Children's perceptions of their behavior problems during the gulf war.

The purpose of the study was to investigate the impact of the Gulf War on the number and frequency of behavior problems among Israeli children as related to the children's age and sex. During the Gulf War, 316 second- and sixth-grade children were interviewed and asked to complete self-report scales about their behavior during the war and before the war. Results showed an increase in the number of behavior problems during the war as compared with their number before the war. Age had a significant influence, with younger children reporting more problems. Sex did not influence the number and frequency of the behavior problems. The main predictor of children's behavior problems during the war was the number and freqeuncy of such problems before the war. The paper supports a hypothesis of constant rather than proportional rise in the number of behavior problems during war, but also highlights the methodological difficulties in such research. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]