D concurrent correlations at each time, we tested and rejected as unlikely the alternative explanations that developmental cascades are artifacts of intercorrelations that were present early in the study and carried forward. That said, the study also suffers a CPI-455 web number of limitations. Sample size was modest for the complex set of analyses we undertook, and a larger sample size would have allowed closer examination of associations among all study variables. The normative composition and modest sample size may have affected our ability to detect nonzero cascade paths, and so replication with a larger sample size might show additional significant paths. The sample, though sociodemographically diverse, was not representative, and so caution is in order about generalizing from this study. The normative nature of the sample (restricting the ranges of social competence and problem severity alike) places limits on understanding howNIH-PA Author Manuscript NIH-PA Author Manuscript NIH-PA Author ManuscriptDev Psychopathol. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2012 August 06.Bornstein et al.Pagesocial competence affects the development of behavioral adjustment in clinical or at-risk populations. It could be social competence affects externalizing and internalizing behaviors only in the normal range of functioning and not at the extremely high end or for samples suffering psychiatric disorders. To focus this article, we limited the scope of our study to only one major developmental task domain and two major symptom domains. Other major domains of developmental task competence (like adaptive behavior in age-salient developmental tasks) have been implicated in the cascade literature linking to symptoms (Dodge Pettit, 2003; Masten, 2005; Masten Curtis, 2000). Another limitation of the present study design is the focus on widely spaced longitudinal relations among broad constructs. The unequal and relatively wide spans between assessment waves did not allow us to draw firm conclusions about precisely when or how observed cross-domain links developed. Due to concerns of model complexity, a number of additional common cause third variables and interacting constructs, such as academic competence, were not included. Likewise, examination of additional child characteristics (e.g., temperament) would have made for a more definitive study. Social competence and behavioral adjustment in children may be generated and influenced by the same (genetic or environmental) factors and emerge at the same time and develop together. Alternatively, children’s social competence may be jeopardized because they are aggressive or withdrawn. Perhaps instead, social competence protects behavioral adjustment. Applying a developmental cascade approach, we found that early childhood social competence predicts later externalizing and internalizing behaviors. Externalizing and internalizing behaviors never predicted social competence. Although we cannot refute alternative explanations concerning the direction of cause and effect, the temporal design of the study and the findings suggest that social competence antecedes behavioral adjustment. One implication of our results is that attention to social competence much earlier in development is warranted. What gives rise to Alvocidib supplier individual variation in social competence? Perhaps unsurprisingly, secure attachment in infancy has been shown consistently to predict social competence in childhood (Booth, Rose-Krasnor, Rubin, 1991; Freitag, Bel.D concurrent correlations at each time, we tested and rejected as unlikely the alternative explanations that developmental cascades are artifacts of intercorrelations that were present early in the study and carried forward. That said, the study also suffers a number of limitations. Sample size was modest for the complex set of analyses we undertook, and a larger sample size would have allowed closer examination of associations among all study variables. The normative composition and modest sample size may have affected our ability to detect nonzero cascade paths, and so replication with a larger sample size might show additional significant paths. The sample, though sociodemographically diverse, was not representative, and so caution is in order about generalizing from this study. The normative nature of the sample (restricting the ranges of social competence and problem severity alike) places limits on understanding howNIH-PA Author Manuscript NIH-PA Author Manuscript NIH-PA Author ManuscriptDev Psychopathol. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2012 August 06.Bornstein et al.Pagesocial competence affects the development of behavioral adjustment in clinical or at-risk populations. It could be social competence affects externalizing and internalizing behaviors only in the normal range of functioning and not at the extremely high end or for samples suffering psychiatric disorders. To focus this article, we limited the scope of our study to only one major developmental task domain and two major symptom domains. Other major domains of developmental task competence (like adaptive behavior in age-salient developmental tasks) have been implicated in the cascade literature linking to symptoms (Dodge Pettit, 2003; Masten, 2005; Masten Curtis, 2000). Another limitation of the present study design is the focus on widely spaced longitudinal relations among broad constructs. The unequal and relatively wide spans between assessment waves did not allow us to draw firm conclusions about precisely when or how observed cross-domain links developed. Due to concerns of model complexity, a number of additional common cause third variables and interacting constructs, such as academic competence, were not included. Likewise, examination of additional child characteristics (e.g., temperament) would have made for a more definitive study. Social competence and behavioral adjustment in children may be generated and influenced by the same (genetic or environmental) factors and emerge at the same time and develop together. Alternatively, children’s social competence may be jeopardized because they are aggressive or withdrawn. Perhaps instead, social competence protects behavioral adjustment. Applying a developmental cascade approach, we found that early childhood social competence predicts later externalizing and internalizing behaviors. Externalizing and internalizing behaviors never predicted social competence. Although we cannot refute alternative explanations concerning the direction of cause and effect, the temporal design of the study and the findings suggest that social competence antecedes behavioral adjustment. One implication of our results is that attention to social competence much earlier in development is warranted. What gives rise to individual variation in social competence? Perhaps unsurprisingly, secure attachment in infancy has been shown consistently to predict social competence in childhood (Booth, Rose-Krasnor, Rubin, 1991; Freitag, Bel.