Competence and psychopathology: cascade effects in the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development.
Existing longitudinal research on the interplay between externalizing problems, internalizing problems, and academic and social competence has documented "cascading" effects from early aggressive/disruptive behavior through impairments in competence, leading to symptoms of depression and anxiety. The primary aim of the current study was to replicate such work using the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development while also extending the developmental window of investigation of cascades back into early childhood. Participating families (N = 1,160) completed questionnaire measures of externalizing, internalizing, and social competence (maternal report), as well as individual assessment of academic achievement, spanning five time points from age 54 months through age 15 years. A series of nested structural equation models tested predicted links across various domains of competence and psychopathology. Results were consistent with prior research, demonstrating cross-domain effects from early externalizing problems through effects on both academic and social competence into later internalizing problems. Effects held across gender and were largely unaffected by inclusion of socioeconomic status, early caregiving, and early cognitive ability as covariates in the model.
Burt
Keith B
KB
Department of Psychology, John Dewey Hall Room 340, University of Vermont, 2 Colchester Avenue, Burlington, VT 05405-0134, USA. keith.burt@uvm.edu
Roisman
Glenn I
GI
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002653:Child Behavior Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D002657:Child Development; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003071:Cognition; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D016743:Mental Competency; D008960:Models, Psychological; D054582:National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (U.S.); D012917:Social Adjustment; D012919:Social Behavior; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States