Prevalence of behavior problems in 3-year-old children. A cross-national replication
F. Earls
The prevalence of behavior problems in three-year-old children in a rural
American community was determined from the reports of mothers. A
questionnaire based on a "symptom loading" approach to screening was used.
This method was previously used in an epidemiological study of behavior
problems in 3-year-olds in London. The present study estimated the
prevalence of behavior problems to be slightly less compared with the best
estimate in the London study. As in the London study, social class and sex
differences were not found to relate significantly to the presence of
behavior problems. There were also similarities in the prevalence of
individual behavioral items on the questionnaire. A simple parent
questionnaire worked as well in a population with different demographic
features as it did in the population for which it was originally designed.
