Modeling risks: effects of area deprivation, family socio-economic disadvantage and adverse life events on young children's psychopathology.
BACKGROUND
The effects of contextual risk on young children's behavior are not appropriately modeled.


OBJECTIVE
To model the effects of area and family contextual risk on young children's psychopathology.


METHODS
The final study sample consisted of 4,618 Millennium Cohort Study (MCS) children, who were 3 years old, clustered in lower layer super output areas in nine strata in the UK. Contextual risk was measured by socio-economic disadvantage (SED) at both area and family level, and by distal and proximal adverse life events at family level. Multivariate response multilevel models that allowed for correlated residuals at both individual and area level, and univariate multilevel models estimated the effect of contextual risk on specific and broad psychopathology measured by the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire.


RESULTS
The area SED/broad psychopathology association remained significant after family SED was controlled, but not after maternal qualifications and family adverse life events were added to the model. Adverse life events predicted psychopathology in all models. Family SED did not predict emotional symptoms or hyperactivity after child characteristics were added to the model with the family-level controls.


CONCLUSIONS
Area-level SED predicts child psychopathology via family characteristics; family-level SED predicts psychopathology largely by its impact on development; and adverse life events predict psychopathology independently of earlier adversity, SED and child characteristics, as well as maternal psychopathology, parenting and education.
Flouri
Eirini
E
Department of Psychology and Human Development, Institute of Education, University of London, 25 Woburn Square, London, WC1H 0AA, UK. e.flouri@ioe.ac.uk
Mavroveli
Stella
S
Tzavidis
Nikos
N
D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002652:Child Behavior / Q000523:psychology; D002653:Child Behavior Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005191:Family Characteristics; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008016:Life Change Events; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology; D008960:Models, Psychological; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D017711:Nonlinear Dynamics; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D016487:Parenting / Q000523:psychology; D011204:Poverty Areas; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D012923:Social Class; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D006113:United Kingdom / Q000453:epidemiology