Abstract
Background: Behaviour problems are common among pre-school children, and a substantial proportion persist, causing significant burden to the family, schools and health services. Relatively little research has addressed the effects of positive parenting on behaviour disorder in pre-school children, particularly in larger population-based studies. Method: A cross-sectional postal survey of a representative, population-based sample of 800 mothers of 31/2-year-old children living in an outer London Borough was carried out to assess the association between mother-child joint activity and behaviour problems of pre-school children. The response rate was 70%. Results: Lower levels of mother-child joint activity remained independently associated with behaviour problems of pre-school children both on a binary and a continuous scale after adjusting for a wide range of household, maternal and child circumstances. The association between low levels of mother-child joint activities and behaviour problems of the children was stronger in the presence of social problems in the family. Conclusion: Possible causal pathways and directions for future research and intervention are discussed.
| Original language | English |
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| Pages (from-to) | 1037 - 1048 |
| Number of pages | 12 |
| Journal | Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry |
| Volume | 44 |
| Issue number | 7 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Oct 2003 |