Maternal Predictors of Rejecting Parenting and Early Adolescent Antisocial Behavior

13 Pages·2008·0.24 MB·English

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-