title: The role of parent psychopathology in the development of preschool children with behavior problems.
abstract: The present study examined associations between early parental self-reported psychopathology symptoms and the later behavioral, emotional, and social functioning of preschool children with behavior problems. Mothers and fathers of preschoolers with behavior problems (N = 132; 55 girls, 77 boys) completed parent psychopathology questionnaires when children were 3 years old and completed measures of children's externalizing, internalizing, and social problems annually from age 3 to age 6. The sample included 61% European American, 16% Latino (predominantly Puerto Rican), 10% African American, and 13% multiethnic children. Every dimension of mothers' and fathers' psychopathology symptoms when children were 3 years old was associated with their own reports of children's externalizing and internalizing problems 3 years later. Several dimensions of maternal psychopathology symptoms at age 3 were associated with mother-reported social skills 3 years later. However, the relation between many dimensions of psychopathology symptoms and child outcome appears to be accounted for by co-occurring psychopathology symptoms. Only maternal attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and Cluster A symptoms, and paternal ADHD and depression/anxiety symptoms emerged as unique predictors of child functioning. These findings suggest that most types of mothers' and fathers' self-reported psychopathology symptoms may play a role in the prognosis of behavioral, social, and emotional outcomes of preschoolers with behavior problems, but that co-occurring symptoms need to be considered.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Psychology , University of Massachusetts Amherst.
authors.forename: Rosanna P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Breaux
authors.forename: Elizabeth A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Harvey
authors.forename: Claudia I
authors.initials: CI
authors.lastname: Lugo-Candelas
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002653:Child Behavior Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000150:complications*; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D011599:Psychopathology; D057566:Self Report; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires