Restrictive educational placements increase adolescent risks for students with early-starting conduct problems.

BACKGROUND: Students with early-starting conduct problems often do poorly in school; they are disproportionately placed in restrictive educational placements outside of mainstream classrooms. Although intended to benefit students, research suggests that restrictive placements may exacerbate the maladjustment of youth with conduct problems. Mixed findings, small samples, and flawed designs limit the utility of existing research. METHODS: This study examined the impact of restrictive educational placements on three adolescent outcomes (high school noncompletion, conduct disorder, depressive symptoms) in a sample of 861 students with early-starting conduct problems followed longitudinally from kindergarten (age 5-6). Causal modeling with propensity scores was used to adjust for confounding factors associated with restrictive placements. Analyses explored the timing of placement (elementary vs. secondary school) and moderation of impact by initial problem severity. RESULTS: Restrictive educational placement in secondary school (but not in elementary school) was iatrogenic, increasing the risk of high school noncompletion and the severity of adolescent conduct disorder. Negative effects were amplified for students with conduct problem behavior with less cognitive impairment. CONCLUSIONS: To avoid harm to students and to society, schools must find alternatives to restrictive placements for students with conduct problems in secondary school, particularly when these students do not have cognitive impairments that might warrant specialized educational supports.

Dyadic Interaction: Greater than the Sum of its Parts?

The study of dyadic interaction plays a major role in infancy research. To advance conceptually-informed measurement of dyadic interaction and integration across studies, we examined factor structure of individual parents' and infants' measures and dyadic measures from face-to-face interactions in two samples of 6-mo-old infants and their parents: mothers from a demographically heterogeneous sample (N = 164) and mothers and fathers (N = 156) from a Caucasian middle-class sample. Results suggested: a) individual and dyadic measures, and parents' and infants' behaviors contribute independent information, b) measures of both valence and process are needed, c) there are context-general and context-specific qualities, and d) structure of dyadic interaction is more similar among mother-infant dyads from independent samples than between mother- and father-infant dyads within the same sample. Future research should use multiple measures incorporating valence, temporal processes, contextual influences, and behaviors of individual partners along with dyadic measures to adequately assess the quality of dyadic interaction.

The Timing of School Transitions and Early Adolescent Problem Behavior.

This longitudinal study investigates whether rural adolescents who transition to a new school in sixth grade have higher levels of risky behavior than adolescents who transition in seventh grade. Our findings indicate that later school transitions had little effect on problem behavior between sixth and ninth grades. Cross-sectional analyses found a small number of temporary effects of transition timing on problem behavior: Spending an additional year in elementary school was associated with higher levels of deviant behavior in the Fall of Grade 6 and higher levels of antisocial peer associations in Grade 8. However, transition effects were not consistent across waves and latent growth curve models found no effects of transition timing on the trajectory of problem behavior. We discuss policy implications and compare our findings with other research on transition timing.

The multifaceted impact of peer relations on aggressive-disruptive behavior in early elementary school.

Following a large, diverse sample of 4,096 children in 27 schools, this study evaluated the impact of 3 aspects of peer relations, measured concurrently, on subsequent child aggressive-disruptive behavior during early elementary school: peer dislike, reciprocated friends' aggressiveness, and classroom levels of aggressive-disruptive behavior. Teachers rated child aggressive-disruptive behavior in 1st and 3rd grades, and peer relations were assessed during 2nd grade. Results indicated that heightened classroom aggressive-disruptive behavior levels were related to proximal peer relations, including an increased likelihood of having aggressive friends and lower levels of peer dislike of aggressive-disruptive children. Controlling for 1st grade aggressive-disruptive behavior, the three 2nd grade peer experiences each made unique contributions to 3rd grade child aggressive-disruptive behavior. These findings replicate and extend a growing body of research documenting the multifaceted nature of peer influence on aggressive-disruptive behavior in early elementary school. They highlight the importance of the classroom ecology and proximal peer relations in the socialization of aggressive-disruptive behavior.

Associations between reasons to attend and late-high school dropout.

This study addressed (1) whether there were unique profiles of student self-reported reasons for attending school among 10(th) graders, (2) whether these profiles were differentially associated with late high-school dropout, and (3) whether parent characteristics differed across profiles. Using data from the Educational Longitudinal Study of 2002 (N = 15,362), five latent classes were found. The first class (49%) reported intrinsic, identified/introjected, and external motivations for attending school. The second class (32%) attended for identified/introjected and external reasons, while the third class (11%) reported intrinsic and identified/introjected reasons. The final two classes reported only identified/introjected (5%) or external (4%) motivations. Individuals in the identified/introjected and external classes were at greatest risk of dropping out between 10(th) and 12(th) grade. A host of parenting characteristics differed across class, with students in the intrinsic-identified/introjected-external class displaying the most favorable pattern of results. Implications for dropout prevention and academic promotion programs are discussed.