Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-vdxz6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-01T09:01:25.611Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Coercive family process and early-onset conduct problems from age 2 to school entry

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 April 2014

Justin D. Smith ,
Thomas J. Dishion ,
Daniel S. Shaw ,
Melvin N. Wilson ,
Charlotte C. Winter  and
Gerald R. Patterson
Justin D. Smith*
Affiliation:
University of Oregon
Thomas J. Dishion
Affiliation:
University of Oregon Arizona State University
Daniel S. Shaw
Affiliation:
University of Pittsburgh
Melvin N. Wilson
Affiliation:
University of Virginia
Charlotte C. Winter
Affiliation:
University of Oregon
Gerald R. Patterson
Affiliation:
Oregon Social Learning Center
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Justin D. Smith, Prevention Research Center, Arizona State University, 900 South McAllister Road, Tempe, AZ 85287-1105; E-mail: [email protected].
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The emergence and persistence of conduct problems (CPs) during early childhood is a robust predictor of behavior problems in school and of future maladaptation. In this study we examined the reciprocal influences between observed coercive interactions between children and caregivers, oppositional and aggressive behavior, and growth in parent report of early childhood (ages 2–5) and school-age CPs (ages 7.5 and 8.5). Participants were drawn from the Early Steps multisite randomized prevention trial that includes an ethnically diverse sample of male and female children and their families (N = 731). A parallel-process growth model combining latent trajectory and cross-lagged approaches revealed the amplifying effect of observed coercive caregiver–child interactions on children's noncompliance, whereas child oppositional and aggressive behaviors did not consistently predict increased coercion. The slope and initial levels of child oppositional and aggressive behaviors and the stability of caregiver–child coercion were predictive of teacher-reported oppositional behavior at school age. Families assigned to the Family Check-Up condition had significantly steeper declines in child oppositional and aggressive behavior and moderate reductions in oppositional behavior in school and in coercion at age 3. Results were not moderated by child gender, race/ethnicity, or assignment to the intervention condition. The implications of these findings are discussed with respect to understanding the early development of CPs and to designing optimal strategies for reducing problem behavior in early childhood with families most in need.

Type
Regular Articles
Information
Development and Psychopathology , Volume 26 , Issue 4pt1 , November 2014 , pp. 917 - 932
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

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

Achenbach, T. M., & Rescorla, L. A. (2001). Manual for the ASEBA school-age forms and profiles. Burlington, VT: University of Vermont, Research Center for Children, Youth, & Families.Google Scholar
Aguilar, B., Sroufe, L. A., Egeland, B., & Carlson, E. A. (2000). Distinguishing the early-onset/persistent and adolescence-onset antisocial behavior types: From birth to 16 years. Development and Psychopathology, 12, 109–132.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bentler, P. M. (1990). Comparative fit indexes in structural models. Psychological Bulletin, 107, 238–246.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bentler, P. M. (1992). On the fit of models to covariances and methodology to the Bulletin . Psychological Bulletin, 112, 400–404.Google Scholar
Bollen, K. A., & Curran, P. J. (2004). Autoregressive latent trajectory (ALT) models: A synthesis of two traditions. Sociological Methods & Research, 32, 336–383.Google Scholar
Braungart-Rieker, J., Garwood, M. M., & Stifter, C. A. (1997). Compliance and noncompliance: The roles of maternal control and child temperament. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 18, 411–428.Google Scholar
Browne, W. M., & Cudeck, R. (1993). Alternative ways of assessing model fit. In Bollen, K. A. & Long, J. S. (Eds.), Testing structural equation models (pp. 136–162). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Campbell, S. B., Shaw, D. S., & Gilliom, M. (2000). Early externalizing behavior problems: Toddlers and preschoolers at risk for later maladjustment. Development and Psychopathology, 12, 467–488.Google Scholar
Cicchetti, D. V. (1993). Developmental psychopathology: Reactions, reflections, projections. Developmental Review, 13, 471–502.Google Scholar
Coie, J. D., & Dodge, K. A. (1988). Multiple sources of data on social behavior and social status in the school: A cross-age comparison. Child Development, 59, 815–829.Google Scholar
Collins, L. M. (2006). Analysis of longitudinal data: The integration of theoretical model, temporal design, and statistical model. Annual Review of Psychology, 57, 505–528.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Conduct Problems Prevention Research Group. (1999). Evaluation of the first 3 years of the Fast Track Prevention Trial with children at high risk for adolescent conduct problems. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 30, 19–35.Google Scholar
Curran, P. J., & Bollen, K. A. (2001). The best of both worlds: Combining autoregressive and latent curve models. In Collins, L. M. & Sayer, A. G. (Eds.), New methods for the analysis of change (pp. 107–135). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.Google Scholar
Dishion, T. J., Brennan, L. M., Shaw, D. S., McEachern, A. D., Wilson, M. N., & Jo, B. (2014). Prevention of problem behavior through annual Family Check-Ups in early childhood: Intervention effects from home to early elementary school. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 42, 343–354.Google Scholar
Dishion, T. J., Hogansen, J., Winter, C., & Jabson, J. M. (2004). The Coder Impressions Inventory. Unpublished manuscript. Eugene, OR: University of Oregon, Child and Family Center.Google Scholar
Dishion, T. J., & Patterson, G. R. (1999). Model-building in developmental psychopathology: A pragmatic approach to understanding and intervention. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 28, 502–512.Google Scholar
Dishion, T. J., & Patterson, G. R. (2006). The development and ecology of antisocial behavior. In Cicchetti, D. & Cohen, D. J. (Eds.), Developmental psychopathology: Vol. 3. Risk, disorder, and adaptation (pp. 503–541). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.Google Scholar
Dishion, T. J., Patterson, G. R., & Kavanagh, K. (1992). An experimental test of the coercion model: Linking theory, measurement, and intervention. In McCord, J. & Tremblay, R. (Eds.), Preventing antisocial behavior: Interventions from birth through adolescence (pp. 253–282). New York: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Dishion, T. J., Shaw, D. S., Connell, A., Gardner, F. E. M., Weaver, C., & Wilson, M. (2008). The Family Check-Up with high-risk indigent families: Preventing problem behavior by increasing parents’ positive behavior support in early childhood. Child Development, 79, 1395–1414.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dishion, T. J., & Stormshak, E. A. (2007). Intervening in children's lives: An ecological, family-centered approach to mental health care. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.Google Scholar
Dishion, T. J., Stormshak, E. A., & Kavanagh, K. (2011). Everyday parenting: A professional's guide to building family management skills. Champaign, IL: Research Press.Google Scholar
Dishion, T. J., Véronneau, M.-H., & Myers, M. W. (2010). Cascading peer dynamics underlying the progression from problem behavior to violence in early to late adolescence. Development and Psychopathology, 22, 603–619.Google Scholar
Dodge, K. A., Malone, P. S., Lansford, J. E., Miller, S., Pettit, G. S., & Bates, J. E. (2009). A dynamic cascade model of the development of substance-use onset: Early peer relations problem factors. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 74, 51–54.Google Scholar
Dumas, J. E., & LaFreniere, P. J. (1993). Mother–child relationships as sources of support or stress: A comparison of competent, average, aggressive, and anxious dyads. Child Development, 64, 1732–1754.Google Scholar
Dumas, J. E., LaFreniere, P. J., & Serketich, W. J. (1995). “Balance of power”: A transactional analysis of control in mother–child dyads involving socially competent, aggressive, and anxious children. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 104, 104–113.Google Scholar
Dunsmore, J. C., & Halberstadt, A. G. (2009). The dynamic cultural context of emotion socialization. In Mancini, J. A. & Roberto, K. A. (Eds.), Pathways of human development: Explorations of change. Lanham, MD: Lexington.Google Scholar
Fagot, B. I., & Gauvain, M. (1997). Mother–child problem solving: Continuity through the early childhood years. Developmental Psychology, 33, 480–488.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fagot, B. I., & Leve, L. D. (1998). Teacher ratings of externalizing behavior at school entry for boys and girls: Similar early predictors and different correlates. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines, 39, 555–566.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fagot, B. I., Pears, K. C., Capaldi, D. M., Crosby, L., & Leve, C. S. (1998). Becoming an adolescent father: Precursors and parenting. Developmental Psychology, 34, 1209–1219.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Forgatch, M. S., & Patterson, G. R. (2010). Parent management training–Oregon model: An intervention for antisocial behavior in children and adolescents. In Weisz, J. R. & Kazdin, A. E. (Eds.), Evidence-based psychotherapies for children and adolescents (pp. 159–178). New York: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Frick, P. J., Cornell, A. H., Barry, C. T., Bodin, S. D., & Dane, H. E. (2003). Callous–unemotional traits and conduct problems in the prediction of conduct problem severity, aggression, and self-report of delinquency. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 31, 457–470.Google Scholar
Gardner, F. E. M., Shaw, D. S., Dishion, T. J., Burton, J., & Supplee, L. (2007). Randomized prevention trial for early conduct problems: Effects on proactive parenting and links to toddler disruptive behavior. Journal of Family Psychology, 21, 398–406.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gardner, F. E. M., Ward, S., Burton, J., & Wilson, C. (2003). The role of mother–child joint play in the early development of children's conduct problems: A longitudinal observational study. Social Development, 12, 361–379.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gauvain, M., & Fagot, B. I. (1995). Child temperament as a mediator of mother–toddler problem solving. Social Development, 4, 257–276.Google Scholar
Goodman, S. H., & Gotlib, I. H. (1999). Risk for psychopathology in the children of depressed mothers: A developmental model for understanding mechanisms of transmission. Psychological Review, 106, 458–490.Google Scholar
Granic, I., Hollenstein, T., Dishion, T. J., & Patterson, G. R. (2003). Longitudinal analysis of flexibility and reorganization in early adolescence: A dynamic systems study of family interactions. Developmental Psychology, 39, 606–617.Google Scholar
Granic, I., & Patterson, G. R. (2006). Toward a comprehensive model of antisocial development: A dynamic systems approach. Psychological Review, 113, 101–131.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gray, S. A. O., Carter, A. S., Briggs-Gowan, M. J., Hill, C., Danis, B., Keenan, K., et al. (2012). Preschool children's observed disruptive behavior: Variations across sex, interactional context, and disruptive psychopathology. Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology, 41, 499–507.Google Scholar
Hartup, W. W., & van Lieshout, C. F. M. (1995). Personality development in social context. Annual Revew of Psychology, 45, 655–687.Google Scholar
Hollenstein, T. (2007). State space grids: Analyzing dynamics across development. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 31, 384–396.Google Scholar
Hollenstein, T., Granic, I., Stoolmiller, M., & Snyder, J. (2004). Rigidity in parent–child interactions and the development of externalizing and internalizing behavior in early childhood. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 32, 595–607.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hu, L. T., & Bentler, P. M. (1999). Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: Conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural Equation Modeling, 6, 1–55.Google Scholar
Jo, B. (2002). Statistical power in randomized intervention studies with noncompliance. Psychological Methods, 7, 178–193.Google Scholar
Keenan, K., & Shaw, D. S. (1995). The development of coercive family processes: The interaction between aversive toddler behavior and parenting factors. In McCord, J. (Ed.), Coercion and punishment in long-term perspectives (pp. 165–180). New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kochanska, G. (1995). Children's temperament, mothers’ discipline, and security of attachment: Multiple pathways to emerging internalization. Child Development, 66, 597–615.Google Scholar
Kuczynski, L., & Kochanska, G. (1990). Development of children's noncompliance strategies from toddlerhood to age 5. Developmental Psychology, 26, 398–408.Google Scholar
Lansford, J. E., Deater-Deckard, K., Dodge, K. A., Bates, J. E., & Pettit, G. S. (2004). Ethnic differences in the link between physical discipline and later adolescent externalizing behaviors. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 45, 801–812.Google Scholar
Lewis, M. D. (2000). The promise of dynamic systems approaches for an integrated account of human development. Child Development, 71, 36–43.Google Scholar
Little, R. J. A. (1988). A test of missing completely at random for multivariate data with missing values. Journal of the American Statistical Association, 83, 1198–1202.Google Scholar
Little, R. J. A., & Rubin, D. B. (2002). Statistical analysis with missing data (2nd ed.). New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
Loeber, R., & Dishion, T. J. (1983). Early predictors of male delinquency: A review. Psychological Bulletin, 94, 68–99.Google Scholar
Loeber, R., & Farrington, D. P. (2000). Young children who commit crime: Epidemiology, developmental origins, risk factors, early interventions, and policy implications. Development and Psychopathology, 12, 737–762.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
MacKinnon, D. P., Lockwood, C. M., Hoffman, J. M., West, S. G., & Sheets, V. (2002). A comparison of methods to test mediation and other intervening variable effects. Psychological Methods, 7, 83–104.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Martin, J. A. (1981). A longitudinal study of the consequences of early mother–infant interaction: A microanalytic approach. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 46, 59.Google Scholar
McFadyen-Ketchum, S. A., Bates, J. E., Dodge, K. A., & Pettit, G. S. (1996). Patterns of change in early childhood aggressive-disruptive behavior: Gender differences in predictions from early coercive and affectionate mother–child interactions. Child Development, 67, 2417–2433.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Moffitt, T. E. (1990). The neuropsychology of juvenile delinquency: A critical review. In Tonry, M. & Morris, N. (Eds.), Crime and justice: A review of research (pp. 99–169). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Moffitt, T. E. (1993). Adolescence-limited and life-course-persistent antisocial behavior: Developmental taxonomy. Psychological Review, 100, 674–701.Google Scholar
Muthén, L. K., & Muthén, B. O. (2013). Mplus (Version 7) [Computer software]. Los Angeles: Author.Google Scholar
Noldus Information Technology. (2012). The Observer XT reference manual 11.0. Wageningen, The Netherlands: Author.Google Scholar
Odgers, C. L., Moffitt, T. E., Broadbent, J. M., Dickson, N., Hancox, R. J., Harrington, H., et al. (2008). Female and male antisocial trajectories: From childhood origins to adult outcomes. Development and Psychopathology, 20, 673–716.Google Scholar
Olweus, D., & Limber, S. P. (2010). Bullying in school: Evaluation and dissemination of the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 80, 124–134.Google Scholar
Patterson, G. R. (1976). The aggressive child: Victim and architect of a coercive system. In Mash, E. J., Hamerlynck, L. A., & Handy, L. C. (Eds.), Behavior modification and families (pp. 267–316). New York: Brunner/Mazel.Google Scholar
Patterson, G. R. (1982). Coercive family process. Eugene, OR: Castalia.Google Scholar
Patterson, G. R. (1999). A proposal relating a theory of delinquency to societal rates of juvenile crime: Putting Humpty Dumpty together again. In Cox, M. J. & Brooks-Gunn, J. (Eds.), Conflict and cohesion in families: Causes and consequences. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Patterson, G. R. (2002). The early development of coercive family process. In Reid, J. B., Patterson, G. R., & Snyder, J. (Eds.), Antisocial behavior in children and adolescents: A developmental analysis and model for intervention (pp. 25–44). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.Google Scholar
Patterson, G. R., & Cobb, J. A. (1971). A dyadic analysis of “aggressive” behaviors. In Hill, J. P. (Ed.), Minnesota symposia on child psychology (pp. 72–129). Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press.Google Scholar
Patterson, G. R., & Reid, J. R. (1970). Reciprocity and coercion: Two facets of social systems. In Neuringer, C. & Michael, J. L. (Eds.), Behavior modification in clinical psychology (pp. 133–177). New York: Appleton–Century–Crofts.Google Scholar
Patterson, G. R., Reid, J. B., & Dishion, T. J. (1992). Antisocial boys. Eugene, OR: Castalia.Google Scholar
Peterson, J., Winter, C., Jabson, J., & Dishion, T. J. (2009). Relationship affect coding system. Unpublished manuscript. University of Oregon, Child and Family Center.Google Scholar
Raine, A. (2002). The biological basis of crime. In Wilson, J. Q. & Petersilia, J. (Eds.), Crime: Public policies for crime control (pp. 43–74). San Francisco, CA: ICS Press.Google Scholar
Reid, J. B., Eddy, M., Fetrow, R. A., & Stoolmiller, M. (1999). Description and immediate impacts of a prevention intervention for conduct problems. American Journal of Community Psychology, 27, 483–517.Google Scholar
Scaramella, L. V., & Leve, L. D. (2004). Clarifying parent–child reciprocities during early childhood: The early childhood coercion model. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 7, 89–107.Google Scholar
Shaw, D. S., & Bell, R. Q. (1993). Developmental theories of parental contributors to antisocial behavior. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 21, 493–518.Google Scholar
Shaw, D. S., Bell, R. Q., & Gilliom, M. (2000). A truly early starter model of antisocial behavior revisited. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 3, 155–172.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Shaw, D. S., Gilliom, M., Ingoldsby, E. M., & Nagin, D. S. (2003). Trajectories leading to school-age conduct problems. Developmental Psychology, 39, 189–200.Google Scholar
Shaw, D. S., & Gross, H. (2008). What we have learned about early childhood and the development of delinquency. In Lieberman, A. (Ed.), The long view of crime: A synthesis of longitudinal research (pp. 79–127). New York: Springer.Google Scholar
Shaw, D. S., Hyde, L. W., & Brennan, L. M. (2012). Early predictors of boys’ antisocial trajectories. Development and Psychopathology, 24, 871–888.Google Scholar
Shaw, D. S., Keenan, K., & Vondra, J. I. (1994). The developmental precursors of antisocial behavior: Ages 1–3. Developmental Psychology, 30, 355–364.Google Scholar
Shaw, D. S., Owens, E. B., Giovannelli, J., & Winslow, E. B. (2001). Infant and toddler pathways leading to early externalizing disorders. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 40, 36–43.Google Scholar
Shaw, D. S., Winslow, E. B., Owens, E. B., Vondra, J. I., Cohn, J. F., & Bell, R. Q. (1998). The development of early externalizing problems among children from low-income families: A transformational perspective. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 26, 95–107.Google Scholar
Smith, J. D., Dishion, T. J., Moore, K. J., Shaw, D. S., & Wilson, M. N. (2013). Video feedback in the Family Check-Up: Indirect effects on observed parent–child coercive interactions. Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology, 42, 405–417.Google Scholar
Smith, J. D., Dishion, T. J., Shaw, D. S., & Wilson, M. N. (2014). Caregivers’ relational schemas predict the trajectory of coercive dynamics during early childhood. Manuscript submitted for publication.Google Scholar
Smith, J. D., Dishion, T. J., Shaw, D. S., & Wilson, M. N. (2013). Indirect effects of fidelity to the Family Check-Up on changes in parenting and early childhood problem behaviors. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 81, 962–974.Google Scholar
Snyder, J., Edwards, P., McGraw, K., Kilgore, K., & Holten, A. (1993). Escalation and reinforcement in family conflict: Developmental origins of physical aggression. Wichita, KS: Kansas State University.Google Scholar
Stassen Berger, K. (2007). Update on bullying at school: Science forgotten? Developmental Review, 27, 90–126.Google Scholar
Steiger, J. H. (1990). Structural model evaluation and modification: An interval estimation approach. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 25, 173–353.Google Scholar
Tremblay, R. E., Nagin, D. S., Séguin, J. R., Zoccolillo, M., Zelazo, P. D., Boivin, M., et al. (2004). Physical aggression during early childhood: Trajectories and predictors. Pediatrics, 114, e43–e50.Google Scholar
Waller, R., Gardner, F. E. M., Hyde, L. W., Shaw, D. S., Dishion, T. J., & Wilson, M. N. (2012). Do harsh and positive parenting predict parent reports of deceitful–callous behavior in early childhood? Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 53, 946–953.Google Scholar
Yasui, M., & Dishion, T. J. (2007). The ethnic context of child and adolescent problem behavior: Implications for child and family interventions. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 10, 137–179.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Yasui, M., & Dishion, T. J. (2008). Direct observation of family management: Validity and reliability as a function of coder ethnicity and training. Behavior Therapy, 39, 336–347.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Youngstrom, E., Loeber, R., & Stouthamer-Loeber, M. (2000). Patterns and correlates of agreement between parent, teacher, and male adolescent ratings of externalizing and internalizing problems. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 68, 1038–1050.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed