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This study investigated associations between maternal prenatal smoking and physical aggression (PA), hyperactivity-impulsivity (HI) and co-occurring PA and HI between ages 17 and 42 months in a population sample of children born in Quebec (Canada) in 1997/1998 (N=1745). Trajectory model estimation showed three distinct developmental patterns for PA and four for HI. Multinomial regression analyses showed that prenatal smoking significantly predicted children's likelihood to follow different PA trajectories beyond the effects of other perinatal factors, parental psychopathology, family functioning and parenting, and socio-economic factors. However, prenatal smoking was not a significant predictor of HI in a model with the same control variables. Further multinomial regression analyses showed that, together with gender, presence of siblings and maternal hostile reactive parenting, prenatal smoking independently predicted co-occurring high PA and high HI compared to low levels of both behaviors, to high PA alone, and to high HI alone. These results show that maternal prenatal smoking predicts multiple behavior regulation problems in early childhood.

There has been much controversy over the past decades on the origins of gender differences in children's aggressive behavior. A widely held view is that gender differences emerge sometime after 2 years of age and increase in magnitude thereafter because of gender-differentiated socialization practices. The objective of this study was to test for (a) gender differences in the prevalence of physical aggression in the general population of 17-month-old children and (b) change in the magnitude of these differences between 17 and 29 months of age. Contrary to the differential socialization hypothesis, the results showed substantial gender differences in the prevalence of physical aggression at 17 months of age, with 5% of boys but only 1% of girls manifesting physically aggressive behaviors on a frequent basis. The results suggest that there is no change in the magnitude of these differences between 17 and 29 months of age.

Objective: The study investigated histories of child maltreatment and psychiatric disorder in a high-risk sample of pregnant adolescents. Method: Cross-sectional data were obtained for 252 pregnant adolescents from high school, hospital, and group home settings in Montreal (Canada). Adolescents completed a child maltreatment questionnaire and a psychiatric interview on lifetime conduct and major depressive disorders. Latent class analysis was used to model the association between child maltreatment and psychiatric disorder. Results: Analyses indicated two latent classes: pregnant adolescents with no reported child maltreatment history (79%) and those with multiple forms of maltreatment (21%). There was no association between the child maltreatment latent variable and major depressive disorder. Rather, depression was related specifically to one form of maltreatment (i.e., sexual abuse, odds ratio = 2.60). Depression also showed a significant relationship with conduct disorder (odds ratio = 3.70). Pregnant adolescents with multiple forms of child maltreatment had a fourfold risk of also having conduct disorder, compared with nonmaltreated adolescents. Conclusions: In this sample of pregnant adolescents, prior experience of multiple forms of child maltreatment was prevalent, as were depression and conduct disorder. Clinicians need to screen for histories of child maltreatment and psychiatric disorder and to introduce effective interventions for pregnant adolescents and their children. (Contains 4 tables.)

Objective: To examine the association between cortisol levels and conduct disorder (CD) in adolescent mothers. Past research has shown that low levels of cortisol were associated with CD, particularly with its aggressive symptoms. The authors tested the hypothesis that adolescent mothers with CD would show lower levels of salivary cortisol compared to mothers without CD at 4 and 9 months postpartum. Method: Midmorning salivary cortisol levels were measured in 228 adolescent mothers (age at delivery 16.9 [+ or -] 1 years [mean [+ or -] SD]) during a laboratory visit at 4 and 9 months postpartum. CD was diagnosed during pregnancy according to the CD subsection on the criteria for antisocial personality disorder (DSM-III-R). Results: Results did not confirm the hypothesis. Lower cortisol levels were not significantly associated with a CD diagnosis, the number of CD symptoms, or aggressive symptoms. Conclusions: Despite valid measures and strong statistical power, this study failed to find an association between cortisol levels and CD in a sample of adolescent mothers. The results may have been influenced by the fact that participants were 4 and 9 months postpartum and by comparisons of mothers with CD to mothers living in stressful circumstances. J. Am. Acad. Child Adolesc. Psychiatry, 2004;43(4):461-468. Key Words: cortisol, conduct disorder, adolescent mothers.

Contributing to the family violence and conflict literature, we examine prospective and concurrent risk factors associated with verbal and physical aggression toward mothers by 15/16 year-old adolescent sons and daughters. Data from the Quebec Longitudinal Study of Kindergarten Children is used to examine the influence of socioeconomic factors, inherent individual and family environment factors, and prospective and concurrent parenting process factors as predictors of adolescent aggression (in the last 6 months). A childhood behavioural pattern characterised by physical aggression generated the highest risk of adolescent-directed verbal and physical aggression toward mothers. Aggressive parental punishment in the last 6 months significantly predicted aggression toward mothers. A childhood life-course of violence seems to culminate in verbal and physical aggression toward mothers during adolescence. Given this building-up process from childhood, harsh parental punishment of the adolescent seems to only increase the odds of adolescent aggression. No sex differences were observed. (Contains 3 tables.)

This article presents a method designed to estimate interinformant agreement, or the degree of similarity in individuals' reports of a child's symptoms during psychiatric evaluations. Latent class analysis is used to accurately determine both the prevalence of aggressive behavior among a sample of children and the interinformant agreement between mothers and teachers.

This article examines the prevalence of psychiatric disorders in a sample of adolescents from a Canadian community. Findings indicate that female adolescents have a higher incidence of mental illness than males and that depressive disorders, internalizing, and anxiety problems are the most common diagnoses among female subjects.

Of 26 teenage mothers in a nonclinical sample, one-third were found to have a diagnosis of conduct disorder; of these, two-thirds were also diagnosed with substance abuse or dependence. Conduct disorder as a risk factor for adolescent pregnancy and substance use is discussed, as are the implications for preventive intervention.

Objectives. Physical aggression in children is a major public health problem. Not only is childhood physical aggression a precursor of the physical and mental health problems that will be visited on victims, but also aggressive children themselves are at higher risk of alcohol and drug abuse, accidents, violent crimes, depression, suicide attempts, spouse abuse, and neglectful and abusive parenting. Furthermore, violence commonly results in serious injuries to the perpetrators themselves. Although it is unusual for young children to harm seriously the targets of their physical aggression, studies of physical aggression during infancy indicate that by 17 months of age, the large majority of children are physically aggressive toward siblings, peers, and adults. This study aimed, first, to identify the trajectories of physical aggression during early childhood and, second, to identify antecedents of high levels of physical aggression early in life. Such antecedents could help to understand better the developmental origins of violence later in life and to identify targets for preventive interventions. Methods. A random population sample of 572 families with a 5-month-old newborn was recruited. Assessments of physical aggression frequency were obtained from mothers at 17, 30, and 42 months after birth. Using a semiparametric, mixture model, distinct clusters of physical aggression trajectories were identified. Multivariate logit regression analysis was then used to identify which family and child characteristics, before 5 months of age, predict individuals on a high-level physical aggression trajectory from 17 to 42 months after birth. Results. Three trajectories of physical aggression were identified. The first was composed of children who displayed little or no physical aggression. These individuals were estimated to account for ~28% of the sample. The largest group, estimated at ~58% of the sample, followed a rising trajectory of modest aggression. Finally, a group, estimated to comprise ~14% of the sample, followed a rising trajectory of high physical aggression. Best predictors before or at birth of the high physical aggression trajectory group, controlling for the levels of the other risk factors, were having young siblings (odds ratio [OR]: 4.00; confidence interval [CI]: 2.2-7.4), mothers with high levels of antisocial behavior before the end of high school (OR: 3.1; Ch 1.1-8.6), mothers who started having children early (OR: 3.1; Ch 1.4-6.8), families with low income (OR: 2.6; CI: 1.3-5.2), and mothers who smoked during pregnancy (OR: 2.2; CI: 1.1-4.1). Best predictors at 5 months of age were mothers' coercive parenting behavior (OR: 2.3; CI: 1.1-4.7) and family dysfunction (OR: 2.2; Ch 1.2-4.1). The OR for a high-aggression trajectory was 10.9 for children whose mother reported both high levels of antisocial behavior and early childbearing. Conclusions. Most children have initiated the use of physical aggression during infancy, and most will learn to use alternatives in the following years before they enter primary school. Humans seem to learn to regulate the use of physical aggression during the preschool years. Those who do not, seem to be at highest risk of serious violent behavior during adolescence and adulthood. Results from the present study indicate that children who are at highest risk of not learning to regulate physical aggression in early childhood have mothers with a history of antisocial behavior during their school years, mothers who start childbearing early and who smoke during pregnancy, and parents who have low income and have serious problems living together. All of these variables are relatively easy to measure during pregnancy. Preventive interventions should target families with high-risk profiles on these variables. Experiments with such programs have shown long-term impacts on child abuse and child antisocial behavior. However, these impacts were not observed in families with physical violence. The problem may be that the prevention programs that were provided did not specifically target the parents' control over their physical aggression and their skills in teaching their infant not to be physically aggressive. Most intervention programs to prevent youth physical aggression have targeted school-age children. If children normally learn not to be physically aggressive during the preschool years, then one would expect that interventions that target infants who are at high risk of chronic physical aggression would have more of an impact than interventions 5 to 10 years later, when physical aggression has become a way of life. Pediatrics 2004;114:e43-e50. URL: http://www.pediatrics. org/cgi/content/full/114/1/e43; physical aggression, early childhood, trajectories, predictors.