Antecedents of preschool children's internalizing problems: a longitudinal study of low-income families.

OBJECTIVE

To examine antecedents of young children's internalizing problems using research related to emotion regulation to guide prediction.

METHOD

Longitudinal data were collected on 86 low-income mother-child dyads to examine risk factors related to early internalizing problems as measured by the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL).

RESULTS

The following risk factors, assessed during infancy, were related to the development of preschool-age internalizing problems: negative emotionality, disorganized attachment classification, negative life events, exposure to child-rearing disagreements, and parenting hassles. In addition, the interaction of high negative emotionality and exposure to parental conflict added unique variance to the prediction of scores on the CBCL Withdrawal and Depression/Anxiety subscales.

CONCLUSIONS

Children's preschool-age internalizing problems can be identified during infancy from multiple domains related to the development of emotion regulation. Further longitudinal work is encouraged that incorporates direct measurement of children's negative emotionality, parenting, and family factors that influence both parenting and children's emotion regulation.