precursors & correlates of antisocial behavior from infancy to preschool

Precursors and Correlates of Antisocial Behavior from Infancy to Preschool

Introduction

Recently, there has been a growing interest in identifying the early antecedents of antisocial behavior. The rationale for this interest is clear. First, antisocial behavior is extremely costly to society in terms of damaged property and disruption of normal patterns of living. Second, both epidemiological and developmental studies have found aggressive behavior to be highly stable beginning as early as age 2, particularly among males (Cummings, Iannotti, & Zahn-Waxler, 1989; Olweus, 1979). Third, serious forms of antisocial behavior have been found to be highly resistant to change in school-age children and adolescents -- few interventions consistently have proven to be reliably effective (Kazdin, 1987). Fourth, the period from infancy to preschool is one of the most critical in development. During these years, developmental trajectories leading to adaptive or maladaptive outcomes begin (Campbell, 1995). Moreover, rapid cognitive and physical development occurs during this time, requiring concomitant changes in parenting. For these reasons it is important to examine precursors of antisocial behavior in young children. Delineating developmental trajectories leading to later antisocial behavior may suggest important targets and the appropriate timing for intervention. Parent and child factors associated with later antisocial behavior may be more responsive to treatment prior to school-age.

Though early retrospective studies documented the emergence of parent-child difficulties and disruptive behavior problems prior to school-age (e.g., Glueck & Glueck, 1950), only recently have prospective studies been initiated to examine the stability and predictive validity of specific risk factors. As these have emerged, a number of substantive and methodological techniques have been borrowed from other areas (e.g., developmental psychology). Earlier studies primarily were concerned with providing information about the types of disruptive behavior experienced by young children (Crowther, Bond, & Rolf, 1981), and their stability during early childhood (Richman, Stevenson, & Graham, 1982). However, in the 1980's researchers began to examine risk factors associated with later antisocial behavior, and to incorporate an interactionist perspective, which takes into account both child and parent contributors (Campbell, Breaux, Ewing, & Szumowski, 1986). For instance, rather than attributing the development of antisocial behavior solely to parenting practices, researchers also began to examine the child's previous behavioral adjustment. In addition, with the emergence of the field of developmental psychopathology, researchers have begun to incorporate knowledge about the developmental status of the child, the concomitant challenges faced by parents, and the theoretical perspectives and methods by which developmentalists have conceptualized and measured normal socialization processes (Dumas & Wahler, 1985). Theoretically, this has involved integrating findings from research on children's normative development (e.g., attachment, parenting practices). As a result, more researchers have conceptualized the development of antisocial behavior using a reciprocal and transactional perspective, exploring concurrent and longitudinal effects of parents on children and children on parents.

Along with greater theoretical sophistication, there have been advances in the measurement of both risk factors and child disruptive behavior, including use of multiple informants and methods to measure independent and dependent variables (Fagot & Kavanagh, 1990; Renken, Egeland, Marvinney, Mangelsdorf, & Sroufe, 1989). Previously, many investigators relied solely on maternal report to measure risk factors and externalizing behavior. The validity of relying on one informant to assess both risk factors and child behavior has been shown to artificially inflate relations (Fergusson, Lynskey, & Horwood, 1993).

In this chapter, investigations that have taken advantage of advances in theory and methods will be stressed more than others. Our aim is to highlight progress, rather than to conduct an exhaustive review of the literature. We emphasize prospective studies beginning with preschool-age children or younger, focusing primarily on investigations using multiple informants and methods. Most of these studies have paid greater attention to family factors than those outside of the home due to young children's greater dependence on parents early in life. However, because of the increase in use of alternative child care resources with young children, studies noting influences external to the nuclear family will be reviewed as well. Finally, in most cases we will use the term "externalizing behavior" rather than "antisocial behavior" to discuss the less severe disruptive and destructive behavior of children age 5 and younger. It is clear from the literature on school-age children and adolescents, particularly regarding the stability of aggression, that externalizing problems are highly associated with serious forms of antisocial behavior. A major goal of this chapter is to examine the strength of the association between earlier forms of externalizing problems with those found during the school-age period.

Theoretical Context and Controversial Issues

To provide a contextual framework, we will examine four interdependent theoretical issues: (1) the benefits and costs of beginning research prior to the onset of true serious antisocial behavior; (2) the influence of environmental and biological factors in the development of antisocial behavior; (3) the developmental status of the child; and (4) the selection of appropriate risk factors.

As with other types of prevention research, there are costs and benefits of studying precursors. Given the stability of antisocial behavior, and the lack of treatment efficacy in working with older children and adults who show high rates of antisocial behavior, it behooves researchers to explore antecedents of such behavior. Even if specific factors are found to consistently predict later antisocial behavior, most likely some of these would be more amenable to intervention than others. For instance, child behavior or parent-child interaction patterns that have only been in existence for only 1-5 years might be more malleable to change than longstanding personality characteristics of parents. Moreover, unless researchers can show an extremely high probability of specific risk factors being associated with later antisocial behavior, there exists the danger of intervening with many children who would not develop these problems. One possible solution may lie in developing early preventative interventions that are effective in modeling appropriate ways of caregiving children before parent-child interaction patterns and subsequent child externalizing behavior become less malleable to change. Such programs have been instituted in the first year of life among high-risk families in Hawaii, with the result being a significant decrease in infant abuse patterns (Breakey & Pratt, 1991). Studies of this type will be reviewed within the section on treatment.

A second issue concerns the nature-nurture debate, and the relative contribution of genetic versus environmental influences. In a recent series of articles by Lytton (1990), Dodge (1990), and others, the merits of both viewpoints are discussed. While we believe that Lytton is correct in pointing out that child effects have been understudied in this area, particularly in "parent-child" interaction studies, we also concur with Dodge that the debate itself is moot. Studies of both environmental and biological influences need to be undertaken. Within the study of young children's development of antisocial behavior, the issue of biological versus environmental influences is just beginning to unfold. However, in a recent study by Raine, Brennan, Sarnoff, and Mednick (1994), evidence was found for an interaction between biological risk and early caregiving in predicting later antisocial behavior. Raine and colleagues discovered that birth complications (e.g., umbilical cord prolapse and breech delivery) and an early maternal rejection factor (i.e., placement of infant in institutionalized care, attempts to abort fetus, and unwanted pregnancy) interacted to predict violent offending at ages 17 and 19. Neither variable predicted later violence in isolation.

In addition to taking into account both biological and environmental influences, it is important to consider the developmental status of the child. Social behavior tolerated by parents during a child's second year (e.g., noncompliance, undirected aggression), is viewed as disruptive during the preschool period. Similarly, parenting strategies that may be seen as appropriate during the preschool period (e.g., reprimanding a child for crying uncontrollably), may be considered inappropriate for infants. As children grow, researchers need to consider influences external to the nuclear family. Because the recent trend has been for both parents to work, extrafamilial influences, such as day care, have become important at earlier ages. Thus, both factors within and outside the nuclear family need to be addressed to account for the social ecology of young children.

Several types of risk factors have been examined with respect to early externalizing behavior problems and later antisocial behavior. First, researchers have studied child factors, such as infant temperament (Bates, Maslin, & Frankel, 1985), early disruptive behavior (Campbell, 1990; Richman et al., 1982), and infant attachment security (Erickson, Sroufe, & Egeland, 1985; Lyons-Ruth, Alpern, & Repacholi, 1993). Because most theorists posit attachment security to be primarily a function of the quality of parental caregiving, it will be reviewed within the context of parenting. Second, investigators have identified parent characteristics and parenting behavior such as depression (Zahn-Waxler et al., 1988), personality characteristics (Shaw, Vondra, Dowdell Hommerding, Keenan, & Dunn, 1994), and parental conflict (Dadds & Powell, 1991), as risk factors leading to externalizing behavior problems. Most studies of parenting have been focused on parental responsiveness/involvement (Gardner, 1989; Shaw, Keenan, & Vondra, 1994) or discipline practices (Campbell, 1994). Third, influences external to the family have included day care (Crowther et al., 1981; Goosens, Ottenhoff, & Koops, 1991) and peer relations (Olson, 1991). Finally, investigators have explored the effects of social adversity on the development of early externalizing problems, interactively and cumulatively (Sanson, Oberklaid, Pedlow, & Prior, 1991; Shaw, Vondra, et al., 1994).

Current Findings

Our review of the current literature will focus on four broad domains: (1) child contributors; (2) sex differences; (3) parent contributors; and (4) extrafamilial influences.

Child Effects

One set of studies exploring the child's contribution to the development of antisocial behavior has focused on the role of infant temperament. Several investigators have examined the relation between early temperamental difficulty and later behavioral adaptation, beginning with Thomas' and Chess' (1968) ground breaking study, and continuing with the study of behavioral inhibition by Kagan, Reznick, and Snidman (1987). Though the conceptualization of temperament remains controversial, there is some consensus about what constitutes difficult temperament during infancy (i.e., fussiness, irritability). It is believed that difficult temperament may influence the course of later externalizing problems directly through its relation to later oppositional and aggressive behavior (Graham, Rutter, & George, 1973), or indirectly through its effects on attitudes and behaviors of caregivers (Bates, 1980). Studies examining the direct effects of difficult temperament on later externalizing behavior problems have shown modest to moderate relations (Maziade, Cote, Bernier, Boutin, & Thivierge, 1989; Sanson et al., 1991). Unfortunately, these studies relied solely on mothers' reports of infant difficulty and later behavior problems. In the few studies using different informants (e.g., teachers, observers) to report on later externalizing problems, relations between maternal report of infant difficulty and later externalizing problems have been modest or insignificant (Bates, Maslin, & Frankel, 1985; Thomas et al., 1968).

These findings raise the possibility that the magnitude of the relation between temperament and externalizing problems has been overestimated due to observer bias. A similar bias has been documented in the relation between maternal reports of depression and behavior problems (Fergusson et al., 1993; Richters, 1992). It also calls for research to be conducted in which maternal reports of infant temperament are supplemented with observational systems or teacher reports. In our own research, we have found nonsignificant associations between maternal report and observations of infant difficulty at 12 and 18 months for girls and 12 months for boys, with modest convergence for boys at 18 months (i.e., r = .25, p < .001, n = 293) (Owens, Shaw, & McGuire, 1993). In terms of predicting maternal perception of behavior problems at ages 2 and 3 1/2, we have found only maternal report of infant difficulty to be associated with later externalizing problems, not observations of infant difficulty (Shaw, Keenan, Vondra, Owens, Winslow, & Hood, 1994). This indicates that the relation between infant temperament and later externalizing problems may be the result of the parent's stable perception of the child, rather than the child's behavior. However, this bias may still be important to child outcome by influencing the relationship between the parent and child, and ultimately increasing the use of parenting techniques that may promote externalizing behavior problems (e.g., harsh discipline, uninvolvement, permissiveness).

Fortunately, research on the continuity of early disruptive behaviors has been conducted using a wider array of sources. Though parental report appears to be the most commonly employed method, teacher reports and laboratory and classroom observations have been used as well. Most of these studies begin in the preschool period by either identifying children who show persistent externalizing problems, or by using larger epidemiological sampling strategies. In one of the first studies of the latter type, Richman et al. (1982) identified the top 14% of 3-year-olds from a parental questionnaire of behavior problems, and followed them in comparison to a control group of children from similar backgrounds. According to maternal report, problems persisted in 63% of these children at age 4 compared to 11% of the control group, and 62% at age 8 compared to 22% of the controls. Though continuity was lower according to teacher report at age 8, group differences were found in comparison to children not previously identified (39% of problem group versus 24% in the control group, p < .05).

Campbell and colleagues have followed two cohorts of hard-to-manage children from preschool through school-age (Campbell, 1990; Campbell et al., 1986). In the first cohort, children first identified at age 3 according to parental report showed strong continuity of behavior problems at ages 6, 9, and 13. According to maternal report, 50% and 48% showed clinically-significant problems at ages 6 and 9, respectively, with teacher ratings also distinguishing between identified children and controls. A second cohort of overactive and inattentive boys was recruited during the preschool period based on teacher and parental reports of ADD in the preschool period. Compared to a demographically-matched comparison group at ages 5 and 6, strong continuity of externalizing problems emerged from both parent and teacher ratings of target children's behavior problems (Campbell, 1994; Campbell et al., 1994).

Several other studies beginning in early childhood corroborate the results of Richman and Campbell. Moderate to strong continuity of early externalizing problems has been found as early as infancy to school-age (Keenan & Shaw, 1994; McGee, Feehan, & Williams, in press; Rose et al., 1989). In a study conducted by Cummings and colleagues (1989), the stability of physical aggression from age 2 to 5 was .76 for males. This study is notable because it is one of the few in which observational data were obtained at both assessment points to evaluate aggression.

Similarly, using a large sample of boys attending French public schools in Quebec, Tremblay, Pihl, Vitaro, and Dobkin (1994) discovered that hyperactivity rated by teachers in kindergarten (i.e., restless, overactive, and fidgety behaviors) predicted boys' self-reported delinquency at ages 10 and 13 better than early anxiety and reward dependence. However, boys who were high on hyperactivity, low on anxiety, and high on reward dependence in kindergarten were not at greater risk for subsequent delinquent behavior compared to nonhyperactive boys, suggesting a buffering effect for boys characterized by the "histrionic" personality profile.

In our own work, we have found moderate support for the continuity of disruptive behavior beginning during infancy using a transformational model (Shaw, Keenan, Vondra, Owens, Winslow, & Hood, 1995). This involves taking into account the changing meaning of aggression from ages 1 to 3; and including other forms of less destructive, but nonetheless aversive child behaviors, which may impact upon parenting and subsequent child behavior. Using only observational methods, persistent attention-seeking behavior at 12 months was found to be the child variable most highly related to 18-month noncompliance, which in turn, was related to 24-month aggression. Aggression at 24 months was then related to 36-month externalizing problems, reported by mothers. Interestingly, noncompliance at 18 months was more strongly associated with 24-month aggression than 18-month aggression, a finding we have now replicated with two cohorts (Shaw, Keenan, et al., 1995). It should be noted that this transformational pattern appears to be more valid for boys. For girls, a more direct link between observed noncompliance and later maternal report of behavior problems was evident.

Sex Differences

Recently, the issue of sex differences in disruptive behavior has been of greater interest as more is known about the prevalence rates and stability of antisocial behavior during the school-age period. The reader is referred to a chapter in this Handbook by Giordano, and a series of articles in a recent edition of Development and Psychopathology for more information concerning the merits of using different diagnostic criteria to establish conduct disorder for boys and girls (e.g., Achenbach, 1993). The emergence of boys' higher rates of externalizing behavior seems to occur during the latter part of the preschool period. While several investigators have documented the absence of sex differences in externalizing behaviors from ages 1 to 3 (Achenbach, 1993; Keenan & Shaw, 1994; Richman et al., 1982; Rose et al., 1989), there appears to be a shift in this pattern beginning at ages 4 and 5 (Rose et al., 1989). These differences become more dramatic during the school-age period and persist into adulthood (Kazdin, 1987).

In a recent review of studies examining sex differences in the prevalence and correlates of behavior problems among young children, Keenan and Shaw (1993) propose two explanations for the emergence of sex differences beginning at ages 4-5. The first explanation involves differential socialization practices of parents. As a result of being reinforced for sex-stereotyped behavior, girls' problems may be channeled more in the direction of internalizing difficulties. The socialization hypothesis is supported by data that during the preschool period, parents are more likely to use physical punishment with sons and more inductive techniques and reasoning with daughters (Block, 1978). Similarly, research indicates that relative to boys, mothers encourage girls to have more concern for others, to share or even relinquish toys to peers, and to behave prosocially (Ross, Tesla, Kenyon, & Lollis, 1990). Dodge and Frame (1982) have found that deficits in these affective perspective-taking skills are highly related to antisocial behavior among school-age children. It is unclear whether these differences in parental behavior initially emerge in the preschool period, or become evident at younger ages.

The second explanation attributes the greater decline in girls' externalizing problems to their more advanced adaptive skills, which in turn, facilitate prosocial behavior. From infancy to the preschool period, girls are found to have more rapid biological, cognitive, and social and emotional development compared to boys. Boys appear more vulnerable than girls to several neurodevelopmental disorders such as mental retardation, autism, learning disabilities, and ADHD (American Psychiatric Association, 1987). Cognitively, girls appear to have greater skills in language development (Huttenlocher, Haight, Bryk, Seltzer, & Lyons, 1991), and greater ability to maintain motivation in the face of disruption (Gold, Crombie, & Noble, 1987). In the area of social and emotional development, Hay, Zahn-Waxler, Cummings, and Iannotti (1992) have shown that preschool-age girls are more likely to recommend prosocial rather than aggressive strategies in resolving conflict compared to boys. Taken together, these findings provide tentative support for the validity of both the socialization and advanced maturity hypotheses in explaining the greater prevalence of boys' externalizing behavior problems. However, more work is needed in this area before firm conclusions can be drawn. For instance, it will be important to identify specific ages and specific practices at which parents begin treating girls and boys differently.

Parental Attributes and Support

Several researchers have attempted to identify parental characteristics related to the development of children's antisocial behavior. For example, the occurrence of conduct disorder and delinquency in school-age and adolescent children is associated with antisocial personality characteristics in both mothers and fathers (Robins, West, & Herjanic, 1975). In a younger sample, Keenan and Shaw (1994) found that familial criminality was related to boys' aggression at age 2, after controlling for aggression at 18 months and maternal age. Although relations between parental antisocial personality and behavior problems in younger children rarely have been examined, parents' antisocial behavior has been shown to precede older children's behavior problems (Robins et al., 1975).

In addition to antisocial personality, associations between child behavior problems and other forms of parental psychopathology, such as unipolar and bipolar depression, have been explored. Zahn-Waxler et al. (1988) followed a small group of children from families in which one parent had been hospitalized for bipolar disorder prior to the children's birth. Compared to a matched control group, target children were more likely to have a variety of psychiatric problems at age 6, particularly conduct disorder. Investigators comparing young children with disruptive behavior problems to normal controls have found that mothers of children with behavior problems report more depressive symptomatology (Mash & Johnston, 1983), and these differences in externalizing problems persist at follow-up (Campbell, March, Pierce, Ewing, & Szumowski, 1991; Webster-Stratton, 1990a). However, some researchers have found that depressive symptoms are related to parental perception of behavior problems but not with teacher or observer ratings of child behavior (Zahn-Waxler et al., 1990). Parents reporting depressed mood may overestimate their children's behavior problems, thereby confounding the observed association.

In addition to examining parental personality and adjustment, investigators have identified sources of stress and support within and outside the family system that are related to the occurrence of child behavior problems. For example, marital conflict has emerged across studies as a strong correlate and predictor of child behavior problems, particularly when disagreements over childrearing practices have been examined (Dadds & Powell, 1991; Jouriles, Murphy, O'Leary, 1989; Shaw, Emery, & Tuer, 1993). In a sample of low-income families, Shaw, Vondra, Dowdell Hommerding, Keenan, and Dunn (1994) found that parental disagreements over childrearing when boys and girls were 2 years old predicted externalizing problems at age 3. Katz and Gottman (1993) were able to predict children's externalizing problems at age 8 from observations of parents' interaction patterns when the children were 5 years old. High levels of hostility expressed between parents during a marital interaction task predicted boys' and girls' externalizing problems three years later.

Although overt marital conflict was related to later behavior problems in Katz and Gottman's (1993) study, marital satisfaction was not significantly correlated with child behavior. Other researchers have documented weak associations between marital satisfaction and externalizing problems (Webster-Stratton, 1990a). Moreover, in some studies other contextual factors, such as SES, life stress, and social support, do not make independent contributions to the prediction of behavior problems (Mash & Johnston, 1983; Renken, et al., 1989). Rutter and colleagues have suggested that the presence of multiple familial stressors may be a better predictor of child behavior problems than any specific factor alone (Rutter, Cox, Tupling, Berger, & Yule, 1975). Consistent with this hypothesis, several investigators have found that the likelihood of behavior problems increases with the number of stressors present (Sanson et al., 1991; Shaw, Vondra, et al., 1994).

Although the cumulative stressor model is plausible, another possibility is that some factors are related to children's adjustment indirectly. For example, in a study of low-income families, Renken et al. (1989) reported significant zero-order correlations between children's aggression and SES, stressful life events, and social support. However, these relations were nonsignificant after controlling for the effects of children's earlier attachment security and negative affect, as well as the amount of hostility expressed by mothers in interactions with the children. In our own sample, hostile, rejecting parenting mediated relations between externalizing problems in Caucasian boys 42 months of age and earlier maternal depressive symptoms, marital satisfaction, and parenting hassles (Winslow, Shaw, Bruns, & Kiebler, 1995). Due to multicolinearity among risk factors, such as SES, stress, marital relations, and social support, researchers need to examine these factors simultaneously to form models that best characterize their associations with child behavior problems (Shaw & Emery, 1988).

Parenting Factors

During infancy, much of the research on parenting factors associated with externalizing behavior problems has focused on maternal unresponsiveness (Shaw & Bell, 1993). Parental unresponsiveness has been conceptualized by attachment theorists as being most critical to the development of self-regulation skills. Accordingly, differences in caregiver sensitivity, and the resultant bond between parent and infant, should be important factors in later patterns of the child's behavior (Bowlby, 1969; Sroufe, 1983). Theoretically, a child who has received less contingent caregiving might act more disruptively to obtain parental attention (Greenberg & Speltz, 1988), and have less to lose by disobeying parental requests (i.e., loss of love) (Shaw & Bell, 1993). Such interaction patterns could promote the beginning of coercive interaction patterns, a style found in some families with school-age conduct-disordered children (Patterson, 1982).

Research examining infant attachment security and direct observations of maternal responsiveness during infancy have found support for their relation with later externalizing problems, particularly among samples of high-risk boys. The measurement of infant attachment security has been operationalized and studied using the Strange Situation (Ainsworth & Wittig, 1969). Whereas research with well-educated middle-class families has produced inconsistent results (Bates et al., 1985; Fagot & Kavanaugh, 1990), in samples of high-risk families, insecure attachments during infancy have been associated with an increased risk of later externalizing problems during the toddler (Shaw & Vondra, 1995), preschool-age (Erickson et al., 1985; Lyons-Ruth, et al., 1993), and school-age (Renken et al., 1989) periods. Buffers of the middle-class child's ecosystem, such as economic and social support and the quality of alternative care facilities, may prevent the insecurely attached infant from becoming dysfunctional. These same factors that make insecure attachment a more likely outcome among low-SES families may act to increase an insecure infant's vulnerability for developing psychopathology by continuing to affect the quality of parenting during the toddler and preschool-age periods and beyond (Shaw & Vondra, 1995). Because of their greater vulnerability for externalizing problems, insecurely attached male infants may be at greater risk for these problems than girls (Erickson et al., 1985; Renken et al., 1989).

Direct observations of maternal responsiveness also have shown cross-sectional and longitudinal associations with externalizing problems, again particularly for boys (Gardner, 1987). Using a model of mother-infant interaction based on the mother's ability to match the intensity of the infant's attention-seeking behavior, Martin (1981) found that, for boys only, low maternal responsiveness at 10 months was associated with lower rates of compliance at 22 months and higher rates of coercive child behavior at 42 months. Martin also found that infant demandingness at 10 months and its interaction with maternal responsiveness contributed unique variance to the prediction of 22-month compliance.

We have found general support for Martin's (1981) model using the same procedures with two cohorts of low-income infants, in contrast to Martin's middle-class subjects. As noted earlier, this association has been found more consistently with assessments of maternal behavior at 12 versus 18 months, and more consistently for boys than girls (Shaw, Keenan, & Vondra, 1994; Shaw, Keenan, Owens, et al., 1995). In the first sample, maternal unresponsiveness was associated with observed aggression at 24 months and maternal report of externalizing behavior problems at 36 months. In the second ongoing investigation, 12-month unresponsiveness was strongly associated with 24-month maternal report of externalizing problems.

Among toddlers and preschool-age children, researchers studying the relations between caregiving and externalizing behavior problems have identified several characteristics of parenting related to children's behavior such as parental involvement, hostility, consistency, and harsh discipline (Gardner, 1987; Zahn-Waxler et al., 1990). For example, Pettit and Bates (1989) discovered that low rates of maternal positive involvement during infancy and toddlerhood strongly predicted children's deviant behavior at age 4. Renken et al. (1989) showed that maternal hostility and abuse when children were 42 months old predicted children's aggression during elementary school. On the other hand, reviews of the literature indicate that parenting practices have not been consistently related to child behavior across studies (Grusec & Lytton, 1988; Maccoby & Martin, 1983). In a meta-analysis of 47 studies, Rothbaum and Weisz (1994) discovered that investigators obtained stronger relations with child behavior when they measured multiple characteristics of parenting, such as use of parental approval, guidance, and coercive control. Intuitively, it makes sense that parenting styles, rather than individual dimensions, would be better predictors of children's adjustment because "good parenting" brings to mind a combination of characteristics (i.e., high warmth, involvement, and consistency of discipline.

Alternative Caregiving

Some investigators have found that children enrolled in day care are more irritable, aggressive, and less compliant in preschool and early elementary school compared to peers without day care experience (Haskins, 1985). Belsky (1988) has pointed out that this pattern is most characteristic of children involved in day care for more than 20 hours a week beginning in their first year of life. Factors related to the quality of care, such as availability of caregivers and curriculum objectives, have been associated with children's behavior. Haskins (1985) found that children enrolled in a day care center that focused on promoting intellectual development were 13 times more aggressive than home-reared children.

Despite the elevated rates of aggression and noncompliance in children exposed to early day care, it is unclear whether these children have a greater risk of developing behavior problems. For example, although Rubenstein, Howes, and Boyle (1981) reported higher levels of aggression and noncompliance for preschoolers with previous day care experience, they did not find that these children had more behavior problems than home-reared peers. Moreover, longitudinal studies have not shown that children enrolled in day care remain more aggressive throughout their schooling. Instead, these children seem to show elevated levels of aggression only during the early elementary years (Goossens et al., 1991; Hegland & Rix, 1990). In addition, most studies have not randomly assigned children to day care and home-reared conditions, leaving open the possibility that relations between day care experience and higher rates of disruptive behavior are the result of other factors, such as selection bias.

Peer Rejection

A plethora of studies have documented that children who are rejected by peers are more likely to be disruptive in the classroom and aggressive in social interactions (see Coie, Dodge, & Kupersmidt, 1990 for a review). However, cross-sectional studies do not address whether children's peer relations are causally related to the development of behavior problems. Several longitudinal investigations have provided evidence suggestive of such an association. For example, in a follow-up of parent-referred preschoolers with externalizing problems, Campbell (1987) discovered that children who continued to experience moderate to severe behavior problems at age 6 initially differed from normal controls on symptoms of peer problems, whereas those who had improved by age 6 did not differ from controls as preschoolers. However, because initial problem severity was not controlled, this finding may not reflect the contribution of poor peer relations.

After controlling for initial levels of problem behavior, some researchers have found that the quality of children's peer relations is associated with later behavior. For example, Vitaro, Tremblay, Gagnon, and Boivin (1992) reported that children who were classified as rejected by their peers in kindergarten and grade 1 were more aggressive and hyperactive in second grade compared to non-rejected classmates using sociometric ratings. Although children who were initially rejected had higher rates of behavior problems in kindergarten, peer status contributed uniquely to the prediction of grade 2 externalizing behavior after controlling for initial problems.

Even though children who are rejected by peers early in their school experiences already have higher rates of externalizing behavior compared to non-rejected peers, peer rejection may heighten children's risk for continued problems. Olson (1992) attempted to delineate the relation between early peer interaction and the development of behavior problems in a sample of 4- and 5-year-old boys from low-income families. Behavioral observations of peer interaction, sociometric nominations, and teacher ratings of problem behavior were collected at the beginning and end of the preschool year. Olson discovered that children who were described by peers and teachers as behaviorally maladjusted (i.e., fights a lot, gets mad easily, is mean to others) demonstrated relatively high rates of aggressive behavior toward peers at the beginning of the year. At the same time, peers' aggressive behavior toward maladjusted children was not related to maladjustment scores. However, by the end of the school year, non-rejected peers tended to initiate verbally and physically aggressive interactions with children initially rated as maladjusted. Likewise, maladjusted children tended to respond aggressively. Olson's results support a transactional model in that, as the year progressed, initially aggressive children tended to elicit more unprovoked aggressive exchanges with peers, followed by counteraggresssion by the target children.

Conclusions and Future Directions

Recently, investigators have begun to place greater emphasis on identifying early precursors of antisocial behavior. A few well-designed studies have been conducted using multiple informants and measurement methods. Findings that have been replicated across samples using different designs provide the most reliable bases from which to begin delineating developmental trajectories. Because risk factors do not remain stable over different developmental periods, transactions and transformations that occur between children and their environments must be plotted across development to identify specific pathways. We have chosen to summarize current findings within a developmental context, beginning with risk factors during infancy and ending with those relevant when children first enter school.

In Figures 1 and 2, we have used a transactional model to conceptualize the development of early externalizing problems in boys. (Because of the paucity of available research, we have not attempted to specify a model for girls). Solid lines represent well-documented associations, whereas dotted lines indicate relations with less empirical support, due to inconsistencies among studies or methodological limitations. Risk factors are presented as ellipses rather than rectangles to indicate latent variables that would hopefully be measured repeatedly using multiple informants and methods. Due to space limitations, factors are presented in abridged form. For example, parental stress, support, and adjustment includes parental support within and outside the nuclear family, as well as parental psychological well-being.

According to our model, antisocial behavior develops as a result of transactions between children and their environments over time. The model takes into account transformations that occur in both child and parent behavior as children mature. For example, temperamentally difficult infants might be more noncompliant as toddlers, compared to easy infants. Moreover, parents who are not responsive during infancy might be less involved and more permissive with their toddlers. At the same time, transactions between parent and child might help maintain continuity: persistently noncompliant behavior makes enforcing rules more difficult, and permissive parenting reinforces noncompliance.

In addition to child and parent behavior, the model considers the potential effects of stressors within and outside the family. Whether or not contextual factors and parental characteristics, such as depression and antisocial personality, are independently or cumulatively related to child behavior problems, they may affect child behavior indirectly by disrupting parenting. Although such a mediating model has not been tested with younger children, it has received support from research with school-age children (Patterson, 1982). One exception might be overt marital conflict, which could have a direct effect on child behavior through exposure to aggressive resolution strategies. Finally, factors that become salient later in development, such as peer rejection, may serve to exacerbate existing externalizing problems, helping to maintain the continuity of disruptive behavior.

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Insert Figures 1 and 2 about here

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Although we have outlined a model that might apply to the development of antisocial behavior, other models are plausible as well. In order to test models such as the one presented, researchers must supplement cross-sectional research with more longitudinal, experimental, and quasi-experimental studies of high-risk populations that employ developmentally appropriate, multi-method assessment techniques. Risk factors need to be measured simultaneously to identify the nature of relations among these factors. Multicolinearity among risk factors obscures our ability to interpret findings from studies that include only a few of these factors. Of course, expanding the scope of individual investigations might require collaboration among researchers in order to find sufficient resources to conduct multiple assessments with large samples. However, by permitting the delineation of developmental trajectories leading to antisocial behavior, such large-scale projects have the potential to form the basis of effective preventative programs.

References

Achenbach, T.M. (1993). Taxonomy and comorbidity of conduct problems: Evidence from empirically-based approaches. Development and Psychopathology, 5, 51-64.

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