Heterotypic continuity of inhibitory control in early childhood: Evidence from four widely used measures

Assessing anxiety problems in a community sample during toddlerhood: The impact of child temperament and maternal intrusiveness

Previous research indicates that child temperament and maternal behaviors are related to internalizing behaviors in children. We assessed whether maternal intrusiveness (MI) observed at 10-months would moderate the impact of temperamental fear and the impact of inhibitory control (IC) at 24 months on anxiety problems at 36 months. A mother-child interaction task was coded for MI. Behavioral tasks were given to assess children's IC. Parents completed questionnaires about their children's temperamental fear and anxiety problems. Results showed that greater temperamental fear reported at 24 months predicted greater anxiety problems reported at 36 months, regardless of MI levels. Lower levels of IC at 24 months predicted more anxiety problems reported at 36 months when children experienced greater MI. These findings illustrate the importance of examining both intrinsic and extrinsic factors, independently and interactively, that contribute to children's anxiety problems in toddlerhood.

Reexamining developmental continuity and discontinuity in the 21st century: Better aligning behaviors, functions, and mechanisms

Developmental science aims to explain development across the lifespan. Jerome Kagan observed that the same behavior can occur for different reasons, and differing behaviors can occur for the same reason. To help account for persistence, desistence, and transformation of behavior across development, Kagan introduced various types of continuity and discontinuity of forms and functions of behavior. This framework provides opportunities for identifying explanatory mechanisms in behavior development. However, misconceptions remain in applying the concepts that Kagan introduced. Much of the literature assumes developmental continuity in constructs without examining whether assumptions are supported, leading to faulty developmental inferences. For instance, the use of the same measure across time to assess development assumes that the behavior occurs for the same reason across time (homotypic continuity). In addition, just because one behavior predicts a different behavior at a later time does not necessarily indicate that age-differing behaviors occur for the same reason (heterotypic continuity). This review aims to advance conceptualizations of continuity and discontinuity from a contemporary perspective with aims to improve mechanistic understanding of behavior development across the lifespan. To better align behaviors, functions, and mechanisms, research should (a) examine (dis)continuity of individual behaviors rather than merely syndromes, (b) identify the function(s) of the given behavior(s), and (c) identify the cognitive and biological processes that underlie the behavior-function pairs. Incorporating examples from research on development of humans and nonhuman animals, I discuss challenges from work that has followed Kagan's ideas and ways to advance understanding of continuity and discontinuity across development. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Externalizing psychopathology from childhood to early adolescence: Psychometric evaluation using latent variable and network modeling

Applying both latent variable and network frameworks, we conducted a comprehensive psychometric evaluation of the diverse array of symptoms from three externalizing dimensions, including attention problems, aggressive behavior, and delinquency/rule-breaking of the Child Behavior Checklist (Achenbach, 1991) across six time points from childhood to early adolescence. We also examined sex differences. Participants (N = 1,339) were drawn from two multisite longitudinal studies: Fast Track and the Child Development Project. Parents reported on externalizing psychopathology in kindergarten and Grades 1, 2, 4, 5, and 7. Using exploratory structural equation modeling, we found almost uniformly excellent fit across time and samples. However, we also observed multiple cross-loadings and heterogeneity in terms of which symptoms cross-loaded across time points. Alternatively, using network modeling, we observed that symptoms of attention problems and aggressive behavior had stronger connections, relative to delinquency/rule-breaking, across time and samples. Significant differences in overall connectivity were found at early (kindergarten vs. Grade 1, Grade 1 vs. Grade 2) and late (Grade 5 vs. Grade 7) time points for the combined sample and only late time points for the male sample. In addition, the items impulsive and lies or cheats consistently displayed the greatest bridge strength, that is, symptom from one dimension that connects to symptoms from another dimension, across time and samples. Our results illustrate how two methods-latent variable and network modeling-provide important and complementary information on multidimensional constructs. Findings also inform understanding of externalizing psychopathology through childhood to early adolescence by identifying key symptoms, critical transition points, and possible transdiagnostic liabilities. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Studying children's growth in self-regulation using changing measures to account for heterotypic continuity: A Bayesian approach to developmental scaling

Self-regulation is thought to show heterotypic continuity-its individual differences endure but its behavioral manifestations change across development. Thus, different measures across time may be necessary to account for heterotypic continuity of self-regulation. This longitudinal study examined children's (N = 108) self-regulation development using 17 measures, including 15 performance-based measures, two questionnaires, and three raters across seven time points. It is the first to use different measures of self-regulation over time to account for heterotypic continuity while using developmental scaling to link the measures onto the same scale for more accurate growth estimates. Assessed facets included inhibitory control, delayed gratification, sustained attention, and executive functions. Some measures differed across ages to retain construct validity and account for heterotypic continuity. A Bayesian longitudinal mixed model for developmental scaling was developed to link the differing measures onto the same scale. This allowed charting children's self-regulation growth across ages 3-7 years and relating it to both predictors and outcomes. Rapid growth occurred from ages 3-6. As a validation of the developmental scaling approach, greater self-regulation was associated with better school readiness (math and reading skills) and fewer externalizing problems. Our multi-wave, multi-facet, multi-method, multi-measure, multi-rater, developmental scaling approach is the most comprehensive to date for assessing the development of self-regulation. This approach demonstrates that developmental scaling may enable studying development of self-regulation across the lifespan.

Heterotypic continuity of inhibitory control in early childhood: Evidence from four widely used measures

Inhibitory control has been widely studied in association with social and academic adjustment. However, prior studies have generally overlooked the potential heterotypic continuity of inhibitory control and how this could affect assessment and understanding of its development. In the present study, we systematically considered heterotypic continuity in four well-established measures of inhibitory control, testing two competing hypotheses: (a) the manifestation of inhibitory control coheres within and across time in consistent, relatively simple ways, consistent with homotypic continuity. Alternatively, (b) with developmental growth, inhibitory control manifests in more complex ways with changes across development, consistent with heterotypic continuity. We also explored differences in inhibitory control as a function of the child's sex, language ability, and the family's socioeconomic status. Children (N = 513) were studied longitudinally at 30, 36, and 42 months of age. Changes in the patterns of associations within and among inhibitory control measures across ages suggest that the measures' meanings change with age, the construct manifests differently across development, and, therefore, that the construct shows heterotypic continuity. We argue that the heterotypic continuity of inhibitory control motivates the use of different combinations of inhibitory control indexes at different points in development in future research to improve validity. Confirmatory factors and growth curves also suggest that individual differences in inhibitory control endure, with convergence among inhibitory control measures by 36 months of age. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).