys, this correlation will not be further interpreted.
Behavior Problems of Preschool Children
71
motor incoordination and Distractibility and between anomalies and Distractibility are marginally higher for boys (t(84) = 2.222, p < .05). No other t's attained statistical significance. These significant differences between correlations indicate the presence of sex differences in the patterning of variables associated with Conduct, Hyperactivity, Distractibility, and Attention Seeking. Sex differences in the patterns of correlates for Personality Problems and Social Withdrawal do not emerge. Thus, despite the similarity in the factor structure of behavior problems for the two sexes, there appear to be sex differences in the patterns of congenital variables associated with four of the behavior problem dimensions: Conduct, Attention Seeking, Hyperactivity, and Distractibility. The principal sex difference that emerges for Conduct, Hyperactivity, and Distractibility is the consistent association of minor physical anomalies with these dimensions for boys but not for girls. These findings are consistent with the results of previous research (Halverson & Victor, 1976; Waldrop & Halverson, 1971). The presence of minor physical anomalies is generally thought to reflect variations in chromosome structure (Smith, 1970). Thus the significant correlations between anomalies and behavior problems for boys suggest a biological contribution to these problems. Examination of Table IV indicates that, within each sex, the significant correlates of Conduct and Hyperactivity are the same and that the magnitude and direction of the correlations are highly similar. Since the correlation between the Conduct and Hyperactivity factors is significant (see Table II) and since the patterning of the correlates of these dimensions is highly similar within each sex (Table IV), it appears that the present data do not warrant treating these dimensions as separate constructs. Werry (1972) reviewed several investigations of correlates of the hyperkinetic syndrome and concluded that the data did not warrant treating this syndrome as distinct from Conduct Problems. The present findings are consistent with Werry's conclusion. A similar situation appears to obtain for the Personality and Social Withdrawal dimensions. Both factors are positively correlated (Table II), and the patterns of correlates are highly similar within each sex and are not significantly different between the sexes. Therefore, these factors also appear to reflect the same construct. Although the Distractibility factor is correlated with Conduct, Personality, and Hyperactivity (Table II), the patterns of correlates for Distractibility are somewhat different than for Conduct or Hyperactivity (and completely different from Personality). Also, there are marked sex differences for congenital characteristics associated with Distractibility. Therefore, the data suggest that this dimension is conceptually separate from the remaining behavior problem factors. Similarly, both the pattern of correlations and the marked sex differences suggest that Attention Seeking is also a conceptually distinct behavior problem dimension, at least for preschool children.
O'Donnell and Van Tuinan
72
Table V. Beta Weights and Multiple Regression Coefficient a
Conduct Social withdrawal Hyperactivity Distractibility
Sex
Activity level
Gross motor
Boys Girls Boys
37 c 46 c -31 d
44 c 38 d
Boys
37 c
28 c
Boys
37 c
Fine motor
Anomalies
R
~b
33 d
59 55 44
55 51 39
3 , 4 3 6.20 c 2 , 3 6 6.29c 2 , 4 4 4.03d
27 d
53
48
3 , 4 3 4.21d
42 c
68
65
3 , 4 3 10.72c
20
22
df
F
a Decimals omitted. bMultiple correlations corrected for shrinkage. Cp < .01. dp < .05.
For the Conduct, Social Withdrawal, Hyperactivity, and Distractibility dimensions there is more than one significant correlate. In an effort to determine whether each of these correlates accounts for significant variance in the behavior problems variables independently of the other correlates, a series of multiple regression analyses were conducted. Only the significant correlates were entered into the regression equations in order to eliminate the influence of suppressor variables. The results of these analyses are given in Table V, the body of which shows standardized regression weights (beta weights), multiple correlations (R), and multiple correlations corrected for shrinkage (R') according to the formula given by Cohen and Cohen (1975). The F ratios in the last column are for the corrected multiple correlations. Examination of the beta weights in Table V reveals that, for both sexes, activity level and gross-motor incoordination contribute statistically significant independent variance to the explanation of Conduct Problems. However, boys' anomalies score is not independent of activity level and motor incoordination. Similarly, for boys, activity level, gross-motor incoordination, and minor physical anomalies all account for statistically significant independent variance in Hyperactivity; and gross-motor incoordination and anomalies account for independent variance in Distractibility. Thus the regression analyses indicate that congenital characteristics such as activity level, gross-motor incoordination, and minor physical anomalies contribute independent variance to the explanation of Conduct (both sexes), Hyperactivity (boys), and Distractibility (boys). These findings suggest a multiple congenital determination for these problems.
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G E N E R A L DISCUSSION
In finding six oblique primary factors in the BPC ratings of preschool children, the present results are congruent with those of Dielman et al. (1971). Although these two studies rated children of different ages and used somewhat different checklists, both suggest that the factorial domain of children's psychopathology is more complex than previously described. However, whether many narrow factors or fewer broad factors would be more useful in generating a framework for describing and organizing children's psychopathology depends also upon the network of correlations relating these dimensions to other biological, family, and life history variables. Both Kohn (1977) and Peterson (1961) have favored using broad higher order behavior problem dimensions in the investigation of children's psychopathology. Some of the present findings are consistent with such a position. Since, within each sex, the correlates are the same for Conduct and Hyperactivity and since the multiple regression analyses indicate that boys' anomalies are not independent of activity and gross motor, it appears that the first-order dimensions, Conduct and Hyperactivity, could be combined into a higher order Conduct Problems dimension for both sexes. Similarly, the absence of either sex differences or differences in patterns of correlates for Personality or Social Withdrawal suggests that these dimensions could be combined into a higher order Personality Problems dimension for both sexes. On the other hand, the presence of both, sex differences and differences in the pattern of correlates suggests that the first-order factor, Distractibility, should be retained as a conceptually distinct dimension. This finding agrees with that of Victor and Halverson (1975), who investigated elementary-aged children. For the same reasons, Attention Seeking should also be retained. Thus the combination of factor analysis with correlational analysis suggests that the domain of behavior problems for preschool children can be represented by two relatively broad dimensions (Conduct and Personality) together with two narrow dimensions (Attention Seeking and Distractibility). With the exception of Attention Seeking (which may be age-specific), the resulting framework bears a remarkable resemblance to three of the dimensions described by Quay (1972). Finally, in the present study, the finding that congenital characteristics are differentially related to children's symptom patterns has implications for etiological theories of children's psychopathology. Both Bell (1968) and Thomas et al. (1968) have discussed the importance of such characteristics as contributors to symptom development. These discussions suggest that congenital characteristics may create a vulnerability in children to other stressors. However, a determination of the ways in which these characteristics interact with parent child-rearing practices and other psychosocial events to produce behavior problems awaits further research.
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O'DonneU and Van Tuinan REFERENCE NOTE
1. Quay, H. C., & Peterson, D. R. Manual for the behavior problem checklist. Unpublished manuscript, University of Miami, 1975.
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