Promoting Postsecondary Education in Low-Income Youth: The Moderating Role of Socio-Behavioral and Academic Skills in the Context of a Major Educational Reform.

Governments around the world are pressed to invest in postsecondary education. However, little research exists to document whether large-scale educational reforms aimed at increasing rates of postsecondary attendance benefit youth's developmental outcomes. This study tested whether an educational reform occurring in Québec, Canada, in the 1960s increased educational levels, and whether it benefitted some youth more than others. In the 1970's, 4109 low-income youth (50% females) aged 7-13 years old were recruited at Time 1 from first, fourth, and seventh grade classes (Mage = 10.6, SD = 2.5). Socio-behavioral characteristics and academic skills at Time 1 were examined as predictors of educational attainment at Time 2, three decades later, on 3883 of the same participants. Multinomial logistic regressions were used to examine the likelihood of youth obtaining a diploma from the newly created, accessible, and affordable colleges ("cégeps"). Low-educated groups (high school dropouts and high school graduates) presented a higher early risk profile than did college graduates. Interactions revealed that social withdrawal protected youth from disadvantaged neighborhoods, helping them graduate from college. Likeability helped academically weaker girls go beyond college and access university, and helped academically competent boys graduate from college. Aggressive behavior decreased the odds of university attendance for academically competent boys. Policies promoting higher education for disadvantaged youth should be supplemented with early interventions integrating academic and socio-behavioral objectives.

Predicting psychosis-spectrum diagnoses in adulthood from social behaviors and neighborhood contexts in childhood.

Research showing that risk for schizophrenia, bipolar disorder with psychosis, and other psychosis-spectrum diagnoses in adulthood is multidetermined has underscored the necessity of studying the additive and interactive factors in childhood that precede and predict future disorders. In this study, risk for the development of psychosis-spectrum disorders was examined in a 2-generation, 30-year prospective longitudinal study of 3,905 urban families against a sociocultural backdrop of changing economic and social conditions. Peer nominations of aggression, withdrawal, and likeability and national census information on neighborhood-level socioeconomic disadvantage in childhood, as well as changes in neighborhood socioeconomic conditions over the lifespan, were examined as predictors of diagnoses of schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and other psychosis-spectrum disorders in adulthood relative to developing only nonpsychotic disorders or no psychiatric disorders. Individuals who were both highly aggressive and highly withdrawn were at greater risk for other psychosis-spectrum diagnoses when they experienced greater neighborhood disadvantage in childhood or worsening neighborhood conditions over maturation. Males who were highly aggressive but low on withdrawal were at greater risk for schizophrenia diagnoses. Childhood neighborhood disadvantage predicted both schizophrenia and bipolar diagnoses, regardless of childhood social behavior. Results provided strong support for multiple-domain models of psychopathology, and suggest that universal preventive interventions and social policies aimed at improving neighborhood conditions may be particularly important for decreasing the prevalence of psychosis-spectrum diagnoses in the future.

Perception of neighborhood disorder and health service usage in a Canadian sample.

BACKGROUND: Neighborhood environment, both actual and perceived, is associated with health outcomes; however, much of this research has relied on self-reports of these outcomes. PURPOSE: The association between both perception of neighborhood disorder and neighborhood poverty (as measured by postal code socioeconomic status) was examined in the prediction of health service usage. METHOD: Participants in a longitudinal project were contacted in mid-adulthood regarding their perception of neighborhood disorder. Their census tract data and medical records were drawn from government databases. RESULTS: Higher perceived neighborhood disorder was significantly associated with higher levels of total health services usage, lifestyle illnesses, specialist visits, and emergency room visits, even when neighborhood poverty and individual-level variables were controlled for. Neighborhood poverty was only significantly associated with fewer total hospitalizations. CONCLUSIONS: Higher perceived neighborhood disorder was associated with higher rates of health service usage, suggesting further investigation into the mechanisms by which perceptions of the environment influences health outcomes.

The quality of the mother-child relationship in high-risk dyads: application of the Emotional Availability Scales in an intergenerational, longitudinal study.

The present research examined how family psychosocial risk may be associated with emotional availability (EA) across age and time in two longitudinal, intergenerational studies with high-risk, disadvantaged mother-child dyads. Study 1 examined dyads during preschool and middle childhood. Study 2 examined a different sample of dyads, tested intensively at five time points (6, 12, and 18 months; preschool; and school age). Across studies, maternal childhood histories of aggression and social withdrawal predicted negative EA (higher levels of maternal hostility) during mother-child interactions at preschool age. In Study 1, mothers with higher levels of social withdrawal during childhood had preschoolers who were less appropriately responsive to and involving of their mothers during interactions. In Study 2, higher levels of observed appropriate maternal structuring predicted child responsiveness while observed maternal sensitivity (and structuring) predicted observed child involvement. More maternal social support and better home environment combined with lower stress predicted better mother-child relationship quality. Findings contribute to the burgeoning literature on EA by focusing on a high-risk community sample across time and generations. Results are interpreted in light of the developmental psychopathology framework, and have implications for a broader understanding of how EA is related to parental history and personal characteristics, as well as ongoing family and environmental context.

Neighbourhood disadvantage and behavioural problems during childhood and the risk of cardiovascular disease risk factors and events from a prospective cohort.

Both low socioeconomic status (SES) and behavioural problems in childhood are associated with cardiovascular disease (CVD) in adulthood, but their combined effects on CVD are unknown. Study objectives were to investigate the effect of neighbourhood level SES and behavioural problems during childhood on the development of CVD risk factors and events during adulthood. Participants were from a longitudinal cohort (n = 3792, baseline: 6-13 years of age) of Montreal children, followed from 1976 to 2010. SES was a composite measure of neighbourhood income, employment, education, and single-parent households separately assessed from census micro data sets in 1976, 2001, and 2006. Behavioural problems were assessed based on sex-specific peer assessments. CVD events were from medical records. Sex-stratified multivariable Cox regression models adjusted for age, frequency of medical visits, and parental history of CVD. Males from disadvantaged neighbourhoods during childhood were 2.06 (95% CI: 1.09-3.90, p = 0.03) and 2.51 (95% CI: 1.49-4.22, p = 0.0005) times more likely to develop a CVD risk factor or an event, respectively, than males not from disadvantaged neighbourhoods. Aggressive males were also 50% more likely to develop a CVD risk factor or event. Females from disadvantaged neighbourhoods during childhood were 1.85 (95% CI: 1.33-2.59, p = 0.0003) times more likely to develop a CVD risk factor. Future studies should aim to disentangle the interpersonal from the socioeconomic effects on CVD incidence.

From risky behavior to health risk: continuity across two generations.

The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of childhood aggression and social withdrawal on adolescent health risk behaviors and adult health outcomes, and to examine the transfer of health risk to preschool offspring. This was a prospective, longitudinal, and intergenerational study of 114 mothers from disadvantaged neighborhoods, who were identified in childhood as being highly aggressive and/or withdrawn or with low scores on these 2 behavioral risk dimensions, and their preschool offspring aged 1 to 6 years old. The health histories of mothers (adolescent health risk behavior, health during pregnancy, current symptoms) and target children were taken during structured interviews conducted at home. Regression analyses tested the relationship between maternal childhood risk status and subsequent health outcomes, and these were followed by structural equation modeling of a proposed intergenerational pathway. Maternal childhood aggression predicted current health risk behaviors (e.g., daily cigarette smoking), whereas maternal childhood social withdrawal was not associated with maternal health risk at the time of testing. Mothers who had high scores on both aggression and withdrawal were more likely to engage in adolescent health risk behavior, which was directly related to health problems in preschoolers (even after controlling for covariates, such as neonatal health status and sex). In summary, there are distinct health trajectories for women who are highly aggressive and socially withdrawn in childhood, with implications for women's long-term health. Specifically, aggression in girls is likely to lead to health risk behaviors that may also place the next generation at risk for pediatric illness. Results are interpreted in terms of the health-hostility link, best known in adult men and intergenerational models.

Self and peer perceptions of childhood aggression, social withdrawal and likeability predict adult substance abuse and dependence in men and women: a 30-year prospective longitudinal study.

While childhood behaviors such as aggression, social withdrawal and likeability have been linked to substance abuse outcomes in adolescence and adulthood, the mechanisms by which these variables relate are not yet well established. Self and peer perceptions of childhood behaviors in men and women were compared to assess the role of context in the prediction of drug and alcohol abuse and dependence. Participants (N=676) in an ongoing longitudinal project examining the relation between childhood behavior and adult mental health outcomes completed the Structured Clinical Interview for the DSM IV regarding their histories of substance abuse in mid-adulthood (mean age=34, SD=2). In women, higher levels of both self and peer reported aggression were associated with drug and alcohol abuse and dependence, and higher levels of peer reported aggression were associated with higher levels of alcohol abuse and dependence. As well, higher levels of self-perceived likeability were protective regarding substance abuse and dependence outcomes. In men, higher levels of peer perceived social withdrawal were protective regarding substance abuse and dependence outcomes. Findings support the comparison of self and peer perceptions of childhood behavior as a method of assessing the mechanisms by which childhood behaviors impact adult outcomes, and suggest the importance of gender in the relation between childhood behaviors and adult substance abuse and dependence.