TY - JOUR
T1 - Reparative Prosocial Behavior Difficulties across Childhood Predict Poorer Social Functioning and Depression in Adolescence
AU - Donohue, Meghan Rose
AU - Tillman, Rebecca
AU - Luby, Joan
N1 - Funding Information:
All phases of this study were supported by an NIH grant (R01 MH064769-06A1). Dr. Donohue’s work was supported by NIH grant T32 MH100019 (PIs: Barch and Luby).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020, Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.
PY - 2020/8/1
Y1 - 2020/8/1
N2 - Difficulty using reparative behaviors (i.e., prosocial behaviors that individuals use after they have transgressed to cause another’s distress) has been concurrently associated with poorer social functioning and both internalizing and externalizing disorders in children and adults. Despite these associations, no study has examined social and psychological outcomes of children who display consistently low levels of reparative behaviors across childhood. This study used established developmental trajectories of reparative behaviors that span preschool through early adolescence (low-stable, moderate-stable, and high-stable) to predict social and psychological outcomes in adolescence (N = 129). Membership in trajectories characterized by lower levels of reparative behaviors predicted greater social rejection, social withdrawal, aggression, and symptoms of depression in adolescence, even when controlling for baseline levels of each outcome. Membership in the low-stable reparative trajectory also significantly mediated the relationship between high levels of guilt in preschool and greater depression severity in adolescence. Findings suggest that children who display persistently low levels of reparative behaviors may be at-risk for a variety of poorer social and emotional outcomes. Further, preschoolers who display both high levels of guilt and low levels of reparative behaviors may be at particularly high risk for depression recurrence in adolescence. Thus, interventions that teach young children reparative skills and/or promote approach rather than avoidance after transgressions may have important implications for preventing a wide range of poorer social and emotional outcomes in adolescence.
AB - Difficulty using reparative behaviors (i.e., prosocial behaviors that individuals use after they have transgressed to cause another’s distress) has been concurrently associated with poorer social functioning and both internalizing and externalizing disorders in children and adults. Despite these associations, no study has examined social and psychological outcomes of children who display consistently low levels of reparative behaviors across childhood. This study used established developmental trajectories of reparative behaviors that span preschool through early adolescence (low-stable, moderate-stable, and high-stable) to predict social and psychological outcomes in adolescence (N = 129). Membership in trajectories characterized by lower levels of reparative behaviors predicted greater social rejection, social withdrawal, aggression, and symptoms of depression in adolescence, even when controlling for baseline levels of each outcome. Membership in the low-stable reparative trajectory also significantly mediated the relationship between high levels of guilt in preschool and greater depression severity in adolescence. Findings suggest that children who display persistently low levels of reparative behaviors may be at-risk for a variety of poorer social and emotional outcomes. Further, preschoolers who display both high levels of guilt and low levels of reparative behaviors may be at particularly high risk for depression recurrence in adolescence. Thus, interventions that teach young children reparative skills and/or promote approach rather than avoidance after transgressions may have important implications for preventing a wide range of poorer social and emotional outcomes in adolescence.
KW - Aggression
KW - Depression
KW - Guilt
KW - Prosocial behavior
KW - Reparative behavior
KW - Social functioning
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85084450656&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s10802-020-00646-3
DO - 10.1007/s10802-020-00646-3
M3 - Article
C2 - 32388593
AN - SCOPUS:85084450656
VL - 48
SP - 1077
EP - 1088
JO - Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology
JF - Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology
SN - 0091-0627
IS - 8
ER -