Although researchers have often focused on the victims of aggression, the detrimental effects of engaging in aggression and/or displaying symptoms of externalizing disorders have been clearly identified in children and adolescents. Longstanding consequences of externalizing problems include internalizing difficulties such as depression. There is an increasing interest in identifying the direction of effect and understand whether externalizing problems precede internalizing problems, vice-versa, or whether they share a bi-directional relation. However, the study of the temporal sequence between aggression, externalizing disorders, and internalizing disorders in children and adolescents has yielded inconsistent findings. The sequential relation between externalizing and internalizing difficulties in children and adolescents was examined in this dissertation consisting of three studies. In Study 1, the moderating role of worry in the relation between aggression and depression was examined. The sample consisted of girls nominated as either relationally or physically aggressive by their peers. Results indicated that worry exacerbated the risk of reporting elevated depressive symptoms concurrently and one year later for physically aggressive girls. In Study 2, three competing hypotheses on the longitudinal relation between aggression and depression were compared. Findings from this study supported the hypothesis that symptoms of depression are preceded by aggressive behaviour. Additionally, it was found that engaging in physical aggression predicted depressive symptoms for girls but not for boys. The results of the first two studies suggest that for girls, engaging in non-normative forms of aggression is associated with greater mental health problems. In Study 3, the temporal relation between symptoms of externalizing disorders, namely oppositional defiant disorder and conduct disorder, and symptoms of depression was examined. Results provided support that the progressive relation between symptoms of externalizing and internalizing disorders was bi-directional. In summary, although it seems that engaging in externalizing behaviour, such as aggression, predicts symptoms of depression, findings from the third study suggest that the sequential relation between symptoms of externalizing problems, which may or may not include aggressive behaviour, and symptoms of depression seem to share a reciprocal relation.

Child internalizing and externalizing problems co-vary during development and lead to maladjustment outcomes, such as substance abuse, academic failure, antisocial behaviors and psychopathology. The proposed study aims to examine the co-development process of internalizing and externalizing problems during middle childhood and the potential moderators of this reciprocal relationship. Children and their families recruited in the Study of Early Childhood Care and Youth Development (SECCYD) constitute the sample of the current study. Participants in the study were recruited from nine states in the United States and followed from birth to adolescence. Though a few studies have examined the developmental trajectories of internalizing and externalizing problems over time, the findings are not consistent in terms of the directions of the relationship and very few have examined individual difference in the co-development process. To address this gap in knowledge, two moderating effects are examined, with one moderator being time-invariant, i.e., children's gender, and the other moderator being time-variant, i.e. parent-child conflicts. Longitudinal growth modeling and longitudinal difference score modeling are used to examine the dynamic relationship and the moderating effects. Comparisons of the two approaches are made with respect to the specific hypotheses of change tested by each model, model convergence, parameter and fit estimates, and the interpretation of the results. / Ph. D.

This study examined the link between interparental violence and children's functioning. The goal of the study was to examine an indirect pathway of the effect of interparental violence on children's internalizing and externalizing problems. The data for the study was drawn from The Women and Family Project and included 359 women and one of their children between the ages of 5 and 12-years-old. Sixty-four of these women resided in a battered women's shelter, 100 of these women resided in the community but had a history of interparental violence, and 195 of these women were recruited as a comparison sample. Interparental violence, maternal parenting practices, maternal depression, and children's internalizing and externalizing problems were assessed via interviews with mothers and their children. An indirect pathway hypothesis of the effects of interparental violence which posits that interparental violence leads to maternal depression, maternal depression leads to maternal use of maladaptive parenting practices, and maternal maladaptive parenting practices lead to children's internalizing and externalizing problems was tested using structural equation modeling. This new model of the indirect effects of interparental violence was supported by the results of the structural equation models when tested on the sample as a whole as well as separately for the battered and nonbattered sample. A second indirect pathway, though, was more strongly supported. This second model indicates that interparental violence affects children through maternal depression, which is directly related to children's internalizing and externalizing problems. The results of the present study support the importance of indirect pathways of the effects of interparental violence on children.

The present study investigated the direct and interactional effects of neighborhood disadvantage and harsh parenting on concurrent assessments and change in externalizing and internalizing behavior in toddlerhood. The study included 55 mothers and their children; families completed in-home assessments when children were 2 and 3 years of age. Mothers' reports were used to measure neighborhood disadvantage and children's problem behaviors. Observer ratings derived from a clean up task were used to measure harsh parenting. Four hierarchical regression equations were computed to test each study hypothesis. Results indicated marginally significant effects of harsh parenting on externalizing problems at age 2. Surprisingly, harsh parenting and exposure to neighborhood risk did not significantly predict increases in externalizing behavior problems from age 2 to 3. Harsh parenting was marginally related to children's internalizing problems under conditions of high levels of neighborhood disadvantage and predicted increases in internalizing over time. The theoretical implications of the results are discussed.

This study aims to find out the relationship among marital communication patterns, parental attitudes, internalizing and externalizing behavior problems of children. To elaborate, it is aimed to figure out whether marital communication patterns predict parental attitudes, and children internalizing and externalizing behavior problems. Furthermore, it is purposed to investigate the relationship between parental attitudes and children adjustment. Finally, mediator role of parental attitudes between marital communication patterns and children adjustment was investigated. The participants of this study consist of 189 parents of preschool children. In order to measure the variables and characteristics of participants, Demographic Information Form, Communication Patterns Questionnaire (CPQ), Parenting Styles and Dimensions Questionnaire (PSDQ), and Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) are used. The results of the study revealed that higher levels of destructive communication pattern is significantly associated with higher levels of authoritarian parenting attitudes whereas higher levels of constructive communication pattern is related to lower levels of permissive parenting style. Moreover, there is positive significant relationship was found between mother reported constructive communication pattern and authoritative style. Furthermore, it was shown that mother reported authoritarian and authoritative parenting attitudes are linked to emotional problems of children. Another finding of the current study revealed that constructive communication pattern is related to prosocial behavior of children. Besides inattention problems of children was found to be associated with aggressive communication pattern and mother reported permissive parenting style. However, no significant mediation effect was found. The significance, limitations, and clinical implications were discussed in the light of related literature.

This study aimed at revealing the mediational role of mothers&rsquo / psychological adjustment between mothers&rsquo / parental attitudes and their preschool children&rsquo / s behavioral problems relationship. The participants were 204 married mothers, 64 fathers, 195 chief teachers and 25 assistant teachers of preschool children aged between 1&frac12 / - 5 years-old, who are attending nurseries in different neighborhoods of Ankara. Prior to the main analyses, the reliability analyses of Child Behavior Check List - 1&frac12 / - 5 (CBCL &ndash / 1&frac12 / - 5), and Caregiver-Teacher Report Form (C-TRF) were conducted. These analyses yielded many significant coefficients, though the strength of the correlations varied from low to high. Following the reliability analyses, Hierarchical Regression Analyses were performed to test the mediational role of mothers&rsquo / psychological adjustment between their parental attitudes and children&rsquo / s internalizing, externalizing, and total behavior problems relationships. For these analyses, the variances accounted for by children&rsquo / s and mothers&rsquo / demographic characteristics were controlled. Results revealed that, &lsquo / Rejection of the Home Making Role&rsquo / measure of PARI and Trait Anxiety measure explained the largest amount of variances while predicting the children&rsquo / s behavioral problems. According to hierarchical regression analyses, rejecting attitudes of mothers significantly associated with children&rsquo / s internalizing, externalizing, and total behavior problems. Moreover, mothers&rsquo / rejecting attitudes significantly associated with their trait anxiety which is in turn associated with children&rsquo / s behavior problems. However, after controlling for the effect of trait anxiety, the relationship between mothers&rsquo / rejecting attitudes and their children&rsquo / s behavior problems was disappeared. Therefore, mothers&rsquo / trait anxiety was found to mediate their rejecting attitudes and preschool children&rsquo / s internalizing, externalizing, and total behavior problems. Results were discussed by referring the relevant literature.

Disruptive behavior problems are among the most commonly occurring forms of childhood psychopathology and show considerable stability beginning in early childhood. Investigations of the biological underpinnings of behavior problems have revealed that the influences of the parasympathetic branch of the autonomic nervous system on cardiac functions are central to self-regulation. Parasympathetic regulation of heart rate is indexed via respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA). Suppression of RSA during challenging emotional and cognitive tasks is associated with better emotional and behavioral functioning in preschoolers. However, the relationship between RSA suppression and preschool social functioning is still unclear. Further, direct relationships between behavior problems and RSA reactivity within command-based play tasks (i.e., child instructed to build 3 towers) with parents and other adults have yet to be examined. The present study experimentally evaluated the relationship between child RSA reactivity and adult (mother vs. staff) commands requiring child compliance during command-based play tasks in children ages 3-8 with and without disruptive behavior disorders (N=43). Child RSA suppression in response to commands was examined as a predictor of child command compliance during experimental play tasks and of general child behavior problems, and was compared across command-based interactions with mothers versus staff. Less RSA suppression in the context of mothers’ play-based commands was associated with more severe behavioral problems (p=.046). In the context of staff play-based commands, more RSA suppression was associated with more severe behavior problems (p=.009), an effect that was significant only among boys (p<.000). Further, greater child RSA suppression predicted greater compliance with mother-given commands (p=.017), but was unrelated to compliance with staff-given commands. The relationship between child RSA suppression and compliance with mother-given commands was moderated by child age, such that the effect of RSA suppression on child compliance was stronger for younger children than older children. Findings suggest that RSA reactivity to social demands, and the functional association between RSA suppression and behavioral compliance, vary by social context (i.e., mother vs. other adult command-givers) and identify child factors (i.e., age, gender) that influence these associations. This work may inform efforts to identify a biomarker of early childhood behavior problems.

Harm reduction strategies can mitigate against some of the deleterious effects of alcohol on families. These strategies are most feasible and cost-effective when they can be targeted at those who are most at risk. Previous studies examining the relation between parents’ alcohol use and their children’s psychological adjustment have failed to consider important contextual questions such as drinking motives. The current investigation set out to identify the extent to which parents’ drinking motives predict internalizing and externalizing psychopathology in their children. The investigation consisted of cross sectional analysis of parents’ drinking motives and their children’s adjustment using data from 154 families recruited from the local community. Utilizing Bayesian data analytic techniques, we examined the role of parents’ drinking motives along with possible mediating variables including familial conflict, parental depression, and parenting style. Results showed that maternal social drinking motives were better predictors of children’s maladjustment than either coping or enhancement drinking motives. Unexpectedly, maternal enhancement drinking motives were associated with fewer adjustment problems. Maternal enhancement drinking motives also predicted higher levels of collaborative conflict resolution and lower levels of parental depression, both of which were associated with reduced levels of children’s externalizing problems. Paternal alcohol consumption and drinking motives were not associated with children’s internalizing or externalizing problems. Clinical implications and directions for future research are discussed.

Abstract This study focuses on early attachment and its effects on later cognitive development and mental well-being in Finnish twins and singletons. Altogether 84 infants, including both singletons (N = 27) and twins (N = 57), were assessed at 18 months of age to determine their infant–mother and infant–father attachment using the Preschool Assessment of Attachment (PAA), a modification of the Ainsworth infant classification system. In the whole sample, approximately one third (37%) of the children were assessed as using avoidant/defended insecure (Type A), one third (35%) secure/balanced (Type B), one fifth (20%) resistant/coercive insecure (Type C) and the rest insecure other (IO, 8%) attachment strategy with their mothers, while the corresponding percentages of attachment strategies with fathers were 36%, 33%, 28% and 3%, respectively. The results yielded a difference in the maternal attachment between twins and singletons; the twins were more often Type B attached than the singletons. At 36 months the children were tested with the Stanford-Binet test for measuring their intelligence level. Children with Type A or Type B attachment pattern attained the highest IQ. High socio-economic status of the family and mature pregnancy (≥ 37 weeks) were also significantly linked with higher intelligence levels. At the age of 48 months, the children’s mental well-being was assessed by using CBCL (Child Behavior Checklist, Achenbach) questionnaires completed by the mothers of 22 singletons and 51 twins and the fathers of 20 singletons and 60 twins. Type A attachment strategy with the mother among singleton toddlers was significantly associated with higher CBCL scores reported by mothers, concerning withdrawal, somatic problems and total internalizing symptoms, whereas among twins there were no such correlations. In addition, on the basis of the parental reports singletons had significantly more behavioural and emotional symptoms than the twins. / Tiivistelmä Tutkimuksessa tarkastellaan suomalaisten yksös- ja kaksoslasten varhaisen kiintymyssuhteen vaikutusta myöhempään lapsuusiän kehitykseen ja psyykkiseen hyvinvointiin. Yhteensä 84 lapsen, 27 yksösen ja 57 kaksosen, kiintymyssuhdestrategia arviointiin 18 kuukauden iässä äitiin ja isään PAA – menetelmällä (Pre¬school Assessment of Attachment), joka on modifikaatio Ainsworthin pikkulasten kiintymyssuhteen luokitusjärjestelmästä. Lapsista noin kolmanneksella (37%) oli suhteessa äitiin välttelevä kiintymyssuhdestrategia (A-tyyppi), toisella kolmanneksella (35%) turvallinen (B-tyyppi), viidenneksellä (20%) vastustava (C-tyyppi) ja loppuosalla muu turvaton (IO, 8%). Vastaavat osuudet lasten ja isien välisissä kiintymyssuhteissa ryhmittäin (A, B, C ja IO) olivat 36%, 33%, 28% ja 3%. Kaksosten kiintymyssuhdestrategia suhteessa äitiin oli yksösiä useammin turvallinen. Lasten kognitiivinen taso arvioitiin Stanford-Binet –testillä 36 kuukauden iässä. Lapset, joiden kiintymyssuhde äitiin tai isään oli joko A- tai B-tyyppinen, menestyivät testissä parhaiten. Korkea sosioekonominen status ja täysiaikaisuus (≥ 37 raskausviikkoa) olivat yhteydessä merkitsevästi parempaan suoriutumiseen testissä. Lasten psyykkistä hyvinvointia arvioitiin 48 kuukauden iässä CBCL-lomakkeella (Child Behavior Checklist), jonka täytti 51 kaksosen ja 22 yksösen äitiä sekä 60 kaksosen ja 20 yksösen isää. Yksösillä, joilla oli A-tyyppinen kiintymyssuhde äitiin, oli äitien raportoimana merkitsevästi enemmän vetäytymistä, somaattisia oireita ja ylipäätään internalisoivia (tunne-elämän) oireita. Lisäksi vanhemmat raportoivat yksösillä olevan merkitsevästi enemmän sekä käyttäytymisen että tunne-elämän oireita kaksosiin verrattuna.

Genetic and home chaos influences in early childhood have been independently associated with externalizing problems, characterized by inattentive, hyperactive, and aggressive behaviors. However, the Behavioral Genetics approach indicates that genetic and environmental influences, although independently effective, interact to produce behavior throughout development. Thus, this thesis uses two samples, the Early Growth and Development study (EGDS), n= 564, and the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC), n= 8,952, and two genetically-sensitive approaches, a parent-child adoption approach and a polygenic scoring approach, to examine how genetic influences and home chaos interact in early childhood (age 3-4) to predict externalizing problems later in childhood (age 7). Results indicate that, although home chaos is correlated with later externalizing problems, the effect is reduced in the context of earlier externalizing, possibly suggesting that home chaos is most salient for concurrent, not later, externalizing problems. In addition, genetic influences were not predictive of externalizing problems in either study, nor was the interaction of home chaos and genetic influences. This pattern of results suggests that, although home chaos may be an important factor for concurrent externalizing problems, other factors, e.g., parenting style and prenatal risk, may be more salient than home chaos, especially in interaction with genetic effects. Further, failure to find genetic influence in this thesis suggest that accounting for the broad scope of genetic influences on complex traits like externalizing and the specific genetic risk for individual externalizing phenotypes is important in attempts to find genetic influence and interaction.