ABSTRACT
Objective:To investigate the relationship between problem behaviorand father-child relationship in 4-6-year-oldchildren. Methods:Totally 102 children were recruited in a kindergarten in Beijing,with 36 aged four,36 aged five,30 aged six and 55 being boys and 47 being girls. Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL)was used to measure preschoolers'problem behaviors,and Family Relations Index (FRI)was adopted to assess children's rela-tionship with their fathers. Results:There were 41,49,and 12 children being classified as negative,neutral and posi-tive father-child relation respectively. Kruskal-Wallis Test revealed that there was no significant difference in scores of 3 CBCL subtests and 8 factors (P>0. 05 )among 4-,5-,and 6-year-old children. Children with negative father-child relationship scored higher on CBCL problem behavior subtests than those with neutral father-child relationship[30. 5 (7. 0,58. 0)vs. 16. 0 (0. 0,69. 0),P<0. 05 ]. They alsoscored higher on withdrawn behavior than children with neutralor positive father-child relationship [3. 0 (0. 0,4. 0)vs. 1. 0 (0. 0,6. 0),1. 0 (0. 0,4. 0),P<0. 05] . Mann-Whitney U Test manifested that boys scored higher in attention problem than girls (P<0. 0 1 ),but no gen-der difference was found in the other problem behaviors. Kruskal-Wallis Test showed that boys with negative father-child relationship scored higher than those with neutral father-child relationship on problem behavior subtest,anxie-ty-depression,attention problem,and internalized problem (Ps<0. 05 ). Boys with negative father-child relationship scored higher than those with neutraland positivefather-child relationship on withdrawn behavior (Ps <0. 05 ). No difference was found whether in CBCL subtests or problem behavior factors for girls with different types of father-child relationship. Conclusion:It suggests that the children with negative father-child relationship display more problem behavior and withdrawn symptoms;boys have more attention problems than girls;compared with girls, boys'problem behavior may be more closely related to therelationship with their father.