Principal components analyses of behavior problems in Jamaican clinic-referred children: teacher reports for ages 6-17.

Factor analyses of child behavior problems have often yielded two broad-band syndromes, Overcontrolled (e.g., worrying, fearfulness, withdrawal) and Undercontrolled (e.g., restlessness, fighting, disobedience). We explored whether these two broad-band syndromes might be identified for youngsters in Jamaica. We obtained teacher reports for 320 clinic-referred Jamaican youngsters on a 24-item problem checklist designed by Jamaican clinicians for the assessment of child behavior problems and subjected these to principal components analyses. Regardless of whether the sample was split according to age or sex, the analyses revealed factors similar to the Over- and Undercontrolled syndromes most often found in other cultures. The analyses also revealed school absence factors in each age and sex group; school avoidance was correlated with crying in children (aged 6-11) but with conduct problems in adolescents (aged 12-17). The findings suggest important similarities and possible differences between the factor structures of child behavior problems in Jamaica and the United States.