The Relationship of Early Family Variables to Children's Subsequent Behavioral Adjustment

Abstract

Examined the relative strength of the relation between early family functioning variables and subsequent (41/2 years later) child adjustment. Five clusters of family variables were examined: child's gender, life-stress events, child characteristics, maternal characteristics, and spousal support. The criterion variables were mother, father, and teacher ratings of the target child's adjustment. Hierarchical regression analyses were used to identify the best models for the prediction of child adjustment. No significant models were found when the independent criteria of father- or teacher-rated behavior were used. The models for the prediction of children's total adjustment, conduct disorders, social aggression, attention problems, and anxiety-withdrawal, as rated by the mother, indicated that the early family variables of life stress, child characteristics, and maternal characteristics are key in subsequent child functioning, with spousal support playing an apparently minor role.