Bennett David S, Robinson Jourdon, Sullivan Margaret W, Lewis Michael
Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
Caring Together Program, Building C, Box 118, 4700 Wissahickon Avenue, Philadelphia, PA, 19144, USA.
Child Psychiatry Hum Dev. 2025 May 31. doi: 10.1007/s10578-025-01851-1.
Neglected children are at-risk for behavior problems, although the processes by which such problems develop are poorly understood. We examined whether Emotion Knowledge (EK) mediated the relationship between neglect and young children's behavior problems. In a community sample (N = 127), neglect history was assessed at 4.0 years using Child Protective Services records (44% neglected); at 4.5 years children completed an EK assessment (expression recognition; expression labeling; and situational knowledge); and at 6- to 7-years teachers rated children's behavior problems on the Teacher Report Form. Neglect predicted greater total behavior problems (r = .227, p =.035), while the EK composite predicted fewer total behavior problems (r =-.383, p <.001). Neglect did not predict EK (r =-.162, p =.069) nor were indirect effects significant at the 95% credible interval in Bayesian mediation models. While significant mediation was not identified, findings suggest that early screening of EK skills and implementation of interventions to enhance such skills could help to prevent the onset or worsening of behavior problems among young children.
被忽视儿童存在行为问题的风险，尽管此类问题产生的过程尚不清楚。我们研究了情绪知识（EK）是否在忽视与幼儿行为问题之间的关系中起中介作用。在一个社区样本（N = 127）中，利用儿童保护服务记录在4.0岁时评估忽视史（44%被忽视）；在4.5岁时儿童完成一项情绪知识评估（表情识别、表情标注和情境知识）；在6至7岁时教师通过教师报告表对儿童的行为问题进行评分。忽视预示着更多的总体行为问题（r = 0.227，p = 0.035），而情绪知识综合得分预示着更少的总体行为问题（r = -0.383，p < 0.001）。忽视并不能预测情绪知识（r = -0.162，p = 0.069），在贝叶斯中介模型中，95%可信区间的间接效应也不显著。虽然未发现显著的中介作用，但研究结果表明，对情绪知识技能进行早期筛查并实施干预措施以提高此类技能，可能有助于预防幼儿行为问题的发生或恶化。
