Elizabeth C. Shelleby

Early-Starting Conduct Problems: Intersection of Conduct Problems and Poverty

The current article reviews extant literature on the intersection between poverty and the development of conduct problems (CP) in early childhood. Associations between exposure to poverty and disruptive behavior are reviewed through the framework of models emphasizing how the stressors associated with poverty indirectly influence child CP by compromising parent psychological resources, investments in childrens welfare, and/or caregiving quality. We expand on the best-studied model, the family stress model, by emphasizing the mediating contribution of parent psychological resources on childrens risk for early CP, in addition to the mediating effects of parenting. Specifically, we focus on the contribution of maternal depression, in terms of both compromising parenting quality and exposing children to higher levels of stressful events and contexts. Implications of the adapted family stress model are then discussed in terms of its implications for the prevention and treatment of young childrens emerging CP.

Outcomes of Parenting Interventions for Child Conduct Problems: A Review of Differential Effectiveness

This review integrates findings from studies formally testing moderators of parenting interventions targeting child conduct problems from ages 1 to 10 with a focus on baseline child problem behavior, sociodemographic risks, and family process risks as moderators. The review examines whether differential effectiveness has been found for individuals at higher versus lower risk across the body of moderator studies of parenting interventions. We conclude that greater problematic child behavior at baseline may, in some cases, be associated with greater benefit from parenting interventions. None of these studies reviewed found reduced effects for those with higher baseline child problem behavior. With regard to sociodemographic and family process risks as moderators, findings are less consistent; however, on the whole, the collection of studies suggests equal effectiveness across levels of risk, with reduced effects for those at higher risk rarely demonstrated. Implications of these conclusions for future research and intervention efforts are discussed.

Behavioral Control in At-Risk Toddlers: The Influence of the Family Check-up

This study examines the role of one component of emotion regulation, behavioral control, in the growth of childrens early behavior problems by examining whether increases in parental positive behavior support brought about by a family-centered intervention were associated with greater child behavioral control, and whether greater behavioral control at age 3 mediated the association between improvements in aspects of positive behavior support from ages 2 to 3 and decreases in growth of behavior problems from ages 2 to 4. The sample included 713 at-risk children (50% female) and their primary caregivers (50% European American, 28% African American, 13% biracial, 9% other) who were randomly assigned to the intervention or control group. Children had a mean age of 29.91 months at the initial assessment. Data were collected through home visits at child ages 2 to 4, which involved questionnaires for primary caregivers and structured and unstructured play activities for children with primary and alternative caregivers and siblings. Results indicated that the intervention improved parental positive behavior support and reduced growth of child behavior problems. One dimension of positive behavior support, proactive parenting, was modestly associated with behavioral control at age 3, which in turn was significantly associated with growth in behavior problems from ages 2 to 4, with greater behavioral control related to lower levels of growth in behavior problems. Results provide support for the notion that proactive parenting is an important factor in the development of childrens behavioral control and that behavioral control plays an important role in the growth of behavior problems.

Income and Children's Behavioral Functioning: A Sequential Mediation Analysis

Children from low-income households tend to exhibit higher levels of conduct problems and emotional problems, yet the pathways linking economic disadvantage to childrens behavioral functioning are not well understood. This study uses data from the Early Steps Multisite (ESM) project (N = 731) to investigate associations between family income in early childhood and childrens conduct problems and emotional problems in middle childhood. The study explores whether the associations from income to child conduct problems and emotional problems operate through maternal depressive symptoms and 3 family risk factors in early childhood-harsh parenting, parenting hassles, and chaos in the home environment. Results of a sequential mediation model revealed significant indirect effects of family income on childrens conduct problems operating through maternal depressive symptoms and parenting hassles and indirect effects of family income on childrens emotional problems operating through maternal depressive symptoms, chaos in the home environment, and parenting hassles. Implications of these findings for understanding processes through which income influences child functioning are discussed.

Effects of the Family Check-Up on reducing growth in conduct problems from toddlerhood through school age: An analysis of moderated mediation.

Objective: The Family Check-Up (FCU) is a preventive intervention found to significantly reduce child conduct problems (CP). This study examined the extent to which parents reported that their child’s CP were a problem for them at baseline (baseline CP) as a moderator of FCU effects into middle childhood and moderated mediation models to explore positive parent-child dyadic interaction and maternal depressive symptoms as mediators. Method: Participants included 731 mother-child dyads followed from child ages 2 to 9.5 (49% female; 28% African American, 50% European American, 13% biracial, and 9% other; 13% self-reported as Hispanic), with half assigned to the FCU. Maternal depressive symptoms, observed parent and child behavior (positive dyadic interaction), and CP were assessed annually. Results: Support was found for baseline CP as a moderator of the FCU, with significant decreases in CP for children in the FCU demonstrating high baseline CP. The following associations did not differ between those with high versus low baseline CP. The FCU significantly increased positive dyadic interaction. Lower maternal depressive symptoms were associated with significantly lower CP. Conclusions: Findings add to existing evidence that preventive interventions are effective for high-risk families, and the FCU is especially beneficial for children whose parents report high levels of CP in early childhood. Further, the FCU significantly improved positive dyadic interaction for families of children with both high and low baseline CP.