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Contains fulltext : 145494.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access) Although separation anxiety is prevalent in young children, it remains unclear whether and how maternal separation anxiety is related to separation anxiety in children. This study examined associations between maternal separation anxiety and separation anxiety in children, and the potential effect psychologically controlling parenting. Mothers (N = 269) and children (N = 287) recruited for a community sample participated in two 1-year interval data-waves. Children were aged five-eight and were interviewed using an age-appropriate method for obtaining self-reports of separation anxiety and perceptions of dependency-oriented psychologically controlling parenting. Mothers reported on their feelings of separation anxiety regarding their child via a questionnaire. We found that maternal separation anxiety was positively related to separation anxiety in children within, but not over time. We did not find psychologically controlling parenting to mediate this association. Studying other factors than parenting may be an important avenue for future research in explaining separation anxiety in children. 8 p.

Item does not contain fulltext While child self-reports of psychopathology are increasingly accepted, little standardized instruments are utilized for these practices. The Berkeley Puppet Interview (BPI) is an age-appropriate instrument for self-reports of problem behavior by young children. Psychometric properties of the Dutch version of the BPI will be reported, specifically, test-retest reliability, intra-class correlations, congruent and concurrent validity. In a sample of 300 children (M (age) = 7.04 years, SD = 1.15), the BPI was administered twice, with a 1-year interval. Parents and teachers filled out questionnaires about their children's problem behavior. Findings from the analyses indicate that the BPI subscales have sufficient test-retest reliability and can be reliably coded. Furthermore, findings suggest adequate congruent validity. More support for concurrent validity is found among externalizing problems in comparison to internalizing problems. With regard to the present study, the BPI seems to have adequate psychometric properties. As such, the BPI enables interviewing young children about their psychopathology-related symptoms in a standardized way. The BPI could be applied in clinical practice as a complement to the diagnostic cycle, allowing children's self-reports to play an increasingly important role. 14 p.

Item does not contain fulltext Parental psychological control has been linked to symptoms of psychopathology in adolescence, yet less is known about its correlates in childhood. The current study is among the first to address whether psychological control is related to internalizing and externalizing problems in early childhood. A community sample of 298 children aged 7.04 (SD = 1.15) years participated. Along with two other parenting dimensions (i.e., responsiveness and behavioural control), psychological control, internalizing and externalizing problems were assessed by means of the Berkeley Puppet Interview. Psychological control was associated with internalizing and externalizing problems, and this association remained significant while controlling for parental behavioural control and responsiveness. Results suggest that the maladaptive correlates of psychological control also manifest in developmental periods prior to adolescence. Still, it is unknown how psychological control and child psychopathology are related over time in childhood.

Contains fulltext : 141056.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Closed access) The continuity, co-occurrence, and co-development of child internalizing and externalizing problems have been extensively studied and considered to be causally related either directly (directional model) or indirectly through an underlying shared or related liability factor (common vulnerability model). This study used child self-report to avoid rater bias in determining the continuity and cross-development of child internalizing and externalizing problems over a 1-year period, examining both direct pathway and indirect pathway by using maternal mental health as underlying explanatory mechanism. The Dominic Interactive, a computerized child self-report instrument, was used to assess internalizing and externalizing problems in 178 primary school children, aged 6-11 years old, over a 1-year time interval. Their mothers reported on their own maternal mental health at baseline. A cross-lagged path model was tested using Structural Equation Modeling. The results confirmed the stability of child-reported internalizing and externalizing problems but showed no cross-developmental paths. Maternal mental health at baseline was related to child externalizing behavior 1 year later. The theoretical explanations involve the developmental timing of the cross-developmental paths and the strong co-occurrence of internalizing and externalizing problems at both time-points. This study showed the value of the Dominic Interactive as a child self-report instrument in addition to other informant measures in assessing child mental health problems over longer periods, especially when maternal mental health is involved. Furthermore, deprived maternal mental health warrants clinical attention to prevent externalizing problems in primary school children. 10 p.

Background The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire is one of the most employed screening instruments. Although there is a large research body investigating its psychometric properties, reliability and validity are not yet fully tested using modern techniques. Therefore, we investigate reliability, construct validity, measurement invariance, and predictive validity of the parent and teacher version in children aged 4–7. Besides, we intend to replicate previous studies by investigating test-retest reliability and criterion validity. Methods In a Dutch community sample 2,238 teachers and 1,513 parents filled out questionnaires regarding problem behaviors and parenting, while 1,831 children reported on sociometric measures at T1. These children were followed-up during three consecutive years. Reliability was examined using Cronbach’s alpha and McDonald’s omega, construct validity was examined by Confirmatory Factor Analysis, and predictive validity was examined by calculating developmental profiles and linking these to measures of inadequate parenting, parenting stress and social preference. Further, mean scores and percentiles were examined in order to establish norms. Results Omega was consistently higher than alpha regarding reliability. The original five-factor structure was replicated, and measurement invariance was established on a configural level. Further, higher SDQ scores were associated with future indices of higher inadequate parenting, higher parenting stress and lower social preference. Finally, previous results on test-retest reliability and criterion validity were replicated. Conclusions This study is the first to show SDQ scores are predictively valid, attesting to the feasibility of the SDQ as a screening instrument. Future research into predictive validity of the SDQ is warranted. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s40359-015-0061-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Item does not contain fulltext Background Childhood internalizing and externalizing problems are closely related and often co-occur. Directional models have been employed to test how these problems are related, while few studies have tested a third variables model. Objective This study investigates whether internalizing and externalizing problems are reciprocally or unidirectionally related, whether these relations can be explained by third variables, and how these relations are associated with onset and stability. Methods A community sample of 1,434 children aged 5.08 (SD = 1.25) and their mothers participated in two 1-year interval data waves. Internalizing and externalizing problems were examined with the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. Results Using latent cross-lagged modeling, externalizing problems were found not be related to subsequent internalizing problems, or vice versa. These results were also found when controlling for inadequate parenting, parenting stress, maternal health and social preference. When taking problem level into account, externalizing problems were related to stability of clinical level internalizing problems, even when controlling for third variables inadequate parenting, parenting stress, maternal mental health and social preference. Conclusions Strong autoregressive paths for internalizing and externalizing problems were found. Internalizing and externalizing problems do not seem to influence each other over time in the community sample. When investigating relations among internalizing and externalizing problems, it seems to be important to take problem level into account. 19 p.

Contains fulltext : 131679.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Closed access) Video games are a highly heterogeneous form of entertainment. As recent reviews highlight, this heterogeneity makes likely that video games have both positive and negative consequences for child development. This study investigated the associations between gaming frequency and psychosocial health among children younger than 12 years of age, an understudied cohort in this field. Both parents and children reported children's gaming frequency, with parents also reporting on children's psychosocial health. Given that children may be too young to report the time they spend playing video games accurately, children's reports were scaffolded by a developmentally appropriate measure. We further investigated the potential bias of having parents report both their children's gaming frequency and their children's psychosocial health (i.e., a single source bias). Parental reports of children's gaming frequency were higher than their children's reports. However, a direct test of the potential single source bias rendered null results. Notably, however, while parental reports showed negative associations between gaming and psychosocial health, children's reports showed no associations. Specifically, based on parent reports, children's gaming was associated with more conduct and peer problems, and less prosocial behavior. As children's reports produced no associations between gaming and psychosocial health, parental reports in this study may belie an erroneous set of conclusions. We therefore caution against relying on just one reporter when assessing children's gaming frequency. 5 p.

Item does not contain fulltext According to the cognitive model of intergenerational transference, modeling of alcohol use is an indirect process in which parental drinking shapes alcohol expectancies of children, which in turn are associated with later alcohol use in adolescents. The present study examined whether parental alcohol use was related to alcohol expectancies and experimentation with alcohol use in young children. A community sample of 240 children aged 8.02 (SD = 1.13) participated. Alcohol expectancies were assessed by means of the Berkeley Puppet Interview. Children reported consistently and reliably on the positive and negative consequences of alcohol use among adults. Their positive and negative expectancies were equally strong. Compared to younger children, older children had more negative and less positive expectancies. For girls, more paternal alcohol use was associated with less negative alcohol expectancies. For older children, more alcohol use of the mother was related to less positive expectancies, while more alcohol use of the father was related to more positive expectancies. The present study showed that young children already have clear ideas about the positive and negative consequences alcohol can have among adults, which can be captured with the Berkeley Puppet Interview. These expectancies are partly associated with alcohol use of their parents. 6 p.

Item does not contain fulltext The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) is a widely used screening instrument for child psychopathology. Many studies have consistently reported rather low alpha values for certain subscales for the SDQ parent version. Further, the factor structure has not been tested frequently by using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA); research into measurement invariance is even scarcer. Therefore, this study evaluates the internal reliability and tests for measurement invariance for the SDQ parent version. In a Dutch sample of 1,484 children we examined reliability by using coefficient omega and tested for invariance across several subgroups. Also, we conducted CFA to examine the five-factor structure of the SDQ. omega yielded higher values than alpha did, which supports the use of omega in a SEM-based framework. Support for measurement invariance was found on the configural, metric, and scalar level, and as expected, the five-factor structure was confirmed. Scholars are advised to consider omega as an alternative to alpha, seeing that various problems with alpha have been discussed. Support for measurement invariance was found for several demographic variables, so that meaningful group comparisons can now be made for the SDQ parent version. 7 p.

Item does not contain fulltext A key factor identified in friendship formation and stability is similarity. Homophily of externalizing problems has been reported frequently, but less attention has been directed at homophily of internalizing problems. Whether young children who are friends resemble each other in their internalizing problems is thus largely unknown. In order to increase understanding of the social risk factors implicated in the etiology of internalizing problems, it is important to establish whether internalizing problems cluster in friendships. The present study examines homophily of internalizing problems while controlling for externalizing problems in a sample of children aged 4-8. Methods: A community sample of 1584 children or 792 dyads with a mean age of 5.85 (SD = 1.26) participated. Of these friendship dyads, 557 were reciprocal and 235 unilateral friends. Internalizing and externalizing problems were reported by teachers. Results: Intraclass correlations were calculated to test for similarities between reciprocal and unilateral friends. Support was found for the homophily hypothesis, in that reciprocal, but not unilateral friends, were substantially similar in their internalizing problems. Conclusions: In reciprocal friendships we found substantial similarity. From these results, we might conclude that homophily is already present in friendships of young children regarding internalizing problems. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed. 8 p.

Contains fulltext : 90043.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Closed access) Since its development, the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) has been widely used in both research and practice. The SDQ screens for positive and negative psychological attributes. This review aims to provide an overview of the psychometric properties of the SDQ for 4- to 12-year-olds. Results from 48 studies (N = 131,223) on reliability and validity of the parent and teacher SDQ are summarized quantitatively and descriptively. Internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and inter-rater agreement are satisfactory for the parent and teacher versions. At subscale level, the reliability of the teacher version seemed stronger compared to that of the parent version. Concerning validity, 15 out of 18 studies confirmed the five-factor structure. Correlations with other measures of psychopathology as well as the screening ability of the SDQ are sufficient. This review shows that the psychometric properties of the SDQ are strong, particularly for the teacher version. For practice, this implies that the use of the SDQ as a screening instrument should be continued. Longitudinal research studies should investigate predictive validity. For both practice and research, we emphasize the use of a multi-informant approach.