Continuity of behavioral and emotional problems from pre-school years to pre-adolescence in a developing country.
BACKGROUND
All previous longitudinal community studies assessing the continuity of child behavioral/emotional problems were conducted in developed countries.


METHODS
Six hundred and one children randomly selected from a Brazilian birth cohort were evaluated for behavioral/emotional problems through mother interview at 4 and 12 years with the same standard procedure - Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL).


RESULTS
CBCL Total Problem score presented a medium stability (r = .42) with externalizing problems showing higher stability and more homotypic continuity than internalizing problems. Of the children presenting deviant scores at the age of 4, only 31% remained deviant at the age of 12 (p < .001). A deviant CBCL Total Problem score at 12 years old was predicted by Rule-Breaking Behavior [OR = 7.46, 95% CI 2.76-20.19] and Social Problems [OR = 3.56, 95% CI 1.36-9.30] scores at 4 years of age. Either Rule-Breaking or Aggressive Behavior - externalizing syndromes - were part of the predictors for the three broad-band CBCL scores and six out of the eight CBCL syndromes.


CONCLUSIONS
Behavioral/emotional problems in preschool children persist moderately up to pre-adolescence in a community sample. Externalizing problems at the age of 4 comprise the developmental history of most behavioral/emotional problems at pre-adolescence. Our findings concur with findings from developed countries and are quite similar for continuity, stability and predictability.
Anselmi
Luciana
L
Post-Graduate Program in Psychiatry, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. luanselmi@terra.com.br
Barros
Fernando C
FC
Teodoro
Maycoln L M
ML
Piccinini
César A
CA
Menezes
Ana Maria B
AM
Araujo
Cora L
CL
Rohde
Luis A
LA
D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D019955:Conduct Disorder / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003906:Developing Countries / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D019964:Mood Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015995:Prevalence