DEVELOPMENT OF DISRUPTIVE BEHAVIORS IN YOUNG CHILDREN: A PROSPECTIVE POPULATION-BASED COHORT STUDY

Neural and Physiological Correlates of Prosocial Behavior: Temporoparietal Junction Activity in 3-year-old Children

Although the development of prosocial behavior has been widely studied from the behavioral aspect, the neural mechanisms underlying prosocial behavior in the early stages of development remain unclear. Therefore, this study investigated the neural mechanisms underlying the emergence of prosocial behavior in 3-year-old children. Brain activity in the medial pFC and right TPJ (rTPJ) and facial expression activity, which are related to the ability to infer others' mental states (mentalizing), during the observation of prosocial and antisocial scenes were measured using functional near-infrared spectroscopy and electromyography, respectively. Subsequently, the children's helping and comforting behaviors toward an experimenter were assessed to examine prosocial behavioral tendencies. A correlation analysis revealed that the children who showed stronger activity levels in the rTPJ while observing prosocial scenes had more immediate helping behaviors toward others than those who did not show stronger response levels. Moreover, the amount of facial expression activity correlated with prosocial behavior, including both helping and comforting behaviors. These results suggest that the development of mentalizing ability and the social evaluation of others' actions, mediated by the rTPJ, contribute to the emergence of prosocial behavior.

Cohort Profile: Quebec Longitudinal Study of Child Development (QLSCD)

PURPOSE

The Quebec Longitudinal Study of Child Development (QLSCD) was designed to examine the long-term associations of preschool physical, cognitive, social, and emotional development with biopsychosocial development across childhood, adolescence, and young adulthood.

METHODS

QLSCD is an ongoing prospective cohort including 2120 singletons born in 1997/1998 in the Canadian province of Quebec. So far, data have been collected annually or every 2 years from child ages 5 months to 21 years. The cohort currently includes 1245 participants. Data available include a range of environmental (e.g., family characteristics, child behaviour, educational attainment, mental health), biological (e.g., hair cortisol, genetic, epigenetic), and administrative data.

RESULTS

QLSCD has contributed to the understanding of children's psychosocial development, including the development of physical aggression and anxiety. QLSCD articles have advanced scientific knowledge on the influence of early childhood factors on childhood, adolescent, and young adult mental health, including the effect of participation in early childcare on cognitive and behavioural development, the developmental origins of adolescent and young adult mental health problems and suicide risk, and the development of interpersonal difficulties (e.g., peer victimisation) from preschool years to adolescence.

CONCLUSION

QLSCD has given major contributions to our understanding of the link between different aspects of child development and biopsychosocial development during the first two decades of life. Unique features include the presence of environmental, biological, and administrative data, long-term follow-up with frequent data collections, and use of data from multiple informants, including teachers, mothers, fathers, and the children themselves.

Development of externalizing symptoms across the toddler period: The critical role of older siblings

We examined child and family risk factors that were associated with the development of individual differences in externalizing problems across the toddler years. Our central hypothesis was that toddlers with more aggressive and disruptive older siblings would be at elevated risk for heightened levels of externalizing behavior. We tested this hypothesis in the context of other theoretically relevant risk factors: toddlers' inhibitory and internalized control, experiences of coercive parental discipline, and gender. Participants were 167 toddlers, their older siblings, and parents in a longitudinal study following younger siblings across the first 3 years of life. Mothers and fathers contributed ratings of externalizing symptoms between 1 and 18 months across the transition to siblinghood for older siblings and 18 to 36 months for younger siblings. Toddlers' inhibitory and internalized control were assessed using behavioral and parent report measures, and parents completed questionnaires concerning their use of coercive discipline. Individual differences in toddler externalizing symptoms were highly stable between 18 and 36 months of age for a sample of second-born children with older siblings, even though there was evidence of significant decline in externalizing symptoms from 18 to 36 months. As predicted, toddlers with elevated levels of externalizing symptoms tended to have older siblings with higher externalizing difficulties across the first 18 months of the younger sibling's life. Thus, these findings highlighted the need for further research on older siblings' contributions to the behavioral development of their toddler-age younger siblings. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

An Examination of the Sibling Training Hypothesis for Disruptive Behavior in Early Childhood

Sibling training for disruptive behavior (one sibling teaching another disruptive behavior) is examined during early childhood. We used a conservative, recently developed, statistical model to identify sibling training. Sibling training was operationalized as the cross-lagged association between earlier child behavior and later sibling behavior, and differentiated from other reasons that contribute to sibling similarity. A three-wave longitudinal study tracked 916 children (M_age  = 3.46, SD = 2.23) in 397 families using multi-informant data. Evidence for sibling training was found. Earlier younger siblings' disruptive behavior predicted later lower levels of older siblings' disruptive behavior. Thus, the sibling training found in early childhood was producing greater dissimilarity, rather than similarity, on disruptive behavior.

Comorbid Development of Disruptive Behaviors from age 1½ to 5 Years in a Population Birth-Cohort and Association with School Adjustment in First Grade

Comorbidity is frequent among disruptive behaviors (DB) and leads to mental health problems during adolescence and adulthood. However, the early developmental origins of this comorbidity have so far received little attention. This study investigated the developmental comorbidity of three DB categories during early childhood: hyperactivity-impulsivity, non-compliance, and physical aggression. Joint developmental trajectories of DB were identified based on annual mother interviews from age 1½ to 5 years, in a population-representative birth-cohort (N = 2045). A significant proportion of children (13 % to 21 %, depending on the type of DB) consistently displayed high levels of hyperactivity-impulsivity, non-compliance, or physical aggression from age 1½ to 5 years. Developmental comorbidity was frequent, especially for boys: 10 % of boys and 3.7 % of girls were on a stable trajectory with high levels of symptoms for the three categories of DB. Significant associations were observed between preschool joint-trajectories of DB and indicators of DB and school adjustment assessed by teachers in first grade. Preschoolers who maintained high levels of hyperactivity-impulsivity, non-compliance, and physical aggression, displayed the highest number of DB symptoms in first grade for all categories according to their teacher. They were also among the most disadvantaged of their class for school adjustment indicators. Thus, DB manifestations and developmental comorbidity of DB are highly prevalent in infancy. Early childhood appears to be a critical period to prevent persistent and comorbid DB that leads to impairment at the very beginning of school attendance and to long-term serious health and social adjustment problems.

EEG asymmetry at 10 months of age: are temperament trait predictors different for boys and girls?

Frontal EEG asymmetry patterns represent markers of individual differences in emotion reactivity and regulation, with right hemisphere activation linked with withdrawal behaviors/emotions (e.g., fear), and activation of the left hemisphere associated with approach (e.g., joy, anger). In the present study, gender was examined as a potential moderator of links between infant temperament at 5 months, and frontal EEG asymmetry patterns recorded during an Arm Restraint procedure at 10 months of age. Positive Affectivity/Surgency (PAS), Negative Emotionality (NE), and Orienting/Regulatory Capacity (ORC) were considered as predictors, with PAS emerging as significant for males; higher levels translating into greater right-frontal activation later in infancy. For females, ORC accounted for a significant portion of the frontal asymmetry scores, with higher ORC being associated with greater right-frontal activation. The moderating influence of gender noted in this study is discussed in the context of implications for discrepancies in rates/symptoms of psychopathology later in childhood.

Advancing a multidimensional, developmental spectrum approach to preschool disruptive behavior

OBJECTIVE

Dimensional approaches are gaining scientific traction. However, their potential for elucidating developmental aspects of psychopathology has not been fully realized. The goal of this article is to apply a multidimensional, developmental framework to model the normal-abnormal spectrum of preschool disruptive behavior. The Multidimensional Assessment of Preschool Disruptive Behavior (MAP-DB), a novel measure, was used to model dimensional severity across developmental parameters theorized to distinguish the normative misbehavior of early childhood from clinically salient disruptive behavior. The 4 MAP-DB dimensions are Temper Loss, Noncompliance, Aggression, and Low Concern for Others.

METHOD

Parents of a diverse sample of 1,488 preschoolers completed the MAP-DB. Multidimensional item response theory (IRT) was used for dimensional modeling.

RESULTS

The 4-dimensional, developmentally informed model demonstrated excellent fit. Its factor loadings did not differ across demographic subgroups. All dimensions provided good coverage of the abnormal end of the severity continuum, but only Temper Loss and Noncompliance provided good coverage of milder, normatively occurring behaviors. The developmental expectability and quality of behaviors distinguished normative from atypical behaviors. The point at which frequency of behaviors was atypical varied based on dimensional location for Temper Loss, Noncompliance, and Aggression.

CONCLUSION

The MAP-DB provides an innovative method for operationalizing developmentally specified, dimensional phenotypes in early childhood. Establishing the validity of these dimensional phenotypes in relation to clinical outcomes, neurocognitive substrates, and etiologic pathways will be a crucial test of their clinical utility.