The specific aim of this project is to survey one possible developmental pathway leading to defiance and other early antisocial behaviors in male children from stressed low income homes. Basic information on the developmental pathway is necessary to the formation of risk groups and to the determination of the optimal mode and timing of intervention. Research on infant to parent attachment in non-clinical middle-class samples, and research on coercive cycles of interaction in antisocial children, generates hypotheses that should be tested in stressed families living at low socioeconomic levels, whose children so often become antisocial. The hypotheses are that insecure/avoidant attachments in the first year of life result from the interactions of demanding infants and unresponsive mothers who, living in limited space and under economic stress, engage in power struggles between 12 and 24 months, when the infants become mobile and more autonomous. The infants become more noncompliant and the mothers manipulative as a result, leading to coercive cycles of interaction between 2 1/2 and 3 1/2 years. A sample of 310 parent-infant male dyads from low socioeconomic backgrounds will be recruited for participation in the longitudinal project when the children are between 12-18 months of age, with formal assessments beginning when the child is 18 months old. Assessments will be conducted in the laboratory at 18, 24, and 42 months, with a home visit included as part of the 24 month assessment.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
Type
First Independent Research Support & Transition (FIRST) Awards (R29)
Project #
5R29MH046925-02
Application #
3475493
Study Section
Life Course and Prevention Research Review Committee (LCR)
Project Start
1991-04-01
Project End
1996-03-31
Budget Start
1992-04-01
Budget End
1993-03-31
Support Year
2
Fiscal Year
1992
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
University of Pittsburgh
Department
Type
Schools of Arts and Sciences
DUNS #
053785812
City
Pittsburgh
State
PA
Country
United States
Zip Code
15213
Sitnick, Stephanie L; Brennan, Lauretta M; Forbes, Erika et al. (2014) Developmental pathways to sexual risk behavior in high-risk adolescent boys. Pediatrics 133:1038-45
Morgan, Judith K; Shaw, Daniel S; Forbes, Erika E (2013) Physiological and behavioral engagement in social contexts as predictors of adolescent depressive symptoms. J Youth Adolesc 42:1117-27
Gross, Heather E; Shaw, Daniel S; Burwell, Rebecca A et al. (2009) Transactional processes in child disruptive behavior and maternal depression: a longitudinal study from early childhood to adolescence. Dev Psychopathol 21:139-56
Gross, Heather E; Shaw, Daniel S; Moilanen, Kristin L (2008) Reciprocal associations between boys'externalizing problems and mothers'depressive symptoms. J Abnorm Child Psychol 36:693-709
Winslow, Emily B; Shaw, Daniel S (2007) Impact of neighborhood disadvantage on overt behavior problems during early childhood. Aggress Behav 33:207-19
Beck, Joy E; Shaw, Daniel S (2005) The influence of perinatal complications and environmental adversity on boys' antisocial behavior. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 46:35-46
Ingoldsby, E M; Shaw, D S; Garcia, M M (2001) Intrafamily conflict in relation to boys' adjustment at school. Dev Psychopathol 13:35-52
Shaw, D S; Bell, R Q; Gilliom, M (2000) A truly early starter model of antisocial behavior revisited. Clin Child Fam Psychol Rev 3:155-72
Garcia, M M; Shaw, D S; Winslow, E B et al. (2000) Destructive sibling conflict and the development of conduct problems in young boys. Dev Psychol 36:44-53
Shaw, D S; Winslow, E B; Flanagan, C (1999) A prospective study of the effects of marital status and family relations on young children's adjustment among African American and European American families. Child Dev 70:742-55

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