Study title

The Children's Experiences and Development Study files include data from 400 children (8 to 11 years old) who were living in the south-east and north-west of England between 2009 and 2011. The data comprise caregiver and teacher report of child problem behaviors, caregiver reports of family demographics and parental psychopathology, caregiver and child reports of parent-child relationships and significant life events, and child reports of coping style, hostile attribution bias, and socially supportive relationships. The files also include measures of cortisol, heart rate, and blood pressure that were taken throughout the visit, including in response to an experimental social provocation task. Finally, youth provided cheek swabs that were genotyped. Antisocial behaviour that emerges in childhood tends to persist into adulthood, is resistant to treatment, and carries a heavy cost to individuals, families, and society. Existing evidence suggests that early-emerging antisocial behaviour problems are most likely to develop when genetically-vulnerable children experience harsh, non-supportive parenting. The goal of the research is to test this hypothesis and to identify physiological and psychological factors that explain this association. The sample will include 300 8- to 10-year-old children who were first evaluated as part of a separate study when they were three years old. Half of these children experienced very high levels of harsh, non-supportive parenting when they were three and half experienced low levels of harsh, non-supportive parenting. Research assistants will conduct home visits to interview parents and children about the children's behaviour, experiences of stressful life events, and family demographics. Children will provide samples of the stress hormone cortisol and children and parents will provide DNA samples. This study is expected to provide new information about why genes and environments combine to influence antisocial behaviour, to identify...