Single parent families report more behaviour problems

Children living in single parent or step-families are more badly behaved than their peers, according to new research in the UK.

Youngsters falling into these two categories were at least twice as likely to exhibit serious behaviour problems than those living with both their natural parents.

The findings are contained in a survey of almost 13,500 mothers, conducted as part of the Millennium Cohort Study.

The mothers were asked to rate different aspects of their child’s behaviour at the age of seven, such as hyperactivity, conduct, emotional problems and difficulties with other children.

The results were converted into scores and children allocated one of three categories – normal, borderline, or serious behaviour problems.

As found when the children were surveyed at the ages of three and five, children from families with two natural parents showed “significantly fewer” behaviour problems than those from lone parent or step-families.

One in six children (15 per cent) from step-families were classed as having serious behaviour problems, along with one in eight (12 per cent) of those living with one parent.

This compared with just six per cent of those living with two parents.

The results also showed that a parent’s education had an impact on how well a child behaved, with children of highly-educated parents behaving better.

Children from families where a parent held a high qualification level, such as a first degree, had an average behavioural difficulties score of 6.1, compared with an average score of 10.6 for children of parents with no qualifications.

In total, eight per cent of seven-year-olds were deemed to have serious problems, while a further 6% were classified as having borderline behaviour problems.

The results also showed that twice as many boys as girls displayed serious behaviour problems (10 per cent compared with six per cent).