Heterogeneity of Externalizing and Internalizing Symptoms in Early Childhood: The Role of Peer Relationships
Bibliographic record
Abstract
Previous studies have examined the developmental trajectories of forms of externalizing (e.g., overt aggression, hyperactivity) and internalizing (e.g., anxiety, depression) symptoms, with some attention to heterogeneity in these trajectories across early childhood. How heterogeneity in forms of externalizing symptoms co-occurs with heterogeneity in forms of internalizing symptoms has received less attention. The quality of peer relationships might also differentiate between the co-occurring externalizing and internalizing symptom trajectories. A total of 443 children from diverse ethnic backgrounds were recruited from two preschool programs in Northwestern Canada (47.9% girls and 52.1% boys, Mage = 4.11 years, SD = .35). Children’s externalizing (overt aggression and hyperactivity) and internalizing (anxiety and depression) symptoms were rated by teachers in the fall and spring of preschool and kindergarten. The quality of children’s peer relationships was assessed in the fall of preschool from teacher-reports and observations. Latent Growth Mixture Models (LGMMs) were used to examine heterogeneity in the trajectories of the externalizing and internalizing symptoms constructs. Sequential process LGMMs were used to identify the co-occurring externalizing and internalizing trajectories. Two trajectories were identified for each construct, with the majority of children classified in typical low stable trajectories (85-94%) and a small proportion classified in moderate to high chronic trajectories (5-15%). Four trajectories were identified for the co-occurring externalizing and internalizing trajectories; the majority of children were classified in typical low co-occurring trajectories (76-83%), modest proportions of children were classified in comorbid decreasing trajectories (8-15%), and small proportions of children were classified in comorbid elevated (2-5%) and decreasing anxious symptoms (3-5%) trajectories. Girls were less likely to be classified in the comorbid decreasing trajectories compared to the typical low co-occurring trajectories. Children who experienced more peer rejection and peer conflict and fewer prosocial behaviours in preschool were more likely to be classified in the comorbid decreasing and elevated trajectories. These findings enhance understanding of variation in the co-occurring developmental trajectories of externalizing and internalizing symptoms in early childhood. Intervention strategies for teachers and caregivers to support young children’s development in the classroom and home setting are outlined.
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How this classification was reachedexpand
Full frame machine prediction
Teacher imitationNot calibrated prevalence, not ground truth. Human validation pending. The Gemma side is a direct model label for every work in the frame, read from the title-only record. The Codex side is a classifier learned from the 10,348 direct Codex labels and calibrated to design-weighted sample rates; fields without enough sample support carry no Codex call. Candidate is the union of the two sides; consensus is their intersection. These outputs are machine_predicted_unvalidated and are not human labels.
Distilled classifier scores by category (both heads)
| Category | Codex | Gemma |
|---|---|---|
| Metaresearch | 0.005 | 0.018 |
| Meta-epidemiology (narrow) | 0.001 | 0.000 |
| Meta-epidemiology (broad) | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Bibliometrics | 0.003 | 0.003 |
| Science and technology studies | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Scholarly communication | 0.002 | 0.002 |
| Open science | 0.001 | 0.003 |
| Research integrity | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Insufficient payload (model declined to judge) | 0.001 | 0.000 |
Machine scores (provisional)
The two teacher heads of the student model, read on this work. A score orders the frame for review; it never asserts a category, and the validation status ships verbatim with every row.
Baseline scores from an immature model (maturity gate not passed, 7 training rounds). Scores rank; they never assert a category.
score_only:v0-immature-baseline · verbatim from the scoring run: score_only means the number may rank works, and no category label ships from itClassification
machine, unvalidatedMachine predicted; a candidate call from one source (direct Gemma or distilled Codex), not a consensus.
How this classification was reached, model by model and score by score, is at the end of the page under "How this classification was reached".