Baker, B. L., McIntyre, L. L., Blacher, J., Crnic, K., Edelbrock, C., & Low C. (2003). Pre-school children with and without developmental delay: behaviour problems and parenting stress over time. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research, 47, 217-230.
The authors of this article considered three main questions in their study that addressed issues of the relation of the children’s behavior problems and parental stress, the similarity of mothers and fathers assessment responses, and compared the frequency of behavior problem occurrence in children with developmental delays versus children without delays.

A sample of 205 children with and without developmental delays was used to answer research questions described above. Bayley Scales of Infant Development II, the Child Behavior Checklist, and the Family Impact Questionnaire were used as assessment tools for this study. Assessment results confirmed the previous hypothesis that parental stress contributed to the increase of a child’s problem behavior and vice versa. Parents of children with developmental delays reported more stress, and scores showed a higher rate of behavior problems in children with delays than in children without delays. Mothers and Fathers assessment scores showed agreement in rating domains of their child’s maladaptive behavior.