Behavior problems in Israeli Jewish and Palestinian preschool children

Examined maternal-reported behavior problems of Israeli children between the ages of 2 and 4 years. Seventy-two mothers of Jewish toddlers and 72 mothers of Palestinian toddlers completed the Child Behavior Checklist/2-3 and 1992 Profile (Achenbach, 1992). No differences were found for the Total Behavior Problem score, or for Externalizing and Internalizing scores. The Palestinian children were rated as having significantly more problems associated with anxiety and depression, and boys from both groups were rated as having more somatic problems. There were also culture and sex differences in borderline and clinical levels of behavior problems. Findings are discussed in terms of the different childrearing environments, the paucity of research on the development of Palestinian children, and, therefore, the need for future research in this area.