The relations between cluster indexes of risk and promotion and the problem behaviors of 6- and 7-year-old children from economically disadvantaged families.
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.
Ackerman
B P
BP
Department of Psychology, University of Delaware, Newark 19716, USA. bpa@udel.edu
Schoff
K
K
Levinson
K
K
Youngstrom
E
E
Izard
C E
CE
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