Mother-child joint activity and behaviour problems of pre-school children

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. METHOD: 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. CONCLUSION: Possible causal pathways and directions for future research and intervention are discussed.