Research on environmental factors that contribute to anti-social behavior in children has identified a number of negative socialization experiences. The present study emphasizes, as well, proactive parenting practices and communication patterns that may facilitate development of social competence. The goal of this study is to identify early child- rearing and discipline practices that distinguish, over time, children who begin to outgrow behavior problems from those who continue to be oppositional, defiant and difficult-to manage. The roles played by both fathers and mothers are considered. Parent-child interactions are assessed in families with 4-5 year old children who vary in risk for conduct problems. Assessment contexts include both naturalistic conditions and structured dyadic and triadic tasks and are repeated two years later. A subsample of the children studied are also included in a related project in which childrearing and aggression in Japanese and U.S. families are compared. Low rates of antisocial behavior in Japanese culture make this a particularly useful cross-cultural comparative sample. In the U.S. risk sample, proactive parenting predicts fewer child behavior problems over time, whereas parental hostility is associated with maintenance of problems. While environmental processes significantly predict change, there is also substantial continuity, indicating the chronic nature of antisocial behavior patterns for many young children. Cross-cultural comparisons indicate differences in the nature of the attachment relationships of Japanese and U.S. mother-child dyads. Moreover, Japanese children showed markedly lower levels of aggression and anger than U.S. children that could, in turn, be traced to cultural differences in maternal discipline and styles of emotion regulation.
