RITUAL, HABIT, AND PERFECTIONISM - THE PREVALENCE AND DEVELOPMENT OF COMPULSIVE-LIKE BEHAVIOR IN NORMAL YOUNG-CHILDREN

Citation
Dw. Evans et al., RITUAL, HABIT, AND PERFECTIONISM - THE PREVALENCE AND DEVELOPMENT OF COMPULSIVE-LIKE BEHAVIOR IN NORMAL YOUNG-CHILDREN, Child development, 68(1), 1997, pp. 58-68
Citations number
41
Language
INGLESE
art.tipo
Article
Categorie Soggetti
Psychology, Educational","Psychology, Developmental
Journal title
ISSN journal
0009-3920
Volume
68
Issue
1
Year of publication
1997
Pages
58 - 68
Database
ISI
SICI code
0009-3920(1997)68:1<58:RHAP-T>2.0.ZU;2-4
Abstract
Young children engage in a significant amount of ritualistic, repetiti ve, and compulsive-like activity that appears to be part of their norm al behavioral repertoire. Empirically, little is known about the onset , prevalence, and developmental trajectory of these phenomena. A paren t-report questionnaire, the Childhood Routines Inventory (CRI), was de veloped to assess compulsive-like behavior in young children, and was administered to 1,492 parents with children between the ages of 8 and 72 months. The CRI has strong overall internal consistency and a disti nct two-factor structure. The frequency of compulsive-like behaviors c hanges with age: Two-, 3-, and 4-year-olds engaged in more compulsive behavior than children younger than 1 year of age and older than 4 yea rs of age. Results are discussed from a developmental psychopathology framework and for their implications for future research in this area.