A Three-Generational Study of Risk Factors for Childhood Externalizing Behavior among African Americans and Puerto Ricans

Abstract

This is the first prospective study to examine the precursors of child externalizing behavior across three generations of African Americans and Puerto Ricans. Participants comprised a community cohort of male and female African Americans and Puerto Ricans (N=366, X age=29.4 years), who are part of an ongoing study of drug use and problem behaviors, and who had a child. Data were collected at four time waves, spanning the participants' adolescence to adulthood. Questionnaires were initially self-administered in schools in East Harlem, NY, USA (time 1). Subsequently, structured interviews were conducted by trained interviewers (times 2 and 3), and self-administered via mail (time 4). The independent variables consisted of the participants' prospective reports of their (a) relationships with their parents during adolescence, (b) depressive mood and drug use (adolescence to adulthood), (c) relationship with their oldest child between the ages of 6-13, and (d) perceptions of neighborhood crime and deterioration (in adulthood). The dependent variable was externalizing behavior in the participant's oldest child ( X age=9.6 years; SD=2.0). Structural equation modeling showed that the parent-child relationship during participants' adolescence was linked with the participants' depressive mood and drug use which, in turn, were associated with the participants' relationship with their own child, as well as with neighborhood crime and deterioration when participants were adults. The participants' depressive mood, and relationship with their own child, as well as neighborhood crime and deterioration, each had a direct pathway to externalizing behavior in the participant's child. Findings suggest that intervention programs and public policy should address parental attributes, neighborhood factors, and, especially, parenting skills, to reduce risk factors for the intergenerational transmission of externalizing behavior.

Intergenerational Transmission of Externalizing Behavior

“…The measures used in the current study have predicted externalizing behavior in prior studies (Brook, Lee, Finch, & Brown, 2012; Brook, Rubenstone, Zhang, Brook, & Rosenberg, 2011). …”

“…This research has found that parental substance use, lifetime substance use disorders (SUDs), and lower levels of parental support are related to child externalizing problems (Marmorstein, et al, 2009). Several studies have reported that parental SUDs are also related to low parental support, parental rejection, (Locke & Newcomb, 2004) as well as externalizing behavior in their offspring (Brook, Rubenstone, Zhang, Brook, & Rosenberg, 2011). Parenting practices may also mediate the relation of parental substance use to externalizing behavior in children (Brook, Lee, Finch, & Brown, 2012).…”

Maternal mental health and early childhood development: Exploring critical periods and unique sources of support

“…Among mothers experiencing poor mental health, social support may be particularly protective for both mother and child. Mothers experiencing depression and anxiety may experience hindered ability to parent effectively and consistently and handle daily parenting‐related stresses, ultimately resulting in poor maternal–child attachment—all of which are associated with poorer child social–emotional and behavioral outcomes (Brook et al., 2011; Martins & Gaffan, 2000; Meadows, 2011; Seymour et al., 2015; Turney, 2012b; Xie et al., 2009). Social support may offset some of these stresses.…”