Jennifer E. Lansford

Peer Rejection and Social Information-Processing Factors in the Development of Aggressive Behavior Problems in Children

The relation between social rejection and growth in antisocial behavior was investigated. In Study 1,259 boys and girls (34% African American) were followed from Grades 1 to 3 (ages 6-8 years) to Grades 5 to 7 (ages 10-12 years). Early peer rejection predicted growth in aggression. In Study 2,585 boys and girls (16% African American) were followed from kindergarten to Grade 3 (ages 5-8 years), and findings were replicated. Furthermore, early aggression moderated the effect of rejection, such that rejection exacerbated antisocial development only among children initially disposed toward aggression. In Study 3, social information-processing patterns measured in Study 1 were found to mediate partially the effect of early rejection on later aggression. In Study 4, processing patterns measured in Study 2 replicated the mediation effect. Findings are integrated into a recursive model of antisocial development.

Early physical abuse and later violent delinquency: a prospective longitudinal study.

In this prospective longitudinal study of 574 children followed from age 5 to age 21, the authors examine the links between early physical abuse and violent delinquency and other socially relevant outcomes during late adolescence or early adulthood and the extent to which the childs race and gender moderate these links. Analyses of covariance indicated that individuals who had been physically abused in the first 5 years of life were at greater risk for being arrested as juveniles for violent, nonviolent, and status offenses. Moreover, physically abused youth were less likely to have graduated from high school and more likely to have been fired in the past year, to have been a teen parent, and to have been pregnant or impregnated someone in the past year while not married. These effects were more pronounced for African American than for European American youth and somewhat more pronounced for females than for males.

Parental Divorce and Children's Adjustment:

This article reviews the research literature on links between parental divorce and childrens short-term and long-term adjustment. First, I consider evidence regarding how divorce relates to childrens externalizing behaviors, internalizing problems, academic achievement, and social relationships. Second, I examine timing of the divorce, demographic characteristics, childrens adjustment prior to the divorce, and stigmatization as moderators of the links between divorce and childrens adjustment. Third, I examine income, interparental conflict, parenting, and parents well-being as mediators of relations between divorce and childrens adjustment. Fourth, I note the caveats and limitations of the research literature. Finally, I consider notable policies related to grounds for divorce, child support, and child custody in light of how they might affect children s adjustment to their parents divorce.

Developmental trajectories of externalizing and internalizing behaviors: Factors underlying resilience in physically abused children

Using a multisite community sample of 585 children, this study examined how protective and vulnerability factors alter trajectories of teacher-reported externalizing and internalizing behavior from kindergarten through Grade 8 for children who were and were not physically abused during the first 5 years of life. Early lifetime history of physical abuse (11.8% of sample) was determined through interviews with mothers during the prekindergarten period; mothers and children provided data on vulnerability and protective factors. Regardless of whether the child was abused, being African American; being male; having low early social competence, low early socioeconomic status (SES), and low adolescent SES; and experiencing adolescent harsh discipline, low monitoring, and low parental knowledge were related to higher levels of externalizing problems over time. Having low early social competence, low early SES, low adolescent SES, and low proactive parenting were related to higher levels of internalizing problems over time. Furthermore, resilience effects, defined as significant interaction effects, were found for unilateral parental decision making (lower levels are protective of externalizing outcomes for abused children), early stress (lower levels are protective of internalizing outcomes for abused children), adolescent stress (lower levels are protective of internalizing outcomes for abused children), and hostile attributions (higher levels are protective of internalizing outcomes for abused children). The findings provide a great deal of support for an additive or main effect perspective on vulnerability and protective factors and some support for an interactive perspective. It appears that some protective and vulnerability factors do not have stronger effects for physically abused children, but instead are equally beneficial or harmful to children regardless of their abuse status.

Role of GABRA2 in Trajectories of Externalizing Behavior Across Development and Evidence of Moderation by Parental Monitoring

CONTEXT As we identify genes involved in psychiatric disorders, the next step will be to study how the risk associated with susceptibility genes manifests across development and in conjunction with the environment. We describe analyses aimed at characterizing the pathway of risk associated with GABRA2, a gene previously associated with adult alcohol dependence, in a community sample of children followed longitudinally from childhood through young adulthood. OBJECTIVE To test for an association between GABRA2 and trajectories of externalizing behavior from adolescence to young adulthood and for moderation of genetic effects by parental monitoring. DESIGN Data were analyzed from the Child Development Project, with yearly assessments conducted since that time. A saliva sample was collected for DNA at the 2006 follow-up, with a 93% response rate in the target sample. Growth mixture modeling was conducted using Mplus to identify trajectories of externalizing behavior and to test for effects of GABRA2 sequence variants and parental monitoring. SETTING Nashville and Knoxville, Tennessee, and Bloomington, Indiana. PARTICIPANTS A community-based sample of families enrolled at 3 sites as children entered kindergarten in 1987 and 1988. Analyses for the white subset of the sample (n = 378) are reported here. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Parental monitoring measured at 11 years of age; Child Behavior Checklist youth reports of externalizing behavior at ages 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 19, 20, 21, and 22 years. RESULTS Two classes of externalizing behavior emerged: a stable high externalizing class and a moderate decreasing externalizing behavior class. The GABRA2 gene was associated with class membership, with subjects who showed persistent elevated trajectories of externalizing behavior more likely to carry the genotype previously associated with increased risk of adult alcohol dependence. A significant interaction with parental monitoring emerged; the association of GABRA2 with externalizing trajectories diminished with high levels of parental monitoring. CONCLUSIONS These analyses underscore the importance of studying genetic effects across development and of identifying environmental factors that moderate risk.

Developmental cascades of peer rejection, social information processing biases, and aggression during middle childhood.

This study tested a developmental cascade model of peer rejection, social information processing (SIP), and aggression using data from 585 children assessed at 12 time points from kindergarten through Grade 3. Peer rejection had direct effects on subsequent SIP problems and aggression. SIP had direct effects on subsequent peer rejection and aggression. Aggression had direct effects on subsequent peer rejection. Each construct also had indirect effects on each of the other constructs. These findings advance the literature beyond a simple mediation approach by demonstrating how each construct effects changes in the others in a snowballing cycle over time. The progressions of SIP problems and aggression cascaded through lower liking, and both better SIP skills and lower aggression facilitated the progress of social preference. Findings are discussed in terms of the dynamic, developmental relations among social environments, cognitions, and behavioral adjustment.

Impact of Positive and Negative Aspects of Marital Relationships and Friendships on Well-Being of Older Adults

This study examined associations between well-being and positive and negative aspects of social relationships among 128 married older adults with a best friend. Women were more depressed than men if they did not have a friend in whom to confide, but women who did have a friend in whom to confide reported lower levels of depressive symptomatology, closer to levels reported by men. Mens depressive symptomatology was not related to having a friend confidant. Similarly, women who did not have a same-sex best friend in whom to confide were less satisfied with life than women who did have a friend confidant and men in general. Having a best friend who gets on their nerves was negatively related to mens life satisfaction and positively related to womens. Thus, positive and negative aspects of friendships were related to womens and mens well-being in different ways and were more important for women. Positive and negative aspects of marital relationships, on the other hand, related to depressive symptomatology and life satisfaction of women in comparable ways as for men. Results are considered in terms of the practical implications for supportive relationships to help older people meet the challenges of aging.

Does Physical Abuse in Early Childhood Predict Substance Use in Adolescence and Early Adulthood

Prospective longitudinal data from 585 families were used to examine parents’ reports of child physical abuse in the first 5 years of life as a predictor of substance use at ages 12, 16, and 24. Path analyses revealed that physical abuse in the first 5 years of life predicted subsequent substance use for females but not males. We found a direct effect of early physical abuse on girls’ substance use at age 12 and indirect effects on substance use at age 16 and age 24 through substance use at age 12. For boys, age 12 substance use predicted age 16 substance use, and age 16 substance use predicted age 24 substance use, but physical abuse in the first 5 years of life was unrelated to subsequent substance use. These findings suggest that for females, a mechanism of influence of early physical abuse on substance use into early adulthood appears to be through precocious initiation of substance use in early adolescence.

The association between parental warmth and control in thirteen cultural groups

The goal of the current study was to investigate potential cross-cultural differences in the covariation between two of the major dimensions of parenting behavior: control and warmth. Participants included 1,421 (51% female) 7- to 10-year-old (M = 8.29, SD = .67 years) children and their mothers and fathers representing 13 cultural groups in nine countries in Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and North and South America. Children and parents completed questionnaires and interviews regarding mother and father control and warmth. Greater warmth was associated with more control, but this association varied widely between cultural groups.

Differences Between Men and Women in Social Relations, Resource Deficits, and Depressive Symptomatology During Later Life in Four Nations

This article examines gender differences in social relations and resource deficits in France (N= 553), Germany (N= 516), Japan (N= 491), and the United States (N= 514). These data, from regionally representative samples, indicate few gender differences in quantity or quality of social relations, but that women are more likely than men to experience widowhood, illness, and financial strain. In all countries, more deficits and more negative social interactions are associated with higher levels of depressive symptoms. Interestingly, among women in France and Japan but not among men in any country, quality of social relations offsets the negative consequences of resource deficits. Findings suggest that quality of social relations may have important implications for helping people, particularly women, cope with resource deficits common in late life.