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Direct Social Support for Young High Risk Children: Relations with Behavioral and Emotional Outcomes across Time

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Abstract

This study is unique in addressing developmental correlates of direct social support for young children in a high risk sample, in contrast to previous studies addressing social support for caregivers. Participants were drawn from a prospective, longitudinal study of at-risk children. Social support was rated from maternal interviews throughout early childhood. Support from the mother was assessed from mother-child observations. Outcomes included internalizing and externalizing behavior problems measured from first through tenth grades. The most common support providers were biological fathers, followed by grandparents and other providers. Using multilevel modeling, higher quantity, higher quality, and lower disruption of support predicted lower starting levels of behavior problems, controlling for support from the mother. Disruption was associated with change in slope. Gender differences were found for externalizing behavior intercepts. Social support provides a promotive factor for young high risk children. Implications include involving children's social support providers in prevention and intervention programs.

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Acknowledgments

This research was facilitated by grants from the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Child Abuse and Neglect (90CA1719/01) and from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (5T32HD007376-18) to the first author and by a grant from the National Institute of Mental Health (MH 40864-16) to the second and third authors. Portions of the findings were presented in April 2005 at the Society for Research in Child Development in Atlanta, GA, and at the National Conference on Child Abuse and Neglect, in Boston, MA. The first author is grateful for the dedicated efforts of the social support coding team, including Allison Davey, Amy Luckner, Jenn Schwartz, Jess Siebenbruner, Jessica Pleuss, Kristin Frenn, Nicolle McBride Steeber, and Tara Coffey. The authors wish to thank Elizabeth Carlson for her assistance with the conceptualization and coding process and comments on earlier manuscript drafts, as well as Manfred VanDulmen of Kent State University, Chris Wiesen of the University of North Carolina, and Patrick Malone of Duke University, for their technical assistance and consultation regarding the statistical analyses. We also are grateful to three anonymous reviewers who provided guidance for the manuscript. We are deeply indebted to the participants and families of the Minnesota Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children for their generously sharing their lives so that we might better understand human development.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Developmental Science, University of North Carolina, 100 E. Franklin St., CB#8115, Chapel Hill, 27599-8115, NC, USA

    Karen Appleyard

  2. Institute of Child Development, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA

    Byron Egeland & L. Alan Sroufe

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  1. Karen Appleyard
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  2. Byron Egeland
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Correspondence to Karen Appleyard.

Appendix: MLM equations used for modeling internalizing behavior problems

Appendix: MLM equations used for modeling internalizing behavior problems

The following Level 1 equation (with linear and quadratic change terms) was used to determine whether internalizing behavior problem trajectories changed over time:

$$ y_{ij} = {\beta}_{0i} + {\beta}_{1i} L_{ij} + {\beta}_{2i} Q_{ij} + e_{ij} , $$

in which y ij is the internalizing behavior problem score of individual i at time j, β1i is the intercept for individual i, β1i is the linear slope coefficient for individual i, β 2i is the quadratic slope coefficient for individual i, and e ij is individual i’s residual at time j.

To estimate the average effects for the whole sample (i.e., unconditional model), the parameters from the Level 1 models become the outcomes for the Level 2 equations. The Level 2 equations were:

$$ {\beta}_{0i} = y_{00} + u_{0i} $$
$$ {\beta}_{1i} = y_{10} + u_{1i} $$
$$ {\beta}_{2i} = y_{20} + u_{2i} , $$

where y 00 is the average intercept (i.e., behavior problem score at first grade), u 0i is the deviation of individual i’s intercept from the average intercept, y 10 is the average linear slope (i.e., linear change in behavior problems from grade 1 to grade 10), u 1i is the deviation of individual i’s intercept from the average linear slope, y 20 is the average quadratic slope (i.e., quadratic change in behavior problems from grade 1 to grade 10), and u 2i is the deviation of individual i’s intercept from the average quadratic slope.

To estimate associations between the static covariates (i.e., early childhood social support controlling for support from the mother) and behavior problem intercepts and slopes (i.e., conditional models), the following Level 2 equations were used:

$$\displaylines{ {\beta}_{0i} = y_{00} + y_{01} ({\rm EC}\,{\rm SUPPORT}\,{\rm FROM}\,{\rm MOTHER})\cr + y_{02} ({\rm EC}\,{\rm SOCIAL}\,{\rm SUPPORT}) + u_{0i} \cr {\beta}_{1i} = y_{10} + y_{11} ({\rm EC}\,{\rm SUPPORT}\,{\rm FROM}\,{\rm MOTHER})\cr + y_{12} ({\rm EC}\,{\rm SOCIAL}\,{\rm SUPPORT}) + u_{1i} \cr {\beta}_{2i} = y_{20} + y_{21} ({\rm EC}\,{\rm SUPPORT}\,{\rm FROM}\,{\rm MOTHER})\cr + y_{22} ({\rm EC}\,{\rm SOCIAL}\,{\rm SUPPORT}) + u_{2i} , }$$

where y 01 is the association between support from the mother and initial levels of behavior problems, y 02 is the association between social support and initial levels of behavior problems, y 11 is the association between support from the mother and linear change in behavior problem growth, y 12 is the association between social support and linear change in behavior problem growth, y 21 is the association between support from the mother and quadratic change in behavior problem growth, and y22 is the association between social support and quadratic change in behavior problem growth.

Note. The equations for externalizing behavior problems were similar, except that (based on preliminary analyses) the quadratic term was not included and sex was included as a covariate.

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Appleyard, K., Egeland, B. & Sroufe, L.A. Direct Social Support for Young High Risk Children: Relations with Behavioral and Emotional Outcomes across Time. J Abnorm Child Psychol 35, 443–457 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-007-9102-y

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