ABSTRACT

Conduct problems (CP) are common behaviour difficulties in young children. Poor parenting and caregiver-child attachment relationships are important risk factors of CP, but more research is required to understand their concurrent contribution to CP in the early childhood years. We examined the association of maternal-reported conduct problems (CP) (Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire) with maternal-reported harsh and inconsistent discipline (Preschool-Alabama Parenting Questionnaire) and children’s representations of attachment (Manchester Attachment Story Task) in a sample of children between 4 and 6 years old (n = 66). Correlation analysis showed that CP were associated with attachment insecurity, high levels of attachment disorganisation, and maternal harsh and inconsistent discipline. Regression analysis showed that disorganisation and inconsistent discipline explained unique variance in CP ratings even after controlling for the effects of confounding variables. The findings suggest that attachment disorganisation and aspects of poor maternal discipline in early childhood reflect parallel processes with unique contributions to CP.

摘要

品行问题 (CP) 是幼儿常见的行为困难。糟糕的父母教养和照顾者-儿童依恋关系是 CP 的重要危险因素，但需要更多的研究来了解它们在幼儿时期对 CP 的共同贡献。我们在儿童样本中检查了母亲报告的行为问题 (CP)（优势和困难问卷）与母亲报告的严厉和不一致的纪律（学龄前-阿拉巴马州育儿问卷）和儿童依恋表现（曼彻斯特依恋故事任务）的关联4 至 6 岁 ( n= 66）。相关分析表明，CP 与依恋不安全、依恋紊乱程度高以及母亲严厉和不一致的纪律有关。回归分析表明，即使在控制了混杂变量的影响之后，混乱和不一致的纪律也解释了 CP 评级的独特差异。研究结果表明，依恋紊乱和幼儿期母亲纪律不良的方面反映了对 CP 具有独特贡献的平行过程。