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This study examines the development of
childhood antisocial behavior in a three-generation prospective
panel study. Children of the current subjects of the Rochester Youth
Development Study (RYDS) will be the focal subjects of a new
long-term study. In 1988, a sample of 1000 high risk adolescents
from Rochester, New York, were enrolled in the RYDS. They will be in
their mid-20s at the beginning of this study of their children.
There are two general issues to be investigated. One aim is to
examine intergenerational continuity and discontinuity over a
range of antisocial behaviors, including their onset, course, and
severity. The second aim is to identify mediating processes to
explain the intergenerational transmission of antisocial behavior.
Since there will be 10 years of data on the parents and grandparents
of these children, it should be possible to examine how the parent's
own development influences their transition to adulthood and their
behavior as parents. In Year 1, the investigators will group the
children into three cohorts: 2-3, 4-5, 6-8 year-olds, and enroll
them in the study. New 2-3 year-old cohorts will be enrolled in
Years 3 and 5. Annually, they plan to interview the child, the
parent who has been a member of the RYDS, and the child's other
primary caregiver. In Years 1, 3, and 5, they plan to observe dyadic
interactions between the child and each of these caregivers. Data
will also be collected from teachers, schools, and other agencies.
Measures include the young parent's structural position and
stressors, antisocial behavior and prosocial bonds, peer friendship
networks, and parenting behaviors. The manner in which these
attributes unfold over the parent's life-course will be used to
explain the development of the child's antisocial behaviors and
prosocial competencies, as well as their interrelations over the
life course. Almost 300 children 5-8 years of age will be enrolled
at the beginning of the study, and almost 400 by the end of five
years' scheduled duration. There will be multimethod, multiagent
assessments, with a primary focus on the family. Dyadic interactions
will be videotaped in the home with two adult caretakers, including
the parent who is the member of the RYDS and another principal
caretaker. Information will be obtained as well from schools and
other agencies. The parent's adolescent development and early adult
life course as a parent will be used to help understand the child's
antisocial behaviors, prosocial bonds, and their interrelationships. |
