title: Exploring the relationship between thumb-sucking and psychopathology.
abstract: Studied the relationship between chronic thumb-sucking and behavior problems reflective of psychopathology. Compared scores on the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) and Eyberg Child Behavior Inventory (ECBI) for matched samples of thumb-sucking, referred, and nonreferred children. Mean scores for the thumb-sucking and nonreferred samples were equivalent and were significantly lower than scores for the referred sample. Comparing scores for older children (8-14 years) and younger children (4-7 years) did not produce a significant interaction. Correlating measures of thumb-sucking severity with ECBI and CBCL scores produced only 8 (of 42) significant correlations and a mean correlation of only .09. Collectively our results provide little support for the theoretically derived notion that thumb-sucking is necessarily a symptom of psychopathology.
authors.affiliation: Father Flanagan's Boys' Home, Boys Town, Nebraska 68010.
authors.forename: P C
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Friman
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Larzelere
authors.forename: J W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Finney
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002653:Child Behavior Disorders / Q000523:psychology; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D002666:Psychology, Child; D013391:Sucking Behavior; D013933:Thumb