Validating an observational coding system for the Dominance Behavioural System (DBS) in children

• In Event: Poster Session 14
  In Poster Session: PS 14 Topic - Social, Emotional, Personality

Abstract

Introduction: The dominance behavioural system (DBS) is a biologically based system that describes individual differences in humans’ motivation for dominance and desire for power. Individual differences in the DBS in adults have been linked to both internalizing and externalizing disorders. However, in order to make strong claims about the trait-like properties and predictive validity of this construct, a clearer understanding of its early development and stability in childhood are essential, necessitating developmentally sensitive assessment tools. In this study, we used observational data on child behavior observed during several standardized laboratory tasks to examine the DBS in childhood and its relations to relevant other constructs
Methods: We have developed and established the validity of an objective behavioural coding system for the DBS in children. Observational data collected from multiple tasks drawn from the Laboratory Temperament Assessment Battery (Lab-TAB; Goldsmith et al., 1996) from 58 children, collected at ages 3 and 5, were collected and coded by objective raters. This data was examined in conjunction with measures of child temperament via observational measures, and psychological symptoms indexed by the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL; Achenbach & Rescorla, 2001).
Results: As indexed by our coding system, the stability of early DBS is moderate between ages 3 and 5, and comparable to the stability of other childhood temperament traits (Durbin et al., 2007); (2) sex differences in dominance emerge relatively early with boys exhibiting greater dominance than girls by age 5; (3) dominance is negatively correlated with children’s anxious and depressive symptoms; and (4) children’s dominance is negatively related to their effortful control and behavioural inhibition.
Discussion: Our findings support the use of observational ratings of the DBS as an approach to assessing this construct in early childhood. Use of this coding system will facilitate future studies of how early DBS predicts adjustment in mid-to-late childhood and adolescence, facilitating an understanding of the construct’s role in adaptive development.

Authors

• Jennifer Mullen, University of Western Ontario
  Presenting Author

• Pan Liu, University of Western Ontario
  Non-Presenting Author

• Christina Grace McDonnell, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Kasey Stanton
  Non-Presenting Author

• Yuliya Kotelnikova
  Non-Presenting Author

• Elizabeth P. Hayden, University of Western Ontario
  Non-Presenting Author