Brooks, Daniel Paul
(2005)
AN ANALYSIS OF SALIENT RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN BACKGROUND RISK FACTORS AND PRESENTING SYMPTOMS AMONG CLINICALLY REFERRED PRESCHOOL-AGE CHILDREN.
Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.
(Unpublished)
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to analyze the medical records of 167 children who attended an urban early intervention/partial hospitalization program in order to accomplish the following objectives: describe risk factor pervasiveness in the backgrounds of children attending the program; describe the prevalence and severity of externalizing behavior problems (non-compliance, aggression, tantrums) among the children; identify salient relationships between background risk factors and externalizing behavior problems; and test the cumulative risk premise which suggests that a significant, positive relationship exists between the number of risk factors a child is exposed to and the severity of his/her symptoms. Data was gathered from two items in the children's medical charts: 1) initial psychiatric evaluations, within which the presence or absence of the background risk factors of interest in this study are noted; and 2) monthly treatment plan progress notes, in which progress regarding presenting symptoms are noted. An analysis of medical record data painted a compelling picture regarding the pervasiveness of risk factors in the children's backgrounds, as nearly 80% of the children within the study were found to be exposed to three or more risk factors (not including poverty). An analysis of the data revealed a significantly high prevalence of children being referred for treatment due to clinically significant behavior problems, as approximately 80% of the children presented with clinically significant levels of non-compliance and/or aggression. Although clinically significant aggression and non-compliance frequently co-occurred with several background risk factors, no significant, positive correlations were discovered between background risk factors and externalizing behavior problems (when the entire sample was included within the analysis). In addition, a correlational analysis revealed no significant, positive correlations between the number of background risk factors and the severity of certain externalizing behavior problems. The absence of significant, positive correlations may reflect the need for researchers to attend to contextual details (i.e., severity of exposure, timing of exposure, individual traits) when investigating the effects of exposure to risk factors on children's development. In addition, it is likely that the correlations were partially weakened by the fact that the participants within this study represented a restricted sample (poor, clinically referred preschool-age children).
Share
| Citation/Export: |
|
| Social Networking: |
|
Details
| Item Type: |
University of Pittsburgh ETD
|
| Status: |
Unpublished |
| Creators/Authors: |
|
| ETD Committee: |
| Title | Member | Email Address | Pitt Username | ORCID |
|---|
| Committee CoChair | Cohen, Meredith | | | | | Committee CoChair | Elman, Nancy | | | | | Committee Member | Klein, Roger | | | | | Committee Member | Bagnato, Steve | | | |
|
| Date: |
30 August 2005 |
| Date Type: |
Completion |
| Defense Date: |
2 May 2005 |
| Approval Date: |
30 August 2005 |
| Submission Date: |
29 August 2005 |
| Access Restriction: |
No restriction; Release the ETD for access worldwide immediately. |
| Institution: |
University of Pittsburgh |
| Schools and Programs: |
School of Education > Psychology in Education |
| Degree: |
PhD - Doctor of Philosophy |
| Thesis Type: |
Doctoral Dissertation |
| Refereed: |
Yes |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: |
developmental psychopathology |
| Other ID: |
http://etd.library.pitt.edu/ETD/available/etd-08292005-212719/, etd-08292005-212719 |
| Date Deposited: |
10 Nov 2011 20:01 |
| Last Modified: |
15 Nov 2016 13:49 |
| URI: |
http://d-scholarship.pitt.edu/id/eprint/9288 |
Metrics
Monthly Views for the past 3 years
Plum Analytics
Actions (login required)
 |
View Item |
![[feed]](/images/feed-icon-32x32.png){kind=icon}