Kallitsoglou, Angeliki; (2008) The psychological and family characteristics of Greek Primary school children with conduct problems. Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), Institute of Education, University of London.

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Abstract

Children with conduct problems are a costly problem for modern society. They fare poorly academically and are more likely than other children to be excluded from education. As they grow older, they are likely to fail to enter training and employment and more likely than other young people to enter long-term criminal careers. As a result, a good deal of research has been conducted into the nature, causes and treatment of conduct problems. The present thesis argues that, in order to understand and intervene effectively with children with conduct problems, it is necessary to approach them as a heterogeneous group, with a range of associated vulnerabilities. One such vulnerability is poor reading (PR). The thesis proposes that children with conduct problems and associated poor reading (CP-PR) are distinguished by a wide range of psychological and family characteristics, which do not appear to distinguish children with CP-only and children with PR-only. The main study reported here was conducted in Greece with Second-Grade school children (n=123) drawn from a population of 1354 children. A comparative four-group (CP-only, CP-PR, PR-only, normal-Comparison group,) design was employed. Selection of participants was based upon teachers’ ratings (Conners’ Teacher Rating Scale-28) and children’s scores on the Test for Reading Ability Detection. Participants were assessed and compared on the WISC-III Verbal IQ test; the Conners’ Continuous Performance Test (a measure of attention abilities); the Tower of London task (a measure of executive function cognitive abilities); and a set of phonological tests. The participants’ parents completed a questionnaire and a telephone interview that assessed parental involvement in children’s education and social life. The findings showed that CP-only children did not exhibit psychological vulnerabilities on measures of attention, executive functions, or phonological abilities. In contrast, CP-PR children did exhibit psychological deficits on these measures. Moreover, they also exhibited significant difficulties in measures of attention and phonological abilities compared to the PR-only children. Contrary to expectations, parents of all groups showed similar interest in educating and socialising their children. The implications of the findings for theoretical models of conduct problems and for intervention planning are discussed.

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