The major objective is to determine antecedents, correlates and stability of child adaptive behavior as reported by parent, teacher and child in a longitudinal study of a low income, predominantly black sample of 220 families, previously studied at pregnancy, four and twelve months postnatally, and the early school years to be extended through the child's age of 9 to 10 years.
Specific aims are to collect data from the mother during the fourth year after school entrance, to collect data from teachers and from school records on child behavior and achievement each year, and to test and interview the child during the fifth year after school entrance. Fathers who are available will be interviewed. A random sample of white subjects from the school systems will be studied with the same methods during the fourth and fifth year after school entrance to determine the generalizability of cross-sectional findings from the low-income, predominantly black, longitudinal sample. The study will attempt to replicate and extend a three-dimensional unified model for child competence, adjustment and psychopathology through factor analyses of major methods for describing child behavior. Analyses of correlates and stability of maternal mental health and of correlations of those variables with child mental health will be made from data collected from mothers, teachers, and children. A specific hypothesis is that infancy and kindergarten psychosocial environment measures including demographic, psychological, and maternal childrearing beliefs, values and behaviors will continue to be correlated with the child's academic competence during the elementary school years. A second hypothesis is that maternal adjustment and competence measures and childrearing measures will continue to be significantly correlated with mother's report of child mental health and with child's self-reports of adjustment during the elementary school years. Separate analyses of boys and girls, of black and white subjects, and of single parent and two-parent homes will determine the generalizability of findings. Longitudinal and cross-sectional findings on the antecedents and correlates of child competence and achievement may contribute to understanding of children and families at risk, may contribute to development of specific goals for early prevention, and may contribute to methods for evaluating intervention effects upon parents and children.
