Cognitive Abilities, Adjustment and Parenting Practices in Preschoolers with Disruptive Conduct Problems

. Conduct problems arising in infancy are one of the main reasons for which parents seek psychological assistance. Although these problems usually begin when the child has started school, in recent years a group of children has been identified who begin to mani-fest such problems from their earliest infancy and whose prognosis seems to be particularly negative. Method. The participants in this study were 175 preschoolers aged between 4 and 5 years with and without conduct problems. Learning-related cognitive abilities, attitudes and parent-ing practices were assessed in all cases. Results. The results demonstrate differences between the two groups in all the aspects studied here, making it clear that these types of problems have a significant impact on family life and quickly become generalized to different contexts of child functioning. Discussion and Conclusion. Prescholres with conduct problems have difficulties in master-ing certain cognitive abilities and in acquiring attitudes towards learning. The study also high-lights the importance of parental strategies for disciplining their children and their expecta-tions regarding their child’s capacities.