Early Education & Development Maternal Negativity ...

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Maternal Negativity and Children's Externalizing Behavior Tracy L. Heller & Bruce L. Baker Published online: 08 Jun 2010.

To cite this article: Tracy L. Heller & Bruce L. Baker (2000) Maternal Negativity and Children's Externalizing Behavior, Early Education & Development, 11:4, 483-498, DOI: 10.1207/s15566935eed1104_7 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1207/s15566935eed1104_7

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Early Education & Development

Downloaded by [University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)] at 22:51 05 January 2014

Volume 11, Number 4, July 2000

Maternal Negativity and Children’s Externalizing Behavior Tracy L. Heller California School of Professional Psychology

Bruce L. Baker University of California

Maternal negativity in parent-child interactions related to both the presence and persistence of child externalizing behavior problems. We examined how behavior of 120 mothers and their children in an interaction task at preschool related to assessments of child behavior problems at preschool, first grade, and third grade. At preschool and first-grade, children were assigned to three groups: comparison, moderate externalizing, and pervasive externalizing; at both timepoints the pervasive externalizing group had greater maternal negativity assessed at preschool. Maternal negativity was predicted, beyond the child’s disruptive behavior in the task, by two variables: mother’s perception of low spousal agreement and support related to child problems and depression. At third grade, child symptoms and diagnoses of ADHD and ODD were predicted by mothers’ commands and repeat commands, though not negativity, in the preschool interaction task. Implications of these findings for early family intervention are discussed.

Tracy L. Heller is Associate Professor, California School of Professional Psychology-Los Angeles, Alhambra, California. Bruce L. Baker is Professor of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, California. This investigation received support from the Fernald Child Study Center at UCLA. We gratefully acknowledge the participating children, parents, and teachers, and the assistance of our collaborators, Terry Webster, Barbara Henker and Stephen Hinshaw. We also thank the Femald staff and research interns for their many contributions. Correspondence should be addressed to Tracy L. Heller, CSPP-LA, 1000 S . Fremont, Alhambra, CA 91803 (e-mail: [email protected]).

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Maternal Negativity and Children S Externalizing Behavior Externalizing behaviors, such as aggression, inattention, and non-compliance, are highly stable through the preschool and early elementary school developmental period (Campbell, Breaux, Ewing, Szumowski, and Pierce, 1986; Heller, Baker, Henker, & Hinshaw, 1996; Silverman & Ragusa, 1992). They are predictive of academic difficulties (Pianta & Caldwell, 1990) and subsequent disruptive behavior disorders (Campbell & Ewing, 1990). The search for successful early interventions with childhood externalizing behavior disorders, such as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and Oppositional-Defiant Disorder (APA, 1994), has intensified investigation into factors that might predict such difficulties. The role of the family in the development and maintenance of such childhood problems is receiving considerable attention. Maternal negativity, a variable of particular interest, has emerged from studies examining the interaction patterns of parents with their behavior problem children (Campbell, Breaux, Ewing, Szumowski, and Pierce, 1986; Richman, Stevenson, & Graham, 1982; Egeland, Kalkoske, Gottesman, & Farrell-Erickson, 1990), and has been linked to development of young children’s self-regulation and behavioral adjustment (Belsky, Hsieh, & Cmic, 1998; Cohen & Bromet, 1992; Puckering et al., 1995; Silverman & Ragusa, 1992). Negativity is characterized by a parent’s critical and/or coercive statements, tone, and behavior in interactions with the child. A related construct is Expressed Emotion, where the negativity is reflected solely in critical remarks while speaking about the child (Vostanis, Nicholls, & Harrington, 1994). Higher levels of maternal negativity have been found to distinguish mother-child interactions involving externalizing children from those involving children without externalizing problems (Campbell, March, Pierce, Ewing, and Szumowski, 1991; Kim, Heterington, & Reiss, 1999). Moreover, in longitudinal studies, maternal negativity has emerged as a strong predictor (even beyond initial child behavior problems) of the persistence of child problems (Campbell, 1994; Campbell & Ewing, 1990; Cohen & Bromet, 1992; Rose, Rose, & Feldman, 1989). Negativity indicated by higher expressed emotion has also been found to differentiate mothers of externalizing children from mothers of controls (Hirshfeld et al., 1997) and to be predictive of problem persistence (Baker, Heller, & Henker, in press; Pens & Baker, 2000). Understanding the role of maternal negativity in the onset and developmental course of childhood behavior disorders remains an important aim for the field. The current study explored maternal negativity further, focusing on three primary questions: (1) How does maternal negativity in a preschool interaction task relate to child behavior problems? (2) What factors, beyond child behavior, predict maternal negativity? and (3) How do maternal and child behaviors in the preschool interaction relate to child behavioral outcome at first grade and third grade? In addition to negativity, we examined maternal controlling behaviors, commands and repeated commands, as well as positive statements to the child. We focused on young children and, unlike previous work, examined children with externalizing behavior in the borderline range as well as in the extreme. Moreover, we looked for gender differences in the mother-child interactions and, in particular, in the expression of maternal negativity.

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Maternal negativity and child behavior problems Researchers have found interactions of mothers and children with externalizing behavior problems, compared to mothers and children without such problems, fraught with power struggles, physical intrusion, and an overall difficulty in establishing a good working relationship (Richman et al, 1982). Mothers of problem preschool boys were significantly more negative, hostile, impatient, and non-accepting (Campbell et al., 1986;Webster-Stratton & Eyberg, 1982). Likewise, mothers of youngsters with externalizing behavior problems were more likely to use negative control to obtain compliance (Battle & Lacey, 1972; Campbell et al., 1991; Cunningham & Barkley, 1979). Cunningham and Barkley (1979) found mothers of hyperactive (now ADIID) boys were more controlling and intrusivc, initialed fewer social interactions, and were less responsive to initiations made by their children. However, marked improvement in maternal behavior was found when these children were placed on medication, suggesting that much of the negativity observed was a reaction to, rather than a cause of, child problem behavior (Cunningham & Barkley, 1979; Danforth, Barkley, & Stokes, 1991). Nevertheless, mother’s negativity may have exacerbated such disruptive child behavior, as mothers also ignored what observers deemed to be quite appropriate behavior. Findings have been mixed regarding the role of child noncompliance in maternal negativity. Webster-Stratton and Eyberg (1982) found that highly active children were less compliant and more negative in their interactions with their mothers, and that their mothers were also more negative. Campbell (1994; Campbell et al., 1991) found that preschool boys identified as having externalizing problems were not more noncompliant during an interaction task, but nonetheless their mothers demonstratedhigher levels of negative control than mothers of comparison youngsters. Although the majority of studies have involved boys, there is some evidence of similar patterns in mother-daughter interactions. Barkley (1983, investigating the interactions of mothers and their school-aged daughters, found that hyperactive girls were prone to more noncompliance and negative behavior than comparison girls were. In several studies, hyperactive girls were found to receive fewer commands and less praise from their mothers than did hyperactive boys (Befera & Barkley, 1985), although in another study gender was not significantly correlated with negative maternal control (Campbell, Pierce, March, and Ewing, 1991). Predicting maternal negativity We attempted to identify what parent, family, and systemic factors, beyond reciprocity to child misbehavior, contribute to maternal negativity. Among the factors that have been associated with maternal negative behavior are child overactivity, stressful life events, socioeconomic status, maternal depression, and marital distress (Webster-Stratton, 1988). Campbell et al., (1991) found inconsistent patterns of correlates across two cohorts of families studied, with marital satisfaction and family disruption relating significantly with maternal negativity in one cohort but not another. Webster-Stratton (1990) and Belsky (1984) have suggested that protective factors such as social support or marital satisfaction may decrease the probability of negative maternal control even in the context of difficult child behavior. Consistent with this, Suarez and Baker (1997) found spousal support to be a buffer between

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child externalizing behavior and parents’ experience of negative child impact on the family. In the present study, we examined the relationship between preschool children’s mothers’ reported well being (stress, depression, marital adjustment, and perceived spousal support) and their negativity in a mother-child interaction.


Maternal behavior and child problems over time We also sought to determine longitudinally whether mothers’ behavior (negativity, commands, approval) at preschool distinguished subsequent externalizing group status at first grade and disruptive behavior disorder diagnoses at third grade. Belsky, Hsieh, and Crnic (1998) found negative mothering of toddlers to be more predictive of externalizing behavior at age 3 than the child’s own negative emotionality/temperamentassessed in infancy. Several investigators have reported that mother-child conflict and high levels of maternal negativity during lab interactions not only related to the severity of children’s initial problems, but also predicted persistence of problems (Campbell, 1994; Egeland et al, 1990; Richman et al, 1982; Silverman & Ragusa, 1992). Maternal negativity also has been found to predict subsequent noncompliance and covert behavior such as stealing, even when controlling for the negative, potentially eliciting, behaviors of the child in the interaction task (Anderson, Hinshaw, & Simmel, 1994). In this study we followed a sample of children and their families from preschool through third grade. Our primary focus was on maternal negativity, measured in a parent-child interaction task. We hypothesized that maternal negativity assessed at preschool would relate to externalizing child problems assessed at the same time; moreover, we hypothesized that preschool maternal negativity would predict subsequent child behavior problems at first and third grades. We also explored what variables would predict maternal negativity, beyond child behavior in the interaction task.

Method Overview of Procedures This study was part of a larger longitudinal investigation of a community sample of children. The sample was recruited from preschools and day-care centers, and included children identified by teachers andor parents as having behavioral or emotional difficulties as well as children without notable problems. We excluded children with mental retardation or autism. We assessed children’s cognitive, language, and social functioning through parentand teacher-completed measures and during individual evaluation sessions, at preschool, first grade, and again at third grade. At preschool, we also assessed parent-child interactions. For further detail about recruitment, assessment, and characteristics of the longitudinal sample, see Heller, Baker, Henker, and Hinshaw (1996). Subjects The sample of 120 children and their mothers included 66 boys and 54 girls, with a mean age at preschool assessment of 4.6 years (S.D. = 0.78 years). Eighty-six of the children (72%) were Caucasian, with the remaining 34 (28%) identified as African-American (6%), Latino (3%), Asian-American (5%), Mixed (13%), or Other (1%). All but four children who were adopted lived with their natural parent(s). The participating child was the only child in 34% of families and the oldest child in an additional 35% of families. Mothers’

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mean age was 37.2 years. Twenty-four families (20%) were headed by single parents. Socioeconomic status, categorized by the Hollingshead Four-Factor Index (1975), was high; the majority of families were in the higher SES categories I (56%) and 11(31%), with only 13% of families in 111-V.There was some attrition from preschool ( N = 120) to first grade ( n = 91) and third grade (11 = 83). For some analyses at preschool and first grade, children were classified as pervasive externalizing, borderline externalizing, or comparison, based on mother and teacher externalizing T scores on the Child Behavior Checklist (Achenbach, 1991; see below for description of CBCL). Pervasive externalizing group children received an exlenializing T score in the clinical range (at least 64) €ram mother and/or teacher, with the other score at least in the borderline range (60 or above). Borderline externalizing group children received an externalizing T score of at least 60 (borderline range) from mother andor teacher, but scores did not meet the above criteria for pervasive externalizing. Comparison group children received CBCL externalizing Tscores below 60 from both mother and teacher. As shown in Table 1, the child groups did not differ significantly on any demographic variable assessed at preschool, but did differ on parent and teacher CBCL externalizing scores and teacher internalizing scores. At third grade, the Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children was used to determine diagnosis of a disruptive behavior disorder.

Table 1. Group Comparisons on Demographic Variables at Preschool: Means and (S.D.s) Measure

Comparison

( n = 54)

Borderline Externalizing ( n = 41)

Pervasive Externalizing ( n = 25)

For

Xz

~

Child age in months

54.3 (8.0)

56.7 (9.8)

55.8 (10.6)

0.81

54 36.7 (5.2)

51 38.4 (4.9)

64 36.1 (6.1)

X 2 (2df) = 1.09 1.80

80 53.2 (10.2)

83 55.2 (10.6)

76 48.7 (14.9)

48.9 (6.8)8

59.1 (7.7)b

67.1 (5.4)"

x 2 (2df) = 0.47 2.46 65.73***

Child Gender

(% boys) Maternal age Marital status (% married)

SES' Mother CBCL Ext' Mother CBCL lnt3

50.9 (9.7)

55.2 (11.3)

56.6 (7.2)

3.68

Teacher CBCL Ext

49.5 (6.9)"

59.7 (8.9)b

71.2 (6.6)"

66.53**"

Teacher CBCL Int

49.7 (12.0)"

57.1 (9.7)b

56.8 (8.3)b

6.51 **

____

~ _ _ _ _

. .05, Means with different superscripts gnificantly differed from one another at p = usina the Scheffe method. * p