Margaret K. Keiley

A cross-domain growth analysis: externalizing and internalizing behaviors during 8 years of childhood.

In a sample of 405 children assessed in kindergarten through the seventh grade, we determined the basic developmental trajectories of mother-reported and teacher-reported externalizing and internalizing behaviors using cross-domain latent growth modeling techniques. We also investigated the effects of race, socioeconomic level, gender, and sociometric peer-rejection status in kindergarten on these trajectories. The results indicated that, on average, the development of these behaviors was different depending upon the source of the data. We found evidence of the codevelopment of externalizing and internalizing behaviors within and across reporters. In addition, we found that African-American children had lower levels of externalizing behavior in kindergarten as reported by mothers than did European-American children but they had greater increases in these behaviors when reported by teachers. Children from homes with lower SES levels had higher initial levels of externalizing behaviors and teacher-reported internalizing behaviors. Males showed greater increases in teacher-reported externalizing behavior over time than did the females. Rejected children had trajectories of mother-reported externalizing and internalizing behavior that began at higher levels and either remained stable or increased more rapidly than did the trajectories for non-rejected children which decreased over time.

Differential Risks of Covarying and Pure Components in Mother and Teacher Reports of Externalizing and Internalizing Behavior Across Ages 5 to 14

In a sample of 585 children assessed in kindergarten through 8th grade, we fit a confirmatory factor model to both mother- and teacher-reported symptoms on the Achenbach checklists (CBCL, TRF) and determined that a covariation factor of externalizing and internalizing behaviors existed, in addition to the pure-form factors of externalizing and internalizing for each reporter. In 3 structural equation models, between 8 and 67% of the variance in these 6 latent factors was accounted for by a set of antecedent child, sociocultural, parenting, and peer risk variables. Each of the 6 latent factors, taken 2 at a time, was predicted by a unique set of risk variables; however, there were some patterns that held for both mother- and teacher-report symptom factors: Child temperamental unadaptability and female gender were predictors of higher internalizing symptoms; child temperamental resistance to control, parental harsh punishment, male gender, low SES, and peer rejection were related to higher externalizing symptoms whereas child temperamental unadaptability was related to lower externalizing symptoms; and peer rejection and family stress were also related to the covarying, externalizing-plus-internalizing component of both mother and teacher reports.

Early child-care selection: variation by geographic location, maternal characteristics, and family structure.

More than half of all U.S. infants and toddlers spend at least 20 hr per week in the care of a nonparent adult. This article uses survival analysis to identify which families are most likely to place their child in care and the ages when these choices are made, using data from a national probability sample of 2,614 households. Median age at first placement is 33 months, but age varies by geographic region, mothers employment status during pregnancy, mothers education level, and family structure (1 vs. 2 parents, mothers age at 1st birth, and number of siblings). Controlling for these effects, differences by race and ethnicity are small. Implications for studies of child-care selection and evaluations of early childhood programs are discussed.

Economic Adversity and Children’s Sleep Problems: Multiple Indicators and Moderation of Effects

OBJECTIVE Toward explicating relations between economic adversity and childrens sleep, we examined associations between multiple indicators of socioeconomic status (SES)/adversity and childrens objectively and subjectively derived sleep parameters; ethnicity was examined as potential moderator. METHODS Participants were 276 third- and fourth-grade children and their families (133 girls; M age = 9.44 years; SD = .71): 66% European American (EA) and 34% African American (AA). Four SES indicators were used: income-to-needs ratio, perceived economic well-being, maternal education, and community poverty. Children wore actigraphs for 7 nights and completed a self-report measure to assess sleep problems. RESULTS Objectively and subjectively assessed sleep parameters were related to different SES indicators, and overall worse sleep was evident for children from lower SES homes. Specifically, children from homes with lower income-to-needs ratios had higher levels of reported sleep/wake problems. Parental perceived economic well-being was associated with shorter sleep minutes and greater variability in sleep onset for children. Lower mothers education was associated with lower sleep efficiency. Children who attended Title 1 schools had shorter sleep minutes. Ethnicity was a significant moderator of effects in the link between some SES indicators and childrens sleep. AA childrens sleep was more negatively affected by income-to-needs ratio and mothers education than was the sleep of EA children. CONCLUSIONS The results advocate for the importance of specifying particular SES and sleep variables used because they may affect the ability to detect associations between sleep and economic adversity.

The Effects of Differentiation of Self, Adult Attachment, and Sexual Communication on Sexual and Marital Satisfaction: A Path Analysis

This article explores the relations among differentiation of self, adult attachment, sexual communication, sexual satisfaction, and marital satisfaction, in a path analysis model. In a sample of 205 married adults, the path analysis results indicated that (a) differentiation of self had no direct effect on marital or sexual satisfaction, although it was significantly related to sexual communication; (b) adult attachment had a direct effect on marital satisfaction, but not on sexual satisfaction; (c) sexual communication is a mediating variable; (d) sexual communication was positively related to sexual satisfaction and marital satisfaction; and (e) no gender differences existed in the model.

Marital Conflict and Growth in Children's Internalizing Symptoms: The Role of Autonomic Nervous System Activity.

We assessed trajectories of childrens internalizing symptoms, indexed through anxiety and depression, with a focus on the role of interactions between interparental marital conflict, childrens sympathetic nervous system activity indexed by skin conductance level (SCL), and parasympathetic nervous system activity indexed by respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) as predictors of growth. Children participated in 3 waves of data collection with a 1-year lag between each wave. At T1, 128 girls and 123 boys participated (M age = 8.23 years; SD = 0.73). The most important findings reveal that girls with either low RSA in conjunction with low SCL (i.e., coinhibition) at baseline or with increasing RSA and decreasing SCL in response to a challenging task (i.e., reciprocal parasympathetic activation) are susceptible to high or escalating anxiety and depression symptoms, particularly in the context of marital conflict. Findings support the importance of concurrent examinations of environmental risk factors and physiological activity for better prediction of the development of anxiety and depression symptoms.

Using Covariance Structure Analysis to Model Change over Time

Publisher Summary Innovative methodologists have shown how the individual growth modeling approach can be mapped onto the general covariance structure model, providing a flexible new tool for investigating change over time called “latent growth modeling.” The chapter illustrates how individual growth modeling can be accommodated within the general framework of covariance structure analysis. The chapter explores links between these two formerly distinct conceptual arenas, laying out the mapping of one onto the other, and showing how the new approach provides a convenient way of addressing research questions about individual change. This innovative application of covariance structure analysis offers many flexible data-analytic opportunities. First, the method can accommodate any number of waves of longitudinal data. Second, the occasions of measurement need not be equally spaced. Third, individual change can be either a straight line or curvilinear. Finally, the flexibility of the general LISREL model permits extension of the analysis of change in substantively interesting ways.

Affect Regulation and the Cycle of Violence Against Women: New Directions for Understanding the Process

The process of the intergenerational transmission of violence is not well understood. A risk and resilience model of criminal violence against women was investigated using secondary data. The sample was composed of adolescent male juvenile delinquents who had been physically abused by their parents, and who were followed up at ages 25 and 31. A series of structural equation models were fit to investigate whether dysregulated affect mediated the effects of attachment and family chaos on the adult perpetration of violence against women. These models support the hypothesis that affect dysregulation may act as a mediator. Results raise new ideas about the mechanisms by which violence may be transmitted across generations.

Developmental trajectories of skin conductance level in middle childhood: Sex, race, and externalizing behavior problems as predictors of growth

We examined trajectories of skin conductance level (SCL) during baselines and two tasks across middle and late childhood through growth modeling. We also assessed the role of individual differences including child sex, race, and externalizing behavior problems (delinquency, anger, and aggression) in defining these trajectories. At T1, 128 girls and 123 boys (Mean age 8.23 yrs; SD=0.73) participated; 64% were European-American and 36% were African-American. Families participated in 2nd and 3rd study waves with a one-year lag between each wave. Mothers and children reported on child externalizing problems. Addressing notable gaps in knowledge, findings demonstrate varying trajectories of SCL over time based on the childs behavior problems, race, and sex, and are of importance for a better understanding of developmental psychopathology processes.

Affect regulation and attachment strategies of adjudicated and non-adjudicated adolescents and their parents

This exploratory qualitative study used semi-structured interviews with adjudicated and non-adjudicated adolescents and their parents to identify: (1) different behavioral manifestations of affect regulation and attachment interactions as described by respondents; and (2) interactional patterns that we might wish to target in a therapeutic intervention. Parents used more functional internal affect regulation strategies, while adolescents relied on less functional ones. Most respondents used functional external affect regulation strategies, such as direct communication. Approximately half of them used more dysfunctional strategies, such as yelling and aggression. Most of the adolescents used at least one secure attachment strategy in their relationships with their parents, but the majority also used avoidant or ambivalent strategies. Almost half of the parents described secure strategies in their relationships with their adolescents, while the remainder indicated using insecure.