Young children's adjustment to chronic family adversity: A longitudinal study of low-income families

Objective: To test the relation between multiple family stressors and young children's adjustment problems. Method: Longitudinal data were collected on 300 low-income, ethnically diverse, male subjects beginning during infancy and followed until age 31/2. Results: General support was found for the family stressor hypothesis. Stressor groups at 18 and 24 months predicted Child Behavior Checklist Externalizing and Internalizing factors at 24 and 42 months, including clinically elevated problems. Conclusions: The results confirm and extend previous investigations of the family stressor hypothesis. They suggest that psychological evaluations of young children need to be ecologically based, including intra- and extrafamilial factors that appear to cumulatively increase risk of behavior problems.