Continuing the Quest Towards Understanding Co-occurring Internalizing and Externalizing Problems: Methodologies, Risks, and Clinical Implications

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Abstract

The developmental, epidemiological and clinical literatures have provided consistent evidence of high co-occurrence between the two broad domains of internalizing and externalizing problems. In recent decades, there has been an increased attention to prospective predictors of co-occurrence as well as the complex codeveloping mechanisms. This symposium will address the need to continue investigating the two domains of problems from a more integrative perspective, examining predictors of their co-occurrence, the cross-domain dynamic interplay, as well as the types of analytical methods used to address the different research questions. The first talk will provide an overview of the theoretical frameworks, and both the established and more novel analytical methods used to study the longitudinal codevelopment and co-occurrence of internalizing and externalizing problems. The second talk will present findings on the contribution of parent-child interactions to internalizing and externalizing problems in early and middle childhood. This study will also explore how the Family Check-Up—a brief, strengths-based intervention targeting parenting and family management practices—affects these associations. The third talk will examine the time-varying fluctuations in the effect of internalizing problems on co-occurring externalizing problems, and vice versa, across early childhood in a racially and economically diverse sample of children, experiencing high rates of pre- and postnatal adversities. A leading expert in the field of developmental psychopathology and prevention/intervention research on behavior problems will guide the discussion regarding the implications of advancing the field’s knowledge of comorbidity and complex interplay between the two domains.

Sub Unit

• Developmental Psychopathology

Chair

• Miglena Yordanova Ivanova, Pennsylvania State University, University Park

Discussant

• Daniel S. Shaw, University of Pittsburgh

Individual Presentations

• Investigating the Development of Co-occurring Internalising and Externalising Problems using Structural Equation Modelling - Presenting Author: Lydia Gabriela Speyer, University of Edinburgh & University of Cambridge

• Effects of the Family Check-Up on Childhood Parent-Child Relationships and Co-occurring Internalizing and Externalizing Problems - Presenting Author: Jenn-Yunn Tein, Arizona State University; Cheuk Hei Cheng, Arizona State University; David P. MacKinnon, Arizona State University; Daniel S. Shaw, University of Pittsburgh; Melvin N Wilson, University of Virginia -Charlottesville; Kathryn Lemery-Chalfant, Arizona State University

• Time-Varying Associations Between Early Childhood Internalizing and Externalizing Problems: Codevelopment and Sex Differences - Presenting Author: Miglena Yordanova Ivanova, Pennsylvania State University, University Park; Danielle Marie Seay, Pennsylvania State University, University Park; Kristin Perry, Pennsylvania State University, University Park; Rina Das Eiden, The Pennsylvania State Univeristy; Ashley Linden-Carmichael, Pennsylvania State University