Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-s2hrs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T19:04:55.819Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Boys' externalizing problems at elementary school age: Pathways from early behavior problems, maternal control, and family stress

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 March 2009

Susan B. Campbell ,
Elizabeth W. Pierce ,
Ginger Moore ,
Susan Marakovitz  and
Kristin Newby
Susan B. Campbell*
Affiliation:
University of Pittsburgh
Elizabeth W. Pierce
Affiliation:
University of Pittsburgh
Ginger Moore
Affiliation:
University of Pittsburgh
Susan Marakovitz
Affiliation:
University of Pittsburgh
Kristin Newby
Affiliation:
University of Pittsburgh
*
Clinical Psychology Program, Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh, 4015 O'Hara Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15260
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Hard-to-manage preschool boys and comparison boys were studied at age 4 years and followed at ages 6 and 9 years. Externalizing problems at ages 4 and 9 were associated with concurrent family stress, but this relationship was partially mediated by negative maternal control. Cross-lagged regressions indicated that despite the high stability in children's problem ratings, observed negative maternal control at age 4 and self-reported negative discipline at age 9 predicted externalizing problems at age 9 years, controlling for earlier levels of symptoms. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that problems were more likely to persist in the context of chronic family stress, defined as negative life events, marital dissatisfaction, and maternal depressive symptoms. When problem boys who met diagnostic criteria for Oppositional Disorder and/or Attention Deficit Disorder were compared with boys who were improved by age 9 years, family stress and earlier symptom levels, as well as maternal control differentiated between them. Teacher ratings suggested that these boys were on a clear pathway to persistent problems by age 6 years. A small sample of comparison boys with emerging problems also were living in more dysfunctional families and their mothers reported using more negative discipline at age 9 years.

Type
Articles
Information
Development and Psychopathology , Volume 8 , Issue 4: Developmental Pathways: Diversity in Process and Outcome , Fall 1996 , pp. 701 - 719
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1996

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abidin, R. R. (1986). Parenting Stress Index Manual (2nd ed.). Charlottesville, VA: Pediatric Psychology Press.Google Scholar
Achenbach, T. M., & Edelbrock, C. (1983). Manual for the Child Behavior Checklist and the Child Behavior Profile. Burlington, VT: University of Vermont, Department of Psychiatry.Google Scholar
Achenbach, T. M., & Edelbrock, C. (1986). Manual for the Teacher's Report Form and Teacher Version of the Child Behavior Profile. Burlington, VT: University of Vermont, Department of Psychiatry.Google Scholar
American Psychiatric Association. (1980). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (3rd ed.). Washington, DC: Author.Google Scholar
American Psychiatric Association. (1987). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders—Revised (3rd ed.). Washington, DC: Author.Google Scholar
Baron, R. M., & Kenny, D. A. (1986). The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: Conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51, 1173–1182.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Behar, L. (1977). The Preschool Behavior Questionnaire. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 5, 265–276.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Calkins, S. (1994). Origins and outcomes of individual differences in emotion regulation. In N. A. Fox (Ed.), The development of emotion regulation (pp. 53–72). Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 59, (Nos. 2–3).Google Scholar
Campbell, S. B. (1990). Behavior problems in preschool children: Clinical and developmental issues. New York: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Campbell, S. B. (1991). Longitudinal studies of active and aggressive preschoolers: Individual differences in early behavior and in outcome. In Cicchetti, D. and Toth, S. (Eds.), The Rochester Symposium on Developmental Psychopathology. Vol. 2: Internalizing and externalizing expressions of dysfunction. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Campbell, S. B. (1994). Hard-to-mange preschool boys: Externalizing behavior, social competence, and family context at two-year follow-up. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 22, 147–166.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Campbell, S. B. (1995). Behavior problems in preschool children: A review of recent research. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 36, 113–149.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Campbell, S. B. (in press). Behavior problems in preschool children: Developmental and family issues. In Ollendick, T. H. & Prinz, R. J. (Eds.), Advances in clinical child psychology, Vol. 19. New York: Plenum Press.Google Scholar
Campbell, S. B., Ewing, L. J., Breaux, A. M., & Szumowski, E. K. (1986). Parent-referred problem three-year-olds: Follow-up at school entry. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 27, 473–488.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Campbell, S. B., March, C. L., Pierce, E. W., Ewing, L. J., & Szumowski, E. K. (1991). Hard-to-manage preschool boys: Family context and the stability of externalizing behavior. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 19, 301–318.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Campbell, S. B., Pierce, E., March, C., & Ewing, L. J. (1991). Noncompliant behavior, overactivity, and family stress as predictors of negative maternal control in preschool children. Development and Psychopathology, 3, 175–190.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Campbell, S. B., Pierce, E. W., March, C. L., Ewing, L. J., & Szumowski, E. K. (1994). Hard-to-manage preschool boys: Symptomatic behavior across contexts and time. Child Development, 65, 836–851.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Campbell, S. B., Szumowski, E. K., Ewing, L. J., Gluck, D. S., & Breaux, A. M. (1982). A multidimensional assessment of parent-identified behavior problem toddlers. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 10, 569–592.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Campos, J. J., Campos, R. G., & Barrett, K. C. (1989). Emergent themes in the study of emotional development and emotion regulation Developmental Psychology, 25, 394–402.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cicchetti, D. (1993). Developmental psychopathology: Reactions, reflections, projections, Developmental Review, 13, 471–502.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cicchetti, D., Toth, S. L., & Lynch, M. (1995). Bowlby's dream comes full circle: The application of attachment theory to risk and psychopathology. In Ollendick, T. H. & Prinz, R. J. (Eds.), Advances in Clinical Child Psychology, Volume 17 (pp. 1–75). New York: Plenum Press.Google Scholar
Crockenberg, S., & Litman, C. (1990). Autonomy as competence in 2-year olds: Maternal correlates of child defiance, compliance and self-assertion. Developmental Psychology, 26, 961–971.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cummings, E. M., & Davies, P. T. (1994). Maternal depression and child development. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 35, 73–112.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Davies, P., & Cummings, E. M. (1994). Marital conflict and child adjustment: An emotional security hypothesis. Psychological Bulletin, 116, 387–411.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dishion, T. J., Patterson, G. R., Stoolmiller, M., & Skinner, M. L. (1991). Family, school, and behavioral antecedents to early adolescent involvement with antisocial peers. Developmental Psychology, 27(1), 172–180.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dodge, K. A., Pettit, G. S., & Bates, J. E. (1994). Socialization mediators of the relation between socioeconomic status and child conduct problems. Child Development, 65, 649–665.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dumas, J. E., & Werkerle, C. (1995). Maternal reports of child behavior problems and personal distress as predictors of dysfunctional parenting. Development and Psychopathology, 7, 465–480.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dunn, J. (1988). The growth of social understanding. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Ewing, L. J., & Campbell, S. B. (04, 1995). Hard-to-manage preschoolers: Social competence, externalizing behavior, and social competence at early adolescence. Poster presented at the Society for Research in Child Development, Indianapolis IN.Google Scholar
Feldman, S. S., & Weinberger, D. A. (1994). Self-restraint as a mediator of family influences on boys' delinquent behavior: A longitudinal study. Child Development, 65, 195–211.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gardner, F. E. (1987). Positive interaction between mothers and conduct-problem children: Is there training for harmony as well as fighting? Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 15, 283–293.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Greenberg, M. T., Speltz, M. L., & DeKlyen, M. (1993). The role of attachment in the early development of disruptive behavior problems. Development and Psychopathology, 5, 191–213.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Greenberg, M. T., Speltz, M. L., DeKlyen, M., & Endriga, M. C. (1991). Attachment security in preschoolers with and without externalizing behavior problems: A replication. Development and Psychopathology, 3, 413–430.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harnish, J. D., Dodge, K. A., & Valente, E. (1995). Mother-child interaction quality as a partial mediator of the roles of maternal depressive symptomatology and socioeconomic status in the development of child behavior problems. Child Development, 66, 739–753.Google ScholarPubMed
Hazzard, A., Christensen, A., & Margolin, G. (1983). Children's perceptions of parental behaviors. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 11, 49–60.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hetherington, E. M. (1989). Coping with family transitions: winners, losers, and survivors. Child Development, 60, 1–14.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hetherington, E. M., & Clingempeel, W. G. (1992). Coping with marital transitions. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 57 (Nos. 2–3, Serial No. 227).Google Scholar
Hetherington, E. M., Cox, M. J., & Cox, R. (1985). Long-term effects of divorce and remarriage on the adjustment of children. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 24, 518–530.Google ScholarPubMed
Hinshaw, S. P. (1987). On the distinction between attentional deficits/hyperactivity and conduct problems/aggression in child psychopathology. Psychological Bulletin, 101, 443–463.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hinshaw, S. P., & Melnick, S. A. (1995). Peer relationships in boys with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder with and without comorbid aggression. Development and Psychopathology, 7, 627–648.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hodges, K. (1991). The Child Assessment Schedule—Parent Form. Unpublished interview schedule. Department of Psychiatry, Duke University.Google Scholar
Hodges, K., Saunders, W. B., Kashani, J., Hamlett, K., & Thompson, R. J. (1990). Internal consistency of DSM-III diagnoses using the symptom scales of the child assessment schedule. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 29, 635–641.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hollingshead, A. G. (1975). Four factor index of social status. New Haven: Yale University, Department of Sociology.Google Scholar
Kurdek, L. A., & Fine, M. A. (1994). Family acceptance and family control as predictors of adjustment in young adolescents: linear, curvilinear or interactive effects? Child Development, 65, 1137–1146.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kuczynski, L., Radke-Yarrow, M., Kochanska, G., & Girnius-Brown, O. (1987). A developmental interpretation of young children's noncompliance. Developmental Psychology, 23, 799–806.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lee, C. L., & Bates, J. E. (1985). Mother-child interaction at age two years and perceived difficult temperament. Child Development, 56, 1314–1325.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Locke, H. J., & Wallace, K. M. (1959). Short marital adjustment and prediction tests: Their reliability and validity. Marriage and Family Living, 21, 151–155.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Maccoby, E. E., & Martin, J. A. (1983). Socialization in the context of the family: Parent-child interaction. In Hetherington, E. M. (Ed.), Socialization, personality, and social development (Vol. IV, pp. 1–102). In P. Mussen (Series Ed.), Handbook of child psychology (4th ed.). New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
Moffitt, T. E. (1990). Juvenile delinquency and Attention Deficit Disorder: Boys' developmental trajectories from age 3 to age 15. Child Development, 61, 893–910.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Miller, N. B., Cowan, P. A., Cowan, C. P., Hetherington, E. M., & Clingempeel, W. G. (1993). Externalizing behavior in preschoolers and early adolescents: A cross-study replication of a family model. Developmental Psychology, 29, 3–18.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Patterson, G. R., DeBaryshe, B. D., & Ramsey, E. (1989). A developmental perspective on antisocial behavior. American Psychologist, 44, 329–335.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pelham, W., & Bender, M. E. (1982). Peer relations in hyperactive children: Description and treatment. In Gadow, K. & Bialer, I. (Eds.), Advances in learning and behavioral disabilities. (Vol. 1., pp. 365–436). Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.Google Scholar
Radloff, L. (1977). The CES-D Scale. A self-report depression scale for research in the general population. Journal of Applied Psychological Measurement, 1, 385–401.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reid, I. B. (1993). Prevention of conduct disorders before and after school entry: Relating interventions to developmental findings. Development and Psychopathology, 5, 243–262.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Richman, N., Stevenson, J., & Graham, P. (1982). Preschool to school: A behavioral study. London: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Rubin, K. H., & Clark, M. L. (1983). Preschool teachers' ratings of behavior problems, observational, socioeconomic & social-cognitive correlates. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 11, 273–286.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sarason, I. G., Johnson, J. A., & Siegel, J. M. (1978). Assessing the impact of life changes: Development of the Life Experiences Survey. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 46, 932–946.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Shantz, C. (1987). Conflicts between children. Child Development, 58, 283–305.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shaw, D. S., & Bell, R. Q. (1993). Developmental theories of parental contributors to antisocial behavior. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 21, 493–518.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Snyder, J. (1991). Discipline as a mediator of the impact of maternal stress and mood on child conduct problems. Development and Psychopathology, 3, 263–276.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Spanier, G. B. (1976). Measuring dyadic adjustment: New scales for assessing the quality of marriage and similar dyads. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 38, 15–28.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sroufe, L. A. (1990). Considering normal and abnormal together: The essence of developmental psychopathology. Development and Psychopathology, 2, 335–347.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Strassberg, Z., Dodge, K. A., Pettit, G. S., & Bates, J. E. (1994). Spanking in the home and children's subsequent aggression toward kindergarten peers. Development and Psychopathology, 6, 445–461.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zahn-Waxler, C., Radke-Yarrow, M., & King, R. A. (1979). Childrearing and children's responses to victims of distress. Child Development, 50, 319–330.CrossRefGoogle Scholar