Trajectories leading to school-age conduct problems.

Abstract

The present study applied a semiparametric mixture model to a sample of 284 low-income boys to model developmental trajectories of overt conduct problems from ages 2 to 8. As in research on older children, 4 developmental trajectories were identified: a persistent problem trajectory, a high-level desister trajectory, a moderate-level desister trajectory, and a persistent low trajectory. Follow-up analyses indicated that initially high and low groups were differentiated in early childhood by high child fearlessness and elevated maternal depressive symptomatology. Persistent problem and high desister trajectories were differentiated by high child fearlessness and maternal rejecting parenting. The implications of the results for early intervention research are discussed, with an emphasis on the identification of at-risk parent-child dyads.

Randomized trial of a family-centered approach to the prevention of early conduct problems: 2-year effects of the family check-up in early childhood.

“…This is in contrast to the deteriorating slope of involvement for mothers in the control group, for whom destructive behavior showed only modest decreases between ages 2 and 3. This result is consistent with a primary goal of the intervention-to sustain parental engagement at age 2 when patterns of family coercion are likely to emerge and lead to more serious CP (Shaw et al, 2003).…”

“…As a result, parental pleasure in child rearing has been shown to decrease from the 1st to 2nd years (Fagot & Kavanagh, 1993). How caregivers respond to these changes and how involved they are during this period have been shown to have important repercussions for early CP (Gardner et al, 1999;Shaw et al, 2000Shaw et al, , 2003, as the course of CP has been shown to be moderated by controlling, uninvolved, and rejecting parenting (Aguilar et al, 2000;Campbell et al, 1996). Preventive interventions that can demonstrate changes in parental involvement, responsiveness, or rejecting behavior have the potential to modify trajectories of child CP.…”

“…In one such study that traced early trajectories of CP from ages 2 to 8, consistent with a multiple adversity perspective, factors that discriminated high and low trajectory groups at age 2 were from family and child domains: high maternal depressive symptoms and low child inhibition (Shaw et al, 2003). In evaluating the effectiveness of preventive interventions for toddlers, it would be important to know whether the intervention was successful in modifying the trajectories of toddlers with such risk profiles.…”

The Development of Physical Aggression from Toddlerhood to Pre-Adolescence: A Nation Wide Longitudinal Study of Canadian Children

“…Fifteen percent of the children exhibited moderate levels of PA while 3% exhibited high levels. Second, Shaw, Gilliom, Ingoldsby, and Nagin (2003) distinguished among four groups of boys with distinct levels of conduct problems between the ages of 2 and 8 years among their sample of low income boys (n = 284). Six percent of those boys already exhibited elevated levels in toddlerhood and maintained high levels in middle childhood (Shaw et al, 2003).…”

“…Second, Shaw, Gilliom, Ingoldsby, and Nagin (2003) distinguished among four groups of boys with distinct levels of conduct problems between the ages of 2 and 8 years among their sample of low income boys (n = 284). Six percent of those boys already exhibited elevated levels in toddlerhood and maintained high levels in middle childhood (Shaw et al, 2003). Thus, some preschoolers may already present levels of aggression that represent a risk for future problems, and the elevated levels of aggression observed in school age children might be the continuation of a pattern that started in toddlerhood.…”