Aggressive, violent and antisocial behaviour in children and adolescents is a growing concern across the globe. Targeting parent-teen relationships is critical in reducing problem behaviour. 'Connect' is a manualized ten-week program for parents or alternative caregivers of at-risk teens that focuses on the building blocks of secure attachment: parental sensitivity, cooperation, reflective capacity, and effective dyadic affect regulation. Through didactic and experiential activities, parents develop the competence necessary to identify, understand and respond to the needs of their teen in a manner that provides structure and safety while safeguarding the quality of the parent-teen relationship. In Study 1, twenty parents reported significant increases in perceived parenting satisfaction and efficacy and reductions in adolescents' aggression, antisocial behaviour and other mental health problems following completion of Connect as compared to a waitlist control period. These effects were sustained and additional small effects were noted in decreases in conduct problems, depression and anxiety at a 12-month follow-up. The program was then transported to 17 communities serving 309 parents through standardized training and supervision of group leaders. Study 2 summarizes significant pre-to post-treatment reductions in teen externalizing and internalizing problems; enhanced social functioning; and improvements in affect regulation. Parents also reported significant increases in parenting satisfaction and perceived efficacy and reductions in caregiver burden.

Adolescents who witness interparental violence (IPV) are at increased risk for perpetrating aggressive acts. They are also at risk for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In this study, we examined the relation between exposure to maternal vs. paternal physical IPV and adolescent girls' and boys' aggressive behavior toward mothers, fathers, friends, and romantic partners. We also assessed the influence of PTSD (as assessed by the Diagnostic Interview for Children and Adolescents-IV (DICA-IV)) on the relation between exposure to IPV and aggressive behavior. Participants were 63 girls and 49 boys, ages 13-18, consecutively admitted to a youth correctional facility or assessment facility designated to serve aggressive and delinquent youth. Structural equation modeling was used to estimate unique relations between exposure to maternal vs. paternal IPV and youth aggression in relationships. Girls who observed their mothers' aggressive behavior toward partners were significantly more aggressive toward friends. Similarly, boys who witnessed their fathers' aggression were significantly more aggressive toward friends. Adolescent girls and boys who observed aggression by mothers toward partners reported significantly higher levels of aggression toward their romantic partners. Approximately one third of our sample met PTSD criteria; the relation between exposure to parental IPV and aggression was stronger for individuals who met criteria for PTSD. The implications of understanding the relations between parents' and their daughters' and sons' use of aggression are discussed within the context of providing support for families in breaking intergenerational patterns of violence and aggression. Aggr. Behav. 32:385-395, 2006. r

Disoriented, punitive, and caregiving/role-reversed attachment behaviors are associated with psychopathology in childhood but have not been assessed in adolescence. One hundred twenty low-income late adolescents (aged 18 – 23) and parents were assessed in a conflict-resolution paradigm. Their interactions were coded with the Goal-Corrected Partnership in Adolescence Coding Scales. Confirmatory factor analysis demonstrated that the three disorganized constructs (punitive, care-giving, and disoriented interaction) were best represented as distinct factors and were separable from a fourth factor for collaboration. The four factors were then assessed in relation to measures of attachment disorganization, partner abuse, and psychopathology. Results indicate that forms of disorganized behavior first described in early childhood can also be reliably assessed in adolescence and are associated with maladaptive outcomes across multiple domains.

Measurement invariance over time (longitudinal invariance) is a core but seldom-tested assumption of many longitudinal studies on adolescent psychosocial development. In this study, we evaluated the longitudinal invariance of a brief measure of adolescent mental health: the Social Behavior Questionnaire (SBQ). The SBQ was administered to participants of the Zurich Project on the Social Development of Children and Youths in up to four waves spanning ages 11 to 17. Using a confirmatory factor analysis approach, metric invariance held for all constructs, but there were some violations of scalar and strict invariance. Overall, intercepts tended to increase over time while residual variances decreased. This suggests that participants may become more willing or able to identify and report on certain behaviors over time. The noninvariance was not practically significant in magnitude, except for the Anxiety dimension where artifactual increases over development would be liable to occur if invariance is not appropriately modeled. Overall, results support the utility of the SBQ as an omnibus measure of psychosocial health across adolescence.

Mechanisms that account for treatment effects are poorly understood. The current study examined processes that may underlie treatment outcomes of an attachment-based intervention (Connect) for parents of pre-teens and teens with serious behavior problems. Parents (N = 540) in a non-randomized trial reported on their teen's functioning prior to and following treatment. Results confirmed significant decreases in parents' reports of teens' externalizing and internalizing symptoms, replicating prior evaluations of this program. Reductions in parents' reports of teen attachment avoidance were associated with decreases in externalizing symptoms, while reductions in parents' reports of teen attachment anxiety were associated with decreases in internalizing symptoms. Parents' reports of improved teen affect regulation were also associated with decreases in both internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Results were comparable across gender and for parents of teens with pre-treatment externalizing symptoms in the clinical versus sub-clinical range. A model of therapeutic change in attachment-based parenting programs is discussed.

Previous research suggests a link between the quality of teacher–student relationships and the students’ behavioral outcomes; however, the observational nature of past studies makes it difficult to attribute a causal role to the quality of these relationships. In the current study, therefore, we used a propensity score analysis approach to evaluate whether students who were matched on their propensity to experience a given level of relationship quality but differed on their actual relationship quality diverged on their concurrent and subsequent problem and prosocial behavior. Student/self, teacher, and parent- (only waves 1–3) reported data from 8 waves of the Zurich Project on the Social Development of Children and Youths (z-proso), a longitudinal study of Swiss youth among a culturally diverse sample of 7- to 15-year-olds were utilized. The initial sample included 1483 (49.4 % female) students for whom information relevant for this study was available. The sample represented families from around 80 different countries, from across all the continents; with approximately 42 % of the female primary caregivers having been born in Switzerland. Following successful matching, we found that students who reported better relationships with their teachers and whose teachers reported better relationships with them evidenced fewer problem behaviors concurrently and up to 4 years later. There was also evidence for an analogous effect in predicting prosocial behavior. The implications of these findings are discussed in relation to prevention and intervention practices.

BackgroundPast research has shown links between both children’s aggressive behaviour and a lack of prosocial behaviour to later maladaptation. Both types of behaviours have also been identified as crucial in children’s social and emotional development and later (mal)adaptation. However, little is known about the way they predict each other over time.MethodsWe utilised a large, ethnically diverse, longitudinal population sample of girls and boys (N = 1,334) to examine the bidirectional cross-lagged links between aggressive and prosocial domains of behaviour from age seven to eleven. Teacher, parent and child self-reports were utilised to assess aggressive behaviour and prosocial behaviour.ResultsThe results revealed that aggressive behaviour measured one year predicted decreases in prosocial behaviour in the following year. Conversely, prosocial behaviour did not predict changes in aggressive behaviour in the subsequent year. Furthermore, peer difficulties were examined and found to be an important mediator of the link between aggressive and prosocial behaviour. Specifically, peer difficulties mediated the links between aggressive behaviour and prosocial behaviour one year later, particularly during the first three years of school attendance.ConclusionsImplications of the findings for the design of intervention strategies to reduce children’s aggressive behaviour are discussed.

The current paper expands on Ainsworth’s seminal construct of maternal sensitivity by exploring the developmental pathways associated with one particular form of insensitivity, maternal withdrawal. Drawing on longitudinal data from infancy to age 20 in a high-risk cohort, we highlight how maternal withdrawal over the first eight years of life is associated with child caregiving behavior and with maternal role confusion, as well as with features of borderline and antisocial personality disorders. We also present evidence for the specificity of this pathway in relation to other aspects of maternal insensitivity and other aspects of child adaptation. To illuminate these pathways we both review recent published work and report new findings on the middle childhood and adolescent components of these trajectories. Finally, we consider the implications for assessment of maternal behavior in high-risk samples and indicate directions for productive future work.