This longitudinal study examined the presence of general (P) and specific internalizing (INT) and externalizing (EXT) psychopathology factors in a community sample of preschool children. We assessed child and contextual correlates of P, INT, and EXT, and tested a model connecting socioeconomic risk to these factors through family socialization processes and child cognitive abilities. Participants were 501 children recruited at birth and followed up at 18 months and 3 years. Child and family functioning were measured using parental reports, observation, and standardized assessments. Both mothers and their partners reported on children’s mental health, permitting the estimation of a trifactor model of psychopathology that captured caregivers’ shared and unique perspectives with respect to P, INT, and EXT. Results revealed several transdiagnostic correlates of the common-perspective P factor, including family income, maternal education, maternal depression, and maternal responsiveness, as well as marginal associations with sibling negativity and children’s language and theory of mind abilities. Several shared and unique correlates of INT and EXT were also observed. Structural equation modelling revealed that the effects of family income and maternal education on P operated indirectly through maternal responsiveness, while the effects of maternal education on INT and EXT operated through maternal reflective capacity, albeit in opposite directions. Together, these results suggest that the effects of socioeconomic disadvantage on general psychopathology are organized in a temporal cascade from distal to proximal risk.

这项纵向研究检查了学龄前儿童社区样本中一般 (P) 和特定内化 (INT) 和外化 (EXT) 心理病理学因素的存在。我们评估了 P、INT 和 EXT 的儿童和情境相关性，并测试了通过家庭社会化过程和儿童认知能力将社会经济风险与这些因素联系起来的模型。参与者是出生时招募的 501 名儿童，并在 18 个月和 3 岁时进行了随访。使用父母报告、观察和标准化评估来衡量儿童和家庭的功能。母亲和她们的伴侣都报告了儿童的心理健康，从而可以估计出一个精神病理学的三因素模型，该模型捕捉了照顾者在 P、INT 和 EXT 方面的共同和独特的观点。结果揭示了共同观点 P 因素的几个跨诊断相关因素，包括家庭收入、母亲教育、母亲抑郁和母亲反应，以及与兄弟姐妹消极性和儿童语言和心理理论能力的边缘关联。还观察到 INT 和 EXT 的几个共享和独特的相关性。结构方程模型表明，家庭收入和母亲教育对 P 的影响通过母亲的反应间接起作用，而母亲教育对 INT 和 EXT 的影响通过母亲的反思能力起作用，尽管方向相反。总之，这些结果表明，社会经济劣势对一般精神病理学的影响是按照从远端到近端风险的时间级联来组织的。