Abstract
This project examined the unique predictive validity of parent ratings of toddler-age aggression, oppositionality, inattention, and hyperactivity-impulsivity to academic achievement at school-age in a sample of 566 high-risk children and families. The study also investigated potential indirect effects of the Family Check-Up on school-age academic achievement through changes in child behavior problems. The results demonstrated that toddler-age aggression was most consistently associated with school-age academic achievement, albeit modestly. Moreover, findings showed that the intervention predicted greater decreases in aggression from ages 2–3 to 4–5 compared to controls. The results suggest that in high-risk toddler-aged children, aggression may be a more consistent predictor of school-age academic achievement than other externalizing dimensions, which has implications for early identification and efforts to promote children’s adaptation.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Achenbach, T. M., & Rescorla, L. A. (2000). Manual for the ASEBA preschool forms and profiles. Burlington: University of Vermont Department of Psychiatry.
Achenbach, T. M., & Rescorla, L. (2001). Manual for the ASEBA school-age forms and profiles. Burlington: University of Vermont, Research Center for Children, Youth, and Families.
Barkley, R. A. (2003). Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. In E. J. Mash & R. A. Barkley (Eds.), Chid psychopathology (2nd ed., pp. 75–143). New York: Guilford Press.
Barriga, A. Q., Doran, J. W., Newell, S. R., Morrison, E. M., Barbetti, V., & Robbins, B. D. (2002). Relationships between problem behaviors and academic achievement in adolescents: the unique role of attention problems. Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, 10, 233–240.
Breslau, N., Breslau, J., Peterson, E., Miller, E., Lucia, V. C., Bohnert, K., et al. (2010). Change in teachers’ ratings of attention problems and subsequent change in academic achievement: a prospective analysis. Psychological Medicine, 40, 159–166.
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.
Brooks-Gunn, J., & Duncan, G. J. (1997). The effects of poverty on children. The Future of Children, 7, 55–71.
Bub, K. L., McCartney, K., & Willett, J. B. (2007). Behavior problem trajectories and first-grade cognitive ability and achievement skills: a latent growth curve analysis. Journal of Educational Psychology, 90, 653–670.
Campbell, S. B. (2002). Behavior problems in preschool children: Clinical and developmental issues (2nd ed.). New York: Guilford Press.
Campbell, S. B., Shaw, D. S., & Gilliom, M. (2000). Early externalizing behavior problems: toddlers and preschoolers at risk for later maladjustment. Development and Psychopathology, 12, 467–488.
Campbell, S. B., Spieker, S., Burchinal, M. R., Poe, M. D., & The NICHD ECCRN. (2006). Trajectories of aggression from toddlerhood to age 9 predict academic and social functioning through age 12. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 47, 791–800.
Dishion, T. J., Shaw, D. S., Connell, A. M., Gardner, F., Weaver, C., & Wilson, M. (2008). The Family Check-Up with high-risk indigent families: preventing problem behavior by increasing parents’ positive behavior support in early childhood. Child Development, 79, 1395–1414.
Duncan, G. J., Dowsett, C. J., Claessens, A., Magnuson, K., Huston, A. C., Klebanov, P., et al. (2007). School readiness and later achievement. Developmental Psychology, 43, 1428–1466.
Eisenberg, N., Valiente, C., Morris, A. S., Fabes, R. A., Cumberland, A., Reiser, M., et al. (2003). Longitudinal relations among parental emotional expressivity, children’s regulation, and quality of socioemotional functioning. Developmental Psychology, 39, 3–18.
Englund, M. M., Luckner, A. E., Whaley, G. J., & Egeland, B. (2004). Children’s achievement in early elementary school: longitudinal effects of parental involvement, expectations, and quality of assistance. Journal of Educational Psychology, 96, 723–730.
Fergusson, D., & Horwood, L. (1995). Early disruptive behavior, IQ, and school achievement and delinquent behavior. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 23, 183–199.
Fluharty, N. B. (2001). Fluharty 2: Fluharty preschool speech and language screen test (2nd ed.). Austin: Pro-Ed.
Friedman-Weieneth, J. L., Harvey, E. A., Youngwirth, S. D., & Goldstein, L. H. (2007). The relation between 3-year-old children’s skills and their hyperactivity, inattention, and aggression. Journal of Educational Psychology, 99, 671–681.
Gross, H. E., Shaw, D. S., Burwell, R. A., & Nagin, D. S. (2009). Transactional processes in child disruptive behavior and maternal depression: a longitudinal study from early childhood to adolescence. Development and Psychopathology, 21, 139–156.
Hinshaw, S. P. (1992). Externalizing behavior problems and academic underachievement in childhood and adolescence: causal relationships and underlying mechanisms. Psychological Bulletin, 111, 127–155.
Lunkenheimer, E. S., Dishion, T. J., Shaw, D. S., Connell, A. M., Gardner, F., Wilson, M., et al. (2008). Collateral benefits of the Family Check-Up on early childhood school readiness: indirect effects of parents’ positive behavior support. Developmental Psychology, 44, 1737–1752.
MacKinnon, D. P., Fritz, M. S., Williams, J., & Lockwood, C. M. (2007). Distribution of the product confidence limits for the indirect effect: Program PRODCLIN. Behavior Research Methods, 39, 384–389.
Massetti, G. M., Lahey, B. B., Pelham, W. E., Loney, J., Ehrhardt, A., Lee, S. S., et al. (2008). Academic achievement over 8 years among children who met modified criteria for AD/HD at 4–6 years of age. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 36, 399–410.
Merrell, C., & Tymms, P. (2001). Inattention, hyperactivity, impulsiveness: impact on academic achievement and progress. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 71, 43–56.
Moilanen, K. L., & Shaw, D. S. (2010). Developmental cascades: externalizing, internalizing and academic competence from middle childhood to early adolescence. Development and Psychopathology, 22, 635–653.
Muthén, B., & Muthén, L. (2007). Mplus user’s guide (4th ed.). Los Angeles.
Patterson, G. R., Reid, J. B., & Dishion, T. J. (1992). Antisocial boys. Eugene: Castalia.
Rapport, M. D., Scanlan, S. W., & Denney, C. B. (1999). Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and scholastic achievement: a model of dual development pathways. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 40, 1169–1183.
Robinson, E. A., Eyberg, S. M., & Ross, A. W. (1980). The standardization of an inventory of child conduct problem behaviors. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 9, 22–28.
Sanson, A., Smart, D., Prior, M., & Oberklaid, F. (1993). Precursors of hyperactivity and aggression. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 32, 1207–1216.
Saudino, K. J., & Plomin, R. (2007). Why are hyperactivity and academic achievement related? Child Development, 78, 972–986.
Shaw, D. S., Lacourse, E., & Nagin, D. S. (2005). Developmental trajectories of conduct problems and hyperactivity from ages 2 to 10. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 46, 931–942.
Shaw, D. S., Connell, A., Dishion, T. J., Wilson, M. N., & Gardner, F. (2009). Improvements in maternal depression as a mediator of intervention effects on early childhood problem behavior. Development and Psychopathology, 21, 417–439.
Shinn, M. R., Ramsey, E., Walker, H. M., Stieber, S., & O’Neill, R. E. (1987). Antisocial behavior in school settings: Initial differences in an at risk and normal population. The Journal of Special Education, 21, 69–84.
Stipek, D., & Miles, S. (2008). Effects of aggression on achievement: does conflict with the teacher make it worse? Child Development, 79, 1721–1735.
Taylor, L. C., Clayton, J. D., & Rowley, S. J. (2004). Academic socialization: understanding parental influences on children’s school-related development in the early years. Review of General Psychology, 8, 163–178.
Tremblay, R. E., Masse, B., Perron, D., Leblanc, M., Schwartzman, A. E., & Ledingham, J. E. (1992). Early disruptive behavior, poor school achievement, delinquent behavior, and delinquent personality: Longitudinal analyses. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 60, 64–72.
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, 617–629.
Waschbusch, D. A. (2002). A meta-analytic examination of comorbid hyperactive-impulsive-attention problems and conduct problems. Psychological Bulletin, 128, 118–150.
Wilson, J. M., & Marcotte, A. C. (1996). Psychosocial adjustment and educational outcome in adolescents with a childhood diagnosis of Attention Deficit Disorder. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 35, 579–587.
Woodcock, R., McGrew, K., & Mather, N. (2001). Woodcock-Johnson III tests of achievement. Itasca: Riverside Publishing.
Young, S., & Amarasinghe, J. (2010). Practitioner review: non–pharmacological treatments for ADHD: a lifespan approach. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 51, 116–133.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Brennan, L.M., Shaw, D.S., Dishion, T.J. et al. Longitudinal Predictors of School-Age Academic Achievement: Unique Contributions of Toddler-Age Aggression, Oppositionality, Inattention, and Hyperactivity. J Abnorm Child Psychol 40, 1289–1300 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-012-9639-2
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-012-9639-2