Kristin S. Mathiesen

Dimensions of early childhood behavior problems : Stability and predictors of change from 18 to 30 months

The prevalence, structure, stability, and predictors of change in early behavior problems were examined in a population-based sample of Norwegian children at 18 and 30 months of age (N = 750). A clear factor structure involving four dimensions emerged at both assessment times: Two factors were characterized by externalizing behaviors and were labeled Social Adjustment and Overactive-Inattentive; one factor tapped internalizing problems and was labeled Emotional Adjustment; and the fourth, related to general immaturity, was labeled Regulation. Specific patterns of child and family risk factors were associated with stability and change over the two time points for each factor. Children with stable problems had the most problematic characteristics on all significant predictors, followed by children with problems at one, but not both, time points. The data suggest that it is possible to identify risk factors for stable problems at 18 months, allowing some prediction of those children whose problems will persist over early childhood. Since specific risk factors emerged for specific types of behavior problems, the results may provide some much-needed guidance to early intervention efforts.

Temperament profiles from infancy to middle childhood: development and associations with behavior problems.

The authors applied I-States as Objects Analysis (ISOA), a recently proposed person-oriented analytic approach, to the study of temperament development in 921 Norwegian children from a population-based sample. A 5-profile classification based on cluster analysis of standardized mother reports of activity, sociability, emotionality, and shyness at ages 18 months, 30 months, 4-5 years, and 8-9 years was interpretable and highly replicable. The prevalence of temperament profiles changed markedly with age, and individual stability in temperament profiles was significant. Specific typical and atypical developmental sequences of profiles were identified. Selective patterns of concurrent group differences in externalizing and internalizing problems by temperament profiles were remarkably similar across ages. The findings to some degree support the notion that individual temperament-variable values take on meaning in relation to the whole individual configuration and indicate some lawfulness in temperament changes over time. Future person-oriented studies of temperament development should replicate the current results using multiple data sources, rigorous tests of gender differences, and latent group modeling.

The impact of temperament factors and family functioning on resilience processes from infancy to school age

A Norwegian sample of 401 mothers was used to investigate the effects of child factors and family risk and supportive factors on both child competencies and behaviour problems at 8 years. The contribution of the various predictors on the differentiation of children into groups of resilient vs. vulnerable across four different time periods was also examined within a prospective longitudinal study design. The study showed that a substantial proportion of the variance in both behaviour problems and social competence at 8 years could be explained by risk and supportive factors in child and family already present at 18 months. Within-child and within environment predictors had selective impact on each outcome domain in addition to common effects. Depending on time of assessment, 73 – 89% of the children from stressed families could be correctly classified as resilient. Pathways to “resilience” and “positive adjustment” are apparent from early in life, with social support factors and temperament characteristics being of continuing importance. The study confirms the importance of attending to early emerging child functioning and corresponding family conditions, and hence the need for prevention and early intervention efforts.

Trajectories of maternal symptoms of depression and anxiety over 13 years: the influence of stress, social support, and maternal temperament

BackgroundDepression and anxiety are the most common mental health problems among women, with various negative impacts both for the women concerned and their families. Greater understanding of developmental trajectories of maternal symptoms of depression and anxiety over the child rearing period would have significant benefits for public health, informing prevention and treatment approaches. The aim of the current study was to examine whether stressors related to child rearing and living conditions, social support, and maternal temperament, predicted mothers’ membership in groups with different trajectories of symptoms of depression and anxiety during 13 years of the child rearing phase.MethodsThe data were from a prospective, longitudinal study of 913 mothers in Norway followed from when their children were 18 months old (time 1) until they were 14.5 years (time 6) (the TOPP study). Multinomial logistic regression analyses were used to test whether child related stressors, stressors related to the living conditions, social support and maternal temperament at time 1 predicted membership in groups based on maternal symptoms of depression and anxiety over the subsequent 13 years.ResultsTemperamental distress, followed by child related stressors, were the strongest predictors of membership in a group with high symptoms of depression and anxiety over time. Stressors related to living conditions, and social support from partner and friends/family were also significant predictors. No interaction effects among predictors were found.ConclusionsThis study indicates that factors present early in the child rearing phase may provide substantial prediction of the variance in maternal symptoms of depression and anxiety over the following 13 years. Temperamental distress and child related stressors were the strongest predictors of membership in different depression and anxiety symptom trajectory groups.

Longitudinal associations between relationship problems, divorce, and life satisfaction: Findings from a 15-year population-based study

Relationship problems are negatively associated with life satisfaction. Bottom-up theories assume that relationship quality affects life satisfaction while top-down theories assume that global personality dispositions affect evaluations of relationship quality. Only bottom-up theories imply that the negative association between relationship problems and life satisfaction will be removed when the relationship is ended and that divorce thus may be a positive event for persons from troubled relationships. In this study associations between relationship problems, divorce, and life satisfaction were examined among 369 heterosexual couples. Relationship problems predicted life satisfaction 15 years later in both men and women. This association was significantly stronger among not-divorced than among divorced couples. Among couples with severe relationship problems those who divorced had higher life satisfaction at 15-year follow-up than those who remained together while the reverse was true among less troubled couples. The findings thus support bottom-up theories of life satisfaction.

Reciprocal longitudinal associations between depressive symptoms and romantic partners’ synchronized view of relationship quality

Depressive symptoms are negatively associated with relationship satisfaction. The degree to which depression is associated longitudinally with relationship quality as assessed by both partners, versus with the depressed person’s unique view of the relationship, may have implications for interventions. Longitudinal associations between depressive symptoms and relationship satisfaction were examined among 260 couples. Individual measures of relationship satisfaction were decomposed into dyadic relationship quality and each partner’s additional unique view of the relationship. Depressive symptoms and dyadic relationship quality predicted changes in each other, which suggested that the longitudinal associations between depressive symptoms and relationship quality are not due to reporter biases or confounded by other individual factors, but rather that relationship quality and depressive symptoms affect each other over time.

Cohort Profile: The Tracking Opportunities and Problems Study (TOPP)–study of Norwegian children and their parents followed from infancy to early adulthood

Cohort Profile: The Tracking Opportunities and Problems Study (TOPP)–study of Norwegian children and their parents followed from infancy to early adulthood Wendy Nilsen,* Anne Kjeldsen, Evalill Bølstad Karevold, Anni Skipstein, Maren Sand Helland, Kristin Gustavson, Frøydis Enstad, Silje Baardstu, Espen Røysamb, Tilmann von Soest and Kristin S. Mathiesen Department of Mental Disorders, Division of Mental and Physical Health, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway, Work Research Institute, Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences, Oslo, Norway, Department of Child Development, Division of Mental and Physical Health, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway and Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Norway

Long shadows: a prospective study of predictors of relationship dissolution over 17 child-rearing years

BackgroundParental relationship dissolutions have repeatedly been linked to negative outcomes for children, but predictors of parental dissolutions have been far less studied. Knowledge about parental dissolutions occurring after the early years of parenthood is especially sparse. The aim of the current study was to investigate whether a broad set of predictors from families of toddlers were associated with relationship dissolutions throughout the next 17 years of parenthood. We specifically investigated whether different predictors were associated with short and long term dissolutions; and whether associations with long term dissolutions were mediated by relationship dissatisfaction or child-rearing conflicts.MethodsQuestionnaire data from 500 married or cohabiting mothers participating in a longitudinal population based study, the Norwegian TOPP study, was used. Child related strains, positive and negative aspects of relationship quality, and other intrinsic, environmental, and socio-demographic factors were assessed when children were 18 months old. Associations between early predictors and early dissolution (before children were 8 years old) and late dissolutions (when children were between 8 and 19 years) were compared using multinomial logistic regression analyses. Indirect paths from early predictors through relationship satisfaction and child-rearing conflicts to late dissolutions were investigated among couples that were still intact when children were 8 years old.ResultsExpression of criticism and most socio-demographic variables were associated with early dissolutions only, while temperamental sociability and child related strains were associated with long term dissolutions only in the adjusted regression models. Low levels of emotional support predicted both early and late dissolutions. Associations from low emotional support and child related strains to long term dissolutions were mediated by relationship dissatisfaction, indicating that cascades towards dissolutions may originate in these early predictors. No indirect paths were identified from early predictors through child-rearing conflicts, indicating that low levels of positivity, rather than high conflict levels, are associated with dissolutions in long-term relationships.ConclusionsPredictors of dissolutions over the next 17 years could be identified among mothers of toddlers. Different predictors were associated with early and late dissolutions, indicating different cascades.

Tracking Opportunities and Problems From Infancy to Adulthood: 20 Years With the TOPP Study

The unique longitudinal study “Tracking Opportunities and Problems (TOPP)” began following nearly 1,000 children and their families in Norway in 1993. Few studies have ever accumulated such extensive information from such a large number of families. Eight waves of data on many aspects of child and family life have been collected from children aged 18 months to 18 years. The TOPP Study has provided new knowledge about and insight into the precursors, developmental paths and predictors of both good adaptation and mental health problems of children, as well as into parenting and family relationships.