From childhood to parenthood : continuity of risk over time and contextual factors perpetuating the inter-generational transfer of risk

The present investigation, comprised of two studies, has as its goal the examination of the continuity of risk over time and across generations associated with aggression and social withdrawal in childhood. More specifically, contextual factors related to financial disadvantage namely, low educational attainment, inadequate social support, and poor quality home environment were considered markers of continued risk as well as pathways to risk transfer. Each of the studies involved a subset of the participants from the Concordia Longitudinal Risk Project. In 1977, children from an inner city area, then aged 7, 10, and 13, were classified along the dimensions of aggression and social withdrawal, based on peer nominations. More than 20 years later, original participants, now parents, were evaluated. The focus of Study 1 was on the pathways to parenting and outcomes for a second generation in a group of women with young children ( n = 112). Study 2 involved an examination of the threats to adequate parenting including high school dropout, early parenthood, and poverty through replication and expansion of work by Serbin and colleagues (1998) with a sample of fathers ( n = 164). Results of both studies indicate intra- and inter-generational continuity, particularly for aggression. Social withdrawal is also found to be a risk factor; however, its role is more indirect, operating primarily through low educational attainment. Finally, within the context of parenthood, poverty and its concomitants are found to be important manifestations of continued risk as well as pathways towards the transfer of risk to a second generation. And while indirect pathways through contextual parenthood variables are found to be important, the direct link observed between parental childhood aggression and negative outcomes in both the cognitive and behavioural domains for offspring is striking. The present findings are discussed in terms of implications for intervention and social policy