The Effects of Neighborhood Risk and Exuberant Temperament on the Development of Internalizing Behaviors Across Early Childhood

• In Event: 1-172 - Examining the Effects of Temperament and Parenting on Early Risks for Anxiety within the Context of Environmental Risks

Integrative Statement

Both temperament and environmental risks have independently been associated with higher risks of internalizing behaviors in children (Bush et al., 2010; Buss, 2011; Putnam & Stifter, 2008). Few studies have examined at how child and environmental characteristics interactively affect developing internalizing behaviors across early childhood. In preliminary work, we found that child temperament moderated the effect of neighborhood risk on internalizing behaviors at age 5-years; high neighborhood risk was associated with more internalizing behaviors only for low fear children, suggesting fearless (e.g., exuberant) children are more prone to the impact of neighborhood risks (McDoniel, 2017). To better understand the development of internalizing behaviors and how it is affected by neighborhood risk and temperament, the current study examined trajectories of internalizing behaviors from toddlerhood through early childhood as a function of exuberance and neighborhood risk. We hypothesized that neighborhood risk would predict higher internalizing behaviors overall and that exuberance would predict an increase in internalizing behaviors when neighborhood risk was high.

Data for the current study were collected from a racially/economically diverse sample of 206 families from the southeastern US who participated in a longitudinal study of child health and development from infancy to childhood (50% females; 49.6% families below federal poverty threshold; 56% African American, 41% Caucasian, 3% Biracial). When infants were 6-months, mothers reported perceived neighborhood quality, safety, and disorder using Neighborhood Perception and Neighborhood Descriptions scales (Coulton, Korbin, & Su, 1996). High neighborhood risk was defined as low quality, low safety, and high disorder. At 36-months, mothers completed the Child Behavior Questionnaire (CBQ) to measure exuberant temperament. At 24-, 30-, 36-, and 60-months, mothers completed the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) to measure internalizing behaviors.

Latent growth analyses of CBCL internalizing scales revealed optimal fit statistics for a linear model across the four ages (RMSEA=0.07; CLI=0.94; TFI=0.92; SRMS=0.10; AIC=7308; BIC=7461). When we added the interaction term for neighborhood risk and exuberance, the model fit statistics were better (AIC=6706; BIC=6854). The model included neighborhood risk, exuberance, and their interaction as predictors and race/ethnicity, gender, and SES as covariates. The interaction was significant for both the intercept and slope of internalizing symptoms (Figure 1). These results suggest that in neighborhoods with low to average risk, exuberant temperament did not have a strong effect on internalizing behaviors overall. However, in high risk neighborhoods, children with low exuberance had significantly more internalizing behavior as toddlers, but this decreased across early childhood. Children with high exuberance, on the other hand, had fewer internalizing behaviors early on, but significantly increased in internalizing behaviors across early childhood (Figure 2).

The current study suggests that neighborhood risks have a significant effect on young children. However, the effect of neighborhood risks might depend on children’s temperamental characteristics. It is possible that exuberant children develop internalizing behaviors because they are more likely to approach new situations and are therefore exposed to neighborhood risks. For these children, the development of internalizing behaviors such as vigilance or inhibition may be an adaptive response to exposure to danger/disorder.

Authors

• Meghan Elizabeth McDoniel, SRCD Pre-doctoral State Policy Fellow, Bureau of Early Learning Services, Pennsylvania Office of Child Development and Early Learning, Doctoral Candidate, Pennsylvania State University
  Presenting Author

• Kristin A Buss, The Pennsylvania State University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Dawn Paula Witherspoon, The Pennsylvania State University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Ginger A Moore, Pennsylvania State University
  Non-Presenting Author