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Early adolescents (aged 12-15) were observed during dyadic conflict discussions with their siblings (n = 23) and mothers (n = 32) in their homes. The verbal conflict behaviors and affect of family members were coded continuously. Sequential analyses identified temporal associations between individuals' affect and their own and their partners' verbal conflict behaviors. In addition, within-family and across-context similarities in behavior were examined. Results revealed that while many links between emotion and behavior were consistent with previous research (e.g., attack/assert when frowning/upset, withdraw/concede when sad), several differences emerged depending on the relationship (sibling vs. mother-adolescent) and position in the family (e.g., adolescent vs. mother). Furthermore, many within-family similarities were observed in responses to emotion, while adolescents showed few similarities in their behavior across contexts. Results are discussed in relation to the developmental context of early adolescence and family systems theory.

Research showing that risk for schizophrenia, bipolar disorder with psychosis, and other psychosis-spectrum diagnoses in adulthood is multidetermined has underscored the necessity of studying the additive and interactive factors in childhood that precede and predict future disorders. In this study, risk for the development of psychosis-spectrum disorders was examined in a 2-generation, 30-year prospective longitudinal study of 3,905 urban families against a sociocultural backdrop of changing economic and social conditions. Peer nominations of aggression, withdrawal, and likeability and national census information on neighborhood-level socioeconomic disadvantage in childhood, as well as changes in neighborhood socioeconomic conditions over the lifespan, were examined as predictors of diagnoses of schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and other psychosis-spectrum disorders in adulthood relative to developing only nonpsychotic disorders or no psychiatric disorders. Individuals who were both highly aggressive and highly withdrawn were at greater risk for other psychosis-spectrum diagnoses when they experienced greater neighborhood disadvantage in childhood or worsening neighborhood conditions over maturation. Males who were highly aggressive but low on withdrawal were at greater risk for schizophrenia diagnoses. Childhood neighborhood disadvantage predicted both schizophrenia and bipolar diagnoses, regardless of childhood social behavior. Results provided strong support for multiple-domain models of psychopathology, and suggest that universal preventive interventions and social policies aimed at improving neighborhood conditions may be particularly important for decreasing the prevalence of psychosis-spectrum diagnoses in the future.

Given the high prevalence of psychological distress among vocational training (VT) students, this study aimed to assess the role of interpersonal emotional competence as a resilience factor promoting the educational success of this population. We postulated that emotional competence would promote educational success, both directly and indirectly by fostering students' help-seeking intentions when facing a personal or school-related problem. To test these hypotheses, we used a sample of 219 VT students from the Canadian province of Quebec (68% women, Mage = 24.58; SDage = 7.95) enrolled in various programs (e.g. institutional and home care assistance, welding and fitting, secretarial studies, and professional cooking). These students were assessed two times, during the first half of their training and again after their training. Results from structural equation modelling revealed that emotional competence was a positive predictor of help-seeking intentions and educational success. However, having the intention to seek help did not translate into higher levels of educational success. Overall, these results highlight the importance of supporting VT students in the development and strengthening of their emotional competence to promote their educational success. Future research is needed to further understand the help-seeking process among VT students and its implications for their academic outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the transactional effects of parental physical and verbal aggression and children's externalizing (EP) and internalizing problems (IP) from early school age to adolescence in lower-income community sample using a multi-informant perspective. Mother-child dyads (n = 175) from urban low socioeconomic backgrounds that are part of the Concordia Longitudinal Research Project, a prospective intergenerational study, participated. Children's EP and IP were assessed by mothers and teachers at ages 6-8, 9-11, and 13-17-years-old (Child Behavior Checklist). Mothers also self-reported physical and verbal aggression toward their child (Conflict Tactics Scales Parent-Child). Results from cross-lagged analyses with mothers' reports of EP and IP revealed a transactional process with EP and physical aggression, and a child-driven effect with IP and verbal aggression. EP at 6-8-years-old were associated with increased physical aggression at 9-11 years of age, that in turn were associated with increased EP in adolescence. IP at 6-8 years old were associated with increased verbal aggression at 9-11 years. Some effects were identified when using teachers' reports of socioemotional difficulties, including a transactional process from verbal aggression at 6-8 years old, to increased EP at 9-11 years, to increased physical aggression at 13-17 years. Overall, parent-driven and child-driven effects were present, but results differed across informants and behaviour problem types. These results have important implications for research and intervention that are discussed in light of the developmental psychopathology and transactional models of development., Author(s): Rachel Langevin [sup.1] , Dale M. Stack [sup.2] , Daniel J. Dickson [sup.2] , Lisa A. Serbin [sup.2] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.14709.3b, 0000 0004 1936 8649, Department of Educational [...]

The present study examined mothers' responses to their at-risk preschool-age children's (N = 156) successful and unsuccessful attempts during a puzzle task. Associations between mothers' responses and the children's ecological context, as well as children's cognitive and academic abilities at two subsequent time points (ages 6-11, and 9-13 years), were examined. Maternal responses to children's successful attempts included process praise, person praise, and neutral acknowledgments. Responses to unsuccessful attempts included encouragement or help, discouragement, neutral indications of mistake, or taking over. Results revealed that maternal responses were associated with child characteristics. In addition, encouragement was positively associated with the quality of the home environment, whereas taking over was positively associated with maternal childhood histories of aggression and social withdrawal. Furthermore, decreased taking over, as well as increased encouragement and neutral acknowledgments, were associated with higher child cognitive and academic abilities later on. Implications for early childhood education are discussed.

This study investigated specialized and versatile antisocial patterns in preschoolers and examined the link between these patterns and the risk of developing chronic antisocial behaviors throughout childhood. A total of 556 children (50.6% boys, 88% White) participated in this three‐wave longitudinal study at 3–5, 6–8, and 10–12 years old. A latent transition analysis revealed that most preschoolers (89.5%) who adopt several subtypes of antisocial behaviors simultaneously exhibit stable and severe antisocial behaviors throughout childhood. In contrast, most preschoolers (60%) who favor one specific subtype of antisocial behaviors desist from such behaviors between preschool and preadolescence. Importantly, aggression accompanied by other subtypes of antisocial behaviors predicted chronicity better than aggression alone, casting doubt on the notion that aggression is the strongest predictor of chronicity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ObjectiveThis study examined whether parenting, specifically parental support, structure, and behavioral control, predicted early childhood health care use and moderated the negative effects of socioeconomic disadvantage.MethodsA sample of 250 parent-child dyads from a longitudinal intergenerational research program participated.ResultsGreater parental support was associated with increased rates of nonemergency care and a higher ratio of outpatient to emergency room (ER) services, a pattern reflecting better health and service use. Support also moderated the negative effects of disadvantaged family background. Greater behavioral control by parents predicted lower rates of both nonemergency care and ER visits. Structured parenting and behavioral control were associated with lower rates of respiratory illness.ConclusionsThis study highlights the importance of considering parenting practices when examining variations in early childhood health and health care, and the relevance of parental behavior in designing interventions for high-risk populations.

Internationally, girls outperform boys in overall school performance. The gender gap is particularly large among those in at-risk groups, such as children from families at economic disadvantage. This study modeled the academic trajectories of a low-income sample of boys and girls from the Concordia Longitudinal Risk Project across the full course of schooling. Results from a multiple-group latent growth curve analysis revealed that children from this low-income sample demonstrated a significant decreasing trajectory of academic performance over time, which intensified after the transition from elementary to secondary schooling. A gender gap in academic performance emerged after the children transitioned to secondary school, with girls outperforming boys. Boys continued to experience greater academic decline than did girls across the secondary school years, and individual and family characteristics assessed in early elementary school predicted these academic trajectories. At school entry, boys showed higher levels of attention problems than did girls, which in turn predicted boys' poorer school performance. However, boys with stronger reading skills and greater maternal school involvement during the early years of schooling were protected against declining academic performance across the secondary school years. Implications for prevention programs are discussed.

The goals of this study were to investigate (a) the dyadic relations of mothers' and children's perceptions of children's anxiety symptoms across development, (b) whether maternal perceptions of children's anxiety serve as a mediator of the association between maternal anxiety and child anxiety, and (c) whether sensitive/structured parenting moderates these processes. Participants were 180 mother–child dyads (96 female) recruited from Quebec, Canada, and assessed in preschool, middle childhood, and early adolescence. Mothers and children completed questionnaires on children's anxiety, and mothers additionally completed a questionnaire on their own anxiety. Maternal sensitivity/structuring was assessed from an observed interaction task. Results from an actor–partner interdependence model suggest (a) maternal perceptions of children's anxiety in middle childhood predict children's self-perceptions in adolescence, but not vice versa; (b) maternal perceptions in middle childhood mediate the link between maternal anxiety in early childhood and child self-perceptions of anxiety in adolescence; and (c) the indirect effect of maternal perceptions is moderated by maternal sensitivity/structuring such that mothers who perceived more anxiety in their children and who were observed to show lower levels of sensitivity/structuring in middle childhood tended to have children who perceived more anxiety in adolescence. Findings suggest that maternal awareness of children's anxiety may be one mechanism, in the presence of relationships characterized by lower levels of sensitivity, through which anxiety risk is transferred from parent to child over time. Public Significance Statement: This study suggests that a mother's awareness of their child's anxiety predicts how their child comes to see their anxiety across time, but not vice versa. Anxious mothers see more anxiety in their children and, when they are less sensitive and supportive, have children who perceive experiencing more anxiety. This highlights the importance of targeting parent–child communication about emotions when seeking to understand and intervene in children's anxiety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using a longitudinal design (Wave 1 n = 164, M age = 3.57 years, 54% female, predominantly White and French-speaking), the current study sought to answer two questions: 1) does poverty influence children's negative emotionality through heightened family-level, poverty-related stress? and 2) is negative emotionality, in turn, predictive of adolescent internalizing symptoms, externalizing behaviors, cognitive abilities, and physical health? Results confirmed an indirect pathway from family poverty to child emotionality through poverty-related stress. In addition, negative emotionality was associated with adolescent internalizing symptoms, attention difficulties, and physical health, but not externalizing symptoms, even when controlling for early poverty exposure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fathers' absence is a pattern that shows intergenerational continuity, most notably within disadvantaged populations. The process whereby this pattern is repeated across generations is not well understood. Using data from the Concordia Longitudinal Risk Project, the authors investigated pathways between fathers' absence in 1 generation and the experience of fathers' absence by their children. The current sample included 386 socioeconomically at-risk individuals across 2 waves of data collection: (a) when they were children and (b) when they were adults with their own children. Analyses based on structural equation modeling revealed that men whose fathers were absent when they were children were more likely to become absent fathers, and women whose fathers were absent when they were children were more likely to have children with absent partners. Indirect pathways between fathers' absence in 2 generations through aggression, education, and substance abuse were illustrated for women. These findings add to the literature suggesting that fathers' absence during childhood has intergenerational effects.

This study evaluated a comprehensive model of factors associated with internalizing problems (IP) in early childhood, hypothesizing direct, mediated, and moderated pathways linking child temperamental inhibition, maternal overcontrol and rejection, and contextual stressors to IP. In a novel approach, three samples were integrated to form a large sample (N = 500) of Canadian children (2-6 years; M = 3.95 years; SD = 0.80). Items tapping into the same constructs across samples were used to create parallel measures of inhibited temperament, maternal positive, critical, and punitive parenting, maternal negative emotionality, family socioeconomic and structural stressors, and child's IP. Multiple-groups structural equation modeling indicated that associations were invariant across samples and did not differ for boys and girls. Child inhibition, less positive and more critical parenting, maternal negative emotionality, and family socioeconomic disadvantage were found to have direct associations with IP. In addition, maternal negative emotionality was associated with IP through more critical parenting, and both maternal negative emotionality and socioeconomic stress were associated with IP through less positive parenting. Results highlight the multiple independent and cumulative risk factors for early IP and demonstrate the power of integrating data across developmental studies.

This study examined the contribution of maternal childhood histories of aggression and social withdrawal to the prediction of mother-child social problem solving in the next generation. Fifty-seven women (M = 37.32 years), previously rated (on a version of the pupil evaluation inventory) by their peers during childhood on measures of aggression and withdrawal, discussed conflicts with their 9- to 13-year-old children. Problem-defining statements, solutions, and resolution strategies were coded using an observational measure developed by the authors. Maternal childhood histories of aggression and withdrawal predicted poorly sophisticated solutions in both mothers and children as well as antisocial solutions in children. Histories of withdrawal predicted solitary solutions in children as well as less guidance and structure during decision making. Findings suggest that mothers who were withdrawn, and those aggressive and withdrawn in childhood, display less sophisticated problem solving, which may be mirrored in children. Results have implications for the development of aggressive and withdrawn girls into parenthood and highlight a potential pathway for the transfer of risk. (Contains 6 tables.)

This 30-year longitudinal study examined pathways from problematic childhood behavior patterns to future disadvantaged conditions for family environment and child rearing in adulthood. Participants were mothers (n = 328) and fathers (n = 222) with lower income backgrounds participating in the ongoing Concordia Longitudinal Risk Project. Structural Equation Modeling was used to examine pathways from childhood aggression and social withdrawal to future high school drop-out, early parenthood, parental absence, and family poverty after the participants became parents. Childhood aggression directly predicted early parenthood and parental absence in both mothers' and fathers' models, and high school drop-out for the fathers (for the mothers, this path was indirect via achievement in primary school). Childhood aggression predicted family poverty indirectly, with some gender differences in significant pathways. (Contains 3 figures, 1 table, and 1 note.)

Principal tasks of the early childhood years, including attaining self-efficacy, self-control, social integration, and preparedness for education, require the development of adaptive and competent emotional development. Results from longitudinal and intergenerational studies examining the effect of parenting behaviors on children's emotional outcomes provide support for the importance of parenting style as a mechanism in the development of competent or problematic emotional functioning over time and across generations. Despite the critical role of emotional competence on lifelong development, little longitudinal research has assessed its effect on children's cognitive, social, behavioral, and academic competence over time, or how parenting affects the emotional functioning and later developmental outcomes in subsequent generations. The objectives of the present article were to (1) summarize and integrate longitudinal and intergenerational research on the emotional development of at-risk and typically developing children; (2) evaluate research examining the role that parenting behaviors play in the development of children's emotional competence; (3) highlight cross-sectional research investigating parental influences on the emotional development of children with disabilities; and (4) describe how adaptive and maladaptive emotional development affect the overall functioning of children with and without developmental disabilities. The importance of studying emotional development is underscored, as well as implications for social, educational, and health policy.

Background: Previous research on psychiatric and health disparities according to level of cognitive functioning has focused on adults within an American healthcare context. The current study compares children with and without cognitive and developmental delays in Quebec, Canada, using physician billing data from a longitudinal study of low-income, francophone families. Canada is an ideal context for studying medical billing data as its equal access healthcare system removes many socioeconomic biases. Methods: A large sample (n = 1050) of children is used to describe psychiatric and health disparities, as well as differences in Ambulatory Care Sensitive (ACS) conditions and primary healthcare, between children with (n = 107) and without (n = 943) diagnoses in their billing history indicative of delays. Results: The findings demonstrated a relatively high level of psychiatric diagnoses for children with delays. However, no difference was found between children with and without delays in regard to emergency room visits and hospitalizations for ACS conditions and primary healthcare. Conclusions: The findings suggest that, within a universal healthcare system, disparities in primary healthcare may not emerge until adulthood in individuals with delay status.

Likeability was examined as an attribute of aggression and withdrawal and as a separate dimension of children's peer relations to determine its influence on psychiatric status in maturity. The sample consisted of 145 men and 177 women who had been assessed with a peer sociometric on the dimensions of aggression, withdrawal, and likeability during childhood, assessed for life stresses and positive resources in early adulthood, and evaluated for psychiatric status at age 35. The results indicated that (1) likeability was separate from aggression, but a moderating attribute of withdrawal as a protective source of influence on psychiatric status in maturity; (2) life stresses particularly in the men increased, and positive resources particularly in the women, reduced psychiatric vulnerability; and (3) men who had been the more aggressive and the better-liked among their childhood peers remained at psychiatric risk when stress and personal resources were taken into account.

The current investigation examined whether inter-generational transfer of risk could be revealed through mothers' and preschool-aged children's expressive language, and whether continuity of risk persisted in these children's academic abilities, 3 years later. Participating families were drawn from the Concordia Longitudinal Risk Project, a prospective, longitudinal investigation of French-speaking families from low-SES Montreal neighbourhoods. At Time 1, mothers' history of childhood social withdrawal was shown to predict mothers' child-directed language. Mothers' language complexity was also shown to be predictive of preschoolers' expressive language and was found to mediate the relationship between maternal social withdrawal and child language. At Time 2, children's language-related academic abilities were predicted by their expressive language at preschool age. The findings support an inter-generational continuity of risk operating through language complexity and extending to children's performance in language-related academic abilities at school age. (Contains 4 tables.)

The Behaviour Style Observation System for Young Children (BSOS) was used to predict preschool-aged children's externalizing and internalizing behaviour problems in middle childhood, 3-5 years after the initial assessment. This observational measurement tool was designed to sample and assess young children's disruptive, non-compliant, and unresponsive behaviour, during a brief (11 min) observation in the child's home. In the current study, the BSOS was used to predict parent and teacher ratings of child behaviour problems after school entry in a longitudinal sample (N = 81) of at-risk children at time 2. The BSOS predicted teacher-reported externalizing problems at time 2. In contrast, parent reports of behaviour problems, although correlated with repeated parent reports at time 2, were not significantly predictive of teacher-reported behaviour problems at school age. The BSOS was not associated with either parent or teacher reports of internalizing problems. These findings emphasize the importance and utility of using observational measures when examining the continuity of behaviour problems in young children over time. (Contains 5 tables.)

This prospective, intergenerational study investigated the influences of maternal histories of childhood aggression and social withdrawal on maternal request strategies and child compliance and noncompliance. Seventy-four women from the Concordia Longitudinal Risk Project, who were rated during childhood using peer nomination measures of aggression and social withdrawal, played with their 2-6 year-old children in three naturalistic conditions. Videotaped interactions were coded for mothers' requests and children's compliance/noncompliance. The results revealed that mothers who were socially withdrawn during childhood were more likely to employ intrusive requests (i.e., physical interventions, repetitions, and requests without opportunity to comply), which subsequently predicted children's noncompliant behaviour. In addition, mothers who were aggressive during childhood were more likely to repeat their requests, which also predicted children's noncompliance. Furthermore, the findings replicated previous research indicating that children demonstrate more sophisticated forms of noncompliance with age. Taken together, results from this study elucidate the trajectories of childhood aggression and social withdrawal, and provide evidence for possible pathways by which problematic behaviour is transferred from mother to child in vulnerable populations. This research has implications for the design of preventative interventions for at-risk families. (Contains 5 tables.)

This study demonstrates the potential utility of the Behavioural Style Observational System (BSOS) as a new observational measure of children's behavioural style. The BSOS is an objective, short and easy to use measure that can be readily adapted to a variety of home and laboratory situations. In the present study, 160 mother-child dyads from the Concordia Longitudinal Risk Project (CLRP) were observed during an 11-min behavioural sample. Videotaped interactions were coded using the BSOS for children's mood, activity level, vocal reactivity, approach to toys, mood consistency and adaptability. Comparisons between the BSOS observational ratings and mothers' ratings of the child on the EAS Temperament Survey (EAS) provided support for modest congruence between these two measurement systems, and revealed a differential predictive pattern of children's functioning. Specifically, the observation-based BSOS predicted children's cognitive performance and adaptive behaviour during testing, whereas the mother-rated EAS predicted maternal ratings of children's internalizing and externalizing behaviour problems. Both measures were found to independently predict mothers' ratings of parenting stress. Overall, the findings imply that neither observational measures nor maternal ratings alone are sufficient to understand children's behavioural style, and that comprehensive evaluations of children's temperament should optimally include both types of measures. (Contains 9 tables.)

The current investigation was designed to examine the provision of cognitive stimulation to preschool-aged children from high-risk families. Participants were drawn from the Concordia Longitudinal Risk Project, a prospective, longitudinal investigation of individuals recruited in 1976-77 from lower SES neighbourhoods who were rated by childhood peers on standardised scales of aggression and social withdrawal. Based on a subsample of women followed from childhood to motherhood (N = 51), we found that childhood behaviour patterns, particularly a history of aggression, negatively predicted cognitive stimulation to preschool-aged offspring, in the context of (1) scaffolding during a structured teaching task, and (2) the quality of the home environment provided for children. In the second part of the study, concurrent analyses focusing on children's cognitive competence (N = 80) revealed that parental stimulation predicts the intellectual functioning of preschool-aged offspring within a community-based, high-risk sample. Taken together, the current findings provide evidence for the existence of a pathway of intergenerational transfer of risk operating through cognitive stimulation. (Contains 4 tables and 1 footnote.)

Two experiments examined toddlers' knowledge of the stereotyping of traditionally feminine and masculine household activities. Results suggest that knowledge about stereotyping adult activities starts to develop by the age of 24 months and common household activities are among the first gender-typed activities included in children's developing gender schemas. (TJQ)

Three studies focused on prediction of teen motherhood, complications during childbirth, multiparity, and close spacing of births; dropping out of school and teen parenthood; and prediction of child behavior from mothers' childhood characteristics. Found that mothers' childhood aggression predicted negative outcomes in each area of risk, especially when combined with social withdrawal and low academic achievement. (BC)