Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the characteristics of behavior problems among preschool children according to the sociodemographic factors in Korea. The CBCL 1.5-5 was administered to the 1,819 parents of preschool children (942 boys and 877 girls) aged between 2 to 6, some of them completed ASR for assessing caregiver's depression and C-TRF was also completed by child's teacher. The ANOVA result showed that externalizing, withdrawn, and total behavior problem score are significantly higher for boys than girls, and younger children showed more externalizing and sleep problem than older children. The parents of first-born or only child reported more problems in all problem scales, but there were no significant differences by teacher's report. Children with fathers of lower educational level showed more externalizing problems and children with lower mother's educational level showed higher externalizing, withdrawn, somatic complaints, and pervasive developmental problems. Perceived socio-economical status(SES) was negatively correlated with most problem scales, and children who don't live with their fathers showed more externalizing problems. Children of working mothers showed lower internalizing and pervasive developmental problems, however after controlling the mother's depression level, there were no significant differences. Stepwise multiple regression showed that birth order, mother's employment status, SES, mother's educational level, and age are significant sociodemographic factors affecting to the behavior problems of preschool children. Research implications and limitations are discussed.