ABSTRACT
These are questions that parents frequently ask about their children’s problem behaviors;
they also exemplify the kinds of questions that research studies in child psychopathology
seek to address. Such questions have to do with defining what constitutes normal and
abnormal behavior for children of different ages and genders, identifying the causes and
correlates of abnormal child behavior, making predictions about long-term outcomes for
varying childhood problems, and developing and evaluating methods for the treatment
and prevention of abnormal child behavior (Achenbach, 1978; Kazdin, 1998).
