A small proportion of children exhibit extreme and persistent conduct
problems through childhood. The present study employed the multiple-domain
model of Greenberg and colleagues as the framework for person-oriented
analyses examining whether parent–child attachment combines with
parenting, family ecology, and child characteristics in particular
configurations of risk that are linked to this problematic developmental
pathway. Using prospective data from a community sample of adolescent
mothers and their children, latent variable growth mixture modeling
identified a normative trajectory with declining problem behaviors during
the preschool period. Consistent with research on early-starter pathways,
a distinct group of children featured a higher intercept and a positive
slope, indicating an escalation in disruptive behaviors. Attachment
security played a role in defining specific risk profiles associated with
the probability of exhibiting this problem trajectory. Given particular
patterns of risk exposure, secure attachment served a protective function.
Avoidant, but not disorganized, attachment was associated with
significantly higher likelihood of the disruptive problem trajectory. The
results also indicated the general accumulation of risk was detrimental,
but the particular configuration of risk made a difference. Overall, the
findings suggest early attachment operates in conjunction with personal
and contextual risk to distinguish the development of later problem
behaviors.This research was supported by
grants from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (DA05208) and the
National Institute of Mental Health (MH52400, MH56599) and a National
Service Research Award (MH20010). The authors thank Mary R. Gillmore,
Diane M. Morrison, Steven Lewis, Mary Jane Lohr, Marilyn Gregory, the rest
of the research team, and the study participants.