In the last decade, cardiac vagal tone has emerged as a psychophysiological marker of manyaspects of behavioral functioning in both children and adults. Research efforts during this timehave produced an extensive list of vagal tone correlates that includes temperamental variables aswell as both anxious/internalizing and disruptive/externalizing behaviors. This potentiallyconfusing state of affairs is compounded by developmental shifts in vagal tone–behaviorrelations that to date have not been elucidated. In this paper, the vagal tone literature is reviewed,and discrepancies, including the lack of specificity of vagal tone as a psychophysiological marker,are clarified. Such clarification requires that we (a) view vagal tone–behavior relations indevelopmental context, (b) juxtapose vagal tone–behavior relations in typical and atypicalsamples, and (c) consider the parasympathetic underpinnings of vagal tone as but one componentin a broader model of autonomic nervous system functioning. Such a model is provided bycombining Gray's motivational theory with Porges's polyvagal theory. Togetherthese models account for behavioral and emotional differences in a diverse range of psychologicaldisorders that are not differentiated by either model alone. Moreover, use of the integrated modeloffers a theory-driven approach to the study of autonomic nervous system–behaviorrelations.

The aim of this study was to examine if an insecure coercive attachment pattern is associatedwith disruptive behavior in preschoolers, as well as to examine the concurrent and joint effects ofattachment pattern, marital dissatisfaction, and ineffective parenting practices on disruptivebehavior. Participants included 60 preschoolers and their mothers, recruited from three sites toensure an adequate range of disruptive behavior. The Preschool Assessment of Attachment(Crittenden, 1992) was used to measure attachment pattern. Results of an analysis of variancerevealed that children in the coercively attached dyads scored significantly higher on the measureof disruptive behavior than either the defended or secure children. Results of a hierarchicalregression analysis indicated that the combination of a coercive pattern of attachment, maritaldissatisfaction, and permissive parenting practices accounted for a significant proportion of thevariance in disruptive behavior in preschoolers. These data suggest that a specific type of insecureattachment, a coercive pattern, is associated with disruptive behavior in preschoolers. Also, thedata are consistent with previous findings of associations among marital dissatisfaction, ineffectiveparenting practices, and disruptive behavior.

Dissociation reflects disruptions in the integration of memories, perception, and identity into acoherent sense of self, and may develop following childhood maltreatment. The preschool yearswere identified as an important period for the development of dissociation. However, priorresearch has not examined the development of dissociation during this time. In order to addressthis gap, evidence of dissociation in 45 maltreated children, assessed for sexual abuse, physicalabuse, and neglect, was compared with dissociation in 33 nonmaltreated children. Rather thandepend on adult observer reports of behavior, the study sought to gain an understanding ofdissociation from the child's own point of view. Because self-reports have limitations withsuch young children, a measure of dissociation evidenced in children's narrative story-stemcompletions was utilized. Maltreated children, especially physically abused children and sexuallyabused children, demonstrated more dissociation than did nonmaltreated children. Moreover,during the preschool period maltreated and nonmaltreated children followed different trajectoriessuch that dissociation increased for maltreated children but did not do so for nonmaltreatedchildren. Findings suggest that although the self is normatively integrated during the preschoolperiod, it becomes increasingly fragmented for some maltreated children. Results are discussed interms of cascading effects of maltreatment throughout development, and the importance ofdevelopmentally sensitive interventions.

The current study utilized both variable- and person-oriented analyses to examine correlatesof early disruptive behavior problems. Participants included 80 preschool boys referred to a childpsychiatry clinic and diagnosed with oppositional defiant disorder (with or withoutattention-deficit hyperactivity disorder) and 80 case-matched normal comparison boys. The studyexamined four domains of correlates: vulnerable child characteristics, poor parenting practices,insecure attachment, and adverse family ecology. Results indicated that the combination of thesefactors provided relatively high sensitivity (81%) and specificity (85%), clearlydifferentiating referred from comparison boys. A dramatic increase in clinic status occurred whenthree or more factors were present, and specific combinations of factors were differentiallypredictive of conduct problems. However, no correlates were found to be either necessary orsufficient for clinic status. By maintaining the integrity of individual cases, person-orientedanalyses were able to answer different questions than more traditional variable-oriented analyses.Discussion focuses on the value of person-oriented analyses for understanding heterogeneousclinical groups.

This study explores the developmental trajectory of externalizing problems in a sample of 101children of adolescent mothers from preschool through third grade using hierarchical linearmodels (HLM). First, a detailed assessment of the structure of the developmental trajectory ofexternalizing problems is provided. Second, the impact of three risk factors (infant attachment,maternal depressive symptomatology, and child sex) on the developmental course of externalizingproblems is assessed. Both avoidant and disorganized attachment and higher levels of maternaldepressive symptomatology were associated with higher levels of externalizing problems at 9years of age. Girls also showed higher externalizing problems relative to their same-sex peers thandid boys. In addition, maternal depressive symptomatology related to the rate of change in theseproblems over time; the greater the mother's depression, the faster externalizing problemstended to increase. Although the overall level of maternal depressive symptomatology was relatedto children's externalizing problems for secure, avoidant, and disorganized groups, changesin maternal depressive symptomatology over time predicted levels of externalizing problems onlyfor children with avoidant insecure attachments.

This study examined the controversial practice of grade retention and children'sacademic and behavioral adjustment using data from the Quebec Longitudinal Study ofKindergarten Children. We employed an autoregressive modeling technique to detect the impactof being held back during primary school on subsequent academic performance and behavioraldevelopment until age 12 years. The results indicate both a short- and long-term negativeinfluence on academic performance for boys and girls. Children's anxious, inattentive, anddisruptive behaviors persisted and, in some cases, worsened after grade retention. Theseprospective associations were long lasting and more pronounced when grade retention occurredearly in primary school. Boys were more vulnerable to the negative influence of grade retentionon academic performance and classroom disruptiveness. Disruptive behavior in girls wascomparatively less associated with long-term consequences than boys. Nevertheless, girlsexperienced both short- and long-term academic performance problems in the aftermath of graderetention. Children's prosocial behavior appeared unaffected by grade retention. Theseresults are independent of what would have been expected by the natural course of academic andbehavioral development.

This study investigated the socialization of children's emotion regulation in 25physically maltreating and 25 nonmaltreating mother–child dyads. Maltreating mothers andtheir 6- to 12-year-old children were recruited from two parenting programs affiliated withChildren's Protective Services with a control group matched on race, SES, child gender,and child age. Children and their mothers were interviewed individually about their (a)management of emotional expression, (b) strategies for coping with emotional arousal, and (c)anticipated consequences following emotional displays. Compared to controls, maltreated childrenexpected less maternal support in response to their emotional displays, reported being less likelyto display emotions to their mothers, and generated fewer effective coping strategies for anger.Maltreating mothers indicated less understanding of children's emotional displays and fewereffective strategies for helping children to cope with emotionally arousing situations thannonmaltreating mothers. Further, findings indicated that maternal socialization practices (e.g.,providing support in response to children's emotional display, generating effective copingstrategies for their child) mediate the relation between child maltreatment and children'sregulation of emotional expression and emotional arousal. These findings suggest thatchildren's emotion regulation strategies are influenced by their relationship with their socialenvironment (e.g., physically maltreating, nonmaltreating) and that the experience of a physicallymaltreating relationship may interfere with children's emotional development.

A longitudinal, prospective design was used to examine the roles of peer rejection in middlechildhood and antisocial peer involvement in early adolescence in the development of adolescentexternalizing behavior problems. Both early starter and late starter pathways were considered.Classroom sociometric interviews from ages 6 through 9 years, adolescent reports of peers'behavior at age 13 years, and parent, teacher, and adolescent self-reports of externalizing behaviorproblems from age 5 through 14 years were available for 400 adolescents. Results indicate thatexperiencing peer rejection in elementary school and greater involvement with antisocial peers inearly adolescence are correlated but that these peer relationship experiences may represent twodifferent pathways to adolescent externalizing behavior problems. Peer rejection experiences, butnot involvement with antisocial peers, predict later externalizing behavior problems whencontrolling for stability in externalizing behavior. Externalizing problems were most commonwhen rejection was experienced repeatedly. Early externalizing problems did not appear tomoderate the relation between peer rejection and later problem behavior. Discussion highlightsmultiple pathways connecting externalizing behavior problems from early childhood throughadolescence with peer relationship experiences in middle childhood and early adolescence.

This article reports a comparison on childhood risk factors of males and females exhibitingchildhood-onset and adolescent-onset antisocial behavior, using data from the Dunedinlongitudinal study. Childhood-onset delinquents had childhoods of inadequate parenting,neurocognitive problems, and temperament and behavior problems, whereas adolescent-onsetdelinquents did not have these pathological backgrounds. Sex comparisons showed amale-to-female ratio of 10:1 for childhood-onset delinquency but a sex ratio of only 1.5:1 foradolescence-onset delinquency. Showing the same pattern as males, childhood-onset females hadhigh-risk backgrounds but adolescent-onset females did not. These findings are consistent withcore predictions from the taxonomic theory of life-course persistent and adolescence-limitedantisocial behavior.

This 20-year longitudinal study showed that the young adult offspring of teen mothers are atrisk for a range of adverse outcomes including early school leaving, unemployment, earlyparenthood, and violent offending. We tested how much the effect of teen childbearing onoffspring outcomes could be accounted for by social selection (in which a woman'scharacteristics that make her an inadequate parent also make her likely to bear children in herteens) versus social influence (in which the consequences of becoming a teen mother also bringharm to her children, apart from any characteristics of her own). The results provided support forboth mechanisms. Across outcomes, maternal characteristics and family circumstances togetheraccounted for approximately 39% of the effect of teen childbearing on offspring outcomes.Consistent with a social-selection hypothesis, maternal characteristics accounted forapproximately 18% of the effect of teen childbearing on offspring outcomes; consistentwith a social-influence hypothesis, family circumstances accounted for 21% of the teenchildbearing effect after controlling for maternal characteristics. These results suggest that publicpolicy initiatives should be targeted not only at delaying childbearing in the population but atsupporting individual at-risk mothers and their children.

The impact of object relations on adjustment in conjugal bereavement was examined. Atapproximately 6 months postbereavement, 46 midlife bereaved participants engaged in a narrativeinterview in which they were asked to discuss their past relationship with their deceased spouse.The Westen et al. object relations scoring system was applied to these narratives. Participants alsocompleted depression and grief-specific symptom measures at 6 months and again at 14 and 25months postbereavement. Object relations correlated differently with grief-specific symptoms anddepression; it was more strongly negatively associated with 6 month postloss grief-specificsymptoms while more strongly negatively correlated with depression at 25 month postloss. In agrowth curve analysis, more mature object relations was also predictive of a faster rate ofdecrease in depression over time. The results were discussed in terms of current theoreticalperspectives on what is required in successful adaptation to conjugal bereavement.