One in every five students in the Nation's schools has significant mental health problems. Mental health and psychosocial problems interfere with the ability of schools to educate, limit students' learning and academic performance, and ultimately interfere with individuals' opportunities to succeed in society. The social-emotional and behavioral precursors to the problems in early elementary school often begin in infancy and toddler hood. In our currently funded study, information was collected about social-emotional and behavioral problems and competencies, language acquisition, and psychosocial risk in an ethnically diverse, representative sample of 1- and 2- year old children. We achieved a response rate of 80 percent in our first year and a retention rate of 92 percent in our second year of data collection. Preliminary findings suggest a prevalence of 11-12 percent for social-emotional and behavioral problems and a prevalence of 17 percent for language delays. In addition, there was significant stability in problems over a 1-year period, with 61 percent of children persisting in the extreme 10th percentile for problem behaviors for their age and sex. Working within a transactional ecological model and informed by developmental psychopathology, we are proposing to follow this unique and diverse sample of children. Specifically, using a longitudinal enriched sample design, we propose to survey parents and teachers (N-1093 to 1158) about child social-emotional problems and competencies, language ability, school functioning, and ecological risk when children are in Kindergarten. Using information about emotional! behavior problems and language functioning, a subsample of children at high risk for psychopathology and school adjustment problems and some children at low risk will be identified for inclusion in Direct Assessments in Kindergarten and Grade 2 (Enriched Sample, N-493 to 513). Teachers of children in the Enriched Sample will be surveyed in Grade 2. The following three outcomes are the focus of the proposed work: 1) emotional/problem behaviors; 2) psychiatric disorders; and 3) school adjustment. Further, we examine the direct and indirect influences of child competence, neurocognitive vulnerability, child sex, and cumulative family/community risk on emotional! behavioral trajectories, psychiatric disorders, and problems in school adjustment. By following this unique representative birth cohort through the critical transition to formal schooling, we hope to understand continuities and discontinuities in emotional/behavioral development and to gather critically needed data that can inform early identification, prevention and intervention efforts.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
2R01MH055278-05A2
Application #
6399948
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZRG1-RPHB-1 (01))
Program Officer
Boyce, Cheryl A
Project Start
1997-09-15
Project End
2006-08-31
Budget Start
2001-09-15
Budget End
2002-08-31
Support Year
5
Fiscal Year
2001
Total Cost
$815,843
Indirect Cost
Name
University of Massachusetts Boston
Department
Psychology
Type
Schools of Arts and Sciences
DUNS #
City
Boston
State
MA
Country
United States
Zip Code
02125
Mian, Nicholas D; Soto, Timothy W; Briggs-Gowan, Margaret J et al. (2018) The Family Life Impairment Scale: Factor Structure and Clinical Utility with Young Children. J Clin Child Adolesc Psychol :1-12
Ben-Sasson, Ayelet; Soto, Timothy W; Heberle, Amy E et al. (2017) Early and Concurrent Features of ADHD and Sensory Over-Responsivity Symptom Clusters. J Atten Disord 21:835-845
Sheldrick, R Christopher; Benneyan, James C; Kiss, Ivy Giserman et al. (2015) Thresholds and accuracy in screening tools for early detection of psychopathology. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 56:936-48
Heberle, Amy E; Krill, Sarah C; Briggs-Gowan, Margaret J et al. (2015) Predicting externalizing and internalizing behavior in kindergarten: examining the buffering role of early social support. J Clin Child Adolesc Psychol 44:640-54
Gray, Sarah A O; Carter, Alice S; Briggs-Gowan, Margaret J et al. (2014) Growth trajectories of early aggression, overactivity, and inattention: Relations to second-grade reading. Dev Psychol 50:2255-63
Heberle, Amy E; Thomas, Yolanda M; Wagmiller, Robert L et al. (2014) The impact of neighborhood, family, and individual risk factors on toddlers' disruptive behavior. Child Dev 85:2046-61
Briggs-Gowan, Margaret J; Carter, Alice S; Ford, Julian D (2012) Parsing the effects violence exposure in early childhood: modeling developmental pathways. J Pediatr Psychol 37:11-22
Wakschlag, Lauren S; Henry, David B; Tolan, Patrick H et al. (2012) Putting theory to the test: modeling a multidimensional, developmentally-based approach to preschool disruptive behavior. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 51:593-604.e4
Mian, Nicholas D; Godoy, Leandra; Briggs-Gowan, Margaret J et al. (2012) Patterns of anxiety symptoms in toddlers and preschool-age children: evidence of early differentiation. J Anxiety Disord 26:102-10
Marakovitz, Susan E; Wagmiller, Robert L; Mian, Nicholas D et al. (2011) Lost toy? Monsters under the bed? Contributions of temperament and family factors to early internalizing problems in boys and girls. J Clin Child Adolesc Psychol 40:233-44

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