Applied a person-centered approach to childhood personality development in 28 diverse samples of 3- to 6-year-olds studied over 6 years. Identified resilient, overcontrolled, and undercontrolled personality types. Found that the undercontrolled personality type related to intellectual decline over 6 years. The number of family risks predicted…

Evaluated contributions of birth status (gestational age and birthweight) and family adversity at birth and at age 7 to explain behavior problems at age 7. Found significant relationships between birth status and isolation, social withdrawal problems, social immaturity, and inattention. Family adversity at birth contributed to aggression reported…

Identified predictors of outcomes for 30-month-olds with developmental delays or biomedical risk factors in child care. Found that after accounting for selection effects, child characteristics at 12 months, and home caregiving quality, no child-care variables predicted development or attachment security. Older entry age predicted greater…

This study investigated risks for transitioning from nonsmoking to smoking during three transition periods as a function of gender, predisposing attributes, and participation in social influences education, examining four dispositional factors. Survey data indicated that dispositional factors were important determinants of smoking onset and that…

Examined contributions of different risk factors to predicting children's psychological and academic outcomes at end of first grade. Found that each analysis level contributed to prediction of most outcomes; 18 to 29% of outcome variance was predicted; a common set of predictors predicted numerous outcomes; ethnicity showed little unique…

Compared aggressive, withdrawn, and aggressive/withdrawn children to normative and matched control groups on teacher and peer relationship attributes, loneliness, and social satisfaction from kindergarten through grade 2. Found that withdrawn behavior was neither highly stable nor predictive of relational difficulties. Aggression was fairly stable…

Two studies examined a "child x environment" model of early school adjustment. Findings indicated that entry factors directly and indirectly influenced behavior, participation, and achievement in kindergarten. Initial behavioral orientation influenced the type of relationships formed with peers and teachers. Stressful aspects of…

Background: Prisoners' children appear to suffer profound psychosocial difficulties during their parents' imprisonment. However, no previous study has examined later-life outcomes for prisoners' children compared to children separated from parents for other reasons. We hypothesise that parental imprisonment predicts boys' antisocial and delinquent…

The present study examined the concurrent and prospective relation between a select number of potential predictors and symptoms of anxiety among a high-risk community sample of 149 predominately African American children. Parent and child reports of anxiety were assessed in the first and seventh grade. Six domains of childhood risk factors (i.e.,…

A study on family structure and values among the poorest of all welfare recipients, homeless families found that not only has the traditional family structure broken down, but that there are stark contradictions between the reality of the lives of homeless women and the values they hold. The traditional family may actually be obsolete for this…

Based on McLoyd's (1990) model of African American children's development, this study examined the linkages between poverty, maternal psychological distress, marital conflict, the home environment, and children's outcomes among a sample of 805 African American 4- to 9-year-olds whose families were interviewed in 1992 as part of the National…

This publication, written in Spanish, explains why women are at greater risk for depression than men. Types of depressive illnesses are explained along with the symptoms. It states that some women are predisposed genetically to depression but biochemical, environmental, psychological, and social factors also often contribute to its occurrence.…

Factors associated with suicidal ideas, attempts, or threats were studied in adolescent psychiatric outpatients (N=5,426). Multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed by sex on data from 1968-1991. Substance abuse, depression, and disturbed relationships with adults were predictors for both sexes. In girls, antisocial behavior and…

Unsupervised after-school peer contact was examined as a risk factor in developing externalizing problems among early adolescents. Longitudinal findings showed that unsupervised peer contact, lack of neighborhood safety, and low monitoring incrementally predicted grade seven externalizing problems, after controlling for family background factors…

The current study of 389 university freshman cited by the administration for underaged drinking examines gender and three drinking contexts (i.e., convivial, intimate, and negative coping) as differential predictors of personal problems (e.g., depressed, nervous) and social problems (e.g., unplanned sex, drove under the influence) that respondents…