Presenting problems and assigned diagnoses among young Latino children with disruptive behavior

Abstract

It is unclear whether the behaviors that alert families to the need for services are those that classify children for the diagnoses they receive. This study describes the behaviors that Latina mothers from Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic report to have induced them to seek services for their young children. Both qualitative and quantitative analyses were used. Results indicated that mothers most frequently cited behaviors that fell in the categories of Hyperactivity, Aggression/Temper Tantrums, and School Complaints as reasons for help seeking. Whereas aggression and self-injurious acts were most alarming to mothers, School Complaints appeared to be a strong motivator for help seeking.

Children whose mothers cited school behavior as a reason for help seeking had significantly poorer global functioning and presented significantly higher care giving demands than peers. In addition, their mothers reported significantly more disciplinary laxity than the mothers of peers without School Complaints. Maternal narratives of children’s behaviors moderately concurred with assigned diagnoses. Mothers overlooked inattentive behaviors in children with ADHD and reported much more aggression and oppositionality than might be expected from the number of diagnoses of ODD that were assigned.

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