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Reciprocal Relations Between Parenting Behaviors and Conduct Disorder Symptoms in Preschool Children

Benjamin Rolon-Arroyo1, David H Arnold1, Rosanna P Breaux1

  • 1Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 135 Hicks Way Tobin Hall, Amherst, MA, 01003, USA.

Child Psychiatry and Human Development
|February 23, 2018
PubMed

Insights

Parenting behaviors influence preschool conduct disorder (CD) symptoms. Maternal overreactivity and warmth, alongside paternal overreactivity, impact CD development, with reciprocal effects observed in girls.

Area of Science:

  • Developmental Psychology
  • Child Psychiatry

Background:

  • Conduct disorder (CD) symptoms in early childhood are associated with long-term negative outcomes.
  • Understanding the interplay between parenting and CD symptom development is crucial for early intervention.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To examine the reciprocal relationships between children's conduct disorder symptoms and parenting behaviors during the preschool years.
  • To investigate potential sex differences in these developmental pathways.

Main Methods:

  • Longitudinal study involving 199 preschool children and their mothers and fathers.
  • Assessment of CD symptoms via structured interviews and parenting behaviors through observational and self-report measures.
  • Statistical analyses included fixed effects models for within-individual changes and cross-lagged models for between-individual changes.

Main Results:

  • Maternal overreactivity predicted increases in CD symptoms.
  • Decreased maternal warmth predicted increased CD symptoms, while increased CD symptoms predicted increased paternal overreactivity.
  • Reciprocal effects were identified between girls' CD symptoms and paternal negative affect.

Conclusions:

  • Both maternal and paternal parenting behaviors significantly influence the development of preschool conduct disorder symptoms.
  • Preschool children's CD symptoms can, in turn, affect fathers' parenting behaviors.
  • Findings highlight the dynamic and bidirectional nature of parent-child interactions in early CD development.

Keywords:
Conduct disorderFixed effectsParentingPreschoolReciprocal relations

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