Family Intervention Effects on Co-occurring Behavior and...
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LATENTTRANSITIONANALYSIS
Emotionalandbehavioraldifficultiesarecommonconcernsthatparentshaveabouttheiryoungchil-dren.Alargebodyofresearchhasindicatedthatemotionaldifficulties,includinganxietyanddepres-sion,andbehavioralproblems,includingaggressionandoppositionality,tendtoberelativelystableacrosschildhood(Briggs-Gowan,Carter,Bosson-Heenan,Guyer,&Horwitz,2006).Forinstance,studieshaveconsistentlydocumentedthedevelopmentalconti-nuityofconductproblemsfromearlychildhoodtoantisocialbehaviorinmiddlechildhoodandado-lescence(Brook,Whiteman,&Finch,1992;Brook,Whiteman,Gordon,&Cohen,1986;Campbell,Shaw,&Gilliom,2000;Caspi,Moffitt,Newman,&Silva,1998;Hawkins,Lishner,Catalano,&Howard,1986;Lyons-Ruth,Zeneah,&Benoit,1996;Shaw,Gilliom,Ingolsby,&Nagin,2003;Vicary&Lerner,1983).Sim-ilarly,modestcontinuityhasbeenfoundforinternal-izingsymptoms,inthatyouthexhibitingproblemswithanxietyanddepressioninearlychildhoodarelikelytocontinuetoexhibitthoseproblemsintomiddlechildhoodandadolescence(Briggs-Gowanetal.,2006;Briggs-Gowan,Carter,Irwin,Wachtel,&
Family Intervention Effects on Co-occurring Behavior and
Emotional Problems in Early Childhood: A Latent Transition Analysis Approach
ARIN CoNNEll, BERNADETTE MARIE BUlloCk, ThoMAS J. DIShIoN, DANIEl ShAW, MElVIN WIlSoN, FRANCES GARDNER
AbstrAct
This study used latent transition analysis (lTA) to examine changes in early emotional and behavioral problems in children age 2 to 4 years relative to participation in a family-centered intervention. A sample of 731 economically disadvantaged families were recruited from among participants in a national food supplement and nutrition program. Families with toddlers between age 2 and 3 were randomized either to the Family Check-Up (FCU) or to a nonintervention control group. The FCU’s linked interventions were tailored and adapted to each family’s needs. Assessment occurred at age 2, 3, and 4. The FCU followed age 2 and age 3 assessments. on the basis of mothers’ reports relevant to the Child Behavior Checklist, latent class analyses were used to study children’s transitions across the following four groups from age 2 to age 4: (a) externalizing only, (b) internalizing only, (c) comor-bid internalizing and externalizing, and (d) normative. lTA results revealed that participation in the FCU decreased the likelihood of transitions into the comorbid and internalizing-only class at age 4, relative to the normative no-elevation class. These results are discussed with respect to changes in
Cicchetti,2004;Warren,Huston,Egeland,&Sroufe,1997).
Earlyemotionalandbehavioraldifficultiesmayalsopredicttheemergenceofproblemsinotherimpor-tantdomainsoffunctioning,includingacademicandsocialdifficulties,intoadolescence.Forinstance,lon-gitudinalstudieswithchildrenasyoungasage3years(e.g.,Caspietal.,1998;Shaw&Gross,inpress)haverevealedassociationsbetweenearlybehaviorprob-lemsandlong-termprofilesofrisk,includingsub-stancedependenceinadolescenceandyoungadult-hood.Researchhasdocumentedsimilarlong-termoutcomesassociatedwithinternalizingproblems,includingimpairmentsinsocial,academic,andpro-fessionalfunctioning(e.g.,Fombonne,Wostear,Coo-per,Harrington,&Rutter,2001;Lewinsohn,Rohde,Seeley,Klein,&Gotlib,2003).
Emotionalandbehavioraldifficultiestendtoco-occurinchildhoodatahigherratethanwouldbeexpectedbychance(Angold,Costello,&Erkanli,1999;Lewinsohn,Rohde,&Seeley,1995).Childrenwhoexhibitco-occurringemotionalandbehavioraldifficultiestendtoshowmoresevereimpairment
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CONNELL,BULLOCK,DISHION,SHAW,WILSON,GARDNER
thandothosewithemotionalorbehavioralproblemsalone(Nottelmann&Jensen,1999).Further,evidencesuggeststhatchildrenwithco-occurringemotionalandbehavioraldisturbancesarethemostatriskforseveralseriousadjustmentproblemsinadolescence,includinghigh-risksexualbehavior(Dishion,2000),drugabuse(Rhode,Lewinsohn,&Seeley,1995),aca-demicfailure,suicide,andotherseriousoutcomes(Asarnow&Carlson,1988;Capaldi,1992;Patterson&Stoolmiller,1991;Rhodeetal.,1995).Notsurpris-ingly,youthcomorbidmoodandbehavioralproblemsarealsothemostcostlytosocietyintermsofuseofmentalhealthandjuvenilejusticeresources(Miller,2004).
Early InterventionInlightoftheprevalenceandseriousadverseconse-quencesofearlyemotionalandbehaviorproblems,itiscriticaltoimproveourunderstandingoftheetiol-ogy,developmentalcourse,andpreventionandtreat-mentofco-occurringdisorders.Earlyinterventionmaybeparticularlybeneficial.Awealthofresearchhasdocumentedpositivelongitudinalassociationsbetweenharsh,punitiveparentinginearlychildhoodandlaterchildproblembehavior(Campbell,Pierce,Moore,Marakovitz,&Newby,1996;ShawVondra,Hommerding,Keenan,&Dunn,1994;Shaw,Owens,Vondra,Keenan,&Winslow,1996;Shaw,Gilliom,Ingoldsby,&Nagin,2003),aswellasassociationsbetweenthelackofparentalwarmth,involvement,responsivity,andpositivitywithlaterinternalizingandexternalizingproblems(e.g.,Gardner,1987,1994;Shaw,Winslow,Owens,&Hood,1998;Sup-plee,Unikel,&Shaw,2007).Numerousstudieshavealsodocumentedthelinkbetweenparentalmentalhealthandchildbehaviorproblems,withmaternaldepressionreceivingwidesupportasariskfactorfortheearlydevelopmentofchildhoodinternalizingandexternalizingsymptoms(seeConnell&Goodman,2002).
The toddleryears representa timeofmarkedchangeforchildrenintermsofcognitive,emotional,andphysicalmaturation,requiringparentstoprovidepositivebehavioralsupportandscaffolddevelopmen-tallyappropriatebehaviors(Gardner,Sonuga-Barke,&Sayal,1999).Duringtoddlerhood,thefocusoftheparent–childrelationshipchangesfromemotionalresponsivityandsensitivitytotheinfant’sneedstomonitoringahighlyactivetoddler(Shaw,Bell,&Gilliom,2000).Formanyparents,thistransitionisassociatedwithadecreaseinparentalpleasureinchil-drearingfromthefirsttosecondyears(Fagot&Kava-nagh,1993),andfamilies’adaptationtothisdevel-opmentaltransitionformsthebasisforsubsequentdevelopmentalstages(Shawetal.,2000).Intervening
duringthistransitionalperiodcouldbeinstrumen-taltopreventingthelaterdevelopmentofadolescentproblembehaviorssuchasdelinquency,deviantpeerassociation,andinternalizingdisorders.
Giventhecentralityoffamilyprocessestotheearlydevelopmentofconductproblemsandsymptomsofanxietyanddepression,family interventionsarelikelytobecriticaltopreventingthedevelopmentofproblemsacrossearlychildhood.Alongthisline,anumberofparentinginterventionshavebeenfoundtobeeffectiveforreducingearlyconductproblems(e.g.,Brinkmeyer&Eyberg,2003;Oldsetal.,1997;Webster-Stratton,1990).Lessresearchhasfocusedonfamilyinterventionsforinternalizingdifficulties,althoughseveralsuchinterventionshavebeenshowntoreduceemotionaldistressinyouth(e.g.,Asarnow,Scott,&Mintz,2002;Brentetal.,1997;Diamond,Reis,Diamond,Siqueland,&Isaacs,2002).
Todate,fewstudieshaveexaminedtheimpactofparentinginterventionsonco-occurringemotionalandbehavioraldifficulties.Unfortunately,youthwithco-occurringinternalizingandexternalizingdisordersaremorefrequentlyexcludedfromefficacytrials,comparedwithchildrenwithasinglediagno-sis.Theseverityofco-occurringinternalizingandexternalizingproblemsinchildhooddoesnotsug-gestthatparentsandchildreninthesefamilieswillbeunresponsivetointerventions.Severalstudiessupportthehypothesisthatchildrenwithcomorbidemotionalandbehavioralproblemsandtheirfami-liesareresponsivetointerventionsthatarecarefullytailoredtomeettheirneeds(e.g.,Connell,Dishion,Yasui,&Kavanagh,inpress;Dishion&Stormshak,2007).Beauchaine,Webster-Stratton,andReid(2005)reportedthatacrosssixrandomizedinterventiontri-alsofaparent-traininginterventionforfamilieswith3-to8-year-oldchildrenwithearlyconductproblems,childrenwithco-occurringanxietyanddepressiondemonstratedgreaterreductionsinearlyexternaliz-ingproblemsfrompre-toposttreatmentandbeyondto1-yearfollow-upthandidthosewithsingledis-orders.Similarly,Beauchaine,Gartner,andHagen(2000)reportedmorepositivetreatmentoutcomesfol-lowinginpatienttreatmentfor4-to12-year-oldboyswithconductdisorder/ADHDdiagnosesiftheyalsohadcomorbiddepression/anxietydisorderdiagnoses,relativetoboyswithouttheco-occurringdisorders.OurstudyexaminedtheimpactoftheFamilyCheck-Upinterventionontheprogressionofco-occurringemotionalandbehaviorproblemsinyoungchildrenfromage2to4years.
Previous research on the Family check-UpTheFCUisabriefinterventionthatincludesabroadassessmentoffamilycontextandparentingpractices
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LATENTTRANSITIONANALYSIS
(seeDishion&Stormshak,2007).Unlikemanypar-entinginterventionsduringwhichparentsreceiveallinterventioncomponentsinastructuredsequence,theFCUapproachisanadaptiveandtailoredfamilyintervention(seeCollins,Murphy,&Bierman,2004).Anadaptiveinterventionframeworkrecognizesthatindividualfamiliesmayhavedifferingneedsandinterventiontargetsandmayvaryintheextenttowhichtheyrequireservices.Thecorefeatureofanadaptiveinterventionisthatspecifictargetsanddosesaredeterminedforeachfamilybasedonapriori,the-oreticallyderived,andempiricallyvalidateddecisionrules.Advantagesofthisapproachincludedecreasedlikelihoodofnegativeinterventioneffects,elimina-tionoftreatmentcomponentsthatareinappropri-ateforagivenfamily,decreasedwasteofresources,potentiallyincreasedcompliancewithtreatment,andincreasedinterventioneffectiveness(Collinsetal.,2004).Interventionscientistsarethusempoweredtocosteffectivelyaddresspublichealthproblemsbyusingaframeworkthatmoredirectlymeetstheneedsoffamilies.Moreover,adaptiveinterventionsmaybeparticularlyattractivetohigh-riskfamiliesforwhomextendedattendanceandengagementmaybediffi-cultinlightofchallengingfamilyorsocialcircum-stances.
TheFCUwasdirectlyinspiredbythemotivationalinterviewing(MI)frameworkofMillerandRollnick(2002).TheMIapproachisintendedtomotivatepar-entstoengagewithtreatmentservicesandtoencour-agebehaviorchangeinfamiliesofhigh-riskyouth.TheFCUisthefirststepinamenuofempiricallysup-portedandfamily-centeredinterventionsdesignedtostrengthenparentingskillsandpromotepositivebehaviors(Dishion&Kavanagh,2003).Incontrasttothestandardclinicalmodel,theFCUisrootedinahealthmaintenancemodel,whichemphasizesperiodiccontactwithfamiliesduringthecourseofkeydevelopmentaltransitions.OurstudyfocusedprimarilyontheFCUforfamilieswithyoungchil-drenwhowereengagedintheWomen,InfantsandChildrenNutritionProgram(WIC)servicesystemandwhodemonstratedriskforcomorbidemotionalandbehavioralproblems.
PreviousresearchhasexaminedtheimpactoftheFCUonproblembehaviorinearlyadolescence,whenofferedinapublicschoolsetting.Usinganintentiontotreatdesign,Dishion,Kavanagh,Schneiger,Nel-son,andKaufman(2002)foundthatproactivepar-entengagementreducedsubstanceuseamonghigh-riskadolescentsandpreventedsubstanceuseamongtypicallydevelopingyouth.Significantreductionsintheseproblembehaviorsresultedfromanaverageofsixdirectcontactmeetingswithparentsduringthecourseofthreeyears.Complieraveragecausaleffect
analysessupportedtheproposalthatparticipationintheFCUandlinkedservicesasneededresultedinsignificant,long-termreductionsinsubstanceuseandantisocialbehavior,includingdecreasedsubstanceusediagnosesandfewerarrestsbytheendofhighschool(Connelletal.,inpress).Shawandcolleagues(2006)appliedtheFamilyCheck-Uptoasampleof120high-riskfamiliesoftoddlersinvolvedintheWICprogram.EngagementintheFCUresultedinreductionsinsub-sequentchildproblembehaviorandimprovementinparentinvolvementatchildage3and4,respectively(Gardner,Shaw,Dishion,Burton,&Supplee,inpress;Shaw,Dishion,Supplee,Gardner,&Arnds,2006).
the current study Thisstudyexamineddatafrom731familiespartici-patinginWICservicesystemswhowererecruitedwhenthechildrenwereapproximately2yearsold.Thesechildrenhadbeendeemedat-riskforshow-ingearly-startingpathwaysofbehaviorproblemsonthebasisofsociodemographicrisk(i.e.,lowincomeandparentaleducation),familyrisk(e.g..,maternaldepression,parentaldrugabuse,teenparent),andchildrisk(e.g.,highlevelsofconductproblems).HalfofthefamilieswererandomlyassignedtoreceivetheFCU.Analysesfocusedontheage4follow-upreportsofchildconductandinternalizingproblems,collectedtwoyearsafterinitialcontactwithfamilies.Fami-liesinthisstudy,whichwerefertoastheEarlyStepsMultisitestudy(ES-M),wererecruitedfromthreegeographicallyandculturallyuniqueregions:met-ropolitanPittsburgh,Pennsylvania,suburbanEugene,Oregon,andruralCharlottesville,Virginia.Thesam-plereflectsculturaldiversityinthatitincludesahighpercentageofAfricanAmerican,EuropeanAmeri-can,andLatinofamilies.InadditiontoreceivingtheFCU,familiesintheinterventiongroupwereprovid-edadaptive,tailoredservicesfollowingtheFamilyCheck-Up,asneeded.
Thisstudy’sanalysesextendtwoearlierreportsontheES-MsamplethatdescribedreductionsinchildconductproblemsandinternalizingsymptomsasaresultofparticipationintheFCU.Dishionandcol-leagues(2007)usedLGMprocedurestoseparatelyexamineinternalizingandexternalizingproblemsfromage2to4.Theyfoundthattreatment-relatedreductionsinexternalizingtrajectoriesmediatedincreasesinpositiveparentingbehavior.Similarly,Shaw and colleagues (2007) found that reducedmaternaldepressivesymptomsfromchildage2to3mediatedimprovementsinbothinternalizingandexternalizingproblemsfromage2to4.
AlthoughthesestudiesprovideimportantevidencefortheeffectivenessoftheFCUintervention,LGManalyseshavelimitations.Forexample,analysesof
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CONNELL,BULLOCK,DISHION,SHAW,WILSON,GARDNER
growthdonotaccountforwithin-childdifferencesinprofilesofinternalizingandexternalizingsymp-toms.Itislikelythatsomechildreninthissampleexhibitedelevationssolelyineitherinternalizingorexternalizingdomains,whileothersdemonstratedco-occurringsymptoms.ItisalsopossiblethattheFCUinterventionmaybedifferentiallyeffectiveforyouthwithdifferentsymptomprofiles,exertingstrongesteffectsforyouthwithco-occurringproblems.Suchapossibilitymaybestbeexaminedusingaperson-centeredanalyticapproach(seeConnell,Dishion,&Deater-Deckard,2006).
Inourstudy,weusedlatenttransitionanalysis(LTA)toidentifyclustersofyouthexhibitingdistinctprofilesofinternalizingandexternalizingsymptomsfromage2to4.ThisstrategyenabledustoexaminewhetherparticipationintheFCUaffectedthetransi-tionbetweensymptomclassesacrossage2to4.LTA,whichwasoriginallydescribedbyGraham,Collins,Wugalter,Chung,andHansen(1991),isparticularlysuitedtoexaminingchangesingroupmembershipovertime(i.e.,comorbid,internalizing-only,orexter-nalizing-onlyclassesofyouth).Ittreatssymptomclus-teringasanunobserved,latentunderlyingnominalclassification.Thatis,groupsofchildrenwithdistinctsymptomprofilesarenotdirectlyobserved,butareinsteadidentifiedbyusingaclassificationmodel,whichprovidesthebasisforstudyingtransitionsfromonegrouptoanotherovertime.Assuch,LTAprovidesameansofdealingwithmeasurementerrorandreducingbiasinestimatesofstabilityandchangeovertime(seeNylund,Muthén,Nishina,Bellmore,&Graham,2007;Pickles&Hill,2006).InlightofShawandcolleagues’(2007)resultsformaternaldepres-sion,weincludedmaternaldepressionasacovari-ateinthecurrentanalyses,examiningtheeffectofmaternalsymptomsonsymptomclassesatchildage2and4.AlthoughDishionandcolleagues(2007)alsoexaminedpositiveparentingbehaviors,becauseLTAiscomputationallyintensiveandperformsbestwithlargesamplesizes(SeeCollins,Hyatt,&Graham,2000),andparentingdatawereavailableonlyforasmallersubsetoffamilies,wedecidednottoincludetheparentingdatainthisreport.
Methods
study ParticipantsParticipantsincluded731mother–childdyadsrecruit-edbetween2002and2003fromWICprogramsinthemetropolitanareasofPittsburgh,Pennsylvania,Eugene,Oregon,andCharlottesville,Virginia(Dish-ion,Shaw,Connell,Gardner,Weaver,&Wilson,2007).FamilieswereapproachedatWICsitesandinvitedtoparticipateiftheyhadasonordaughterbetweenage
2years0monthsand2years11months.Recruitedfamilieswerescreenedtoensurethattheymetthestudycriteriaofhavingsocioeconomic,family,and/orchildriskfactorsforfuturebehaviorproblems.Riskcriteriaforrecruitmentweredefinedasatoraboveonestandarddeviationabovenormativeaveragesrele-vanttothefollowingthreedomains:(a)childbehavior(conductproblems,high-conflictrelationshipswithadults),(b)familyproblems(maternaldepression,dailyparentingchallenges,substanceuseproblems,teenparentstatus),and(c)sociodemographicrisk(loweducationachievementandlowfamilyincomeusingtheWICcriterion).Twoormoreofthethreeriskfac-torswererequiredforinclusioninthesample.
AsshowninFigure1andpartitionedbysiteinTable1,ofthe1666parentswhowereapproachedatWICsitesacrossthethreestudysitesandhadchil-drenintheappropriateagerange,879familiesmettheeligibilityrequirements(52%inPittsburgh,57%inEugene,49%inCharlottesville)and731(83.2%)agreedtoparticipate(88%inPittsburgh,84%inEugene,76%inCharlottesville).Thechildreninthesamplehadameanageof29.9months(SD=3.2)atthetimeoftheage2assessment.
Ofthe731families(49%female),272(37%)wererecruitedinPittsburgh,271(37%)inEugene,and188(26%)inCharlottesville.MoreparticipantswererecruitedinPittsburghandinEugenebecauseofthelargerpopulationofeligiblefamiliesintheseregions
Study Candidates ScreenedN = 1666
Study Candidates QualifiedN = 879
Study Candidates Participated
N = 731
Participants in Age 2Assessment Assigned to
Control ConditionN = 364
Participants in Age 2Assessment Assigned to
Treatment ConditionN = 367
Participants in Age 3Assessment Assigned to
Control ConditionN = 330
Participants in Age 3Assessment Assigned to
Treatment ConditionN = 332
Participants in Age 4Assessment Assigned to
Control ConditionN = 310
Participants in Age 4Assessment Assigned to
Treatment ConditionN = 317
Figure 1.Participantflowchart.
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LATENTTRANSITIONANALYSIS
relativetoCharlottesville.Acrosssites,thechildrenwerereportedtobelongtothefollowingracialgroups:27.9%AfricanAmerican,50.1%EuropeanAmerican,13.0%biracial,and8.9%otherraces(e.g.,AmericanIndian,NativeHawaiian).Intermsofethnicity,13.4%ofthesamplereportedbeingHispanicAmerican.Duringthe2002–2003screeningperiod,morethantwo-thirdsofthosefamiliesenrolledintheprojecthadanannualincomeoflessthan$20,000,andtheaveragenumberoffamilymembersperhouseholdwas4.5(SD=1.63).Forty-onepercentofthepopulationhadahighschooldiplomaorGEDequivalency,andanadditional32%hadonetotwoyearsofpost–highschooltraining.
Retention.Ofthe731familieswhoinitiallypar-ticipated,659(89.9%)wereavailableattheone-yearfollow-upand619(84.7%)participatedatthetwo-yearfollow-upwhenchildrenwerebetweenage4and4years11months.Atage3and4,selectiveattritionanalysesrevealednosignificantdifferencesrelevanttoprojectsite,children’srace,ethnicity,gender,lev-elsofmaternaldepression,orchildren’sexternal-izingbehaviors(parentreported).Furthermore,nodifferenceswerefoundinthenumberofparticipantswhowerenotretainedinthecontrolversusintheinterventiongroupsatbothage3(n=40andn=32,respectively)andage4(n=58andn=53,respec-tively).
MeasuresDemographics questionnaire.Ademographicsques-tionnairewasadministeredtothemothersduringtheage2andage4visits.Thismeasureincludedques-
tionsaboutfamilystructure,parentaleducationandincome,parentalcriminalhistory,andareasoffamil-ialstress.
Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL; Achenbach & Rescorla, 2000).TheCBCLisawell-establishedandwidelyused99-itemquestionnairethatassessesparen-talreportsofbehavioralandemotionalproblemsinyoungchildrenfromage1.5to5years.Motherscom-pletedtheCBCLatthechildage2andage4visits.TheCBCLhastwobroad-bandfactors,InternalizingandExternalizing.TheInternalizingscalecomprisesfoursubscales,includingEmotionalReactivity,AnxietyandDepression,SomaticProblems,andSocialWith-drawal.TheExternalizingscalecomprisestwosub-scales,AggressionandAttentionProblems.Foruseinthelatentclassanalyses(LCAs)andLTAs,scoresonthesesixsubscalesweredichotomizedtoreflectyouthbeingratedinthenormativerangeonagivenscale(t-score<60)versusintheborderlineorclinicalrange(t-score≥=60).
Center for Epidemiological Studies on Depres-sion scale (CES-D).TheCES-D(Radloff,1977)isawell-establishedandwidelyused20-itemmeasureofdepressivesymptomatologythatwasadminis-teredtomothersatthechildage2andage4homeassessments.Mothersreportedhowfrequentlytheyhadexperiencedlisteddepressivesymptomsduringthepastweekonascalerangingfrom0(lessthan1day)to3(5–7days).Itemsweresummedtocreateanoveralldepressivesymptomsscore.Forthecur-rentsample,internalconsistencieswere.76and.75attheage2andage4assessments,respectively.Aver-agelevelsofself-reporteddepressivesymptomsweremoderatelyelevatedatage2(M=16.75,SD=10.66),andage4assessments(M=14.99,SD=10.88),withscoresgreaterthan16reflectiveofclinicallysignifi-cantsymptomlevels(Radloff,1977).
Child gender.Childgenderwascodedas0=“male”and1=“female.”
Child ethnicity.Youth-reportedethnicitywascodedas0=“Caucasian”and1=“ethnicminority.”
Intervention status.Randomassignmentwascodedas0=“control”and1=“intervention.”
Assessment protocol.Parents(i.e.,mothersand,ifavailable,alternativecaregiverssuchasfathersorgrandmothers)whoagreedtoparticipateinthestudywerescheduledfora2.5-hourhomevisit.Eachassess-mentbeganbyintroducingthechildrentoanassort-mentofage-appropriatetoysandhavingthemplayfor15minuteswhilethemotherscompletedquestion-naires.Afterthefreeplay(15minutes),eachprimarycaregiverandchildparticipatedinseveraltasks:(a)aclean-up(5minutes),(b)childdelayofgratification(5minutes),(c)fourteachingtasks(3minuteseach,withthefinaltaskbeingcompletedbyalternatecaregiver
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CONNELL,BULLOCK,DISHION,SHAW,WILSON,GARDNER
andchild),(d)asecondfreeplay(4minutes),(e)asecondclean-uptask(4minutes),(f)thepresentationoftwoinhibition-inducingtoys(2minuteseach),and(g)amealpreparationandlunchtask(20minutes).Theexacthomevisitandobservationprotocolwasrepeatedatage3and4forboththecontrolandtheinterventiongroup.Familiesreceived$100,$120,and$140forparticipatingintheage2,3,and4homevis-its,respectively.
Computer-generatedrandomizationtoFCUandcontrolgroupswasconductedbyastaffmemberwhohadnotbeeninvolvedinrecruitment.Randomizationwasbalancedbygendertoensureanequalnumberofmalesandfemalesinthecontrolandinterventiongroups.Toensureexaminerblindnesstotheinter-ventioncondition,asealedenveloperevealingthefamily’sassignmentwasopenedandsharedwiththefamilyaftertheassessmentwascompleted.Examin-erswhocarriedoutfollow-upassessmentswereneverinformedofthefamily’srandomlyassignedcondi-tion.
Forpurposesofthisstudy,onlymaternalreportsofchildproblembehaviorwereusedfromtheage2and4assessments,andmaternalreportsofdepressionwereusedfromtheage3assessment.
Intervention protocol.TheFCU.Familiesrandom-lyassignedtotheinterventionconditionwerethenscheduledtomeetwithaparentconsultantfortwoormoresessions,dependingonthefamily’spreference.Typically,thethreemeetingsincludeaninitialcontactsession,anassessmentsession,andafeedbacksession(Dishion&Kavanagh,2003).Tooptimizetheinternalvalidityofthestudy(i.e.,preventdifferentialdropoutforexperimentalandcontrolconditions),theassess-mentswerecompletedbeforerandomassignmentresultswererevealedtoeithertheresearchstafforthefamily.Thus,forpurposesofresearch,thesequenceofcontactswasasfollows:assessment(baseline),ran-domization,initialinterview,feedbacksession,andfollow-upsessionsbasedontheneedsofindividualfamilies.Eachfamilywasgivena$25giftcertificateattheendofthefeedbacksessionforcompletingtheFCU.
Essentialobjectivesofthefeedbacksessionweretoexplorethecaregivers’willingnesstochangeprob-lematicparentingpractices,supportexistingpar-entingstrengths,andidentifyservicesappropriatetothefamilyneeds.Duringthissessiontheparentwasofferedfollow-upsessionsfocusedonparentingpractices,otherfamilymanagementconcerns(e.g.,coparenting),andcontextualissues(e.g.,childcareresources,maritaladjustment,housing,vocationaltraining).
ParentconsultantswhofacilitatedtheFCUandfollow-upparentingsessionswereacombinationof
Ph.D.-andmaster’s-levelclinicians,allwithpreviousexperienceinimplementingfamily-basedinterven-tions.Parentconsultantswereinitiallytrainedfor2.5–3monthsusingacombinationofstrategies,includ-ingdidacticinstructionandroleplaying,followedbyongoingvideotapedsupervisionofinterventionactivity.Beforeworkingwithstudyfamilies,parentconsultantswerecertifiedbyleadparentconsultantsateachsite,whohadpreviouslybeencertifiedbyDr.Dishion.Certificationwasestablishedbyreviewingvideotapesoffeedbackandfollow-upinterventionsessionstoevaluatewhetherparentconsultantswerecompetentinallcriticalcomponentsoftheinterven-tionasdescribedlaterinthisarticle.Thisprocessisrepeatedyearlytoreducedriftfromtheinterventionmodel,consistentwiththemethodsofForgatch,Pat-terson,andDeGarmo(2005),whofoundthatdirectobservationsoftherapistfidelitytoparentmanage-menttrainingpredictedchangeinparentingpracticesandchildbehavior.Inaddition,cross-sitecaseconfer-enceswereconvenedweeklyusingvideoconferenc-ingtofurtherenhancefidelity.Finally,annualpar-entconsultantmeetingswereheldtoupdatetraining,discusspossiblechangesintheinterventionmodel,andaddressspecialinterventionissuesreflectedbytheneedsoffamiliesacrosssites.
Ofthefamiliesassignedtothetreatmentcondition,77.9%participatedintheinitialparentconsultantmeetingandfeedbacksessionsatchildage2,65.4%atage3,and65.3%atage4(seeTable1).Ofthosefamilieswhometwithaparentconsultant,theaver-agenumberofsessionsperfamilywas3.32(SD=2.84)atchildage2and2.83(SD=2.70)atage3,includingtheinitialparentconsultantmeetingandfeedbackastwoofthosesessions.
Analysis strategy.ThecentralanalysesusedanLTAframeworktoexaminechangesinlatentclassmem-bershipovertime,relativetoparticipationintheinter-ventionprogram.LTAisanadvancedautoregressivemodelinwhichclassmembershipateachtimepointisnotdirectlyobserved,butrepresentsacategoricallatentvariableidentifiedwithameasurementmodel.LTAincludesbothameasurementcomponentandastructuralcomponent.Forthemeasurementcompo-nent,itemprobabilitiesareclass-specificparameters
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LATENTTRANSITIONANALYSIS
thatdescribethelikelihoodofanindividualinagivenclasstoendorseeachitem.Twostructuralcompo-nentsincludeclassprobabilities,whichdescribethesizeofeachlatentclassateachtimepoint,andtransi-tionprobabilities,whichareconditionalprobabilitiesdescribingtheprobabilityofbeinginagivenstateattime=t,conditionalonthestateattime=t−1(andonthestatusofcovariates,ifpresent).
Inthisstudy,wefollowedthegeneralguidelinesputforthbyNylundandcolleagues(2007),proceedingthroughtheLTAprocessinseveralsteps.First,sepa-rateLCAswereusedtoexaminetheoptimalnumberoflatentclassesateachstudywave.Second,anLTAwithoutcovariatesexaminedtransitionsacrosslatent
classesfromage2to4.Finally,covariateswereaddedtotheLTAmodeltoexaminetheeffectoftreatment,childgender,ethnicity,maternaldepressivesymp-tomsonlatentclassmembershipatage2and4,andtransitionprobabilitiesovertime.DetailedstatisticalpresentationsofthegeneralLTAframeworkareavail-ableinNylundandcolleagues(2007),HumphreysandJanson(2000),andReboussin,Reboussin,Liang,andAnthony(1998).
resultsDescriptivestatisticsforCBCLsubscalesareshowninTable2.Correlationsforallvariablesfromage2to4areshowninTable3.Itisimportanttonotethatnosignificantassociationswerefoundbetweentreat-mentgroupandchildgenderorethnicity,levelsofmaternaldepressivesymptoms,oranytypeofchildproblembehavioratage2,suggestingthatrandomiza-tionwassuccessful.Modesttomoderateassociationswereconsistentlyfoundbetweenmaternaldepressionandfactorsofchildproblembehaviorconcurrentlyandovertime,andamongdifferentfactorsofchildproblembehavior.
Latent class Analyses at Age 2 and 4WefirstexaminedseparateLCAsatage2and4todeterminetheoptimalnumberofclassesneededtobestcharacterizedataateachage.Mixturemodeling(ofwhichLCAisaspecificform)isanactiveareaofmethodsresearchregardingtheoptimalapproachtodeterminingthenumberof latentclasses(e.g.Nylund,Asparouhov,&Muthén,2006).Fitindices
were obtained for uncondi-tionalmodelswith1–6classesateachage.Modelswithdif-ferentnumbersoflatentclassesarenotnested,soMuthénandMuthén (2000) have recom-mended the following threecriteriaforselectingtheopti-malnumberoflatentclassesinfactormixturemodels:(a)theBayesianinformationcriteria(BIC)andasample-sizeadjust-edversionoftheBIC(AdjBIC),withlowerscoresrepresentingbetter-fittingmodels; (b) thequalityofclassificationacrossmodels,representedbyentro-py,withhigherentropyvaluesindicatingbetterclassificationofindividualsintotheirmostlikelytrajectoryclass; (c) thebootstrappedlikelihoodratiotest(BLRT),whichprovidesa
Figure 2.LCAresultsatage2.
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Internalizing, 12.8%Externalizing, 30.4%Comorbid, 9.9%Normative, 46.9%
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CONNELL,BULLOCK,DISHION,SHAW,WILSON,GARDNER
statisticalcomparisonofthefitofagivenmodelwithamodelofonefewerclasses;and(4)thetheoreticalrelevanceandusefulnessoflatenttrajectoryclasses.RecentsimulationstudiesbyNylundandcolleagues(2006)supportedtheuseofAdjBICandBLRTforselectionoftheoptimalnumberofclassesinLCAmodels,withtheBLRTprovidingparticularlycon-sistentcorrectresults.Inlightofthesefindings,weplacedprimaryweightontheBLRTandtheAdjBICvaluesinselectingthenumberofclasses.Allanalyseswereconductedusing100randomizedstartvaluesrunfor10iterationseach,withthebest-fitting25ran-domizedstartvaluesruntomodelconvergence.
AsshowninTable4,boththeAdjBICandtheBLRTsupportedafour-classsolutionatage2.Atage4,theBLRTsupportedafour-classsolutionandtheAdjBICsupportedathree-classsolution.Wechosethefour-classsolutiontorepresentoptimalfitinlightofNylundandcolleagues’(2006)recommenda-tions,andconsistencyofthefour-classsolutionwith
hypothesesandtheories,aswellastheconsistencyofthefour-classsolutionatage4withthefour-classsolutionatage2.Theresultingfourclassesatage2and4aredepictedinFigures2and3.Mostyouthateachageareinaclasswithlowprobabilityofbeingintheborderline/clinicalrangeonanyscale.Becauseoftherelativesizeandlowlikelihoodofproblems,welabelthisclassnormativethroughouttheremainderofthisarticle.Asecondclassshowedrelativelyele-vatedprobabilitiesofsignificantproblemsonthetwoExternalizingsubscales,alongwiththeWithdrawalscale.Werefertothisclassasexternalizing.AthirdclassshowedrelativelyelevatedlikelihoodsofbeingintheclinicalrangeonthefourInternalizingscales,sowerefertothisclassasinternalizing.Finally,afourthclassshowedelevationsonallsixsubscales,sothisclassislabeledcomorbid.
Thesefourclassesmatchwellwiththefourclassesthatwouldbeexpectedonthebasisoftheoryandpastresearch, lending increasedconfidencethattheyreflectmeaningfulclustersofyouth.Itisworthemphasizingthatthesizesoftheclassesweresome-whatdifferentatage2thanatage4,particularlyfortheexternalizingclass,whichdecreasedinsizeovertime(30.4%atage2and18.3%atage4),andthenor-mativeclass,whichincreasedinsizeovertime(46.9%atage2and62.7%atage4).
Latent transition Analyses from Age 2 to 4LTAswereconductednext,whichpermittedtheexaminationoftransitionsacrossclassesfromage2toage4.WefirstexaminedanunconditionalLTAmodel.ClassproportionsfromthismodelareshowninTable5.AswasfoundintheLCAmodels,theexternalizingclassdecreasedinsizeacrossage2andage4,whilethenormativeclassgrewsubstantiallyovertime.Conversely,theinternalizingandcomorbidclasseswererelativelystableinsizeacrossage2and
age4,showingaslightdecline.Latent transition probabilities
fromthisunconditionalmodelareshown inTable6.As shown, thenormativegroupwashighlystableovertime,with90.8%ofyouthinthisgroupatage2remaininginthisgroupatage4.Nearly25%oftheage2 internalizingclass transitionedintotheage4comorbidclass,whilenoyouthinthisgrouptransitionedintotheage4externalizingclass,and42.7%transitionedintothenor-mativeclass.Veryfewyouthintheage2externalizingclasstransitionedintoeithertheage4internalizingorcomorbidclasses,withnearly50%of
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Figure 3.LCAresultsatage4.
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Figure 4.ConditionalLTAmodel.
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LATENTTRANSITIONANALYSIS
thosetransitioningoutofthisclasstransitioningintothenormativeclassatage4.Only9.5%oftheage2comorbidclasstransitionedintothenormativeclass,whilenearly33%transitionedintotheage4internal-izingclass.
Next,weaddedthreetime-invariantcovariates,
includinginterventionstatus,childgender,andchildethnicity,andonetime-varyingcovariate,maternaldepressivesymptoms,tothemodel.TheconditionalLTAmodelisdepictedinFigure4.Asafirststep,weexaminedwhethertoallowinterventiontopredictage2classmembership.Effectssuchasthesewouldbeproblematicbecauseinterventionwasnotdelivereduntilaftertheage2assessment,soage2interven-tioneffectswouldref lectproblemswithrandomization.However,noneoftheseeffectswassignificant,sowefollowedamoreparsimoniousapproachofpermit-tinginterventioneffectsonlyforage4classes.Theadditionofcovariateschangedthelatenttransitionprobabilitiessome-what,asshowninTable7,andappearedtoslightlyincreasethecross-timestabil-ityofeachoftheclasses.CovariateeffectsonclassmembershipareshowninTable8.Mostnotably,interventionpredictedasignificantlyreducedlikelihoodofbeinginthecomorbidclassatage4,andatrend-level(p<.06)effectonthelikelihoodofmembershipintheinternalizingclassat
age4,relativetothenormativeclass.Thatis,youthwhoreceivedinterventionwerelesslikelytobeineitherof these twoclassesandmorelikelytobeinthenormativeclassinstead, compared
withtheothergroupsofchildren.Theoddsratiosforbeinginthecomorbidversusnormativeclassatage4associatedwiththereceiptofinterventionis.16,asistheoddsratioforbeingintheage4internalizingversusnormativeclassinrelationtotreatmentstatus.However,interventionwasunrelatedtothelikelihood
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CONNELL,BULLOCK,DISHION,SHAW,WILSON,GARDNER
ofmembershipintheexternalizing-onlyclass.Theanalysisofothersignificantcovariateeffects
onclassmembershipresultedinfindingsonlyatage2.Malegenderpredictedasignificantlygreaterlikeli-hoodofmembershipintheexternalizingclassatage2,andethnicminoritystatuspredictedatrend-levelincreaseinthelikelihoodofmembershipintheage2comorbidclass.Elevatedmaternaldepressivesymp-tomspredictedasignificantlygreaterlikelihoodofmembershipintheage2comorbidclass,andatrend-levelincreaseinthelikelihoodofmembershipintheage2externalizingclass,relativetothenormativeclass.
DiscussionThegoalofthisstudywastoexaminethehypoth-esisthattheFCUwouldresultindecreasesinyoungchildren’stransitionsintoco-occurringemotionalandbehavioralproblemsbyage4.Stepsthatledtothetestofthishypothesisincludedestablishingthenumberofclasses(LCA)ofyoungchildrenatage2and4,examiningthedistributionoftheseclasses,andthentestingtheimpactofarandomizedinterventionwhencontrollingforethnicity,maternaldepression,andgender.
Asexpected,resultsofLCAmodelssupportedtheexistenceoffourclassesatage2and4years,cor-respondingwiththeinternalizing,externalizing,comorbid,andnormativegroupsthatwereexpectedtobecomeapparentonthebasisofpastresearchandtheory.Severalfindingsarenoteworthyregardingtheseclasses.First,membershipinthecomorbidgroupatage2waspredictedbyelevatedsymptomsofdepressioninmothers,andbyethnicminoritystatus.Second,membershipintheage2externalizinggroupwaspredictedbymaternaldepressivesymptomsalone.Interestingly,maternaldepressivesymptomsdidnotpredictmembershipintheinternalizing-onlyclassatthisearlyage,whichisinconsistentwithpreviousresearch(Connell&Goodman,2002).
Itisimportanttonotethat“psychopathology”atthisearlyageisatransientphenomenon.Manyyouthinthethreeat-riskclassestransitionedintothenor-mativegroupbyage4.Thistransitionintolowerriskstatuswasparticularlypronouncedforearlyexter-nalizing-onlyproblems,withnearlyhalfoftheearlyexternalizinggroupmovingintothenormativegroupbyage4.Thispatternoffindingsisconsistentwiththatofotherresearch(e.g.,Cote,Vaillancourt,Leb-lanc,Nagin,&Tremblay,2006;NICHDEarlyChildCareResearchNetwork,2004),suggestingthatearlyproblemswithaggressionmayabateformanyyouth(althoughotherformsofearlyconductproblemsmaypersist).
Anunexpectedfindingwasthatmanyyouthwith
earlyinternalizingproblemsappearedtodevelopco-occurringexternalizingproblemsbyage4,butnoyouthswitchedfromtheearlyinternalizingtotheage4externalizingclass.Conversely,fewyouthmovedfromtheearlyexternalizingclassintoeitherthelaterinternalizingorlatercomorbidclasses.Theseresultsmaysuggestthatearlyemotionalproblemsmaysetthestageforthelateremergenceofco-occurringbehavioralproblems,butthatearlybehavioralprob-lems,bythemselves,maynotpredicttheemergenceofproblemswithanxietyordepressionbyage4.Atthisstage,itisunclearwhetherthisisanassessmentissueoroneofdevelopmentalsignificance.Individualdif-ferencesininternalizingandexternalizingproblemsareimpactedbymethodvarianceandthereforearevulnerabletoreportingbiasesandinadequateitempools.Withrespecttothelatterissue,wesuspectthereisaneedtodevelopmeasuresofemergingpsy-chopathologythatareuniquelysensitivetopatternsevidentinearlychildhood.
Itisimportanttoconsiderthatchildrenwithearlybehaviorproblemsmaydevelopinternalizingprob-lemsastheyenterschoolandareexposedtopeerswhomayacceptorrejectthem.ThispossibilitywouldbepredictedbyPatterson’sdual-failuremodel(Pat-terson&Stoolmiller,1991),inwhichchildrenwithearlyexternalizingproblemsareatriskforaccumu-latingsocialandacademicfailureexperiences,whichmayinturnleadtotheemergenceoflaterproblemswithanxietyanddepression.Aswefollowthesechil-drenintoearlyelementaryschool,wewillbeabletoexaminelatertransitionpatternsforchildreninall4classes.
Intervention EffectsResultsrevealedthatparticipationintheFCUsig-nificantlyreducedthelikelihoodofchildcomorbidemotionalandbehavioralproblemsatage4.ChildreninthecomorbidproblemsclasswerelesslikelytohavebeenrandomlyassignedtotheFCUintervention,indicatingthatinterventionsubstantiallydecreasedthelikelihoodofeitherremaininginortransitioningintothisclassfromage2toage4.Similareffectswereobservedfortheinternalizing-onlygroup.
Theseresultsareparticularlynoteworthybecausethesechildrenmaybeparticularlyatriskforcon-tinuedproblemslaterindevelopment,andareoftenexcludedfrominterventionstudiesbecauseoftheirdualdiagnosis.Resultsofthisstudyindicatethatchildreninthecomorbidgroupmaybeparticularlyresponsivetoearlyfamilyinterventionefforts,show-ingsignificantreductionsinthelikelihoodofcontin-uedproblems.Giventhatmostinterventionstudieseitherexcludecomorbidcasesorfocusononlyoneoutcomeofinterest,itisdifficulttofitthefindings
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LATENTTRANSITIONANALYSIS
ofthisstudyinwiththegeneralpreventionorchildclinicalliterature.Itwouldbeveryhelpfuliffutureresearchoninterventionoutcomefocusedonmultipledomains(e.g.,depression,problembehavior)toevalu-atetheoveralleffectivenessofdiverseinterventionsofchildandadolescentmentalhealth,morebroadlyconceptualized.
Theseresultsareinlinewiththelimitednumberofpastinterventionstudies(i.e.,Beauchaineetal.,2000;Beauchaineetal.,2005),infindingthatyouthwithco-occurringemotionalandbehaviorproblemsappeartobeparticularlyresponsivetoearlyinterven-tion.Interestingly,researchfromastudyof2-to4-year-oldtwinsfoundthatco-occurringemotionalandbehavioralproblemswerestronglyrelatedtosharedfamilyenvironmentalinf luences,arelativelyrarefindinginthebehaviorgeneticsliterature(Gregory,Eley,&Plomin,2004).Thatfindingsupportstheeffi-cacyoffamily-centeredinterventionstoamelioratethedevelopmentofcomorbidinternalizingandexter-nalizingproblemsinchildhood.Furtherresearchisneededtoexaminemediatingprocessesrelativetotheintervention,aswellastheirassociationwiththeonsetandcourseofcomorbidemotionalandbehav-ioralproblemsinchildhood.Consistentwithpastresearchinvolvingthissample(Dishionetal.,2007),wesuspectthatimprovementsinfamilyfunction-ingsuchasincreasedparentalwarmthandproactivestructuringwillmediatetheeffectsofinterventiononthelikelihoodofexhibitingcomorbidproblemsbyage4.Methodologicalresearchisneeded,however,toimprovetheexaminationofmediationinthecontextofLTAmodels.
Similarinterventioneffectswerefoundforreducedlikelihoodofshowingonlyinternalizingproblemsbyage4,althoughtheseresultswereattrendlevel.Theseresultsindicatethatimprovingparentandfamilyfunctioningmayalsobeimportantforyouthexhibitingearlysymptomsofanxietyanddepression,alone.TheyareconsistentwithotherstudiesinwhichtheFCUwasassociatedwithreductionsininternal-izingproblemsinearlyadolescence(Connell&Dish-ion,2007).Takentogether,theseresultssupportthenotionthatfamily-centeredinterventionsarelikelytobeimportantforreducingproblemswithanxietyanddepressioninyouth.
Itisimportanttonotethatinterventioneffectswerenotfoundfortheexternalizing-onlyclass.DespitethefactthattheFCUwasoriginallydesignedtopreventearlyconductproblems,theexternalizingclasswastheonlyhigh-risklatentclassthatdidnotdemon-strateaninterventioneffect.Onepossiblereasonforthelackofeffectforthisclassofchildrenisthatmanymovedoutofthisclassandintothenorma-tiveclassontheirown.Thecurrentfindingsmayalso
qualifypriorresultsforthissample(Dishionetal.,2007;Shawetal.,2007),inwhichLGMwasusedtodocumentthatchildrenwhoseparentsparticipatedintheFCUexhibitedgreaterdeclinesinexternaliz-ingproblemsfromage2toage3relativetothoseinthecontrolgroup.ThecurrentLTAresultssuggestthatthoseinterventioneffectsonchangesinexter-nalizingproblemsmayhavebeenprimarilydrivenbychildrenexhibitingco-occurringemotionalandbehaviorproblemsratherthanbythosewithonlyearlybehaviorproblems.
LimitationsSeveralmethodologicallimitationstothecurrentstudymeritconsideration.Firstandforemostistheissueofpotentialreporterbias.Thereisconsistentevi-denceintheliteraturethatmotherswithelevatedlev-elsofdepressivesymptomsshowatendencytoreporthigherlevelsofchildren’sproblembehavior(Fergus-son,Lynskey,&Horwood,1993).Becausemothersreportedonboththeirowndepressivesymptomsandonchildren’sexternalizingandinternalizingproblembehavior,reductionsinmaternaldepressivesymptomsthatappearedtobeafunctionofrandomizationtotheinterventiongroupmayhavealsoamplifiedgroupdifferencesinproblembehaviorandmaternalpercep-tionsoftheseverityofexternalizingsymptoms.Ontheonehand,itispossiblethatgroupdifferencesarepartiallyresponsibleforperceivedchangesinchildproblembehavior.However,Dishionandcolleagues(2007)recentlyfoundthatobservedparentingbehav-iorspredictedimprovementsinmother-ratedbehav-iorproblemsinthissample,supportingthenotionthatmother-reportedproblemsrelatedtoindepen-dentlyobservedparentingbehaviorinthisstudy.Itshouldalsobenotedthataselevatedlevelsofdepres-sivesymptomsduringthetoddlerperiodhavebeenrelatedtoteacherreportsoflow-incomechildren’sconductproblems,itisstillpossiblethatmodifyingmaternaldepressionduringthetoddlerperiodwillbeassociatedwithreducedproblembehaviorduringtheschool-ageperiod.Futureplannedassessmentsthatincludeteacherandafter-careproviderreportswillshedlightontheextenttowhichimprovementsinproblembehaviorarelimitedtomaternalperceptionsandthehomeenvironment,aswellastime.
Second,althoughwepresentedevidencetosug-gestthattheFCUisassociatedwithimprovementsinchildproblembehaviorandmaternaldepressivesymptoms,effectsizes,albeitmeaningfulfromapublichealthperspective,wererelativelymodest(dsrangedfrom.14to.19).FurtherrefinementoftheFCUwillbeneededtoincreaseitsefficacyforfamilieswithyoungchildren.
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CONNELL,BULLOCK,DISHION,SHAW,WILSON,GARDNER
Implications and Future DirectionsThis study’s findings corroborate previous evi-dencethatlongitudinalchangesinchildemotionalandbehavioraldifficultiescanbeachievedwithabrieffamily-centeredinterventionfortoddlers.Thechangesobservedinourstudywereachievedamonglow-incomefamiliesparticipatinginanexisting,nationallyavailableservicedeliverysetting(WIC).Thefamilieshadchildrenatriskforearly-startingpathwaysofexternalizingbehavioranddidnottypi-callyusementalhealthservices(Haines,McMunn,Nazroo,&Kelly,2002).Wehopethatfuturefollow-upofthepresentcohortwillclarifyconcernsregardingtheintervention’senduranceandgeneralizabilitytoothercontexts,andlaterdevelopmentaltransitionsinchildren’spatternsofemotionalandbehavioraldif-ficultiesastheyenterschoolage.
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