Poster #189 - Child Sex Moderates the Indirect Effect of Lifetime Stress on Behavior Problems Through Temperament

• In Event: 1-005 - Poster Session 01
  In Poster Session: PS 01 Section - Sex, Gender

Integrative Statement

Chronic stress is associated with both internalizing and externalizing behavior problems among children (Klein et al., 2018). There is now evidence to also suggest that stress exposure is related to child temperament (Sudbrack et al., 2015), which in turn predicts behavioral outcomes (Tschann et al., 1996). Few studies, however, have examined the role of child sex in these processes. Using an economically disadvantaged sample, we examined the possibility that child sex may moderate indirect effects of lifetime stress on child behavior problems through temperament.
Participants in this longitudinal study included 274 ethnically and racially diverse (46% Hispanic, 28% White Non-Hispanic, 16% Black, 10% other races) preschool children (M age = 50.86 months) and their primary caregivers. Of children, 143 had child welfare documentation of moderate to severe maltreatment determined via record review, most (86%) families qualified for public assistance, and 131 children were male. Parents completed a semi-structured interview to assess lifetime stress and the Toddler Behavior Assessment Questionnaire (Goldsmith, 1996) to assess child temperament dimensions (activity level, attentional allocation, anger, social fear, inhibitory control) at a baseline assessment. At a 6-month follow-up, parents completed the Child Behavior Checklist (Achenbach & Rescorla, 2000) to assess child internalizing and externalizing behavior problems.
Multi-group structural equation modeling examined whether indirect pathways involving lifetime stress, child temperament, and child internalizing and externalizing behaviors differed as a function of child sex. For each temperament dimension, we compared a model in which all parameters were allowed to vary freely with a model in which the path between lifetime stress and temperament was constrained to equality across boys and girls. Significant moderation by child sex was evident in models examining inhibitory control and attentional allocation; sex differences in models including anger and activity level were trending toward significance. Significant links between stress and temperament were only evident for boys, not girls. The different dimensions of temperament, in turn, predicted both internalizing and externalizing symptoms 6 months later. As an illustration, Figure 1 depicts the path model for inhibitory control for boys; a similar pattern of results was evident for the other dimensions of temperament (i.e., stress predicted low appropriate attentional allocation and high anger and activity level for boys only). Table 1 summarizes the main findings of our tests of moderation and mediation. Of note, all indirect effects of lifetime stress involving temperament were statistically significant with the exception of social fear. In models testing maltreatment status, rather than lifetime stress, as the predictor, moderated mediational pathways were not significant. However, maltreatment status did consistently predict high child internalizing symptoms, and inhibitory control mediated the association between maltreatment and both internalizing and externalizing problems.
Taken together, results suggest that lifetime stress exerts influence on child behavior problems through child temperament, particularly for boys. This work supports the perspective that temperament is not inherently stable and is affected by environmental influences. Interestingly, the temperament dimensions for which significant moderated mediation was observed (inhibitory control, attentional allocation) are factors associated with ADHD, positing exciting avenues for future research.

Authors

• Brittney Josefson, Bradley Hospital
  Presenting Author

• Jesse L. Coe, Alpert Medical School of Brown University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Jadira Rodriguez, Bradley Hospital
  Non-Presenting Author

• Lauren Micalizzi, Brown University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Stephanie H. Parade, Bradley Research Center/Brown University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Ronald Seifer, Brown University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Audrey R. Tyrka, Brown University/Butler Hospital
  Non-Presenting Author