The purpose of this study is to examine how the temperament of young children and psychological family environments variables (mother's characteristics, marriage conflicts, anti-social activities of fathers and nurturing behaviors of mothers) effect e...
The purpose of this study is to examine how the temperament of young children and psychological family environments variables (mother's characteristics, marriage conflicts, anti-social activities of fathers and nurturing behaviors of mothers) effect each type of behavioral problem.
The targets of this study were found from 1,460 children between the range of 3 to 5 years old attending preschools or nursery centers in the Seoul, Gyeonggi and Chungcheong regions. After the 1st behavioral problem screening, a second behavioral problem diagnostic test was performed to select 136 young children, 136 of their mothers and 49 teachers.
For the 1st inspection for identifying behavioral problem, an adapted version of McGuire and Richman's (1988) PBCL (Pre-school Behavior Checklist) by Hwang Hye-jeong (1988) was used. The second inspection was conducted using Achenbach and Edelbrock's (1983) CBCL (Child Behavior Checklist) standardized into the Korean version of the K-CBCL by Oh Gyeong-ja, Lee Hye-ryeon, Hong Gang-ui and Ha Eun-hye (1997). The temperament of young children were measured using Cheon Hee-young's (1992) 'Temperament Behavioral Checklist', while the Self-Esteem Scale adapted by Jeon Byeong-jae (1974) was used to measure the self-respect of mothers. The tendency for depression in mothers was measured using the depression scale of a revised version of Derogatis, Rickles and Rock's (1976) Symptom Checklist-90-Revised (SCL-90-R). The Strate-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) for measuring the mother's anxiety level made by Spielberger (1966) and adapted by Kim Jung-taek (1978) was used for examinations. Measurements for nervousness and extroversion used the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EQP) standardized by Lee Hyun-soo (1985). ASBCL (Antisocial Behavior Checklist) was used to measure the father's anti-social behavior, while measurements of marriage conflicts were revised and supplemented using Kang Deok-hee's (2002) Partner Abuse Scale. The nurturing behaviors of mothers were set using denial, control and negligence as sub-factors. Measurement of denial and control was performed using clause 11 of Park Young-ae's (1995) nurturing behavior scale and negligence was measured using clause 5 of PSD (Parenting Style Dimension) used by Calzada and Eyberg (2002).
The collected data was analyzed as seen below using the SPSS 14.0 program and AMOS 5.0 program. First, in order to measure the feasibility and reliability of measuring tools, the confirmatory factor analysis and reliability was calculated. Secondly, in order to examine the demographical background of the targets of the study, the frequency and percentage were calculated, and in order to examine the general tendencies of the children being studied, the average and deviation for factors from others were calculated. Thirdly, by calculating the Pearson's Product Moment Correlation, the correlation of the factors from others was examined and in order to examine the influences of each factor from others on behavioral problem, regression analyses were used. Fourthly, the relationships of the young child's temperament and psychological family environment factors were verified using a structural model.
A summary of the results of the studies are as seen below.
First, in the relationship between the temperament and psychological family environment variables of young children with that of behavioral problems, children with low adaptability and activity showed greater amounts of cowering issues, while children inclined towards more activity showed delinquency and aggressiveness issues. For mothers, when the depression/anxiety levels of mothers increased, children showed more signs of cowering issues and depression/anxiety issues, while children showed more signs of delinquency and aggressiveness issues when fathers had a higher inclination to anti-social behavior. Furthermore, when there were higher levels of marriage conflicts, children showed higher signs of attention and concentration issues as well as delinquency and aggressiveness issues. Also, when the mother's controlling nurturing behavior was low, the child's cowering issue increased and when the mother's controlling nurturing behavior was higher, they showed increasing signs of aggressiveness issues. In addition, the higher the mother had negative sentiments and the more anti-social behavior the father showed, there were higher levels of marriage conflicts, while the negative aspects of the mother's nurturing behavior increased as well.
Secondly, after examining the relationship of temperament and family environmental variables of young children with their problematic behavior, the child's temperament and mother's characteristic had a direct influence on cowering issues, while the mother's characteristics had direct effects on their depression/anxiety issues. The mother's nurturing behavior had direct effects on the attention/concentration issues, while the mother's characteristics, father's anti-social activities and marriage conflicts had indirect effects via nurturing behaviors. Furthermore, the child's temperament and the father's anti-social behavior directly affected delinquency issues, while aggressiveness issues were directly affected by the child's disposition and marriage conflicts, and were indirectly affected by the mother's characteristics and father's anti-social behavior via marriage conflicts.
These results represent that behavioral problems of children can be caused by not only the child's individual temperament, but also by the parents' negative sentiment and behavior, as well as negative marriage relationships and nurturing behaviors. Thus, in order to prevent and treat behavioral problems of children, there is a need to understand the features of the child's temperament and the psychological features of the family environment. Furthermore, multi-faceted efforts to change the parents' negative sentiment or behavioral features, as well as the quality of marriage relationships and nurturing behavior that may cause behavioral problems should be made to turn into positive ones.
The limitations and suggestions for follow-up research of this study is as follows. First, there is a need to expand the environmental range of the child in order to approach the behavioral problems of children from a social-cultural aspect. Secondly, at this point of time where fathers have an increasing opportunity to participate in their children's education, there is a need to study this by itemizing the role of the father further. Thirdly, the quality of marriage relationships should be examined not only through marriage conflicts, but also through communication levels between couples to examine how the quality of marriage relationships that may not appear superficially affects the child's problematic behavior in a more in-depth manner. Fourthly, it is believed that the mother's nurturing behavior has a mediating effect on the child's problematic behavior. Thus, there are needs for studies on the mediating effects of nurturing behavior in relation to parent education. Finally, there is a need to perform vertical research on behavioral problems.
This study is meaningful due to the following.
First, behavioral problems were grouped by type according to their symptoms and by examining the cause and effect relationship of people with different characters, the different causes and routes according to each type was confirmed. And accordingly, it was confirmed that the integrated model approach was more useful for approaching problematic behavior.
Secondly, a more practical approach was attempted for identifying the causes and routes of behavioral problems by restricting the research targets to only behavioral problem groups. When considering the development of children and the continuity of behavioral problems, this kind of research method can make the convalescence of behavioral problems more accurate. Furthermore, the results of this study can provide basic data for consulting and developing programs to prevent and treat behavioral problems.