Abstract
Normal, depressed and conduct disorder children (M age=5 years) were interviewed (as were their mothers) and observed in free play and puzzle completion tasks both alone and together with their mothers to determine differences in temperament, behavior problems and play interaction behaviors. The depressed children reported more “depressed” feelings, lower self-esteem and more external locus of control, although their mothers were indistinguishable from mothers of normal children on interviews, and their dyadic play behavior together suggested less fantasy play and less involvement. The conduct disorder children's interview responses did not differ from their normal peers, although their mothers reported more self-depression, more external locus of control and less nurturant childrearing practices and rated their children as having more active temperaments. The conduct disorder children were more active motorically and less interactive during play sessions, and their mothers were less interactive and more disapproving than the other mothers. These results are discussed in the context of the literature on different behavior problems, self-concept, temperament and childrearing practices in these two groups of disturbed children.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Quay, H. C., & Werry, J. S. (1979).Psychopathological Disorders of Childhood. New York: John Wiley & Sons.
Rutter, M. (1976). Classification. InChild Psychiatry-Modern Approaches. London: Blackwell.
Puig-Antich, J. (1982). Major depression and conduct disorder in prepuberty.Journal of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry, 21, 118–128.
Freidberg, R. D. (1982). Locus of control and self-concept in a status offender population.Psychological Reports, 50, 289–290.
Welner, Z. (1978). Childhood depression: An overview.The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 166, 588–593.
Achenbach, T. M., & Edelbrock, C. S. (1978). The Classification of Child Psychopathology: A Review and Analysis of Empirical Efforts.Psychological Bulletin, 85, 1275–1301.
Carey, W. B. (1970). A simplified method for measuring infant temperament.The Journal of Pediatrics, 77, 188–194.
Carey, W. B. (1972). Clinical applications of infant temperament measurements.Behavioral Pediatrics, 81, 823–828.
Schaffer, H. R. (1966). Activity Level as a constitutional determinant of infantile reaction to deprivation.Child Development, 37, 595–602.
Thomas, A., Chess, S., & Korn, S. J. (1982). The Reality of difficult temperament.Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 28, 1–20.
Thomas, A., & Chess, S. (1977).Temperament and development. New York: Brunner/Mazel, publishers.
Buss, A., & Plomin, R. (1975).A temperament theory of personality development. New York: John Wiley & Sons.
Lewis, M., & Lewis, D. O. (1981). Depression in childhood: A biopsychosocial perspective.American Journal of Psychotherapy, 130, 1278–1280.
McKnew, D. H., Jr., & Cytryn, L. (1973). Historical background in children with affective disorders.American Journal of Psychiatry, 130, 1278–1280.
Raskin, A., Boothe, H. H., Reatig, N. A., Schultze-Brandt, J. G., & Odle, D. (1971). Factor analyses of normal and depressed patients' memories of parental behaviour.Psychological Reports, 29, 871–879.
Farrington, D. P. (1978). The family backgrounds of aggressive youths. In L. A. Hersov, M. Berger, & D. Shaffer (Eds.),Aggression and anti-social behaviour in childhood and adolescence. (pp. 73–93). New York: Pergamon Press.
Minuchin, S., Auerswald, E., Kirp, L. H., & Rabinowitz, C. (1964). The study and treatment of families who produce multiple acting-out boys.American Journal of Orthopedics, 34, 125–133.
Patterson, G. R., & Cobb, J. A. (1971). A dyadic analysis of “aggressive” behaviors. In J. P. Hill (Ed.),Minnesota Symposium on Child Psychology (Vol. 5). Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Rickel, A., & Biasatti, L. (1982). Modification of the Block Child Rearing Practices Report.Journal of Clinical Psychology, 28, 129–134.
Buck, R., Miller, R., & Caul, W. (1974). Sex, personality, and physiological variables in the communication of affect via facial expressions.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 30(4), 587–596.
Quay, H., & Peterson, D. R. (1975).Manual for the behavior problem checklist.
Nowicki, S., & Strickland, B. R. (1973). A locus of control scale for children.Journal of consulting and clinical psychology, 40, 148–154.
Beck, A. T., Ward, C. H., Mendelson, M., Mock, J. E., & Erbaugh, J. (1961). An inventory for measuring depression.Arch. Gen. Psychiatry., 4, 561–571.
Nowicki, S., & Duke, M. P. (1979). A preschool and primary internal-external control scale.Developmental Psychology, 15, 325–328.
Thomas, W. L. (1972).The Thomas Self-Concept Values Test, Manual. Chicago, Illinois: W. Clement and Jessie V. Stone Foundation.
Kovacs, M. (1982).The Children's Depression Inventory: A Self-Rated Depression Scale for School-Aged Youngsters. Unpublished manuscript.
Oyerall, J. E., & Pfefferbaum, B. (1982). The Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale for Children,Psychopharmacology Bulletin, 18, 10–16.
Bartko, J. J., & Carpenter, W. T. (1976). On the methods of reliability.The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 163, 307–317.
Myers, J. L. (1977).Fundamentals of experimental design. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
Carlson, G. A., & Cantwell, D. P. (1980). A survey of depressive symptoms, syndrome and disorder in a child psychiatric population.Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 21, 19–25.
Quay, Herbert. (1977). Psychopathic Behavior: Reflections on its Nature, Origins, and Treatment. In F. Weizmann and I. Uzgiris (Eds.),The Structuring of Experience. New York: Plenum.
Buck, R. (1977). Nonverbal communication of affect in preschool children. Relationships with personality and skin conductance.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 35, 235–236.
Parker, G. (1982). Parental representations and affective symptoms: Examination for an hereditary link.British Journal of Medical Psychology, 55, 57–61.
O'Connell, G. (1984). A comparison of children with conduct disorder versus childhood depression. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Miami.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
We would like to thank the children and mothers who participated in this study and the developmental follow-up clinic staff who made the referrals to the study. This research was supported by a NIMH research scientist development award #MH00331 to T.F. and by a postdoctoral fellowship from the Quebec Medical. Research Council to David Sandberg.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Field, T.M., Sandberg, D., Goldstein, S. et al. Play interactions and interviews of depressed and conduct disorder children and their mothers. Child Psych Hum Dev 17, 213–234 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00706447
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00706447