Wan-Ling Tseng

Symptoms of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder and Social and School Adjustment: The Moderating Roles of Age and Parenting

This study examined the associations between symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and social and school adjustment (academic performance, peer relationships, school social problems) and the moderating roles of children’s age and maternal parenting (affection and overprotection) in these associations. The sample consisted of 2,463 students who were in the first to ninth grade in northern Taiwan. Results from the linear mixed models demonstrated that ADHD symptoms were inversely associated with academic performance and positively associated with social adjustment problems. Further, children’s age and maternal parenting moderated the associations between ADHD symptoms and school and social adjustment. For example, maternal overprotection moderated the relation between hyperactivity and negative peer relationships (i.e., difficulty forming and maintaining friendships), such that this relation was stronger for children who experienced higher levels of overprotection than children who did not. Moreover, children’s age moderated the association between attention problems and decreased academic performance, such that this association was stronger for older children and adolescents than for younger children. Furthermore, children’s age and maternal affection interacted to influence the association between attention problems and school social problems (i.e., bullying, aggression, and peer rejection) with maternal affection acting as a buffer for older children (grades 4–6) only. These findings are discussed from a developmental psychopathology perspective.

A Cross‐Lagged Structural Equation Model of Relational Aggression, Physical Aggression, and Peer Status in a Chinese Culture

This short-term longitudinal study examined the associations among relational aggression, physical aggression, and peer status (i.e., acceptance, rejection, and perceived popularity) across three time points, six months apart, in a Taiwanese sample. Participants were 198 fifth grade students (94 girls and 104 boys; Mean age = 10.35 years) from Taipei, Taiwan. Study variables were assessed using peer nomination procedure. Results from the cross-lagged structural equation models demonstrated that there were longitudinal associations between relational aggression and each of the peer status constructs while only one longitudinal association was found for physical aggression such that physical aggression positively predicted subsequent peer rejection. The longitudinal associations did not vary with gender. Results also showed high stabilities of relational aggression, physical aggression, and the three peer status constructs over 1 year as well as high concurrent association between relational and physical aggression. In addition, relational aggression and physical aggression were concurrently related to less acceptance, more rejection, and less perceived popularity, especially at the outset of the study. Findings of this study demonstrated both similarities and differences in relation to previous literature in primarily Western cultures. This study also highlights the bidirectional and complex nature of the association between aggression and peer status, which appears to depend on the form of aggression and on the particular indicator of peer status under study.

Adaptive, maladaptive, mediational, and bidirectional processes of relational and physical aggression, relational and physical victimization, and peer liking

A three-wave longitudinal study among ethnically diverse preadolescents (N = 597 at Time 1, ages 9-11) was conducted to examine adaptive, maladaptive, mediational, and bidirectional processes of relational and physical aggression, victimization, and peer liking indexed by peer acceptance and friendships. A series of nested structural equation models tested the hypothesized links among these peer-domain factors. It was hypothesized that (1) relational aggression trails both adaptive and maladaptive processes, linking to more peer victimization and more peer liking, whereas physical aggression is maladaptive, resulting in more peer victimization and less peer liking; (2) physical and relational victimization is maladaptive, relating to more aggression and less peer liking; (3) peer liking may be the social context that promotes relational aggression (not physical aggression), whereas peer liking may protect against peer victimization, regardless of its type; and (4) peer liking mediates the link between forms of aggression and forms of peer victimization. Results showed that higher levels of peer liking predicted relative increases in relational aggression (not physical aggression), which in turn led to more peer liking. On the other hand, more peer liking was predictive of relative decreases in relational aggression and relational victimization in transition to the next grade (i.e., fifth grade). In addition, relational victimization predicted relative increases in relational aggression and relative decreases in peer liking. Similarly, physical aggression was consistently and concurrently associated more physical victimization and was marginally predictive of relative increases in physical victimization in transition to the next grade. More peer liking predicted relative decreases in physical victimization, which resulted in lower levels of peer liking. The directionality and magnitude of these paths did not differ between boys and girls.

Physiological stress reactivity and physical and relational aggression: The moderating roles of victimization, type of stressor, and child gender

The purpose of the present investigation was to examine the association between physiological reactivity to peer stressors and physical and relational aggression. Potential moderation by actual experiences of peer maltreatment (i.e., physical and relational victimization) and gender were also explored. One hundred ninety-six children (M = 10.11 years, SD = 0.64) participated in a laboratory stress protocol during which their systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, and skin conductance reactivity to recounting a relational stressor (e.g., threats to relationships) and an instrumental stressor (e.g., threats to physical well-being, dominance, or property) were assessed. Teachers provided reports of aggression and victimization. In both boys and girls, physical aggression was associated with blunted physiological reactivity to relational stress and heightened physiological reactivity to instrumental stress, particularly among youth higher in victimization. In girls, relational aggression was most robustly associated with blunted physiological reactivity to relational stressors, particularly among girls exhibiting higher levels of relational victimization. In boys, relational aggression was associated with heightened physiological reactivity to both types of stressors at higher levels of peer victimization and blunted physiological reactivity to both types of stressors at lower levels of victimization. Results underscore the shared and distinct emotional processes underlying physical and relational aggression in boys and girls.

Borderline personality features as a predictor of forms and functions of aggression during middle childhood: Examining the roles of gender and physiological reactivity

The present longitudinal investigation examined borderline personality features as a predictor of aggression 1 year later. Moderation by physiological reactivity and gender was also explored. One hundred ninety-six children (M = 10.11 years, SD = 0.64) participated in a laboratory stress protocol in which their systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, and skin conductance reactivity to recounting a relational stressor (e.g., threats to relationships or exclusion) were assessed. Teachers provided reports on subtypes of aggressive behavior (i.e., reactive relational, proactive relational, reactive physical, and proactive physical), and children completed a self-report measure of borderline personality features. Path analyses indicated that borderline personality features predicted increases in reactive relational aggression and proactive relational aggression among girls who evinced heightened physiological reactivity to interpersonal stress. In contrast, borderline personality features predicted decreases in proactive physical aggression in girls. Findings suggest that borderline personality features promote engagement in relationally aggressive behaviors among girls, particularly in the context of emotional dysregulation.

A comparative study on schizophrenia diagnosed by ICD-9 and DSM-III: Course, family history and stability of diagnosis

ABSTRACT— Data from the Taipei Center of the International Pilot Study of Schizophrenia were reanalyzed using the ICD‐9 and DSM‐III diagnoses at 7‐year follow‐up. Patients diagnosed as schizophrenic according to DSM‐III were shown to be a more homogeneous group in terms of their clinical manifestations, social functions and family psychiatric history than those defined as schizophrenic by ICD‐9. The discordant cases of ICD‐9 schizophrenia and DSM‐III affective disorders were found to be different from the concordant schizophrenic group, but similar to the concordant group of affective disorders diagnosed by ICD‐9 and DSM‐III. Thirty‐five per cent of mood‐incongruent psychotic major depressive disorders defined by DSM‐III at initial evaluation were diagnosed as schizophrenia at 7‐year follow‐up.

Mechanisms and processes of relational and physical victimization, depressive symptoms, and children's relational-interdependent self-construals: implications for peer relationships and psychopathology.

This short-term longitudinal study examined the associations between relational and physical victimization and depressive symptoms, and the moderating role of school-aged childrens relational-interdependent self-construals in these associations. The participants were 387 children (51.8% boys) who were in the fifth grade (M = 10.48 years, SD = 0.55) in Taiwan and followed at two time points (a 6-month interval) during a calendar year. A multiple-informant approach was used where forms of peer victimization, depressive symptoms, and relational-interdependent self-construals were assessed via peer nominations, teacher reports, and child reports, respectively. All measures had favorable psychometric properties. The results of a multigroup cross-lagged model demonstrated that relational victimization (not physical victimization) was positively predictive of subsequent depressive symptoms, and the effect was evidenced for highly interdependent children only. The opposite link was also significant, such that depressive symptoms predicted subsequent relational victimization (not physical victimization) for children who exhibited low and high levels of relational-interdependent self-construals. In contrast, physical victimization predated a lower level of depressive symptoms for highly interdependent children. These effects were unaffected by the gender of the child. The findings, especially the interactive effects of relational victimization (as a contextual factor) and relational-interdependent self-construals (as an individual vulnerability) on depressive symptoms, are discussed from a developmental psychopathology perspective.

Gender and Age Differences in Sleep Problems in Children: Person-Oriented Approach With Multigroup Analysis

ABSTRACT Objective/Background: This study aimed to identify subtypes of sleep problems in children and to examine whether these patterns differed between gender and age groups. Participants: There were 3,052 children (951 elementary school boys, 943 elementary school girls, 603 junior high school boys, and 555 junior high school girls) aged 7–16 years from two school-based epidemiological samples. Methods: Sleep problems were measured by the Sleep Habit Questionnaire based on parent reports. Results: Using the latent class modeling, a person-oriented approach, with a multigroup analysis, we identified four classes of sleep problems: moderate to high sleep problems (1.1%–3.1%), sleep-related breathing problems and parasomnias dominant (14.9%–21.1%), insomnias dominant and parasomnias (1.0%–3.1%), and no or low sleep problems (74.7%–81.4%), with varied prevalence rates of sleep problems across gender and age groups. Conclusions: This study identified four classes of sleep problems across gender and age groups but with different prevalence rates of sleep problems, suggesting the complex interaction of gender and age in the subtypes of sleep problems. The gender- and age-specific interventions for sleep problems are suggested. Future studies are warranted to replicate these classes and to identify associated factors with each class.

Relational and physical victimization, friendship, and social and school adjustment in Taiwan:

This short-term longitudinal study examined the differential pathways from relational and physical victimization to internalizing and externalizing problems and academic achievement as well as the roles of friendships and friendship quality in these pathways with a Taiwanese sample (N = 471; 53.3% boys; mean age = 9.95 years). A multi-informant approach was used to collect the data. Relational and physical victimization and the number of friendships were assessed via peer nominations. Adjustment problems, achievement, and friendship quality were measured by mother, teacher, and child reports, respectively. Results of Structural Equation Modeling showed that the paths from relational victimization to adjustment problems were indirectly influenced by positive or negative friendship quality. Specifically, relational victimization was associated with negative friendship quality indexed by high levels of exclusivity and conflict, which in turn resulted in more severe internalizing and externalizing adjustment problems 6 months later. Lower levels of relational victimization were linked to positive friendship quality indexed by high levels of companionship, help, closeness, and intimacy, which in sequence contributed to better academic achievement. These indirect effects were not evidenced for the number of friendships or the paths from physical victimization to adjustment problems and achievement. There were no gender differences in the measurement or structural part of the model. These findings are discussed from developmental, social, and cultural perspectives.