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Cognitive limitations predict child behavior problems prior to school-age: A national study of children living in the US
Methods. We examined 7,800 children participating in the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort. Data were collected when the child was nine-months, two, four, and five years old. We defined CLs by the lowest 10% of mental scores from the Bayley Short Form-Research Edition, administered at ages nine-months and two years; children were classified as typically developing (TD) or as having persistent, newly developed, or resolved CLs. The Infant/Toddler Symptom Checklist and Preschool and Kindergarten Behavior Scales measured child behavior. Hierarchical linear modeling evaluated initial status and change in child behavior over the study period, adjusting for a wide-range of sociodemographic and health characteristics.
Results. 13.7% of children had a CL by age two. At all ages, children with persistent, newly developed, and resolved CLs had higher behavior scores than TD children. Children with persistent (Beta=0.09, se=0.02) and newly developed (Beta=0.04, se=0.03) CLs experienced steeper increases in behavior problems between ages two and five than TD children.
Conclusion. Disparities in behavior problems between children with and without CLs emerge by age two, and increase among children with persistent and newly developed CLs as they move toward school age. Behavior problems among children with CLs manifest prior to school age. This comorbidity should be a priority concern for pediatric professionals and behavioral screenings for children with CLs should begin at an early age.
Learning Areas:
Chronic disease management and preventionEpidemiology
Social and behavioral sciences
Learning Objectives:
Discuss the relationships between cognitive limitations and the risk for behavior problems in early childhood.
Discuss clinical and public health implications of our findings.
Keyword(s): Children With Special Needs, Disability
Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am a Doctoral candidate at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. Specific tasks under my current research positions include assistance with original data compilation and analysis, literature reviews, and manuscript formation. I have co-authored several abstracts for professional conferences and manuscripts that have been published in peer-reviewed journals.
Any relevant financial relationships? No
I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.