Bd. Schraeder et al., HOME AND CLASSROOM BEHAVIORAL-ADJUSTMENT IN VERY-LOW-BIRTH-WEIGHT CHILDREN - THE INFLUENCE OF CAREGIVER STRESS AND GOODNESS-OF-FIT, Children's health care, 25(2), 1996, pp. 117-131
The contribution of biological risk and environmental stress to the be
havioral adjustment of school-age survivors of very low birthweight wa
s investigated. The participants were 35 very low birthweight children
and a comparison group of 31 normal birthweight children matched for
age, sex, race, birth order, socioeconomic status, and maternal educat
ion. Data on the children's social skills, goodness of fit, and behavi
or problems in the home and classroom were provided by parents and tea
chers. Forty-five percent of the variance in classroom behavior proble
ms and 23% of the variance in behavior problems in the home were accou
nted for by the combination of variables. Goodness of fit and single-p
arent family structure made more important contributions to behavior p
roblems in the classroom and home than birthweight.