title: The relations between cluster indexes of risk and promotion and the problem behaviors of 6- and 7-year-old children from economically disadvantaged families.
abstract: This study examined the relations between alternative representations of poverty cofactors and promotion processes and teacher reports of the problem behaviors of 6- and 7-year-old children from economically disadvantaged families (N = 159). The results showed that single-index representations of risk and promotion variables predicted child aggressive behaviors but not child anxious/depressed behaviors. An additive model of individual risk indicators performed similarly. Smaller indexes representing clusters of parent adjustment variables and family instability variables, however, differentially predicted aggressive and anxious/depressed behaviors, respectively. The results suggest the importance of promotion processes and of representing environmental adversity at varying levels of specificity for children from economically disadvantaged families.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Delaware, Newark 19716, USA. bpa@udel.edu
authors.forename: B P
authors.initials: BP
authors.lastname: Ackerman
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Schoff
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Levinson
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Youngstrom
authors.forename: C E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Izard
mesh_terms: D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology; D002648:Child; D002653:Child Behavior Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011203:Poverty; D012307:Risk Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014888:Wechsler Scales