Exploring the Consequence of Attention and Behavior Problems in Childhood

New study findings from three different populations and countries show that attention and behavior problems in childhood could predict a range of adult outcomes.

Children struggling with attention and behavior problems have difficulty in earning money, finishing their school education and have poorer mental and physical health as adults, compared with children who do not show early attention and behavior problems, according to a study published by the American Psychological Association.

This study found broad support for the notion that people’s early experiences and skills matter when they reach adulthood, despite everything that happens in between. The study was published in the journal Developmental Psychology ().

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‘Attention and behavior problems in childhood predicted less educational attainment and impulsivity problems predicted greater involvement in the criminal justice system.#childhood #ADHD #Child psychology #behavior problems’

The study is a “conceptual replication” of an influential paper published in 2011 that examined data from 1,037 children who were born in Dunedin, New Zealand, in the early 1970s and were followed for the next three decades.

That research was the first to find large-scale, longitudinal evidence that problems with self-control in childhood were directly linked to negative outcomes in adulthood. It has since been cited more than 5,000 times in other research papers.

A conceptual replication is a study that tests the hypotheses of an original study using different methods and is a key step in advancing science. The study has received a lot of attention in the research literature and the popular press over the past decade, but we still did not know whether those findings would replicate with individuals in other countries.

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To correlate the difficulty in controlling attention and behavior in childhood and adult health and success in the U.S. and the U.K., researchers examined data from two large cohorts of participants in the United Kingdom and the United States.

Finding the Impact of Attention and Behavior Problems in Childhood

The U.K. group included more than 15,000 participants in the National Child Development Study, all of whom lived in England, Scotland, or Wales, were born during one week in 1958, and were followed through age 42.

The U.S. group comprised 1,168 participants in the Study of Early Childcare and Youth Development, who were born in 1991 at 10 hospitals across the U.S. and followed through age 26.

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In both studies, participants, their parents, and their teachers were surveyed many times during the participants’ childhoods. The surveys included measures of the children’s impulsivity, inattention, and hyperactivity at home and school. Later, as adults, participants answered questions about wide-ranging aspects of their lives, including their education, careers, finances, and physical and mental health.

The researchers analyzed the data using similar statistical methods as the Dunedin study and found very similar results childhood attention and behavior problems were associated with a wide range of poorer outcomes in adulthood.

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The researchers’ second goal was to look separately at different aspects of attention and behavior. Whereas the original study had looked at these skills broadly, in the current study the researchers wanted to see whether problems with attention and problems with hyperactivity or impulsivity would predict different outcomes ().

They found evidence that attention problems predicted less educational attainment and impulsivity problems predicted greater involvement in the criminal justice system. They also wanted to see whether attention and behavior problems measured at different stages of childhood were more or less likely to predict adult outcomes.

The original study had looked at an average of measures taken across participants’ childhoods; in the new study, the researchers looked separately at measures taken in early childhood, middle childhood (ages 7 to 9), and early adolescence (age 11).

Overall, they did not find evidence that any one period was driving the association between childhood behavior and adult outcomes (). But the findings make it clear that identifying ways to help children develop the skills to manage their attention and behavior at any age could pay real dividends and set them on a track for success.

References:

Attention and Behavior Problems in Childhood Predict Adult Financial Status, Health, and Criminal Activity: A Conceptual Replication and Extension of Moffitt et al. (2011) Using Cohorts from the U.S. and the U.K - (https://psyarxiv.com/95t6y/)
Greater Attention Problems During Childhood Predict Poorer Executive Functioning in Late Adolescence - (https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2007.01997.x)
Self-Control and Academic Achievement - (https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev-psych-010418-103230)

Source-Eurekalert