Citation

Crowther JH, Bond LA, Rolf JE. J. Abnorm. Child Psychol. 1981; 9(1): 23-42.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1981, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

7217536

Abstract

This study examined the incidence, prevalence, and severity of 14 empirically derived externalizing (unsocialized aggressive) and internalizing (socially withdrawn) behaviors among 2- through 5-year-olds attending day care. Teacher ratings were obtained for 558 children in the incidence sample and 709 children in the expanded prevalence sample. Within each age, data were cross-tabulated by sex of child and severity of behavior, and chi-square analyses were computed. Results indicated that a substantial proportion of children in the normal pre-school population exhibit relatively high severities of selected externalizing and internalizing behaviors; this proportion varied with the age of the child and the behavior rated. Preschool-aged boys were consistently rated as demonstrating greater frequencies of externalizing behaviors than preschool-girls. The diagnostic and clinical implications of these findings are discussed.

Language: en