Learning and Environment

Factors in the Environment

• Community

• Family

• School

• Peers

Community

• Economics

• Crime

• School Support

• Exposure to Violence

Poverty

• Lifting children out of poverty can diminish some psychiatric symptoms.

• Decline in rates of deviant and aggressive behaviors linked to rise in incomes.

E. Jane Costello.

Poverty

• Moving out of poverty

– Decrease in frequency of psychiatric symptoms

– Little effect anxiety and depression observed

– Mediated by one factor: level of parental supervision

– Strongest for behavioral symptoms (CD, ODD)

• Adding to the income of never-poor families had no effect on frequency of psychiatric symptoms

Family

• SES• Family Size• Parent Education• Parent

Psychopathology• Siblings• Alcohol / Drug Use• Abuse

Family• Maltreatment Types

– Physical Maltreatment (punishment, abuse, family violence)

– Sexual Abuse– Psychological Maltreatment

(Neglect, emotional abuse, poor caretaking)

• Predictive of other maltreatment

• Negative family background strong predictors of:

– level of physical abuse– psychological maltreatment– neglect– witnessing family violence

Adjustment

• The nature of the family environment contributed to adjustment (positive or maladjustment)

– Insecurity– Fragmentation– Poor parental relationships during childhood– Alcohol / drug abuse– Parent psychopathology

• Specific maltreating behaviors have an immediate impact on children’s well-being

• Chronic aspects of the dysfunctional environment (e.g., parental attitudes and family dynamics) associated with the long-term adjustment problems of adults.

Negative/Positive Parenting

• Ineffective or uncaring parenting was a powerful predictor of adult failure (Doll and Lyon, 1998)

• Differentiation among positive parenting, parental involvement, poor monitoring and supervision, inconsistent discipline and corporal punishment

– The negative, but not the positive, scales were found to be predictive of behavior problems in children

– Positive parenting not evaluated as a moderator between negative parenting and behavior problems (Frick, 1994; Shelton et al., 1996)

Schools

• Quality• Approach to Troubling

Behavior• High Suspension /

Low Suspension

• Academic Opportunities

• Level of Engagement• Available Services

Reading and EBD

• Well documented link between reading problems, conduct disorders, and delinquency problems, (Hinshaw & Hinshaw, 1992; Kazdin, 1987)

• 71% of children with EBD experience clinically significant language deficits (Benner, Nelson, Epstein, 2002)

• 57% of students with language deficits experience EBD (Benner, Nelson, Epstein, 2002)

PBIS

• Utilize three-tiered system– School-wide– Classroom– Individual

• Based on sound hypothetical interventions

• Spurious findings on effectiveness– Why???????

Peers

• Availability of Positive Peer Interactions

• Adequate Supervision of Peer Relations

• Exposure to Deviant Peers

• Reliance on Friendships

Peers and Internalization

• 305 adolescents with no mutual friends, non-deviant friends, or deviant friends at age 13

• Adolescents with deviant friends

– More delinquent than the other 2 groups– Similar levels of depression as friendless youth– Less lonely than friendless youth

• Friendships with deviant peers may protect against complete isolation / loneliness

Risk Factors

• Cumulative risk factors– Increase in juvenile court petitions – Decrease in high school or GED completion– Increased risk of delinquency– Increased psychopathology– Increased Risk of incarceration– Increased risk of unemployment– Increased risk of substance abuse

Protective Factors

• Preschool intervention• Parent participation in early school experiences• Ability to be task oriented• Increased Supervision• Academic Success• Nurturing home environment• Positive school environment

Other Adults Home

Parents

Teachers

SchoolStaff

Individual

Peers

Siblings

Other AdultsCommunity

BEHAVIOR