Intrapersonal and maternal correlates of aggression, conflict, and externalizing problems in toddlers

Research has shown that 2-year-olds engage in peer-directed aggression and initiation of conflict. However, there has been little consideration of the factors associated with variability in toddlers' aggression. One hundred and four toddlers (52 females) were observed for 35 min of free play with a same-sex peer, with both mothers present. Experience in early out-of-home care was not related to aggression. Toddlers' observed and mother-rated dysregulated temperament, and mothers' use of warmth and negative dominance during interactions with their children, were used to predict toddlers' aggression and maternal ratings of externalizing difficulties. Boys were observed to be more aggressive than girls. Regression analyses showed that, after controlling for main effects, the interaction of child gender, temperament, and maternal negative dominance predicted both outcomes. Observed aggression and mother-reported externalizing problems were associated significantly with dysregulated temperament only for boys with mothers who demonstrated relatively high levels of negative dominance.     

Infant reactivity: Physiological correlates of newborn and 5-month temperament.

The relation between measures of heart period and vagal tone and infant reactivity was investigated in a longitudinal study of infants from birth to 5 months of age. At 2 days of age, electrocardiogram (EKG) was recorded and a pacifier-withdrawal task was administered. At 5 months of age, EKG was recorded, after which infants and mothers participated in a laboratory session designed to elicit positive and negative reactivity. Maternal ratings of 5-month infant temperament were also obtained. There was a significant concurrent relation between 5-month vagal tone and negative reactivity elicited in the laboratory and maternal ratings of activity level and smiling behavior. Newborn vagal tone predicted maternal ratings of frustration and fear. Moderate stability was found for infant reactivity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Infant attachment strategies, infant mental lag, and maternal depressive symptoms: predictors of internalizing and externalizing problems at age 7

The predictive relations between assessments in infancy and parent- and teacher-reported behavior problems at age 7 were investigated within a low-income sample. Infancy assessments indexed family adversity, parent-infant interaction at home, infant attachment, infant anger-distress at home, gender, and cognitive functioning. Among children at age 7 identified by teachers as highly externalizing, 83% were both disorganized in their attachment behavior in infancy and below the national mean in mental development scores at 18 months, compared with 13% of nonexternalizing children. Avoidant attachment behavior in infancy was associated with later internalizing symptoms rather than with externalizing symptoms. The behavior problem data reported by mother suggested the possibility of attachment-related biases in maternal report data. The results indicate that child mental lag in the context of a disorganized attachment relationship constitutes 1 early step on the pathway to school-age externalizing behavior.     

Maternal sensitivity, infant attachment, and temperament in early childhood predict adjustment in middle childhood: The case of adopted children and their biologically unrelated parents.

In a longitudinal study, internationally adopted children (N=146) placed before 6 months of age were followed from infancy to age 7. Results showed that girls were better adjusted than boys, except in cognitive development, and that easy temperament was associated with higher levels of social, cognitive, and personality development and fewer behavior problems. Higher quality of child-mother relationships, in terms of attachment security and maternal sensitivity, uniquely predicted better social and cognitive development. The combination of attachment disorganization and difficult temperament predicted less optimal ego-control and lower levels of cognitive development. It is concluded that even in adopted children, who are not biologically related to their adoptive parents, early mother-infant interactions and attachment relationships predict later socioemotional and cognitive development, beyond infant temperament and gender. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Differential susceptibility to discipline: The moderating effect of child temperament on the association between maternal discipline and early childhood externalizing problems.

This study investigated the interaction of child temperament and maternal discipline in the prediction of externalizing problems in early childhood. Interaction effects were evaluated in a sample of 227 one- to three-year-old children with relatively high externalizing problems scores on the Child Behavior Checklist/1 1/2-5. Child temperament was reported by the mothers, maternal discipline was observed in a laboratory session, and child outcome measures included both mother-reported externalizing problems and observed physical aggression. Results indicate that children with difficult temperaments are more susceptible to negative discipline (i.e., they showed more externalizing problems) as well as more susceptible to positive discipline (i.e., they showed fewer externalizing problems and less physical aggression), as compared with children with relatively easy temperaments. These findings provide empirical evidence for the differential susceptibility hypothesis and suggest directions for enhancing the effectiveness of interventions aimed at reducing early childhood externalizing problems. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Patterns and correlates of agreement between parent, teacher, and male adolescent ratings of externalizing and internalizing problems.

The authors examined how well 394 triads of male youths, caregivers, and teachers agreed about youth problems reported on the Achenbach checklists. Dyadic agreement was measured through difference scores (subtracting the raw score of youth self-report from the caregiver's or teacher's score for shared items), q correlations between pairs of raters across items, and D2 (generalized distance between item profiles) for both externalizing and internalizing items. Teachers reported fewer internalizing and externalizing problems than did caregivers or youths. Teacher–youth disagreement was higher for African American than European American males about externalizing criteria. Caregiver depression and stress (but not paternal antisocial behavior or maternal substance abuse) correlated with higher disagreement with other informants about all criteria. These factors appear to increase disagreement about the level of problems but not about specific symptom patterns. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Post-partum employment patterns, family-based care arrangements, and the mother–infant relationship at age two.

This longitudinal study examined the relations of postpartum maternal employment profiles with infant–mother attachment security, maternal sensitivity, and concurrent child and maternal characteristics in Canada. Ss were 57 mothers (aged 21–37) and their 23–27 mo-old children. Contrary to expectations, dyads where mothers returned to outside work after 6 mo postpartum showed higher Q-sort scores on attachment security than other dyads, and higher sensitivity scores than dyads in which women were not employed outside the home in the 1st 2 yrs. Post 6-mo returners also reported less child domain parental stress, less avoidant coping, and less child externalizing behavior problems than other mothers. Results emphasize the importance of a process-oriented approach to understanding early relationships in a family context. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Predicting preschoolers' externalizing behaviors from toddler temperament, conflict, and maternal negativity.

Rarely have researchers elucidated early childhood precursors of externalizing behaviors for boys and girls from a normative sample. Toddlers (N=104; 52 girls) were observed interacting with a same-sex peer and their mothers, and indices of conflict-aggression, emotion and behavior dysregulation, parenting, and child externalizing problems were obtained. Results indicated that boys initiated more conflictual-aggressive interactions as toddlers and had more externalizing difficulties 2 years later, yet girls' (not boys') conflict-aggressive initiations at age 2 were related to subsequent externalizing problems. When such initiations were controlled for, emotional-behavioral undercontrol at age 2 also independently predicted externalizing problems at age 4. Moreover, the relation between conflict-aggressive initiations at age 2 and externalizing problems at age 4 was strongest for dysregulated toddlers. Finally, the relation between age 2 conflict-aggressive initiations and age 4 externalizing problems was strongest for those toddlers who incurred high levels of maternal negativity. These findings illustrate temperament by parenting connections in the development of externalizing problems. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Emotionality, emotion regulation, and adaptation among 5- to 8-year-old children.

This study investigated relations between emotionality, emotion regulation, and children's behavioral adaptation in a longitudinal design. Mothers rated emotionality and emotion regulation related to anger, fear, and positive emotions-exuberance for 151 children at age 5 and later at age 6 years 6 months. Emotionality and emotion regulation measures were modestly related. Preschool ratings at age 6 (n=125), maternal ratings at age 6 years 6 months (n=133), and elementary school ratings at age 8 (n=135) of problems and competence were also collected. High anger emotionality and low regulation of positive emotions and exuberance predicted externalizing problem behavior and prosocial behavior. High fear emotionality and low fear regulation predicted internalizing problem behavior. There were few interactive effects of emotionality and regulation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The development of concern for others in children with behavior problems.

The development of concern for others and externalizing problems were examined in young children with normative, subclinical, or clinical levels of behavior problems. There were no group differences in observable concern for others at 4–5 years of age. Children with clinical behavior problems decreased significantly in their concern by 6–7 years of age and were reported to have less concern at 6–7 years by mothers, teachers, and the children themselves, relative to other groups. Boys with clinical problems were more callous to others' distress at both time points. Girls showed more concern than boys across risk, time, and measures. Greater concern at 4–5 years predicted decreases in the stability and severity of externalizing problems by 6–7 years, and greater concern at 6–7 years predicted decreases in the stability of problems by 9–10 years. Finally, maternal socialization approaches predicted later concerned responding. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Infant-mother attachment classification: Risk and protection in relation to changing maternal caregiving quality.

The relations between early infant-mother attachment and children's social competence and behavior problems during the preschool and early school-age period were examined in more than 1,000 children under conditions of decreasing, stable, and increasing maternal parenting quality. Infants' Strange Situation attachment classifications predicted mothers' reports of children's social competence and teachers' reports of externalizing and internalizing behaviors from preschool age through 1st grade. These relations appeared to be mediated by parenting quality; main effects of attachment classification disappeared when effects of parenting quality were controlled. Interactions were also observed. For example, when parenting quality improved over time, teachers rated children with insecure infant-mother attachments lower on externalizing behaviors; when parenting quality decreased, teachers rated insecure children higher on externalizing behaviors. In contrast, children classified as securely attached in infancy did not appear to be affected by declining or improving parenting quality. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Correlates of attachment at school age: maternal reported stress, mother-child interaction, and behavior problems

The contribution of attachment, maternal reported stress, and mother-child interaction to the prediction of teacher-reported behavior problems was examined for a French-Canadian sample of 121 school-age children. Attachment classifications were assigned on the basis of reunion behavior with mother when the children were between 5 and 7 years of age. Maternal reported stress and mother-child interaction patterns were assessed concurrent to the attachment measure, whereas behavior problems were evaluated both at ages 5 to 7 and 7 to 9 years. Security of attachment significantly predicted the likelihood of school-age behavior problems: Controlling/other children were most at risk for both externalizing and internalizing problems across both age periods. Younger ambivalent children presented clinical cut-off levels of externalizing problems, and older avoidant boys had higher internalizing scores. Patterns of maternal-reported stress and mother-child interaction differed across attachment groups and contributed to prediction of school-age behavior problems, partially mediating the relation between attachment and adaptation. Results support the importance of attachment in explaining school-age adaptation and validity of attachment coding for children of this age.     

Mothers' and fathers' perceptions of child deviance: Roles of child behavior, parental depression, and marital satisfaction.

Investigated relationships among parental adjustment, parental perception of child behavior, and an independent measure of child behavior, using 61 consecutive referrals to a university psychology clinic of 5–14 yr olds with home or school problems. 61 mothers (41 of whom were married) and 41 fathers completed the Beck Depression Inventory, the Marital Adjustment Test, and the Conners Parent Rating Scale. Children's teachers completed the Conners Teacher Rating Scale. Mothers' ratings of their children's behavior were significantly correlated with teachers' ratings, but fathers' ratings were not. A stepwise multiple regression analysis showed that teachers' ratings accounted for the greatest amount of variance in the prediction of mothers' ratings of child externalizing problems, followed by maternal depression. Results confirm earlier findings of a relation of maternal depression to maternal perception of child externalizing behavior problems but indicate a stronger correlation between maternal ratings and independent measures of child behavior. (20 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Temperamental resistance to control increases the association between sleep problems and externalizing behavior development.

This study examined the moderating effects of temperamental resistance to control on the link between development of sleep problems and development of externalizing behaviors over a 5-year period. Resistance to control was assessed with mothers' retrospective reports of temperament in infancy, provided when children were 5 years of age. Sleep problems were assessed with mother reports on an annual basis from age 5 to age 9. Externalizing behaviors were assessed with teacher reports on an annual basis from age 5 to age 9. A cross-domain latent growth curve model indicated that sleep problem trajectories were positively associated with externalizing behavior trajectories only for children high in resistance to control. In addition, resistance to control was positively associated with initial (age 5) sleep problems and initial (age 5) externalizing behaviors. The authors speculate that the development of sleep problems promotes the development of behavior problems for resistant children, whose self-regulatory abilities are especially tenuous. Implications for prevention and treatment of conduct problems are considered. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interaction between childhood temperament and parental discipline practices on behavioral adjustment in preadolescent sons of substance abuse and normal fathers

We conducted this study with a sample of sons of fathers having a Psychoactive Substance Use Disorder (PSUD+, n = 55) and sons of fathers who did not qualify for a PSUD (PSUD-, n = 97). Parental discipline practice from the child's perspective was investigated in relation to the child's difficult temperament to determine their association with sons' externalizing and internalizing behavior problems reported by mothers. PSUD+ status, difficult temperament in the boys, and their ratings of parental discipline practices accounted for a significant proportion of variance with respect to their externalizing behavior (11%), but only PSUD+ status had a main effect on internalizing behavior. However, the main finding of this study was that the interaction of parental discipline and difficult temperament in the child moderated both externalizing and internalizing behavior problems, accounting for an additional 5% of an explained variance. Thus, this study illustrates the importance of the conjoint influence of children's temperament characteristics and parental discipline practices on the children's adjustment. These results support the findings from previous studies showing that a difficult temperament disposition places the child at risk for maltreatment by parents and for development of a disruptive behavior disorder. Both outcomes have been found in many investigations to presage alcohol and drug abuse in adolescence. The findings also underscore the importance of both individual and contextual variables for understanding the development of psychopathology. In this regard, the results show the need for prevention and treatment to encompass strategies directed at disaggregating the basis of maladaptive family interaction patterns.     

Multiple attachment relationships within families: Mothers and fathers with two young children.

Security of attachment between mothers and fathers and their 2 children was examined in 41 maritally intact families. Strange Situation assessments of attachment security for the younger children (mean age?=?1 year 10 months), Attachment Q-sort ratings of the older children (mean age?=?4 years 8 months), and ratings of parental caregiving behavior of both children were obtained. Younger and older children developed concordant attachments to both parents. Parents were consistent in their caregiving behavior toward their 2 children. However, parents were not congruent in their attachment to their 2 children. Associations were found between maternal caregiving and attachment only in the younger group. The results support the idea that parental caregiving behavior accounts for only modest portions of the variance in attachment security; evolving attachments integrate developmental inputs from the children and the caregivers in the network of early family relationships. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mother–child problem solving: Continuity through the early childhood years.

Maternal ratings of child temperament and observed maternal behaviors in the home were collected when children were 18 months old. Both variables were examined as predictors of mothers' problem solving behaviors with their toddlers at 30 months and the children's independent problem solving at 5 years. Maternal instructional behavior in the home at 18 months and maternal ratings of temperament at 18 months predicted maternal behaviors when the children were 30 months old and child performance in a cognitive problem-solving task. maternal cognitive assistance during the 18- and 30-month tasks also predicted child cognitive task performance in the laboratory at 5 years of age. These same maternal behaviors were related to the child's performance on the Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence (D. Wechsler, 1967) at age 5, and lack of maternal assistance was related to teacher ratings of learning problems at age 5. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Longitudinal stability of temperamental exuberance and social–emotional outcomes in early childhood.

The goals of the current study were to investigate the stability of temperamental exuberance across infancy and toddlerhood and to examine the associations between exuberance and social–emotional outcomes in early childhood. The sample consisted of 291 4-month-olds followed at 9, 24, and 36 months and again at 5 years of age. Behavioral measures of exuberance were collected at 9, 24, and 36 months. At 36 months, frontal electroencephalogram (EEG) asymmetry was assessed. At 5 years, maternal reports of temperament and behavior problems were collected, as were observational measures of social behavior during an interaction with an unfamiliar peer in the laboratory. Latent profile analysis revealed a high, stable exuberance profile that was associated with greater ratings of 5-year externalizing behavior and surgency, as well as observed disruptive behavior and social competence with unfamiliar peers. These associations were particularly true for children who displayed left frontal EEG asymmetry. Multiple factors supported an approach bias for exuberant temperament but did not differentiate between adaptive and maladaptive social–emotional outcomes at 5 years of age. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

The relations of temperamental effortful control and anger/frustration to Chinese children's academic achievement and social adjustment: A longitudinal study.

The prospective relations of temperamental effortful control and anger/frustration to Chinese children's (N = 425, age range = 6.6–9.1 years) academic achievement (grade point average, or GPA) and social adjustment (externalizing problems and social competence) were examined in a 2-wave (3.8 years apart) longitudinal study. Parents and teachers rated children's temperament, and parents, teachers, and/or peers rated children's externalizing problems and social competence. Effortful control positively predicted children's GPA, controlling for prior level of GPA. Analyses examining the potential mechanisms underlying the temperament–achievement associations suggested that effortful control positively predicted social competence, and social competence positively predicted GPA. Moreover, anger/frustration positively predicted externalizing problems, and externalizing problems negatively predicted GPA. Mediational analyses suggested that the relations between temperament and GPA were mediated by social competence and externalizing problems. Evidence for the reciprocal relations between externalizing problems and GPA was also found. The study suggested that there are complex interplays among temperament, academic achievement, and social adjustment for school-age children. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Proton MAS NMR spectra at high magnetic fields and high spinning frequencies: spectral simulations using floquet theory

We examined the relationship quality of 55 (27 girls) 9-year-old children with their mothers, teachers, and friends as rated by teachers and by the children themselves. The goal of this longitudinal study was to examine stability and continuity in the quality of children's relationships between infancy and 9 years of age. At age 9, children's perception of their relationships with their teachers was associated with their current teachers' ratings of their relationships with the children. Children's perceptions of their relationships with their mothers were consistent with earlier ratings of attachment security. Children's perceptions of their relationships with teachers were predicted by the quality of their attachment relationships with their first teachers. Children's perceptions of their friendship quality was predicted by preschool teacher ratings of friendship quality and the quality of their attachment relationships with their first teachers.