Structure and variability in the developmental trajectory of children's externalizing problems: impact of infant attachment, maternal depressive symptomatology, and child sex.

This study explores the developmental trajectory of externalizing problems in a sample of 101 children of adolescent mothers from preschool through third grade using hierarchical linear models (HLM). First, a detailed assessment of the structure of the developmental trajectory of externalizing problems is provided. Second, the impact of three risk factors (infant attachment, maternal depressive symptomatology, and child sex) on the developmental course of externalizing problems is assessed. Both avoidant and disorganized attachment and higher levels of maternal depressive symptomatology were associated with higher levels of externalizing problems at 9 years of age. Girls also showed higher externalizing problems relative to their same-sex peers than did boys. In addition, maternal depressive symptomatology related to the rate of change in these problems over time: the greater the mother's depression, the faster externalizing problems tended to increase. Although the overall level of maternal depressive symptomatology was related to children's externalizing problems for secure, avoidant, and disorganized groups, changes in maternal depressive symptomatology over time predicted levels of externalizing problems only for children with avoidant insecure attachments.

Psychological distress and substance use by adolescent mothers: associations with parenting attitudes and the quality of mother-child interaction.

This study examines associations between psychological distress and alcohol and drug use across the first five years of raising a child and parenting quality at child age six for 185 adolescent mothers. Overall, alcohol and other drug use in this sample was relatively low, but drug use was associated with more mother-reported unrealistic expectations of child behavior and more attributions of child intent to annoy parent by misbehaving. Maternal psychological distress was associated with maternal reports of negative control (yelling, pushing, spanking, etc.), and alcohol use moderated the association between psychological distress and negative control. At low levels of alcohol use, more maternal distress was associated with greater negative control; at higher levels of alcohol use, maternal distress was not related to negative control, but the absolute level of negative control was similar to that reported by more distressed mothers. Neither psychological distress nor alcohol and other drug use were related to maternal behavior during an interaction task. Overall, much stronger associations with parenting outcomes were found for an index of maternal vocabulary, compared with maternal psychological distress or maternal alcohol and other drug use.

Longitudinal assessment of the low-end specificity of maternal reports of depressive symptoms.

Recent studies have raised concerns about the specificity of self-report measures of depression with respect to low-end scores. Because of the high face validity of measures such as the Beck Depression Inventory, it is suspected that extremely low scores may reflect individuals who may harbor depressive symptoms or other psychological abnormalities, yet are inclined to 'fake-good', or respond in a socially desirable manner on the BDI. The presence of this phenomenon was tested in a sample of adolescent mothers who were assessed at four time points over 8 years. It was hypothesized that low-scoring mothers (compared with medium- and high-scoring mothers) would have more negative outcomes on a variety of self-report and observational measures of parenting, as well as have children with more negative outcomes on adjustment and behavior. This study employed multiple assessments, multiple informants and multiple domains of functioning. The analyses controlled for the possible effects of social desirability and demographic differences between the depression groups. The hypotheses were not supported. The majority of analyses found no differences between the groups; where differences did exist, there were no indications that the low-scoring group was at a disadvantage to the medium or high scoring groups.

Self-reported abuse history and adolescent problem behaviors. I. Antisocial and suicidal behaviors.

PURPOSE: To examine the associations of self-reported abuse and sexual molestation with self-reported antisocial behavior and suicidal ideation/behavior in a general population of adolescents. METHODS: We used a stratified cluster sampling procedure with replacement to sample 4790 students in Washington State public schools in Grades 8, 10, and 12. Students were asked in a self-administered questionnaire whether they had ever been abused by an adult and whether they had ever been sexually molested. They were also asked about antisocial behavior and suicidal ideation and behavior in the past year. We conducted polytomous logistic regressions, controlling for gender and grade, using Software for the Statistical Analysis of Correlated Data (SUDAAN). RESULTS: Reported abuse history was associated with antisocial behavior and with suicidal ideation and behavior. The associations were stronger for abuse and molestation than for nonsexual abuse or molestation alone, and stronger at higher levels of severity (e.g., suicide attempts vs. suicidal thoughts). For example, adjusted odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals (in parentheses) for abuse and molestation were 4.4 (3.1-6.2) for suicidal thoughts, 6.8 (4.4-10.4) for suicide plan, 12.0 (7.9-18.4) for noninjurious suicide attempt, and 47.1 (23.3-95.3) for injurious suicide attempt. For abuse alone, these figures were 2.3 (1.7-3.2), 3.1 (2.1-4.6), 5.1 (3.3-7.8), and 11.8 (4.4-31.9), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Efforts to reduce antisocial behavior and suicidal ideation/behavior in adolescence, particularly early or severe manifestations of the behaviors, should consider the possible role of a history of maltreatment, especially the possibility of sexual abuse.

Self-reported abuse history and adolescent problem behaviors. II. Alcohol and drug use.

PURPOSE: We examined the associations of self-reported abuse and sexual molestation with self-reported alcohol and drug use in a general population of adolescents. METHODS: We used a stratified cluster sampling procedure with replacement to sample 4790 students in Washington State public schools in Grades 8, 10, and 12. Students were asked whether they had ever been abused by an adult and whether they had ever been sexually molested. They were also asked about their levels of alcohol and drug use and about early initiation of substance use. We conducted polytomous logistic regressions, controlling for gender and grade, using Software for the Statistical Analysis of Correlated Data (SUDAAN). RESULTS: We identified associations between reported abuse history and alcohol and drug use in adolescence and early initiation of substance use. The associations between reported abuse history and alcohol use were stronger at younger ages. The strongest association was between combined abuse and molestation, and relatively severe (heavy) drinking by eighth graders (odds ratio, 7.9; 95% confidence interval, 2.6-17.4). For drug use, the associations with reported abuse history were slightly stronger at higher levels of severity and for combined abuse and molestation compared to nonsexual abuse. For early initiation, the associations with abuse history were stronger for combined abuse and molestation than for nonsexual abuse or molestation alone, and stronger for marijuana use/regular drinking than for alcohol/cigarette experimentation. For example, adjusted odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals (in parentheses) for combined abuse and molestation were 3.5 (2.8-4.5) for alcohol/cigarette experimentation and 12.2 (6.3-23.6) for marijuana use/regular drinking by age 10. For abuse alone, these figures were 2.5 (2.0-3.1) and 4.7 (3.0-7.3), respectively. CONCLUSION: Efforts to reduce substance use and abuse in adolescence, particularly heavy use and use early in adolescence, should consider the possible role of a history of maltreatment.

Developmental trajectories of disruptive behavior problems in preschool children of adolescent mothers.

Using hierarchical linear modeling (HLM), we analyzed individual developmental trajectories of disruptive behavior problems between ages 3.5 to 6.0 years for 183 children of adolescent mothers. We examined how the level of problem behavior (intercept) and the rate of change over time (slope) are influenced by child's sex, mother's depression/anxiety symptoms, and mother's use of negative control for regulating child behavior. On average, disruptive behavior decreased from age 3.5 to 6.0. Child sex and maternal depression/anxiety related to the level of behavior problems but not to the rate of change. Boys and children of more depressed/anxious mothers exhibited higher levels of disruptive behavior. Maternal negative control was associated with both level of disruptive behavior and rate of change, and negative control mediated the effects of maternal depression/anxiety. Greater negative control corresponded to higher levels of behavior problems and no reduction in their display over time. Child race moderated effects of negative control.

Parenting behavior of adolescent children of alcoholics.

We compared the parenting behavior of children of alcoholics (COAs) and non-COAs within a sample of adolescent mothers. COAs and their children showed dyadic behaviors that were less problematic than those of their peers on mother-child teaching interactions at 1 year of age, mother-child interactions during structured play at pre-school age and child attachment behavior at pre-school age. COAs reported feeling relatively more rejection as compared to love from the alcoholic parent, but this was not related to their own parenting scores. Similar to other research, COAs reported more historical life stress, more family disruption and more drug use compared to non-COAs, but these measures also were not related to parenting scores. These results suggest that, although adolescent mothers are at risk for parenting difficulties compared to adult mothers, adolescent COAs do not necessarily encounter more problems in parenting their own children compared to other adolescent mothers.