Some relationships between children's symptoms of maladjustment and background factors

Abstract

INTRODUCTIONThe question of whether any significant relationships exist between children's symptoms of maladjustment and certain factors in their backgrounds was felt to be worthy of investigation. For example, is the child of a mother who has extra-marital relations overly concerned with sex? Do children of alcoholics show any characteristic symptoms? The purpose of the'present study is to demonstrate statistically relationships between some twenty-eight symptoms of problem behavior in children and eleven environmental and other factors. The symptoms dealt with were as follows : hyperactivity, pugnaciousness, destructiveness, antagonism to authority, disobedience, incorrigibility, masturbation, sex play (with others), stealing, lying, sibling rivalry, selfishness, somatic complaints, irresponsibility, withdrawing behavior, inferiority feelings, enuresis, temper tantrums, speech disability, nervous symptoms, fears, tics, poor appetite, poor sleep, dependency on parents, reading disability, running away, and school problem behavior. The background factors which were studied in relation to the symptoms just listed were : intelligence of the child ; significant diseases of the child ; whether the child was living with his own parents or was living with adoptive, foster, or step-parents ; illegitimacy ; type of discipline used in the home; significant diseases of the parents; court charges against the parents ; extra-marital relationships of the parents ; whether the child was rejected, accepted or overprotected ; drinking by the parents ; and economic status of the family.Current literature on the topic of this study seems to be divided into two types, those articles based upon observation and those based upon experimentation. A brief review of some of the latter group is pertinent to the discussion. Only one article written within the past eight years was found to be similar in hypothesis to the present study. Baruch(3) studied thirty-three preschool age children whose parents were of superior intelligence and of a high economic status. She found that the problems which seemed most closely related to child adjustment were tensions over sex, and ascendance-submission, and these two problems seemed to project into other areas causing new problems. A somewhat similar study was made by Symonds(l6) of rejection and overprotection of children. He found that accepted children have more socially acceptable behavior and personality characteristics than rejected children. Rejected children show an excess of activity and restlessness. They are given to attention-getting behavior and are notorious trouble-makers in school.

The abnormal and unadapted personality: I. Evidence from the school misfit, the delinquent, and the criminal.

“…Snyder and Snyder (44) analyzing the background of 275 child-guidanceclinic cases, found that with a history of illness, psychoneurotic, and particularly psychosomatic complaints were more frequent, while delinquencies, notably sex and stealing, were less frequent. Likewise, as reported in the study of intelligence (Section 7) below, those below I.Q.…”