A 25-year follow-up: Some reflections on personality development over the long term

Highlights of our work over the last 30 years are reviewed; we begin with the infants whom we studied in the mid-1950s and conclude with impressions from a follow-up of their development 30 years later. The review begins with our first effort to propose a constructionist view of behavioral organization over the first 3 years of life, in terms of the negotiation by infant and caregiver of a sequence of adaptations in their interaction. This review includes a brief consideration of living systems and some of the principles that constrain the organization of behavior of the participants. Illustration of the way that these principles set up the “event-structure” of a system is given. In its recurrence, this event-structure sets the stage for psychic organization. The application of this early formulation to the study of 25- to 30-year outcome in these same infants studies the hypothesis that the configuration of adaptive strategies that the subject constructs by 2 years of age will be recognizable in the strategies which that individual employs in self-recognition and in the later construction of his ecologic niche at age 25. The logic or rules for this construction are set up over the first 2 years, as the infant's adaptation to the event-structure of the system is achieved and regulates later constructions. The bias set depends on the red thread of the subject's early inner experience of state and emotion (or affect) in relation to the infant's competence as agent in regulating states. A basis for inference as to this red thread of inner experience has been summarized in five propositions of construction. These highlight the patterning of competence in self-regulation within the individual's unique system. The role of infant state and of positive affects in this long-term influence is critical, as is the patterning of competence in enabling the infant to reconstruct desired states as goals in the unique configuration of adaptive solutions achieved for that system.     

A two-year follow-up study of a preventive mental health program for preschoolers

The long-term effects of a preschool intervention program for high-risk experimental children were assessed and compared to a high-risk placebo control group and low-risk normal controls. Seventy first-grade children were involved in this 2-year follow-up. The experimental treatment group was superior to that of the placebo control group at follow-up on the criteria measures of behavioral adjustment and achievement. The low-risk normal control group was significantly different from that of the placebo control groups, but generally not significantly different from that of the experimental groups, suggesting that the intervention had boosted the high-risk experimental treatment children to the point where their performance was comparable to that of children who had not experienced behavioral or learning difficulties.The study was supported by grants from the McGregor Fund and the Eloise and Richard Webber Foundation, and by the Detroit Public Schools, for which the authors express grateful appreciation. A version of this paper was presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Psychological Association, New York, September 1979.     

A follow-up of a media-based,worksite smoking cessation program

Described an examination of data collected 2 years following the onset of a media-based, worksite smoking cessation intervention. Thirty-eight companies in Chicago were randomly assigned to one of two experimental conditions. In the inital 3-week phase, all participants in both conditions received self-help manuals and were instructed to watch a 20-day televised series designed to accompany the manual. In addition, participants in the group (G) condition received six sessions emphasizing quitting techniques and social support. In the second phase, which continued for 12 months, employees in G participated in monthly peer-led support groups and received incentives, while participants in the nongroup (NG) condition received no further treatment. Twenty-four months after pretest, 30% of employees in G were abstinent compared to only 19.5% in NG. This study is one of the few experimentally controlled worksite smoking cessation interventions to demonstrate significant program differences 2 years following the initial intervention. Our thanks to Lori Klett and Libby Yeager-Turner for their help in data collection. Work on the project was supported in part by National Institute on Drug Abuse grant DA-04406-01 and a grant from the Chicago Lung Association to the second author.     

Prospective prediction of nonsuicidal self-injury: a 1-year longitudinal study in young adults

Nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) has become a significant public health problem. Although numerous studies have examined cross-sectional psychological correlates of NSSI, there has been little research examining predictors of NSSI over time. The present study examined cross-sectional and longitudinal correlates of NSSI in 81 young adult self-injurers (M age = 19, 74.1% female, 51.9% Caucasian), 51 of whom were followed up 1 year later. At baseline, participants completed self-report measures of NSSI, Axis-I disorders, borderline personality disorder (BPD), and impulsivity, as well as an implicit measure of NSSI attitudes and identity. One year later, participants completed a Timeline Followback Method whereby they indicated their engagement in NSSI over the previous 12 months. Analyses replicated many known cross-sectional correlates of NSSI, including symptoms of several Axis-I disorders and BPD. However, many of these same variables failed to predict the course of NSSI over the 1-year follow-up. The only variables to prospectively predict NSSI were past NSSI (i.e., frequency, methods, and recency of NSSI), participants’ behavioral forecast of their engagement in future NSSI, and BPD features. Findings suggest that many cross-sectional correlates of NSSI may not be useful for predicting subsequent NSSI. Instead, NSSI severity and BPD features appear to best predict continued engagement in NSSI.     

An analysis of the physical punishment component of a parent training program

One component of a well-researched, standardized parent training program is to spank children for escape from time-out. The contribution of the spanking component to compliance acquisition in a clinic analog setting was evaluated. Time-out duration and child disruption at time-out release were balanced across spank and no-spank (“barrier”) conditions. Sixteen noncompliant, clinic-referred preschool children participated. The data indicated that both spank and barrier procedures were equally effective at increasing compliance ratios. Physical punishment did not appear to be a critical component. Given prior research, it was concluded that the enforcement of a minimum time-out duration is critical for compliance acquisition within the analog setting.     

A follow-up program for suicide attempters: evaluation of effectiveness.

Suicide attempters are a high-risk group in relation to ultimately completing suicide and are usually "treated and released" with little or no follow-up care. A 4-month follow-up outreach program for suicide attempters seen in the emergency room was developed with an emphasis on continuity and quantity of "treatment" received. Suicide attempters were randomly assigned to the "follow-up outreach" or "normal" treatment programs. Measures for the evaluation of effectiveness were (a) incidence of suicide reattempts and purposive accidents and (b) prevalence of drug misuse and excessive use of alcohol. The experimental group showed a statistically significant reduction in suicide reattempts and excessive use of alcohol, while the reduction of drug abuse, although not statistically significant, did conform to a trend indicating improvement. Purposive accidents occured at a relatively equal rate among both groups.     

A three-year follow-up of older adult participants in a memory-skills training program

This study examined the long-term effects of participation in a self-taught memory training program. In all, 27 memory training and 13 nontraining participants were assessed at approximately 3-year follow-ups. Assessment of these groups prior to the introduction of training had revealed nonsignificant differences in memory performance but marked differences in level of memory complaints, with training participants evidencing higher levels of complaints. The current assessment again demonstrated overall nonsignificant differences in memory performance but significant differences in memory complaints between the two groups. More specifically, the training group evidenced significant decreases in memory performance over the 3-year interval, but no significant changes in memory complaints were observed for either group. Thus, memory training appeared to have little long-term effect on memory functioning. Future research should explore long-term maintenance strategies in memory training with older adults.     

Early predictors of career development: A 10-year follow-up study

This paper presents empirical findings from a 10-year longitudinal study of the educational and occupational socialization of 445 participants who were about 7 years old when first tested, and about 17 years old at the fourth time of measurement. In addition to collecting psychological measurements from the participants, behavioral reports were collected from significant others, specifically parents and teachers. Findings demonstrated that the life/career evolution of the participants can be understood only when taking into account the dynamic interaction between the unique personal characteristics of individuality of each person and the psychosocial theatre within which the person’s development takes place. Using the life-span, life-space framework of Super, and the Developmental-Contextual model from Vondracek, different emerging early predictors with unique impact on the process of educational and occupational socialization were identified, especially with respect to the probability of dropping out of school. Results in terms of gender, parental influences, psychological characteristics, and social context are discussed with regard to their potential implications for psychological interventions in schools, families, and occupational settings, as well as with regard to personal counseling in what concerns the management of life circumstances and behavioral ecosystems.     

Read your baby: A follow-up intervention program for parents with NICU infants

An intervention model designed to provide education and support to parents of sick or preterm infants throughout their first year of life is described. The intervention focused on helping parents communicate more skillfully with their infant and encouraging parents to maximize their infant's participation in the family system. Seventeen medium-risk infants received intervention; another seventeen served as controls. Independent evaluations of all families at 12 months adjusted age revealed that intervention babies were significantly advanced on Bayley Scales of Infant Development and Mastery Motivation tasks and that their mothers viewed them as easier to care for and less irritable.     

A behavioral program for disruptive junior high school students: Results and follow-up

The 5-year annual and 4-year follow-up results of a collaborative community mental health center-junior high school program for disruptive students are presented. The program is a comprehensive, behavioral, in-school, regular education project characterized by a token economy, parent contracting, major subjects taught in the morning, small class enrollment, small group and individualized instruction, an early release from school contingency option and frequent parent-school communications. Annual controlled outcome results revealed that the program led to significant and consistent reductions in expulsions, suspensions, and grade failure, and variable, often significant, gains in attendance and achievement. Follow-up findings indicated that former program students in senior high school achieved a significantly higher entry rate, greater attendance, better classroom conduct, and a lower frequency of withdrawal from school.One second cohort student had been advanced a grade and was thus added to the original first cohort of 14 students.     

Children of parents with unipolar depression: A controlled 1-year follow-up

An earlier cross-sectional study indicated that children's health and adjustment is at risk when their parents are depressed. Here, we report the associated longitudinal changes in children and families when parental depression either remits or continues. Comparisons are made among three groups established at a 1-year follow-up: previously depressed parents whose symptoms have remitted (N = 34 remitted parents), previously depressed parents who continue to be depressed (N = 23 nonremitted parents), and sociodemographically matched control families (N = 95). Although remitted parents and their family social environments improved, their children were still functioning more poorly than children of controls. Both the children and the families of nonremitted parents continued to function more poorly than controls. A social-environmental framework indicates that parents' functioning as well as family stressors and resources are concurrently and predictively linked to children's health.     

Perceived functional health of disabled elderly persons in a follow-up program for primary care.

180 disabled elderly persons were followed in a home care program after acute care rehabilitation in order to correlate subjective and objective ratings of medical, physical, and social functioning. To assess the benefits of case management services, 95 test patients receiving such care at home were compared with 85 controls who did not receive services. Both groups reported gains in functional health and their reports were verified with objective measures. There was no difference, however, between the groups in outcome. Our findings indicated that self-assessments correlate highly with measures of functional health. Procedures for self-ratings should be developed as important complements to objective functional health measures.