Early adversity is associated with both internalizing and externalizing problems among children, and effects of adversity on dimensions of child temperament may underlie these links. However, very little is known about the role of child sex in these processes. The current study examined whether there are indirect effects of early adversity on behavior problems through dimensions of child temperament and whether these indirect effects vary across child sex. Participants in this multimethod (parent-report survey, semistructured interview, child protection records) study included 274 preschool-aged children (M age = 50.86 months; 52% with documented case of moderate to severe maltreatment) and their primary caregivers assessed at two time points spaced 6 months apart. Results of multigroup path analyses revealed that while anger mediated associations between lifetime stress and behavior problems for the full sample, inhibitory control and appropriate attentional allocation were significant intermediary mechanisms of lifetime stress for boys, but not for girls. Inhibitory control mediated associations between maltreatment and behavior problems for the full sample, but appropriate attentional allocation mediated these associations for boys only. Results suggest that early adversity influences child behavior problems through child temperament, particularly for boys. This work supports the perspective that temperament is influenced by characteristics of the early rearing environment, and the indirect effects of adversity on behavior problems through temperament vary across sex.

中文翻译：

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早期逆境，儿童气质和行为问题之间关联的性别差异

早期逆境与儿童的内在和外在问题相关，逆境对儿童气质维度的影响可能是这些联系的基础。但是，关于儿童性别在这些过程中的作用了解甚少。当前的研究检查了早期逆境是否通过儿童气质的维度对行为问题产生了间接影响，以及这些间接影响是否因儿童性别而异。这项多方法（父母报告调查，半结构化访谈，儿童保护记录）研究的参与者包括274名学龄前儿童（M年龄= 50.86个月；有记录的中度至重度虐待案例为52％），他们的主要看护人两次评估点间隔6个月。多组路径分析的结果表明，虽然愤怒介导了整个样本的终生压力与行为问题之间的关联，但抑制控制和适当的注意分配是男生而非女生的终生压力的重要中介机制。对于整个样本，抑制性控制介导了虐待和行为问题之间的关联，但适当的注意力分配仅对男孩介导了这些关联。结果表明，早期逆境会通过孩子的气质影响孩子的行为问题，尤其是男孩。这项工作支持这样一种观点，即气质受早期养育环境的特征影响，而逆境通过气质对行为问题的间接影响因性别而异。