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A panel network approach of internalizing and externalizing problems in early childhood: Evidence from American and Chinese preschoolers

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 November 2024

Hongting Chen  and
Yiji Wang Open the ORCID record for Yiji Wang [Opens in a new window]
Hongting Chen
Affiliation:
Shanghai Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Psychological Crisis Intervention, School of Psychology and Cognitive Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China
Yiji Wang*
Affiliation:
Shanghai Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Psychological Crisis Intervention, School of Psychology and Cognitive Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China Key Laboratory of Philosophy and Social Science of Anhui Province on Adolescent Mental Health and Crisis Intelligence Intervention, Hefei Normal University, Hefei, China Shanghai Changning Mental Health Center, Shanghai, China
*
Corresponding author: Yiji Wang; Email: yjwang@psy.ecnu.edu.cn
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Abstract

Internalizing and externalizing problems tend to co-occur beginning in early childhood. However, the dynamic interplay of symptom-level internalizing and externalizing problems that may drive their co-occurrence is poorly understood. Within the frameworks of the Network Approaches to Psychopathology and the Developmental Cascade Perspective, this study used a panel network approach to examine how symptoms of internalizing and externalizing problems are related in early childhood both concurrently and longitudinally and whether the pattern may differ in American (N = 1,202) and Chinese (N = 180) preschoolers. Internalizing and externalizing problems were rated by mothers in two waves. Results from cross-sectional networks showed that the bridge symptoms underlying the co-occurrence of internalizing and externalizing problems were largely consistent in American and Chinese preschoolers (e.g., withdrawal, aggressive behavior, anxiety and depressive moods). Results from cross-lagged panel networks further showed that the co-occurrence was manifested by unidirectional relations from internalizing to subsequent externalizing symptoms in both American and Chinese preschoolers. The findings contribute needed cross-cultural evidence to better understand the co-occurrence of internalizing and externalizing problems and highlight the temporal heterogeneity of the symptom networks of internalizing and externalizing problems in early childhood.

Keywords

externalizing problemsinternalizing problemspreschoolersnetwork analysiscultural differences

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Type
Regular Article
Information
Development and Psychopathology , Volume 37 , Issue 3 , August 2025 , pp. 1605 - 1615
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© The Author(s), 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press

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