In this study, we assessed behavioral responses to social separation at 8 months of age andcerebrospinal fluid (CSF) concentrations of biogenic amines and metabolites at 8 and 18 monthsof age in 12 rhesus monkeys derived from either stressed or undisturbed pregnancies. Comparedto controls from undisturbed pregnancies, prenatal stress-derived monkeys had higherconcentrations of 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylglycol (MHPG), and 3,4-dihydroxyphenylaceticacid in CSF than controls. Norepinephrine and MHPG response to stress were both correlatedbetween 8 and 18 months of age. There were few group differences in behavior during socialseparation; however, several behavioral differences between groups were found when monkeyswere reunited with cage mates. Prenatally stressed monkeys spent more time clinging to theirsurrogates and exploring (including eating and drinking), while controls showed morelocomotion and social play with their cage mates. Collectively, our findings suggest that chronicunpredictable psychological stress during pregnancy has long-lasting effects on noradrenergicand dopaminergic activity and behavior in the offspring of gestationally stressed primatemothers.

There is growing scientific interest in the precursors to the ability of conceiving otherpeople's minds. The present study investigates two candidate precursors, imitationandjoint attention, in young children with autism and a control group of nonautistic children with adevelopmental delay. Children with autism were found to be impaired or delayed in bothabilities. Gestural and procedural imitation were significantly related to mental age andchronological age in subjects with autism. Although the evidence for an autism-specific deficitappears to be stronger in the domain of joint-attention behaviors than it is in the domain ofimitation, it seems premature to reject imitation as a possible precursor to the development ofmindreading skills. Systematic investigations of the imitation deficit in autism are urgentlyneeded.

Based upon developmental models of disruptive behavior problems, this study examined thehypothesis that the nature of a child's externalizing problems at home may be important inpredicting the probability of and nature of school adjustment problems at school entry. Parentratings were collected for a sample of 631 behaviorally disruptive children using the ChildBehavior Checklist. Confirmatory factor analyses revealed differentiated ratings of oppositional,aggressive, and hyperactive/inattentive behaviors at home. Teacher and peer nominationsassessed school adjustment at the end of first grade. As expected from a developmentalperspective, aggressive behaviors indicated more severe dysfunction and were more likely togeneralize to the school setting than were oppositional behaviors. Hyperactive/inattentivebehaviors at home led to more classroom disruption than did aggressive or oppositionalbehaviors. Co-occurring patterns of oppositional/aggressive and hyperactive/inattentivebehaviors were more common than were single-problem patterns, and were associated with broaddysfunction in the social and classroom contexts. The results were interpreted within adevelopmental framework, in which oppositional, aggressive, and hyperactive/inattentivebehaviors may reflect distinct (as well as shared) developmental processes that have implicationsfor the home-to-school generalization of behavior problems and subsequent schooladjustment.

The aim of this study was to test whether individual risk factors as well as the number of riskfactors (cumulative risk) predicted children's externalizing behaviors over middlechildhood. A sample of 466 European American and 100 African American boys and girls froma broad range of socioeconomic levels was followed from age 5 to 10 years. Twenty riskvariables from four domains (child, sociocultural, parenting, and peer-related) were measuredusing in-home interviews at the beginning of the study, and annual assessments of externalizingbehaviors were conducted. Consistent with past research, individual differences in externalizingbehavior problems were stable over time and were related to individual risk factors as well as thenumber of risk factors present. Particular risks accounted for 36% to 45% of the variance, and thenumber of risks present (cumulative risk status) accounted for 19% to 32% of the variance, inexternalizing outcomes. Cumulative risk was related to subsequent externalizing even after initiallevels of externalizing had been statistically controlled. All four domains of risk variables madesignificant unique contributions to this statistical prediction, and there were multiple clusters ofrisks that led to similar outcomes. There was also evidence that this prediction was moderated byethnic group status, most of the prediction of externalizing being found for European Americanchildren. However, this moderation effect varied depending on the predictor and outcomevariables included in the model.

This study examined distorted self- and peer perceptions in aggressive and nonaggressiveboys at preadolescent and early adolescent age levels. Subjects completed semantic differentialratings of themselves and of their peer partners following two brief dyadic discussion tasks withcompetitive inductions and a game-playing task with a cooperative induction. Subjects also ratedtheir expectations for self- and peer behavior prior to the two competitive interaction tasks.Research assistants later rated videotapes of the interactions. Aggressive boys had more distortedperceptions of dyadic behavior as they overperceived aggression in their partners andunderperceived their own aggressiveness. These distorted perceptions of aggression carried overfor aggressive boys into the third interaction task with a cooperative induction, indicating theseboys' difficulty in modulating these perceptions when the overt demand for conflict is nolonger present in the situation. Results also indicated that aggressive boys' perceptions oftheir own behavior after the first interaction task is substantially affected by their priorexpectations, in comparison to nonaggressive boys who rely more on their actual behavior toform their perceptions.

The relationship between a range of prenatal and perinatal events and risk forpsychopathology in offspring was examined. Prenatal and perinatal events investigated includedmaternal experiences, health, and substance use during pregnancy, obstetric complications,feeding practices, and infant health during the first year of life. Offspring diagnosis was based onstructured interviews conducted with 579 adolescents on two occasions. Risk for laterpsychopathology was associated with a number of prenatal and perinatal factors. Majordepression was associated with not being breast fed and maternal emotional problems during thepregnancy. Anxiety was chiefly associated with fever and illness during the first year of life andmaternal history of miscarriage and stillbirth. Disruptive behavior disorder was associated withpoor maternal emotional health during the pregnancy and birth complications. Risk for substanceuse disorder was associated with maternal use of substances during the pregnancy. Mediatingeffects of maternal depression, maternal–child conflict, and physical symptoms in thechild, and moderating effects of gender of child and parental education were also evaluated. Thelimitations of this study are discussed and future research directions are suggested.

A trajectory defined by threetime-ordered events was offered as a useful adjunct to building a development theory aboutantisocial behaviors. A sequence was defined with significant linkages between antisocialchildhood behavior and early arrest and between early arrest and chronic offending. The majorityof chronic offenders traveled through all three events in the sequence. Each event in the sequenceshared a common process of disrupted family process plus frequent family transitions andmarked social disadvantage. The findings support the hypothesis that the process that leads toantisocial behaviors at grade four may also maintain the entire sequence. The level of disruptedprocess at initiation and a time-based measure of involvement with deviant peers predicted whichindividuals moved forward in the sequence and which did not. The findings are consistent withthe idea that the majority of chronic offending juveniles follow a trajectory that can be explainedby a single theory.

This article examines the role of adolescent social relationships in fostering the occurrenceand co-occurrence of depression and substance abuse, using two waves of data from acommunity sample of adolescents (N = 900). Multinomial logistic response modelswere estimated to identify the extent to which risk and protective features of youths'family and peer relations were differentially linked with depressive symptoms, substance abuse,and their co-occurrence. Taking a within-person, configurational approach to adolescentadaptation, contrasts involved four subgroups of adolescents: those high on both depressed moodand substance abuse, those who experience neither problem, those evidencing high levels ofdepressive symptoms only, and those high on substance abuse only. Risk for depressivesymptoms was differentiated by its association with conflict and lack of support in the friendshipdomain. Substance abuse was associated with negative peer pressure, but these youth wereotherwise little different from youths with no problems. Whereas co-occurrence of depressionand substance use was associated with more difficulties in both the family and peerenvironments, the most distinctive risk was that of low family support. Discussion centers on thedevelopmental antecedents of co-occurring problems and family relations duringadolescence.

Utilizing attachment theory as a basis for conceptualizing close relationships amongadolescents, this study investigated two important relationship risk factors (child maltreatment,and adolescent self-perceived insecure attachment style) as predictors of“offender” and “victim” experiences in youth relationships. Inaddition to considering the influence of these risk factors, we further considered their interactionin predicting conflict in close relationships. Of interest was the extent to which attachment stylesmay function as a moderator of the relationship between childhood abuse and current abuse inteen close relationships. High school students (N = 321) in grades 9 and 10 completedquestionnaires tapping their histories of maltreatment, currently viewed styles of attachment, andconflict in close relationships over the past 6 months. Maltreatment alone emerged as the mostconsistent predictor, accounting for 13–18% of the variance in male's physically,sexually, and verbally abusive behaviors; in contrast, it was not highly predictive offemale's abusive behaviors. Maltreatment was predictive of victimization experiences forboth males and females. Attachment style did not substantially add to the prediction ofrelationship conflict beyond maltreatment; however, avoidant attachment style emergedrepeatedly as a significant predictor of female abusiveness and victimization. Attachmentself-ratings were found to function as a moderator of child maltreatment in predicting primarilymale coercive behavior towards a relationship partner as well as predicting male'sexperience of coercion from a partner. Thus, the presence of childhood maltreatment andadolescent self-perceived insecure attachment style applies predominantly to male youth. Theimplication of these gender differences for understanding relationship violence is discussed.

The following paragraphs were missing from the original article published in 1995.Beginning with the last paragraph on page 706, the text to the end of the section is here reprinted.We regret the omission and any problems it may have caused.