Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jkksz Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-30T17:16:02.094Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Testing a developmental cascade model of emotional and social competence and early peer acceptance

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 October 2010

Alysia Y. Blandon
Affiliation:
Pennsylvania State University
Susan D. Calkins*
Affiliation:
University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Kevin J. Grimm
Affiliation:
University of California, Davis
Susan P. Keane
Affiliation:
University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Marion O'Brien
Affiliation:
University of North Carolina at Greensboro
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Susan D. Calkins, Department of Human Development and Family Studies, P.O. Box 26170, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, NC 27402-6170; E-mail: sdcalkin@uncg.edu.

Abstract

A developmental cascade model of early emotional and social competence predicting later peer acceptance was examined in a community sample of 440 children across the ages of 2 to 7. Children's externalizing behavior, emotion regulation, social skills within the classroom and peer acceptance were examined utilizing a multitrait–multimethod approach. A series of longitudinal cross-lag models that controlled for shared rater variance were fit using structural equation modeling. Results indicated there was considerable stability in children's externalizing behavior problems and classroom social skills over time. Contrary to expectations, there were no reciprocal influences between externalizing behavior problems and emotion regulation, although higher levels of emotion regulation were associated with decreases in subsequent levels of externalizing behaviors. Finally, children's early social skills also predicted later peer acceptance. Results underscore the complex associations among emotional and social functioning across early childhood.

Type
Regular Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2010

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Achenbach, T. M. (1991). Manual for the Child Behavior Checklist/4–18 and 1991 profile. Burlington, VT: University of Vermont, Department of Psychiatry.Google Scholar
Achenbach, T. M. (1992). Manual for the Child Behavior Checklist/2–3 and 1992 profile. Burlington, VT: University of Vermont, Department of Psychiatry.Google Scholar
Achenbach, T. M., & Edelbrock, C. S. (1983). Manual for the Child Behavior Checklist and Revised Child Behavior Profile. Burlington, VT: University of Vermont, Department of Psychiatry.Google Scholar
Achenbach, T., Edelbrock, C., & Howell, C. (1987). Empirically based assessment of the behavioral/emotional problems of 2- and 3-year-old children. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 15, 629650.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Blandon, A. Y., Calkins, S. D., Keane, S. P., & O'Brien, M. (2008). Individual differences in trajectories of emotion regulation processes: The effects of maternal depressive symptomatology and children's physiological regulation. Developmental Psychology, 44, 11101123.Google Scholar
Burt, K. B., Obradović, J., Long, J. D., & Masten, A. S. (2008). The interplay of social competence and psychopathology over 20 years: Testing transactional and cascade models. Child Development, 79, 359374.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Buss, K. A., & Goldsmith, H. H. (1998). Fear and anger regulation in infancy: Effects on the temporal dynamics of affective expression. Child Development, 69, 359374.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Calkins, S. D. (2009). Regulatory competence and early disruptive behavior problems: The role of physiological regulation. In Olson, S. L. & Sameroff, A. J. (Eds.), Biopsychosocial regulatory processes in the development of childhood behavioral problems (pp. 86115). New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Calkins, S. D., & Bell, M. A. (2010). Introduction: Putting the domains of development into perspective. In Calkins, S. D. & Bell, M. A. (Eds.), Child development at the intersection of emotion and cognition (pp. 313). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Calkins, S. D., & Dedmon, S. E. (2000). Physiological and behavioral regulation in two-year-old children with aggressive/destructive behavior problems. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 28, 103118.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Calkins, S. D., Dedmon, S. E., Gill, K. L., Lomax, L. E., & Johnson, L. M. (2002). Frustration in infancy: Implications for emotion regulation, physiological processes, and temperament. Infancy, 3, 175197.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Calkins, S. D., Gill, K. L., Johnson, M. C., & Smith, C. L. (1999). Emotional reactivity and emotional regulation strategies as predictors of social behavior with peers during toddlerhood. Social Development, 8, 310334.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Calkins, S. D., & Hill, A. (2007). Caregiver influences on emerging emotion regulation: Biological and environmental transactions in early development. In Gross, J. J. (Ed.), Handbook of emotion regulation (pp. 229248). New York: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Calkins, S. D., & Howse, R. B. (2004). Individual differences in self-regulation: Implications for childhood adjustment. In Philippot, P. & Feldman, R. S. (Eds.), The regulation of emotion (pp. 307332). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Calkins, S. D., & Keane, S. P. (2009). Developmental origins of early antisocial behavior. Development and Psychopathology, 21, 10951109.Google Scholar
Campbell, D. T., & Fiske, D. W. (1959). Convergent and discriminant validation by the multitrait–multimethod matrix. Psychological Bulletin, 56, 81105.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cicchetti, D., & Dawson, G. (2002). Multiple levels of analysis. Development and Psychopathology, 14, 417420.Google Scholar
Cicchetti, D., & Rogosch, F. A. (1996). Equifinality and multifinality in developmental psychopathology. Development and Psychopathology, 8, 597600.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cicchetti, D., & Schneider-Rosen, K. (1986). An organizational approach to childhood depression. In Rutter, M., Izard, C., & Read, P. (Eds.), Depression in young people: Clinical and developmental perspectives (pp. 71134). New York: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Coie, J., Dodge, K., & Coppotelli, H. (1982). Dimensions and types of social status: A cross-age perspective. Developmental Psychology, 18, 557570.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Coie, J. D., Lochman, J. E., Terry, R., & Hyman, C. (1992). Predicting adolescent disorder from childhood aggression and peer rejection. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 60, 783792.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Degnan, K. A., Calkins, S. D., Keane, S. P., & Hill-Soderlund, A. L. (2008). Profiles of disruptive behavior across early childhood: Contributions of frustration reactivity, physiological regulation, and maternal behavior. Child Development, 79, 13571376.Google Scholar
Denham, S. A., Blair, K. A., DeMulder, E., Levitas, J., Sawyer, K., Auerbach-Major, S., et al. (2003). Preschool emotional competence: Pathway to social competence. Child Development, 74, 238256.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Denham, S. A., McKinley, M., Couchoud, E. A., & Holt, R. (1990). Emotional and behavioral predictors of preschool peer ratings. Child Development, 61, 11451152.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dodge, K. A., Pettit, G. S., McClaskey, C. L., & Brown, M. M. (1986). Social competence in children. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 51, 185.Google Scholar
Doyle, A., Ostrander, R., Skare, S., Crosby, R., & August, G. (1997). Convergent and criterion-related validity of the Behavior Assessment System for Children—Parent Rating Scale. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 26, 276284.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Eisenberg, N., Cumberland, A. L., Spinrad, T. L., Fabes, R. A., Shepard, S. A., Reiser, M., et al. (2001). The relations of regulation and emotionality to children's externalizing and internalizing problem behavior. Child Development, 72, 11121114.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Eisenberg, N., Fabes, R. A., Bernzweig, J., & Karbon, M. (1993). The relations of emotionality and regulation to preschoolers' social skills and sociometric status. Child Development, 64, 14181438.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Eisenberg, N., Fabes, R. A., Guthrie, I. K., & Murphy, B. C. (1996). The relations of regulation and emotionality to problem behavior in elementary school children. Development and Psychopathology, 8, 141162.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eisenberg, N., Fabes, R. A., Murphy, B., Maszk, P., Smith, M., & Karbon, M. (1995). The role of emotionality and regulation in children's social functioning: A longitudinal study. Child Development, 66, 13601384.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Erhardt, D., & Hinshaw, S. P. (1994). Initial sociometric impressions of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and comparison boys: Predictions from social behaviors and from nonbehavioral variables. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 62, 833842.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gresham, F. M., & Elliott, S. N. (1990). Social Skills Rating System. Circle Pines, MN: American Guidance Service.Google Scholar
Grimm, K. J., Pianta, R. C., & Konold, T. R. (2009). Longitudinal multitrait–multimethod models for developmental research. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 44, 233258.Google Scholar
Halberstadt, A. G., Denham, S. A., & Dunsmore, J. C. (2001). Affective social competence. Social Development, 10, 79119.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hanish, L. D., & Guerra, N. G. (2002). A longitudinal analysis of patterns of adjustment following peer victimization. Development and Psychopathology, 14, 6989.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hartup, W. W. (1996). The company they keep: Friendships and their developmental significance. Child Development, 67, 113.Google Scholar
Hill, A. L., Degnan, K. A., Calkins, S. D., & Keane, S. P. (2006). Profiles of externalizing behavior problems for boys and girls across preschool: The roles of emotion regulation and inattention. Developmental Psychology, 42, 913928.Google Scholar
Hodges, E. V. E., Boivin, M., Vitaro, F., & Bukowski, W. M. (1999). The power of friendship: Protection against an escalating cycle of peer victimization. Developmental Psychology, 35, 94101.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hodges, E. V. E., & Perry, D. G. (1999). Personal and Interpersonal antecedents and consequences of victimization by peers. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 76, 677–675.Google Scholar
Howse, R., Calkins, S., Anastopoulos, A., Keane, S., & Shelton, T. (2003). Regulatory contributors to children's academic achievement. Early Education and Development, 14, 101119.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Howse, R. B., Calkins, S. D., Anastopoulos, A. D., Keane, S. P., & Shelton, T. L. (2003). Regulatory contributors to children's kindergarten achievement. Early Education and Development, 14, 101119.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hubbard, J. A. (2001). Emotion expression processes in children's peer interaction: The role of peer rejection, aggression, and gender. Child Development, 72, 14261438.Google Scholar
Jiang, L., & Cillessen, A. (2005). Stability of continuous measures of sociometric status: A meta-analysis. Developmental Review, 25, 125.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Keane, S. P., & Calkins, S. D. (2004). Predicting kindergarten peer social status from toddler and preschool problem behavior. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 32, 409423.Google Scholar
Keenan, K. (2000). Emotion dysregulation as a risk factor for child psychopathology. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 7, 418434.Google Scholar
Kline, R. B. (2005). Principles and practice of structural equation modeling (2nd ed.). New York: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Kochenderfer, B. J., & Ladd, G. W. (1996). Peer victimization: Cause or consequence of school maladjustment? Child Development, 67, 13051317.Google Scholar
Kochenderfer-Ladd, B., & Wardop, J. L. (2001). Chronicity and instability of children's peer victimization experiences as predictors of loneliness. Child Development, 72, 134151.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Konold, T. R., & Pianta, R. C. (2007). The influence of informants on ratings of children's behavioral functioning: A latent variable approach. Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 25, 222236.Google Scholar
Kopp, C. B. (1982). Antecedents of self-regulation: A developmental perspective. Developmental Psychology, 18, 199214.Google Scholar
Kuczynski, L., & Kochanska, G. (1995). Function and content of maternal demands: Developmental significance of early demands for competent action. Child Development, 66, 616628.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ladd, G. W., Kochenderfer, B. J., & Coleman, C. C. (1996). Friendship quality as a predictor of young children's early school adjustment. Child Development, 67, 11031118.Google Scholar
Ladd, G. W., Price, J. M., & Hart, C. H. (1988). Predicting preschoolers' peer status from their playground behaviors. Child Development, 59, 986992.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
La Paro, K. M., Rimm-Kaufman, S. E., & Pianta, R. C. (2006). Kindergarten to 1st grade: Classroom characters tics and the stability and change of children's classroom experiences. Journal of Research in Childhood Education, 21, 189202.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Larsen, R. J., & Prizmic, Z. (2004). Affect regulation. In Baumeister, R. F., & Vohs, K. D. (Eds.), Handbook of self-regulation: Research, theory, and applications (pp. 4061). New York: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Masten, A. S., Roisman, G. I., Long, J. D., Burt, K. B., Obradović, J., Riley, J. R., et al. (2005). Developmental cascades: Linking academic achievement and externalizing and internalizing symptoms over 20 years. Developmental Psychology, 41, 733746.Google Scholar
McArdle, J. J. (2001). A latent difference score approach to longitudinal dynamic structural analysis. In Cudeck, R., du Toit, S., & Sorbom, D. (Eds.), Structural equation modeling: Present and future (pp. 342380). Lincolnwood, IL: Scientific Software International.Google Scholar
Meredith, W. (1993). Measurement invariance, factor analysis and factorial invariance. Psychometrika, 58, 525543.Google Scholar
Meredith, W. (1964a). Notes on factorial invariance. Psychometrika, 29, 177185.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Meredith, W. (1964b). Rotation to achieve factorial invariance. Psychometrika, 29, 187206.Google Scholar
Miller-Johnson, S., Coie, J. D., Maumary-Gremaud, A., Bierman, K., & Conduct Problems Prevention Research Group. (2002). Peer rejection and aggression and early starter models of conduct disorder. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 30, 217230.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ochsner, K. N., Bunge, S. A., Gross, J. J., & Gabrieli, J. D. E. (2002). Rethinking feelings: An fMRI study of the cognitive regulation of emotion. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 14, 12151229.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ochsner, K. N., & Gross, J. J. (2005). The cognitive control of emotion. Trends in Cognitive Science, 9, 242249.Google Scholar
Olweus, D. (1992). Victimization among schoolchildren: Intervention and prevention. In Albee, G. W., Bond, L. A., & Monsey, T. V. C. (Eds.), Improving children's lives: Global perspectives on prevention (pp. 279295). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Reynolds, C. R., & Kamphaus, R. W. (1992). Behavior Assessment System for Children (BASC). Circles Pines, MN: AGS.Google Scholar
Rubin, K. H., Bukowski, W. M., & Parker, J. G. (2006). Peer interactions, relationships, and groups. In Eisenberg, N., Damon, W., & Lerner, R. M. (Eds.), Handbook of child psychology: Vol. 3. Social, emotional, and personality development (6th ed., pp. 571645). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.Google Scholar
Salisch, M. V. (2001). Children's emotional development: Challenges in their relationships to parents, peers, and friends. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 25, 310319.Google Scholar
Shields, A., & Cicchetti, D. (1997). Emotion regulation among school-age children: The development and validation of a new criterion Q-sort scale. Developmental Psychology, 33, 906916.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Shields, A., & Cicchetti, D. (2001). Parental maltreatment and emotion dysregulation as risk factors for bullying and victimization in middle childhood. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 30, 349363.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Shipman, K., Schneider, R., & Brown, A. (2004). Emotion dysregulation and psychopathology. In Beauregard, M. (Ed.), Consciousness, emotional self-regulation and the brain (pp. 6185). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.Google Scholar
Suveg, C., & Zeman, J. (2004). Emotion regulation in children with anxiety disorders. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 33, 750759.Google Scholar
Terry, A. W. (2000). An early glimpse: Service learning from an adolescent perspective. Journal of Secondary Gifted Education, 11, 115135.Google Scholar
Thompson, R. A., & Meyer, S. (2007). Socialization of emotion regulation in the family. In Gross, J. J. (Ed.), Handbook of emotion regulation (pp. 249268). New York: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Tremblay, R. E. (2003). Why socialization fails: The case of chronic physical aggression. In Lahey, B. B., Moffitt, T. E., & Caspi, A. (Eds.), Causes of conduct disorder and juvenile delinquency (pp. 182224). New York: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Widaman, K. F. (1985). Hierarchically nested covariance structure models for multitrait–multimethod data. Applied Psychological Measurement, 9, 126.Google Scholar
Woodward, L. J., & Fergusson, D. M. (2000). Childhood peer relationship problems and later risks of educational under-achievement and unemployment. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 41, 191201.Google ScholarPubMed