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JAbnormChildPsychol(2008)36:247–259 DOI10.1007/s10802-007-9174-8 Maternal Predictors of Rejecting Parenting and Early Adolescent Antisocial Behavior Christopher J. Trentacosta&Daniel S. Shaw Publishedonline:6September2007 #SpringerScience+BusinessMedia,LLC2007 Abstract The present study examined relations among as personality, psychopathology, and level of maturity maternal psychological resources, rejecting parenting, and (Belsky 1984; Belsky and Jaffee 2006). Empirical work early adolescentantisocialbehaviorinasampleof231low- on associations between maternal psychological resources, incomemothersandtheirsonswithlongitudinalassessments parenting, and child adjustment has focused extensively on from age 18 months to 12 years. The maternal resources a fairly narrow range of psychological resources. For examined were age at first birth, aggressive personality, and example, across a large number of studies, depressed empathy. Each of the maternal resources predicted rejecting mothers demonstrate low levels of sensitivity in their care parenting during early childhood in structural equation of young children and have children with a wide range of modelsthatcontrolledfortoddlerdifficulttemperament,and behavioral and emotional problems (e.g., NICHD Early rejecting parenting in early childhood predicted antisocial Child Care Research Network 1999; Zahn-Waxler et al. behaviorinearlyadolescence.Rejectingparentingaccounted 1990; for a review see Downey and Coyne 1990). Other for the indirect effect of each of the maternal resources on maternal psychological resources that may be potentially antisocial behavior, but a direct effect was also supported importantpredictorsofparentingandchildadjustmenthave betweenmaternalaggressivepersonalityandyouthantisocial received relatively less attention. The present study sought behavior.Resultshighlighttheimportanceoftheserelatively to examine how three important but relatively under- understudied maternal resources and have implications for represented maternal psychological resources might be preventionandinterventionprogramsthatfocusonparenting related to rejecting parenting during the toddler period and duringearlychildhood. antisocial behavior in early adolescence. The three psycho- logicalresourceswerematernalageatfirstbirth,aggressive Keywords Ageatfirstbirth.Maternalpersonality. personality, and empathy. These three resources were Empathy.Rejectingparenting.Antisocialbehavior chosen based on their theoretical and empirical links to rejecting parenting during the toddler period. Thus, a first goal of the study was to examine these resources as Maternal Predictors of Rejecting Parenting and Early predictors of early childhood rejecting parenting while Adolescent Antisocial Behavior controlling for toddler difficult temperament. Rejecting parenting also has been associated with Belsky (1984) has suggested that specific types of parental acrimony in later parent–child relationships and has found attributes, termed psychological resources, are one of three tobepredictiveoflaterantisocialbehavioranddelinquency primary determinants of parenting and include factors such (Ingoldsby et al. 2006). Therefore, a second goal of the study was to examine how rejecting parenting might mediate associations between these maternal psychological : C.J.Trentacosta(*) D.S.Shaw resources and antisocial behavior in their children during PittMother-ChildProject,UniversityofPittsburgh, earlyadolescence.Basedontheproximalroleparentinghas 210SBouquetStreet, been hypothesized to play in associations between parental Pittsburgh,PA15260,USA e-mail:[email protected] psychological resources and child adjustment (Belsky 248 JAbnormChildPsychol(2008)36:247–259 1984),weexaminedwhetherrejectingparentingservedasa influence on parenting, parental psychological resources as mediatorinassociationsbetweenmaternalageatfirstbirth, thebestbufferagainstmaladaptiveparenting(Belsky1984; aggressive personality, empathy, and youth antisocial Belsky and Jaffee 2006). Because rejecting parenting is behavior. In contrast to previous research on predictors of characterized by hostility and low levels of positive affect, adolescent antisocial behavior that has examined parenting we were most concerned with maternal psychological based primarily on maternal reports during middle child- resourcescloselyassociatedwiththeseaspectsofparenting. hood or early adolescence (e.g., Thornberry et al. 2003), Dix’s (1991) affective model of parenting suggests that assessmentsofrejectingparentinginthepresentstudywere negative emotions disruptive to the parent–child relation- based primarily on independent observations in early shipresultwhenparentshavedifficultymanagingtheirown childhood. Several perspectives, ranging from social learn- emotions, heavily favor self-oriented concerns over child- ing (e.g., Reid et al. 2002) to attachment (Sroufe and oriented concerns, and lack adequate skills necessary for Fleeson 1988) models, have suggested that parenting parenting. Supporting this perspective, Egeland and Farber during early childhood plays a critical role in the (1984)demonstratedthathighlevelsofmaternalirritability, development of early antisocial behavior, and moreover, disinterestinparenting,anddeficientcaregivingskillswere that associations between parental attributes and child associated with avoidant attachments during infancy, an behavior should be mediated by caregiving practices. insecureclassificationthatwasrelatedtolaterexternalizing problems during preschool and school-age in the same Rejecting Parenting in Early Childhood sample (Erickson et al. 1985; Renken et al. 1989). Similar relations may be even more striking during the toddler Rejecting parenting includes the tendency to engage in period when noncompliance becomes more frequent and hostile, negative, and controlling responses to child behavior is often difficult to control. Thus, we examined noncompliance and other parenting challenges. Parenting maternal psychological resources that were likely to (a) characterized by hostility and rejection is often coupled increase the propensity toward poorly regulated, hostile, with inflexible and inconsistent discipline, and predicts and uncaring patterns of social interaction and (b) be externalizing problems in early childhood (Shaw et al. associated with unskilled decision-making, particularly in 1998).Shaw andcolleagues (Shaw andBell 1993;Shawet challenging or stressful situations. For these reasons, we al.2000)proposeamodelofantisocialbehaviorthatmelds investigated maternal age at first birth, aggressive person- attachment and social learning perspectives and highlights ality, and empathy as potential predictors of rejecting the role of rejecting parenting in early childhood. The parenting. As discussed inmore detailbelow, each ofthese model suggests that affectively negative parent–child resources has some empirical support as a predictor of relationships are present during infancy in families charac- parenting practices. Because child behavior contributes to terized by insensitive caregiving and insecure attachment. the likelihood of negative and harsh forms of parenting Early negative parent–child interactions are then posited to (Bell 1968; Martin 1981; Shaw et al. 2000), we examined influenceparents’abilitytocopewiththeonsetofmobility these resources and parenting while also accounting for and noncompliance during the toddler period. Parents’ toddler difficult temperament. frustration and lack of skill with the onset of toddler mobility and noncompliance, particularly when coupled Age at First Birth Young first-time mothers are posited to with a challenging young child, lead to negative, aversive demonstrate greater levels of harsh, unskilled parenting for interactions between the caregiver and toddler and set the a few reasons. First, younger mothers’ early experiences as stage for coercive exchanges (Martin 1981). These nega- parents occur during their adolescent years when important tive, coercive exchanges often lead to further noncompli- developmental processes involving self-regulation are still ance, oppositional behavior, and increasing levels of underway (Dahl 2004). Thus, younger first-time mothers antisocial behavior across childhood and adolescence are prone to more lapses in decision-making that may (Patterson 1982; Shaw et al. 2000). impair their parenting and increase the likelihood of hostility and rejection toward their young child. Consistent Identifying Maternal Predictors of Rejecting Parenting relations between early childbearing and maladaptive parenting practices are supportive evidence of this asser- Rejecting parenting in early childhood likely results from tion. In a large sample of Caucasian working class families both parent and child factors (Shaw et al. 2000). The intheUK,motherswhobeganchildbearingintheirteenage present study focused on the maternal predictors most years demonstrated poorer supervision, more physical likely to predict rejecting parenting and subsequent antiso- neglect, and less interest in their child’s education than cialbehavior.Weexaminedmaternalfactorsinaccordwith mothers who began childbearing after age 21 (Nagin et al. Belsky’smodelthatemphasizes,relativetoothersourcesof 1997). Furthermore, in a study of primarily African JAbnormChildPsychol(2008)36:247–259 224499 American adolescents, “ineffective parenting,” a composite perspective on empathy suggests that mothers lacking that included inconsistent discipline, was more prevalent empathy, particularly in relation to their child’s needs, will among younger mothers (Pogarsky et al. 2006). be less likely to form positive and sensitive relationships Secondly, early childrearing likely reflects not only a with their child and more likely to have harsh, negative developmentallagbutalsostable,personality-drivenpatterns interactions.Insupportoftherole ofempathyinparenting, of antisocial behavior and deficits in self-control (Nagin et maternal empathy predicted an index of responsive parent- al. 1997), and empirical evidence supports age at first birth ing in a sample of primarily Caucasian mothers and their as an element of a latent factor of parental antisocial infants (Kochanska et al. 2004). Similarly, in an examina- behavior (Capaldi and Patterson 1991). As further support tion of dyadic relationship constructs among mothers and of early childbearing as a component of a more stable their young children, mothers reporting higher levels of antisocial characteristic, issues for initially young parents empathydemonstratedrelationshipsthatwerecharacterized with caregiving persist over time and influence subsequent as more mutually responsive (Kochanska 1997). caregiving (Jaffee et al. 2001; Nagin et al. 1997). For The studies summarized above focused on empathy in example, age at first birth was more predictive of negative relation to positive aspects of the parent–child relationship, outcomes than age at birth of the focal child within a given but there is also empirical and theoretical justification to parent–child relationship (Nagin et al. 1997). support relations between empathy and negative, rejecting formsofparenting.Apreviousmeta-analysisandqualitative Aggressive personality The tendency to be highly angry review of a small number of studies provided some support andirritatedandtobecomeinvolvedinverbalandphysical for relations between low parental empathy and physical fights is a second hypothesized predictor of rejecting abuse (Miller and Eisenberg 1988). It is likely that maternal parenting. Although anger and irritation are an everyday empathy relates to less severe forms of negative parenting part of human life, particularly for the parent of a becausemotherslackingconcernfortheirchildrenarelikely challenging young child, mothers who experience higher to choose harsh methods of discipline even if they do not rates of anger and aggression are more prone to experience cross the line to physical abuse. Furthermore, mothers and express these emotions and behavioral responses lacking concern and empathy are also more prone to resort during parenting challenges. Due to the relatively high to hostility and coercion in challenging parenting situations frequency of child disruptive behavior during the terrible that do not specifically involve discipline responses to child twos, mothers with a tendency to become aggressive may noncompliance. For example, a mother lacking adequate have great difficulty maintaining a calm and consistent empathy for her child may experience a child’s distress as a parenting style with their toddlers (Egeland and Farber negativesignaltobeimmediatelysuppressed.Also,shemay 1984; Fagot and Kavanaugh 1993; Shaw and Bell 1993). not have appropriate perspective taking skills about norma- Thus,rejectingparentingmaybeoneavenuethroughwhich tive toddler curiosity and exploration, and may respond to parental aggressive tendencies are transmitted from gener- toddler exploration with an excessively punitive response ation to generation. rather than an approach that supports the child’s curiosity Previous research on maternal personality risk supports and independence. relations between constructs such as anger, aggression, and hostilityandparentingpractices.Inarecentstudyofparents of young children in a large suburban sample, parental Maternal Psychological Resources and Youth reports of their tendency to overtly express anger predicted Antisocial Behavior overreactive discipline (Leung and Slep 2006). Similarly, mother’s hostile personality predicted her concurrent use of In addition to the relations between rejecting parenting and harsh parenting practices in another large sample of childbehaviorproblemsdescribedabove(Shawetal.1998), primarily middle income rural and small town families there is evidence to suggest that these maternal psycholog- (Simons et al. 1991). In a separate study of predominantly icalresourcesareassociatedwithantisocialoutcomesamong rural, White families, parental hostility assessed during the adolescent offspring. For example, extensive research from prenatal period predicted use of physical punishment during both large longitudinal samples and clinical samples dem- the toddler period (Kanoy et al. 2003). onstrates links between maternal age at first birth and a diagnosis of conduct disorder, drug use, and gang member- Empathy In general, empathy relates to the formation of ship among offspring (Nagin et al. 1997; Pogarsky et al. positive social bonds (Davis 1983), and the absence of 2006; Wakschlag et al. 2000). Similarly, a recent study empathy is an element of the callousness underlying demonstrated relatively consistent concurrent relations be- antisocial and psychopathic personality traits (Hare et al. tween maternal ratings of their trait anger and outward 1991). When examined as a predictor of parenting, this expression of anger and child and adolescent externalizing 250 JAbnormChildPsychol(2008)36:247–259 problems, particularlyamong boys(Renketal.1999).Also, et al. 2002). More recent models have mapped out how in a longitudinal study of low income children, an index of parent–child coercive processes leading to child antisocial maternal personality risk, encompassing aggressiveness, outcomes may be initiated in early childhood (Shaw and defendence, and low social desirability, assessed when Bell 1993; Shaw et al. 2000), for which empirical children were 18 months old, was associated with maternal validation has been repeatedly found (Aguilar et al. 2000; reports ofchild externalizing problemsatage 5 (Shaw etal. Martin 1981;Shaw etal.2003;seeShawand Gross 2007). 1996).Lessisknownaboutlinksbetweenmaternalempathy Multiple intervention programs with an emphasis on and child antisocial behavior; however, relations between modifying parenting attitudes and behaviors during early theseconstructsarelikelygiventhattheabsenceofempathy childhood have been associated with reductions in antiso- is often described as a characteristic of the most serious cial behavior from preschool to adolescence (Olds 2002; forms of child antisocial behavior (Frick et al. 2005). Shaw et al. 2006; Webster-Stratton and Hammond 1997). Inadditiontoexploringdirectrelationsbetweenmaternal In sum, the first primary hypothesis in the present study psychologicalresourcesandbothrejectingparentingandlater concerned maternal psychological resources and rejecting childantisocialoutcomes,thepresentstudywasdesignedto parenting.Wehypothesizedthatthreematernalresources,age examineobservedrejectingparentingduringearlychildhood at first birth, aggressive personality, and empathy, would be as a potential mediator of relations between the maternal directly related to rejecting parenting, even when simulta- psychological resourcesandantisocialbehaviorduringearly neously accounting for the other resources and maternal adolescence. However, the data supporting parenting as a ratingsoftoddlerdifficulttemperament.Thesecondhypoth- mediatoroftherelationbetweenmaternalresourcesandyouth esis concerned early childhood rejecting parenting as a antisocial outcomes are sparse and somewhat inconsistent. mediator of the relations between these maternal resources For example, measures of ineffective parenting were not and youth antisocial behavior. We expected an index of consistentmediatorsoftherelationbetweenageatfirstbirth rejectingparentingduringearlychildhood,basedprimarilyon and adolescent outcomes in the studies described above independent observations, to mediate associations between (Naginetal.1997; Pogarsky et al. 2006). maternal resources (maternal age at first birth, aggressive Thislackofconsistentmediationcouldbeexplainedbya personality, and empathy) and youth antisocial behavior. number of factors. For example, relations between these These hypotheses were examined in a sample of boys from maternal psychological resources and youth antisocial out- predominantlylowSESbackgrounds,forwhichratesofearly comes may be partially explained by underlying genetic childbearing and youth antisocial behavior are typically contributions that are not directly related to parenting greaterthaninhigherSESfamilies(Dodgeetal.1994;Jaffee behavior. With a substantial genetic contribution, maternal etal.2001),withassessmentsthatspannedfromtoddlerhood characteristics may continue to directly predict antisocial to early adolescence. outcomesinanalysescontainingrejectingparenting(orother environmental variables)asa mediator. The lackoffindings consistentwithamediationalmodelcouldalsobeexplained Materials and Methods by methodological approaches of previous research. Previ- ous research primarily utilized maternal reports of parenting Participants to examine mediation of the relations between maternal characteristics and child antisocial outcomes, and parenting Participants in the present study were 231 boys originally was typically examined in middle childhood or adolescence recruited into the Pittsburgh Mother and Child Project rather than early childhood. Also, parenting assessments (PMCP) through Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) often did not primarily focus on the negative or rejecting programs in the Pittsburgh metropolitan area (Shaw et al. patterns that are most closely associated with the develop- 2003).ThePMCPwasapprovedbytheInstitutionalReview ment of externalizing behavior problems. Board at the University of Pittsburgh, and participating Even with the inconsistent findings on the potential primary caregivers provided informed consent. Recruitment mediating role of parenting, the bivariate relations between occurred at WIC centers across 2 years, and boys were thesematernalresources,parentingconstructs,andantisocial between 6 and 17 months old when their families were outcomessupportfurtherinvestigationofrejectingparenting initially approached to enter the study. The initial PMCP as a mediator. Furthermore, some of the most widely assessment occurred when boys were 18 months old, and referencedtheoriesonthedevelopmentofantisocialbehav- 310 boys completed this initial assessment out of 421 ior, such as Patterson’s social learning model (Patterson familiesinitiallyapproachedtoparticipateinthestudy.This 1982; Reid et al. 2002), emphasize parenting as a mediator initial sample was 51% European American, 39% African of numerous contextual factors on youth antisocial out- American, 0.3% Hispanic, and 9% from other ethnicities. comes, including maternal factors (for a review, see Reid The mean Hollingshead (1979) socioeconomic status was JAbnormChildPsychol(2008)36:247–259 225511 23.32(SD=9.29),whichrepresentstheworkingclassnature motives), and social desirability (i.e. reverse-scored). Be- of the PMCP sample. cause of the theoretical link to rejecting parenting, for the PMCP follow-up assessments occurred regularly during purposesofthepresentstudywefocusedontheAggression childhoodandadolescence,withattritionbeinggenerallylow subscale, which consists of 16 true–false statements. For throughoutthedurationofthestudy.Forexample,datawere eight items such as “I’ve been known to fly into a rage if availableon302boysatthe24-monthassessment(97%)and things didn’t go as I had planned,” true responses indicated 89%hadassessmentsatages10,11,or12.Theassessments aggression. For the other eight items such as “I rarely get providing data for the present study occurred at ages angry either at myself or other people,” false responses 18 months, 24 months, and 11 and/or 12 years. Boys with indicated aggression, and these items were reverse-scored completedata(n=231) were compared with boys who were and added to the true item scores to attain the total initially recruited into the PMCP but did not have complete Aggression subscale score. In the PMCP, the Aggression data for the present study. T tests revealed no significant subscaledemonstratedadequateinternalreliability(α=0.63). differencesondemographicfactorscollectedat18monthsor In a sample that was demographically similar to the PMCP, on the measures used in the present study with two theAggressionsubscaledemonstratedatest–retestreliability exceptions: families with complete data had slightly higher of 0.59 over a period of 7–12 months (Shaw et al. 1996). maternal education (t (305)=−2.49, p<0.05) and HOME Nurturance scores (t (287)=−2.52, p<0.05). Maternal Empathy Toassessmaternalempathy,theAdoles- cent Parenting Inventory (API; Bavolek et al. 1977) was Procedure administered to mothers when children were 24 months of age. The API was originally designed to identify maternal The PMCP included laboratory and/or home visits at characteristics and beliefs associated with child maltreat- assessments when boys were 18, 24, and 42 months of ment. It includes scales measuring inappropriate child ageandwhentheywere5,5.5,6,8,10,11,and12yearsof expectations, beliefs in punishment, role reversal attitudes, age. For the present study, maternal age at first birth was and empathic awareness of the child. The empathy factor measured during a demographic interview at the age contains eight items such as “parents who are sensitive to 18 month assessment. Maternal aggressive personality and theirchildren’sfeelingsandmoodsoftenspoiltheirchildren” toddler difficult temperament were also measured at the and “parents spoil their children by picking them up and 18 month assessment. At the 24 month assessment, comfortingthemwhentheycry.”InthePMCP,theempathy rejecting parenting was assessed observationally in the factor exhibited good internal consistency (α=0.81). child’s home and during structured laboratory tasks, and mothers completed a measure of their empathy. At ages 11 Rejecting Parenting Two methods were used to measure and 12 years, boys completed self-report measures of their parenting during the age 24 month assessment. First, the antisocial behavior. Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment (HOME; Caldwell and Bradley 1984) was used to assess Measures parental nurturance during the home visit. The HOME contains a combination of observational ratings for Toddler Difficult Temperament Difficult temperament was examiners and interview questions for parents and has assessedat18monthswiththeDifficultnessfactorfromthe demonstrated good reliability and validity (Caldwell and Infant Characteristics Questionnaire (ICQ; Bates et al. Bradley 1984). A parental nurturance score was obtained 1979).TheICQismaternalreportmeasureoftemperament, bycreatingasumofthe11-itemResponsivitysubscaleand and this measure has demonstrated adequate reliability and the eight-item Acceptance subscale. The Responsivity validity and predicted later behavior problems in other subscale includes items such as “parent responds verbally samples of young children (Bates et al. 1985). The to child’s verbalizations” and “parent spontaneously Difficultness factor assesses child negative emotionality, praises child at least twice.” The Acceptance subscale and the scale demonstrated good internal reliability in the includesitemssuchas“parentdoesnotshoutatchild”and present sample (α=0.80). “parent does not express overt annoyance with or hostility to the child.” Maternal Aggressive Personality An author-approved, Second, trained observers coded parenting behaviors abridged, three-factor version of the Personality Research from videotapes of a structured laboratory clean-up task at Form (PRF; Jackson 1989) was administered at the 18- age 24 months using the Early Parenting Coding System monthassessmenttomeasurepersonalitycharacteristicsthat (ECPS; Winslow and Shaw 1995). The ECPS consists of would differentiate caregiving skills. These included factors nine molecular ratings and six global ratings. For the for aggression, defendence (i.e. suspiciousness of other’s present study, we used the ECPS codes pertaining to harsh 252 JAbnormChildPsychol(2008)36:247–259 and rejecting parenting. These codes included molecular data at both time points and the boys with SRD data at a ratings of verbal and physical approval and critical state- single time point (t (229)=0.61, p>0.05). mentsandglobalratingsofhostility,warmth,andpunitive- Table 1 presents descriptive statistics for the SRD and ness. Physical approval was defined as the use of physical other variables included in the present study. Because the gestures such as head nods or laughter to show acceptance SRDmeasurewasoriginallydesignedbycriminologistsfor to the child, and verbal approval was defined as the use of useinlargeepidemiologicalsamples,thismeasuredoesnot praise or verbal affirmations such as “Way to go!” Critical have T-score conversions or clinical cut-offs. However, statements were verbal statements that criticized the child’s many of the items on the measure map onto symptoms of behavior or character such as “You’re bad” or verbal the disruptive behavior disorders, and the mean SRD score statements to prohibit behavior such as “Stop it.” Global of 3.41 indicates that many of the boys endorsed items ratings of hostility measured the emotional expression of indicative of symptoms of conduct disorder. For example, anger toward the child in tone of voice and facial 17% of boys endorsed “once or twice” or “more often” for expressions, and ratings of warmth measured positive at least two of the SRD items pertaining to the destruction emotioninasimilarmanner.Globalratings ofpunitiveness of property, and 8% of boys endorsed “once or twice” or measured the degree that the parent was too strict, “moreoften”foratleasttwooftheitemspertainingtotheft demanding, or harsh given the child’s behavior during the of nontrivial items. Furthermore, although self-reports task. Cohen’s kappa coefficients of interrater reliability for typicallyprovidea more accuratereport of youth antisocial the individual ratings were 0.87 for approval, 0.79 for acts than parent or teacher reports, it is also important to critical statements, 0.93 for hostility, 0.83 for warmth, and include a validity check of self-reports whenever possible 0.94 for punitiveness. These individual ECPS ratings were (Farrington1999).InthePMCP,wewereabletoconducta standardized and aggregated to form an index of observed validity check using the Schedule for Affective Disorders harsh and rejecting parenting. and Schizophrenia for School-Age Children (K-SADS; Kaufman et al. 1997) symptom interview with primary Youth Antisocial Behavior Youth completed an adaptation caregivers.BasedontheresultsofK-SADSinterview,20% of the Self-Reported Delinquency (SRD) measure at ages ofthe231boyshadadiagnosisofconductdisorder(CD)or 11and12(Elliotetal.1985).TheSRDassessesthecontext oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) at age 11 and/or 12, and frequency of offending and examines overt, covert, and boys with a CD or ODD diagnosis had significantly destructive, and nondestructive offenses. Measures of higherSRDscores(M=5.47)thanboyswithoutadiagnosis delinquency relying on self-report have good psychometric (M=2.90; t (229)=−5.55, p<0.05). properties,withtest–retestreliabilitiesrangingfrom0.75to 0.98 and internal consistency alphas from 0.65 to 0.92 (Krueger et al. 1994). The SRD is considered a highly Results respected self-report assessment of delinquency with good psychometric properties. Table2presentsintercorrelationsbetweenthevariables.For Thirty three items in the adapted version of the SRD the most part, bivariate correlations were statistically pertain to the youth’s report of his own involvement in antisocial activities within the past year (e.g., “In the past Table 1 Means, standard deviations, and range of scores for study year,haveyoutakensomethingfromastorewithoutpaying variables for it?”). Response options were 0 (never), 1 (once or Variable Minimum Maximum M SD twice),or2(moreoften).Forthepresentstudy,acomposite score wascreatedbysumming23of33items pertainingto Toddlerdifficult 9 44 23.59 6.51 the boy’s self-reported delinquent and antisocial acts. Ten temperament itemswereexcludedduetobaseratesoflessthan2%inthe Maternalageatfirstbirth 13 40 21.55 4.56 PMCPsampleateithertheage11orage12assessments(e. Maternalaggressive 1 15 6.99 2.89 g., items pertaining to sniffing glue and purse snatching). personality Maternalempathy 18 40 31.15 4.67 The composite score demonstrated good internal reliability Parentalnurturance 5 19 13.75 3.10 (α=0.78 at age 11 and age 12). For boys who completed Parentalrejection −5.25 15.74 0.02 3.53 both the age 11 and 12 assessments (n=187), the mean of Youthantisocialbehavior 0 18 3.41 2.98 theage11and12SRDcompositescoreswasusedtoindex antisocialbehavior.For all other boys(n=44),thecompos- Toddler Difficult Temperament=ICQ Difficultness Factor; Maternal Aggressive Personality=PRF Aggression scale; Maternal Empathy= ite score from a single time point (either age 11 or age 12) API Empathy factor; Parental Nurturance=HOME Nurturance scale; was used to index antisocial behavior. SRD scores used in Parental Rejection=ECPS Rejecting Parenting composite; Youth analysesdidnotdifferbetweenthegroupofboyswithSRD AntisocialBehavior=SRD23-itemscale. JAbnormChildPsychol(2008)36:247–259 225533 Table2 Intercorrelationsamongvariables 1 2 3 4 5 6 1.Toddlerdifficulttemperament 2.Maternalageatfirstbirth −0.05 3.Maternalaggressivepersonality 0.17** −0.17** 4.Maternalempathy 0.03 0.25** −0.19** 5.Parentalnurturance −0.19** 0.30** −0.27** 0.39** 6.Parentalrejection −0.07 −0.18** 0.15* −0.28** −0.33** 7.Youthantisocialbehavior 0.13* −0.17** 0.27** −0.11 −0.25** 0.08 Toddler Difficult Temperament=ICQ Difficultness factor; Maternal Aggressive Personality=PRF Aggression scale; Maternal Empathy=API Empathy factor; Parental Nurturance=HOME Nurturance scale; Parental Rejection=ECPS Rejecting Parenting composite; Youth Antisocial Behavior=SRD23-itemcompositescore. *p<0.05 **p<0.01 significant. Toddler difficult temperament was positively resources were examined as separate exogenous predictors correlated with maternal aggressive personality and nega- rather than a single latent construct. In addition, two tively correlated with the HOME nurturance score. Age at indicators of rejecting parenting, HOME nurturance and first birth correlated negatively with aggressive personality ECPSrejection,wereincludedtoformarejectingparenting and positively with empathy, and aggressive personality latent construct. Apath was included from each exogenous wasnegativelycorrelatedwithempathy.However,itisalso variable to the rejecting parenting construct to test our important to note that the statistically significant correla- hypothesis that the maternal resources would be associated tions between these maternal resources were small to with rejecting parenting while simultaneously accounting medium in magnitude. Each maternal predictor was for the other maternal resources and difficult temperament. significantly correlated in the expected direction with each Apathwasalsoincludedfromtherejectingparentinglatent indicator of rejecting parenting. The two indicators of constructtoyouthantisocialbehaviortotestourhypothesis rejecting parenting were negatively correlated. that rejecting parenting would also predict youth antisocial In terms of correlations with adolescent antisocial behavior and serve as a mediator of relations between the behavior, there was a small but significant positive maternal variables and antisocial behavior in early adoles- correlation between difficult temperament at 18 months cence. Lastly, a path was included from difficult tempera- and youth reports of antisocial behavior in early adoles- ment to antisocial behavior to control for effects of child cence. There was a negative correlation between maternal behavior over time. age at first birth and youth antisocial behavior and a Model fit for Model 1 was tested with multiple indices. positive correlation between maternal aggressive personal- The chi-square goodness of fit index tests exact model fit, ity and youth antisocial behavior. Also, the HOME and a nonsignificant chi-square value supports model fit. nurturance score was negatively correlated with youth There are also a number of relative fit indices. The Root antisocial behavior. Maternal empathy and the ECPS Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA) is one rejection measure were not significantly related to youth suchmeasureofrelativefit,andRMSEAvaluesbelow0.06 antisocial behavior, although each correlation was in the support good model fit (Hu and Bentler 1999). Two other predicted direction. statistics, the Comparative Fit Index (CFI) and the Tucker– LewisIndex(TLI),measuretheabsolutefitofthemodelin Model Estimation comparison to the absolute fit of an independence model, and values above 0.95 for the CFI and TLI indicate good Structural equation models were examined with maximum model fit (Hu and Bentler 1999). likelihood estimation using AMOS 5.0 (Arbuckle 2003). The fit statistics for the models are presented in Table 3. Table3 Fitstatisticsforstructuralequationmodels Model 1 (see Fig. 1) was created to examine predictors of antisocial behavior in early adolescence. This model Model χ2 RMSEA CFI TLI included four exogenous predictors, difficult temperament Model1 16.84* 0.078 0.934 0.802 and the three maternal resources (age at first birth, Model2 2.918 0.000 1.00 1.072 aggressive personality, and empathy). Given the modest magnitude of the bivariate correlations, these maternal *p<0.05 254 JAbnormChildPsychol(2008)36:247–259 Fig.1 Model1:Initialmodelof Rejection Nurturance relationsbetweentemperament, (ECPS) (HOME) maternalresources,rejecting parenting,andadolescentanti- Toddler 0.42f -0.76** socialbehavior Difficult 0.16* Temperament Rejecting Parenting -0.26** Maternal Age at 1st Birth 0.31** -0.42** 0.07 Maternal Empathy 0.23** Maternal Youth Aggressive Antisocial Personality Behavior f= fixed path. *p < 0.05. **p < 0.01. The standardized coefficients for paths specified in from difficult temperament to antisocial behavior. Further- Model 1 are presented in Fig. 1. Based on the path more, Model 1 did not demonstrate adequate model fit coefficients, Model 1 supported direct paths from each basedonthefitindiceswithχ2=16.84(p<0.05),RMSEA= maternal resourceto therejecting parentinglatent construct 0.078, CFI=0.934, and TLI=0.802. In addition, modifica- and from difficult temperament to the rejecting parenting tion indices supported adding a direct path from maternal construct. In addition, the model supported a direct path aggressive personality to youth antisocial behavior and a from the rejecting parenting construct to youth antisocial path from difficult temperament to the ECPS rejection behavior. However, the model did not support a direct path variable to improve model fit. Fig.2 Model2:Finalmodelof -0.20** Rejection Nurturance relationsbetweentemperament, (ECPS) (HOME) maternalresources,rejecting Toddler parenting,andadolescentanti- Difficult 0.23** 0.49f -0.76** socialbehavior Temperament Rejecting Parenting -0.26** Maternal Age at 1st Birth 0.24** -0.43** Maternal Empathy 0.19* Maternal 0.18* Youth Aggressive Antisocial Personality Behavior f= fixed path. *p < 0.05.* *p < 0.01. JAbnormChildPsychol(2008)36:247–259 225555 By deleting the nonsignificant path from difficult Discussion temperament to antisocial behavior and adding the paths suggested by the modification indices, the new model, The present study supported three maternal psychological Model 2 (see Fig. 2), demonstrated good model fit with resources and toddler temperament as predictors of reject- χ2=2.92, RMSEA=0.00, CFI=1.00, and TLI=1.072. ing parenting during early childhood and also supported Furthermore, based on the significant chi-square differ- rejecting parenting as a predictor of antisocial behavior ence test (Δχ2=13.923, Δdf=1, p<0.01), Model 2 during early adolescence. The four predictors of the demonstrated improved model fit over Model 1. All paths rejecting parenting construct accounted for nearly half of in Model 2 were significant, and predictors in the model the variance in rejecting parenting, supporting the strength explained 45% of the variance in the rejecting parenting of these child and maternal factors for early parenting. construct and 12% of the variance in youth antisocial Although the magnitude of the variance accounted for in behavior. In sum, Model 2 supported toddler difficult antisocial behavior was not as large, the consistency of the temperament, maternal age at first birth, aggressive predictiontoantisocial behaviorwas alsonotablegiven the personality, and empathy as predictors of rejecting span of nearly one decade between the parenting assess- parenting and rejecting parenting as a predictor of youth ment and boys’ reports of their antisocial behavior in early antisocial behavior. In addition, Model 2 supported adolescence. maternal aggressive personality as a direct predictor of The findings for maternal aggressive personality and antisocial behavior in early adolescence. empathy suggestthatatendencytoward hostilityandanger and fewer positive feelings toward the child each play a Further Investigation of Model 2: Indirect Effects unique role in parenting. These findings fit with an assertion by Dix (1991) that both negative and positive To more closely examine the prediction of early adolescent emotion experiences influence parenting. Furthermore, the antisocialbehaviorfromthematernalresourcesinModel2, associationbetweenmaternalageatfirstbirthandrejecting weevaluatedtheindividualindirecteffectsofmaternalageat parenting are suggestive of a lack of parenting skill that first birth, aggressive personality, and empathy on youth may accompany younger first-time parenting and/or an antisocial behavior through the rejecting parenting latent underlying behavioral and emotion regulation deficit that construct. The Shrout and Bolger (2002) bootstrap method leads to both early childbearing and rejecting parenting. approach was utilized to examine these indirect effects. Bivariate correlations between each of the maternal Following the procedures described by Shrout and Bolger, resources were statistically significant but small to medium 95%confidenceintervalsforindirecteffectswereestimated inmagnitude,andrelationsbetweeneachmaternalresource for Model 2 using bias-corrected bootstrap sampling and rejecting parenting were maintained in structural methods over 1,000 iterations. The confidence intervals equation models accounting for the other resources and (lower limit=−0.127 and upper limit=−0.021) for the difficult temperament. Thus, early first-time childbearing, standardized indirect effect of maternal age at first birth frequent expression of anger and aggression, and a lack of onyouth antisocial behavior didnotoverlapwith zero, and empathy each contributed independently to negative and the indirect effect was statistically significant (p<0.01). In controllinginteractionswithtoddlersevenwhileaccounting addition, the confidence intervals (lower limit=−0.179 and for relations between temperament and parenting. These upper limit=−0.037) for the standardized indirect effect of findings are supportive of the models presented by Belsky maternal empathy on youth antisocial behavior did not and Dix in that there were multiple unique predictors of overlap with zero, and the indirect effect was statistically rejecting parenting rather than a single underlying core significant(p<0.01).Lastly,theconfidenceintervals(lower deficit.Thefindingsalsofitwithmodelsthatemphasizethe limit=0.008 and upper limit=0.121) for the standardized toddler period as a period of unique and important indirect effect of maternal aggressive personality on youth challengesthatmaytaxthelimitedresourcesoflowincome antisocial behavior did not overlap with zero, and the mothers (e.g., Shaw and Bell 1993; Shaw et al. 2000). indirect effect was statistically significant (p<0.05). Thus, Rejectingparentingalsoaccountedforindirecteffectsof Model 2 supported indirect relations between each of the each of the maternal resources and toddler difficult maternalresources(ageatfirstbirth,aggressivepersonality, temperament on antisocial behavior. The prediction of and empathy) and antisocial behavior in early adolescence. rejecting parenting during early childhood to youth antiso- Also of note, Model 2 supported an indirect effect of cialbehaviorinearlyadolescencesupportsthelong-ranging difficult temperament on antisocial behavior with confi- effects that detrimental early parenting processes can have dence intervals (lower limit=0.014 and upper limit=0.135) on child behavioral outcomes. These results are consistent that did not overlap with zero and a statistically significant with models of externalizing behavior problems that indirect effect (p<0.01). emphasize the role of early parenting in the initiation and 256 JAbnormChildPsychol(2008)36:247–259 maintenance of coercive cycles of discipline, child non- in harsh and negative parenting processes that can lead to compliance, and later behavior problems (Shaw et al. youth antisocial behavior. Because the parenting measures 2000). Unlike much previous research on relations among in the present study focused largely on negative forms of maternal characteristics, parenting, and youth antisocial interactions between parent and child, we cannot adequate- behavior and delinquency, the present study relied on ly determine whether empathy has unique effects on observational methods to collect parenting data that relied negative aspects of parenting versus positive aspects of onbothmicro-levelcodingandglobalobserverimpressions parenting such as responsiveness or proactive approaches. ofparenting. Thus,the relation between rejecting parenting Because empathy fosters helpful, socially competent be- and youth antisocial behavior is particularly robust given havior(EisenbergandMiller1987)andthelackofempathy the substantial time lag between assessments and the fact is generally associated with aggressive behaviors (Miller that parenting was based primarily on independent obser- and Eisenberg 1988), empathy may have relations with vations rather than maternal reports that can be biased or both supportive and deleterious aspects of parenting. influenced by social desirability. Results supported direct and indirect relations between Direct relations were not supported between difficult maternal aggressive personality and youth antisocial be- temperament during toddlerhood and antisocial behavior in havior. Part of the effect of maternal aggressive personality early adolescence. Although previous research with the on antisocial behavior was mediated by rejecting parenting present sample and other longitudinal research supports in early childhood. It is not surprising that mothers with a direct or interactive links between difficult temperament tendencytowardangerandirritationengagedinmoreharsh and externalizing behavior problems (e.g., Bates et al. andcontrollingprocesseswiththeirtoddlers,anditappears 1998, Shaw et al. 1998), the long span between measure- that these rejecting parenting processes are one route ment oftemperamentandantisocial behaviorinthepresent through which aggressive tendencies are transmitted from studymayhaveattenuateddirectrelations.Furthermore,the generation to generation. However, structural equation results of the present study suggest that toddler difficult models also supported a direct link between maternal temperament may elicit negative and controlling parenting aggressive personality and offspring antisocial behavior in behaviors that in turn predict later delinquent behaviors. early adolescence. This direct path may reflect underlying Furthermore,directrelationsbetweentwoofthematernal genetic similarities that contribute to mother’s tendency resources, age at first birth and empathy, and antisocial toward hostility and aggression and son’s tendency toward behavior were not supported in structural equation models. antisocial behavior. In support of this possibility, there is Findings from the present study also suggest that parenting evidence for a genetic etiology of “early starter” forms of during early childhood may represent the primary process antisocial behavior (Taylor et al. 2000). Although the throughwhichageatfirstbirthandmaternalempathyincrease present study was not an examination of early versus late the likelihood of antisocial behavior among offspring. starter models of antisocial behavior, the timing of our Younger first-time mothers, either through a developmental antisocial behavior assessments coincides more closely laginself-regulation,antisocialpersonalityprocesses,orboth, with earlier emerging antisocial behavior. Furthermore, the placetheirchildrenatriskfornegativecaregivingexperiences measures of maternal aggressive personality and youth that may exacerbate toddler noncompliance and aggressive antisocial behavior share some common features such as a behavior. Considering that this study focused on age at first tendency to engage in fighting or other forms of physical birth rather than age at birth of the study’s target child, the aggression, and endorsement of similar item content may results are more clearly in line with young first-time reflect some of the underlying genetic concordance in childbearing as an indicator of broader antisocial tendencies personality between mothers and sons. On the other hand, as shown in previous research (e.g., Capaldi and Patterson endorsement of similar item content may also reflect sons’ 1991). However, many of the mothers in this study were modeling of mothers’ aggressive behavioral tendencies in adolescentsoryoungadultsattheage24-monthassessment. socialinteractionsthatextendbeyondtheparentingcontext. Thus, a developmental lag in maternal self-regulation may Future research should more closely examine relations also contribute to rejecting parenting. between maternal personality and child delinquent and Maternal empathy was not a direct predictor of youth antisocial behavior from a behavioral genetics perspective. antisocial behavior in bivariate correlations, but maternal empathy predicted rejecting parenting and therefore, indi- Limitations rectly predicted later youth antisocial behavior. Maternal empathy not only fosters positive parenting behaviors such Thepresentstudywasconductedwithasampleoflowincome as responsiveness (Kochanska et al. 2004), but adequate boys from urban contexts and therefore, the results may not levels of empathy for the child’s feelings, needs, and generalizetogirls orboysand girls fromrural,suburban, or capabilitiesalsoappeartoreducethelikelihoodofengaging middle class samples. Relations among maternal character-

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empathy. Each of the maternal resources predicted rejecting parenting during early childhood in structural equation models that controlled for toddler difficult temperament, and primary determinants of parenting and include factors such Early negative parent–child interactions are then posited
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