Mother Perceptions and Mother-Child Interactions: Comparison of a Clinic-referred and a Nonclinic Group

The purpose of this study was to compare 40 clinic-referred conduct-disordered children and their mothers with 28 "normal " or nonclinic children and their mothers on mother behaviors, child behaviors, and mother reports of child behaviors. The study used two independent observational systems: One assessed the quantity of negative behaviors both in mothers and children, and the second assessed the qualitative and affective aspects of parent-child interac-tions. The results indicated that the two groups differed on childpositive affect and dominance behaviors; on mother positive affect, submissiveness, praise, commands, and criticisms; and on maternal reports of child adjustment. Al-though maternal report of child adjustment was the best discriminator between the two groups, the two observationalsystemsprovided additional information on the qualitative differences between clinic and nonclinic mother-child inter-actions. The implications of these findings for the assessment and treatment of conduct-disordered children and their families are discussed. Key words: conduct disorders, mother-child interactions, mother perceptions, clinic-referred versus nonclinic It is important to determine in what ways fami-lies with conduct problem children who seek out clinic services differ from families with "normal" children in order to design successful treatment programs. Some studies have indicated that clinic-referred children engage in higher rates of general negative and deviant behaviors (Lobitz & Johnson,