Citation

Sakheim GA, Osborn E. Child Welf. 1999; 78(4): 411-434.

Affiliation

Westchester County Department of Social Services, Westchester County Family Court, NY, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1999, Child Welfare League of America)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

10418114

Abstract

The study reported here compares a group of 75 severe firesetters with a group of 105 nonfiresetters and minor firesetters along 32 variables that have been positively correlated with juvenile firesetting behavior. A chisquare analysis of the data revealed that the frequencies observed in the 75 "severe" cases differ significantly from those in the "nonsevere" group. A prediction equation was derived from the 14 most salient variables. This equation can be used to differentiate severe/high-risk from minor/low-risk firesetters 95% of the time.