Interaction of temperamental resistance to control and restrictive parenting in the development of externalizing behavior

Commentary for Special Issue of Prevention Science "Using Genetics in Prevention: Science Fiction or Science Fact?"

A growing number of prevention studies have incorporated genetic information. In this commentary, I discuss likely reasons for growing interest in this line of research and reflect on the current state of the literature. I review challenges associated with the incorporation of genotypic information into prevention studies, as well as ethical considerations associated with this line of research. I discuss areas where developmental psychologists and prevention scientists can make substantive contributions to the study of genetic predispositions, as well as areas that could benefit from closer collaborations between prevention scientists and geneticists to advance this area of study. In short, this commentary tackles the complex questions associated with what we hope to achieve by adding genetic components to prevention research and where this research is likely to lead in the future.

Parsing profiles of temperamental reactivity and differential routes to delay of gratification: A person-based approach

Informed by a developmental psychopathology perspective, the present study applied a person-based approach to examine whether associations between early sociocontextual experiences (e.g., socioeconomic factors and maternal discipline practices) and preschool-age children's delay of gratification vary across profiles of children's temperamental reactivity. In addition, the study examined the direct and mediating role of children's set shifting in associations with delay of gratification within each profile. The sample consisted of 160 socioeconomically and ethnically diverse mothers and their 5-year-old children drawn from a longitudinal study of mother-child relationships. Latent profile analyses identified three profiles of temperamental reactivity distinguished by sensitivity to reward and punishment and negative affectivity. Multigroup analysis revealed maternal sensitive discipline (observed during a parent-child compliance task) at age 3.5 predicted longer delay of gratification at age 5 in the punishment reactivity/negative affectivity group. Maternal inductive reasoning discipline at age 3.5 predicted longer delay in the low temperamental reactivity group. For children with the reward reactivity/negative affectivity profile, higher family income at age 3.5 predicted longer delay of gratification at age 5, which was mediated by children's set shifting. Findings underscore the utility of person-based approaches for delineating differential developmental routes toward children's delay of gratification.

Dysregulation in children: Origins and implications from age 5 to age 28

Research shows that childhood dysregulation is associated with later psychiatric disorders. It does not yet resolve discrepancies in the operationalization of dysregulation. It is also far from settled on the origins and implications of individual differences in dysregulation. This study tested several operational definitions of dysregulation using Achenbach attention, anxious/depressed, and aggression subscales. Individual growth curves of dysregulation were computed, and predictors of growth differences were considered. The study also compared the predictive utility of the dysregulation indexes to standard externalizing and internalizing indexes. Dysregulation was indexed annually for 24 years in a community sample (n = 585). Hierarchical linear models considered changes in dysregulation in relation to possible influences from parenting, family stress, child temperament, language, and peer relations. In a test of the meaning of dysregulation, it was related to functional and psychiatric outcomes in adulthood. Dysregulation predictions were further compared to those of the more standard internalizing and externalizing indexes. Growth curve analyses showed strong stability of dysregulation. Initial levels of dysregulation were predicted by temperamental resistance to control, and change in dysregulation was predicted by poor language ability and peer relations. Dysregulation and externalizing problems were associated with negative adult outcomes to a similar extent.

I. INTRODUCTION: UNDERSTANDING THE TRANSITION TO SIBLINGHOOD FROM A DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOPATHOLOGY AND ECOLOGICAL SYSTEMS PERSPECTIVE

The birth of an infant sibling is a common occurrence in the lives of many toddler and preschool children. Early childhood is also a time for the emergence of disruptive behavior problems that may set the stage for later problem behaviors. The current study examined individual differences in young children’s behavioral and emotional adjustment after the birth of a sibling in an effort to uncover developmental trajectories reflecting sudden and persistent change (maladaptation), adjustment and adaptation (resilience), gradual linear increases, and no change (stability and continuity). Growth mixture modeling (GMM) was conducted with a sample of 241 families expecting their second child using a longitudinal research design across the first year after the sibling’s birth (prenatal, 1, 4 8 and 12 months) on seven syndrome scales of the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL 1.5–5:(Achenbach & Rescorla, 2000 ): aggression, attention problems, anxiety/depression, emotional reactivity, withdrawal, somatic complaints, and sleep problems. For all scales, multiple classes describing different trajectory patterns emerged that reflected predominantly intercept differences; children high on problem behavior after the birth were those high before the birth. There was no evidence of a sudden, persistent maladaptive response indicating children underwent a developmental crisis for any of the problem behaviors examined. Most children were low on all problem behaviors examined and showed little change or actually declined in problem behaviors over time, although some children did experience more pronounced changes in the borderline clinical or clinical range. Only in the case of aggressive behavior was there evidence of an Adjustment and Adaptation Response showing a sudden change (prenatal to 1 month) that subsided by 4 months, suggesting that some young children react to stressful life events but adapt quickly to these changing circumstances. Further, children’s withdrawal revealed a curvilinear, quadratic path, suggesting children both increased and decreased in their withdrawal over time. Guided by a developmental ecological systems framework, we employed data mining procedures to uncover the child, parent, and family variables that best discriminated the different trajectory classes and found that children’s temperament, coparenting, parental self-efficacy, and parent-child attachment relationships were prominent in predicting children’s adjustment after the birth of an infant sibling. Finally, when trajectory classes were used to predict sibling relationship quality at 12 months, children high on aggression, attention problems, and emotional reactivity in the year after the birth engaged in more conflict and less positive involvement with the infant sibling at the end of the first year.

Temperamental Anger and Effortful Control, Teacher-Child Conflict, and Externalizing Behavior Across the Elementary School Years

This study examined teacher-child conflict as a possible mediator of the effects of temperamental anger and effortful control on subsequent externalizing behavior. Reciprocal influences between teacher-child conflict and externalizing behavior were also examined. Participants were 1,152 children (49% female; 81.6% non-Hispanic White) from the Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development. Multivariate growth curve modeling revealed that greater effortful control at age 54 months indirectly predicted lower levels of, and subsequent changes in, externalizing behavior from kindergarten to Grade 6 through reduced teacher-child conflict. An alternative model, in which greater effortful control predicted lower teacher-child conflict through lower externalizing behavior, received less support. Within persons, greater-than-expected teacher-child conflict predicted greater-than-expected teacher-reported externalizing behavior concurrently and over time.

Dispositional, demographic, and social predictors of trajectories of intimate partner aggression in early adulthood

OBJECTIVE

From a developmental systems perspective, the origins of maladjusted behavior are multifaceted, interdependent, and may differ at different points in development. Personality traits influence developmental outcomes, as do socialization environments, but the influence of personality depends on the socialization environment, and the influence of the socialization environment varies according to personality. The present study takes a developmental systems approach to investigate pathways through which dispositional traits in childhood might act in concert with peer and parental socialization contexts to predict trajectories of intimate partner aggression (IPA) during emerging adulthood.

METHOD

The study included 466 participants (49% male, 81% European American, 15% African American) from a longitudinal study of social development. Measures of demographics, temperament, personality, parent-child relations, romantic relationships, peer relationships, and IPA were administered between 5 and 23 years of age. The study used latent growth curve analysis to predict variations in trajectories of IPA during early adulthood.

RESULTS

Numerous variables predicted risk for the perpetration of IPA, but different factors were associated at the end of adolescence (e.g., psychopathic traits) than with changes across early adulthood (e.g., friend antisociality). Males and individuals with a history of resistance to control temperament showed enhanced susceptibility to social risk factors, such as exposure to antisocial peers and poor parent-adolescent relations.

CONCLUSIONS

Consistent with a developmental systems perspective, multiple factors, including personality traits in early childhood and aspects of the social environment in adolescence, predict trajectories of IPA during early adulthood through additive, mediated, and moderated pathways. Knowledge of these risk factors and for whom they are most influential could help inform efforts to prevent the emergence and persistence of IPA. (PsycINFO Database Record

Parenting Practices at 24 to 47 Months and IQ at Age 8: Effect-Measure Modification by Infant Temperament

Cognitive development might be influenced by parenting practices and child temperament. We examined whether the associations between parental warmth, control and intelligence quotient (IQ) may be heightened among children in difficult temperament. Participants were from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (n = 7,044). Temperament at 6 months was measured using the Revised Infant Temperament Questionnaire and classified into 'easy' and 'difficult'. Parental warmth and control was measured at 24 to 47 months and both were classified into 2 groups using latent class analyses. IQ was measured at 8 years using the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children and dichotomized (<85 and ≥85) for analyzing effect-measure modification by temperament. Linear regression adjusted for multiple confounders and temperament showed lower parental warmth was weakly associated with lower IQ score [β = -0.52 (95% CI 1.26, 0.21)], and higher parental control was associated with lower IQ score [β = -2.21 (-2.95, -1.48)]. Stratification by temperament showed no increased risk of having low IQ in temperamentally difficult children [risk ratio (RR) = 0.97 95% CI 0.65, 1.45)] but an increased risk among temperamentally easy children (RR = 1.12 95% CI 0.95, 1.32) when parental warmth was low. There was also no increased risk of having low IQ in temperamentally difficult children (RR = 1.02 95% CI 0.69, 1.53) but there was an increased risk among temperamentally easy children (RR = 1.30 95% CI 1.11, 1.53) when parental control was high. For both parental warmth and control, there was some evidence of negative effect-measure modification by temperament on the risk-difference scale and the risk-ratio scale. It may be more appropriate to provide parenting interventions as a universal program rather than targeting children with difficult temperament.

Child Temperamental Flexibility Moderates the Relation between Positive Parenting and Adolescent Adjustment

Temperamental flexibility and lower positive parenting are associated with internalizing and externalizing problems; however, youth varying in flexibility may be differentially affected by positive parenting in the prediction of symptoms. We examined whether children's flexibility moderated prospective relations between maternal and paternal positive parenting and youth internalizing and externalizing symptoms during adolescence. Participants (N =775, 71% male) and their caregivers completed measures when youth were 10-12 and 12-14 years old. Father positive parenting interacted with child flexibility to predict father-reported internalizing and externalizing problems. Consistent with the diathesis-stress model, children lower in flexibility experienced greater symptoms than children higher in flexibility in lower positive parenting contexts. Among children lower in flexibility, lower paternal positive parenting was associated with greater internalizing and externalizing symptoms compared to higher paternal positive parenting. However, among youth higher in flexibility, symptom levels were similar regardless of whether youth experienced lower or higher paternal positive parenting.

[Muenster Parental Programme--Feedback from Parents: How do parents evaluate an early intervention programme for improving the communication with their baby or toddler with hearing impairment?]

BACKGROUND

With the implementation of the UNHS, early educational services' existing concepts of early intervention have to be adapted to the situation and needs of families with a preverbal child who is deaf or hard of hearing. The Muenster Parental Programme (MPP), a module in early family-centered intervention, fulfils this requirement.

OBJECTIVE

We report feedback from participating parents regarding processes and outcomes of the MPP. The self-developed questionnaire was checked for its suitability as feedback instrument for measuring parental satisfaction with the MPP.

METHOD

29 parents who participated in the MPP assessed the programme by using the standardised FBB and the self-developed questionnaire FB-MEP, which is specific to the MPP.

RESULTS

Using the FBB, 96% of parents judged the MPP to be good or very good. With the FB-MEP, parents rated setting, contents and didactics as highly as they did using the FBB (r = 0.7, p < 0.01). In particular, parents judged both the contact and exchange with other affected parents, and the specific individual support for communicating with their child (including video feedback) as especially helpful.

CONCLUSIONS

The results reflect parents' high level of satisfaction with the setting, content, didactics and individual benefit gained by their child and themselves from the MPP. The parents are aware of the efficacy of the MPP, which was shown in the controlled intervention study. The self-developed questionnaire FB-MEP was shown to be a suitable instrument for quality assurance measurements of the MPP.

Genetic and Environmental Contributions to Behavioral Stability and Change in Children 6-36 months of Age Using Louisville Twin Study Data

The Infant Behavior Record (IBR) from the Bayley Scales of Infant Development has been used to study behavioral development since the 1960s. Matheny (1983) examined behavioral development at 6, 12, 18, and 24 months from the Louisville Twin Study (LTS). The extracted temperament scales included Task Orientation, Affect-Extraversion, and Activity. He concluded that monozygotic twins were more similar than same-sex dizygotic twins on these dimensions. Since this seminal work was published, a larger LTS sample and more advanced analytical methods are available. In the current analyses, Choleksy decomposition was applied to behavioral data (n = 1231) from twins 6-36 months. Different patterns of genetic continuity vs genetic innovations were identified for each IBR scale. Single common genetic and shared environmental factors explained cross-age twin similarity in the Activity scale. Multiple shared environmental factors and a single genetic factor coming on line at age 18 months contributed to Affect-Extraversion. A single shared environmental factor and multiple genetic factors explained cross-age twin similarity in Task Orientation.

Developmental interplay between children's biobehavioral risk and the parenting environment from toddler to early school age: Prediction of socialization outcomes in preadolescence

We followed 100 community families from toddler age to preadolescence. Each mother- and father-child dyad was observed at 25, 38, 52, 67, and 80 months (10 hr/child) to assess positive and power-assertive parenting. At age 10 (N = 82), we obtained parent- and child-reported outcome measures of children's acceptance of parental socialization: cooperation with parental monitoring, negative attitude toward substance use, internalization of adult values, and callous-unemotional tendencies. Children who carried a short serotonin transporter linked polymorphic region gene (5-HTTLPR) allele and were highly anger prone, based on anger observed in laboratory from 25 to 80 months, were classified as high in biobehavioral risk. The remaining children were classified as low in biobehavioral risk. Biobehavioral risk moderated links between parenting history and outcomes. For low-risk children, parenting measures were unrelated to outcomes. For children high in biobehavioral risk, variations in positive parenting predicted cooperation with monitoring and negative attitude toward substance use, and variations in power-assertive parenting predicted internalization of adult values and callous-unemotional tendencies. Suboptimal parenting combined with high biobehavioral risk resulted in the poorest outcomes. The effect for attitude toward substance use supported differential susceptibility: children high in biobehavioral risk who received optimal parenting had a more adaptive outcome than their low-risk peers. The remaining effects were consistent with diathesis-stress.

The role of temperament by family environment interactions in child maladjustment

In order to advance our understanding of the etiology of individual differences in child maladjustment (i.e., conduct and emotional problems), we tested hypotheses about the statistical interactions between child temperament and two aspects of the family environment: maternal negativity and positivity, and household chaos (e.g., crowding, noise, lack of routines). Mothers (n = 149) reported on their child's effortful control, negative affect, surgency, and behavioral/emotional problems. The age range of the children was 3 to 7 years old and half of the sample was girls. Observers rated maternal negativity and positivity based on brief structured interaction tasks in the laboratory. Child temperament moderated the association between maternal negativity/positivity and child maladjustment. Maternal negativity and child problem behavior were associated only for those children who also were high in surgency or negative affectivity. Maternal positivity was associated with less child problem behavior for those high in surgency. Child effortful control interacted with both maternal negativity and chaos. Maternal negativity and child problem behavior were most strongly associated for children who were low in effortful control and living in chaotic homes. The results point to distinct transactions between child temperament and maternal negativity/positivity that depend in part on the dimensions of temperament and parenting behavior in question.

Physiological reactivity moderates the association between parental directing and young adolescent friendship adjustment

This study examined whether the longitudinal association between parental directing of friendships (i.e., encouraging or discouraging certain friendships) and young adolescents' friendship adjustment (i.e., friendship quality and friends' positive characteristics) was moderated by skin conductance level reactivity (SCLR) to peer stress. Participants included 123 young adolescents (M age = 12.03 years at Time [T]1; 50% boys; 58.5% European Americans). At T1 (summer before the transition to middle school), parents reported on the extent to which they directed adolescents toward or away from certain peers, and adolescents' SCLR was assessed during a lab-based peer evaluation task. At T1 and T2 (spring of the first year of middle school), adolescents reported on the quality of their friendships and positive peer affiliations. Controlling for T1 friendship adjustment, parental directing predicted higher friendship quality and more positive peer affiliations, but only among young adolescents with lower SCLR, which was conceptualized as a marker of underarousal and insensitivity to stress. Results are discussed with reference to the developmental period of early adolescence and related research on interactions between parental control and child characteristics as predictors of adolescent adjustment.

A complex interplay among the parent-child relationship, effortful control, and internalized, rule-compatible conduct in young children: evidence from two studies

We propose a model linking the early parent-child mutually responsive orientation (MRO), children's temperament trait of effortful control, and their internalization of conduct rules. In a developmental chain, effortful control was posited as a mediator of the links between MRO and children's internalization. MRO was further posited as a moderator of the links between effortful control and internalization (i.e., moderated mediation): Variations in effortful control were expected to be more consequential for internalization in suboptimal relationships, with low MRO, than in optimal ones, with high MRO. The model was tested in 2 studies that employed comparable observational measures. In Family Study (N = 102 community mothers, fathers, and children), MRO was assessed at 25 months, effortful control at 38 months, and children's internalization at 67 months. In Play Study (N = 186 low-income, diverse mothers and children), MRO was assessed at 30 months, effortful control at 33 months, and children's internalization at 40 months. MRO was observed in lengthy naturalistic interactions, effortful control in standardized tasks, and internalized, rule-compatible conduct in parent-child interactions and in standardized paradigms without surveillance. Structural equation modeling analyses, with internalized, rule-compatible conduct modeled as a latent variable, supported moderated mediation across mother- and father-child relationships and both studies. In optimal, mutually responsive relationships, multiple mechanisms other than capacity for effortful control may also operate effectively to promote internalization, thus reducing the relative importance of variations in child temperament.

Genetic vulnerability interacts with parenting and early care education to predict increasing externalizing behavior

The current study examined interactions among genetic influences and children's early environments on the development of externalizing behaviors from 18 months to 6 years of age. Participants included 233 families linked through adoption (birth parents and adoptive families). Genetic influences were assessed by birth parent temperamental regulation. Early environments included both family (overreactive parenting) and out-of-home factors (center-based Early Care and Education; ECE). Overreactive parenting predicted more child externalizing behaviors. Attending center-based ECE was associated with increasing externalizing behaviors only for children with genetic liability for dysregulation. Additionally, children who were at risk for externalizing behaviors due to both genetic variability and exposure to center-based ECE were more sensitive to the effects of overreactive parenting on externalizing behavior than other children.

Early risk factors for alcohol use across high school and its covariation with deviant friends

OBJECTIVE

Past research has associated childhood characteristics and experiences with alcohol use at single time points in adolescence. Other work has focused on drinking trajectories across adolescence but with risk factors typically no earlier than middle or high school. Similarly, although the connection between underage drinking and affiliation with deviant friends is well established, early risk factors for their covariation across adolescence are uncertain. The present study examines the influence of early individual and contextual factors on (a) trajectories across high school of per-occasion alcohol use and (b) the covariation of alcohol use and deviant friends over time.

METHOD

In a longitudinal community sample (n = 374; 51% female), temperamental disinhibition, authoritarian and authoritative parenting, and parental alcohol use were assessed during childhood, and adolescents reported on alcohol use and affiliation with deviant friends in the spring of Grades 9, 10, 11, and 12.

RESULTS

Early parental alcohol use predicted the intercept of adolescent drinking. Subsequent patterns of adolescent alcohol use were predicted by sex and interactions of sex and childhood disinhibition with early authoritarian parenting. Additionally, childhood disinhibition interacted with parental alcohol use to moderate the covariation of drinking and deviant friends.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings highlight early individual and contextual risk factors for alcohol use across high school, extending previous work and underscoring the importance of developmental approaches and longitudinal techniques for understanding patterns of growth in underage drinking.

Temperament moderates associations between exposure to stress and children's externalizing problems

The interaction between a temperament profile (four groups determined by high vs. low resistance to control [unmanageability] and unadaptability [novelty distress]) and family stress in predicting externalizing problems at school in children followed from kindergarten through eighth grade (ages 5-13) was investigated. The sample consisted of 556 families (290 boys). At Time 1 just prior to kindergarten, mothers retrospectively reported on their child's temperament during infancy. Each year, mothers reported stress and teachers reported children's externalizing problems. Temperament profile was tested as a moderator of the stress-externalizing association for various time periods. Results indicated that the combination of high resistance to control and high unadaptability strengthens the stress-externalizing association. Findings are discussed in terms of possible underlying mechanisms.

Diversity in pathways to common childhood disruptive behavior disorders

Oppositional-Defiant Disorder (ODD) and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) are highly comorbid, a phenomenon thought to be due to shared etiological factors and mechanisms. Little work has attempted to chart multiple-level-of-analysis pathways (i.e., simultaneously including biological, environmental, and trait influences) to ODD and ADHD, the goal of the present investigation. 559 children/adolescents (325 boys) between the ages of 6 and 18 participated in a multi-stage, comprehensive diagnostic procedure. 148 were classified as ODD; 309 were classified as ADHD, based on parent, teacher, and clinician ratings. Children provided buccal or salivary samples of DNA, assayed for select markers in DRD4 and 5HTT. Parents completed the Alabama Parenting Questionnaire and the California Q-Sort. Children completed the Child Perception of Interparental Conflict Scale. Correlational associations consistent with multiple-level-of-analysis pathways to ODD and ADHD emerged. For ODD, children with the short allele of the 5HTT promoter polymorphism had higher neuroticism and ODD symptoms regardless of level of self-blame in relation to inter-parental conflict, whereas children without this allele had more ODD symptoms only in the context of more self-blame for inter-parental conflict. For ADHD (and ODD), children homozygous for the long allele of DRD4 120 bp insertion polymorphism had lower conscientiousness when exposed to inconsistent parenting, whereas children without this genotype were more resilient to effects of inconsistent discipline on conscientiousness. Thus, ODD and ADHD appear to demonstrate somewhat distinct correlational associations between etiological factors and mechanisms consistent with pathway models using a multiple-level-of-analysis approach.

Skin conductance level reactivity moderates the association between harsh parenting and growth in child externalizing behavior

Skin conductance level reactivity (SCLR) was examined as a moderator of the association between harsh parenting at age 8 years and growth in child externalizing behavior from age 8 to age 10 (N = 251). Mothers and fathers provided reports of harsh parenting and their children's externalizing behavior; children also provided reports of harsh parenting. SCLR was assessed in response to a socioemotional stress task and a problem-solving challenge task. Latent growth modeling revealed that boys with higher harsh parenting in conjunction with lower SCLR exhibited relatively high and stable levels of externalizing behavior during late childhood. Boys with higher harsh parenting and higher SCLR exhibited relatively low to moderate levels of externalizing behavior at age 8, but some results suggested that their externalizing behavior increased over time, approaching the same levels as boys with higher harsh parenting and lower SCLR by age 10. For the most part, girls and boys with lower harsh parenting were given relatively low and stable ratings of externalizing behavior throughout late childhood. Results are discussed from a developmental psychopathology perspective with reference to models of antisocial behavior in childhood.

Family routine moderates the relation between child impulsivity and oppositional defiant disorder symptoms

Although child impulsivity is associated with oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) symptoms, few studies have examined whether family processes moderate this association. To address this gap, we tested whether child-reported family routine moderated the relation between child hyperactivity/impulsivity (HI) and ODD symptoms among a sample of low-income, urban, ethnic-minority children (N = 87, 51% male). Child HI and ODD symptoms were assessed using parent and teacher reports. HI also was indexed by a laboratory task. Family routine was assessed using child self-report. Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that family routine moderated child HI. Among children with higher levels of teacher-reported HI symptoms, lower levels of family routine were associated with higher levels of teacher-reported ODD symptoms compared to children with lower levels of teacher-reported HI symptoms. Children who self-reported higher levels of family routine were rated as low on teacher-reported ODD symptoms, regardless of teacher-reported HI levels. Parent report and laboratory measures of child HI did not produce significant interactions. Lower levels of family routine may confer risk for ODD symptoms among low-income, urban, ethnic-minority children experiencing higher levels of HI.

An Interdisciplinary Approach to Studying Gene-Environment Interactions: From Twin Studies to Gene Identification and Back

There has been a surge of interest in studying gene-environment interaction; however, research in this area faces a number of challenges. Interdisciplinary collaborations are critical at this juncture. This article reviews studies that illustrate how findings across different literatures can be synthesized to characterize how genetic and environmental influences impact developmental pathways. Developmental scientists are poised to make important contributions to studying gene-environment interaction. However, for this potential to be realized developmental-genetic studies must incorporate the most recent advances in genetics, and bridge the current schism that exists between genetic research being conducted in the fields of psychology and genetics.

Developmental Psychopathology and the Diagnosis of Mental Health Problems among Youth

Recent years have evidenced a tremendous increase in research using a developmental psychopathology framework to examine clinical diagnoses among youth. Despite this increase, a relative dearth of literature systematically examines the development of co-occurring conditions among youth. In this introduction to the Special Issue on comorbidity among youth, we suggest that a developmental psychopathology perspective can provide an important foundation for the diagnosis of mental health problems among youth. As a potential framework for future investigations, we consider several developmental psychopathology principles that can inform assessment and diagnosis among youth psychological disorders. We use these principles as a foundation for considering co-occurring psychological disorders and provide potential explanations for comorbidity that can be addressed in future research that uses a developmental psychopathology perspective.

Translating models of antisocial behavioral development into efficacious intervention policy to prevent adolescent violence

Adolescent chronic antisocial behavior is costly but concentrated in a relatively small number of individuals. The search for effective preventive interventions draws from empirical findings of three kinds of gene-by-environment interactions: (1) parenting behaviors mute the impact of genes; (2) genes alter the impact of traumatic environmental experiences such as physical abuse and peer social rejection; and (3) individuals and environments influence each other in a dynamic developmental cascade. Thus, environmental interventions that focus on high-risk youth may prove effective. The Fast Track intervention and randomized controlled trial are described. The intervention is a 10-year series of efforts to produce proximal change in parenting, peer relations, social cognition, and academic performance in order to lead to distal prevention of adolescent conduct disorder. Findings indicate that conduct disorder cases can be prevented, but only in the highest risk group of children. Implications for policy are discussed.

The heritability of personality is not always 50%: gene-environment interactions and correlations between personality and parenting

Twin studies of personality are consistent in attributing approximately half of the variance in personality to genetic effects, with the remaining variance attributed to environments that make people within the same families different. Such conclusions, however, are based on quantitative models of human individual differences that estimate genetic and environmental contributions as constants for entire populations. Recent advances in statistical modeling allow for the possibility of estimating genetic and environmental contributions contingent on other variables, allowing the quantification of phenomena that have traditionally been characterized as gene-environment interaction and correlation. We applied these newer models to understand how adolescents' descriptions of their relationships with their parents might change or moderate the impact of genetic and environmental factors on personality. We documented notable moderation in the domains of positive and negative emotionality, with parental relationships acting both to enhance and diminish both genetic and environmental effects. We discuss how genetic and environmental contributions to personality might be more richly conceptualized as dynamic systems of gene-environment interplay--systems that are not captured by classical concepts, such as the overall heritability of personality.

Temperament and parenting during the first year of life predict future child conduct problems

Predictive associations between parenting and temperament during the first year of life and child conduct problems were assessed longitudinally in 1,863 offspring of a representative sample of women. Maternal ratings of infant fussiness, activity level, predictability, and positive affect each independently predicted maternal ratings of conduct problems during ages 4-13 years. Furthermore, a significant interaction indicated that infants who were both low in fussiness and high in predictability were at very low risk for future conduct problems. Fussiness was a stronger predictor of conduct problems in boys whereas fearfulness was a stronger predictor in girls. Conduct problems also were robustly predicted by low levels of early mother-report cognitive stimulation when infant temperament was controlled. Interviewer-rated maternal responsiveness was a robust predictor of conduct problems, but only among infants low in fearfulness. Spanking during infancy predicted slightly more severe conduct problems, but the prediction was moderated by infant fussiness and positive affect. Thus, individual differences in risk for mother-rated conduct problems across childhood are already partly evident in maternal ratings of temperament during the first year of life and are predicted by early parenting and parenting-by-temperament interactions.

Adolescent personality moderates genetic and environmental influences on relationships with parents

In contrast with early theories of socialization that emphasized the role of parents in shaping their children's personalities, recent empirical evidence suggests an evocative relationship between adolescent personality traits and the quality of the parent-adolescent relationship. Research using behavior genetic methods suggests that the association between personality and parenting is genetically mediated, such that the genetic effects on adolescent personality traits overlap with the genetic effects on parenting behavior. In the current study, the authors examined whether the etiology of this relationship might change depending on the adolescent's personality. Biometrical moderation models were used to test for gene- environment interaction and correlation between personality traits and measures of conflict, regard, and involvement with parents in a sample of 2,452 adolescents (M age = 17.79 years). They found significant moderation of both positive and negative qualities of the parent-adolescent relationship, such that the genetic and environmental variance in relationship quality varied as functions of the adolescent's levels of personality. These findings support the importance of adolescent personality in the development of the quality of the parent-adolescent relationship.

Maternal predictors of rejecting parenting and early adolescent antisocial behavior

The present study examined relations among maternal psychological resources, rejecting parenting, and early adolescent antisocial behavior in a sample of 231 low-income mothers and their sons with longitudinal assessments from age 18 months to 12 years. The maternal resources examined were age at first birth, aggressive personality, and empathy. Each of the maternal resources predicted rejecting parenting during early childhood in structural equation models that controlled for toddler difficult temperament, and rejecting parenting in early childhood predicted antisocial behavior in early adolescence. Rejecting parenting accounted for the indirect effect of each of the maternal resources on antisocial behavior, but a direct effect was also supported between maternal aggressive personality and youth antisocial behavior. Results highlight the importance of these relatively understudied maternal resources and have implications for prevention and intervention programs that focus on parenting during early childhood.

Substance use risk across three generations: the roles of parent discipline practices and inhibitory control

This study used 3 generations and 21 years of prospective data to test models of intergenerational transmission of substance use and substance use risk. Thus, the study extends prior studies in the field that have focused predominantly on substance abuse. The association between the grandparental generation's (G1 mother and father) and the parental generation's (G2 father) alcohol use and illicit drug use was hypothesized to be mediated by G2's poor inhibitory control. Additionally, G1's poor discipline of G2 was hypothesized to be directly associated with G2's substance use as well as to partially mediate the association between G1's substance use and G2's inhibitory control. In turn, G2's substance use in late adolescence was expected to be associated with its offspring's (G3) poor inhibitory control at age 3 years. Findings partially supported the predictions and varied by substance. For alcohol use, only cross-generational associations in use were found. For illicit drugs, both poor inhibitory control and poor discipline played some mediational role in cross-generational use.

The interactive influences of friend deviance and reward dominance on the development of externalizing behavior during middle adolescence

This study investigated the interactive effects of friend deviance and reward dominance on the development of externalizing behavior of adolescents in the Child Development Project. Reward dominance was assessed at age 16 by performance on a computer-presented card-playing game in which participants had the choice of either continuing or discontinuing the game as the likelihood of reward decreased and the likelihood of punishment increased. At ages 14 and 16, friend deviance and externalizing behavior were assessed through self-report. As expected, based on motivational balance and response modulation theories, path analysis revealed that age 14 friend deviance predicted age 16 externalizing behavior controlling for age 14 externalizing behavior. Reward dominance was a significant moderator of the relationship between friend deviance and externalizing behavior. The contributions of deviant friends to the development of externalizing behavior were enhanced by adolescents' reward dominance.

Multiple determinants of externalizing behavior in 5-year-olds: a longitudinal model

In a community sample of 116 children, assessments of parent-child interaction, parent-child attachment, and various parental, child, and contextual characteristics at 15 and 28 months and at age 5 were used to predict externalizing behavior at age 5, as rated by parents and teachers. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis and path analysis yielded a significant longitudinal model for the prediction of age 5 externalizing behavior, with independent contributions from the following predictors: child sex, partner support reported by the caregiver, disorganized infant-parent attachment at 15 months, child anger proneness at 28 months, and one of the two parent-child interaction factors observed at 28 months, namely negative parent-child interactions. The other, i.e., a lack of effective guidance, predicted externalizing problems only in highly anger-prone children. Furthermore, mediated pathways of influence were found for the parent-child interaction at 15 months (via disorganized attachment) and parental ego-resiliency (via negative parent-child interaction at 28 months).

Growth in temperament and parenting as predictors of adjustment during children's transition to adolescence

The author examined relations among demographic risk (income, maternal education, single-parent status), growth in temperament (fear, irritability, effortful control), and parenting (rejection, inconsistent discipline) across 3 years and the prediction of children's adjustment problems in a community sample (N=190; ages 8-12 years at Time 1). Family income was related to higher initial levels of fear, irritability, rejection, and inconsistency and lower effortful control but was not related to changes in these variables. Higher initial rejection predicted increases in child fear and irritability. Higher initial fear predicted decreases in rejection and inconsistency. Higher initial irritability predicted increases in inconsistency, and higher initial effortful control predicted decreases in rejection. When growth of parenting and temperament were considered simultaneously, increases in effortful control and decreases in fear and irritability predicted lower Time 3 internalizing and externalizing problems. Increases in rejection and inconsistent discipline predicted higher Time 3 externalizing, although sometimes the effect appeared to be indirect through temperament. The findings suggest that temperament and parenting predict changes in each other and predict adjustment during the transition to adolescence.

The Peer Group as a Context: Moderating Effects on Relations Between Maternal Parenting and Social and School Adjustment in Chinese Children

This 2-year longitudinal study examined, in a sample of Chinese children (initial M age = 11 years), the moderating effects of the peer group on relations between maternal supportive parenting and social and school adjustment. Data were collected from multiple sources including peer assessments, teacher ratings, school records, and maternal reports. It was found that whereas group prosocial-cooperative functioning strengthened the role of supportive parenting in helping children develop social and school competence, group antisocial-destructive functioning undermined the contributions of supportive parenting to children's social and academic achievement. The results indicated the significance of the peer group as a social context for socialization and development in Chinese children.

Varieties of preschool hyperactivity: multiple pathways from risk to disorder

In this paper we examine the characteristics of preschool attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) from both mental disorder and developmental psychopathology points of view. The equivalence of preschool and school-aged hyperactivity as a behavioral dimension is highlighted together with the potential value of extending the use of the ADHD diagnostic category to the preschool period where these behaviours take an extreme and impairing form (assuming age appropriate diagnostic items and thresholds can be developed). At the same time, the importance of identifying pathways between risk and later ADHD is emphasized. Developmental discontinuity and heterogeneity are identified as major characteristics of these pathways. We argue that models that distinguish among different developmental types of early-emerging problems are needed. An illustrative taxonomy of four developmental pathways implicating preschool hyperactivity is presented to provide a framework for future research.

Early reactions to frustration: developmental trends in anger, individual response styles, and caregiving risk implications in infancy

PROBLEM

In an effort to examine early negative emotional response patterns, infant responses to frustration were studied with specific regard to anger.

METHODS

Forty infants, 7-9 months (n = 20) and 12-14 months (n = 20) old, were observed in laboratory play situations. Infant affective response as well as maternal behavior were observed. Maternal interviews assessed maternal impressions of infant behavior and affect.

FINDINGS

Findings revealed increased displays of anger in older infants, evidence of cognitive-affective linkages in response, and individual differences in emotional response style and maternal-infant processes.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings relate to the emergence and interplay of negative emotional response, maternal-infant patterns, and socioemotional risk.

Maternal parenting and children's conscience: early security as moderator

Socialization research is shifting from direct links between parenting and children's outcomes toward models that consider parenting in the context of other factors. This study proposed that the effects of maternal responsive, gentle parenting on child conscience are moderated by the quality of their relationship, specifically, early security. A 2-process model of early conscience development was proposed and confirmed in this longitudinal study. The child's security and trust in the caregiver, assessed at 14 months in the Strange Situation, rendered him or her receptive and eager to accept the caregiver's socialization agenda. That early security then enhanced the effectiveness of parental adaptive parenting style, observed from 14 to 45 months, in terms of promoting conscience at 56 months, which encompassed moral conduct, moral cognition, and moral self.

Temperament and adolescent substance use: a transactional analysis of emerging self-control

Presented is a conceptual framework linking the construct of temperament with environmental factors that covary with the onset and escalation of substance use. We propose that transactions between temperament characteristics of the child in family and peer contexts influence the development of self-control ability, a mediating factor for onset and possible transition to abuse in later adolescence. Risk-promoting dimensions may influence the emergence of self-control by amplifying relationship processes that detract from competence development. Emergence of good self-control can serve as a resilience factor and is linked with health-promoting cognitions. We also suggest that temperament and self-control moderate links between parenting, peer associations, and substance use. Implications of the transactional model for clinical intervention and research are discussed.

Predicting growth curves of externalizing behavior across the preschool years

Hierarchical linear modeling was used to examine 2 facets of externalizing behavior: its level at age 6 and its rate of change from age 2 to 6 among 299 boys from low-income families. As for age-6 level of externalizing behavior, maternal depressive symptoms, maternal acceptance of child behavior, parental conflict, and the interaction between maternal acceptance and maternal depressive symptoms were each uniquely associated with this outcome. Regarding the interaction, maternal acceptance was associated with externalizing behavior primarily when maternal depressive symptoms were low, and maternal depressive symptoms were related to externalizing behavior only when maternal acceptance was high. Externalizing behavior gradually decreased between ages 2 and 6; interactions between infant negative emotionality and maternal depressive symptoms and between parental conflict and maternal acceptance were associated with rate of change. Plots suggested a protective effect of low infant negative emotionality when maternal depressive symptoms were high and a larger effect of maternal acceptance when parental conflict was low compared to when it was high. Results add to a small but growing literature regarding predictors of continuity and change in early child externalizing behavior.

The Nature-Nurture Debate and Public Policy

The contentious nature-nurture debate in developmental psychology is poised to reach a rapprochement with contemporary concepts of gene-environment interaction, transaction, and fit. Discoveries over the past decade have revealed how neither genes nor the environment offers a sufficient window into human development. Rather, the most important discoveries have come from unearthing the manner in which the environment alters gene expression (and how genes impose limits on environmental effects), how biology and the environment influence each other across time, and how maximizing gene-environment fit leads to optimal outcomes for children. The manner in which these factors operate in tandem should direct future scholarship, practice, and public policy.