"The developmental interference between nature and nurture: A mutual influence model of child antisocial behavior and parent behaviors": Erratum.

Reports an error in the original article by X. Ge et al (Developmental Psychology, 1996 [Jul], Vol 32[4], 574–589). On page 584, Figure 2, negative signs were mistakenly inserted in front of 2 coefficients. The correct coefficients are given. (The following abstract of this article originally appeared in record 1996-01781-002.). Using an adoption design to collect data on biological and adoptive parents of children adopted at birth, this study explored a possible mechanism through which heritable characteristics of adopted children evoke adoptive parent responses and lead to reciprocal influences between adoptive parent and adopted child behavior. Participants were 25 male and 20 female adoptees, 12–18 years of age, having either a biological parent with substance abuse/dependency or antisocial personality or a biological parent with no such history. The study found that psychiatric disorders of biological parents were significantly related to children's antisocial/hostile behaviors and that biological parents' psychiatric disorders were associated with adoptive parents' behaviors. This genotype-environment association was largely mediated by adoptees' antisocial/hostile behaviors. Results also suggest that the adoptee's antisocial/hostile behavior and adoptive… (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Nature–nurture integration: The example of antisocial behavior.

Nature and nurture do not operate independently of each other, and, to an important degree, genetic effects on behavior come about because they either influence the extent to which the individual is likely to be exposed to individual differences in environmental risk or they affect how susceptible the individual is to environmental adversities. The time has come for an explicit research focus on the forms of interplay between genes and environment and on how this interplay is involved in the causal mechanisms for the origins of antisocial behavior and for its persistence or desistance over time. Molecular genetics has an even greater potential than quantitative genetics for understanding environmental risk mechanisms and the interplay between nature and nurture. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A developmental perspective on antisocial behavior.

A developmental model of antisocial behavior is outlined. Recent findings are reviewed that concern the etiology and course of antisocial behavior from early childhood through adolescence. Evidence is presented in support of the hypothesis that the route to chronic delinquency is marked by a reliable developmental sequence of experiences. As a first step, ineffective parenting practices are viewed as determinants for childhood conduct disorders. The general model also takes into account the contextual variables that influence the family interaction process. As a second step, the conduct-disordered behaviors lead to academic failure and peer rejection. These dual failures lead, in turn, to increased risk for depressed mood and involvement in a deviant peer group. This third step usually occurs during later childhood and early adolescence. It is assumed that children following this developmental sequence are at high risk for engaging in chronic delinquent behavior. Finally, implications for prevention and intervention are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A developmental perspective and antisocial behavior: Cognitive functioning.

Comments that G. R. Patterson et al (see record 1989-26278-001) failed to sufficiently address the idea that cognitive functioning is a factor which is related to both school failure and antisocial conduct. Findings consistent with the acculturation learning view are noted. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mothers' and fathers' perceptions of child deviance: Roles of parent and child behaviors and parent adjustment.

The mothers (n?=?120) and fathers (n?=?85) of children with conduct problems (ages?=?3–8 years) completed two measures of child adjustment (Child Behavior Checklist, Eyberg Child Behavior Inventory), three personal adjustment measures (Beck Depression Inventory, Marital Adjustment Test, Parenting Stress Index), and a Life Experience Survey and were observed at home interacting with their children. In addition, teachers (n?=?107) completed the Behar Preschool Questionnaire. Fathers' perceptions of their children's behaviors were significantly correlated with teachers' ratings, but mothers' ratings were not. Correlations showed that mothers who were depressed or stressed due to marital problems perceived more child deviant behaviors and interacted with their children with more commands and criticisms. Fathers' perceptions and behaviors were relatively unaffected by personal adjustment measures. Differences in these perceptions and behaviors between mothers and fathers are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The semiautonomous process: Its nature and nurture.

Theories concerned with analysis of the complexity of the "central process" in thought and perception are considered. Data concerning the "nature of the semi-autonomous process of the cerebrum" are examined. New "possibilities of explanation… open up when one separates sensory from perceptual processes, and recognizes that identifying the two had a purely theoretical origin and neurological to boot. This can be a psychological distinction, based on behavioral criteria, and need not be contaminated by other ideas… . Psychology cannot be reduced to physiology… but… the psychologist may need every now and then a short bout of physiological psychotherapy, just to permit him to get on with his own business." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Parenting and antisocial behavior: A model of the relationship between adolescent self-disclosure, parental closeness, parental control, and adolescent antisocial behavior.

This study used data collected from a sample of 840 Italian adolescents (418 boys; M age = 12.58) and their parents (657 mothers; M age = 43.78) to explore the relations between parenting, adolescent self-disclosure, and antisocial behavior. In the hypothesized model, parenting practices (e.g., parental monitoring and control) have direct effects on parental knowledge and antisocial behavior. Parenting style (e.g., parent–child closeness), on the other hand, is directly related to adolescent self-disclosure, which in turn is positively related to parental knowledge and negatively related to adolescents’ antisocial behavior. A structural equation model, which incorporated data from parents and adolescents, largely supported the hypothesized model. Gender-specific models also found some gender differences among adolescents and parents, as the hypothesized model adequately fit the subsample of mothers but not fathers. Mothers’ closeness to girls predicted their knowledge of their daughters’ behavior; mothers’ control predicted boys’ antisocial behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Adolescence-limited and life-course-persistent antisocial behavior: a developmental taxonomy

A dual taxonomy is presented to reconcile 2 incongruous facts about antisocial behavior: (a) It shows impressive continuity over age, but (b) its prevalence changes dramatically over age, increasing almost 10-fold temporarily during adolescence. This article suggests that delinquency conceals 2 distinct categories of individuals, each with a unique natural history and etiology: A small group engages in antisocial behavior of 1 sort or another at every life stage, whereas a larger group is antisocial only during adolescence. According to the theory of life-course-persistent antisocial behavior, children's neuropsychological problems interact cumulatively with their criminogenic environments across development, culminating in a pathological personality. According to the theory of adolescence-limited antisocial behavior, a contemporary maturity gap encourages teens to mimic antisocial behavior in ways that are normative and adjustive.     

Beyond nature versus nurture: DF analysis of nonshared influences on problem behaviors.

J. C. DeFries and D. W. Fulker's (see record 1986-23496-001) regression model (later termed "DF analysis" by R. Plomin and R. Rende [see PA, Vol 78:18462]) used kinship pair data to separate heredity and shared environmental influences. This article extends DF analysis to include measured indicators of the nonshared environment. These indicators represent specific sources of environmental influence that cause related children to be different from one another. Two studies are presented which used twin, full-sibling, half-sibling, and cousin pairs from over 7,000 5–12 yr old children in the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. Study 1 was a validity analysis of kinship height and weight data. Study 2 was a DF analysis of problem behavior scores. Spanking, reading, and quality of the home environment were shown to account for nonshared variance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The nature and nurture of creative talent.

"Creativity… is a process extended in time and characterized by originality, adaptiveness, and realization." Except for mathematicians "where there is a low positive correlation between intelligence and the level of creativeness, we have found within our creative samples essentially zero relationship between the two variables." A research study of the characteristics and background of creative architects is extensively discussed. Implications of the nature of creative talent for the nurturing of it in school and college through the processes of education are considered. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of filial therapy on parent and child behaviors.

Notes that filial therapy is a unique form of parent training that incorporates training in play therapy skills, parent-child play sessions, and supervision experiences. The objective is to help parents become therapeutic agents in their children's lives. This article explores the extent to which experimental studies have verified the accomplishment of this objective, identifies specific research instruments that have been used in filial therapy research, and summarizes findings. Additional areas for research are suggested. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Arnold L. Gesell: The paradox of nature and nurture.

A. L. Gesell (1880–1961) has had an important and lasting impact on the field of developmental psychology. He is best remembered for his developmental norms, which were acquired from decades of detailed observations of infants and children and are still the basis of most early assessments of behavioral functioning. Gesell's influence as a theorist is less direct. His maturationism quickly lost favor in the intellectual climate of Piaget, behaviorism, and information-processing approaches. Nonetheless, nativism is still a dominant theme in contemporary developmental studies in the guise of neural determinism, innate knowledge, and genetic studies. Gesell is characterized as a man of paradoxes and contrasts. Although he acknowledged the contributions of the environment, he denied its agency. Although he was devoted to children and their welfare, he assigned their individuality to biological destiny. And although he remained a steadfast maturationist, he prefigured other more dynamic views of development. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A longitudinal investigation of the relationship between disordered eating attitudes and behaviors and parent–child conflict: A monozygotic twin differences design.

Few studies have examined nonshared environmental risk factors for disordered eating, and none have done so using a longitudinal design. The current project used a longitudinal, monozygotic twin differences design to examine parent–child conflict as a nonshared environmental risk factor for disordered eating. Participants included 468 monozygotic female twins (234 pairs) from the Minnesota Twin Family Study, who completed surveys every 3 years from ages 11 to 17 years. Twin differences in disordered eating were assessed with the Total Score, Body Dissatisfaction, Weight Preoccupation, and Binge Eating subscales of the Minnesota Eating Behavior Survey. Differences in parent–child conflict were assessed with the Parental Environment Questionnaire. Cross-lagged models were used to examine longitudinal associations among these variables, controlling for within-age associations. Only the longitudinal association between twin differences in disordered eating at age 14 years and differences in parent–child conflict at age 17 years were significant; twin differences in disordered eating predicted later differences in parent–child conflict rather than the reverse. Findings suggest differences in parent–child conflict between genetically identical twins may be a consequence of, rather than a risk factor for, differences in disordered eating. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Contemporary research on parenting: The case for nature and nurture.

Current findings on parental influences provide more sophisticated and less deterministic explanations than did earlier theory and research on parenting. Contemporary research approaches include (a) behavior-genetic designs, augmented with direct measures of potential environmental influences; (b) studies distinguishing among children with different genetically influenced predispositions in terms of their responses to different environmental conditions; (c) experimental and quasi-experimental studies of change in children's behavior as a result of their exposure to parents' behavior, after controlling for children's initial characteristics; and (d) research on interactions between parenting and nonfamilial environmental influences and contexts, illustrating contemporary concern with influences beyond the parent–child dyad. These approaches indicate that parental influences on child development are neither as unambiguous as earlier researchers suggested nor as insubstantial as current critics claim. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The evidence for a neurobiological model of childhood antisocial behavior.

Children with persistent antisocial and aggressive behavior are diagnosed as having disruptive behavior disorder. The authors review evidence that antisocial children, and especially those who persist with this behavior as they grow older, have a range of neurobiological characteristics. It is argued that serotonergic functioning and stress-regulating mechanisms are important in explaining individual differences in antisocial behavior. Moreover, low fear of punishment and physiological underactivity may predispose antisocial individuals to seek out stimulation or take risks and may help to explain poor conditioning and socialization. The authors propose a theoretical model highlighting the interplay between neurobiological deficits and cognitive and emotional functioning as mediators of the link between early adversity and antisocial behavior problems in childhood. Implications for intervention programs are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Time-out with children. Effects of an explanation and brief parent training on child and parent behaviors

The purpose of the present study was twofold: (a) to determine the effect of an explanation prior to or after time-out on child compliance and on child disruptive behavior during time-out and (b) to determine the effect of brief parent training in time-out on child and parent behaviors. Thirty-two mother-child pairs served as subjects and were assigned to one of the following four groups: control, time-out only, explanation prior to time-out, or explanation following time-out. Each mother-child pair was observed for one session under pretraining, training, and posttraining conditions. The results indicated that time-out significantly increased compliance but the addition of an explanation did not further alter the effectiveness of time-out. Training in the use of time-out decreased the incidence of maternal interruptions but did affect maternal responses that were not trained. Finally, following brief time-out training for noncompliance, the mothers used the procedure only 50% of the time following noncompliance.     

Analysis of child and parent behavior during painful medical procedures.

Examined (1) the impact of demographic, medical, and psychological factors on overall child distress (CD) during an invasive medical procedure required for pediatric cancer treatment and (2) the relationship of individual parent behaviors to CD across phases of the procedure. 70 3–10 yr old pediatric cancer patients receiving outpatient venipuncture and their parents participated. Overall distress was greater in younger children who had fewer previous venipunctures and poorer venous access and whose parents rated them prior to the procedure as less likely to be cooperative. Providing explanations regarding the procedure was the parent behavior most clearly associated with CD. The impact of parent explanation depended on when the explanation was given and on the child's level of distress at the time. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The impact of child parent relationship therapy on child behavior and parent-child relationships: An examination of parental divorce.

The current study used a mixed methodological approach to examine the impact of Child-Parent-Relationship Therapy (CPRT) on divorced parents and their children. Specifically, in the present study, the authors investigated parents' perceptions of the impact of CPRT on the parent, the child, and the parent–child relationship. CPRT was found to be helpful in reducing parenting stress and child behavior problems. Parents also reported that CPRT helped them feel more connected to their children and provided them with new tools for parenting. The results of the current study add to the current literature on divorce, affirming that CPRT may be an effective intervention for children of divorce. Limitations of the study and implications for future research are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Structural model for antisocial behavior: Generalization to single-mother families.

Tested a structural model (Patterson, 1986) of the effects of parental discipline on child coercive and antisocial behavior using a sample of 65 recently separated single-mother families with 6- to 8-year-old boys. Previous tests of this model used older boys and samples that allowed family structure to vary. The replication model produced acceptable fit, χ–2(61, N?=?65)?=?70.6, p?=?.188, and explained 11% of the variance in antisocial behavior. Five alternative models were tested on this sample and are discussed briefly. The significance of generalization to this sample is discussed for the model's clinical usefulness, and further improvements to increase explainable variance are suggested. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social contagion and adolescent sexual behavior: A developmental EMOSA model.

Epidemic Models of the Onset of Social Activities (EMOSA models) describe the spread of adolescent transition behaviors (e.g., sexuality, smoking, drinking) through an interacting adolescent network. A theory of social contagion is defined to explain how social influence affects sexual development. Contacts within a network can, with some transition rate or probability, result in an increase in level of sexual experience. Five stages of sexual development are posited. One submodel proposes a systematic progression through these stages; a competing submodel treats each as an independent process. These models are represented in sets of dynamically interacting recursive equations, which are fit to empirical prevalence data to estimate parameters. Model adjustments are substantively interpretable and can be used to test for and better understand social interaction processes that affect adolescent sexual behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)