Social information-processing patterns partially mediate the effect of early physical abuse on later conduct problems.
Abstract
The authors tested the hypothesis that early physical abuse is associated with later externalizing behavior outcomes and that this relation is mediated by the intervening development of biased social information-processing patterns. They assessed 584 randomly selected boys and girls from European American and African American backgrounds for the lifetime experience of physical abuse through clinical interviews with mothers prior to the child's matriculation in kindergarten. Early abuse increased the risk of teacher-rated externalizing outcomes in Grades 3 and 4 by fourfold, and this effect could not be accounted for by confounded ecological or child factors. Abuse was associated with later processing patterns (encoding errors, hostile attributional biases, accessing of aggressive responses, and positive evaluations of aggression), which, in turn, predicted later externalizing outcomes.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Longitudinal research indicates that children form stable patterns of social-information processing at each step, and these patterns forecast increases in antisocial behavior over development after controlling for earlier behavior.
“Prospective studies show that children develop stable patterns of processing social information at each of these steps, and these patterns predict growth in antisocial behavior across development, even when previous behavior is controlled (Dodge, Pettit, Bates, & Valente, 1995).”
From Social-information-processing patterns mediate the impact of preventive intervention on adolescent antisocial behavior (2013) · cites this paper as Dodge, Pettit, Bates, & Valente, 1995
Experiences of aggression, conflict, abuse, and inappropriate parenting in the family have a basic influence on social information processing.
“experiences of aggression, conflict, abuse, and inappropriate parenting in the family seem to have a basic influence”
From Social information processing, experiences of aggression in social contexts, and aggressive behavior in adolescents (2007) · cites this paper as Dodge, Pettit, Bates, & Valente, 1995
Children who experienced physical abuse before the age of 5 years were four times more likely to have conduct problems in 3rd and 4th grade compared with non-abused children.
“Children who experienced physical abuse before the age of 5 years were four times more likely to have conduct problems in 3rd and 4th grade compared with non-abused children (Dodge et al, 1995).”
From Deviations from the expectable environment in early childhood and emerging psychopathology (2015) · cites this paper as Dodge et al, 1995
Cites
Structural Equations with Latent Variables.
Clogg, C. C., & Bollen, K. A. (1991) · Contemporary Sociology A Journal of Reviews · doi:10.2307/2072165 · Cited by 17,471 · see citing works
Aggression: A Social Learning Analysis
Bandura, A. (1973) · Stanford Law Review · doi:10.2307/1227918 · Cited by 4,302 · see citing works
Frustration-aggression hypothesis: Examination and reformulation.
Berkowitz, L. (1989) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/0033-2909.106.1.59 · Cited by 2,283 · see citing works
Mechanisms in the Cycle of Violence
Dodge, K. A., Bates, J. E., & Pettit, G. S. (1990) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.2270481 · Cited by 1,803 · see citing works
Self-citationUnderstanding and Preventing Violence
National Research Council (1993) · National Academies Press eBooks · doi:10.17226/1861 · Cited by 1,302 · see citing works
Dodge, K. A., Pettit, G. S., McClaskey, C. L., Brown, M. M., & Gottman, J. M. (1986) · Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development · doi:10.2307/1165906 · Cited by 1,203 · see citing works
Self-citationMeasurement of Infant Difficultness
Bates, J. E., Freeland, C. A. B., & Lounsbury, M. L. (1979) · Child Development · doi:10.2307/1128946 · Cited by 1,112 · see citing works
Self-citationDefining child maltreatment: The interface between policy and research
Cicchetti, D. (1993) · Cited by 859 · see citing works
Understanding Child Abuse and Neglect
National Research Council (1993) · National Academies Press eBooks · doi:10.17226/2117 · Cited by 810 · see citing works
Weiss, B., Dodge, K. A., Bates, J. E., & Pettit, G. S. (1992) · Child Development · doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.1992.tb01697.x · Cited by 551 · see citing works
Self-citationGenetic Influences in Criminal Convictions: Evidence from an Adoption Cohort
Mednick, S. A., Gabrielli, W. F., & Hutchings, B. (1984) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.6719119 · Cited by 462 · see citing works
Physical Violence in 8145 Families in American Families: Risk Factors and Adaptations to Violence
Straus, M. A., & Gelles, R. J. (1990) · Family Relations · doi:10.2307/584883 · Cited by 359 · see citing works
Early Family Experience, Social Problem Solving Patterns, and Children's Social Competence
Pettit, G. S., Dodge, K. A., & Brown, M. M. (1988) · Child Development · doi:10.2307/1130393 · Cited by 320 · see citing works
Self-citationSituational approach to the assessment of social competence in children.
Dodge, K. A., McClaskey, C. L., & Feldman, E. (1985) · Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology · doi:10.1037//0022-006x.53.3.344 · Cited by 310 · see citing works
Self-citationChild-abusive parents: An empirical review and analysis.
Wolfe, D. A. (1985) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/0033-2909.97.3.462 · Cited by 292 · see citing works
Economic Antecedents of Child Abuse and Neglect
Steinberg, L. D., Catalano, R. A., & Dooley, D. (1981) · Child Development · doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.1981.tb03139.x · Cited by 195 · see citing works
Aber, J. L., & Allen, J. P. (1987) · Developmental Psychology · doi:10.1037/0012-1649.23.3.406 · Cited by 180 · see citing works
Children's perceptions of the outcomes of social strategies: Do the ends justify being mean?
Crick, N. R., & Ladd, G. W. (1990) · Developmental Psychology · doi:10.1037/0012-1649.26.4.612 · Cited by 178 · see citing works
Dimensions of child maltreatment and their relationship to adolescent adjustment
Wolfe, D. A., & McGee, R. A. (1994) · Development and Psychopathology · doi:10.1017/s0954579400005939 · Cited by 164 · see citing works
Sampling biases and implications for child abuse research.
Widom, C. S. (1988) · American Journal of Orthopsychiatry · doi:10.1111/j.1939-0025.1988.tb01587.x · Cited by 136 · see citing works
Toward The Development Of A Scientific Nosology Of Child Maltreatment
Cicchetti, D., & Barnett, D. (2010) · University of Minnesota Press eBooks · doi:10.5749/9780816683567-016 · Cited by 98 · see citing works
Psychopathology in Abused or Neglected Children
Rogeness, G. A., AMRUNG, S. A., Macedo, C. A., Harris, W. R., & FISHER, C. (1986) · Journal of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/s0002-7138(09)60291-0 · Cited by 70 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Blackwell, L. S., Trzesniewski, K. H., & Dweck, C. S. (2007) · Child Development · doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.2007.00995.x · Cited by 3,784 · see citing works
Cole, D. A., & Maxwell, S. E. (2003) · Journal of Abnormal Psychology · doi:10.1037/0021-843x.112.4.558 · Cited by 3,605 · see citing works
Gershoff, E. T. (2002) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/0033-2909.128.4.539 · Cited by 2,165 · see citing works
Kim-Cohen, J., Caspi, A., Taylor, A., Williams, B., Newcombe, R., Craig, I. W., & Moffitt, T. E. (2006) · Molecular Psychiatry · doi:10.1038/sj.mp.4001851 · Cited by 1,158 · see citing works
Early externalizing behavior problems: Toddlers and preschoolers at risk for later maladjustment
CAMPBELL, S. B., SHAW, D. S., & GILLIOM, M. (2000) · Development and Psychopathology · doi:10.1017/s0954579400003114 · Cited by 1,081 · see citing works
Hostile attribution of intent and aggressive behavior: A meta-analysis
De Castro, B. O., Veerman, J. W., Koops, W., Bosch, J. D., & Monshouwer, H. J. (2002) · Child Development · doi:10.1111/1467-8624.00447 · Cited by 956 · see citing works
Cicchetti, D., & Toth, S. L. (2005) · Annual Review of Clinical Psychology · doi:10.1146/annurev.clinpsy.1.102803.144029 · Cited by 861 · see citing works
Lansford, J. E., Dodge, K. A., Pettit, G. S., Bates, J. E., Crozier, J., & Kaplow, J. (2002) · Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine · doi:10.1001/archpedi.156.8.824 · Cited by 838 · see citing works
Self-citationFuture Directions in Childhood Adversity and Youth Psychopathology
McLaughlin, K. A. (2016) · Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology · doi:10.1080/15374416.2015.1110823 · Cited by 576 · see citing works
“…& Van Ijzendoorn, 2007; Williams et al., 2007), and attributions of hostility and other social information processing biases associated with trauma exposure are associated with risk for the onset of conduct problems and aggression (Dodge et al., 1990; Dodge et al., 1995; Weiss et al., 1992).”
BackgroundArseneault, L., Cannon, M., Fisher, H. L., Polanczyk, G., Moffitt, T. E., & Caspi, A. (2011) · American Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1176/appi.ajp.2010.10040567 · Cited by 584 · see citing works
Stressors and child and adolescent psychopathology: Evidence of moderating and mediating effects
Grant, K. E., Compas, B. E., Thurm, A. E., McMahon, S. D., Gipson, P. Y., Campbell, A. J., Krochock, K., & Westerholm, R. I. (2006) · Clinical Psychology Review · doi:10.1016/j.cpr.2005.06.011 · Cited by 537 · see citing works
Miller, J. D., Dir, A., Gentile, B., Wilson, L., Pryor, L. R., & Campbell, W. K. (2010) · Journal of Personality · doi:10.1111/j.1467-6494.2010.00660.x · Cited by 530 · see citing works
Early Physical Abuse and Later Violent Delinquency: A Prospective Longitudinal Study
Lansford, J. E., Miller-Johnson, S., Berlin, L. J., Dodge, K. A., Bates, J. E., & Pettit, G. S. (2007) · Child Maltreatment · doi:10.1177/1077559507301841 · Cited by 523 · see citing works
Self-citationSelective attention to facial emotion in physically abused children.
Pollak, S. D., & Tolley-Schell, S. A. (2003) · Journal of Abnormal Psychology · doi:10.1037/0021-843x.112.3.323 · Cited by 515 · see citing works
Child maltreatment and risk for psychopathology in childhood and adulthood
Jaffee, S. R. (2017) · Annual Review of Clinical Psychology · doi:10.1146/annurev-clinpsy-032816-045005 · Cited by 487 · see citing works
Jaffee, S. R., Caspi, A., Moffitt, T. E., Polo-Tomás, M., & Taylor, A. (2007) · Child Abuse & Neglect · doi:10.1016/j.chiabu.2006.03.011 · Cited by 487 · see citing works
Agnew-Blais, J. C., Polanczyk, G. V., Danese, A., Wertz, J., Moffitt, T. E., & Arseneault, L. (2016) · JAMA Psychiatry · doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2016.0465 · Cited by 459 · see citing works
Physical Maltreatment Victim to Antisocial Child: Evidence of an Environmentally Mediated Process.
Jaffee, S. R., Caspi, A., Moffitt, T. E., & Taylor, A. (2004) · Journal of Abnormal Psychology · doi:10.1037/0021-843x.113.1.44 · Cited by 454 · see citing works
Child trauma exposure and psychopathology: Mechanisms of risk and resilience
McLaughlin, K. A., & Lambert, H. K. (2017) · Current Opinion in Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.copsyc.2016.10.004 · Cited by 441 · see citing works
Childhood abuse and neglect and adult intimate relationships: a prospective study
Colman, R. A., & Widom, C. S. (2004) · Child Abuse & Neglect · doi:10.1016/j.chiabu.2004.02.005 · Cited by 443 · see citing works
Conduct disorder and callous-unemotional traits in youth
Blair, R. J. R., Leibenluft, E., & Pine, D. S. (2014) · New England Journal of Medicine · doi:10.1056/nejmra1315612 · Cited by 371 · see citing works
Ellis, B. J., McFadyen-Ketchum, S., Dodge, K. A., Pettit, G. S., & Bates, J. E. (1999) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.77.2.387 · Cited by 347 · see citing works
Self-citationJAFFEE, S. R., CASPI, A., MOFFITT, T. E., DODGE, K. A., RUTTER, M., TAYLOR, A., & TULLY, L. A. (2005) · Development and Psychopathology · doi:10.1017/s0954579405050042 · Cited by 328 · see citing works
Beyond allostatic load: Rethinking the role of stress in regulating human development
Ellis, B. J., & Del Giudice, M. (2014) · Development and Psychopathology · doi:10.1017/s0954579413000849 · Cited by 290 · see citing works
Long-term effects of child abuse and neglect on emotion processing in adulthood
Young, J. C., & Widom, C. S. (2014) · Child Abuse & Neglect · doi:10.1016/j.chiabu.2014.03.008 · Cited by 287 · see citing works
Hipwell, A., Keenan, K., Kasza, K., Loeber, R., Stouthamer-Loeber, M., & Bean, T. (2008) · Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology · doi:10.1007/s10802-007-9206-4 · Cited by 279 · see citing works
Deviations from the expectable environment in early childhood and emerging psychopathology
Humphreys, K. L., & Zeanah, C. H. (2015) · Neuropsychopharmacology · doi:10.1038/npp.2014.165 · Cited by 231 · see citing works
Branchi, I., D’Andrea, I., Fiore, M., Di Fausto, V., Aloe, L., & Alleva, E. (2006) · Biological Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.biopsych.2006.01.005 · Cited by 227 · see citing works
Physical Abuse, Cognitive and Emotional Processes, and Aggressive/Disruptive Behavior Problems
Teisl, M., & Cicchetti, D. (2008) · Social Development · doi:10.1111/j.1467-9507.2007.00412.x · Cited by 208 · see citing works
McKeever, V. M., & Huff, M. E. (2003) · Review of General Psychology · doi:10.1037/1089-2680.7.3.237 · Cited by 188 · see citing works
Schema modes and childhood abuse in borderline and antisocial personality disorders
Lobbestael, J., Arntz, A., & Sieswerda, S. (2005) · Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.jbtep.2005.05.006 · Cited by 147 · see citing works
Early adversity and learning: implications for typical and atypical behavioral development
Hanson, J. L., van den Bos, W., Roeber, B. J., Rudolph, K. D., Davidson, R. J., & Pollak, S. D. (2017) · Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry · doi:10.1111/jcpp.12694 · Cited by 136 · see citing works
Reactive aggression in boys with disruptive behavior disorders: behavior, physiology, and affect
Waschbusch, D. A., Pelham, W. E., Jennings, J. R., Greiner, A. R., Tarter, R. E., & Moss, H. B. (2002) · Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology · doi:10.1023/a:1020867831811 · Cited by 146 · see citing works
Peer Relations and Developmental Psychopathology
Prinstein, M. J., & Giletta, M. (2016) · Developmental Psychopathology · doi:10.1002/9781119125556.devpsy112 · Cited by 150 · see citing works
Matthews, T., Danese, A., Wertz, J., Ambler, A., Kelly, M., Diver, A., Caspi, A., Moffitt, T. E., & Arseneault, L. (2015) · Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.jaac.2014.12.008 · Cited by 139 · see citing works
Dodge, K. A., Godwin, J., & The Conduct Problems Prevention Research Group (2013) · Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/0956797612457394 · Cited by 140 · see citing works
“et al., 1986; Dodge et al., 1995), the current findings are equivocal regarding the incremental roles of multiple processes.”
Self-citationValidity of DSM-IV Conduct Disorder in 4½–5-Year-Old Children: A Longitudinal Epidemiological Study
Kim-Cohen, J., Arseneault, L., Caspi, A., Tomás, M. P., Taylor, A., & Moffitt, T. E. (2005) · American Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1176/appi.ajp.162.6.1108 · Cited by 137 · see citing works
Developmental neuroscience perspectives on emotion regulation
Goldsmith, H. H., Pollak, S. D., & Davidson, R. J. (2008) · Child Development Perspectives · doi:10.1111/j.1750-8606.2008.00055.x · Cited by 114 · see citing works
“Taken together, these studies and others (such as Dodge, Pettit, Bates, & Valente, 1995 ) suggest that rather than using their attentional resources to attenuate emotional reactivity, abused children automatically attend to threatening cues, perhaps at the expense of other contextually relevant information.”
BackgroundToth, S. L., Cicchetti, D., & Kim, J. (2002) · Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology · doi:10.1023/a:1019868914685 · Cited by 83 · see citing works
Berenson, K. R., & Andersen, S. M. (2006) · Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin · doi:10.1177/0146167206291671 · Cited by 72 · see citing works
Lösel, F., Bliesener, T., & Bender, D. (2007) · Criminal Justice and Behavior · doi:10.1177/0093854806295833 · Cited by 70 · see citing works
A Systematic Review of the Evidence for Impaired Cognitive Theory of Mind in Maltreated Children
Benarous, X., Guilé, J.-M., Consoli, A., & Cohen, D. (2015) · Frontiers in Psychiatry · doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2015.00108 · Cited by 46 · see citing works
Galán, C. A., Choe, D. E., Forbes, E. E., & Shaw, D. S. (2017) · Development and Psychopathology · doi:10.1017/s0954579416001279 · Cited by 18 · see citing works
Childhood adversities and adult use of potentially injurious physical discipline in Japan
On behalf of the World Mental Health Japan Survey Group 2002–2006, Umeda, M., Kawakami, N., Kessler, R. C., & Miller, E. (2015) · Journal of Family Violence · doi:10.1007/s10896-015-9692-z · Cited by 13 · see citing works
- Authors
- Dodge, K. A., Pettit, G. S., Bates, J. E., & Valente, E.
- Affiliations
- Vanderbilt University (US)
- ORCID
- Dodge, Kenneth A.
- Venue
- Journal of Abnormal Psychology
- Published
- 1995-11
- Volume
- 104
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 632-643
- ISSN
- 0021-843X (ISSN-L)
- 1939-1846
- OpenAlex
- W2076490864
- Cited by
- 795
- References
- 22
- Citations by year
- 2026: 13 · 2025: 14 · 2024: 15 · 2023: 14 · 2022: 20 · 2021: 23 · 2020: 25 · 2019: 28 · 2018: 25 · 2017: 24 · 2016: 36 · 2015: 47 · 2014: 33 · 2013: 36 · 2012: 41
- FWCI
- 8.50
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Abnormal Psychology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- U.S. Public Health Service (30572, 42498)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child Abuse and Trauma
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Bullying, Victimization, and Aggression
- Keywords
- social information processing, conduct problems, externalizing problems, hostile attribution bias, encoding errors, aggressive responses, mediation, child abuse
- MeSH terms
- Child, Child Abuse, Child Behavior Disorders, Child Welfare, Cognition Disorders, Family, Female, Humans, Male, Problem Solving, Socioeconomic Factors, Age of Onset
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
