Are persistent early onset XXXX conduct problems predicted by the trajectories and initial levels of discipline practices?

@entity1 @entity713
UNASSIGNED: In the present investigation we focused on 2 broad sets of questions: Do parental overreactivity, laxness, and corporal punishment show evidence of normative change in early to middle childhood? Are persistently elevated @entity1 @entity713 ( @entity713 ) associated with deviations from normative changes in, as well as high initial levels of, discipline practices? Four hundred fifty-three couples with 3- to 7-year-old @entity1 were recruited via random digit dialing and studied at 3 annual assessments. Parents completed questionnaire measures of all study constructs. Normative declines were found in maternal corporal punishment and laxness. Maternal overreactivity showed a normative increase. For fathers, only corporal punishment showed evidence of a normative decline. The declines in mothers' corporal punishment and laxness, and in fathers' corporal punishment, exhibited little variability. In contrast, the trajectories of maternal overreactivity were significantly variable. High-increasing @entity713 were more common than low-stable @entity713 in families with greater increases in maternal overreactivity. High-increasing @entity713 were also more common in families with greater initial maternal overreactivity and corporal punishment. Yet in no case did discipline practices significantly distinguish @entity1 on high-increasing versus high-decreasing @entity713 trajectories. In tests of alternative models, @entity1 effects were found for all parenting variables, suggesting reciprocal causation. The findings are discussed relative to etiological models of @entity713 and implications for preventive intervention. (PsycINFO Database Record
