TY - JOUR
T1 - Child Psychopathology and Environmental Influences
T2 - Discrete Life Events versus Ongoing Adversity
AU - JENSEN, PETER S.
AU - RICHTERS, JOHN
AU - USSERY, TODD
AU - BLOEDAU, LINDA
AU - DAVIS, HARRY
PY - 1991
Y1 - 1991
N2 - Patterns of exposure to distinct types of life stressors were compared between 134 children attending a military child psychiatric clinic and a matched military community control sample. Compared with the community sample, clinic-referred children had experienced significantly higher levels of normative stressful events as well as events confounded with their own adjustment and events related to parental psychosocial functioning. Differences in levels of normative stressful events were no longer significant, however, when controlling for events related to parental functioning. Ratings of stressful events during the past year significantly underestimated the lifetime stress exposure differences between clinic and community control children. Although normative stressful events, parent-related events, and parent symptomatology ratings were significantly related to child behavior problem ratings, normative stressful events did not contribute to predictions of child behavior problems beyond the variance attributable to parent-related events and parent symptomatology. Implications of these findings for life stress and child maladjustment research are discussed.
AB - Patterns of exposure to distinct types of life stressors were compared between 134 children attending a military child psychiatric clinic and a matched military community control sample. Compared with the community sample, clinic-referred children had experienced significantly higher levels of normative stressful events as well as events confounded with their own adjustment and events related to parental psychosocial functioning. Differences in levels of normative stressful events were no longer significant, however, when controlling for events related to parental functioning. Ratings of stressful events during the past year significantly underestimated the lifetime stress exposure differences between clinic and community control children. Although normative stressful events, parent-related events, and parent symptomatology ratings were significantly related to child behavior problem ratings, normative stressful events did not contribute to predictions of child behavior problems beyond the variance attributable to parent-related events and parent symptomatology. Implications of these findings for life stress and child maladjustment research are discussed.
KW - child psychopathology
KW - children's symptomatology
KW - parental psychopathology
KW - stress
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U2 - 10.1097/00004583-199103000-00021
DO - 10.1097/00004583-199103000-00021
M3 - Article
C2 - 2016236
AN - SCOPUS:0025896838
SN - 0890-8567
VL - 30
SP - 303
EP - 309
JO - Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
JF - Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
IS - 2
ER -