CHILDHOOD INTERNALIZING PROBLEMS - PREDICTION FROM KINDERGARTEN, EFFECT OF MATERNAL OVERPROTECTIVENESS, AND SEX-DIFFERENCES

Research on the development of childhood internalizing problems has la rgely failed to consider that there may be different developmental pat hs for boys and girls. Additionally, studies have begun with elementar y school children who are well beyond their first social experiences. This study follows 144 boys and 125 girls from kindergarten (for most children the time of first social experiences) to fifth grade. We iden tify the best predictors of fifth grade internalizing problems from ki ndergarten measure of anxiety-withdrawal, shyness, adaptability, and p opularity. We also test whether maternal overprotectiveness moderates the link between kindergarten predictors and fifth-grade internalizing problems. Throughout, we consider boys and girls separately. Peer-rat ed unpopularity was the best predictor of later problems for both boys and girls, followed by peer-rated shyness for boys and teacher-rated anxiety-withdrawal for girls. Maternal overprotectiveness was more imp ortant for boys than girls. For boys overprotectiveness reduced the pr edictive link between some kindergarten variables and some fifth-grade outcomes; for girls overprotectiveness did not significantly moderate the predictive link. We discuss the advantages of different perspecti ves (peers, teachers, and mothers) for predicting internalizing proble ms. We also discuss the roles of early temperament, early social exper ience, and maternal overprotectiveness versus close temporal experienc e in developing internalizing problems.