Behavioural problems in children with Down's syndrome and their siblings

Reports of problem behaviour in children with Down's syndrome and their siblings were gathered from mothers, fathers and teachers. Twenty-one sibling pairs were included in the study. The Revised Behavior Problem Checklist (Quay and Peterson, 1983) was used to gather information on total problem behaviour and on five specific problem areas. Children with Down's syndrome were reported to display more problem behaviours overall and to show significantly more attentional problems than their siblings by all rater groups. Sisters of children with Down's syndrome were reported to be more conduct disordered than were brothers by mothers, fathers and teachers. Measures of depression and marital satisfaction found both parent groups to be in the non-distressed range on these instruments. Depression contributed significantly to both parents' reports of problems in the siblings while marital satisfaction was important for mothers' reports of problems in children with Down's syndrome.