Within-Person Bidirectional Associations Over Time Between Parenting and Youths' Callousness

Callousness has been identified as a key driver of aggressive and violent behavior from childhood into early adulthood. Although previous research has underscored the importance of the parenting environment in contributing to the development of youth callousness, findings have generally been confined to the between-individual level and have not examined bidirectionality. In the current study, we test whether aspects of parenting are associated with callousness from childhood to adolescence both between and within individuals, examine the temporal ordering of associations, and test whether these relations are moderated by gender or developmental stage.

Data came from a longitudinal study in which parents of 1,421 youth (52% girls; 62% White and 22% Black) from the second, fourth, and ninth grades were interviewed three times, with one year between consecutive interviews.

A random-intercept cross-lagged panel model indicated that elevated youth callousness predicts subsequent increases in parental rejection and decreases in consistency of discipline. Findings were largely similar for boys and girls, but within-individual associations were generally stronger for 4^th graders compared to the 2^nd and 9^th graders.

Callousness and parenting practices and attitudes were related both at the between-individual and within-individual level. These results have implications for the etiology and treatment of children and adolescents who exhibit callousness.