Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-c47g7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-19T10:24:43.117Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Child fear reactivity and sex as moderators of links between parenting and preschool behavior problems

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 October 2015

Melissa A. Barnett  and
Laura V. Scaramella
Melissa A. Barnett*
Affiliation:
University of Arizona
Laura V. Scaramella
Affiliation:
University of New Orleans
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to Melissa A. Barnett, University of Arizona, Norton School of Family & Consumer Sciences, P.O. Box 210078 Tucson, AZ 85721-0078; E-mail: barnettm@arizona.edu.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Reduced supportive parenting and elevated negative parenting behaviors increase risks for maladaptive social adjustment during early childhood (e.g., Campbell, Shaw, & Gilliom, 2000). However, the magnitude of these risks may vary according to children's individual characteristics, such as sex and temperament. The current study examines whether children's sex and fear reactivity moderate the associations between mothers’ observed parenting and children's behavior problems 1 year later. The sample consists of 151 predominantly African American, low-income families with one sibling who is approximately 2 years old and the closest aged older sibling who is approximately 4 years old. Results from fixed-effects within-family models indicate that fear distress (i.e., fearfulness) moderated associations between mothers’ observed negative parenting and children's increased behavior problems, such that only those children with mean or higher observed fear distress scores showed increased behavior problems when exposed to mother's negative parenting. Child sex moderated associations between fear approach reactivity (i.e., fearlessness) and mothers’ observed supportive parenting. Specifically, low fear approach combined with supportive parenting was associated with fewer behavior problems for boys only. Implications of these findings for preventive intervention are discussed.

Type
Special Section Articles
Information
Development and Psychopathology , Volume 27 , Issue 4pt1 , November 2015 , pp. 1179 - 1190
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2015 

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. (1994). Child Behavior Checklist. Burlington, VT: University of Vermont, Department of Psychiatry.Google Scholar
Angold, A., & Egger, H. L. (2007). Preschool psychopathology: Lessons for the lifespan. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 48, 961–966.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Baker, E., Baibazarova, E., Ktistaki, G., Shelton, K. H., & Van Goozen, S. H. (2012). Development of fear and guilt in young children: Stability over time and relations with psychopathology. Development and Psychopathology, 24, 833–845.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Barnett, M. A., & Scaramella, L.V. (2013). Parenting and child sex differences in behavior problems among African American preschoolers: A within-family sibling design. Journal of Family Psychology, 27, 773–783.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Belsky, J., Bakermans-Kranenburg, M. J., & van IJzendoorn, M. H. (2007). For better and for worse: Differential susceptibility to environmental influences. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 16, 300–304.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Belsky, J., & Pluess, M. (2009). Beyond diathesis stress: Differential susceptibility to environmental influences. Psychological Bulletin, 135, 885.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Blandon, A. Y., Calkins, S. D., Keane, S. P., & O'Brien, M. (2010). Contributions of child's physiology and maternal behavior to children's trajectories of temperamental reactivity. Developmental Psychology, 46, 1089.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Boeldt, D. L, Rhee, S. H., Dillala, L. F., Mullineaux, P. Y., Schulz-Heik, R. J., Corley, R. P., et al. (2011). The association between positive parenting and externalizing behavior. Infant and Child Development, 21, 85–106.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bornstein, M. H., Hahn, C., & Haynes, O. M. (2004). Specific and general language performance across early childhood: Stability and gender considerations. First Language, 24, 267–304. doi:10.1177/0142723704045681 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bradley, R. H., & Corwyn, R. F. (2008). Infant temperament, parenting, and externalizing behavior in first grade: A test of the differential susceptibility hypothesis. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, and Allied Disciplines, 49, 124–131. doi:10.1111/j.1469-7610.2007.01829.x CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bradley, R. H., & Corwyn, R. F. (2002). Socioeconomic status and child development. Annual Review of Psychology, 53, 371–399.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bryk, A. S., & Raudenbush, S. W. (1992). Hierarchical linear models for social and behavioral research: Applications and data analysis methods. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Buss, K. A. (2011). Which fearful toddlers should we worry about? Context, fear regulation, and anxiety risk. Developmental Psychology, 47, 804–819.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Calkins, S. D. (2002). Does aversive behavior during toddlerhood matter? The effects of difficult temperament on maternal perceptions and behavior. Infant Mental Health Journal, 23, 381–402.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Campbell, S. B., Shaw, D. S., & Gilliom, M. (2000). Early externalizing behavior problems: Toddlers and preschoolers at risk for later maladjustment. Developmental Psychopathology, 12, 467–488. doi:10.1017/S0954579400003114 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chen, J. L. (2010). Gender differences in externalizing problems among preschool children: Implications for early childhood educators. Early Child Development and Care, 180, 463–474. doi:10.1080/03004430802041011 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Colder, C. R., Mott, J. A., & Berman, A. S. (2002). The interactive effects of infant activity level and fear on growth trajectories of early childhood behavior problems. Development and Psychopathology, 14, 1–23.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Conger, R. D., & Donnellan, M. B. (2007). An interactionist perspective on the socioeconomic context of human development. Annual Review of Psychology, 58, 175–199. doi:10.1146/annurev.psych.58.110405.085551 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Conley, D., Pfeiffer, K. M., & Velez, M. (2007). Explaining sibling differences in achievement and behavioral outcomes: The importance of within- and between-family factors. Social Science Research, 36, 1087–1104.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crick, N., & Zahn-Waxler, C. (2003). The development of psychopathology in females and males: Current progress and future challenges. Development and Psychopathology, 15, 719–742.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Degnan, K. A., & Fox, N. A. (2007). Behavioral inhibition and anxiety disorders: Multiple levels of a resilience process. Development and Psychopathology, 19, 729–746.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Drevenstedt, G. L., Crimmins, E. M., Vasunilashorn, S., & Finch, C. E. (2008). The rise and fall of excess male infant mortality. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 105, 5016–5021.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Eisenberg, N., Cumberland, A., 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, 1112–1134.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ellis, B. J., & Boyce, W. T. (2008). Biological sensitivity to context. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 17, 183–187.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ellis, B. J., Boyce, W. T., Belsky, J., Bakermans-Kranenburg, M. J., & Van IJzendoorn, M. H. (2011). Differential susceptibility to the environment: An evolutionary–neurodevelopmental theory. Development and Psychopathology, 23, 7–28. doi:10.1017/S0954579410000611 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Else-Quest, N. M., Hyde, J. S., Goldsmith, H. H., & Van Hulle, C. A. (2006). Gender differences in temperament: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 132, 33.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fombonne, E. (2009). Epidemiology of pervasive developmental disorders. Pediatric Research, 65, 591–598. doi:10.1203/PDR.0b013e31819e7203 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fox, N. A. (2004). Temperament and early experience form social behavior. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1038, 171–178.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gilissen, R., Bakermans-Kranenburg, M. J., van IJzendoorn, M. H., & van der Veer, R. (2008). Parent-child relationship, temperament, and physiological reactions to fear-inducing film clips: Further evidence for differential susceptibility. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 99, 182–195.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gilissen, R., Koolstra, C. M., van Ijzendoorn, M. H., Bakermans-Kranenburg, M. J., & van der Veer, R. (2007). Physiological reactions of preschoolers to fear-inducing film clips: Effects of temperamental fearfulness and quality of the parent-child relationship. Developmental Psychobiology, 49, 187–195.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gilliom, M., & Shaw, D. S. (2004). Codevelopment of externalizing and internalizing problems in early childhood. Development and Psychopathology, 16, 313–333.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Goldsmith, H. H., Reilly, J., Lemery, K. S., Longley, S., & Prescott, A. (1999). The Laboratory Temperament Assessment Battery: Preschool version. Unpublished manuscript.Google Scholar
Hallgren, K. A. (2012). Computing inter-rater reliability for observational data: An overview and tutorial. Tutorials in Quantitative Methods for Psychology, 8, 23–34.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hayes, A. F., & Krippendorff, K. (2007). Answering the call for a standard reliability measure for coding data. Communication Methods and Measures, 1, 77–89.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hirshfeld-Becker, D. R., Biederman, J., Calltharp, S., Rosenbaum, E. D., Faraone, S. V., & Rosenbaum, J. F. (2003). Behavioral inhibition and disinhibition as hypothesized precursors to psychopathology: Implications for pediatric bipolar disorder. Biological Psychiatry, 53, 985–999.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Keenan, K., & Shaw, D. (1997). Developmental and social influences on young girls’ early problem behavior. Psychological Bulletin, 121, 95–113.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kiel, E. J., & Buss, K. A. (2011). Prospective relations among fearful temperament, protective parenting, and social withdrawal: The role of maternal accuracy in a moderated mediation framework. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 39, 953–966.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kiel, E. J., & Buss, K. A. (2014). Dysregulated fear in toddlerhood predicts kindergarten social withdrawal through protective parenting. Infant and Child Development, 23, 304–313. doi:10.1002/icd.1855 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kochanska, G., Coy, K. C., & Murray, K. T. (2001). The development of self-regulation in the first four years of life. Child Development, 72, 1091–1111.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kochanska, G., Kim, S., Barry, R. A., & Philibert, R. A. (2011). Children's genotypes interact with maternal responsive care in predicting children's competence: Diathesis–stress or differential susceptibility? Development and Psychopathology, 23, 605–616.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lilienfeld, S. O. (2003). Comorbidity between and within childhood externalizing and internalizing disorders: Reflections and directions. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 31, 285–291.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lipscomb, S. T., Leve, L. D., Harold, G. T., Neiderhiser, J. M., Shaw, D. S., Ge, X., et al. (2011). Trajectories of parenting and child negative emotionality during infancy and toddlerhood: A longitudinal analysis. Child Development, 82, 1661–1675. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.2011.01639.x CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McLoyd, V. C., Aikens, N. L., & Burton, L. M. (2006). Child poverty, policy and practice. In Damon, W., Lerner, R. M., Renninger, K. A., & Sigel, I. E. (Eds.), Handbook of child psychology: Vol. 4. Child psychology in practice (6th ed., pp. 700–775). New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
Mesman, J., van IJzendoorn, M. H., & Bakermans-Kranenburg, M. J. (2012). Unequal in opportunity, equal in process: Parental sensitivity promotes positive child development in ethnic minority families. Child Development Perspectives, 6, 239–250.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Miner, J. L., & Clarke-Stewart, K. A. (2008). Trajectories of externalizing behavior from age 2 to age 9: Relations with gender, temperament, ethnicity, parenting, and rater. Developmental Psychology, 44, 771–786. doi:10.1037/0012-1649.44.3.771 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nachmias, M., Gunnar, M., Mangelsdorf, S., Parritz, R. H., & Buss, K. (1996). Behavioral inhibition and stress reactivity: The moderating role of attachment security. Child Development, 67, 508–522.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
NICHD Early Child Care Research Network (1999). Child care and mother-child interaction in the first three years of life. Developmental Psychology, 35, 1399–1413.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Olino, T. M., Durbin, C. E., Klein, D. N., Hayden, E. P., & Dyson, M. W. (2012). Gender differences in young children's temperament traits: Comparisons across observational and parent-report methods. Journal of Personality, 3, 119–129. doi:10.1111/jopy.12000 Google Scholar
Patterson, G. R. (2002). The early developmental of coercive family process. In Reid, J. B., Patterson, G. R., & Snyder, J. (Eds.), Antisocial behavior in children and adolescents: Developmental theories and models for intervention (pp. 25–44). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.Google Scholar
Posner, M. I., & Rothbart, M. K. (2000). Developing mechanisms of self-regulation. Development and Psychopathology, 12, 427–441.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Preacher, K. J., Curran, P. J., & Bauer, D. J. (2006). Computational tools for probing interaction effects in multiple linear regression, multilevel modeling, and latent curve analysis. Journal of Educational and Behavioral Statistics, 31, 437–448.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Raine, A., Reynolds, C., Venables, P. H., Mednick, S. A., & Farrington, D. P. (1998). Fearlessness, stimulation-seeking, and large body size at age 3 years as early predispositions to childhood aggression at age 11 years. Archives of General Psychiatry, 55, 745–751.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Roisman, G. I., Newman, D. A., Fraley, R. C., Haltigan, J. D., Groh, A. M., & Haydon, K. C. (2012). Distinguishing differential susceptibility from diathesis–stress: Recommendations for evaluating interaction effects. Development and Psychopathology, 24, 389–409.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rothbart, M. K., & Bates, J. E. (2006). Temperament. In Damon, W., Lerner, R., & Eisenberg, N. (Eds.), Handbook of child Psychology: Vol. 3. Social, emotional, and personality development (6th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.Google Scholar
Rothbaum, F., & Weisz, J. R. (1994). Parental caregiving and child externalizing behavior in nonclinical samples: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 116, 55–74.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rubin, K. H., Burgess, K. B., & Hastings, P. D. (2002). Stability and social-behavioral consequences of toddlers’ inhibited temperament and parenting behaviors. Child Development, 73, 483–495.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rutter, M., Caspi, A., & Moffitt, T. E. (2003). Using sex differences in psychopathology to study causal mechanisms: Unifying issues and research strategies. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 44, 1092–1115.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Scaramella, L. V., & Leve, L. D. (2004). Clarifying parent-child reciprocities during early childhood: The early childhood coercion model. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 7, 89–107.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Shaw, D. S., Gilliom, M., Ingoldsby, E. M., & Nagin, D. S. (2003). Trajectories leading to school-age conduct problems. Developmental Psychology, 39, 189–200.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sroufe, L. A. (1997). Emotional development: The organization of emotional life in the early years. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Steinberg, L. (2005). Cognitive and affective development in adolescence. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 9, 69–74.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sterba, S. K., Prinstein, M. J., & Cox, M. J. (2007). Trajectories of internalizing problems across childhood: Heterogeneity, external validity, and gender differences. Development and Psychopathology, 19, 345–366. doi:10.1017/S0954579407070174 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stifter, C. A., Putnam, S., & Jahromi, L. (2008). Exuberant and inhibited toddlers: Stability of temperament and risk for problem behavior. Development and Psychopathology, 20, 401–421.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wilson, B. J. (2006). The entry behavior of aggressive/rejected children: The contributions of status and temperament. Social Development, 15, 463–479. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9507.2006.00351.x CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zaslow, M. J., Weinfield, N. S., Gallagher, M., Hair, E. C., Ogawa, J. R., Egeland, B., et al. (2006). Longitudinal prediction of child outcomes from differing measures of parenting in a low-income sample. Developmental Psychology, 42, 27–34.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zuckerman, M. (1999). Vulnerability to psychopathology: A biosocial model. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.CrossRefGoogle Scholar