Models of intelligence in late life: comment on Hultsch et al. (1999).

The authors comment on D. F. Hultsch, C. Hertzog, B. J. Small, and R. A. Dixon's (1999) report of the latest results of the Victoria Longitudinal Study, which are presented as a test of the engagement hypothesis, and on their reanalysis of the data from the Veterans Study (Pushkar Gold et al., 1995), which proposes an alternative model of intellectual function. Differences between the methodologies, variables, and concepts of engaged lifestyle in the 2 studies lead to different tests of the engagement hypothesis and different conclusions. Failure to report specified paths and unjustified assumptions lessen the credibility of the Hultsch et al. model for the Veterans Study data. The authors conclude that their original model, which indicates a small but significant effect of engaged adult lifestyle on the maintenance of intellectual verbal abilities in later life, provides a better explanation of the Veterans Study data.

Intergenerational transfer of psychosocial risk in women with childhood histories of aggression, withdrawal, or aggression and withdrawal.

Intergenerational transfer of risk between mothers and children, based on mothers' childhood aggression and social withdrawal, was examined in an inner-city sample. Each of the 3 studies reported involved a subset of the 909 female participants in the Concordia Longitudinal Risk Project, initiated when the participants were of school age. Using medical records, Study 1 (n = 853) focused on prediction of teen motherhood, delivery complications during childbirth, multiparity, and close spacing of births. Study 2 (n = 428) examined pathways to school dropout and teen parenthood. Study 3 (n = 89) involved prediction of observed parent and child behavior from mothers' childhood characteristics. Mothers' childhood aggression was consistently predictive of negative outcomes in each area of intergenerational risk, especially when combined with social withdrawal and low levels of academic achievement. Education was protective: Mothers' years of schooling predicted positive outcomes.

Longitudinal study of early childhood injuries and acute illnesses in the offspring of adolescent mothers who were aggressive, withdrawn, or aggressive-withdrawn in childhood.

In a 15-year longitudinal study, the medical records of 94 children whose adolescent mothers had childhood histories of aggressive, withdrawn, aggressive-withdrawn, or normative (nondeviant) social behavior were examined. The children's annual rates of visits to the emergency room (ER) and to nonemergency medical facilities, post-ER hospitalizations, diagnoses of injuries, acute illness and infection, asthma, and emergency surgical consultations were examined between birth and 48 months of age. Group differences were found for the annual rate at which children were brought to the ER and for injury-related post-ER hospitalizations. Sons of women in the aggressive group and both sons and daughters of women in the aggressive-withdrawn group had elevated and distinctive profiles in respect to specific emergency diagnostic and treatment variables compared with children of women in the nondeviant group.

Early disruptive behavior, poor school achievement, delinquent behavior, and delinquent personality: longitudinal analyses.

Three alternative models concerning the causal links between early disruptive behavior, poor school achievement, and delinquent behavior or antisocial personality were tested with linear structural equation modeling. Subjects were boys and girls followed from first grade to age 14. Disruptive behavior was assessed in Grade 1; school achievement was assessed in Grades 1 and 4; delinquent behavior and antisocial personality were assessed at age 14. With regard to self-reported delinquent behavior at age 14, results indicate that the best model for boys was a direct causal link between Grade 1 disruptive behavior and delinquent behavior. Poor school achievement was not a necessary causal factor. For girls, none of the tested models were a good fit to the delinquent behavior data. As for delinquent personality, results indicate that, for both boys and girls, poor school achievement was a necessary component of the causal path between Grade 1 disruptive behavior and age 14 delinquent personality.

A longitudinal study of competence in elderly veterans: the role of alcohol and education.

Follow-up examinations were made of 326 World War II veterans who had served in the Canadian army and for whom enlistment data were available for 1942-45. The veterans were classified into three groups on the basis of their alcohol-related behavior and educational attainments following military service. Eighteen men who had identified themselves as alcoholics were compared to 159 nonalcoholic men who had obtained post-service education and 149 nonalcoholic men who had not obtained post-service education. At time of enlistment the 159 nonalcoholic men who subsequently obtained additional education after their army service had not differed on socioeconomic background but had had significantly more years of education and had scored significantly higher on five of the eight subtests of the Army M test of intelligence than had the other two groups. Examination of current performance revealed that alcoholic and nonalcoholic men with no post-service education continued to function significantly more poorly on the same M Test subtests, and in addition functioned more poorly on socioeconomic criteria, daily functioning, adjustment and personality measures than did the group of veterans with post-service education. Compared to the nonalcoholic veterans who had not gained post-service additional education, the alcoholic group functioned more poorly on measures of health, coping with stress and adjustment. The results are discussed, emphasizing the influence of alcohol and education on psychological functioning in later life.

Painting group portraits: studying life outcomes for aggressive and withdrawn children.

Aggression and social withdrawal have long been of interest to personality psychologists. The present article presents a longitudinal study of the development of children selected from a community sample who were high on aggression and withdrawal. The selection of outcome variables is discussed, and outcomes during adolescence are described. For both males and females, high aggressiveness was predictive of low intelligence, poor school achievement, and psychiatric problems. For females, high aggressiveness was also predictive of general health problems. High social withdrawal was predictive of poor school achievement. Females who were high on withdrawal also had an elevated rate of abortions. Individuals who were high on both aggression and withdrawal had relatively poor social competence, had general problems with behavior, had low intelligence, and were performing poorly in school.

The predictive power of first-grade peer and teacher ratings of behavior: sex differences in antisocial behavior and personality at adolescence.

Peer and teacher assessments of aggression, social withdrawal, and likability using the Pupil Evaluation Inventory were recorded for 104 French Canadian girls and boys in grade 1. Self-reported delinquency and personality measures were administered to these children when they were in junior high school 7 years later. Linear regression analyses revealed significant predictive differences between the grade 1 assessment of girls and boys: For antisocial behavior, teacher and peer assessments of boys were equally good predictors, and the combination of the two assessments did not improve prediction; for girls, peer and teacher assessments taken separately were weak predictors, but, taken together, they were better predictors for girls than for boys; for personality, peers were better predictors than teachers both for girls and for boys. When categorical analyses were used to predict extreme antisocial behavior, peer and teacher assessments were equally good predictors for girls and boys. The use of peer and teacher ratings together, however, decreased the number of false positives. The implications of these findings for research and clinical work are discussed.

[The evaluation of difficult children.]. / L'évolution des enfants difficiles.

In this article, the authors discuss a study carried out during a Concordia Longitudinal Risk Project that deals with the adjustment of socially atypical children in their adolescent years. More precisely, they try to answer the following question : What child behaviors and which tangents of their development lead to major psychological problems as an adolescent and as an adult? After a complex analysis of various factors, their results indicate that children perceived as aggressive, keeping to themselves or often aggressive and keeping to themselves because of peer pressure, are liable to have problems in their adolescent years. The authors then elaborate on the difficulties experienced by each of these three groups.

A 3-year follow-up of aggressive and withdrawn behavior in childhood: preliminary findings.

The school placement of 122 aggressive, 150 withdrawn, 182 aggressive-withdrawn, and 299 control children was determined 3 years following their original selection. Children identified by peers as aggressive-withdrawn or aggressive were more likely to have failed a grade or to be in a special class than were withdrawn children or controls. Older aggressive-withdrawn subjects and controls, but not aggressive subjects or withdrawn subjects, had higher rates of school failure and special class placement. Fewer boys than girls were in a regular class at the expected grade level. The results underline the importance of childhood aggression as a predictor of later academic adjustment. Implications of these findings for the interpretation of measures of behavioral stability are discussed.

Cognitive changes with aging in schizophrenia.

Hospitalized, male chronic schizophrenics (N = 21) in their late sixties performed as well as those in their early forties when normal age effects were determined on measures of verbal fluency, picture anomaly recognition, tapping speed, and maze learning. The findings contraindicated the Kraepelinian view of schizophrenia as a deteriorative disorder and were more in accord with recent longitudinal evidence of clinical stabilization and amelioration of disruptive symptoms in chronic schizophrenia.