Development of conduct problems and peer rejection in preschool children: A social systems analysis

The development of impulsive-aggressive problem behavior and peer rejection was examined in sixty 4- to 5-year-old boys from low-income family backgrounds. Children's sociometric status and behavioral adjustment were assessed longitudinally at the beginning and end of the preschool year, and related to measures of peer interaction at three different points in time. Boys identified as socially rejected and aggressive in the beginning of the year were highly likely to be identified as such at the end of the year. Early in the preschool year, these children contributed to their own rejection by initiating socially aversive exchanges with peers. Although peers clearly perceived these problems, they did not reciprocate with counteraggression at first. However, as time passed, peers began to actively victimize these children, and most of the aggression on the part of victims became reactive in nature. Thus, the current findings strongly support a transactional model of the development of early peer rejection and conduct problems .Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/44583/1/10802_2004_Article_BF00916696.pd

Assessment of peer rejection and externalizing behavior problems in preschool boys: a short-term longitudinal study

We examined the longitudinal stability of measures of negative peer status and aggressive-disruptive behavior in preschool boys. Subjects were 53 white 4- to 5- year- old boys from low-income family backgrounds. Peer sociometric measures of rejection and behavioral deviance were assessed in the fall and spring of the preschool year. Complementary measures were also obtained from teachers at both assessment points. Half of the boys designated as rejected on the basis of peer nominations maintained this status at the end of the preschool year. Teachers and peers did not agree on their selections of socially rejected children, but had good agreement concerning the identification of children with externalizing-type behavior problems. Finally, teacher and peer classifications of aggressive-disruptive children were highly stable throughout the preschool year. These findings indicate that peer-rejected children can be identified at very young ages, and that preschoolers can be reliable informants about the social maladjustment of peers .Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/44581/1/10802_2004_Article_BF00919091.pd

Emotional Expressiveness during Peer Conflicts: A Predictor of Social Maladjustment among High-Risk Preschoolers

Preschool boys' emotional displays during conflicts with mixed-sex peers were related to individual differences in peer sociometric status and teacher ratings of disruptive behavior. Participants were 60 4- to 5-year old boys from low-income families who were videotaped with a small group of classmates in a Head Start preschool classroom. Conflicts were identified and emotional displays were coded from videotape. Results indicated that conflicts were more negative in emotional tone at the end than at the beginning of the year. Furthermore, children tended to mirror each others' emotional displays at the end but not the beginning of the preschool year. In addition, gleeful taunting, a form of emotional aggression, more strongly predicted negative peer nominations and teacher ratings than anger, suggesting that anger may be a more socially accepted form of emotional expression during conflicts among preschool-age children. Implications and directions for future research and interventions are discussed.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/44589/1/10802_2004_Article_225311.pd

Concurrent and longitudinal correlates of preschool peer sociometrics: Comparing rating scale and nomination measures

Nomination and rating scale measures of preschool sociometric status were compared with respect to their patterns of concurrent and longitudinal developmental correlates. The study was undertaken to help fill a void in the empirical literature on young children's peer adjustment. Subjects were 79 4-5 year-old children, currently enrolled in preschool classes. In addition to the sociometric interviews, diverse measures of children's social and cognitive competence were administered concurrently, and longitudinally one year later. These measures included teacher ratings of peer acceptance and behavior problems, and performance measures of social problem-solving ability, impulse control, and vocabulary competence. As expected, the reliability of the rating scale technique was superior to that of the nomination measures. Furthermore, all three sociometric measures had modest but meaningful patterns of concurrent and longitudinal correlates. However, the negative nomination measure was distinguished from the others by its consistent association with measures of impulsivity, and its predictive link with aggressive social problem solving. Therefore, negative peer nomination measures supply unique information about children's social functioning that should be represented in studies of children at risk for social maladjustment.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/27123/1/0000115.pd

Early socialization of hostile attribution bias: The roles of parental attributions, parental discipline, and child attributes

The goal of this study was to examine child and parent predictors of children’s hostile attribution bias (HAB) with a particular focus on exploring the associations between parents’ early attribution of child misbehavior and children’s HAB in the transition to school age. Participants were 241 children (118 girls) of middle‐income families who were at risk for school‐age conduct problems. Multi‐method, multi‐informant data were collected on maternal attributions of child misbehavior, parental use of corporal punishment, and child attributes (i.e., verbal IQ, effortful control, theory of mind, and emotional understanding) at 3 years, and child HAB in ambiguous situations at 6 years. Results indicated that mothers’ internal explanations for children’s misconduct may either reduce or increase children’s later HAB depending on the specific content of attributions, such that mothers’ belief that children misbehave because of their internal state (i.e., emotional state or temperament) was associated with lower levels of child HAB, whereas attributing power‐based motives (i.e., manipulative, controlling intentions) in children was associated with higher levels of HAB. The findings are discussed with respect to appreciating the complexity of parents’ explanations for children’s behavior, and considering parental cognition as a potential target for early identification and prevention of child HAB and related problems.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/150591/1/sode12349.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/150591/2/sode12349_am.pd

Early risk pathways to physical versus relational peer aggression: The interplay of externalizing behavior and corporal punishment varies by child sex

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/142456/1/ab21744.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/142456/2/ab21744_am.pd

Differential associations of early callous‐unemotional, oppositional, and ADHD behaviors: multiple domains within early‐starting conduct problems?

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/111790/1/jcpp12326.pd

Predicting long-term developmental outcomes from maternal perceptions of infant and toddler behavior

The purpose of this study was to examine the long-term developmental correlates of maternal perceptions of infant and toddler behavior. Maternal ratings of children's social behavior and developmental progress were obtained when the children were 13 and 24 months of age, using the Maternal Perceptions Questionnaire. These early perceptions measures were intercorrelated with follow-up measures of children's developmental competence and behavioral adjustment at age 6. Maternal evaluations of child characteristics in the 2nd year predicted not only their own ratings of child behavioral adjustment but also teacher, examiner, and laboratory performance measures of cognitive competence and social adjustment. Although predictive correlations were generally modest, maternal perceptions scales showed meaningful patterns of relationships with later child characteristics, pointing to the desirability of further research on this topic.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/28125/1/0000575.pd

Measurement of Impulsivity: Construct Coherence, Longitudinal Stability, and Relationship with Externalizing Problems in Middle Childhood and Adolescence

This study focused on the assessment of impulsivity in nonreferred school-aged children. Children had been participants since infancy in the Bloomington Longitudinal Study. Individual differences in impulsivity were assessed in the laboratory when children were 6 (44 boys, 36 girls) and 8 (50 boys, 39 girls) years of age. Impulsivity constructs derived from these assessments were related to parent and teacher ratings of externalizing problems across the school-age period (ages 7–10) and to parent and self-ratings of these outcomes across adolescence (ages 14–17). Consistent with prior research, individual measures of impulsivity factor-analyzed into subdimensions reflecting children's executive control capabilities, delay of gratification, and ability or willingness to sustain attention and compliance during work tasks. Children's performance on the main interactive task index, inhibitory control, showed a signficant level of stability between ages 6 and 8. During the school-age years, children who performed impulsively on the laboratory measures were perceived by mothers and by teachers as more impulsive, inattentive, and overactive than others, affirming the external validity of the impulsivity constructs. Finally, impulsive behavior in the laboratory at ages 6 and 8 predicted maternal and self-ratings of externalizing problem behavior across adolescence, supporting the longterm predictive value of the laboratory-derived impulsivity measures.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/44586/1/10802_2004_Article_413145.pd

The impact of culture on physiological processes of emotion regulation: a comparison of US and Chinese preschoolers

Cognitive determinants of emotion regulation, such as effortful control, have been hypothesized to modulate young children's physiological response to emotional stress. It is unknown, however, whether this model of emotion regulation generalizes across Western and non‐Western cultures. The current study examined the relation between both behavioral and questionnaire measures of effortful control and densely sampled, stress‐induced cortisol trajectories in U.S. and Chinese preschoolers. Participants were 3‐ to 5‐ year‐old children recruited from the United States (N = 57) and Beijing, China (N = 60). Consistent with our hypothesis, U.S. children showed a significant negative relation between maternal‐rated inhibitory control and both cortisol reactivity and recovery. However, this was not replicated in the Chinese sample. Children in China showed a significant positive relation between maternal‐rated attentional focusing and cortisol reactivity that was not seen in the U.S. Results suggest that children who reside in Western and non‐Western cultures have different predictors of their emotion‐related stress response.We compared associations between specific effortful control subcomponents and stress‐induced cortisol trajectories in preschool children residing in the U.S. and China. U.S. preschoolers showed an expected negative association between maternal‐rated inhibitory control with cortisol reactivity and recovery. In contrast, Chinese preschoolers showed a positive association between maternal‐rated attentional focusing and cortisol reactivity.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/111122/1/desc12227.pd