![[PDF]](/pb-assets/Icons/adobe-pdf-icon-1498649896243.png){kind=icon}
Abstract
Conduct problems in school settings can pose significant challenges for both children and teachers. This study examined the teacher-reported prevalence of conduct problems in a sample of young children (N = 445) in the first two years of formal education. A secondary aim was to assess teachers’ perceptions of child behaviour and their classroom management strategies. The study was undertaken in 11 schools located in south west Ireland. Overall, children displayed positive socio-emotional and behavioural adjustment, although more than one-quarter had difficulties outside the ‘normal’ range. Class size and gender were shown to play a role in the level of difficulties experienced. Teachers reported significant challenges in managing classroom behavioural problems. This study provides some useful insights into the socio-emotional and behavioural needs of school-entry age children. The findings also have important policy and practice implications for school psychologists and other key school personnel and highlight, in particular, the need to develop and implement early intervention and prevention strategies in schools.
References
Section:
| Akin-Little, K. A., Little, S. G., Laniti, M. (2007) Teachers’ use of classroom management procedures in the United States and Greece: A cross-cultural comparison. School Psychology International 28: 53–62. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | |
| Allen, G. (2011) Early Intervention: Next Steps, Cabinet Office: London. Google Scholar | |
| Arnold, D. H., Ortiz, C., Curry, J. C., Stowe, R. M., Goldstein, N. E., Fisher, P. H., Zeljo, A., Yershova, K. (1999) Promoting academic success and preventing disruptive behavior disorders through community partnership. Journal of Community Psychology 27: 589–598. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
| Baker, J. A. (2006) Contributions of teacher-or arechild relationships to positive school adjustment during elementary school. Journal of School Psychology 44: 211–229. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
| Barbarin, O. A. (2007) Mental health screening of preschool children: Validity and reliability of ABLE. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry 77: 402–418. Google Scholar | Crossref | Medline | ISI | |
| Barnett, W. S. (2002) Early childhood education. In: Molnar, A. (ed) School reform proposals: The research evidence, Greenwich, CT: Information Age Publishing, pp. 1–26. Google Scholar | |
| Birch, S. H., Ladd, G. W. (1997) The teacher-child relationship and children’s early school adjustment. Journal of School Psychology 35: 61–79. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
| Blair, C., Diamond, A. (2008) Biological processes in prevention and intervention: The promotion of self-regulation as a means of preventing school failure. Development and Psychopathology 20: 899–911. Google Scholar | Crossref | Medline | ISI | |
| Blatchford, P., Edmonds, S., Martin, C. (2003) Class size, pupil attentiveness and peer relations. British Journal of Educational Psychology 73: 15–36. Google Scholar | Crossref | Medline | |
| Campbell, L. (2010) Responding to gun crime in Ireland. The British Journal of Criminology 50: 414–434. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
| Chin, S., Lee, J., Liang, T. (2013) Does the teacher’s pet phenomenon inevitably cause classroom conflict? Comparative viewpoints of three pet-student groups. School Psychology International 34(1): 3–16. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | |
| Chong, W. H., Huan, V. S., Quek, C. L., Yeo, L. S., Ang, R. P. (2010) Teacher-student relationship: The influence of teacher interpersonal behaviours and perceived beliefs about teachers on the school adjustment of low achieving students in Asian middle schools. School Psychology International 31: 312–328. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI | |
| Cohen, J. (1988) Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences, Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. Google Scholar | |
| Coie, J. D. (1990) Toward a theory of peer rejection. In: Asher, S. R., Coie, J. D. (eds) Peer rejection in childhood, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 365–401. Google Scholar | |
| Coie, J., Dodge, K. (1998) Aggression and antisocial behavior. In: Eisenberg, N. (ed) Handbook of child psychology, volume 3: Social, emotional, and personality development, New York, NY: Wiley, pp. 779–862. Google Scholar | |
| Colman, I., Murray, J., Abbott, R., Maughan, B., Kuh, D., Croudace, T., Jones, P. (2009) Outcomes of conduct problems in adolescence: Forty-year follow-up of a national cohort. British Medical Journal 338: a2981–a2981. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
| Drudy, S., Martin, M., O’Flynn, J., Woods, M. (2005) Men and the classroom: Male teachers in today’s primary school, Oxford: Routledge. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
| Eurydice Education, Audiovisual & Culture Executive Agency (2009) Key data on education in Europe, 2009, Brussels: EACEA. Google Scholar | |
| Evans, J., Lunt, I. (2002) Inclusive education: Are there limits? European Journal of Special Needs Education 17: 1–14. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
| Evans, J., Harden, A., Thomas, J., Benefield, P. (2003) Support for pupils with emotional and behavioural difficulties (EBD) in mainstream primary classrooms: A systematic review of the effectiveness of interventions. Research Evidence in Education Library, London: EPPI-Centre, Social Science Research Unit, Institute of Education. Google Scholar | |
| Finn, J. D., Pannozzo, G. M., Achilles, C. M. (2003) The ‘why’s’ of class size: Student behaviour in small classes. Review of Educational Research 73: 321–368. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | |
| Frick, P. J. (2004) Developmental pathways to conduct disorder: Implications for serving youth who show severe aggressive and antisocial behaviour. Psychology in the Schools 41: 823–834. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
| Frick, P. J., Morris, A. S. (2004) Temperamental and developmental pathways to conduct problems. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology 33: 54–68. Google Scholar | Crossref | Medline | |
| Gibbs, J., Underdown, A., Stevens, M., Newbery, J., Liabo, K. (2003) Group-based parenting programmes can reduce behaviour problems of children aged 3–12 years, Evidence Nugget April 2003. London: What Works for Children. Google Scholar | |
| Goeke-Morey, M. C., Taylor, L. K., Merrilees, C. E., Cummings, E. M., Cairns, E., Shirlow, P. (2013) Adolescents’ educational outcomes in a social ecology of parenting, family, and community risks in Northern Ireland. School Psychology International 34(3): 243–256. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | |
| Goodman, R. (1997) The strengths and difficulties questionnaire: A research note. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 38: 581–586. Google Scholar | Crossref | Medline | ISI | |
| Greenberg, M. (2010) School-based prevention: Current status and future challenges. Effective Education 2: 27–52. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
| Hamre, B. K., Pianta, R. C. (2001) Early teacher-child relationships and the trajectory of children’s school outcomes through eighth grade. Child Development 72: 625–638. Google Scholar | Crossref | Medline | ISI | |
| Hutchings, J., Bywater, T., Gridley, N., Whitaker, C. J., Martin-Forbes, P., Gruffydd, S. (2012) The Incredible Years therapeutic social and emotional skills programme: A pilot study. School Psychology International 33(3): 285–293. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI | |
| Hutchings, J., Daley, D., Jones, K., Martin, P., Bywater, T., Gwyn, R. (2007) Early results from developing and researching the Webster-Stratton Incredible Years Teacher Classroom Management Programme in North West Wales. Journal of Children’s Services 2: 15–26. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
| Jennings, P. A., Greenberg, M. (2009) The pro-social classroom: Teacher social and emotional competence in relation to student and classroom outcomes. Review of Educational Research 79: 491–525. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI | |
| Kellam, S. G., Ling, X., Rolande, M., Brown, H., Ialongo, N. C. (1998) The effect of level of aggression in the first grade classroom on the course and malleability of aggressive behavior into middle school. Development and Psychopathology 12: 165–185. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
| Kiernan, G., Axford, N., Little, M., Murphy, C., Greene, S., Gormley, M. (2008) The school readiness of children living in a disadvantaged area in Ireland. Journal of Early Childhood Research 6: 119–144. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | |
| Knop, J., Penick, E. C., Nickel, E. J., Mortensen, E. L., Sullivan, M. A., Murtaza, S., Jensen, P., Manzardo, A. M., Gabrielli, W. F. (2009) Childhood ADHD and conduct disorder as independent predictors of male alcohol dependence at age 40. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs 70: 169–177. Google Scholar | Crossref | Medline | ISI | |
| Ladd, G. W. (1990) Having friends, keeping friends, making friends, and being liked by peers in the classroom: Predictors of children’s early school adjustment? Child Development 61: 1081–1100. Google Scholar | Crossref | Medline | ISI | |
| Leflot, G., van Lier, P., Onghena, P., Colpin, H. (2010) The role of teacher behavior management in the development of disruptive behaviors: An intervention study with the Good Behavior Game. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology 38: 869–882. Google Scholar | Crossref | Medline | ISI | |
| McGilloway, S., Hyland, L., Ni Mhaille, G., Lodge, A., O’Neill, D., Kelly, P., Leckey, Y., Donnelly, M. (2010) Positive classrooms, positive children: A randomised controlled trial to investigate the effectiveness of the Incredible Years Teacher Classroom Management Programme in an Irish context, Dublin: Archways. Google Scholar | |
| Meltzer, H., Gatward, R., Goodman, R., Ford, F. (2000) Mental health of children and adolescents in Great Britain, London: The Stationery Office. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
| Najman, J. M., Williams, G. M., Nikles, J. M. B., Spence, S., Bor, W., O’Callaghan, M., LeBrocque, R., Andersen, M. J. (2000) Mothers’ mental illness and child behaviour problems: Cause-effect association or observation bias? Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry 39: 592–602. Google Scholar | Crossref | Medline | |
| Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) (2004) Early childhood education and care policy: Country note for Ireland, Paris: OECD. Google Scholar | |
| Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) (2010) Education at a Glance, Paris: OECD. Google Scholar | |
| Porteus, M. A. (1991) A study of behavioural and emotional problems in Irish primary. school children. The Irish Journal of Psychology 12: 304–315. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
| Ramey, C. T., Ramey, S. L. (1998) Early intervention and early experience. American Psychologist 53: 109–120. Google Scholar | Crossref | Medline | ISI | |
| Raver, C. C., Jones, S. M., Li-Grining, C. P., Metzger, M., Champion, K. M., Sardin, L. (2008) Improving preschool classroom processes: Preliminary findings from a randomized trial implemented in Head Start settings. Early Childhood Research Quarterly 23: 10–26. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
| Reyes, M. R., Brackett, M. A., Rivers, S. E., White, M., Salovey, P. (2012) Classroom emotional climate, student engagement and academic achievement. Journal of Educational Psychology 104: 700–712. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
| Stephen, C., Cope, P. (2003) Moving on to primary 1: An exploratory study of the experience of transition from pre-school to primary (Insight 3), Edinburgh: Scottish Executive. Google Scholar | |
| Warren, J. S., Bohanon-Edmonson, H. M., Turnbull, A. P., Sailor, W., Wickham, D., Griggs, P., Beech, S. E. (2006) School-wide positive behaviour support: Addressing behaviour problems that impede student learning in education. Educational Psychology Review 18: 187–198. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
| Wasserman, G. A., Keenan, K., Tremblay, R. E., Coie, J. D., Herrenkohl, T. I., Loeber, R., et al. (2003). Risk and protective factors of child delinquency (NCJ193409). Washington, DC: US Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Google Scholar | |
| Webster-Stratton, C. (2005). Teacher strategies questionnaire. Retrieved from http://www.incredibleyears.com/Measures/tsq-scoring.pdf. Google Scholar | |
| Webster-Stratton, C., Hammond, M. (1998) Conduct problems and level of social competence in Head Start Children: Prevalence, pervasiveness, and associated risk factors. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review 1: 101–124. Google Scholar | Crossref | Medline | |
| Webster-Stratton, C., Lindsay, D. W. (1999) Social competence and conduct problems in young children: Issues in assessment. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology 28: 25–43. Google Scholar | Crossref | Medline | |
| Webster-Stratton, C. S., Reid, M. J., Hammond, M. (2004) Treating children with early-onset conduct problems: Intervention outcomes for parent, child, and teacher training. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology 33: 105–124. Google Scholar | Crossref | Medline | ISI | |
| White, J. L., Moffitt, T. E., Earls, F., Robins, L., Silva, P. A. (1990) How early can we tell? Predictors of childhood conduct disorder and delinquency. Criminology 28: 507–533. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
| Williams, J., Greene, S., Doyle, E., Harris, E., Layte, R., McCoy, S., McCrory, C., Murray, A., Nixon, E., McDowd, T., O’Moore, M., Quail, A., Smyth, E., Swords, L., Thornton, M. (2009) Growing up in Ireland: The lives of nine-year olds, Dublin: The Stationery Office. Google Scholar |
