Objective: Adolescence is a crucial period in the development of psychopathology with nearly 1 in 5 adolescents suffering from a mental health disorder. In addition, more than 40 percent of adolescents with a lifetime psychiatric disorder are estimated to suffer from a co-occurring mental health disorder. Mechanisms underlying the development of comorbidities are still not well understood. Method: Graphical Vector Autoregression models were used to analyse the temporal, contemporaneous and between-person relations of socio-emotional strengths difficulties in early childhood compared to adolescence. Mental health and related socio-emotional traits were measured longitudinally at ages 4, 7, 8, 9, 11, 13, and 16 in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (N = 11279) using the subscales of the Strength and Difficulties Questionnaires (conduct problems, hyperactivity/inattention, emotional symptoms, peer problems and prosociality). Results: Results suggest that the period of adolescence is characterised by many more dynamic relations between socio-emotional difficulties than the early childhood period. In particular, the adolescence model highlights bidirectional connections between conduct problems and peer problems as well as between peer problems and emotional problems. The childhood model indicates that conduct problems and prosociality share a reciprocal relation. It further suggests peer problems as a potential mediating factor between conduct problems and emotional difficulties. Conclusion: This study emphasises that the different domains of psychosocial functioning dynamically influence each other over- and within-time. Adolescence is characterised by an increase in temporal connections reflecting the increased vulnerability to the onset of mental health problems during that period.
Attachment disorganisation and poor maternal discipline in early childhood: independent contributions to symptoms of conduct problems
