Symptoms In Middle Childhood Research Articles

Mother–child attachment, emotion regulation, and anxiety symptoms in middle childhood

This study examined whether the relation of mother–child attachment with anxiety symptoms is mediated by emotion regulation (ER) processes (poor emotional awareness, biased interpretations of emotionally charged events, and coping strategies). Attachment patterns were assessed in a sample of eighty‐seven 10‐ to 12‐year‐olds using story‐stem interviews. Children who were less secure and more disorganized reported more anxiety. Attachment was also related to ER; security was associated with less difficulty identifying emotions, and disorganization was associated with more catastrophizing interpretations and less active coping. Anxiety symptoms were related to all three ER processes. Finally, relations of security or disorganization with anxiety symptoms were partially mediated by ER processes.

Multi-method assessment of mother-child attachment: Links to parenting and child depressive symptoms in middle childhood

This study included two different methods to assess mother–child attachment, questionnaires, and a doll play story stem interview, so their overlap could be evaluated. In addition, we investigated how attachment is related to parenting and child depression. The sample was comprised of 10- to 12-year-olds (N = 87) and their mothers. Children completed questionnaires (assessing security, avoidance, and ambivalence), and were administered a doll play interview to assess attachment patterns (security, avoidance, ambivalence, and disorganization). Two aspects of parenting (warmth/ engagement and psychological control) were assessed with child reports and observer ratings of maternal behavior. We also obtained child reports of depressive symptoms. Questionnaire and interview measures of attachment security were related to one another, and each showed predictable associations with parenting and child depression. By contrast, results were less consistent for the ambivalent and avoidant insecure attachment patterns, although disorganized attachment showed some associations with parenting and child adjustment.

Attachment and depressive symptoms in middle childhood and early adolescence: Testing the validity of the emotion regulation model of attachment

This research examines differential associations between attachment dimensions (anxiety and avoidance) and emotion regulation (ER) strategies (dysregulation and suppression) in middle childhood and early adolescence. Furthermore, the study investigates how attachment and ER relate to depressive symptoms and perceived parenting. Two cross‐sectional studies (N = 339 and N = 746) supported the hypothesized associations between attachment anxiety and avoidance and emotional dysregulation and suppression, respectively. Mixed evidence was found for ER as a mediator in associations between attachment and depressive symptoms. Study 2 found that parental responsiveness and autonomy‐support are related differentially to the attachment dimensions. The Discussion focuses on the dynamics involved in associations between parenting, attachment, ER, and depression and on directions for future research.

Mother–child relationships, family context, and child characteristics as predictors of anxiety symptoms in middle childhood

The goal of the study was to examine several factors that may explain the development of anxiety symptoms in middle childhood. Using data from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care (n = 1,364 families), we examined mother-child relationships, other aspects of family context, and child characteristics as predictors of anxiety in preadolescence. Latent growth curve analyses revealed that children who were more anxious at the beginning of middle childhood had been more behaviorally inhibited as preschoolers, and in middle childhood lived in families who experienced more negative life events and had mothers who were more anxious. Children who became more anxious across middle childhood were less behaviorally inhibited as preschoolers and in middle childhood perceived less security in their attachments to their mothers, experienced more negative life events, and had mothers who were more anxious. The findings illustrate the need to include a broad set of risk factors in etiological models of anxiety. In addition, the evidence for cumulative effects suggests several possible points of intervention with anxious children and their parents.

The Limited Effects of Obstetrical and Neonatal Complications on Conduct and Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Symptoms in Middle Childhood

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a wide range of obstetrical and neonatal complications as well as socioeconomic variables on the behaviors characterized by attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, conduct disorder, and oppositional defiant disorder. Data were collected on 7- to 8-year old twins, using multiple instruments assessing many areas of individual and family functioning. The influence of several aspects of prenatal care, labor and delivery, and early life were considered as well as indicators of socioeconomic status, such as family income and maternal education. The observed associations were stronger for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder than conduct disorder symptoms and stronger for females than males. Family income and gender significantly predicted both behavioral outcomes, whereas birth weight predicted attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder symptoms only. However, the presence of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and conduct symptom behaviors were not associated with an occurrence of more obstetrical or neonatal complications as indicated by hierarchical linear modeling analyses. By school age, behavioral problems related to inattention, impulsivity, hyperactivity, defiance, and conduct are relatively unaffected by general adversity in the neonatal and perinatal periods.

Social–Emotional Problems in Early Childhood and the Development of Depressive Symptoms in School-Age Children

Research Findings: The present longitudinal study investigated whether a range of social–emotional difficulties in early childhood predict the development of depressive symptoms in middle childhood. Participants were 56 children and their teachers. Teachers' reports of internalizing and externalizing behaviors were obtained during preschool, and children's displays of negative affect were observed through classroom videotapes in preschool. Children's self-reports of depressive symptoms were collected approximately three and a half years later. Teachers' ratings of social problems and atypical behaviors were positively associated with later depressive symptoms. Teachers' ratings of rule breaking and observed negative affect in preschool were stronger predictors of later depressive symptoms in girls than in boys. Findings point to social non-conformity as an important feature in the developmental course of depressive symptoms. Results lend support to a developmental psychopathology framework, showing change over time across types of social–emotional difficulties in gender-specific directions. Practice or Policy: Findings underscore the role that preschool teachers and classroom observation could play in identifying early risk for depressive symptoms. Results suggest the possible utility of early screening programs for at-risk preschool-aged children. Moreover, results could inform school-based intervention or prevention programs targeting internalizing symptoms, an under-recognized area of children's mental health.

Mother–child attachment and social anxiety symptoms in middle childhood

Literature suggests that parent–child attachment and anxiety symptoms are related. One purpose of the present study was to assess whether attachment patterns relate differentially to social anxiety aspects (fear of negative evaluation, social anxiety and distress in new situations, and generalized anxiety and distress). The second purpose was to investigate these links both longitudinally and concurrently in middle childhood. Children ( N = 74) completed measures of secure, ambivalent, and avoidant attachments with mothers in grades 3 and 5 and a measure of social anxiety symptoms in grade 5. Longitudinal analyses showed that ambivalent attachment was most consistently related to social anxiety. Concurrent measures of attachment and social anxiety showed that lower attachment security and higher ambivalent attachment were most consistently related to higher social anxiety. Concurrent attachment predicted variance in social anxiety after controlling for earlier attachment. Findings suggest that anxiety interventions might target attachment.

Developmental trajectories of anxiety symptoms among boys across early and middle childhood.

This study examined the developmental trajectory of anxiety symptoms among 290 boys and evaluated the association of trajectory groups with child and family risk factors and children's internalizing disorders. Anxiety symptoms were measured using maternal reports from the Child Behavior Checklist (T. M. Achenbach, 1991, 1992) for boys between the ages of 2 and 10. A group-based trajectory analysis revealed 4 distinct trajectories in the development of anxiety symptoms: low, low increasing, high declining, and high-increasing trajectories. Child shy temperament tended to differentiate between initial high and low groups, whereas maternal negative control and maternal depression were associated with increasing trajectories and elevated anxiety symptoms in middle childhood. Follow-up analyses to diagnoses of preadolescent depression and/or anxiety disorders revealed different patterns on the basis of trajectory group membership. The results are discussed in terms of the mechanisms of risk factors and implications for early identification and prevention.

Early Father Involvement Moderates Biobehavioral Susceptibility to Mental Health Problems in Middle Childhood

To study how early father involvement and children's biobehavioral sensitivity to social contexts interactively predict mental health symptoms in middle childhood. Fathers' involvement in infant care and maternal symptoms of depression were prospectively ascertained in a community-based study of child health and development in Madison and Milwaukee, WI. In a subsample of 120 children, behavioral, autonomic, and adrenocortical reactivity to standardized challenges were measured as indicators of biobehavioral sensitivity to social context during a 4-hour home assessment in 1998, when the children were 7 years of age. Mental health symptoms were evaluated at age 9 years using parent, child, and teacher reports. Early father involvement and children's biobehavioral sensitivity to context significantly and interactively predicted symptom severity. Among children experiencing low father involvement in infancy, behavioral, autonomic, and adrenocortical reactivity became risk factors for later mental health symptoms. The highest symptom severity scores were found for children with high autonomic reactivity that, as infants, had experienced low father involvement and mothers with symptoms of depression. Among children experiencing minimal paternal caretaking in infancy, heightened biobehavioral sensitivity to social contexts may be an important predisposing factor for the emergence of mental health symptoms in middle childhood. Such predispositions may be exacerbated by the presence of maternal depression.

Bias and Accuracy of Children's Perceptions of Peer Acceptance: Prospective Associations with Depressive Symptoms

Are depressive symptoms in middle childhood associated with more or less realistic social self-perceptions? At the beginning and end of the school year, children in grades 3 through 5 (n=667) rated how much they liked their classmates, predicted the acceptance ratings they would receive from each of their classmates, and completed self-report measures of perceived acceptance and depressive symptoms. Accuracy of perceived acceptance was indexed by the mean difference between pairs of predicted and received ratings (absolute values). Standardized residual scores created by regressing self-reported perceived acceptance (either predicted ratings or children's responses to a questionnaire measure of perceived peer acceptance) onto peer acceptance ratings formed two measures of bias. Bi-directional associations were found for accuracy of perceived acceptance and depressive symptoms; inaccurate perceptions predicted increases in depressive symptoms and depressive symptoms predicted decreased accuracy. Neither measure of bias predicted changes in depressive symptoms. Depressive symptoms predicted increases in negatively biased perceptions as assessed via questionnaire.

Observations of early triadic family interactions: Boundary disturbances in the family predict symptoms of depression, anxiety, and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in middle childhood

This article argues for the importance of focusing explicitly on the construct of boundary disturbances in families to understand the development of depressive, anxious, and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms in middle childhood. Grounded in family systems theory, this study examined traditional parent-child antecedents of childhood depression and anxiety (hostile, controlling, and disengaged interactions) in the context of the entire family as well as enmeshed patterns, whereby one parent drew in the child by turning to the child for caregiving or intimacy and excluded the spouse, and balanced patterns, whereby all family members expressed vulnerabilities and asserted their needs or desires. Mostly White, middle-class mothers, fathers, and children were observed at home interacting on a series of everyday tasks when the children were 24 months old, and mothers and teachers rated children's symptoms of anxiety, depression, somatic problems, and ADHD at age 7. Regression analyses revealed that, after controlling for maternal depression and the effects of other family patterns, enmeshed family patterns forecast children's depressive symptoms; controlling and disengaged interactions predicted anxious and depressive symptoms; and hostility forecast ADHD and somatic complaints. Intriguing gender differences emerged. As predicted, whereas boys who experienced enmeshed family patterns more often developed symptoms of ADHD, girls who experienced enmeshed family interactions later showed symptoms of depression.

Genetic Association between Atopy and Behavioral Symptoms in Middle Childhood

Genetic Association between Atopy and Behavioral Symptoms in Middle Childhood

Genetic Association between Atopy and Behavioral Symptoms in Middle Childhood

The relationship of atopic and behavioral symptoms in a community sample of 66 monozygotic and 141 dizygotic twin pairs, ages 4-11 years, was investigated via mother report questionnaires. Within-person correlation between atopic symptoms and Child Behavior Checklist internalizing symptoms (CBCL-INT) was .21 (p < .001) for the total sample. Cross-correlations between atopy and CBCL-INT were .26 for monozygotic and .04 for dizygotic twins. A common and specific factor model applied to the data revealed that the cross-correlation between atopy and CBCL-INT was mainly due to genetic influences (77% of the covariance). This study supports the hypothesis that there is a shared genetic risk for atopy and internalizing symptoms.

An Adoption Study of Depressive Symptoms in Middle Childhood

An Adoption Study of Depressive Symptoms in Middle Childhood

An Adoption Study of Depressive Symptoms in Middle Childhood

Several twin studies of children and adolescents have found significant heritability of depressive symptoms. In contrast, the sole adoption study of biologically related and biologically unrelated adopted siblings found no evidence for genetic influence. The present study attempts to confirm these results in middle childhood using two adoption designs. The sample, from the Colorado Adoption Project, included 180 adopted children (77 with adoptive siblings) and their biological and adoptive mothers, and 227 nonadopted children (93 with biological siblings) and their mothers. Mothers reported their own neuroticism, and children's depressive symptoms were reported by the parents and by the children themselves. For both the sibling adoption and the parent-offspring designs heritability was negligible, shared environment modest, and non-shared environment substantial, irrespective of child gender. Although the power of the sibling data is low, the combined findings from the two designs suggest that genetic effects on depressive symptoms in childhood may be somewhat smaller than previously estimated in twin studies.

Short-term stability of aggression, peer rejection, and depressive symptoms in middle childhood

This study investigated the short-term stability of teacher-rated aggression, peer-rated rejection, and peer-rated depressive symptoms in 478 elementary school children from 25 classrooms (first to third grades) in two geographical areas. Children who presented specific combinations of aggression, rejection, and depressive symptoms were tracked to determine the stability of these combinations from the beginning (Time 1) to the end (Time 2) of the school year. In addition, aggression, rejection, and depressive symptoms were treated as risk factors, and children were classified as displaying zero, one, two, or three risk factors at Times 1 and 2. Of the three risk factors, aggression appeared to be the most stable. Three-quarters of children who presented aggression at Time 1 (either alone or in combination with the other risk factors) were found to continue to have elevated levels of aggression at Time 2. Although specific combinations of aggression, rejection, and depressive symptoms were not very stable over time, the number of risk factors a child displayed at Time 1 was a good predictor of the number of risk factors the child displayed at Time 2. Stability of risk factors was comparable as a junction of child gender and ethnicity.

Stress, Social Support, and Behavior Symptoms in Middle Childhood

This research concerns the distinction between stress associated with major life events and that associated with "daily hassles" as well as the possible moderating influences of social support. We analyzed data from 159 school-age children, 6 and 9 years old, and their mothers to examine the relationship between stress and behavior symptoms. We considered a subsample of 35 of these families to be a high stress group because of marital separation or divorce within the 4-year period prior to the study. The findings documented the expected relationships between behavior symptoms and stress, whether operationalized as life events or hassles. Undesirable life events showed the strongest relationship to behavior symptoms. Multiple-regression models with R2 = .32 (p < .0001) included significant main effects for stress, social support, and some interactions between them. Evidence was provided for a moderating or buffering influence of social support on the relationship between stress and illness. However, the model including interaction effects did not account for appreciably more variance, suggesting that the simpler, more parsimonious main effects conceptualization was at least as useful, if not more so.