Self-care and deviance in elementary school-age children.
Fourth-, fifth- and sixth-grade students were surveyed to investigate whether self-care was related to self-reports of behavioral or attitudinal deviance, liking for school, or both. The Child Self-Care Measure (CSCM), a multiscale self-report instrument, measured self-care as a developmental task with four major dimensions: temporal, physical, structural, and psychological. Self-care in general was not linked to deviance. However, increases in psychological self-care were strongly correlated with reductions in children's liking for school. Additionally, children in self-care who cared for younger siblings for more than a year reported more deviant behaviors than those without responsibility for younger siblings; children in the care of older siblings less than 16 years old for more than 4 years reported more tolerance for deviance than peers in self-care without older sibling caregivers. Findings support earlier speculations that children in self-care may not be developmentally ready to take responsibility for elementary school-aged siblings. Results also indicated that although girls in self-care manifest problems earlier than boys, long term self-care may be more problematic for boys than girls.
Colorado State University, USA.
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D000704:Analysis of Variance; D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology; D002648:Child; D002649:Child Abuse / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D002654:Child Care / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D002668:Child Rearing / Q000523:psychology; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D003120:Colorado / Q000453:epidemiology; D005192:Family Health; D005260:Female; D005610:Freedom; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009679:Nuclear Family; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012648:Self Care / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012737:Sex Factors; D012917:Social Adjustment; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013997:Time Factors