Children's conceptions of psychological problems1

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Abstract
Children in grades 5–12 (n = 818) were asked to list 3 problems for which someone might go to a clinical psychologist. Across the total sample, children were most likely to cite “social”; problems (e.g., “family”; and “marital"). Trends across educational levels suggest that, with increased age, children of both sexes become more likely to conceptualize psychological problems as “internal”; to the person (i.e., involving emotions and cognitions). Moreover, with increasing age boys become more likely to think in terms of social problems and somewhat less likely to think in “externalized”; terms (i.e., involving overt behavior or environmental stimuli). These data are interpreted as consistent with age trends in social cognition, and with research on children's reactions to disorder in their peers.

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