[Cognitive, linguistic, motoric, and social deficits in schoolstarters with behavioral disorders]

Associations between sociodemographic and behavioural parameters and child development depending on age and sex: a cross-sectional analysis

OBJECTIVES

To explore environmental and individual factors that are associated with child development and to investigate whether the strength of these associations differs according to the age of the children.

DESIGN

Cross-sectional study.

SETTING

This study was part of the LIFE Child study, a large cohort study conducted in Leipzig, Germany.

PARTICIPANTS

778 children aged between 0.5 and 6 years (48.6% girls, mean age=2.67 years).

OUTCOME MEASURES

The outcomes were cognitive development, language development, body and hand motor skills, social-emotional development, and tracing skills, measured with a standardised development test. We analysed the associations between development and gestational age, socioeconomic status (SES), sex, behavioural difficulties, siblings, sleep duration, breastfeeding duration and overweight/obesity. We also tested for interactions between these variables and child age or sex.

RESULTS

Higher gestational age (b ranging between 0.12 and 0.26) and higher SES (b ranging between 0.08 and 0.21) were associated with better outcomes in almost all developmental domains (all p<0.019). Children with older siblings had improved body and hand motor skills compared with children without older siblings (both b=0.55, all p<0.029). Boys had poorer scores than girls in body and hand motor skills and tracing (b=-0.45, -0.68 and -1.5, all p<0.019). Children with behavioural difficulties had significantly poorer outcomes in most developmental domains. Some of the associations with SES and sex were stronger in older than in younger children. Associations between gestational age and motor development were weaker in older children. We did not find significant associations between child development and sleep duration, breastfeeding duration or overweight/obesity.

CONCLUSION

Some factors had a protective, others an adverse effect on development of children under 6 years of age. The effect of SES and sex increased, while the effect of gestational age decreased with age.

TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER

NCT02550236.

Verhaltensauffälligkeiten bei Kindern mit Entwicklungsdefiziten im Vorschulalter

Zusammenfassung. Es wurde der Zusammenhang zwischen Verhaltens- und Entwicklungsauffälligkeiten untersucht. An der Studie nahmen 201 Kinder im Alter zwischen 36 und 72 Monaten teil. Pädagogische Fachkräfte beurteilten grundlegende Fertigkeiten mit Hilfe der Entwicklungsbeobachtung und -dokumentation (EBD) und das Problemverhalten mit dem Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). Mittels binär logistischer Regressionen wurde analysiert, ob das Ausmaß an Entwicklungsdefiziten eines Kindes das Risiko für Verhaltensauffälligkeiten erhöht und welche konkreten Entwicklungsdefizite das Vorliegen von Verhaltensauffälligkeiten vorhersagen. 41 von 96 Kindern mit Entwicklungsdefiziten in mindestens einem oder mehreren EBD-Bereichen wiesen nach dem Urteil der pädagogischen Fachkräfte auch ein erhöhtes Risiko für Verhaltensauffälligkeiten auf. Als bedeutsame Prädiktoren haben sich das Alter und das Ausmaß an Entwicklungsdefiziten erwiesen, wobei insbesondere Defizite in den sozialen und emotionalen Fertigkeiten mit einem erhöhten Risiko für Verhaltensauffälligkeiten assoziiert waren. Die Befunde verdeutlichen, dass der Entwicklungsdiagnostik und –förderung ein hoher Stellenwert in der Prävention von Verhaltensauffälligkeiten zukommt.

Agreement between parents and teachers on preschool children's behavior in a clinical sample with externalizing behavioral problems

An accurate interpretation of information obtained from multiple assessors is indispensible when complex diagnoses of behavioral problems in children need to be confirmed. The present study examined the similarity of parents and kindergarten teachers ratings on children's behavior in a sample of 160 preschool children (a clinical group including 80 children with externalizing behavioral problems and a matched control group including 80 children). Behavioral problems were assessed using the SDQ, and the DISYPS-II questionnaires for ADHD and conduct disorders. The results revealed low levels of parent-teacher agreement for their ratings on the children's behavior in both groups with the highest correlations in the non-clinical sample. Parent-teacher agreement did not differ significantly across the samples. Parent and teacher ratings correlated with the prevalence of externalizing disorders and were found to be almost independent of each other. The results highlight the importance of multiple informants and their independent influence within the diagnostic process.