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Little is known about the development of children's lying. The present study examined whether observed social and non-social fear in preschoolers predicts children's consistent cheating (N = 460; M = 4.3 years of age) and consistent lying about cheating. When left alone, 155 (34%) children cheated in both games conducted. Of these consistently cheating children, 54 (35%) children lied about their cheating after both games, whereas the remaining 101 children confessed to cheating after at least one game. Children's temperamental fear did not predict consistent cheating. However, non-social (but not social) fear did predict consistent lying. Children with lower levels of non-social fear were more likely to lie. These findings suggest that non-social fear plays a role in the development of children's antisocial lying.

The study aims at developing and validating a brief, easy-to-use screening instrument for teachers to predict externalizing disorders in children and recommending them for timely referral. The scores are compared between Dutch and non-Dutch immigrant children and a significant amount of cases for externalizing disorders were identified but sex and ethnicity did not contribute to this prediction.

The present study assesses the population prevalence of DSM-IV disorders among native and immigrant children living in low socio-economic status (SES) inner-city neighborhoods in the Netherlands. In the first phase of a two-phase epidemiological design, teachers screened an ethnically diverse sample of 2041 children aged 6-10 years using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). In the second phase, a subsample of 253 children was psychiatrically examined, while their parents were interviewed. In addition, teachers completed a short questionnaire about 10 DSM-IV items. Prevalence was estimated using the best-estimate diagnosis based on parent, child and teacher information. Projected to the total population, 11% of the children had one or more impairing psychiatric disorders, which did not differ between native and non-native children. In the total group a clear relationship was observed between the prevalence of psychiatric disorders and gender, parental psychopathology, peer problems and school problems, but not among all ethnic groups separately. This study suggests that the prevalence of psychiatric disorders among non-treated minority and native children in low SES inner-city neighborhoods does not materially differ. However, associated mechanisms may be influenced by ethnicity.

Objective: First, to investigate whether non-Western children in the Netherlands are less likely to be treated for behavioral problems than Western children; second, to examine whether discrepancies in treatment status are related to differences in level of problem behavior and impairment. Method: The study included 2,185 children of the four largest ethnic groups in the Netherlands, namely, 684 Dutch, 702 Moroccan, 434 Turkish, and 365 Surinamese children from grades three to five of elementary school. Teachers completed the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire and five DSM-IV items on externalizing problems. In addition, they provided information on the treatment status of the child. Results: Moroccan boys displayed more problem behavior, Turkish boys less problem behavior, and Surinamese boys similar rates of problem behavior compared with Dutch boys. No difference in problem behavior was found between Western and non-Western girls. Adjusted for age, level of problem behavior, and impairment, Moroccan and Turkish children and Surinamese girls were less likely to receive treatment for problem behavior. Conclusions: The higher treatment thresholds of non-Western children compared with Western children in the Netherlands could not be explained by differences in level of problem behavior or impairment. Detection of behavioral problems in non-Western children should receive more attention. (Contains 4 tables.)