title: The Predictive Utility of Early Childhood Disruptive Behaviors for School-Age Social Functioning.
abstract: Research suggests that school-age children with disruptive behavior (DB) problems frequently demonstrate impaired social skills and experience rejection from peers, which plays a crucial role in the pathway to more serious antisocial behavior. A critical question is which DB problems in early childhood are prognostic of impaired social functioning in school-age children. This study examines the hypothesis that aggression in early childhood will be the more consistent predictor of compromised social functioning than inattentive, hyperactive-impulsive, or oppositional behavior. Participants included an ethnically diverse sample of 725 high-risk children from 3 geographically distinct areas followed from ages 2 to 8.5. Four latent growth models of DB from child ages 2 to 5, and potential interactions between dimensions, were used to predict latent parent and teacher ratings of school-age social dysfunction. Analyses were conducted in a multi-group format to examine potential differences between intervention and control group participants. Results showed that age 2 aggression was the DB problem most consistently associated with both parent- and teacher-rated social dysfunction for both groups. Early starting aggressive behavior may be particularly important for the early identification of children at risk for school-age social difficulties.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh, 4427 Sennott Square, 210 S. Bouquet Street, Pittsburgh, PA, 15260, USA, lmb103@pitt.edu.
authors.forename: Lauretta M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Brennan
authors.forename: Daniel S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Shaw
authors.forename: Thomas J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Dishion
authors.forename: Melvin N
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Wilson
mesh_terms: D000374:Aggression / Q000502:physiology*; D002648:Child; D002652:Child Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D000066553:Problem Behavior; D011379:Prognosis; D012919:Social Behavior