Parental rearing practices, fearfulness, and problem behaviour in clinically referred children

The present study investigated the relationship between parental rearing behaviours on the one hand and ‘psychopathology’ (i.e. fearfulness and problem behaviour) on the other hand in a group of clinically referred children. In order to examine this issue, children completed the child version of the EMBU (i.e. an inventory for assessing their parentsʹ rearing practices) and the Fear Survey Schedule for Children (FSSC) (Ollendick, 1983). Parents filled in the parent version of the EMBU and the Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL) (Achenbach & Edelbrock, 1983). It was found that some subscales of both the parent and the child version of the EMBU were unreliable in terms of internal consistency. By means of a factor analytic procedure, two new EMBU scales were created: ‘positive rearing behaviour’ and ‘negative rearing behaviour’. Results further revealed a low degree of agreement between parents and children in reports of parental rearing behaviours. No association was found between parental rearing practices and fearfulness/internalizing problem behaviour. However, a positive relationship did emerge between negative rearing practices and externalizing problem behaviours. Finally, parental rearing behaviours in children with anxiety disorders were similar to those in clinically referred children who did not suffer from a severe type of psychopathology. Children with disruptive behaviour disorders, however, exhibited an aberrant pattern of rearing practices: in these children relatively more negative and less positive upbringing behaviours were observed.