The relationship between patterns of family interaction and psychiatric disorder in children

This study examined the relationship between patterns of family interaction, in particular parental overprotection, and emotional and behavioural problems in children. The role children play in influencing the pattern of parental care was also investigated because increased parental protection could be a response to, rather than a cause of, emotional disorders in children. A population was examined on two occasions, 18 months apart, using Rutter's parent and teacher questionnaires. The data suggested that overprotection was particularly disruptive to children's emotional state when it was associated with irritability and distress in the parents. The converse relationship, in which emotional and behavioural problems in children had a significant influence on the degree of parental protection and pattern of interaction within the family, was also demonstrated by the use of cross-lagged correlations.