This study examined the stability of behavior problems in 44 low SES children ages 2–5 years using the preschool and standard versions of Achenbach's Child Behavior Checklist. While scores for the present sample did not differ significantly from Achenbach's standardization sample at age 2, scores at ages 4 and 5 were somewhat elevated; this was true for the Total score, as well as for the two broad-band scores (Internalizing and Externalizing). At all ages, the Internalizing and Externalizing scores correlated highly with one another (r= .58 to .74). Stability coefficients across one to three year intervals revealed significant continuity for the Total and Externalizing scores (r= .42 to .73). Internalizing scores were stable only between ages 4 and 5 (r= .53). In addition, early Externalizing scores also predicted subsequent Internalizing scores, suggesting that early Externalizing symptomatology has diverse implications. Maternal depression and negative life events, assessed at ages 4 and 5, correlated strongly with child behavior scores at both these ages. However, neither factor accounted for the stability in childrens' symptomatology. Overall, the levels of stability found here were comparable to those reported for older children. The results are discussed in terms of developmental psychopathology, with particular attention to the finding that (a) developmentally maladaptive behavior can be identified at very young ages, even in 2-year-olds, and (b) that such behavior problems are far more persistent than hitherto believed. Such findings underscore the importance of early identification and intervention.

This study examined the relationship among children's sociometric status, qualities of mother-child interaction, and children's adjustment in first grade. Eighty-one 6-year-old children and their mothers participated in laboratory play interactions the summer before the children entered first grade. The interactions were coded later for warmth and control on the part of both mother and child. During the fall, the first graders were given individual sociometric interviews, and children were classified as popular, average, neglected, and rejected. During the spring, teacher ratings of child behavior problems and child competence were collected. Results showed that although maternal warmth and children's sociometric status were unrelated, both were significantly related to behavior problems and competencies in school. Children who were rejected by their peers and whose interactions with their mothers were low in warmth were rated by teachers as having more behavior problems and as less competent in certain respects than other rejected children; the children characterized by peer rejection and low maternal warmth also gave self-reports of their own social acceptance and cognitive competence that were more discrepant from objective information than did other rejected children. These effects either did not occur or were less pronounced within the group of children who were not rejected by their peers. Results were thus consistent with the idea that high maternal warmth served as a protective factor against adjustment difficulties associated with peer rejection.

Disruptive boys in kindergarten, selected from teacher ratings in a large study, were each followed up for four successive years. There was considerable continuity of the boys' fighting, despite a declining prevalence in fighting over the years. High oppositional behavior in one year did not consistently predict fighting in the next year. A history of fighting was associated with being held back in grade. Boys were assigned to fighting evolution status on the basis of their fighting scores over the four years: stable high fighters, desisting high fighters, and variable/initiating high fighters. Stable high fighters, unlike desisting high fighters, scored high on nonaggressive antisocial acts at the end of the four years. For some boys, cessation of fighting was associated with later nonaggressive antisocial behavior. Fighting evolution status was examined further in relationship to anxiety, hyperactivity/inattentiveness, and prosocial behaviors. At age 9, stable high fighters, and to a lesser extent variable/initiating high fighters, were more likely to come from single parent families than desisting high fighters. The results are discussed in the context of the development of conduct problems in children.

Previous research has suggested that language-impaired (LI) children have a high prevalence of psychiatric disorders, and conversely, that children being treated for psychiatric disorders have a high incidence of language impairment. To investigate the relationship between developmental language and psychiatric disorders further, the behavioral and emotional status of a large, well-defined group of preschool-age LI and matched control children were evaluated using the Achenbach Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL). Based on parent report, data were analyzed for broad- as well as narrow-band syndromes. For the broad-band syndromes, results demonstrated significant between-group differences for boys, but not girls. However, for the narrow-band syndromes, unexpectedly few significant between-group differences were found for boys or girls. Only the Immaturity scale for boys and Social Withdrawal scale for girls proved significantly different between groups. Inspection of the items that comprised these two scales revealed a high prevalence of items which relate to attention, perception, and motor functions. As previous research with LI children has demonstrated that highly significant perceptual/motor disorders characterize this population, additional analyses were performed to determine the extent to which attention, perception, and motor items on the CBCL contributed to the significant group differences found. When items classified as assessing attention, perception, or motor functioning were excluded, few significant between-group differences remained. Subsequent analyses demonstrated a high correlation between the CBCL items classified as assessing attention, perception, or motor functions and the performance of LI and normal children on a battery of non-verbal attention, perception, and motor tasks. These results suggest that psychiatric disorders previously identified in LI children may be related primarily to specific neurodevelopmental delay in perceptual/motor functioning.

The development of vulnerability to depression is examined from the point of view of one area of cognitive and affective functioning, the processing of information about the future. Drawing on research into how people make choices in an uncertain world, this article reviews how depression affects people's judgments about the relative utility, or subjective value, of different outcomes, and about the relative probability of those outcomes. A developmental model is proposed which suggests that children learn that some people are willing to incorporate into their own utility ordering for different outcomes the utility structure of the child–that is, to care about the child. The role of lack of perceived care in the development of depression is reviewed, and suggestions are made for applications of decision analytic methods to some critical questions concerning the role played by judgments about the future in the development of vulnerability to depression.