Skip to main content
Springer Nature Link
Log in

Links Between Life Course Trajectories of Family Dysfunction and Anxiety During Middle Childhood

  • Published:
Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Using data from three waves of a large Canadian data set, we examine the relationship between two middle childhood trajectory variables, family dysfunction and anxiety. We draw upon family systems theory and developmental psychopathology, while attempting to expand their boundaries by capitalizing on the strengths within both approaches. Our data treatment strategy, guided by the life course analytical framework, included separate multivariate logits to examine this relationship, with and without the extent to, which selected explanatory risk variables predicted belonging to the highest family dysfunction trajectory. We also explored possible interactions between anxiety and explanatory risk variables. Supporting our hypothesis, a prolonged duration of high doses of family dysfunction was associated with the most extreme developmental trajectories of anxious behavior during middle childhood for both boys and girls. This relationship prevailed above and beyond the influence of other correlates of family dysfunction such as marital transition, socioeconomic status, family size, and depressive symptoms experienced by the informant (mostly mothers).

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
€32.70 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Price includes VAT (Finland)

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Asbury, K., Dunn, J. F., Pike, A., & Plomin, R. (2003). Nonshared environmental influences on individual differences in early behavioral development: A monozygotic twin differences study. Child Development, 74, 933–943.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bagwell, C. L., Newcomb, A. F., & Bukowski, W. M. (1998). Preadolescent friendship and peer rejection as predictors of adult adjustment. Child Development, 69, 140–153.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Barber, B. K. (1996). Parental psychological control: Revisiting a neglected construct. Child Development, 67, 3296–3319.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Baumrind, D. (1966). Effects of authoritative parental control on child behavior. Child Development, 37(4), 887–907.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baumrind, D. (1971). Harmonious parents and their preschool children. Developmental Psychology, 4, 99–102.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Beardslee, W. R., Versage, E. M., & Gladstone, T. R. G. (1998). Children of affectively ill parents: A review of the past 10 years. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 37, 1134–1138.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Boulerice, B. (2001). General Nonlinear Mixtures of Curves (MOC). Unpublished statistical software program available at: http://lib.stat.cmu.edu/R/CRAN/.

  • Bretherton, I., & Page, T. F. (2004). Shared or conflicting working models ? Relationships in postdivorce families seen through the eyes of mothers and their preschool children. Development and Psychopathology, 16(3), 551–575.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Broidy, L. M., Nagin, D. S., Tremblay, R. E., Bates, J. E., Brame, B., Dodge, K. A., et al. (2003). Developmental trajectories of childhood disruptive behaviors and adolescent delinquency: A six site, cross-national study. Developmental Psychology, 39, 222–245.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Brown, T. A., Chorpita, B. F., & Barlow, D. H. (1998). Structural relationships among dimensions of the DSM-IV anxiety and mood disorders and dimensions of negative affect, positive affect, and autonomic arousal. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 107, 179–192.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Byles, J., Byrne, C., Boyle, M., & Offord, D. (1988). Reliability and validity of the general functioning subscale of the McMaster Family Assessment Device. Family Process, 27, 97–104.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Byng-Hall, J. (1999). Family and couple therapy: Toward greater security. In J. Cassidy & P. R. Shaver (Eds.), Handbook of attachment: Theory, research, and clinical applications (pp. 625–645). New York: Guilford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chorpita, B. F., & Barlow, D. H. (1998). The development of anxiety: The role of control in the early environment. Psychological Bulletin, 124, 3–21.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cicchetti, D. (1993). Developmental psychopathology: Reactions, reflections, projections. Developmental Review, 13, 471–502.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Collins, W. A., van Dulmen, M., & Egeland, B. (2005). The significance of middle childhood peer competence for work and relationships in early adulthood. In A. C. Huston & M. N. Ripke (Eds.), Middle childhood: A window of opportunity. New York: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Coté, S., Tremblay, R. E., Nagin, D., Zoccolillo, M., & Vitaro, F. (2002). The development of impulsivity, fearfulness, and helpfulness during childhood: Patterns of consistency and change in the trajectories of boys and girls. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 43, 609–618.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cox, M. J., & Paley, B. (1997). Families as systems. Annual Review of Psychology, 48, 243–267.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cummings, E. M., & Davies, P. T. (1994). Maternal depression and child development. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 35, 73–112.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Davies, P. T., & Cicchetti, D. (2004). Toward an integration of family systems and developmental psychopathology approaches. Development and Psychopathology, 16, 477–481.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Davies, P. T., Cummings, E. M., & Winter, M. A. (2004). Pathways between profiles of family functioning, child security in the interparental subsystem, and child psychological problems. Development and Psychopathology, 16, 525–550.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Davies, P. T., Harold, G. T., Goeke-Morey, M., & Cummings, E. M. (2002). Children’s emotional security and interparental conflict. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 67, 1–129.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dobkin, P. L., Tremblay, R. E., Mâsse, L. C., & Vitaro, F. (1995). Individual and peer characteristics in predicting boys’ early onset of substance abuse: A 7-year longitudinal study. Child Development, 66, 1198–1214.

    Google Scholar 

  • Egeland, B., Carlson, E., & Sroufe, L. A. (1993). Resilience as process. Development and Psychopathology, 5, 517–528.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eisenberg, N., Guthrie, I. K., Murphy, B. C., Shepard, S. A., Cumberland, A., & Gustavo, C. (1999). Consistency and development of prosocial dispositions: A longitudinal study. Child Development, 70, 1360–1372.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • El-Sheikh, M., & Reiter, S. L. (1996). Children’s responding to live interadult conflict: the role and form of anger expression. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 24(4), 401–415.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Elder, G. H. (1995). The life course paradigm: Social change and individual development. In P. Moen, G. H. Elder, & K. Luscher (Eds.), Examining lives in context: Perspectives on the ecology of human development (pp. 101–135). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Elder, G. H. (1996). Human lives in changing societies: Life course and developmental insights. In R. B. Cairns, G. H. Elder, & Glen H. Jr. (Eds.), Developmental science (pp. 31–62). New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Elgar, F. J., Curtis, L. J., McGrath, P. J., Waschbusch, D. A., & Stewart, S. H. (2003). Antecedent-consequence conditions in maternal mood and childhood adjustment problems: A four-year cross-lagged study. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 32, 362–374.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Emery, R. E. (1999). Marriage, divorce, and children’s adjustment (2nd ed.). New York: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Emery, R. E. (2001). Interparental conflict and social policy. In J. H. Grych & F. D. Fincham (Eds.), Interparental conflict and child development: Theory, research, and applications (pp. 417–439). London: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Epstein, N., Baldwin, L., & Bishop, D. (1983). The McMaster family assessment device. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 9, 171–180.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fincham, F., Grych, J. H., & Osborne, L. N. (1994). Does marital conflict cause child maladjustment? Directions and challenges for longitudinal research. Journal of Family Psychology, 8, 128–140.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • George, L. K. (1999). Life-course perspectives on mental health. In C. S. Aneshensel & J. C. Phelan (Eds.), Handbook of sociology of mental health. New York, NY: Kluwer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goldstein, S. E., Davis-Kean, P. E., & Eccles, J. S. (2005). Parents, peers, and problem behavior: A longitudinal investigation of the impact of relationship perceptions and characteristics on the development of adolescent problem behavior. Developmental Psychology, 41(2), 401–413.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gray, J. A. (1982). The neuropsychology of anxiety. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grusec, J. E. (2002). Parenting and the socialization of values. In M. Bornstein (Ed.), Handbook of parenting (pp. 143–168). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grusec, J. E., Davidov, M., & Lundell, L. (2002). Prosocial and helping behavior. In P. Smith, & C. Hart (Eds.), Handbook of children’s social development (pp. 457–474). New York, NY: Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grych, J. H., Fincham, F. D., Jouriles, E. N., & McDonald, R. (2001). Interparental conflict and child adjustment: Testing the mediational role of appraisals in the cognitive contextual framework. Child Development, 71, 1648–1661.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grych, J. H., Harold, G. T., & Miles, C. J. (2003). A prospective investigation of appraisals as mediators of the link between interparental conflict and child adjustment. Child Development, 74, 1176–1193.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hayden, L. C., Schiller, M., Dickstein, S., Seifer, R., Sameroff, A. J., Miller, I., et al. (1998). Levels of family assessment 1: Family, marital, and parent–child interaction. Journal of Family Psychology, 12, 7–22.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hertzman, C., & Wiens, M. (1996). Child development and long-term outcomes: A population health perspective and summary of successful interventions. Social Science & Medicine, 43(7), 1083–1095.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hess, R. D., & Camara, K. A. (1979). Post-divorce: family relationships as mediating factors in the consequences of divorce for children. Journal of Social Issues, 35, 79–96.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Human Resources and Development Canada and Statistics Canada (1996). Growing up in Canada: National longitudinal survey of children and youth. Ottawa, ON: Statistics Canada.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jacobvitz, D., Hazen, N., Curran, M., & Hitchens, K. (2004). Observations of early triadic family interactions: Boundary disturbances in the family predict symptoms of depression, anxiety, and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in middle childhood. Development and Psychopathology, 16, 577–592.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Johnson, J. G., Cohen, P., Kasen, S., Smailes, E., & Brook, J. S. (2001). Association of maladaptive parental behavior with psychiatric disorder among parents and their offspring. Archives of General Psychiatry, 58, 453–460.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Jones, B. L., Nagin, D. S., & Roeder, K. (2001). A SAS procedure based on mixture models for estimating developmental trajectories. Sociological Methods and Research, 29, 374–393.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kaslow, M. H., Deering, C. G., & Racusia, G. R. (1994). Depressed children and their families. Clinical Psychological Review, 14, 39–59.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kerig, P. K., Cowan, P. A., & Cowan, C. P. (1994). Marital quality and gender differences in parent–child interaction. Developmental Psychology, 29(6), 931–939.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lewinsohn, P. M., Gotlib, I. H., Lewinsohn, M., Seeley, J. R., & Allen, N. B. (1998). Gender differences in anxiety disorders and anxiety symptoms in adolescents. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 107(1), 109–117.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Masten, A.S., & Wright, M. O’D. (1997). Cumulative risk and protection models of child maltreatment. In B. B. R. Rossman & M. S. Rosenberg (Eds.), Multiple victimization of children: Conceptual, developmental, research and treatment issues. Binghampton, NY: Haworth.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mâsse & Tremblay, R. E. (1997). Behavior of boys in kindergarten and the onset of substance use during adolescence. Archives of General Psychiatry, 54, 62–68.

  • Mattison, R. E., & Spitznagel, E. L. (1999). Long-term stability of child behavior checklist profile types in child psychiatric clinic population. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 38, 700–707.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mayer, K. U., & Muller, W. (1986). The state and the structure of the life course. In A. B. Sorenson, F. E. Winert, & L. R. Sherrod (Eds.), Human development and the life course: Multidisciplinary perspectives (pp. 217–245). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • McEwan, B. S. (1998). Protective and damaging effects of stress mediators. New England Journal of Medicine, 338, 171–179.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Minuchin, P. (1985). Families and individual development: Provocations from the field of family therapy. Child Development, 56, 289–302.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Nagin, D. (2005) Group-based modeling of development. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nagin, D. S. (1999). Analyzing developmental trajectories: A semiparametric, group-based approach. Psychological Methods, 4, 139–157.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • O’Connor, T. G., Deater-Deckard, K., Fulker, D., Rutter, M., & Plomin, R. (1998). Genotype-environment correlations in late childhood and early adolescence: Antisocial behavior problems and coercive parenting. Developmental Psychology, 34, 970–981.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Pagani, L. S., Boulerice, B., Tremblay, R. E., & Vitaro, F. (1997). Behavioral development in children of divorce and remarriage. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 38, 769–781.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Pagani, L. S., Japel, C., Girard, A., Farhat, A., Côte, S.,& Tremblay, R. E. (2006). Middle childhood life-course trajectories: Links between family dysfunction and children’s behavioral development. In A. C. Huston & M. N. Ripke (Eds.), Middle childhood: Contexts of development (pp. 130–149). New York: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pagani, L., Tremblay, R. E., Vitaro, F., Boulerice, B., & McDuff, P. (2001). Effects of grade retention on academic performance and behavioral development. Development and Psychopathology, 13, 297–315.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Parker, J. G., & Asher, S. R. (1987). Peer relations and later personal adjustment: Are low-accepted children at risk? Psychological Bulletin, 102, 335–389.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Patterson, G. R. (2002). The early development of coercive family process. In J. B. Reid & G. R. Patterson (Eds.), Antisocial behavior in children and adolescents: A developmental analysis and model for intervention (pp. 25–44). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Radloff, L. S. (1977). The CES-D scale: A self-report depression scale for research in the general population. Applied Psychological Measurement, 1, 385-401.

  • Repetti, R. L., Taylor, S. E., & Seeman, T. E. (2002). Risky families: Family social environments and the mental and physical health of offspring. Psychological Bulletin, 128, 330–366.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Richters, J. E. (1997). The Hubble hypothesis and the developmentalist’s dilemma. Development and Psychopathology, 9, 193–229.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Rothbaum, F., Rosen, K., Ujiie, T., & Uchida, N. (2002). Family systems theory, attachment theory and culture. Family Process, 41(3), 328–350.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rothbaum, F., & Weisz, J. R. (1994). Parental caregiving and child externalizing behavior in nonclinical samples: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 116, 55–74.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Rudolph, K. D., & Hammen, C. (1999). Age and gender as determinants of stress exposure, generation, and reactions in youngsters: A transactional perspective. Child Development, 70(3), 660–677.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Rutter, M. (1979). Protective factors in children’s responses to stress and disadvantage. In M. W. Kent & J. E. Rolf (Eds.), Primary prevention of psychopathology (Vol. 3): Social competence in children (pp. 49–74). Hanover, NH: University Press of New England.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rutter, M. (2002). Family influences on behavior and development: Challenges for the future. In J. P. McHale & W. S. Grolnick (Eds.), Retrospect and prospect in the psychological study of families (pp. 321–351). New York, NY: Lawrence Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rutter, M. (2003). Poverty and child mental health: Natural experiments and social causation. Journal of the American Medical Association, 290, 2063–2064.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Rutter, M. (2005). Environmentally-mediated risks for psychopathology: Research strategies and findings. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 44, 3–18.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Silverman, W. K., Goedhart, A. W., Barrett, P., & Turner, C. (2003). The facets of anxiety sensitivity represented in the Childhood Anxiety Sensitivity Index: Confirmatory analyses of factor models form past studies. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 112(3), 364–374.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sameroff, A. J. (1998). Environmental risk factors in early infancy. Pediatrics, 102(5), 1287–1292.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sameroff, A. J., Bartko, W. T., Baldwin, A., Baldwin, C., & Seifer, R. (1998). Family and social influences on the development of child competence. In M. Lewis & C. Feiring (Eds.), Families, risk, and competence (pp. 161–186). New York, NY: Lawrence Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sameroff, A. J., Seifer, R., & Zax, M. (1982). Early development and children at risk of emotional disorder. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 47 (7, Serial no. 199).

  • Sroufe, L. A., & Rutter, M. (1984). The domain of developmental psychopathology. Child Development, 56, 316–325.

    Google Scholar 

  • Steinberg, L., Lambron, S. D., Darling, N., Mounts, N. S., & Dornbusch, S. M. (1994). Over-time changes in adjustment and competence among adolescents from authoritative, authoritarian, indulgent, and neglectful families. Child Development, 65, 754–770.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Tremblay, R. E., Loeber, R., Gagnon, C., Charlebois, P., Larivée, S., & LeBlanc, M. (1991). Disruptive boys with stable and unstable high fighting behavior patterns during junior elementary school. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 19, 285-300.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tremblay, R. E., Pihl, R. O., Vitaro, F., & Dobkin, P. L. (1994). Predicting early onset of male antisocial behavior from preschool behavior: A test of two personality theories. Archives of General Psychiatry, 51, 732–739.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wagner, B. M. (1997). Family risk factors for child and adolescent suicidal behavior. Psychological Bulletin, 121, 246–298.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Willms, D. J., & Shields, M. (1996). A measure of socioeconomic status for the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth. Canada: Atlantic Center for Policy Research in Education, University of New Brunswick and Statistics Canada.

  • Vitaro, F., Brendgen, M., Larose, S., & Tremblay, R. E. (2005). Kindergarten disruptive behaviors, protective factors, and educational achievement by early adulthood. Journal of Educational Psychology, 97(4), 617–629.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgment

This research was supported by the Applied Research Branch of Human Resources Development Canada, SSHRC, and FCAR. Our special thanks go to Aletha Huston and Marika Ripke for their input on earlier versions of the project that inspired this paper, and Alain Girard and Abdel Farhat for advising and conducting the required analyses at the Quebec Center for Social Statistics, respectively.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Université de Montréal, C.P. 6128, succursale Centre-ville, Montréal, Québec, H3C 3J7, Canada

    Linda S. Pagani, Sylvana Côté & Richard E. Tremblay

  2. Université du Québec à Montréal, Montréal, Canada

    Christa Japel

  3. McMaster University, Ontario, Canada

    Tracy Vaillancourt

Authors
  1. Linda S. Pagani
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Christa Japel
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Tracy Vaillancourt
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Sylvana Côté
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Richard E. Tremblay
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Linda S. Pagani.

Additional information

Specific details regarding the sample, characteristics of measures, and unspecified estimates and their standard errors per data source are available from the first author in the form of tables and figures.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Pagani, L.S., Japel, C., Vaillancourt, T. et al. Links Between Life Course Trajectories of Family Dysfunction and Anxiety During Middle Childhood. J Abnorm Child Psychol 36, 41–53 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-007-9158-8

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-007-9158-8

Keywords

Search

Navigation