To Wamboldt, Schmitz, & Mrazek (1998). Genetic association between atopy and behavioural symptoms in middle childhood. Volume 39 (7), pp. 1007–1016.

Through Dr Emily Simonoff's re-analysis of our data (see article above, pp. 667–674) we found a slight model specification change which has now been corrected and which actually provides stronger results. Revised Tables 4–6 are available from the authors by request.

Correct covariance matrix for the DZ opposite-sex pairs for atopy and total problem score

1 2 3 4

1 0.710

2 0.352 2.393

3 0.213 0.044 0.825

4 0.025 1.717 0.137 2.980

Corrected last paragraph of the Results section

Additive genetic effects accounted for most of the correlation between atopy and the three CBCL scores: 77% of the correlation between atopy and internalising symptoms, 100% of the correlation between atopy and externalising symptoms, and 93% of the correlation between atopy and total problem scores. The genetic correlation (rG) between atopy and INT was .34 and the nonshared environmental correlation (rE) was .16; for atopy and EXT rG was .29 and there was no rE; for total problems and atopy rG was estimated at .37 and rE at .06. The parameter estimates obtained from the bivariate factor model (full model, or A & E) are as follows: for atopy, h2 = .72 and e2 = .28; for INT, h2 = .35, c2 = .28 and e2 = .37; for EXT, h2 = .55, c2 = .23 and e2 = .22; and for Total Problems, h2 = .34, c2 = .45 and e2 = .21.

“Goodness of Fit”: Clinical Applications from Infancy through Adult Life. By Stella Chess & Alexander Thomas. Brunner/Mazel, Philadelphia, PA, 1999. pp. 229. £24.95 (hb).

Chess and Thomas's pioneering longitudinal studies of temperamental individuality started over 40 years ago (Thomas et al., 1963). Their publications soon became and remain classics. Their concept of “goodness of fit” emerges out of this monumental work but has had a long gestation period. In their new book, the authors distinguish between behaviour disorders that are reactive to the child's life circumstances, including life events, and which are self-correcting or responsive to the relevant changes in their environment, and more serious disorders.

This study examined the applicability of the Chinese Version of Teacher's Report Form (TRF-CV) and estimated the prevalence of behavioral problems in a general population sample of 2936 children aged 6 through 11 years in the Shandong Province of China. Teachers completed the TRF-CV and the Conners Hyperkinesis Index (CHI). The TRF-CV total scale showed satisfactory 2-week test–retest reliability (r = .83) and internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = .94). The TRF-CV Total Problems, Attention Problems, Delinquent Behavior, and Aggressive Behavior had acceptable concurrent validity with the CHI (mean r = .62). With the TRF-CV Total Problems score of 26 as a cutoff, an overall correct classification rate of 90% for clinical sample and nonreferral required children was obtained. Exploratory factor analysis yielded six syndromes: Aggressive/Delinquent Behavior, Withdrawn/Depressed, Somatic Complaints, Attention Problems, Social Problems, and Thought Problems, with significant correlations with corresponding American cross-informant syndromes (mean r = .84). The overall prevalence rate of behavioral problems was 15.5% (95% CI = 14.2–16.8%), with a boy-to-girl ratio of 2.0: 1 (χ2 = 59.70, p < .001). Younger boys exhibited more externalizing problems. These findings indicate that the TRF-CV is applicable for Chinese children, and the prevalence of behavioral problems shown by it among Chinese children seems comparable to that found in other countries. Although most of the American syndromes were well replicated, the differences in the present subjects, when submitted to principal components analysis, from American samples from whom the original syndromes were derived, could have prevented the study from replicating distinctions between aggressive vs. delinquent and depressed vs. withdrawn syndromes.

In the first phase of this follow-up study we investigated how the use of more than one language affects mental wellbeing and school achievement among 320 school-aged Finnish-Swedish re-migrant children. Now, in the second phase, we screened the same series of children 6 years after migration for psychiatric and psychosomatic symptoms. Out of five groups distinguished in terms of patterns of language use, two had fared well and three showed evident vulnerability. Both successful groups were marked by consistent use of the two languages, Finnish and Swedish, whereas the risk groups were characterised by mixed use of languages before re-migration or substantial language shift after re-migration.

Emeritus Professor Colin Hindley of the Institute of Education, University of London died on 12 May following surgery for lung cancer, aged 76. He will be remembered by many colleagues not only for his research on child development and individual differences but also for his personal support to individuals and organisations concerned with child development, both in this country and abroad. He was a founding Committee Member of the International Society for the Study of Behavioral Development and Advisory Editor for the Journal of Human Development. His work as a founding member of the Association of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines from 1958 onwards ensured its strong interdisciplinary base and a highly productive future. Perhaps even more significantly, many would wish to emphasise his particularly distinguished contribution as the founding Psychology Editor of the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines from 1959–1969. In recognition of his long service to the Association at so many levels, he was made an Honorary Member on his retirement.

As behavioral genetic strategies have become part of the arsenal of research in developmental psychopathology, a wide variety of genetic analyses are being applied to child psychiatric data. Multivariate genetic techniques have been used to explore comorbidity among traits or disorders and the main analysis undertaken has been to examine whether comorbidity is due to shared genetic and/or environmental factors. However, this model ignores other possible causes of comorbidity, which are reviewed. In particular, genetic analyses of comorbidity have only infrequently considered the model of phenotypic causality (one disorder directly influencing another), which provides an important alternative with potentially different implications for intervention strategies. Data from a recently published article by Wamboldt, Schmitz, and Mrazek (1998) are used to illustrate the potential difficulties of distinguishing between models of shared genetic/environmental risk and phenotypic causality. Given that the sample sizes required to distinguish between these models are often large, and frequently greater than those of the datasets available, it is argued that researchers should select the models that they test based on other lines of evidence that these models are plausible. Where convincing evidence does not exist, researchers should explore alternative models and determine their power to discriminate between these models.

This paper examines the impact of a 12-episode television series, “Families”, on disruptive child behavior and family adjustment. This media intervention comprises the first of a five-level early intervention parenting and family support strategy, known as Triple P (Positive Parenting Program). Fifty-six parents of children aged between 2 and 8 years were randomly assigned to either watching the television series or to a waitlist control group. Compared to the control group, parents in the television viewing (TV) condition reported significantly lower levels of disruptive child behavior and higher levels of perceived parenting competence, immediately following intervention. Prior to intervention approximately 42.9% of the children in the TV condition were in the clinically elevated range for disruptive child behavioral problems. This had reduced to 14.3% following intervention. In addition, a high level of consumer acceptability was reported by parents in the TV condition. All post-intervention effects were maintained at 6-month follow-up. Implications for public health approaches to family mental health are discussed.

To Glaser, D. (2000). Child abuse and neglect and the brain—a review. Volume 41(1), pp. 97–116.

Two errors in my paper have been helpfully drawn to my attention by Professor Michael De Bellis.

Page 109, paragraph 2

Some of the children also participated in the study reported by De Bellis, Keshavan et al., 1999, not De Bellis, Chrousos et al., 1994, as printed in the original paper.

Page 109, paragraph 3

The reference should be De Bellis, Keshavan et al. 1999, not De Bellis, Lefter et al., 1999.