title: Mother-child joint activity and behaviour problems of pre-school children.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Behaviour problems are common among pre-school children, and a substantial proportion persist, causing significant burden to the family, schools and health services. Relatively little research has addressed the effects of positive parenting on behaviour disorder in pre-school children, particularly in larger population-based studies.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross-sectional postal survey of a representative, population-based sample of 800 mothers of 3 1/2-year-old children living in an outer London Borough was carried out to assess the association between mother-child joint activity and behaviour problems of pre-school children. The response rate was 70%.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Lower levels of mother-child joint activity remained independently associated with behaviour problems of pre-school children both on a binary and a continuous scale after adjusting for a wide range of household, maternal and child circumstances. The association between low levels of mother-child joint activities and behaviour problems of the children was stronger in the presence of social problems in the family.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Possible causal pathways and directions for future research and intervention are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Maudsley Hospital, London, UK.
authors.forename: Kumari Chandani
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Galboda-Liyanage
authors.forename: Martin James
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Prince
authors.forename: Stephen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Scott
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002653:Child Behavior Disorders / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003625:Data Collection; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D016487:Parenting