Behaviour problems in childhood and stressors in early adult life. I. A 20 year follow-up of London school children

Abstract

SynopsisThe research presented in this paper examined the relationship between the presence of childhood behaviour problems and the rate of life events and difficulties in early adult life. Data are presented from a 20 year follow-up study of a sample of inner London school children first studied when they were aged 10. The key finding was that emotional or behavioural disturbance in childhood was associated with a marked increase in the rate of severely negative events and difficulties some two decades later. This increase was only obtained for stressors with severe negative impact of the type shown in previous investigations to be associated with the onset of psychiatric disorder. Additional results demonstrated that this main finding could not be accounted for by stressors that were a result of adult psychiatric disorder, by the respondent's own behaviour, or by continuing association with the family of origin. The need for a lifespan developmental approach to the well-established stressor-illness link is discussed.

Parental punitive discipline, negative life events and gene–environment interplay in the development of externalizing behavior

“…Although an association between negative life events and externalizing behavior was proposed almost 30 years ago (Robins, 1978) and studies have demonstrated a correlation (Champion et al, 1995;Wiesner and Windle, 2004), there has been limited research into the association. There are, however, several plausible reasons to expect such links.…”

Trauma, Proximity, and Developmental Psychopathology: The Effects of War and Terrorism on Children

“…Therefore, it remains unclear the degree to which some psychiatric problems that emerged after a traumatic event might actually represent exacerbations of preexisting problems. For example, pre-traumatic behavior problems may actually shape the degree to which a child is exposed to various forms of traumatic stress (Champion et al, 1995).…”

Life events: effects and genesis

“…In earlier work on related issues, Champion et al (1995) found that children who had shown emotional or behavioural disturbance aged 10, when studied in their late 20s had markedly higher rates in the 5 years before the follow-up interview of highly threatening events and difficulties, both dependent and independent. Van Os & Jones (1999), using a longitudinal birth cohort, found that stressful life events in midlife were predicted by high neuroticism in childhood.…”