This study examines the development of childhood antisocial behavior in a three-generation prospective panel study. Children of the current subjects of the Rochester Youth Development Study (RYDS) will be the focal subjects of a new long-term study. In 1988, a sample of 1000 high risk adolescents from Rochester, New York, were enrolled in the RYDS. They will be in their mid-20s at the beginning of this study of their children. There are two general issues to be investigated.
One aim i s to examine intergenerational continuity and discontinuity over a range of antisocial behaviors, including their onset, course, and severity.
The second aim i s to identify mediating processes to explain the intergenerational transmission of antisocial behavior. Since there will be 10 years of data on the parents and grandparents of these children, it should be possible to examine how the parent's own development influences their transition to adulthood and their behavior as parents. In Year 1, the investigators will group the children into three cohorts: 2-3, 4-5, 6-8 year-olds, and enroll them in the study. New 2-3 year-old cohorts will be enrolled in Years 3 and 5. Annually, they plan to interview the child, the parent who has been a member of the RYDS, and the child's other primary caregiver. In Years 1, 3, and 5, they plan to observe dyadic interactions between the child and each of these caregivers. Data will also be collected from teachers, schools, and other agencies. Measures include the young parent's structural position and stressors, antisocial behavior and prosocial bonds, peer friendship networks, and parenting behaviors. The manner in which these attributes unfold over the parent's life-course will be used to explain the development of the child's antisocial behaviors and prosocial competencies, as well as their interrelations over the life course. Almost 300 children 5-8 years of age will be enrolled at the beginning of the study, and almost 400 by the end of five years' scheduled duration. There will be multimethod, multiagent assessments, with a primary focus on the family. Dyadic interactions will be videotaped in the home with two adult caretakers, including the parent who is the member of the RYDS and another principal caretaker. Information will be obtained as well from schools and other agencies. The parent's adolescent development and early adult life course as a parent will be used to help understand the child's antisocial behaviors, prosocial bonds, and their interrelationships.
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