A 12-Year Prospective Study of Patterns of Social Information Processing Problems and Externalizing Behaviors

This study investigated how discrete social information processing (SIP) steps may combine with one another to create distinct groups of youth who are characterized by particular patterns of SIP. SIP assessments were conducted on a community sample of 576 children in kindergarten, with follow-up assessments in grades 3, 8, and 11. At each age, four profiles were created, representing youth with no SIP problems, with early step SIP problems (encoding or making hostile attributions), with later step SIP problems (selecting instrumental goals, generating aggressive responses, or evaluating aggression positively), and with pervasive SIP problems. Although patterns of SIP problems were related to concurrent externalizing during elementary school, the consistency between cognition and future externalizing behavior was not as strong in elementary school as it was between grades 8 and 11. In some cases, youth characterized by the co-occurrence of problems in early and later SIP steps had higher externalizing scores than did youth characterized by problems in just one or the other.     

Externalizing shame responses in children: The role of fragile‐positive self‐esteem

When faced with shame, children can either respond in submissive ways to withdraw from their environment or in externalizing ways to oppose their environment. This study tested the hypothesis that fragile‐positive views of self predispose children to respond in externalizing ways to shame situations. Narcissism, actual and perceived social preference, global self‐worth and propensity towards externalizing shame responding were measured in 122 pre‐adolescent children. As expected, results revealed that narcissism, in contrast to global self‐worth, was associated with externalizing shame responding. In addition, actual but not perceived social preference was inversely related to externalizing shame responding, suggesting that the social self‐perceptions of children prone to employ externalizing shame responses may be inflated. Discussion focuses on the self‐regulatory function of externalizing shame responses.     

Executive functions and processing speed in children with mild to borderline intellectual disabilities and externalizing behavior problems

Several studies suggest impaired executive functions (EFs) in children with externalizing behavior problems and average intelligence (e.g., IQ > 85). Even though children with mild to borderline intellectual disabilities (MBID) are at higher risk of developing externalizing behavior problems compared to children with average intelligence, it is not yet clear if impaired EFs are also associated with the occurrence of externalizing behavior problems in children with MBID. In the current study, we therefore assessed three EF components (inhibition, cognitive flexibility, and working memory) as well as processing speed in children with MBID and externalizing behavior problems (n = 71) versus children with MBID with no such problems (n = 70). This was accomplished using a well-established computerized test battery. Even after IQ was controlled for, the children with MBID and externalizing behavior problems showed more impaired working memory performance. Differences for inhibition performance and processing speed were also found but less consistent across the tasks used to measure these aspects of EF. Cognitive flexibility was not more impaired in children with both MBID and externalizing behavior problems relative to children with MBID only. Our findings highlight working memory as a potential target to enhance the treatment of children with MBID and externalizing behavior problems.     

Parental socialization of emotion expression: gender differences and relations to child adjustment

The present study examined gender differences in children's submissive and disharmonious emotions and parental attention to these emotions. Sixty children and their mothers and fathers participated when children were 4 and 6 years old. Children's emotion expression and parental responses during a game were coded. Girls expressed more submissive emotion than boys. Fathers attended more to girls' submissive emotion than to boys' at preschool age. Fathers attended more to boys' disharmonious emotion than to girls' at early school age. Parental attention at preschool age predicted later submissive expression level. Child disharmonious emotion predicted later externalizing symptoms. Gender differences in these emotions may occur as early as preschool age and may be subject to differential responding, particularly by fathers.     

Parenting young children with challenging behaviour

Previous research has established the link between harsh parenting and poor outcomes in children, although little attention has been paid to the concurrent protective factors which may exist. The relationship between parenting behaviours and childhood externalizing behaviours was investigated in a sample of 60 parents of young children (ages 2–5 years). Thirty families were selected for participation based on teacher‐reported externalizing behaviour in their young child which exceeded normal limits and matched with a sample of 30 parents of children without externalizing behaviour problems. Results found that parents of young children with externalizing behaviours tended to use more frequent verbal and corporal punishment with their young children, and reported more behaviour problems with their young children when compared with a control group. However, no significant differences were found between groups with respect to positive, nurturing behaviours, or utilizing appropriate developmental expectations. Implications for prevention are discussed. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

学习障碍儿童的社会信息处理、依恋及情绪调节特点

SIP是儿童社交能力的一个重要组成部分,它给儿童提供一个如何处理及解读社会情境中发生的社会线索的模型,并且根据这些线索作出行为和情绪上的决定。作为一个社会认知能力,SIP被认为是学习障碍儿童中最具有挑战性的领域之一。潜在的认知加工过程和情绪处理过程对SIP六阶段步骤起重要作用。过去的研究注重儿童认知能力对SIP能力的作用。在此研究中,我们新增了儿童的情感纽带如(安全依恋)以及强调儿童管理情绪的能力对儿童SIP能力的作用。本文通过对学习障碍儿童的情绪管理、依恋质量及社会信息加工特点的研究,希望提供关于安全依恋和情绪管理在学习障碍儿童中社会信息加工的作用一些理论参考。     

Exposure to Violence,Social Information Processing,and Problem Behavior in Preschool Children

Understanding the mechanisms by which early risk factors for social maladjustment contribute to disruptive behaviors in social settings is vital to developmental research and practice. A major risk factor for social maladjustment is early exposure to violence, which was examined in this short‐term longitudinal study in relation to social information processing (SIP) patterns and externalizing and internalizing behaviors in a sample of 256 preschool children. Data on exposure to violence were obtained via parent report, data on SIP were obtained via child interview, and data on child problem behavior were obtained via teacher report. Findings supported the hypothesis that, compared to children not exposed to violence, children reported to witness and/or experience violence are more likely to attribute hostile intent to peers, generate aggressive responses, and evaluate socially unaccepted responses (aggressive and inept) as socially suitable. The former were also found to exhibit higher levels of externalizing and internalizing behaviors. Finally, SIP mediated the link between exposure to violence and problem behavior thus supporting this study's general approach, which argues that the link between exposure to violence and children's problem behaviors are better understood within the context of their perceptions about social relationships. Aggr. Behav. 38:429‐441, 2012. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Young children's social information processing: family antecedents and behavioral correlates

Little research has examined whether social information processing (SIP) measures from early childhood predict externalizing problems beyond the shared association with familial risk markers. In the present study, family antecedents and first-grade externalizing behaviors were studied in relation to preschool and 1st-grade SIP using data from the U.S. National Institute for Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care (N=1,364). A subgroup of low-risk children reported only benign attributions in preschool and had few externalizing problems in 1st grade according to both teacher and mother reports. After controlling for gender and cognitive functioning, the authors found that maternal education and authoritarian attitudes were key predictors of this "Pollyanna preschooler" status and of SIP in 1st grade. However, small effect sizes for SIP variables underscore the need for new approaches to measurement and for further research on moderators of the link between SIP and children's behavior.     

Parenting contributors to early emerging problem behaviour in children of mothers in methadone maintenance treatment

This study explored whether variations in parenting provided by mothers with substance‐abuse disorders are related to behaviour problems in their young children and whether specific parenting practices are associated with specific types of behaviour problems. Mother‐reported and observational assessments were used to examine contributions of parenting behaviour and home environment to internalizing and externalizing behaviour problems in 150 preschool children of mothers receiving methadone‐maintenance treatment for heroin addiction. In multivariate analyses, mother‐reported child externalizing behaviour was related to greater maternal harshness and to mother history of illicit drug use during pregnancy but not other features of substance use and treatment history. Observer‐coded child internalizing behaviour was related to less maternal sensitivity and less provision of learning activities in the home. Additionally, mother report of her own psychopathology symptoms was related to mother‐reported, but not observer‐coded, child internalizing and externalizing problems. Findings suggest that women in substance abuse treatment should receive parenting interventions and that interventions should focus on increasing maternal sensitivity, reducing harshness, and providing children with cognitively stimulating environments. Findings also suggest that the need for attention to ongoing mental health problems of women in substance abuse treatment—both for their own well‐being and the well‐being of their children.

Highlights

• This study explored whether variations in parenting provided by mothers with substance‐abuse disorders are related to behavior problems in their young children.
• Maternal harshness was related to child externalizing behavior, low sensitivity, and low provision of learning opportunities to child internalizing problems.
• Findings suggest that women in substance abuse treatment should be provided access to parenting interventions.

     

Children's Assertive Behavior:

In this study, characteristics of three recently developed scales for measures assertiveness in children were explored. The internal consistency of the scales were determined and their validity was assessed by correlating the various scales and contrasting them with teacherr ratings of assertive, aggressive, and submissive behavior. In general, it was found that the three scales possessed adequate internal consistency and were moderately related to one another. Further, two of the scales (Deluty's Children's Action Tendency Scale and Michelson and Wood's Children's Assertive Behavior Scale) were able to "unbind" aggressive from assertive behavior. Given these differences, it was suggested that a combination of these scales be used in future research examining assertive behavior in children.     

Severity of sleep problems in children with severe learning difficulties: Description and correlates

In this study we have examined the percentage occurrence of settling and waking problems and of sleeping in the parents' bed in a sample of children with sleep problems. We found that about two-thirds had settling problems, nearly nine-tenths had waking problems, and one-third slept regularly in their parents' bed. Parents of children with sleep problems were more likely to experience a range of family problems than were parents of children without problems, and they were more likely to report a range of symptoms of stress. Most children with settling problems took at least two hours to settle to sleep at night. This behaviour was mainly tolerated or accepted by the parents. Parents gave a variety of suggestions as to triggers for settling problems, from being upset during the day to fears, illness and alterations in routine. Most parents thought the underlying explanation was the child's intellectual impairment. Over half the children with waking problems woke up every night, while 85% woke up at least three nights a week. One-third woke up three or more times a night. About two-thirds took up to half an hour to resettle, with one-third taking up to an hour. Parents (mainly mothers) tended to get up to attend to the waking child. About half of the children were thought to need attention because of physical disabilities. Illness, alteration in routine, becoming ‘overtired’ and ‘upset’ were thought to trigger waking problems. Intellectual impairment was again seen as the more general underlying reason for waking problems. Very few children were receiving treatment for their problems—7% were receiving medication and one was receiving a behavioural programme. Few parents had a systematic bedtime routine for their child and few had a consistent agreed response to settling or waking problems. When we examined the relationship between certain family variables and severity of sleep problems a number of relationships were found. Sleep problem severity was related to maternal responsiveness, maternal stress, impact of the child on the family, maternal behaviour towards the child, maternal attitudes towards the child and marital satisfaction. Severity of sleep problems was also related to certain child characteristics. Children with more severe problems tended to present more problems in their daytime behaviour. Sleep problem severity was also found to be related to child communication skills. These findings, together with those from other pilot studies, suggest that using behavioural methods of managing sleep problems might prove a promising way forward.     

Parental depression,parenting behaviours,and behaviour problems in young children

In the past, research has demonstrated that parental depression and parenting practices are related. More recently, there has been an increase in research examining child outcomes as they are related to maternal and paternal psychopathology. To continue with this line of research, this study examined the relationships among mothers' and fathers' symptoms of depression, characteristics of their parenting practices, and their ratings of their young children's internalizing and externalizing behaviour problems. The results of this study demonstrated that these variables are related significantly. Further, the results of this study suggested that mothers' parenting, particularly their limit setting with their young children, is an important predictor of their ratings of their young children's externalizing behaviour problems in the context of their own symptoms of depression. A different pattern of relationships may be present for fathers, as both their symptoms of depression and their parenting characteristics predicted their ratings of their young children's externalizing behaviour problems. Such findings were not supported for young children's internalizing behaviour problems. These findings suggested that interventions should have different targets for mothers and fathers. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Siblings of Children with disabilities: Psychological and behavioural characteristics

The purpose of the current study was to assess the behavioural and psychological characteristics of siblings of children with disabilities and the perceptions of parents and children regarding sibling relationships. Participants included 32 children between 6 and 13 years of age, one-half with a younger sibling with a disability and one-half with a younger sibling without a disability. Analyses revealed a difference in children's perceptions of maternal partiality, with siblings of children with disabilities perceiving their mothers to be more partial to their siblings than did siblings of children without disabilities. Further, parents of children with disabilities indicated a greater difference in status/power between their child and his/her younger sibling than did parents of children without disabilities. No significant differences were found between groups on measures of behaviour problems, social competence, or self-esteem, supporting other research that has failed to find negative outcomes for siblings of children with disabilities. The implications of these results for parents and professionals are discussed.     

Treatment, Age, and Time-Related Predictors of Behavioral Outcome in Pediatric Brain Tumor Survivors

The research has shown that children surviving cancer are at risk for long-term emotional and behavioral problems secondary to the cumulative effects of cranial irradiation and chemotherapy. The purpose of this study was to investigate the emotional and behavioral outcome of children diagnosed with brain tumor and treated with cranial irradiation and chemotherapy by looking at the association between treatment, time, age, and cognitive-related variables on externalizing and internalizing behaviors at 3 years posttreatment. Fifty-four brain tumor survivors were administered a neuropsychological test battery, whereas the parents filled out the CBCL and Conners' Parent Rating Scale. The results indicate that chemotherapy treatment with vincristine, cytoxan, cisplantinum, and/or VP16 was related to poorer internalizing and externalizing behavioral outcome, especially attention, social withdrawal, and anxious–depressive symptomatology. Age at time of diagnosis or treatment, time since discontinuation of treatment, type and/or total dose of radiation therapy was not significantly correlated with any of the behavioral outcome scales. Verbal memory and learning deficits accounted for a significant portion of the variance in social withdrawal, whereas lower scores in overall intellectual functioning and verbal fluency was related to disturbances in attention, inhibition, and social functioning. The findings suggest that children treated with 1 or a combination of any of the aforementioned chemotherapy agents who exhibit declines in intellectual functioning and memory are at increased risk for long-term behavioral problems 3 years after treatment cessation. These findings support the importance for early psychotherapeutic and supportive intervention services immediately after treatment cessation, with the goal of circumventing these potentially debilitating emotional problems.     

Parent and child personality characteristics as predictors of negative discipline and externalizing problem behaviour in children

Negative discipline has been linked to childhood externalizing behaviour. However, relatively little attention has been given to the potential effect of individual personality characteristics of children and parents. Using the Five Factor Model, we examined the extent to which parents' and children's personality characteristics were related to parenting and children's externalizing behaviour in a proportional stratified general population sample (N=599) of elementary‐school‐aged children. Based on Patterson's macromodel of parenting, an initial model was built, hypothesizing that the impact of parents' and child's personality dimensions on externalizing problems was fully mediated by negative discipline. Results supported a modified model that added direct pathways between parent and child personality characteristics and externalizing problem behaviour. For the mother data, as well as for the father data, children's Extraversion and Imagination were positively related to children's externalizing problem behaviours. Children's Benevolence and Conscientiousness and parents' Emotional Stability were negatively related to externalizing problem behaviours. For the mother data, maternal Agreeableness was positively related to externalizing problem behaviours too. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Depression, learning disability, and school behavior problems

It is possible that recurrent depression (primary affective illness) is the most significant variable related to school problems of a behavioral nature in children manifesting developmental specific learning disabilities. The association of school problems and depression was investigated at a private school for children with developmental specific learning disabilities. These children were of normal intelligence and were free of primary conduct or thought disturbances. Prior to entering school, 95% of the students fulfilled criteria for developmental specific learning disabilities and 64% for depression with or without hyperactivity. Students manifesting no diagnosable behavioral condition prior to entrance continued to be relatively free of behavioral problems during their stay at school. Students with both depression and hyperactivity showed the most problematic behavior followed by students with depression without hyperactivity.     

Predicting Growth Curves of Early Childhood Externalizing Problems: Differential Susceptibility of Children with Difficult Temperament

Using an accelerated longitudinal design, the development of externalizing problems from age 2 to 5 years was investigated in relation to maternal psychopathology, maternal parenting, gender, child temperament, and the presence of siblings. The sample consisted of 150 children selected at age 2–3 years for having high levels of externalizing problems. Parenting was measured using observational methods, and maternal reports were used for the other variables. Overall, mean levels of externalizing problems decreased over time, and higher initial levels (intercept) were related to a stronger decrease (negative slope) in externalizing problems. Results showed that higher levels of maternal psychopathology were related to less decrease in early childhood externalizing problems. Parental sensitive behavior predicted a stronger decrease in externalizing problems, but only for children with difficult temperaments. A stronger decrease of externalizing problems in children with older siblings also pertained only to children with difficult temperaments. Thus, temperamentally difficult children appear to be more susceptible to environmental influences on the development of externalizing behaviors. Our results indicate that the role of siblings in early childhood externalizing problems deserves more research attention, and that intervention efforts need to take into account temperamental differences in children’s susceptibility to environmental influences.     

Family Functioning and Externalizing Behaviour among Low-income Children: Self-regulation as a Mediator

The purpose of this study was to examine self-regulation as a mediator of the relation between family functioning and externalizing behaviour in 731 low-income children (M age = 41 months) across three time points. Specifically, this study focused on whether chaos in the home and positive behaviour support were indirectly related to externalizing problems through their influence on inhibitory control. The primary findings were as follows: (a) chaos in the home at age 3 years was indirectly related to externalizing behaviour at age 5.5 years through children's inhibitory control at age 4 years, and (b) positive behaviour support at age 3 years was indirectly related to externalizing behaviour at age 5.5 years through inhibitory control at age 4 years. Implications of these findings and directions for future research are discussed.     

Mediated pathways from maternal depression and early parenting to children's executive function and externalizing behaviour problems

Structural equation models were used to examine pathways from maternal depression and early parenting to children's executive function (EF) and externalizing behaviours in the first nationally representative study to obtain direct assessments of children's kindergarten EF skills (i.e., the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study Kindergarten Class of 2010–2011). Preliminary analyses revealed that maternal depression was negatively related to children's EF and positively related to children's externalizing behaviour problems. However, the negative association between maternal depression and children's EF was completely mediated by maternal parenting practices (i.e., warmth and home learning stimulation). Furthermore, there was an indirect effect from maternal parenting practices to children's externalizing behaviour problems through EF, such that children with stronger EF skills had fewer externalizing behaviour problems. Findings provide support for a family process model in which warm, cognitively stimulating parenting supports children's EF, which in turn decreases externalizing behaviours.

Highlights

• This study examined pathways from parent mental health to children's executive function (EF) and behaviour problems.
• Maternal depression was negatively related to children's EF and positively related to children's behaviour problems.
• The negative association between maternal depression and children's EF was completely mediated by maternal parenting. There was an indirect effect from maternal parenting to children's behaviour problems through EF.

     

The relation of elementary-school children's externalizing behaviour to emotion attributions,evaluation of consequences,and moral reasoning

This study examined the relation of elementary-school children's externalizing behaviour to emotion attributions, evaluation of consequences, and moral reasoning. Externalizing behaviour was rated by the parents using the Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL/4 – 18). Moral development was assessed by three stories describing different types of rule violation and a moral conflict in friendship including obligations and self-interest. The children were asked about the emotions they would attribute to the hypothetical victimizer (or protagonist) and the self-as-victimizer (or protagonist), the evaluation of the interpersonal consequences of the rule violation (or action decision) as well as their justifications. Boys who made selfish action decisions and attributed positive emotions to the protagonist of the moral dilemma displayed more externalizing behaviour than girls. Furthermore, boys with consistent moral (negative) emotion attributions to the self-as-victimizer across the rule violations showed less externalizing behaviour than boys with inconsistent moral emotion attributions. Younger children who anticipated negative interpersonal consequences of transgressions displayed higher rates of externalizing behaviour than younger children who anticipated less negative consequences. Moral reasons in the context of emotion attributions to the self-as-victimizer were negatively associated with externalizing behaviour.