Patterns of Behavioral Disturbance in Developmentally Disabled and Psychiatrically Referred Children: A Cluster Analytic Approach

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Previous research has shown that behavior pattern profiles derived from cluster analysis of Missouri Children's Behavior Checklist (MCBC) scores of developmentally disabled children described a large proportion of these children but only a small proportion of psychiatrically referred children. The present study was designed to derive a set of behavior pattern profiles from samples of psychiatrically referred children that would describe this population more adequately and to determine if the same patterns occurred in the developmentally disabled population. Hierarchical cluster analysis was performed on the MCBC scores of two matched samples of psychiatrically referred chlidren. Seven clusters were replicated. Rules derived from the replicated clusters were applied to both child psychiatry samples and to samples of developmentally disabled and nonreferred children. The distribution of behavior pattern profiles differed significantly between child psychiatry and nonreferred children, and between child psychiatry and developmentally disabled children. However, the seven- cluster solution sho wed a degree of coverage in describing developmentally disabled children that was approximately equal to its coverage in describing psychiatrically referred children. Results are discussed in terms of the different frequencies of problem types in the two referred populations and in terms of the relative benefits of using the original four-cluster solution or the present seven-cluster solution.

This publication has 1 reference indexed in Scilit: