Maternal Predictors of Rejecting Parenting and Early Adolescent Antisocial Behavior

The present study examined relations among maternal psychological resources, rejecting parenting, and early adolescent antisocial behavior in a sample of 231 low-income mothers and their sons with longitudinal assessments from age 18 months to 12 years. The maternal resources examined were age at first birth, aggressive personality, and empathy. Each of the maternal resources predicted rejecting parenting during early childhood in structural equation models that controlled for toddler difficult temperament, and rejecting parenting in early childhood predicted antisocial behavior in early adolescence. Rejecting parenting accounted for the indirect effect of each of the maternal resources on antisocial behavior, but a direct effect was also supported between maternal aggressive personality and youth antisocial behavior. Results highlight the importance of these relatively understudied maternal resources and have implications for prevention and intervention programs that focus on parenting during early childhood.     

儿童4岁到7岁社交退缩行为的适应意义

本研究追踪了149名儿童4岁和7岁的抑制行为、安静退缩及活跃退缩行为,考察三种社交退缩行为与问题行为的关系。社交退缩由观察得到,问题行为分别由母亲和教师报告。结果表明,从4岁到7岁,儿童的三种社交退缩行为明显减少,抑制行为、安静退缩有较低的稳定性,活跃退缩不稳定。在两个年龄段,抑制行为都与内隐问题行为显著正相关。4岁的社交退缩不能预测7岁的问题行为。     

Adolescent Self-Regulation as Resilience: Resistance to Antisocial Behavior within the Deviant Peer Context

This study tests the hypothesis that self-regulation serves as a resiliency factor in buffering youth from negative influences of peer deviance in middle to late adolescence. The interactive effects between peer deviance and self-regulation were investigated on change in antisocial behavior from age 17 to 19 years in an ethnically diverse sample of adolescents. A multi-agent construct was created using adolescent, parent, and teacher reports of self-regulation and peer deviance. Results indicated that self-regulation shows convergent validity and covaries as expected with developmental patterns of adolescent antisocial behavior. Self-regulation moderated the association of peer deviance with later self-reported adolescent antisocial behavior after controlling for prior levels of antisocial behavior. The implications of these findings for models for the development of antisocial behaviors and for intervention science are discussed.     

Course of Antisocial Behavior during Emerging Adulthood: Developmental Differences in Personality

Despite similar normative changes in antisocial behavior (AB) and traits of disinhibition and negative emotionality during "emerging adulthood," few studies have tested if there are developmental differences in personality over this period for distinct courses of AB. In a college cohort assessed at ages 18 and 25, we examined if mean-level changes on traits from the Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire varied by course of AB. Compared to persisters, those who desisted in AB from 18 to 25 exhibited a larger decrease on novelty seeking and larger increase on reward dependence. A significant mean-level decline was observed for harm avoidance, but was unrelated to AB course. Findings support theories of the co-development of personality and AB during emerging adulthood.     

Overt and Covert Dimensions of Antisocial Behavior in Early Childhood

The present study was designed to assess both the prevalence and structure of antisocial behavior in a normative sample of preschoolers. Prevalence estimates suggested that 40% of preschoolers exhibit at least one antisocial behavior each day. Furthermore, 10% of preschoolers exhibit six or more antisocial behaviors each day. Consistent with research based on older children, factor analyses provided support for conceptualizing antisocial behavior in early childhood as consisting of both overt and covert dimensions. While both overt and covert behaviors had acceptable test–retest reliability, only overt behaviors had acceptable interrater reliability. Finally both overt and covert dimensions of antisocial behavior were uniquely related to general measures of conduct problems, hyperactivity, and adult and peer conflict in the classroom setting. Findings are discussed with regard to early assessment and the developmental course of antisocial behavior.     

Relationships Between Parental Negativity and Childhood Antisocial Behavior over Time: A Bidirectional Effects Model in a Longitudinal Genetically Informative Design

This study examined the direction and etiology underlying the relationships between parental negativity and early childhood antisocial behavior using a bidirectional effects model in a longitudinal genetically informative design. We analyzed parent reports of parental negativity and early childhood antisocial behavior in 6,230 pairs of twins at 4 and 7 years of age. Results from a cross-lagged twin model contribute to the understanding of the mechanisms underlying the bidirectional processes involved in parental negativity and childhood antisocial behavior. Specifically, the findings of this study suggest that the association between parenting and child antisocial behavior is best explained by both parent-driven and child-driven effects. We found support for the notion that parent's negative feelings towards their children environmentally mediate the risk for child antisocial behavior. We also found evidence of genetically mediated child effects; in which genetically influenced antisocial behavior evoke parental negativity towards the child.     

Childhood Predictors of Adulthood Antisocial Personality Disorder Symptomatology

The present study aimed to examine relationships between antisocial personality disorder (APD) symptoms in adulthood and retrospective reports of childhood maltreatment, parental bonding, and teasing, and while controlling for symptoms of depression and anxiety. Four hundred eleven non‐clinical participants (99 males, 312 females), aged 18–65 years, recruited from an Australian university and the general public, completed the questionnaire package. Findings indicated significant associations between childhood maltreatment, parental bonding, teasing, depression, and anxiety, and levels of APD symptomatology. Hierarchical regression analysis revealed that physical abuse, physical neglect, teasing, and level of father care made the largest unique contributions to the prediction of APD scores after statistically controlling for comorbid depression and anxiety. Analysis of variance revealed higher levels of APD symptoms were reported by males and younger participants. This research contributes importantly to our understanding of factors influencing APD symptomatology, with clinical and early intervention implications.     

The Role of Neurobiological Deficits in Childhood Antisocial Behavior

ABSTRACT— Childhood-onset antisocial behavior is an important predictor of chronic and serious forms of antisocial behavior in later life. Both biological and social factors are involved in the development of abnormal behavior. We examine the underlying role of stress-response systems in the link between early social adversity and juvenile antisocial behavior, and propose that children with genetically and/or perinatally based neurobiological deficits have problems in activating these systems and therefore experience difficulties in regulating affect and behavior. Underactivity or attenuated reactivity of the stress-response systems may predispose antisocial individuals to seek out stimulation or take risks, and thereby explain deficits in learning and socialization. Further investigations of neurobiological functioning in antisocial children might not only indicate which children are more likely to persist in behaving antisocially but also guide the development of new interventions.     

Parental Discipline and Externalizing Behavior Problems in Early Childhood: The Roles of Moral Regulation and Child Gender

We tested whether individual differences in a component of early conscience mediated relations between parental discipline and externalizing behavior problems in 238 3.5-year-olds. Parents contributed assessments of discipline practices and child moral regulation. Observations of children's behavioral restraint supplemented parental reports. Parents and teachers reported on child externalizing symptoms. Parental induction, warm responsiveness, and less frequent use of physical punishment generally were associated with higher levels of moral regulation and fewer externalizing problems. Moreover, moral regulation partially mediated relationships between discipline and externalizing symptoms, with the clearest case of mediation involving induction. However, relationships were found for boys only. Results support a mediation model wherein inductive and physical discipline may influence the expression of boys' externalizing behavior through effects on conscience. Finally, results suggest that different developmental processes may be associated with early externalizing problems in boys and girls, and confirm that fathers' reports contribute to our understanding of the origins of child externalizing problems.     

Justification of Violence and Grandiosity Schemas as Predictors of Antisocial Behavior in Adolescents

This study assessed the role of grandiosity and justification of violence cognitive schemas as predictors of adolescents’ antisocial behavior. The 974 Spanish adolescents (457 girls and 517 boys, aged between 14 and 18 years) were assessed at the beginning of the school year and at follow-up 6 months later. They completed measures of aggressive behavior and delinquent behavior, justification of violence and grandiosity cognitive schemas, and impulsivity. The results showed that grandiosity and justification of violence schemas predicted both aggressive and delinquent behavior 6 months later and that the association between grandiosity and aggressive behavior was moderated by impulsivity in boys. In general, the influence of the cognitive schemas in antisocial behavior was very similar for boys and girls. However, boys showed higher delinquent behavior rates than did girls and the tests of mediation revealed that this difference was partially accounted for by boys’ higher scores in grandiosity and justification of violence.     

Maternal Antisocial Behavior, Parenting Practices, and Behavior Problems in Boys at Risk for Antisocial Behavior

We investigated the independent contributions of maternal history of antisocial behavior and parenting practices to the worsening course of sons' behavior problems in a sample of young urban boys at risk for antisocial behavior. Mothers reported on boys' behavior problems at baseline and one year later, as well as on their own history of antisocial behavior before and after age 15, and of lifetime depression and substance use disorders (provisional DSM-III-R diagnoses). Baseline reports of parenting practices were obtained. Lower involvement, lower monitoring, and higher levels of parent–child conflict and maternal Conduct Disorder (CD) before age 15 contributed to the worsening of boys' behavior problems one year later; mothers' symptoms of Antisocial Personality Disorder after age 15 did not. Mothers' lifetime history of Major Depression and Substance Use Disorder did not add to the worsening of boys' behavior problems after accounting for these other factors. Although maternal CD contributed directly to the worsening of boys' behavior problems, the effect of parenting was more substantial. We discuss clinical implications for prevention and treatment of children's antisocial behavior, and intergenerational implications of girls' early antisocial behavior.     

Gender Differences in Social Support for Socially Anxious Individuals

Given that social anxiety disorder is a common, chronic, debilitating disorder and socially anxious women appear to have different experiences related to social development and social support than men, it is essential that the gender differences in social anxiety and social support be understood. The present study examined perceived social support quantity and satisfaction in 23 women and 28 men seeking treatment for social anxiety disorder. Contrary to expectations, men and women did not differ on measures of social support. However, younger, unmarried women reported having smaller social support networks and less satisfaction with their social support networks than older, married women. Analyses of socially anxious men did not reveal such a pattern. The current study provides preliminary evidence that younger, single women have social support networks that are less satisfying than the social support networks of older, married women. Inclusion of social support modules within a cognitive behavioral treatment approach for social anxiety disorder may be warranted, particularly for young, unmarried women.     

Predictors of the Peer Acceptance of Children with Diabetes: Social Behavior and Disease Severity

Objective. Investigated illness severity (medical control, disease impact, obviousness) and social behavior style as predictors of the peer acceptance of children with diabetes. Method. Sixty-five children (10–12.5 years old) with diabetes and their parents, teachers, and physicians participated. Physician ratings and laboratory tests indicated medical control. Parents and children reported disease impact and teachers rated disease obviousness. Children and teachers rated social behavior. Teachers reported peer acceptance. Results. Consistent with hypotheses, favorable social behavior positively predicted acceptance and disease impact negatively predicted acceptance; medical control did not relate to acceptance. Disease obviousness and social behavior interacted to predict acceptance. Children with more obvious disease were not stigmatized by unfavorable social behavior. Conclusions. Aspects of disease severity and social behavior influence peer acceptance and may be appropriate predictors and targets for remediation of peer problems.     

Adolescent Friendship as a Dynamic System: Entropy and Deviance in the Etiology and Course of Male Antisocial Behavior

A dynamic systems framework was applied to understand the influence of friendship on antisocial behavior from childhood (age 9-10) through adulthood (age 24-25) for Oregon Youth Study males (N = 206). Boys were videotaped interacting with a friend at ages 14, 16, and 18, and deviant content and interpersonal processes were independently coded. Conditional dyadic interpersonal processes were studied as a communication system and summarized by an index of information entropy (F. Attneave, 1959). High entropy scores represent disorganized, unpredictable patterns of interaction, whereas low entropy scores reflect an organized dialogue. Conversations of early-onset antisocial boys and their best friends were less organized and included more deviant content than those of well-adjusted controls. Prediction analyses, however, revealed an interaction between entropy and deviant talk. Consistent with expectation, males with well-organized interactions (i.e., low entropy) but elevated levels of deviant content were most likely to continue antisocial behavior into adulthood. Findings suggest that individual risk for maladaptation may be amplified by early adolescent friendship dynamics organized around deviance.     

Individual Differences in Antisocial Punishment in Public Goods Situations: The Interplay of Cortisol with Testosterone and Dominance

This research investigates which endocrinological and psychological factors are associated with individuals' tendency to engage in destructive antisocial punishment, that is, to costly punish cooperative individuals in public goods situations. In this work, we focus on the interplay of endogenous cortisol with testosterone and dominance. We applied the dual‐hormone hypothesis according to which testosterone is positively associated with destructive and dominant behavior but only in individuals with low levels of cortisol. Study 1 shows that individuals are more likely to engage in destructive antisocial punishment in a public goods game with the option to punish when their testosterone level is high, given that their level of cortisol is low, which bolsters the dual‐hormone hypothesis. In contrast, no significant interaction effect of testosterone and cortisol emerges for the punishment of uncooperative free‐riders (altruistic punishment). In a second study, we build on these findings and document that self‐reported dominance is only positively associated with antisocial punishment (but not with altruistic punishment) when cortisol is low. In sum, the results indicate the importance of taking endocrinological and psychological factors (and their interactions) into account in order to reach a comprehensive understanding of individuals' behavior in social dilemma situations. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Influence of Maternal Depressive Symptoms on Ratings of Childhood Behavior

This study uses information collected on two occasions from a probability sample of families with 5- to 12-year-old children (N = 1151) participating in a general population study in 1983 and follow-up in 1987. It evaluated the importance of maternal bias in the assessment of child behavior by comparing the relative strengths of association between maternal depression and childhood behavior and between maternal depression and mother reporting errors. Conduct problems and hyperactivity were measured as latent criterion variables constructed from mother, teacher, and youth (aged 12 to 16 years) ratings and their associations with maternal depression were modeled using covariance structure analysis. The analyses revealed that maternal depression was associated significantly with conduct problems ( = .35) and hyperactivity ( = .38) among 5- to 7-years-olds in 1983 but not 4 years later in 1987. None of the associations between maternal depression and mother reporting errors were significant. Among 8- to 12-year-olds in 1983, maternal depression was associated significantly not only with conduct problems ( = .17) and hyperactivity ( = .15) but also with mother rating errors of these behaviors ( = .13 and .17, respectively). Four years later in 1987 when this cohort was 12 to 16 years old, the only significant association was between maternal depression and conduct disorder ( = .25). Although evidence exists for associations between maternal depressed mood and mother rating errors, there also appears to be a substantive association between maternal depression and childhood behavior.     

Childhood Irritability: Predictive Validity and Mediators of Adolescent Psychopathology

Despite its transdiagnostic significance, there is modest evidence with respect to the predictive validity of childhood irritability, especially across developmental periods; similarly, little is known about explanatory factors underlying these predictions. This study had two goals: (1) to test the predictive validity of childhood irritability with respect to adolescent internalizing and externalizing problems, controlling for baseline ADHD and related psychopathology and (2) to test theoretically-derived family (i.e., parenting behavior, parenting stress) and social (i.e., peer status, social skills) constructs as explanatory factors of adolescent psychopathology. Two hundred thirty ethnically diverse (51.5% White) 5–10-year-old youth (32% female) with (n?=?121) and without (n?=?110) ADHD completed three separate laboratory-based assessments across six to seven years. Temporally-ordered predictors, putative mediators, and psychopathology outcomes were assessed using multiple informants (i.e., parent, teacher, youth) and methods (i.e., structured interviews, normed rating scales). Controlling for demographic factors, clinical correlates, and baseline psychopathology, childhood irritability uniquely predicted adolescent externalizing problems, but not internalizing problems. Next, analyses revealed that low social skills partially explained predictions of adolescent internalizing problems. However, family or social factors did not underlie predictions of adolescent externalizing problems. These preliminary findings support the predictive validity of childhood irritability with respect to early adolescent externalizing problems and implicate low social skills as a potentially unique mediator of internalizing outcomes. Intervention-induced improvements in social skills may minimize emergent psychopathology initiated by significant childhood irritability.

     

Social Anxiety Disorder in Childhood and Adolescence: Current Status and Future Directions

This paper reviews the current status of research on the phenomenology, etiology, maintenance, assessment, and treatment of childhood and adolescent social anxiety disorder (SAD). Despite being one of the most prevalent disorders of childhood and adolescence, SAD paradoxically stands as one of the least recognized, researched, and treated pediatric disorders. The small treatment outcome literature provides preliminary support to the effectiveness of various forms of cognitive behavior therapy. The majority of studies to date, however, are limited by inadequate control conditions. Other findings include some support for the utility of parental involvement in treatment, significant advancements in outcome measures (e.g., normative comparisons, indices of naturalistic social functioning), and impressive durability of gains for the majority of treatments. Future directions are suggested, including experimental and naturalistic studies of developmental pathways and maintenance factors, the incorporation of positive psychology constructs (e.g., positive emotions, hope, self-control) in treatment and prevention, and the continued delineation of differences between child, adolescent, and adult manifestations of SAD.     

Temperament Pathways to Childhood Disruptive Behavior and Adolescent Substance Abuse: Testing a Cascade Model

Temperament traits may increase risk for developmental psychopathology like Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and disruptive behaviors during childhood, as well as predisposing to substance abuse during adolescence. In the current study, a cascade model of trait pathways to adolescent substance abuse was examined. Component hypotheses were that (a) maladaptive traits would increase risk for inattention/hyperactivity, (b) inattention/hyperactivity would increase risk for disruptive behaviors, and (c) disruptive behaviors would lead to adolescent substance abuse. Participants were 674 children (486 boys) from 321 families in an ongoing, longitudinal high risk study that began when children were 3 years old. Temperament traits assessed were reactive control, resiliency, and negative emotionality, using examiner ratings on the California Q-Sort. Parent, teacher, and self ratings of inattention/hyperactivity, disruptive behaviors, and substance abuse were also obtained. Low levels of childhood reactive control, but not resiliency or negative emotionality, were associated with adolescent substance abuse, mediated by disruptive behaviors. Using a cascade model, family risk for substance abuse was partially mediated by reactive control, inattention/hyperactivity, and disruptive behavior. Some, but not all, temperament traits in childhood were related to adolescent substance abuse; these effects were mediated via inattentive/hyperactive and disruptive behaviors. This work was supported by NIAAA grant R01-AA12217 to Robert Zucker and Joel Nigg, NIAAA grant R37-AA07065 to Robert Zucker and Hiram Fitzgerald, and NIMH grant R01-MH59105 to Joel Nigg. Martel was supported by 1 F31 MH075533-01A2. The authors thank the participants and Susan Refior, the long term MLS Field Director, whose steadfast commitment and support have made this study possible.