Intergenerational Transmission of Adaptive Functioning: A Test of the Interactionist Model of SES and Human Development

Abstract

The Interactionist Model of human development (Conger & Donellan, 2007) 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). Using a multigenerational dataset involving 271 families, the current study finds empirical support for the Interactionist Model. Adolescent personality characteristics indicative of social competence, goal-setting, hard work, and emotional stability predicted later SES, parenting, and family characteristics that were related to the positive development of a third generation child. Processes of both social selection and social causation appear to account for the association between SES and dimensions of human development indicative of healthy functioning across multiple generations. Keywords transgenerational patterns; socioeconomic status; interactionist modelAfter decades of studying dysfunction and maladjustment, social and behavioral scientists have begun to recognize the importance of environmental/contextual and dispositional factors that promote or facilitate healthy development, an approach consistent with the theme of this special issue of Child Development. In addition to conforming with the recognition that healthy development is more than the simple absence of maladjustment (see Christopher & Campbell, 2008), this work on positive development offers alternative pathways for interventions and programs focused on promotion of resilience under stressful conditions (Joseph & Linley, 2009;Sin & Lyubomirsky, 2009). The present report is consistent with this approach to research on human development inasmuch as it considers the interface between socioeconomic status (SES) and markers of healthy functioning across multiple generations of family members.Past research has demonstrated a positive association between socioeconomic status and competent or healthy child development (e.g., Duncan & Magnuson, 2003;Haveman & Wolfe, 1994;Linver, Brooks-Gunn, & Kohen, 2002;Mayer, 1997;McLoyd, 1990). However, this association between SES and development may be viewed from at least two different perspectives. Some researchers propose that SES influences parental behavior and, in turn, child development (e.g., Linver et al., 2002). This view represents the social causation perspective which predicts that social conditions lead to variations in health and well-being. Other researchers propose that the relationship between SES and parenting is an artifact, and that prior characteristics of future parents affect both their SES and relationships with their children. This view represents the social selection Correspondence regarding this manuscript should be addressed to tomschofield@ucdavis.edu. NIH Public Access Author ManuscriptChild Dev. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2012 January 1. NIH-PA Author ManuscriptNIH-PA Author Manuscript NIH-PA Author Manuscript perspective which proposes that the t...

Drivers of human development: How relationships and context shape learning and development1

“…Conversely, building individual assets, such as affective, cognitive, social, emotional, and metacognitive competencies, and environmental assets-such as family and neighborhood social capital, can expand opportunities and contribute to the intergenerational transmission of adaptive systems Schofield et al, 2011). Although the societal cost and benefit are enormous, realizing the full benefit requires intervention at the level of family, society, and policy, including culturally competent and family-driven approaches (e.g., S. B. Johnson, Riley, Granger, & Riis, 2013).…”

Breaking the Intergenerational Cycle of Disadvantage: The Three Generation Approach

“…[58][59][60][61][62] Positive parenting (ie, warm and supportive parent-child relationships) is more likely to facilitate the transmission of higher SES through greater educational attainment, better adjustment, and fewer antisocial behaviors, whereas negative parenting is more likely to have the opposite effects. 61,[63][64][65] Parenting behaviors are transmitted across generations through a variety of mechanisms, such as attachment [58][59][60][61] and epigenetic regulation of the genome. 62 In turn, children's (G2) social competence and personality predict parental (G1) investments, family stress, and, ultimately, their own (G2) SES as adults.…”

Academic Achievement Varies With Gestational Age Among Children Born at Term

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“…3,8 Surprisingly, far less is known about the degree to which earlier gestational age confers risk among infants born at term, from 37 to 41 weeks' gestation. 7,[22][23][24] The brain continues to grow rapidly during this time, with a nearly 50% increase in cortical gray matter, 10 a nearly threefold increase in myelinated white matter, 10 and increasing neuronal and gyral differentiation. 11 Further, among term infants born from 37 to 41 weeks, later gestational age is associated with greater gray matter density in middle childhood in bilateral superior and middle temporal gyri, and the left parietal lobe.…”