The mental health of married, cohabiting, and non-coresident parents with infants.

Objectives: We compared recent parents (married, cohabiting, not cohabiting but romantically involved, and not romantically involved) to examine the association between mental health problems and relationship status.

Methods: We analyzed data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study that followed a cohort of approximately 4900 births in large US cities. Our study included a large oversample of nonmarital births (n=3700) and interviews with both mothers and fathers.

Attachment in boys with early onset conduct problems.

Few studies have examined the association between attachment and psychopathology in samples of clinically diagnosed children or the relation between attachment variables and the continuity of clinical symptoms. Clinic-referred preschool boys (n = 80) with early onset conduct problems (as indicated by diagnoses of Oppositional Defiant Disorder) were compared with a case-matched group of 80 nonproblem boys to determine whether observed attachment behaviors could: (a) differentiate the groups, (b) explain concurrent variation in problem severity within the clinic group, and (c) predict the outcomes of clinic boys 1 and 2 years later. Over half of the clinic boys with early onset conduct problems (54%) exhibited an insecure attachment strategy during reunion, as opposed to 18% of comparison group boys.

Correlates of clinic referral for early conduct problems: variable- and person-oriented approaches.

The current study utilized both variable- and person-oriented analyses to examine correlates of early disruptive behavior problems. Participants included 80 preschool boys referred to a child psychiatry clinic and diagnosed with oppositional defiant disorder (with or without attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder) and 80 case-matched normal comparison boys. The study examined four domains of correlates: vulnerable child characteristics, poor parenting practices, insecure attachment, and adverse family ecology.

Fathering and early onset conduct problems: positive and negative parenting, father-son attachment, and the marital context.

Research literature linking negative and positive aspects of the father-child relationship with early onset conduct problems is reviewed. Evidence from the Preschool Families Project, a longitudinal study of clinic-referred preschool boys at risk for conduct disorder, is presented, including previously unpublished data on father-child attachment. Both negative (e.

Social-cognitive processes in preschool boys with and without oppositional defiant disorder.

The social-cognitive characteristics of 88 preschool boys with Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD) and 80 nondisruptive boys were assessed 3 times over a 2-year period. Three questions were addressed: (1) Do social-cognitive processes (encoding, attribution, problem solving, and response evaluation) distinguish clinic-referred preschool boys from peers without behavior problems? (2) What is the relation between preschoolers' social-cognitive processes and observed problem behavior? (3) Are the social-cognitive processes of clinic boys with ODD influenced by comorbidity with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)? Boys were presented hypothetical, peer-oriented social dilemmas to resolve. At all 3 assessments, clinic boys were twice as likely as were comparison group boys to generate aggressive solutions.