NCJ Number
189776
Journal
Journal of Family Violence Volume: 16 Issue: 3 Dated: September 2001 Pages: 291-307
Date Published
September 2001
Length
17 pages
Annotation
The article presents information on the prevalence and stability of maternal reports on conduct problems among children at battered women’s shelters.
Abstract
This research was designed to replicate prevalence estimates of clinical levels of conduct problems in a large sample of children residing at a shelter for battered women. Also, it was designed to assess the stability of mothers’ reports of child conduct problems following shelter departure. According to mothers’ reports on standardized questionnaires and diagnostic interviews obtained during shelter residence, approximately one third of the children between 4 and 10 years of age exhibited clinical levels of conduct problems. This included elevated levels of aggressive, defiant, and violent behavior, collectively referred to as conduct or externalizing problems. Although the focus was on externalizing problems, internalizing problems such as anxiety and depression were also explored. It was found that mothers’ reports of child internalizing problems decreased following shelter departure, in contrast to their reports of child externalizing problems, which remained stable. Prior research has demonstrated elevated maternal distress during shelter residence and suggests that such distress may influence mothers’ reports of child conduct problems. Therefore, a subset of families with children exhibiting clinical levels of conduct problems was reassessed following their shelter departure. Mothers’ reports of child conduct problems remained stable despite significant reductions in mothers’ distress after shelter exit. It is interesting to note that diagnostic interviews identified more children as having clinical levels of conduct problems than did mothers’ reports on the externalizing disorder scale. 1 figure, 3 tables, and 39 references.