Poster #21 - Unique and Shared Pathways of Internalizing and Externalizing Problems: Investigating Immediacy Preference and Negative Emotionality

• In Event: Poster Session 07

Abstract

Internalizing and externalizing problems in children strongly covary at the population-level but do not always co-occur for a given person. It is thus important to identify processes that lead to internalizing problems versus externalizing problems, in addition to their co-occurrence. Transdiagnostic processes that lead to both internalizing and externalizing problems may be important intervention targets. Immediacy preference and negative emotionality are risk processes that may help distinguish pathways to internalizing versus externalizing problem, with immediacy preference hypothesized as a risk factor for externalizing, and negative emotionality hypothesized as a risk factor for internalizing, while both are hypothesized as risk factors for a general internalizing–externalizing factor.
The present study examined the contributions of immediacy preference and negative emotionality on unique and covaried psychopathology in a community sample of children (N = 126) ages 3–5 years along with their parent(s) and teachers/secondary caregivers. We assessed negative emotionality using a task where a child is given a locked plexiglass box with a toy inside, and a ring of keys—none of which open the box (Calkins & Fox, 2002). We operationalized negative emotionality as the proportion of time the child demonstrates negative affect, i.e., sadness and anger. We assessed immediacy preference as the length of time a child waits before eating a treat during a seven-minute self-imposed waiting task (Neuenschwander, & Blair, 2017). We used multi-informant ratings (mother-, father-, and secondary caregiver/teacher-report) on the Internalizing and Externalizing scale of the Achenbach System of Empirically Based Assessment to assess behavior problems (Achenbach & Rescorla, 2000).
Higher-order structural equation models were examined, in which each rater’s score loaded onto a lower-order factor (i.e., internalizing or externalizing), and the lower-order factors loaded onto a higher-order factor. The higher-order internalizing–externalizing factor represented the covariation between internalizing and externalizing problems. To test the hypotheses, we evaluated whether immediacy preference and negative emotionality were associated with the general internalizing–externalizing factor versus the separate externalizing and internalizing factors.
Negative emotionality was positively associated with the general internalizing–externalizing factor, but not with unique internalizing or externalizing. Immediacy preference was positively associated with unique externalizing, and negatively associated with unique internalizing, but not associated with the general internalizing–externalizing factor (Figure 1). These results indicate a potentially important role of negative emotionality, especially negative affect in the face of a challenging task, during early childhood in predicting a broad spectrum of behavior problems. The result that immediacy preference was associated with higher ratings of externalizing behavior is consistent with prior literature (e.g., Krueger et al., 1996; Mischel et al., 1989; Peake, 2017). The finding that immediacy preference was negatively associated with unique internalizing problems was inconsistent with hypotheses but is consistent with findings that choosing an immediate reward over a distal one may be adaptive in reducing feelings of anxiety or depression (Ho et al., 2022), or that internalizing problems may be characterized by over-regulation (Murray & Kochanska, 2002). Our findings identified risk factors that differentially predict specific versus general psychopathology in children.

Authors

• Jordan L Harris, University of Iowa
  Presenting Author

• Isaac T. Petersen, University of Iowa