Longitudinal predictors of competence among African American children: The role of distal and proximal risk factors

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Abstract

In this investigation, we examined the influence of distal and proximal risk factors (family economic hardship, perceived neighborhood threats, intensity of negative life events, maternal alcohol abuse, maternal depression, and poor quality of the home environment) on child competence (externalizing and internalizing problem behaviors and cognitive performance) at ages 5 and 6. These complex interrelationships were examined using four explanatory statistical models: (a) independent–additive, (b) cumulative/exponential, (c) mediating, and (4) interactive. The sample included 217 African American mothers and their children recruited from primary care clinics serving low-income, urban families. Mothers and children participated in annual evaluations that included standardized developmental assessments, home observations, and questionnaires on demographics, children's behavior, and maternal and family functioning. Children demonstrated more behavior problems and scored lower on measures of cognitive performance than national norms at ages 5 and 6. Results supported the four statistical models (although to different degrees) on how and under what conditions distal and proximal risk factors were linked to child competence. Results indicated that distal and proximal risk factors predict cross-sectional models of competence but show limited long-term effect, partly due to the stability and maintenance of behaviors over time. Interventions to prevent behavioral and developmental problems among young children should begin early and target both distal and proximal risk factors.

Introduction

Child competence is conceptualized as children's ability to meet specific developmental goals in such areas as behavior, cognition, language, peer relationships, and school adjustment Garmezy, 1993, Masten & Coatsworth, 1998. Children's ability to meet these goals depends on the degree to which they are able to meet the demands and challenges posed by their proximal and distal environments Bronfenbrenner, 1979, Bronfenbrenner, 1992, Masten & Coatsworth, 1998, Sameroff, 1983.

Understanding the processes that promote or undermine the development of competence is of particular importance for children from low-income communities who have to overcome numerous environmental challenges (McLoyd, 1998). Child competence patterns are set at an early age and are predictive of later competence levels Loeber, 1982, Loeber & Dishion, 1987, Stoolmiller et al., 1995. Researchers have indicated that patterns of antisocial behaviors and deficits in cognitive performance begin as early as 5 and 6 years of age Campbell et al., 1986, Duncan et al., 1994. In this investigation, we focus on children at ages 5 and 6 to understand the early emergence and maintenance of competent behaviors and to identify the processes that lead to the development of these behaviors.

Investigations into the role of ecological risk factors (neighborhood, family, and individual milieu) on child competence have not captured the sensitivity and complexity of the relationships. In this investigation, we propose that research designs should address these complexities if we are to gain an in-depth understanding of the development of child competence in low-income communities. We hypothesize that the impact of ecological risk factors on children's competence can be addressed through four explanatory statistical models: (a) independent–additive, (b) cumulative/exponential, (c) mediating, and (e) interactive. By examining the role of ecological risk factors as predictors and explanatory factors of child competence, we place the proposed conceptual models firmly within the tenets of an ecological framework Bronfenbrenner, 1979, Bronfenbrenner, 1992, Garbarino, 1995.

Six ecological risk factors under consideration in this study include family economic hardship, neighborhood threats, intensity of negative life events, maternal alcohol abuse, maternal depression, and poor quality of the home environment. These risk factors have been found to predispose children to negative health and adjustment problems (e.g., Attar et al., 1994, Guerra et al., 1995, Myers et al., 1992), and can be organized under two sections: distal and proximal.

In this investigation, distal risk factors include family economic hardship, neighborhood threats, intensity of negative life events, and maternal alcohol abuse. Family economic hardship is a particularly detrimental risk factor for children below the age of 6 (Duncan et al., 1994). According to the National Center for Children in Poverty (1999), children who experience financial strain are also exposed to other risks (often found to coexist with economic hardship), such as single parenthood, low levels of maternal education, parental drug and substance abuse, and overcrowded family settings. Poverty in urban settings has been linked to low child IQ Duncan et al., 1994, McLoyd, 1998 and behavior problems (Patterson, Kupersmidt, & Vaden, 1990).

In addition to economic hardship, low-income urban families live in unfavorable, unhealthy surroundings with limited access to public and private resources Black & Krishnakumar, 1998, Children's Defense Fund, 1991, McLoyd, 1998. Investigations into the quality of neighborhood settings have traditionally focused on the structural characteristics of neighborhoods, such as median family incomes, number of single-parent households, availability of public services, and number of public assistance recipients as markers of neighborhood quality Burton et al., 1997, Gonzales et al., 1996, Martinez et al., 2002. However, these characteristics represent distal environmental settings that may not be part of what families consider their immediate neighborhood (Gonzales et al., 1996). Hence, there has been a movement to replace the use of structural characteristics of neighborhoods with residents' subjective perceptions about safety and social interactions Aber et al., 1997, Burton et al., 1997, Gonzales et al., 1996, Martinez et al., 2002, O'Neil et al., 2001. Because family perceptions of localities are influenced by the community resources and reflect neighborhood practices, opportunities, and limitations, they capture aspects of the environment that are more pertinent to families than broad objective ratings Coleman, 1988, Gonzales et al., 1996, O'Neil et al., 2001, Sampson & Groves, 1989.

Families living in the same physical neighborhood setting may perceive their neighborhoods very differently. Based on their perceptions of opportunities, supports, or threats from their neighborhood settings, parents may encourage or limit their social exchanges with their neighbors and their investment in neighborhood activities. Perceived negative aspects of neighborhoods have been linked to lower levels of child competence, such as low IQ, school dropouts, teenage pregnancies, and child problem behaviors Attar et al., 1994, Brooks-Gunn et al., 1993, Burton & Jarrett, 2000, McLoyd, 1990, Wyman et al., 1991. Maternal perceptions of crime and safety in their neighborhoods appear to affect how parents manage their children and their level of community participation Burton & Jarrett, 2000, Jarrett, 1995. Parental concerns about the safety and health consequences of urban neighborhoods are associated with greater parental supervision and control of their children, increased harsh/inconsistent parenting, and lower levels of nurturant and involved parenting Brody et al., 2001, O'Neil et al., 2001.

In addition to family economic hardship and neighborhood threats, negative life events such as job loss, death of a parent, divorce, illness, or violence present challenges to family life (e.g., Tolan, 1988). The intensity of feelings associated with these negative of life events has been linked to children's delinquency (Tolan, 1988), aggression (Attar et al., 1994), and depression (Compas, Howell, Phares, Williams, & Giunta, 1989). Emotions from negative life events tend to spill over into family life, thereby undermining the quality of the home environment and affecting child competence.

Parental alcohol abuse is another family risk factor that has a detrimental impact on children's competence. Children from families where there is alcohol abuse are likely to exhibit deficits in cognitive performance and elevated levels of externalizing and internalizing behaviors Jacob & Johnson, 1997, Puttler et al., 1998, Seilhamer & Jacob, 1990, West & Prinz, 1987. The impact of parental alcohol abuse on children's competence is heightened when it occurs in combination with other ecological risk factors. High levels of family conflict and low levels of cohesion are often characteristic of the child-rearing environments in families with alcohol abuse Miller et al., 1999, Seilhamer & Jacob, 1990, Sher, 1991, West & Prinz, 1987. Parental alcohol abuse often co-occurs with parental psychopathology Chassin et al., 1991, Johnson & Jacob, 1995, authoritarian or punitive parenting practices (Ellis, Zucker, & Fitzgerald, 1997), and altered family practices (Wolin, Bennett, Noonan, & Teitelbaum, 1980), thereby creating an atmosphere of unhealthy family life that can hamper child functioning.

In this investigation, proximal risk factors include maternal depression and the quality of the home environment. Maternal depression is associated with children's behavioral problems, including depression (Weissman & Boyd, 1985), aggression, attention deficit disorders, anxiety, and social incompetence (Dodge, 1990). The family's sociocultural context can negatively impact parental dispositions and create depraved and unstimulating home environments. Children's exposure to developmentally unstimulating environments (characterized by physical deprivation, restriction and punishment, limited emotional and verbal responsivity, and few opportunities for variety in daily stimulation) is associated with negative child outcomes, especially low cognitive performance (e.g., Gottfried, 1984, Hart & Risley, 1992, McLoyd, 1998, Morisset et al., 1990).

Although researchers have investigated the role of neighborhood, family, and individual risk factors on various aspects of child competence, few have captured the role of multiple risk factors on child competence in one investigation. Rutter (1989) and Seifer and Sameroff (1987) have suggested that exposure to multiple risk factors is more detrimental to children's lives than exposure to a single risk factor. In this investigation, we advance the study of the impact of multiple risk factors on child competence by testing four statistical models that examine how and under what conditions these risk factors impact child competence. The models include (a) independent–additive model, (b) cumulative/exponential model, (c) mediating model, and (d) interactive model.

The independent–additive model examines the impact of independent variables on outcome variables (Aiken & West, 1991). In this study, the independent–additive model examines the impact of ecological risk factors (stack up of distal and proximal risk factors) on child competence. The independent–additive model often uses an additive linear approach to model testing and does not usually include a test for a curvilinear relationship. In this investigation, we examine both the linear and curvilinear effects of ecological risk factors on child competence. The curvilinear relationship is evaluated by entering every ecological risk factor as a squared term.

The cumulative/exponential risk model, proposed by Rutter (1979) and Sameroff, Seifer, Zax, and Barocas (1987), examines whether an index of risk exposure (exposure at low/moderate or at high level on each risk factor) undermines child competence. The curvilinear relationship is evaluated by squaring the cumulative risk variable. For example, if beyond the linear impact, the squared term explains additional variance, the results would indicate a threshold effect of cumulative risk on child competence. The cumulative/exponential model lacks the specificity regarding which risk factor is the strongest predictor of child competence.

The mediating model examines the pathways of association between independent variables and dependent variables through intervening variables (Baron & Kenny, 1986). In this investigation, a proposed mediating model suggests that proximal risk factors (maternal depression and poor quality of the home environment) mediate the relationship between distal risk factors (family economic hardship, neighborhood threats, intensity of negative life events, and maternal alcohol abuse) and various aspects of child competence (see Fig. 1). In investigations conducted with adolescents, the pathways of association between economic risk factors and youth behavior problems were mediated through harsh and punitive parenting behaviors, low nurturant parenting, and parents' depression Conger et al., 1992, Conger et al., 1994, Ge et al., 1994. McLoyd, Jayaratne, Ceballo, and Borquez (1994) found that the relationship between unemployment stress and child competence was mediated through maternal depression and ineffective parenting practices. Taylor, Roberts, and Jacobson (1997) found that the relationship between health-related life event stress and parenting behaviors (acceptance and firm control) was mediated through maternal depression. Other investigations among African American families have found relationships between neighborhood threats and parental depressive symptoms (Roberts & Taylor, 1995) and between parental depressive symptoms and child adjustment (e.g., Hutcheson et al., 1997, McLoyd et al., 1994). Findings from these investigations provide support for various aspects of the mediating model.

The interactive model examines whether the strength of the relationship between the independent and dependent variable varies based on the level of a third variable (Aiken & West, 1991). In this investigation, we examine whether the links between distal risk factors and child competence are weakened or strengthened by proximal risk factors (entered as an interaction between the distal and proximal risk factor). In other words, the model examines whether the proximal risk factor functions as a stress-exacerbating or -buffering agent in the relationship between the distal risk factor and child competence.

All four statistical models were examined cross-sectionally and longitudinally. In the cross-sectional models, ecological risk factors at age 5 were proposed as predictors of child competence at age 5, and in the longitudinal models, ecological risk factors at age 5 were proposed as predictors of child competence at age 6 (after controlling for competent behaviors at age 5). This was done to examine the predictors of child competence in the short term, maintenance of competent behaviors over time, and the spill over of ecological risk factors in the long term.

Section snippets

Procedures

The 217 African American mothers and their children in this investigation were enrolled in an ongoing longitudinal study of urban low-income families recruited from two inner-city pediatric clinics. Eligibility criteria for children from both clinics included age younger than 25 months; gestational age at least 36 weeks; birth weight appropriate for gestational age; no significant history of perinatal complications; and the absence of congenital disorders, chronic illness, or developmental

Results

Following comparison of child competence with standardized norms, the results are presented for each of the four explanatory statistical models under investigation: (a) independent–additive, (b) cumulative/exponential, (c) mediating, and (d) interactive.

Discussion

This investigation examined the impact of proximal and distal ecological risk factors on children's competence using four statistical models. Each model provided unique information regarding the challenges facing low-income, urban minority children, thereby extending the literature beyond the identification of risk factors to understanding how and under what conditions risk factors were linked to children's competence at ages 5 and 6. By doing so, we advance the theoretical understanding of the

Conclusion and implications

In this investigation, we examined the role of distal and proximal risk factors and child competence within the framework of a single model within an ecological framework. The association between ecological risks and child competence was examined using four statistical models, a longitudinal design, and three aspects of child competence—internalizing behaviors, externalizing behaviors, and cognitive performance.

By early childhood, many children from low-income, urban African American families

Acknowledgements

This investigation is supported, in part, by grants MCJ-240568 and MCJ-240621 from the Maternal and Child Health Research Program (Title V, Social Security Act), Health Resources and Services Administration and grant 90CA401 from the National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect. We would like to thank the other members of the Growth and Development team and the families who participated in the project.

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