Abstract
This study identifies the incidence and development of disabled children's problem behaviors (i.e., conduct, peer, hyperactivity, and emotional problems) during the early years. Using the Millennium Cohort Study, a nationally representative UK study, and a measure of disability anchored in the UK legal definition, we estimate growth curve models tracking behavior problems from ages 3 to 7. We examine whether disabled girls' and boys' behavior differs from their non-disabled peers, and whether it converges with or diverges from them over time. We investigate whether parenting and the home environment moderate associations between disability and behavior. We show that disabled children exhibit more behavior problems than non-disabled children at age 3, and their trajectories from ages 3 to 7 do not converge. Rather, disabled children, particularly boys, show increasing gaps in peer problems, hyperactivity, and emotional problems over time. We find little evidence that parenting moderates these associations.
Highlights
The emergence of problem behavior during the early years may set children upon unfavorable developmental trajectories
We examined whether average age 3 behavior problems (β01) and change over time in behavior problems (β11) varied according to disability status, as well as whether these relationships were moderated by child sex (β03, β13)
In line with previous results, conduct, hyperactive, and peer problem behaviors tended to decrease over time from around age 3, with a slight increase from around age 6, as illustrated by the positive value for age squared
Summary
The emergence of problem behavior during the early years may set children upon unfavorable developmental trajectories. This is true in the case of early externalizing behavior problems (i.e., hyperactivity, aggression), which may lead to continued problems and poor academic achievement (see e.g., Campbell, Shaw, & Gilliom, 2000; Hinshaw, 1992). We know little about the extent to which associations between disability and behavior are linked to children's developmental stage and whether they attenuate or intensify around the time of school entry. Children's development up to age 3 provides the building blocks for the increasingly complex social behaviors, emotional maturity, problem solving ability, and early literacy and numeracy skills that are critical leading up to school entry. A description of disabled children's early behavioral trajectories across four important domains of behavioral development is the first contribution of this paper
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