| Repeatedly, harsher and more intrusive parenting has been linked to higher levels of problem behaviors during the early childhood period (e.g., Bayer, Sanson, & Hemphill, 2006; Shaw, Gilliom, Ingoldsby, & Nagin, 2003). Additionally, neighborhood characteristics have been found to condition the impact of harsh parenting on problem behaviors. That is, harsher parenting has been found to be more strongly associated with problem behaviors as levels of neighborhood danger increased (e.g., Callahan, Scaramella, Laird, & Sohr-Preston, 2011). The differential susceptibility hypothesis proposes that some children are more susceptible to the influences of their environment (e.g., Belsky, 1997). The present study considers fearful temperament as a marker of differential susceptibility such that temperamentally fearful children may be more vulnerable to the negative effects of harsh parenting and neighborhood danger. The current study examines: a) whether observations of harsh and intrusive parenting influence change in children's levels of problem behaviors, b) whether neighborhood danger moderates the association between harsh parenting and problem behaviors, and c) whether temperamentally fearful children are more sensitive to the effects of harsh parenting and neighborhood danger as evidenced through higher levels of problem behaviors. The sample consists of 167 predominantly African American, low-income families with two siblings who were approximately 2 and 4-years-old at the first assessment wave. Results from multilevel withinfamily models did not support study hypotheses. However, for older siblings, fearful temperament moderated the influence of harsh parenting on change in problem behaviors only within the most dangerous neighborhoods. Specifically, temperamentally fearful preschool-aged children who were exposed to harsher parenting and dangerous neighborhoods experienced higher levels of problem behaviors from ages 4 to 6. |
