1-045 - The Enduring Influence of Early Behavioral Inhibition: Within-Child and Contextual Factors Related to Adaptation in Late Childhood

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Integrative Statement

Behavioral inhibition (BI) is an early temperamental style characterized by heightened reactivity to novelty. There is a good deal of variability in the developmental outcomes of BI children with some, but not all, BI children showing continued social reticence and increased risk for social maladjustment. Using data from the Temperament over Time Study, a large-scale longitudinal study of BI children, the three papers presented in this symposium examine contextual (parenting, peer) and within-child (compliance, performance monitoring) factors associated with social functioning in 10-year-old children with an early history of BI.

In paper 1, early parenting and peer behaviors are examined in relation to later risk for psychopathology. Trajectories of social reticence over early childhood, as well as early maternal gentle discipline, predict differential risk for both internalizing and externalizing problems at age 10. In paper 2, early BI and social reticence are examined in relation to children’s observed competence with an unfamiliar peer versus a close friend at age 10. Children with an early history of BI and social reticence show the greatest decrement in competence with an unfamiliar peer suggesting that novel contexts interfere with social skill implementation. In paper 3, the joint influence of early BI and controlled processes (compliance and performance monitoring) are examined in relation to later adaptation. Findings reveal that for children with a history of BI, certain controlled processes may potentiate risk. Together these papers demonstrate contextual and within-child factors that impact risk and resilience for BI children over the course of childhood.

Sub Unit

• Social, Emotional, Personality

Chair

• Heather Henderson, Univ of Waterloo

Discussant

• Nathan A Fox, Univ of Maryland

Individual Presentations

• Influence of Maternal Factors on Links between Early Trajectories of Temperament and Later Childhood Outcomes - Presenting Author: Kathryn A Degnan, University of Maryland; Tahl Ida Frenkel, University of Maryland, College Park; Olga L Walker, University of Maryland, College Park; Nathan A Fox, Univ of Maryland

• Early Behavioral Inhibition and Reactivity to Peer Context in Later Childhood - Presenting Author: Lauren V Usher, University of Miami; Catherine Burrows, University of Miami; Dina Dajani, University of Miami; Heather Henderson, Univ of Waterloo

• Behavioral Inhibition and Performance Monitoring: Developmental Precursors and Outcomes across Childhood - Presenting Author: Heather Henderson, Univ of Waterloo; Ayelet Lahat, McMaster University