Department of Child- and Adolescent Psychiatry, Rudolf Magnus Institute for Neuroscience, University Medical Centre Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Prev Sci. 2011 Jun;12(2):192-200. doi: 10.1007/s11121-011-0204-y.
Early-onset aggressive behavior is known for its negative developmental consequences, and the associated high costs for families, the health care system and wider society. Although the origins of aggressive behavior are to be found in early childhood, the costs incurred by aggressive behavior of young children have not been studied extensively. The present study aimed to investigate whether preschool children with a high level of aggressive behavior already differ in the generated amount of costs and impact on family functioning from children with lower levels of aggressive behavior. A population-based sample of 317 preschool children was divided into four groups with different levels of aggression (moderate, borderline, clinical). Parents filled out questionnaires to assess service use (lifetime and past 3 months) and impact on family functioning. Over the past 3 months as well as over the first 4 years of life, children with a clinical level of aggression were more costly than children with a low level of aggression (mean total costs over the past 3 months: low € = 167,05 versus clinical € = 1034,83 and mean lifetime costs: low € = 817,37 versus clinical € = 1433,04), due to higher costs of services used by the child. In addition, families of children with a borderline or clinical level of aggressive behavior reported more impairment in their daily functioning than families of children with lower levels of aggression. The findings demonstrate that a high level of aggressive behavior results in high costs and impaired family functioning in the preschool years already.
早发性攻击性行为以其对发展的负面影响而闻名，并且给家庭、医疗保健系统和更广泛的社会带来了高昂的代价。尽管攻击性行为的起源可以追溯到儿童早期，但针对幼儿攻击性行为的代价尚未得到广泛研究。本研究旨在调查具有高水平攻击性行为的学龄前儿童是否已经在产生的费用数量和对家庭功能的影响方面与攻击性较低的儿童有所不同。一个基于人群的 317 名学龄前儿童样本被分为四个具有不同攻击性水平（中度、边缘、临床）的组。家长填写问卷，以评估服务使用（终生和过去 3 个月）和对家庭功能的影响。在过去的 3 个月以及生命的前 4 年中，具有临床攻击性水平的儿童比具有低攻击性水平的儿童花费更高（过去 3 个月的平均总费用：低 € = 167.05 与临床 € = 1034.83 和终生平均费用：低 € = 817.37 与临床 € = 1433.04），这是由于儿童使用的服务费用更高。此外，具有边缘或临床攻击性水平的儿童的家庭报告其日常功能受损程度高于攻击性较低的儿童的家庭。研究结果表明，高水平的攻击性行为在学龄前就已经导致高代价和家庭功能受损。
