The Relationship Between Geographic Relocation and Childhood Problem Behaviour

Appendix A

Description of Study Measures
						Cronbach's
Study Measures	Source¹	Same Measure Used	Description	No. of Items	PMK	SR
Dependent Variables
Physical aggression conduct problems	PMK/SR	Same	Three-point scale ranging from 1=never or not true to 3=often or very true (e.g., I get into many fights). Scale includes 1 item from the Montreal Longitudinal Survey (MLS) and 5 items from the Ontario Child Health Study (OCHS)(see NLSCY, 1998).	6	.80	.75
Antisocial behaviour	PMK/SR	Same	Three-point scale ranging from 1=never or not true to 3=often or very true (e.g., I help other children who are feeling sick ). This scale includes 5 items from the MLS and 3 items from the OCHS (NLSCY, 1998).	8	.80	.73
Indirect aggression	PMK/SR	Same	Three-point scale ranging from 1=never or not true to 3=often or very true (e.g., I try when am mad at someone, to get others to dislike him/her). Includes 5 items from Lagerspetz, Bjorngvist and Peltonen of Finland.	5	.79	.73
Property offenses	PMK/SR	Same	Three-point scale ranging from 1=never or not true to 3=often or very true (e.g., I destroy my own things, I steal at home)	6	.71	.62
Lifetime alcohol use	SR	NA	Child asked if they had ever drank alcohol.	1	-	-
Lifetime tobacco use	SR	NA	Child asked if they ever tried cigarette smoking, even just a few puffs.	1	-	-
School failure	PMK	NA	PMK asked if child had ever repeated a grade at school.	1	-	-

Study Measures	1	Same Measure Used	Description		PMK	SR
Lifetime moves for child	PMK		PMK asked the number of times in child's life, the child moved or changed place of	1	-	-
	PMK	NA		1	-
Proposed Mediators (Measures of Social Control)
Family Mediators	PMK/SR	Same	Five-point scale ranging from 1=very well no problems to 5=not well at all, constant problems (e.g., in the past 6 months, how well have you gotten along with mother; father; responses. These items are modified from the Ontario Child Health Study.	3		.98
			PMK-report
			with parents; siblings). If child had no siblings, used child's response for question dealing with parents.	2		-
	SR	NA	exactly where I am and what I am doing; they tell me what I can watch on TV).	6	-
Weak parent/child			Different	Self-report Four-point scale ranging from 1=never to 4=very often (e.g., my parents smile at me; praise me).	5	.78
						Cronbach's
Study Measures	Source¹	Same Measure Used	Description	No. of Items	PMK	SR
Weak parent/child attachment (continued)			PMK-report Four-point scale ranging from 1=never to 4=very often (e.g., how often do you and your child laugh together; how often do you do something special with your child that he/she enjoys?	5	.71	-
Punitive parenting	PMK/SR	Different	Self-report Four-point scale ranging from 1=never to 4=very often (e.g., my parents nag me about little things; hit me or threaten me)	3	-	.57
			PMK-report Four-point scale ranging from 1=never to 4 very often (e.g., how often do you raise your voice, scold or yell at your child; use physical punishment)	4	.55	-
Inconsistent parenting	PMK/SR	Different	Self-report Four-point scale ranging from 1=never to 4=very often (e.g., my parents soon forget a rule they have made; enforce a rule or do not enforce a rule depending upon their mood).	3	-	.49
			PMK-report Four-point scale ranging from 1=never to 4=very often (e.g., how often does your child get away with things that you feel should have been punished; how often when you discipline your child does he/she ignore the punishment).	5	.64	-
Times changed schools	PMK	-	Number of times child changed school.	1	-	-
						Cronbach's
Study Measures	Source¹	Same Measure Used	Description	No. of Items	PMK	SR
Low academic achievement	SR/PMK	Different	Self-report Five-point scale ranging from 1=very well to 5=very poorly (e.g., how well are you doing in school)	1	-	-
			PMK-report Five-point scale ranging from 1=very well to 5=very poorly (e.g., how well is child doing in reading; mathematics; composition; and, overall).	4	.89	-
Community Mediators Low participation in sports	PMK/SR	Same	Four-point scale ranging from 1=never to 4=4 or more times a week (e.g., how often does child participate in sports with a coach or instructor; plays sports without a coach or instructor).	2	-	-
Low participation in clubs/church attendance	PMK/SR	Same	Two items comprised of a 4-point scale ranging from 1=never to 4=4 or more times a week (e.g., how often does child taken art lessons; participates in clubs or community activities). Scale also includes an item about frequency of church attendance.	3	.28	.36
Control Variables
Age of child	HR	NA	Children ages 10-11	1	-	-
Sex	HR	NA	Females=1; males=0	1	-	-
Region of residence	HR	NA	Maritimes=1; Quebec=2; Ontario=3; Prairies=4 and BC=5	1	-	-
Urban/rural residence	HR	NA	Urban population 15,000 or more=1; rural populations <15,000=0	1	-	-
Living arrangements	HR	NA	Lives with both biological parents=0; other=1	1	-	-
						Cronbach's
Study Measures	Source¹	Same Measure Used	Description	No. of Items	PMK	SR
Low family SES	PMK	NA	Derived from five sources: the level of education of the PMK, the level of education of the spouse/partner; the prestige of the PMK's occupation; the prestige of the occupation of the spouse/partner; and household income. The SES score for single-parent families will tend to be lower because household income, on average, will be lower.	1	-	-
Low neighbourhood safety	PMK	NA	Four-point scale range from 1=strongly disagree to 4 strongly agree (e.g., it is safe to walk alone in this neighbourhood after dark; it is safe for children to play outside during the day).	2	-	-
Low neighbourhood cohesiveness	PMK	NA	Four-point scale ranging from 1=strongly agree to 4 strongly disagree (e.g., if there is a problem around here; the neighbours get together to deal with it; people around here are willing to help their neighbours).	5	.87	-
Neighbourhood problems	PMK	NA	Three-point scale ranging from 1=no problem to 3=a big problem (e.g., how much of a problem is garbage, litter, or broken glass in the street or road, on the sidewalks or in yards; selling or using of drugs).	6	.71
Parental depression	PMK	NA	Four-point scale ranging from 1=rarely or not at all to 4=most or all of the time (e.g., in the past week, I did not feel like eating, my sleep was restless, etc.). Questions for scale are shorter version of CES-D developed by L.S. Radloff (NLSCY,1998).	6	.70	-
Parental smoking	PMK	NA	Derived variable based on number of cigarettes smoked daily by PMK and spouse; 1=at least one parent reported they smoked daily.	1	-	-
Parental drinking	PMK	NA	Derived variable for frequency of alcohol use in the past year; 1=at least one parent reported drinking 2-3 per week during the past year.	1	-	-
Family dysfunction	PMK	NA	Four-point scale ranging from 1=strongly disagree to 4=strongly disagree (e.g., planning family activities is difficult because we misunderstand each other.). Questions were developed by researchers at the Chedoke-McMaster Hospital of McMaster University (NLSCY,1998).	6	.82	-
						Cronbach's
Study Measures	Source¹	Same Measure Used	Description	No. of Items	PMK	SR
Low frequency of seeing friends/ weekly	PMK/SR	Same	Five-point scale ranging from 1=6-7 days a week to 5=never (e.g., how many days a week does child do things with friends).	2	-	-
Negative school climate	PMK/SR	Different	Self-report Five-point scale ranging from 1=all the time to 5=never (e.g., children say nasty and unpleasant things to me at school; I am bullied at school, I feel left out at school)	4	-	.49
			Five-point scale ranging from 5=never to 5=all of the time (e.g., my teacher treated me fairly; I feel safe at school; I feel safe on my way to and from school).	4	-	.71
			PMK-report Four-point scale ranging from 1=strongly agree to 4=strongly disagree (e.g., most children in this school enjoy being there; parents are made to feel welcome in this school; school spirit is high).	4	.78	-
Peer substance use	SR	NA	Number of friends that smoke; number of friends that drink; and, number of friends who have tried drugs or sniffed glue or solvents.	3	-	.68
Deviant peers	SR	NA	Child asked if in the past year, they were part of a group that did bad things.	1	-	-
Low child self-esteem	SR	NA	Four-point scale ranging from 1=mostly true to 4=false (e.g., in general, I like the way I am, when I do something I do it well). These items were taken from the General-Self Scale of the Marsh Self-Description Questionnaire developed by H.W. Marsh (NLSCY, 1998).	4	-	.73
¹ Data available for PMK (i.e., Person Most Knowledgeable about child), SR (i.e., child self-reports) or HR (i.e., derived from household roster and relationship grid or sample information).

Contents

The Relationship Between Geographic Relocation and Childhood Problem Behaviour - October 1998

Appendix A