BEHAVIORAL DIFFICULTIES IN TODDLERS - IMPACT OF SOCIOCULTURAL AND BIOLOGICAL RISK-FACTORS

Evaluated behavioral difficulties in three groups of preschoolers (ages 2 to 4 years). low risk, social risk (e.g., poverty, one-parent families), and dual risk (both biological and social risk conditions). Parents of 238 toddlers completed the Child Behavior Checklist/2-3 (CBCL/2-3) and the Eyberg Child Behavior Inventory (ECBI). Demographic, prenatal, and perinatal information was obtained to determine group status. Results indicated that toddlers in social- and dual-risk groups obtained significantly higher parent ratings on the Internalizing behaviors scale and the Anxious/Depressed, Withdrawn, and Destructive behavior subscales of the CBCL/2-3 when compared to toddlers in the low-risk group. No significant differences were obtained between social- and dual-risk groups or between specific biological risk categories (e.g., prematurity vs. developmental disorder). All ECBI results were nonsignificant. These findings suggest that social risk conditions place a preschooler at greater risk for behavioral difficulties, whether these poor social conditions occur with full-term, healthy infants or with children at biological risk (e.g., prematurity). It is recommended that social risk factors as well as biological risk factors be considered so that early intervention programs may target problematic behavior in their treatment approaches with preschoolers.