Related Experiment Video

Updated: Aug 23, 2026

Assessing the Coherence of Parents' Short Narratives Regarding their Child Using the Five-Minute Speech Sample Procedure
07:56

Assessing the Coherence of Parents' Short Narratives Regarding their Child Using the Five-Minute Speech Sample Procedure

Published on: September 19, 2019

Parent identification of early emerging child behavior problems: predictors of sharing parental concern with health

Katherine D Ellingson1, Margaret J Briggs-Gowan, Alice S Carter

  • 1School of Epidemiology and Public Health, School of Medicine, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520-8034, USA. katherine.ellingson@yale.edu

Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine
|August 4, 2004
PubMed

Insights

Parental worry about child behavior problems strongly predicts seeking professional help. Low social-emotional competence in children also increases parental concern and help-seeking behavior for early identification.

Area of Science:

  • Child Psychology
  • Pediatric Healthcare
  • Behavioral Health

Background:

  • Early identification of child behavior problems is crucial for timely intervention.
  • Parental communication with healthcare providers is a key pathway for identifying these issues.
  • Understanding predictors of parental help-seeking is essential for improving early detection rates.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To identify factors that predict parental discussions with pediatric care providers about early child behavior problems.
  • To suggest strategies for healthcare settings to elicit early identification of behavioral issues from parents.

Main Methods:

  • Cross-sectional survey of parents of children aged 11-39 months from a healthy birth cohort.
  • Utilized the Infant-Toddler Social Emotional Assessment to identify elevated problematic behavior symptoms.
  • Assessed parental worry regarding behavior and collected demographic data.

Main Results:

  • Only 17.7% of parents with elevated problematic behavior symptoms discussed these concerns with a provider.
  • Parental worry (OR, 3.47) and low child social-emotional competence (OR, 2.68) were associated with discussing behavior problems.
  • Low child competence (OR, 2.18) and disrupted family routines (OR, 2.38) predicted parental worry.

Conclusions:

  • Parental worry is a significant predictor of help-seeking for child behavior problems.
  • Deficits in social-emotional competence contribute to parental concern and the likelihood of seeking help.
  • Systematic inquiry by healthcare providers is vital for identifying early behavioral health issues in children.
Abstract

More Related Videos

Behavioral Assessment of Hearing in 2 to 4 Year-old Children: A Two-interval, Observer-based Procedure Using Conditioned Play-based Responses14:05

Behavioral Assessment of Hearing in 2 to 4 Year-old Children: A Two-interval, Observer-based Procedure Using Conditioned Play-based Responses

Published on: January 23, 2017

Related Concept Videos

Relationship with Parents: Attachment01:28

Relationship with Parents: Attachment

Parent-child interactions lay the foundation for how we understand relationships throughout life. These interactions are not uniform across families; instead, they are shaped by a range of environmental, emotional, and behavioral factors unique to each caregiver-child dynamic. Social psychologists study these early relationships to understand how patterns formed in infancy influence social functioning and interpersonal behavior in adulthood.Attachment Theory and Early Relational ModelsJohn...
Socioemotional Development during Infancy01:30

Socioemotional Development during Infancy

Socio-emotional development in infancy is primarily shaped by early emotional responses and social connections, with temperament playing a central role. Temperament refers to the consistent patterns in an individual's emotional and behavioral responses, observable even in infancy. By examining temperament, researchers can better understand an infant's unique ways of interacting with the world, influencing subsequent personality and socio-emotional growth.
Primary Temperament Types
Stella Chess...
Piaget's Stage 1 of Cognitive Development01:14

Piaget's Stage 1 of Cognitive Development

The sensorimotor stage, the initial phase of Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive development, spans the first two years of a child's life. During this period, infants actively engage with their surroundings, building cognitive awareness through direct interaction with the world. This interaction is primarily based on sensory perception and motor actions, allowing infants to gradually understand basic physical properties and predict how objects interact within their environment.
Exploration...
Psychological and Sociocultural Causes of Schizophrenia01:29

Psychological and Sociocultural Causes of Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia, a complex psychiatric disorder, has been historically misunderstood. Early psychological theories attributed its origins to childhood trauma and unresponsive parenting. However, contemporary research largely rejects these notions, favoring the vulnerability-stress hypothesis. This model proposes that individuals with a genetic predisposition to schizophrenia may develop the disorder following exposure to significant environmental stressors. Notably, studies on high-risk...
Conduct Disorder01:28

Conduct Disorder

Conduct disorder is a complex mental health diagnosis characterized by a repetitive and persistent pattern of behavior that violates societal norms, the rights of others, or age-appropriate rules. The diagnostic criteria for conduct disorder require the presence of at least three problematic behaviors within the past 12 months, with at least one occurring in the past six months. These behaviors are grouped into four categories: aggression toward people and animals; destruction of property;...
Oppositional Defiant Disorder01:30

Oppositional Defiant Disorder

A persistent pattern of angry or irritable mood, defiant behavior, or vindictiveness characterizes Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD). Symptoms must occur over at least six months, involve interactions with individuals beyond siblings, and meet specific diagnostic criteria to be clinically significant. The disorder affects emotional regulation, social interactions, and behavior, often manifesting early in life and influencing long-term development and functioning.
Diagnostic Criteria and...