In the wake of prominent theoreticians in developmental science, whose contributions we review in this article, many developmental psychologists came to endorse a systems approach to understanding how the individual, as it develops, establishes functional relationships to social ecological contexts that from birth to school entry rapidly increase in complexity. The concept of developmental cascade has been introduced in this context to describe lawful processes by which antecedent conditions may be related with varying probabilities to specified outcomes. These are understood as processes by which function at one level or in one domain of behavior affect the organization of competency in later developing domains of general adaptation. Here we propose a developmental sequence by which the developing child acquires regulative capacities that are key to adjustment to a society that demands considerable control of emotional and cognitive functions early in life. We report empirical evidence showing that the acquisition of regulative capacities may be understood as a cascade of shifts in control parameters induced by the progressive integration of biological, transactional, and socioaffective systems over development. We conclude by suggesting how the developmental process may be accessed for effective intervention in populations deemed “at risk” for later problems of psychosocial adjustment.

In a sample of 18-, 30-, and 42-month-olds, the relations among parenting, effortful control (EC), and maladjustment were examined. Parenting was assessed with mothers' reports and observations; EC was measured with mothers' and caregivers' reports, as well as a behavioral task; and externalizing and internalizing symptoms were assessed with parents' and caregivers' reports. Although 18-month unsupportive (vs. supportive) parenting negatively predicted EC at 30 months, when the stability of these variables was taken into account, there was no evidence of additional potentially causal relations between these two constructs. Although EC was negatively related to both internalizing and externalizing problems within all three ages as well as across 1 year, EC did not predict maladjustment once the stability of the constructs and within time covariation between the constructs were taken into account. In addition, externalizing problems at 30 months negatively predicted EC at 42 months, and internalizing problems at 30 months positively predicted EC at 42 months, but only when the effects of externalizing on EC were controlled. The findings are discussed in terms of the reasons for the lack of causal relations over time.

Consistent with developmental cascade notions, the present study investigated (a) associations between trajectories of interparental conflict and early externalizing problems during childhood and (b) early trajectories of externalizing problems as a pathway by which interparental conflict impacts children's social competence in preadolescence. Participants were 235 children and their parents and teachers. Children were assessed annually for 3 years, beginning when they were in kindergarten. Parents provided reports of interparental conflict and child externalizing problems. Children's social competence (prosocial behavior, social problems) was assessed approximately 5 years later via parent and teacher reports. Results from parallel process models indicated that changes in interparental conflict were positively associated with changes in externalizing problems during childhood. Further, demonstrating pathways consistent with notions of developmental cascades, early trajectories of externalizing problems accounted for the longitudinal link between early trajectories of interparental conflict and children's social problems in preadolescence.

This investigation examined transactional relations across contextual strain, parenting quality, and child adjustment in 209 mothers and children at 24, 42, and 72 months of age. Independent ratings of mothers' stressful life events, social support, and relationship quality provided an objective measure of maternal contextual strain. Observers evaluated parenting quality during parent–child interactions at each time point. Child regulatory functioning during laboratory tasks at 24 and 42 months was evaluated by independent observers based on both behavioral (e.g., noncompliance, distractibility) and emotional (e.g., frustration, anger) indices. At 72 months, teachers reported on children's externalizing behaviors, and children completed objective measures of academic achievement. Nested path analyses were used to evaluate increasingly complex models of influence, including transactional relations between child and parent, effects from contextual strain to parenting and child adaptation, and reciprocal effects from child and parent behavior to contextual strain. Over and above stability within each domain and cross-sectional cross-domain covariation, significant paths emerged from maternal contextual strain to subsequent child adjustment. Bidirectional relations between parenting and child adjustment were especially prominent among boys. These findings counter unidirectional models of parent-mediated contextual effects by highlighting the direct influences of contextual strain and parent–child transactions on early childhood behavioral and academic adjustment, respectively.

Existing longitudinal research on the interplay between externalizing problems, internalizing problems, and academic and social competence has documented “cascading” effects from early aggressive/disruptive behavior through impairments in competence, leading to symptoms of depression and anxiety. The primary aim of the current study was to replicate such work using the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development while also extending the developmental window of investigation of cascades back into early childhood. Participating families (N = 1,160) completed questionnaire measures of externalizing, internalizing, and social competence (maternal report), as well as individual assessment of academic achievement, spanning five time points from age 54 months through age 15 years. A series of nested structural equation models tested predicted links across various domains of competence and psychopathology. Results were consistent with prior research, demonstrating cross-domain effects from early externalizing problems through effects on both academic and social competence into later internalizing problems. Effects held across gender and were largely unaffected by inclusion of socioeconomic status, early caregiving, and early cognitive ability as covariates in the model.

A developmental cascade model linking symptoms of externalizing and internalizing psychopathology through three indices of peer relational difficulty (peer rejection, peer victimization, friendedness) was tested in a general population sample of 653 children followed annually from kindergarten to fourth grade. Rejection and victimization linked kindergarten externalizing problems with fourth-grade internalizing problems. Transactional links between rejection and victimization were found. In addition, peer rejection added to the development of externalizing problems. Friendedness did not add to the development of externalizing or internalizing problems. Cascade paths were similar for boys and girls. Over the period of kindergarten to fourth grade, psychopathology and peer relations become entangled, and the dynamic interplay between multiple manifestations of poor peer relations ultimately adds to the development of both externalizing and internalizing problems and their cross-time relation. Implications for research and prevention are discussed.

The primary purpose of this longitudinal study was to examine, in a sample of Chinese children (initial M age = 8 years, N = 1,140), contributions of aggression to the development of social competence and academic achievement. Five waves of panel data on aggression and social and school performance were collected from peer evaluations, teacher ratings, and school records in Grades 2 to 5. Structural equation modeling revealed that aggression had unique effects on later social competence and academic achievement after their stabilities were controlled, particularly in the junior grades. Aggression also had significant indirect effects on social and academic outcomes through multiple pathways. Social competence and academic achievement contributed to the development of each other, but not aggression. The results indicate cascade effects of aggression in Chinese children from a developmental perspective.

This study tested a developmental cascade model of peer rejection, social information processing (SIP), and aggression using data from 585 children assessed at 12 time points from kindergarten through Grade 3. Peer rejection had direct effects on subsequent SIP problems and aggression. SIP had direct effects on subsequent peer rejection and aggression. Aggression had direct effects on subsequent peer rejection. Each construct also had indirect effects on each of the other constructs. These findings advance the literature beyond a simple mediation approach by demonstrating how each construct effects changes in the others in a snowballing cycle over time. The progressions of SIP problems and aggression cascaded through lower liking, and both better SIP skills and lower aggression facilitated the progress of social preference. Findings are discussed in terms of the dynamic, developmental relations among social environments, cognitions, and behavioral adjustment.

This study examined the peer dynamics linking early adolescent problem behavior, school marginalization, and low academic performance to multiple indices of late adolescent violence (arrests, parent report, and youth report) in an ethnically diverse sample of 998 males and females. A cascade model was proposed in which early adolescent risk factors assessed at age 11 to 12 predict gang involvement at age 13 to 14, which in turn, predicts deviancy training with friends at age 16 to 17, which then predicts violence by age 18 to 19. Each construct in the model was assessed with multiple measures and methods. Structural equation modeling revealed that the cascade model fit the data well, with problem behavior, school marginalization, and low academic performance significantly predicting gang involvement 2 years later. Gang involvement, in turn, predicted deviancy training with a friend, which predicted violence. The best fitting model included an indirect and direct path between early adolescent gang involvement and later violence. These findings suggest the need to carefully consider peer clustering into gangs in efforts to prevent individual and aggregate levels of violence, especially in youths who may be disengaged, marginalized, or academically unsuccessful in the public school context.

This study examined developmental processes linking competence and psychopathology in an urban sample of girls during their transition to adolescence. Longitudinal associations among indices of externalizing symptoms, social competence, and internalizing symptoms were also tested within contexts of family adversity and girls’ pubertal status. Child, parent, and teacher report were employed to assess core constructs across six annual assessment waves, starting at age 9. Results revealed the significant effect of prior levels of externalizing symptoms on changes in social competence and internalizing symptoms, as well as reciprocal relations between social competence and internalizing symptoms. In addition, girl's maladaptive functioning predicted increases in family adversity exposure over time. Last, more mature pubertal status in early assessment waves was linked to an increase in internalizing symptoms; however, this association was reversed by the last assessment, when most girls had reached advance stages of puberty. The timing of these effects reveals important targets for future interventions aimed at promoting the successful adaptation of girls in adolescence.

The current study was initiated to increase understanding of developmental cascades in childhood in a sample of at-risk boys (N = 291; 52% White). Mothers, teachers, and boys reported on boys' externalizing problems, internalizing difficulties, and academic competence. Consistent with hypotheses regarding school-related transitions, high levels of externalizing problems were associated with both low levels of academic competence and high levels of internalizing problems during the early school-age period, and with elevations in internalizing problems during the transition to adolescence. Low levels of academic competence were associated with high levels of internalizing problems in middle childhood, and with high levels of externalizing problems during the transition from elementary school to middle school. Shared risk factors played a minimal role in these developmental cascades. Results suggest that there are cascading effects of externalizing problems and academic competence in childhood and early adolescence, and that some cascading effects are more likely to occur during periods of school-related transitions. Implications of developmental cascade effects for research and intervention are discussed.

This study examined a developmental, cascade model that includes childhood risks of conduct problems and family adversity at age 10–12; conduct problems, risk taking, and internalizing during adolescence; and adult outcomes of conduct problems, poor health, health risks, depression, and service use at ages 27 and 30. Analyses showed that childhood conduct problems predicted adolescent conduct problems and risk taking, which in turn, predicted adult conduct problems, health risks, depression, and service use. Childhood family adversity predicted adolescent internalizing, a predictor itself of poor health, depression, and service use at age 27. There was considerable continuity in the same adult outcomes measured over a 3-year period, as well as some cross-domain prediction from variables at age 27 to measures at age 30. Developmental patterns found in these data offer implications for future research and prevention.

A three-wave cascade model linking life stress to increases in risk behavior was tested with 347 African American emerging adults living in the rural South. Data analyses using structural equation modeling and latent growth curve modeling demonstrated that life stress was linked to increases in risk behavior as African Americans transitioned out of secondary school. The cascade model indicated that life stress fostered increases in negative emotions. Negative emotions, in turn, were linked to increases in affiliations with deviant peers and romantic partners; this forecast increases in risk behavior. The findings supported a stress proliferation framework, in which primary stressors affect increases in secondary stressors that carry forward to influence changes in risk behaviors that can potentially compromise mental health.

Success in the domain of work is a salient developmental task of adulthood and a key indicator of adaptive function in the evaluation of health and psychopathology. Yet few studies have examined pathways to work competence, especially with strategies testing for cumulative cascade effects over time. Cascade models spanning 20 years were tested via structural equation modeling, linking work competence in early adulthood to antecedent competence in work and other domains of competence in childhood and emerging adulthood. Data were drawn from the Project Competence longitudinal study of 205 school children followed for 20 years. Relative fit of alternative models was evaluated by the Bayesian information criterion. As hypothesized, the effectiveness of adaptive behavior in earlier age-salient developmental task domains forecasted later work competence, which also showed strong concurrent links to competence in other domains. Results suggest there are numerous pathways by which success or failure in major developmental task domains in childhood and adolescence may influence adaptation in other domains and eventually work competence, both concurrently and cumulatively over time. Cascade effects highlight the potential significance for later work competence of childhood conduct (antisocial vs. rule-abiding behavior) and social competence with peers, in addition to the ongoing role that academic attainment may have for work success. Work competence also showed considerable stability over a 10-year period during early adulthood. Implications and applications for future research and intervention are discussed.

The current multigenerational study evaluates the utility of the interactionist model of socioeconomic influence on human development (IMSI) in explaining problem behaviors across generations. The IMSI proposes that the association between socioeconomic status (SES) and human development involves a dynamic interplay that includes both social causation (SES influences human development) and social selection (individual characteristics affect SES). As part of the developmental cascade proposed by the IMSI, the findings from this investigation showed that Generation 1 (G1) adolescent problem behavior predicted later G1 SES, family stress, and parental emotional investments, as well as the next generation of children's problem behavior. These results are consistent with a social selection view. Consistent with the social causation perspective, we found a significant relation between G1 SES and family stress, and in turn, family stress predicted Generation 2 (G2) problem behavior. Finally, G1 adult SES predicted both material and emotional investments in the G2 child. In turn, emotional investments predicted G2 problem behavior, as did material investments. Some of the predicted pathways varied by G1 parent gender. The results are consistent with the view that processes of both social selection and social causation account for the association between SES and human development.