ABSTRACT
This chapter begins with the definition and etiology of behavior problems, as well as their persistence and desistance. It examines how children with behavioral problems contribute to the disruption of parenting skills, as well as how they particularly affect mothers. The chapter presents environmental factors in the etiology and persistence of conduct disorders, as well as a discussion of correlates and intervention possibilities. Children at genetic risk for behavior difficulties were far more influenced by a negative adoptive home than children with no known genetic risk. There are some indications that certain temperamental traits exhibited by small children relate to future strengths or, conversely, to behavioral or emotional problems. Mothers have been studied more extensively than fathers in their interactions with children, in part because mothers are more available at home, but also because ideologies posit that mothers are a more salient causative agent in child development.
