Socialization Mediators of the Relation between Socioeconomic Status and Child Conduct Problems

• Published in: Child development Vol. 65; no. 2; pp. 649 - 665
• Main Authors: Dodge, Kenneth A., Pettit, Gregory S., Bates, John E.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States University of Chicago Press 01.04.1994; University of Chicago Press for the Society for Research in Child Development, etc; Blackwell Publishing Ltd
• Subjects: Aggression; Aggression - psychology; Behavior; Behavior Problems; Child; Child Behavior Disorders - prevention & control; Child Behavior Disorders - psychology; Child development; Child discipline; Child of Impaired Parents - psychology; Child, Preschool; Children; Conduct disorders; Early Childhood Education; Family Environment; Female; Human aggression; Humans; Internal-External Control; Life Change Events; Male; Mediators; Minority Groups - psychology; Mother-Child Relations; Mothers; Parenting - psychology; Parents; Peer Relationship; Personality Assessment; Poverty - psychology; Predictor Variables; Risk Factors; Social classes; Social research; Social Support; Socialization; Socioeconomic Factors; Socioeconomic Status; Socioeconomics; Sociometric Techniques; T score; Teacher Attitudes; Young children
• ISSN: 0009-3920; 1467-8624
• DOI: 10.2307/1131407

The goal was to examine processes in socialization that might account for an observed relation between early socioeconomic status and later child behavior problems. A representative sample of 585 children (n=51 from the lowest socioeconomic class) was followed from preschool to grade 3. Socioeconomic status assessed in preschool significantly predicted teacher-rated externalizing problems and peer-rated aggressive behavior in kindergarten and grades 1, 2, and 3. Socioeconomic status was significantly negatively correlated with 8 factors in the child's socialization and social context, including harsh discipline, lack of maternal warmth, exposure to aggressive adult models, maternal aggressive values, family life stressors, mother's lack of social support, peer group instability, and lack of cognitive stimulation. These factors, in turn, significantly predicted teacher-rated externalizing problems and peer-nominated aggression and accounted for over half of the total effect of socioeconomic status on these outcomes. These findings suggest that part of the effect of socioeconomic status on children's aggressive development may be mediated by status-related socializing experiences.