TY - JOUR
T1 - Risking it for Love
T2 - Romantic Relationships and Early Pubertal Development Confer Risk for Later Disruptive Behavior Disorders in African-American Girls Receiving Psychiatric Care
AU - Javdani, Shabnam
AU - Rodriguez, Erin M.
AU - Nichols, Sara R.
AU - Emerson, Erin
AU - Donenberg, Geri R.
N1 - Funding Information:
Acknowledgments This research was supported by a grant from the National Institute of Mental Health (R01MH065155). We thank the mothers and daughters who participated in the study, and gratefully acknowledge the administrators and clinical staff at the outpatient mental health clinics who worked with us to identify eligible families. These data reflect self-reported behaviors that place girls at risk for sexually transmitted infections, including HIV/AIDS, and may not represent girls’ willingness to engage in the behavior.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2014, Springer Science+Business Media New York.
PY - 2014/10/14
Y1 - 2014/10/14
N2 - Disruptive behavior problems (DBP) represent a growing concern for young women (e.g., Snyder and Sickmund, 2006), but gender-specific investigations have been traditionally underrepresented in this area. The purpose of this study is to examine the associations among gender-relevant risk factors for DBP among 217 African American girls in psychiatric care. African American girls, 12–16 years old (M = 14.6; SD = 1.2), and their primary female caregivers (N = 254) were recruited from outpatient mental health clinics and reported on girls’ DBP, heterosexual dating experiences (romantic and sexual), peer relationships, pubertal development, and self-silencing at baseline, 6–, and 12 months. Structural Equation Modeling examined evidence for full versus mediated (via self-silencing) models and the structural relationships (direct and indirect) among key study variables. Results suggest that the full model was a significantly better fit than the mediated model as indicated by a Chi-squared difference test (p < 0.01). In the full model, direct effects of greater romantic dating experiences and lower quality peer relationships at baseline predicted DBP at 12 months. Sexual dating experiences were more strongly linked with DBP at 12 months for early maturing compared to average or later maturing girls. Indirect effects analyses suggested that girls’ suppression of relational needs, assessed through a measure of self-silencing, explained the association between peer relationships and DBP. Findings highlight the importance of the relational context for girls’ DBP, with treatment implications supporting relationship-based models of care, early intervention, and skill building around negotiating needs with peers and partners.
AB - Disruptive behavior problems (DBP) represent a growing concern for young women (e.g., Snyder and Sickmund, 2006), but gender-specific investigations have been traditionally underrepresented in this area. The purpose of this study is to examine the associations among gender-relevant risk factors for DBP among 217 African American girls in psychiatric care. African American girls, 12–16 years old (M = 14.6; SD = 1.2), and their primary female caregivers (N = 254) were recruited from outpatient mental health clinics and reported on girls’ DBP, heterosexual dating experiences (romantic and sexual), peer relationships, pubertal development, and self-silencing at baseline, 6–, and 12 months. Structural Equation Modeling examined evidence for full versus mediated (via self-silencing) models and the structural relationships (direct and indirect) among key study variables. Results suggest that the full model was a significantly better fit than the mediated model as indicated by a Chi-squared difference test (p < 0.01). In the full model, direct effects of greater romantic dating experiences and lower quality peer relationships at baseline predicted DBP at 12 months. Sexual dating experiences were more strongly linked with DBP at 12 months for early maturing compared to average or later maturing girls. Indirect effects analyses suggested that girls’ suppression of relational needs, assessed through a measure of self-silencing, explained the association between peer relationships and DBP. Findings highlight the importance of the relational context for girls’ DBP, with treatment implications supporting relationship-based models of care, early intervention, and skill building around negotiating needs with peers and partners.
KW - Adolescents/Youth
KW - Disruptive behavior disorders
KW - Disruptive behavior problems
KW - Externalizing psychopathology/violence
KW - Mental health
KW - Peers
KW - Pubertal development/early menarche
KW - Romantic partners/dating relationships
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U2 - 10.1007/s10802-014-9875-8
DO - 10.1007/s10802-014-9875-8
M3 - Article
C2 - 24748499
AN - SCOPUS:84919342479
SN - 0091-0627
VL - 42
SP - 1325
EP - 1340
JO - Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology
JF - Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology
IS - 8
ER -