Why was this child referred? Interactional correlates of referral status in families of children with disruptive behavior problems

Compared unstructured home observational measures of family climate, dyadic relationship, and individual behavior in 33 families with disruptive-referred, disruptive-nonreferred, and average children (n = 11 in each group) to assess interactional processes that may account for differences in referral status. Disruptive-referred families differed from the other two groups by being much more aggressive overall, and in the child-mother and child-siblings relationships in particular; whereas average families differed from the other two groups by being much more positive overall, and in the child-mother relationship specifically. Disruptive-nonreferred families were similar to average families in that they did not display high levels of aggression, but similar to referred families in that they showed relatively low levels of positiveness, especially in the child-mother relationship. The correlational nature of the study does not permit any causal conclusion, but the results suggest that relatively low levels of positiveness and compliance, coupled with high levels of aggression, especially in the child-mother relationship, may play an important role in determining whether a family will seek professional services for disruptive child-behavior problems.