Clarifying processes associated with emerging externalizing behavior problems during early childhood was the focus of this study. Data were collected from 100 parent-child dyads when children were 2, 3, and 4 years. An incremental risk model was hypothesized to explain the emergence of externalizing behavior problems. Theoretically, children's temperamental propensity towards negative emotional reactivity increases risk for noncompliance, noncompliance that increases risk for externalizing behaviors by age 4. Parenting was identified as the mechanism by which children's progression along the incremental risk pathway is amplified or minimized; progression is only expected under conditions of harsh parenting. No statistical support emerged for the incremental risk model or the moderational effects of harsh parenting. Harsh parenting was a statistically significant predictor of children's noncompliance one year later. Implications of the current findings for future research are discussed.

In this study we compared two theoretically different parenting programs for children with externalizing behavior problems, one behavioral, Comet, and one non-behavioral, Connect. Participants were 209 parents with children ages 8-12 who were randomized to the two programs. Parents experienced markedly less child externalizing behavior problems, both conduct problems and ADHD symptoms, as well as increased competence, improved family climate, and decreased emotional dyscontrol and levels of stress after both programs. The differences in effects between the programs were small and only measures of use of specific behavioral techniques had medium effects in favor of Comet. Thus, both Comet and Connect appear to be effective interventions but more research is needed, especially concerning long-term evaluations.

Temperament is widely recognized as an important factor in shaping the trajectory of social and emotional development across childhood. However, the particular mechanisms by which temperamental differences contribute to emergence of early prosocial or problem behaviors have been poorly elucidated. The current study sought to examine the association between various temperamental factors on the emergence of internalizing, externalizing and empathic behaviors in toddlers. Temperament profiles were derived for 38 children, aged 29 to 34 months, based on responses by mothers to questions on the Early Childhood Behavior Questionnaire. Internalizing and externalizing problem behaviors were assessed using the Child Behavior Checklist. Finally, empathic behaviors were measured behaviorally during a laboratory play session. Scores on three temperamental factor scales (negative affect, surgency, and effortful control) were examined in relation to behavioral problems (internalizing/externalizing) and prosocial (global empathy towards mother/experimenter) behaviors using linear correlations and regressions. Higher negative emotionality was linked with increased internalizing and externalizing behaviors, while increased surgency was associated with decreased internalizing behaviors. These results are consistent with prior studies of temperament, supporting the contention that early child temperament significantly contributes to the emergence of behavior problems. No significant interaction effects were found between temperament styles in predicting behavior problems. Additionally, no significant main or interaction effects were found in predicting adaptive behaviors, such as empathic responding. The significance of these results is discussed with respect to our understanding of the etiological pathways to adaptive and maladaptive socioemotional development. / text

The impacts of childhood stressors are harmful to the emotional and physical well-being of children of all ages. Past research has suggested that children experience increased stress due to change. One subgroup of the United States population that experiences change, is immigrants. Research provides empirical evidence of adolescent immigrant stress but has failed to examine stress experienced by immigrant children at a young age. The present study investigates how immigration status and child immigration generation might impact child stress at a young age using OLS regression. I predict that immigrant children will experience more stress than non-immigrant children and that there will be significant differences in stress between non-immigrant, 1.5 generation immigrant, and 2nd generation immigrant children. Using the 1998 and 2010 cohorts of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study (ECLS-K 1998 and ECLS-K 2010), I compare non-immigrant and immigrant children in the Kindergarten Wave. Results provide little support for my immigration hypotheses. However, findings suggest that increases in child stress are associated with parent and child health, family structure transitions, and residential movement. Implications of these findings are discussed.

Externalizing behavior problems in children reflect negative actions toward the external environment and can have detrimental consequences for their academic, social, and mental well-being. These actions range from breaking the rules to exhibiting extremely disruptive and aggressive behaviors, and they frequently come with issues with social behavior and emotional control. Socioemotional competencies, such as empathy and emotion regulation, serve as protective factors against behavior problems, enabling children to effectively manage their emotions and behaviors. This study focuses on examining the effectiveness of child-centered play therapy (CCPT) in reducing externalizing problems and enhancing socioemotional competencies in children aged 3 to 12. CCPT utilizes play as a natural language to establish a therapeutic relationship between play therapists and children. This relationship provides a safe and accepting environment for children to express themselves and develop self-regulation skills. By accepting responsibility for their actions, children can progress toward self-actualization and improved behavior management. To investigate the effectiveness of CCPT in reducing externalizing behavior problems and increasing socioemotional competencies in children, a systematic literature review was conducted, considering studies published over the last decade. Four databases were analyzed, and six articles met the predetermined inclusion criteria. While the data extracted from the included articles demonstrated promising results regarding the effectiveness of CCPT in reducing externalizing problems, the impact of CCPT on enhancing socioemotional competencies was not clear. It is important to acknowledge the limitations of this study, including the scarcity of research in this field and small sample sizes, which impede the generalization of the results to all populations. However, this study identified a research gap concerning the effectiveness of child-centered play therapy in addressing externalizing problems and children's social and emotional functioning. Future research is required to have a more comprehensive picture of how CCPT reduces externalizing problems and what abilities it gives children to cope with their problems; otherwise, it is not possible to consider CCPT as an evidence-based intervention for externalizing problems and widely use it for all children based on current data in the literature.

The current study examined the role that parent-child attachment plays in the relationship between marital conflict and the development of behavior problems in adolescents. To evaluate the hypothesis that attachment moderates this relationship, 57 families were recruited via e-mail invitation sent to families that participated in local church youth groups, school organizations, and a treatment program designed for adolescents with behavior problems. One custodial parent and his/her adolescent child completed an online or paper version of a survey consisting of the Achenbach’s Behavior Checklists, the Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment, and the Children’s Perception of Interparental Conflict Scale. Hypotheses were evaluated using Baron and Kenny’s (1986) procedures to test moderating effects with multiple regression analyses. Mother attachment demonstrated a significant moderation effect between the intensity of interparental conflict and the parent’s report of externalizing behavior problems. Specifically, at low conflict intensity levels, relative to low attachment security, high attachment security was associated with fewer externalizing behavior problems, whereas at high intensities of interparental conflict high attachment security was associated with more externalizing behavior problems.

<p dir="ltr">Military families are a unique context as they experience separation from the service member who is away from the family for a considerable duration of time for a job that puts them at risk of serious injury or death. Service members returning from deployments may display a variety of mental health difficulties including post-traumatic stress disorder, especially when they have combat experiences. Applying a family systems framework, this thesis examined the associations between both service members’ and significant others’ PTSD symptoms, their ineffective arguing, and their reports of their children’s externalizing behaviors across three time points during reintegration, or the stage in the deployment cycle when the service member returns to the family. The study tested hypotheses that these would decline over time, and that initial levels and the rate of change in ineffective arguing would mediate the effect of parental PTSD at Time 1 on children’s externalizing behaviors at Time 3. Using data from service members and significant others in 71 families (142 individuals), I estimated multilevel models using both mixed and the structural equation frameworks. I found that parental PTSD and ineffective arguing were stable across reintegration, with considerable inter-individual variation in these at baseline. There was a decrease in children’s externalizing behaviors across time. There were also significant differences in parents’ rating of children’s externalizing behaviors. I did not find evidence for mediation but did find an association between parental PTSD and baseline levels of ineffective arguing. Results suggest that while parental stress is linked with the couple’s functioning, there may be protective factors within families that act as sources of resilience for the children.</p><p><br></p>

<p>Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka om det finns ett samband mellan opredicerbara föräldrar och förekomsten av både interna och externa beteendeproblem hos ungdomar. I studien undersöks interna beteendeproblem såsom låg självkänsla och depression samt de externa beteendeproblemen brottslighet och aggression. Studien baseras på 1018 ungdomar i åldrarna 13- 15 år. Studien utgår från en enkätundersökning där fem olika skalor används för att mäta ungdomarnas självkänsla, depression, brottslighet och aggression samt hur konsekventa deras föräldrar är. Resultaten visar i allt väsentligt att de ungdomar som har både interna och externa beteendeproblem är de som rapporterar högst i opredicerbarhet hos sina föräldrar.</p> / <p>The purpose with this study is to investigate if there is an association between unpredictable parents and the occurrence of both internal and external behavior problems among adolescents. The study considers the internalizing behavior problems low self-esteem and depression and the externalizing behavior problems delinquency and aggression. The study consists of 1018 adolescents in ages between 13 and 15 years old. The study is based on a questionnaire where five scales are used to measure the participating adolescent’s self-esteem, depression, delinquency and aggression and their view on how consistent their parents are. The result shows that those adolescents who have both internalizing and externalizing behavior problems where those who reported highest in unpredictability in their parents.</p>

<p>Various aspects of elementary school children's behavior problems were investigated in four studies. In Study I, teachers’ perceived low control over the classroom situation and a custodial teacher orientation were associated with teachers' (n = 86) preferences for authoritarian strategies (e.g., firm commands) in handling externalizing child behavior problems. Further, perceived high control and a humanistic teacher orientation were associated with non-authoritarian strategies (e.g., reasoning with students). In Study II, the aim was to investigate prospectively teacher-child interactions and teacher-child perceptions of the relationship between children with externalizing (n=26) and internalizing (n=25) behavior problems and unproblematic children (n=44) in the first grade. Children with behavior problems had a higher frequency of negative teacher relationships than unproblematic children. Observed conflictual children-teacher interactions contributed to negative teacher relationships independent of problem status. The moderating effects of social competence were small. In Study III, the principal aim was to investigate whether the children’s social competence, relationships with teachers and behavior with peers functioned as protective or exacerbating factors regarding the adaptation of children with behavior problems. Children with externalizing and internalizing behavior problems, in comparison with unproblematic children, were lower in social competence, school achievement and peer acceptance in sixth grade. There were moderating and independent effects of social competence and teacher and peer relationships on outcomes, but these were mainly restricted to those children with internalizing problems. The primary aim of Study IV was to investigate the social and school adjustment of six-grade children experiencing feelings of loneliness and low peer acceptance. Totally, 808 children participated, and 323 of these children had been followed from grade 1 to grade 6. The results indicated that loneliness was most strongly predicted by early internalizing problems, whereas poor acceptance was predicted by early externalizing problems and poor social competence. Associations between loneliness and low peer acceptance and other adjustment difficulties were also observed. In conclusion, children with behavior problems risk negative relationships as well as other adjustment problems. Early interventions are important in strengthening the protective factors.</p>

Various aspects of elementary school children's behavior problems were investigated in four studies. In Study I, teachers’ perceived low control over the classroom situation and a custodial teacher orientation were associated with teachers' (n = 86) preferences for authoritarian strategies (e.g., firm commands) in handling externalizing child behavior problems. Further, perceived high control and a humanistic teacher orientation were associated with non-authoritarian strategies (e.g., reasoning with students). In Study II, the aim was to investigate prospectively teacher-child interactions and teacher-child perceptions of the relationship between children with externalizing (n=26) and internalizing (n=25) behavior problems and unproblematic children (n=44) in the first grade. Children with behavior problems had a higher frequency of negative teacher relationships than unproblematic children. Observed conflictual children-teacher interactions contributed to negative teacher relationships independent of problem status. The moderating effects of social competence were small. In Study III, the principal aim was to investigate whether the children’s social competence, relationships with teachers and behavior with peers functioned as protective or exacerbating factors regarding the adaptation of children with behavior problems. Children with externalizing and internalizing behavior problems, in comparison with unproblematic children, were lower in social competence, school achievement and peer acceptance in sixth grade. There were moderating and independent effects of social competence and teacher and peer relationships on outcomes, but these were mainly restricted to those children with internalizing problems. The primary aim of Study IV was to investigate the social and school adjustment of six-grade children experiencing feelings of loneliness and low peer acceptance. Totally, 808 children participated, and 323 of these children had been followed from grade 1 to grade 6. The results indicated that loneliness was most strongly predicted by early internalizing problems, whereas poor acceptance was predicted by early externalizing problems and poor social competence. Associations between loneliness and low peer acceptance and other adjustment difficulties were also observed. In conclusion, children with behavior problems risk negative relationships as well as other adjustment problems. Early interventions are important in strengthening the protective factors.