Jan N. Hughes

First Do No Harm: Adverse Effects of Grouping Deviant Youth for Skills Training.

Recent research has suggested potential harmful effects of group-based skill training for children and adolescents with externalizing problems. This article reviews four types of evidence from published literature that supports the conclusion that grouping deviant youth for treatment may produce unintended, harmful effects. The evidence includes literature on the role of deviant peers in the socialization of aggressive youth, studies reporting adverse treatment effects for grouped interventions, studies comparing treatment outcomes that differed in the extent to which participants were grouped with deviant peers, and studies that highlight variables that mediate negative treatment outcomes. Finally, the article recommends a research agenda designed to help clinicians provide the highest level of care for children and adolescents with behavior problems.

Teacher-student support, effortful engagement, and achievement: A 3-year longitudinal study

Measures of teacher-student relationship quality (TSRQ), effortful engagement, and achievement in reading and math were collected once each year for 3 consecutive years, beginning when participants were in 1st grade, for a sample of 671 (53.1% male) academically at-risk children attending 1 of 3 school districts in Texas. In separate latent variable structural equation models, the authors tested the hypothesized model, in which Year 2 effortful engagement mediated the association between Year 1 TSRQ and Year 3 reading and math skills. Conduct engagement was entered as a covariate in these analyses to disentangle the effects of effortful engagement and conduct engagement. Reciprocal effects of effortful engagement on TSRQ and of achievement on effortful engagement were also modeled. Results generally supported the hypothesized model. Year 1 variables had a direct effect on Year 3 variables, above year-to-year stability. Findings suggest that achievement, effortful engagement, and TSRQ form part of a dynamic system of influences in the early grades, such that intervening at any point in this nexus may alter childrens school trajectories.

Teacher–Student Relationships as Compensatory Resources for Aggressive Children

This 2-year prospective investigation examined the association between the quality of teacher-student relationships and childrens levels of aggression in a sample of 140 second- and third-grade aggressive children (M age = 8.18). Consistent with the proposed dual-risk compensatory hypothesis, positive teacher-student relationships were more beneficial for aggressive African American and Hispanic children than for aggressive Caucasian children. Data did not support a moderating effect of negative parent-child relationship quality on the association between supportive teacher-student relationships and aggression. Findings underscore the importance of recruiting and preparing teachers capable of establishing supportive relationships with aggressive African American and Hispanic children. Results also suggest the need for multiple reporters of relationship quality in future research.

The Role of Relational Aggression in Identifying Aggressive Boys and Girls.

Abstract Peer perceptions of relational and overt aggression and peer evaluations of social competencies were obtained for 461 boys and 443 girls in second and third grades. In contrast to Crick and Grotpeter (1995) , boys obtained higher relational and overt aggression scores than girls, and the relation between both types of aggression and peer evaluations were similar for boys and girls. When controlling for levels of overt aggression, relational aggression made a statistically significant but small contribution to the prediction of both peer-evaluated competencies and teacher ratings of aggression in boys and girls. Analyses treating relational and overt aggression as categorical variables revealed gender differences in the prevalence and corresponding sociometric status of aggressive subtypes. When peer-rated relational aggression status is not considered, 60% of aggressive girls, compared to 7% of aggressive boys, are not identified as aggressive. High levels of overt aggression were more likely to result in peer rejection for girls than for boys. In a subsample of 112 children, peer-rated relational aggression contributed more to the discrimination of teacher-identified aggressive and nonaggressive girls, whereas peer-rated overt aggression contributed more to the discrimination of teacher-identified aggressive and nonaggressive boys.

A positive view of self: risk or protection for aggressive children?

Childrens ratings of competence and relationship quality were used to examine the association between idealized or inflated self-perceptions and level of aggression. Participants were 62 aggressive and 53 nonaggressive second and third graders. Ratings of competence were based on the Pictorial Scale of Perceived Competence and Social Acceptance for Young Children; ratings of relationship quality were drawn from the Social Support Appraisals Scale and the Network of Relationships Inventory. External ratings of competence and relationship quality were obtained from mothers, teachers, and peers. Compared to children who were nonaggressive, aggressive children were more likely to rate personal competence and relationship quality in a perfect or idealized manner and to show less differentiation in their ratings of competence and relationship quality. Aggressive childrens self-rated competence and relationship quality were also inflated relative to the ratings made by others, whereas the self-ratings of nonaggressive children tended to be underestimates of their functioning. The tendency for aggressive children to idealize and to inflate ratings of competence and relationship quality was associated with higher levels of aggression. For aggressive children, a highly positive self-view is construed--not as a protective factor or measurement error--but as a defensive posture that places the child at added risk and that impedes the progress of psychosocial interventions.

Callous/unemotional traits moderate the relation between ineffective parenting and child externalizing problems: a partial replication and extension.

We replicated and extended Wootton, Frick, Shelton, and Silverthorns (1997) finding that childrens callous/unemotional (C/U) traits moderated the association between poor parenting and childrens externalizing problems. C/U traits were indexed (a) as dichotomous scores (D-C/U) above or below a cut score on the original C/U subscale and (b) as continuous scores (C-C/U-R) on the revised C/U subscale. Results did not support a moderating role for D-C/U scores, but significant interactions were found between C-C/U-R scores and poor parenting when predicting teachers and peers ratings of externalizing behavior. Poor parenting was unrelated to problem behavior in children with relatively high C-C/U-R scores.

Emotion regulation in couples and families : pathways to dysfunction and health

This is an edited book that addresses critical theoretical and methodological issues in the rapidly advancing field of emotion regulation. It presents empirical findings linking emotion regulation to individual and relationship functioning across the life span, while providing implications for clinical intervention, public policy, and future research. Contributors - who are nationally and internationally recognized for their expertise in social, developmental, and clinical disciplines - offer diverse perspectives on the role of emotion regulation processes in dysfunction and health. In addition to advancing the latest empirical developments, this volume will also be a prime resource for graduate students and practitioners working with children, couples, and families for whom emotion regulation difficulties are targets of clinical intervention.

Longitudinal Effects of Teacher and Student Perceptions of Teacher-Student Relationship Qualities on Academic Adjustment.

The shared and unique effects of teacher and student reports of teacher-student relationship quality (TSRQ) in second and third grade on academic self-views, behavioral engagement, and achievement the following year were investigated in a sample of 714 academically at-risk students. Teacher and student reports of teacher-student support and conflict showed low correspondence. As a block, teacher and student reports of TSRQ predicted all outcomes, above prior performance on that outcome and background variables. Student reports uniquely predicted school belonging, perceived academic competence, and math achievement. Teacher reports uniquely predicted behavioral engagement and child-perceived academic competence. Teacher and student reports of the teacher-student relationship assess largely different constructs that predict different outcomes. Implications of findings for practice and research are discussed.

Dynamics of teacher–student relationships: Stability and change across elementary school and the influence on children’s academic success

This study modeled teacher-student relationship trajectories throughout elementary school to predict gains in achievement in an ethnic-diverse sample of 657 academically at-risk students (mean age = 6.57 years, SD = .39). Teacher reports of warmth and conflict were collected in Grades 1-5. Achievement was tested in Grades 1 and 6. For conflict, low-stable (normative), low-increasing, high-declining, and high-stable trajectories were found. For warmth, high-declining (normative) and low-increasing patterns were found. Children with early behavioral, academic, or social risks were underrepresented in the normative trajectory groups. Chronic conflict was most strongly associated with underachievement. Rising conflict but not declining Conflict coincided with underachievement. The probability of school failure increased as a function of the timing and length of time children were exposed to relational adversity.

An Examination of the Convergent and Discriminant Validity of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire.

This study examined the factor structure of the parent and teacher versions of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ; R. Goodman, 1997) with a sample of first-grade children at risk for educational failure. The 5-factor model previously found in studies using exploratory factor analysis was fit to the data for both parent and teacher questionnaires. Fit indices for both versions were marginally adequate. Model fit was comparable across gender and ethnic groups. Factor fit for the parent questionnaire was invariant across parent educational level. The examination of convergent and discriminant validity included peer evaluations of each SDQ construct. Thus, each of the five constructs was evaluated by three sources (parent, teacher, and child). On the basis of D. T. Campbell and D. W. Fiskes (1959) multitrait-multimethod approach as well as a confirmatory factor analysis using the correlated uniqueness model, the SDQ has good convergent validity but relatively poor discriminant validity.