title: Profiles of externalizing behavior problems for boys and girls across preschool: the roles of emotion regulation and inattention.
abstract: Although externalizing behavior typically peaks in toddlerhood and decreases by school entry, some children do not show this normative decline. A sample of 383 boys and girls was assessed at ages 2, 4, and 5 for externalizing behavior and at age 2 on measures of emotion regulation and inattention. A longitudinal latent profile analysis was performed and resulted in 4 longitudinal profiles of externalizing behavior for each gender. Poor emotion regulation and inattention were important predictors of membership in the chronic-clinical profile for girls, whereas socioeconomic status and inattention were important predictors of membership in the chronic-clinical profile for boys. Results are discussed with respect to the development of adaptive skills that lead to normative declines in externalizing behavior across childhood.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of North Carolina, Greensboro, NC 27402-6170, USA.
authors.forename: Ashley L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Hill
authors.forename: Kathryn A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Degnan
authors.forename: Susan D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Calkins
authors.forename: Susan P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Keane
mesh_terms: D000184:Acting Out; D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000374:Aggression / Q000523:psychology; D001288:Attention; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D019958:Attention Deficit and Disruptive Behavior Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D002653:Child Behavior Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002908:Chronic Disease; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004644:Emotions; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007389:Internal-External Control; D007604:Juvenile Delinquency / Q000523:psychology; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D010552:Personality Assessment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011594:Psychometrics; D012016:Reference Values; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013223:Statistics as Topic