Patterns of Home and School Behavior Problems in Rural and Urban Settings

Abstract

This study examined the cross-situational patterns of behavior problems shown by children in rural and urban communities at school entry. Behavior problems exhibited in home settings were not expected to vary significantly across urban and rural settings. In contrast, it was anticipated that child behavior at school would be heavily influenced by the increased exposure to aggressive models and deviant peer support experienced by children in urban as compared to rural schools, leading to higher rates of school conduct problems for children in urban settings. Statistical comparisons of the patterns of behavior problems shown by representative samples of 89 rural and 221 urban children provided support for these hypotheses, as significant rural-urban differences emerged in school and not in home settings. Cross-situational patterns of behavior problems also varied across setting, with homeonly patterns of problems characterizing more children at the rural site and school-only, patterns of behavior problems characterizing more children at the urban sites. In addition, whereas externalizing behavior was the primary school problem exhibited by urban children, rural children displayed significantly higher rates of internalizing problems at school. The implications of these results are discussed for developmental models of behavior problems and for preventive interventions. KeywordsBehavior problems; Home-school influences; Rural/urban communities Disruptive behavior problems are the most prevalent mental health problems of childhood and predict serious negative outcomes, including delinquency, school failure, and substance abuse (Loeber & Dishion, 1983;Parke & Slaby, 1983). Developmental models suggest that three phases characterize the early development of disruptive behavior problems. Behavior problems typically emerge first in family contexts, fostered by high rates of parental commands and harsh, inconsistent, and punitive discipline practices (Eron, 1982; Patterson, 1982). Then children generalize the aggressive and oppositional behavior they have learned at home to the school context, engaging in noncompliant and disruptive behavior in the classroom and aggressive behavior with peers (Bierman & Smoot, 1991;Dodge, Bates, & Pettit, 1990). Interactions with other aggressive children in the school context may support the third step toward negative outcomes, as aggressive children affiliate with deviant peers who, by early adolescence, provide a gateway into delinquent activities (Cairns, Neckerman, & Cairns, 1989;Dishion & Skinner, 1989 Considerable evidence suggests that this three-phase trajectory characterizes the developmental pattern shown by many of the children who exhibit early delinquent activity in adolescence and stable, long-term patterns of maladjustment (Offord, Boyle, & Racine, 1991). However, not all children with disruptive behavior problems follow this developmental trajectory. For example, whereas some of the children who exhibit high rates of behavioral problems at home generalize these pr...

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