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Externalizing behavior from early childhood to adolescence: Prediction from inhibition, language, parenting, and attachment

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 March 2018

Isabelle Roskam*
Affiliation:
Université catholique de Louvain
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Psychological Sciences Research Institute, Université catholique de Louvain, 10 Place du Cardinal Mercier, 1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium; E-mail: isabelle.roskam@uclouvain.be.

Abstract

The aim of the current research was to disentangle four theoretically sound models of externalizing behavior etiology (i.e., attachment, language, inhibition, and parenting) by testing their relation with behavioral trajectories from early childhood to adolescence. The aim was achieved through a 10-year prospective longitudinal study conducted over five waves with 111 referred children aged 3 to 5 years at the onset of the study. Clinical referral was primarily based on externalizing behavior. A multimethod (questionnaires, testing, and observations) approach was used to estimate the four predictors in early childhood. In line with previous studies, the results show a significant decrease of externalizing behavior from early childhood to adolescence. The decline was negatively related to mothers’ coercive parenting and positively related to attachment security in early childhood, but not related to inhibition and language. The study has implications for research into externalizing behavior etiology recommending to gather hypotheses from various theoretically sound models to put them into competition with one another. The study also has implications for clinical practice by providing clear indications for prevention and early intervention.

Type
Regular Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2018 

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Footnotes

Marie Stievenart, Jean-Christophe Meunier, and Céline Van Schendel were PhD students and postdoctoral fellows in the H2M research program. They were involved in data collection in the three first waves. Marie Stievenart was also responsible for the data collection in Wave 4. Marie-Pascale Noël provided assistance in neuropsychological assessment. Marie-Anne Schelstraete provided assistance in language assessment. Christel Regaert was a speech therapist in the H2M research program and collected language data in the three first waves of assessment. Gaëlle van de Moortele was a psychologist in the H2M research program and collected inhibition data in the three first waves of assessment. Dominique Charlier, Philippe Kinoo, and Marie-Cécile Nassogne were psychiatrists or pediatricians in the H2M research program. They were responsible for children's referral to the longitudinal study. We also wish to warmly thank the children and their parents who participated in this project. The project was funded by the Special Research Fund at the University of Louvain in Belgium and by the Marie Marguerite Delacroix Foundation.

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