Developmental Pathways to Antisocial Behavior: A Translational Research Program

描述（由申请人提供）：这项研究的总体目标是阐明幼儿如何内化规则和价值观，从而发展良心或道德品质。良心是一个复杂的系统，包括道德情感、行为自我调节、道德理解和道德自我，也许是指导亲社会、遵守规则的行为和防止冷酷、反社会行为的最强大的因素。良心在儿童气质、社会关系和家庭生态之间错综复杂的相互作用中发展。两个研究的适应性和适应不良的途径在良心的发展。研究1将跟踪目前100个低风险家庭的样本。已经收集了母亲、父亲和7、15、25、36和52个月的儿童的独特丰富的、大量的、多方法的、多特征的行为和报告数据。这些丰富的发展历史将与儿童在家庭、学校和同伴环境中的良心和心理健康以及生物措施有关。为此，建议在66、78和96个月时进行广泛的行为和生物学评估。研究2将测试，在一个实验设计，有效的理论为基础的干预，以促进良心的发展，在190个24-42个月大的儿童低收入的母亲，一个人口的风险行为问题。一半的母子二人组将参加为期10周的干预，旨在提高产妇的反应，从而提高母子相互反应的方向（MRO）。反过来，MRO将促进儿童良心和社会道德能力的多个方面，并防止行为问题。在干预前、干预后即刻和干预后6个月获得所有测量值，并与对照组进行比较。母婴行为和影响将在整个项目中进行跟踪。儿童气质，母亲的个性，和生态因素的压力和支持将被检查为调节干预的有效性。研究2将当前的基础研究项目与发展精神病理学和预防科学联系起来。在这两项研究中，分析阐明了因果机制，负责结构之间的联系（调解）和多个因果途径（适度）使用结构方程模型（SEM）。这项工作与公共卫生有关，因为适应性良心是一种有效的内在行为指南，对心理健康和社会道德能力至关重要，而良心不安则标志着反社会障碍。通过关注适应性和适应不良的早期途径，我们阐明了早期发育的风险和保护因素，并将这些知识转化为有效的干预措施。对低风险群体的基本纵向研究和对高风险群体的干预研究将为社会化理论提供信息，并突出对理解和预防反社会行为问题至关重要的情感、社会和生物行为过程。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The overarching goal of this research is to elucidate how young children internalize rules and values, and thus, develop conscience, or moral character. Conscience, a complex system encompassing moral emotions, behavioral self-regulation, moral understanding, and the moral self, is perhaps the single most powerful factor that guides prosocial, rule-abiding behavior and prevents callous, antisocial conduct. Conscience develops in an intricate interplay among child temperament, social relationships, and family ecology. Two studies of adaptive and maladaptive pathways in conscience development are proposed. Study 1 will follow the current sample of 100 low-risk families. Uniquely rich, massive, multi-method, multi- trait behavioral and report data have been collected for mothers, fathers, and children at 7, 15, 25, 36, and 52 months. Those rich developmental histories will be related to children's conscience and mental health in family, school, and peer contexts, and to biological measures. Toward that end, extensive behavioral and biological assessments are proposed at 66, 78, and 96 months. Study 2 will test, in an experimental design, effectiveness of a theory-based intervention to promote conscience development in 190 24-42-month-old children of low-income mothers, a population at risk for conduct problems. Half of the mother-child dyads will participate in a 10-week intervention, designed to increase maternal responsiveness, and thus to enhance mother-child mutually responsive orientation (MRO). MRO, in turn, will promote multiple aspects of children's conscience and socio-moral competence and prevent conduct problems. All measures will be obtained prior to, immediately after, and 6 months after the intervention, and compared to the control group. Maternal and child behavior and affect will be tracked throughout the project. Child temperament, mother personality, and ecological factors of stress and support will be examined as moderating the effectiveness of the intervention. Study 2 bridges the current basic research program with developmental psychopathology and science of prevention. In both studies, analyses elucidate causal mechanisms responsible for links among constructs (mediation) and multiple causal pathways (moderation) using structural equations modeling (SEM). This work is relevant to public health because an adaptive conscience that is an effective inner guide of conduct is critical for mental health and socio-moral competence, whereas disturbances of conscience mark antisocial disorders. By focusing on adaptive and maladaptive early pathways, we elucidate early developmental risk and protective factors and translate this knowledge into an effective intervention. Together, basic longitudinal research on a low-risk group and an intervention study in a high- risk group will inform socialization theory and highlight emotional, social, and biobehavioral processes critical for understanding and preventing antisocial conduct problems.