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The Association Between Persistence and Change in Early Childhood Behavioural Problems and Preschool Cognitive Outcomes

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Abstract

The link between behavioural and cognitive difficulties is well established. However, research is limited on whether persistence and change in behavioural difficulties relates to cognitive outcomes, particularly during preschool. We used a large New Zealand birth cohort to investigate how persistence and change in serious behavioural problems from ages 2 to 4.5 years related to measures of cognitive delay at 4.5 years (n = 5885). Using the Strengths and Difficulties total problems score at each time point, children were categorised as showing no difficulties, improved behaviour, concurrent difficulties, and persistent difficulties. Cognitive measures assessed included receptive language, early literacy ability, and executive control. Our results showed that children with concurrent and persistent behavioural difficulties were at a greater risk of showing delays within specific cognitive domains relative to children with no difficulties and were also more likely to show comorbid delays across multiple cognitive domains.

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Abbreviations

B4SC:

B4 School Check

DCW:

Data collection wave

NZ:

New Zealand

PPVT-III:

Picture Peabody Vocabulary Test

SDQ:

Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire

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Acknowledgements

Growing Up in New Zealand has been funded by the New Zealand Ministries of Social Development, Health, Education, Justice and Pacific Island Affairs; the former Ministry of Science Innovation and the former Department of Labour (now both part of the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment); the former Ministry of Women’s Affairs (now the Ministry for Women); the Department of Corrections; the Families Commission (now known as the Social Policy Evaluation and Research Unit); Te Puni Kokiri; New Zealand Police; Sport New Zealand; the Housing New Zealand Corporation; and the former Mental Health Commission, The University of Auckland and Auckland UniServices Limited. Other support for the study has been provided by the NZ Health Research Council, Statistics New Zealand, the Office of the Children’s Commissioner and the Office of Ethnic Affairs. The study has been designed and conducted by the Growing Up in New Zealand study team, led by the University of Auckland. The authors acknowledge the contributions of the original study investigators: Susan M.B. Morton, Polly E. Atatoa Carr, Cameron C. Grant, Arier C. Lee, Dinusha K. Bandara, Jatender Mohal, Jennifer M. Kinloch, Johanna M. Schmidt, Mary R. Hedges, Vivienne C. Ivory, Te Kani R. Kingi, Renee Liang, Lana M. Perese, Elizabeth Peterson, Jan E. Pryor, Elaine Reese, Elizabeth M. Robinson, Karen E. Waldie, Clare R. Wall. We also acknowledge the contribution of Dr David Moreau on the PPVT-III scores (item response theory factor analysis). The views reported in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the Growing Up in New Zealand investigators.

Funding

Growing Up in New Zealand has been funded by the New Zealand Ministries of Social Development, Health, Education, Justice and Pacific Island Affairs; the former Ministry of Science Innovation and the former Department of Labour (now both part of the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment); the former Ministry of Women’s Affairs (now the Ministry for Women); the Department of Corrections; the Families Commission (now known as the Social Policy Evaluation and Research Unit); Te Puni Kokiri; New Zealand Police; Sport New Zealand; the Housing New Zealand Corporation; and the former Mental Health Commission, The University of Auckland and Auckland UniServices Limited. Other support for the study has been provided by the NZ Health Research Council, Statistics New Zealand, the Office of the Children’s Commissioner and the Office of Ethnic Affairs.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Psychology, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand

    Stephanie D’Souza, Elizabeth R. Peterson & Karen E. Waldie

  2. Centre for Longitudinal Research - He Ara Ki Mua, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand

    Stephanie D’Souza, Lisa Underwood, Elizabeth R. Peterson, Susan M. B. Morton & Karen E. Waldie

  3. COMPASS Research Centre, The University of Auckland, Private Bag 92019, Auckland, 1142, New Zealand

    Stephanie D’Souza

  4. Department of Psychological Medicine, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand

    Lisa Underwood

  5. School of Population Health, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand

    Susan M. B. Morton

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  1. Stephanie D’Souza
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Correspondence to Stephanie D’Souza.

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The author(s) declared no potential conflict of interest with respect to the research, authorship and/or publication of this article. The author(s) have indicated that they have no financial relationships to disclose that are relevant to this article.

Ethical Approval

Ethical approval was granted for the Growing Up in NZ study from the NZ Ministry of Health Northern Y Regional Ethics Committee (NTY/08/06/055), and mothers provided informed written consent. All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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D’Souza, S., Underwood, L., Peterson, E.R. et al. The Association Between Persistence and Change in Early Childhood Behavioural Problems and Preschool Cognitive Outcomes. Child Psychiatry Hum Dev 51, 416–426 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10578-019-00953-x

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