Factorial dimensions of the Revised Behavior Problem Checklist: replication and validation within a kindergarten sample

Associations Between Maternal Negative Affectivity and Young Children's Disruptive Behavior Problems: The Mediating Effect of Callous-Unemotional Traits

The current study examined associations between maternal negative affectivity (NA) and child disruptive behavior problems. The mediating role of child callous-unemotional (CU) traits in these relationships was also investigated. A multilevel mediation modeling approach was adopted using a sample of 100 families with children between 2.5 and 5.5 years of age (N = 201; mean age = 3.8, standard deviation = 1.0). The mediation models showed significant mediating effects of maternal NA through CU traits for ADHD (β = 0.12, p<.01), ODD (β =0.13, p<.01), and aggression (β =0.16, p<.001), and a significant direct effect for aggression (β = 0.12, p<.05). A structural equation modeling analysis was also performed, and overall, the results were consistent with that from mediation models, which suggested that child CU traits were significantly correlated with maternal NA (β = 0.252, p<.001), ADHD (β = 0.504, p<.001), ODD (β = 0.545, p<.001), and aggression (β = 0.686, p<.001). Our results indicated that maternal NA could serve as a potential risk factor for child CU, which, in turn, may contribute to disruptive behavior during early childhood.

Evidence Base Update on the Assessment of Irritability, Anger, and Aggression in Youth

OBJECTIVE

Irritability, anger, and aggression have garnered significant attention from youth mental health researchers and clinicians; however, fundamental challenges of conceptualization and measurement persist. This article reviews the evidence base for assessing these transdiagnostic constructs in children and adolescents.

METHOD

We conducted a preregistered systematic review of the evidence behind instruments used to measure irritability, anger, aggression, and related problems in youth. Searches were conducted in PsycINFO and PubMed, identifying 4,664 unique articles. Eligibility criteria focused on self- and proxy-report measures with peer-reviewed psychometric evidence from studies in English with youths ages 3-18. Additional measures were found through ancillary search strategies (e.g. book chapters, review articles, test publishers). Measures were screened and coded by multiple raters with acceptable reliability.

RESULTS

Overall, 68 instruments met criteria for inclusion, with scales covering irritability (n = 15), anger (n = 19), aggression (n = 45), and/or general overt externalizing problems (n = 27). Regarding overall psychometric support, 6 measures (8.8%) were classified as Excellent, 46 (67.6%) were Good, and 16 (23.5%) were Adequate. Descriptive information (e.g. informants, scales, availability, translations) and psychometric properties (e.g. reliability, validity, norms) are summarized.

CONCLUSIONS

Numerous instruments for youth irritability, anger, and aggression exist with varying degrees of empirical support for specific applications. Although some measures were especially strong, none had uniformly excellent properties across all dimensions, signaling the need for further research in particular areas. Findings promote conceptual clarity while also producing a well-characterized toolkit for researchers and clinicians addressing transdiagnostic problems affecting youth.

Developmental Aspects of Sustained Attention among 2- to 6-year-old Children

This study examined sustained attention in children aged 2-6 years in two settings; during free play and during a structured test. Subjects were 48 nursery schoolchildren and 47 kindergarteners. In the free play setting, linear and quadratic relations with age were found for ability to sustain attention as measured by duration of play time and number of attended activities. Linear and quadratic relations were also found for distractibility as measured by the number of pauses in play. Older children tended to return to a previously attended activity following a break, whereas younger children did not. The ability to sustain attention increased until the age of 4 years, after which a plateau in development appeared. Results from the structured test showed no significant differences between age groups on the time spent attending to pictures, but revealed a significant linear trend for the ability to recall items from pictures. It is suggested that free play may be a sensitive measure of preschool-aged children’s ability to sustain attention.

Outcome measures used in forensic mental health research: a structured review

BACKGROUND

The evidence base for forensic mental health (FMH) services has been developing since the late 1990s. Are outcome measures sound enough for the evaluation tasks?

AIMS

To identify, from published literature, outcome measures used in FMH research and, where feasible, assess their quality.

METHOD

A structured review was undertaken of trials and intervention studies published between 1990 and 2006. Details of outcome variables and measures were abstracted. Evidence regarding most frequently occurring outcome measures was assessed.

RESULTS

Four hundred and fifty different instruments were used to assess outcomes, incorporating 1038 distinct variables. Very little evidence could be found to support the measurement properties of commonly used instruments.

CONCLUSIONS

and implications for practice There is little consistency in the use of outcome measure in FMH research. Effort is required to reach consensus on validated outcome measures in this field in order to better inform practice.

A typology of behavior problems in preschool children

The purpose of this study was to produce a typology of behavior problems in preschool children. Distinct subtypes were identified through the use of cluster analytic techniques on data from the Behavior Assessment System for Children (BASC)-Parent Rating Scales. Analyses were based on archival data collected on a sample of 268 children, aged 2 to 5 years, who were referred to determine their suitability for a day treatment program. Five distinct and reliable subtypes of preschool children's behavior problems emerged. Ratings of adaptive and social skills based on the BASC Adaptive Scales and measures from the Parenting Stress Index served as external variables to assess the distinctiveness of the derived subtypes. The findings provide evidence for the reliability and validity of the subtypes identified in this study that are consistent with the findings of previous subtyping investigations focusing on school-aged children.

Contemporaneous and Longitudinal Associations Between Social Behavior and Literacy Achievement in a Sample of Low-Income Elementary School Children

This study investigates associations between social skills (aggression and prosocial behavior) and literacy achievement in a sample of low-income children (between 4 and 6 years old when the study began) during elementary school. Results revealed consistent associations between social skills and literacy achievement in the first, third, and fifth grades, but the patterns of the associations were different for aggression and prosocial behavior. While the strength of the association between aggression and literacy achievement increased over the elementary grades, the association between prosocial behavior and literacy achievement decreased. In addition, path analyses revealed that poor literacy achievement in the first and third grades predicted relatively high aggressive behavior in the third and fifth grades, respectively.

Executive functioning and olfactory identification in young adults with attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder

Young adults with attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD; N = 105) were compared with a control group (N = 64) on 14 measures of executive function and olfactory identification using a 2 (group) X 2 (sex) design. The ADHD group performed significantly worse on 11 measures. No Group X Sex interaction was found on any measures. No differences were found in the ADHD group as a function of ADHD subtype or comorbid oppositional defiant disorder. Comorbid depression influenced the results of only 1 test (Digit Symbol). After IQ was controlled for, some group differences in verbal working memory, attention, and odor identification were no longer significant, whereas those in inhibition, interference control, nonverbal working memory, and other facets of attention remained so. Executive function deficits found in childhood ADHD exist in young adults with ADHD and are largely not influenced by comorbidity but may be partly a function of low intelligence.

Parenting practices and child disruptive behavior problems in early elementary school. Conduct Problems Prevention Research Group

Examined the hypothesis that distinct parenting practices may be associated with type and profile of a child's disruptive behavior problems (e.g., oppositional, aggressive, hyperactive). Parents of 631 behaviorally disruptive children described the extent to which they experienced warm and involved interactions with their children and the extent to which their discipline strategies were inconsistent and punitive and involved spanking and physical aggression. As expected from a developmental perspective, parenting practices that included punitive interactions were associated with elevated rates of all child disruptive behavior problems. Low levels of warm involvement were particularly characteristic of parents of children who showed elevated levels of oppositional behaviors. Physically aggressive parenting was linked more specifically with child aggression. In general, parenting practices contributed more to the prediction of oppositional and aggressive behavior problems than to hyperactive behavior problems, and parenting influences were fairly consistent across ethnic groups and sex.

Psychiatric and psychological morbidity as a function of adaptive disability in preschool children with aggressive and hyperactive-impulsive-inattentive behavior

Children with high levels of aggressive-hyperactive-impulsive-inattentive behavior (AHII; n = 154) were subdivided into those with (n = 38) and without (n = 116) adaptive disability (+AD/-AD) defined as a discrepancy between expected versus actual adaptive functioning. They were compared to each other and a control group of 47 normal children. Both AHII groups were more likely to have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), oppositional defiant disorder, and conduct disorder than control children; more symptoms of general psychopathology; greater social skills deficits; more parental problems; and lower levels of academic achievement skills. Compared to AHII - AD children, AHII + AD children had (1) more conduct disorder; (2) greater inattention and aggression symptoms; (3) more social problems, less academic competence, and poorer self-control at school; (4) more severe and pervasive behavior problems across multiple home and school settings; and (5) parents with poorer child management practices. Thus, adaptive disability has utility as a marker for more severe and pervasive impairments in AHII children.

Recognition and classification of psychopathology in preschool children

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this paper is to offer a critical overview of research on preschool psychopathology, and to propose a working classification based on the empirical evidence.

METHOD

All of the existing factor and cluster analytic studies, and those studies that attempted to establish the reliability and validity of the subcategories in preschool behaviour disorder were reviewed. Applicability of the current classifications (DSM-IV and ICD-10) to preschool age was examined.

RESULTS

Empirical evidence suggests a well-established, externalising and internalising dichotomy, and a developmental problems factor where the instrument included these problems. There was also a strong tendency for the externalising and internalising symptoms to overlap. Within the externalising factor, there is evidence suggesting that attention deficit hyperactivity should be separated out and recognised. Categories in the DSM-IV and ICD-10 classification did not correspond with the statistically derived groups.

CONCLUSION

A classification of preschool psychopathology that incorporates the age-specific disorders and risk factors is proposed. This is likely to increase the awareness of researchers, taxonomists and clinicians of psychopathology in preschool children, thereby leading to an early recognition.

Tricyclic antidepressants and cardiac autonomic control in children and adolescents

OBJECTIVE

To elucidate the effects of tricyclic antidepressants on sympathetic and vagal modulation of heart rate variability.

METHOD

Seventy-five children and adolescents (mean age 10.5 years, SD 2.0) from therapeutic and regular schools underwent challenges of paced breathing and orthostatic postural change, while heart rate was continuously recorded. Teachers completed dimensional ratings of behavior to quantity anxiety and conduct disorder. Spectral analysis of heart rate variability was utilized to decompose the postural (sympathetic) and respiratory (vagal) contributions to beat-to-beat variations in heart rate.

RESULTS

Under conditions in which cardiac vagal effects were expected to predominate, subjects medicated with tricyclic antidepressants (n = 13) showed significantly reduced vagal modulation of heart rate variability (F[5,69] = 5.23, p < .003), higher heart rates (F[5,69] = 5.54, p < .002), and higher relative sympathovagal balance (F[5,69] = 5.51, p < .002) than nonmedicated (n = 42) and medicated comparison groups (n = 20), even after controlling for the effects of age and psychopathology.

CONCLUSIONS

The relative loss of cardiac vagal control in young subjects medicated with tricyclic antidepressants, considered in the context of factors known to be associated with the development of tachyarrhythmias, presents as yet another risk, especially when coupled with factors such as maturational effects and psychopathology.

Inattention-hyperactivity and reading achievement in children from low-income families: a longitudinal model

This study examined how preschool inattention-hyperactivity is related to elementary school reading achievement. Prereading skills were hypothesized to be a link between them. This link was explored using longitudinal data on 105 low-socioeconomic-status (SES) children's inattentive-hyperactive behavior and prereading skills in Head Start and in kindergarten and their inattentive-hyperactive behavior and reading skills in first grade. A model of this relationship was tested using structural equation modeling. The results failed to show a significant path between inattention-hyperactivity and prereading skills at both the Head Star and kindergarten levels. A significant path was found between first grade inattention-hyperactivity and reading skills, confirming that the strong relationship between inattention-hyperactivity and poor reading achievement commonly found in children from other SES levels was also significant in this low-SES sample. Strong relationships were found between prereading skills and reading skills, as well as among hyperactivity levels at the three grades. The issue of the direction of the path of influence between attention-behavior and reading achievement is addressed briefly; however, the results indicate that further longitudinal work is necessary to resolve this issue.

Behaviour problems and pre-school intellectual attainment: the associations of hyperactivity and conduct problems

The relationship between behaviour problems and intelligence was examined in a sample of 106 three-year-old boys and girls selected for the presence of either conduct problems or hyperactivity. Parents' reports of hyperactivity, but not conduct problems, were negatively related to IQ scores for both boys and girls. There was a significant sex difference in the association between conduct problems and IQ. For girls IQ was positively correlated with conduct problems. The implications of the results for existing models of the relationship between behavioural deviance and cognitive functioning in childhood is discussed.

Preacademic screening for learning and behavior problems

The relationship between socioeconomic status (SES) and behavior problems in children at risk for developing learning difficulties was investigated by screening 1106 children who were completing kindergarten and identifying 292 as being at-risk. Data on SES, behavior problems, and preacademic reading skills were obtained on 204 at-risk children and 181 non-at-risk controls. A larger proportion of children from upper SES made up the non-at-risk sample and a smaller proportion of upper SES children were found in the at-risk sample. Children (N = 91) who demonstrated perceptual delays and inadequate preacademic reading skills were rated by their teachers as having significantly more behavior problems than children (N = 218) who were negative for these two signs. The results suggest that some children with perceptual problems demonstrate multiple behavior problems prior to experiencing reading failure.