Child Negative Affect Research Articles

Environment-by-PGS Interaction in the Classical Twin Design: An Application to Childhood Anxiety and Negative Affect

One type of genotype-environment interaction occurs when genetic effects on a phenotype are moderated by an environment; or when environmental effects on a phenotype are moderated by genes. Here we outline these types of genotype-environment interaction models, and propose a test of genotype-environment interaction based on the classical twin design, which includes observed genetic variables (polygenic scores: PGSs) that account for part of the genetic variance of the phenotype. We introduce environment-by-PGS interaction and the results of a simulation study to address statistical power and parameter recovery. Next, we apply the model to empirical data on anxiety and negative affect in children. The power to detect environment-by-PGS interaction depends on the heritability of the phenotype, and the strength of the PGS. The simulation results indicate that under realistic conditions of sample size, heritability and strength of the interaction, the environment-by-PGS model is a viable approach to detect genotype-environment interaction. In 7-year-old children, we defined two PGS based on the largest genetic association studies for 2 traits that are genetically correlated to childhood anxiety and negative affect, namely major depression (MDD) and intelligence (IQ). We find that common environmental influences on negative affect are amplified for children with a lower IQ-PGS.

The roles of child temperament, parent stress, and parenting style in family mealtimes

Family mealtimes are associated with benefits for children, including healthy eating, fewer behavior problems, and healthy psychological well-being. However, the interactions during family mealtimes, and the parent and child characteristics, which may affect both the family mealtime environment and the associated benefits in children are not fully understood. The goal of this study was to examine the role of child and parent characteristics on the family mealtime environment. We tested several mediation models to explain how child temperament (negative affectivity), parent stress, and the dimensions of parent feeding style (responsiveness and demandingness) interact and influence each other to impact the structure and quality of the mealtime environment. Parents (68 mothers; 82 fathers) of children between 2 and 6 years completed an online survey. Measures included the Children's Behavior Questionnaire, Perceived Stress Scale, Caregiver's Feeding Styles Questionnaire, and The Meals in Our Household Questionnaire. Child negative affectivity was associated with poorer mealtime quality and structure. These associations were mediated through parent responsiveness, but not demandingness. The role of demandingness in family mealtimes may depend on parent responsiveness. When examined together in a serial mediation model, child negative affectivity increased parent stress, which reduced responsiveness, and led to poorer mealtime quality and structure. These results emphasize the complex relationships between child temperament, parent stress, and the dimensions of parenting styles that occur within the mealtime context. This line of research is essential for understanding family mealtime dynamics and informing future studies aimed at creating positive interactions between parents and children during mealtimes.

Maternal negative affect moderates behavioral and physiological synchrony in Latinx and Black mother-child dyads.

Positive behavioral synchrony (PBS) between mothers and children involves the bidirectional exchange of verbal and nonverbal communication. Respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) synchrony reflects the concordance between mother-child physiological states. Both PBS and RSA synchrony can be undermined by psychopathology symptoms. Latinx and Black families may experience contextual stressors that contribute to heightened symptoms of psychopathology, yet minimal research has examined relations between psychopathology symptoms with PBS and RSA synchrony in these families. The present study assessed associations between maternal depressive and child internalizing symptoms, mother and child negative affect (NA), and PBS and RSA synchrony in a sample of100 Latina and Black mothers (Mage =34.48years, SD=6.39years) and their children (Mage =6.83years, SD=1.50years). Dyads engaged in a video-recorded stress task where RSA was collected continuously. Videos were later coded for PBS and mother and child NA. Mothers reported on their depressive and child's internalizing symptoms. Maternal NA was associated with weak PBS and negative RSA synchrony. Neither depressive andinternalizing symptoms nor child NA were associated with PBS or RSA synchrony. Results highlight the potency of maternal NA on behavioral and physiological synchrony in Latinx and Black families.

Profiles of parent emotion socialization: Longitudinal associations with child emotional outcomes

BackgroundFew studies within the field of emotion socialization have used a person-centered approach to investigate how supportive or unsupportive parent subpopulations influence child development over time. Furthermore, the role of parents’ emotion socialization processes at different child developmental stages remains understudied. ObjectivesThe current study tests whether parent profiles of emotion socialization are associated with concurrent and long-term child mental health problems and emotion competence, and whether associations differ for parents of children in early (4-6 years) versus middle childhood (7-10 years). MethodThree waves of annual data were drawn from the Child and Parent Emotion Study, a longitudinal study of multinational families (n = 869). We drew on previously derived profiles from a latent profile analysis describing ‘emotion coaching’, ‘emotion dismissing’, and ‘emotion disengaged’ profiles of parent emotion socialization. Linear regression models tested associations between parent profiles (assessed in 2019) and child internalizing and externalizing problems, negative affect, and child emotion regulation, assessed 0, 1, and 2 years later (2019-21). ResultsEmotion dismissing (versus emotion coaching) was associated with higher concurrent child internalizing problems, externalizing problems, and negative affect; and longitudinally with higher internalizing problems and negative affect, and lower emotion regulation. Emotion disengaged (versus emotion coaching) was associated with higher concurrent and longitudinal child negative affect, and lower longitudinal emotion regulation. Split by child age, we found stronger associations in early compared to middle childhood for emotion dismissing and child externalizing problems. The reverse was evident for emotion disengaged, where associations were stronger/more evident in middle compared to early childhood for child negative affect and emotion regulation. Other associations were no longer evident or were consistent across child ages. ConclusionChildren of parents who have a pattern of emotion dismissing or emotion disengaged emotion socialization are at greater risk for mental health problems and lower emotion competence.

Parental Pre and Postnatal Depression: The Longitudinal Associations with Child Negative Affectivity and Dysfunctional Mother-Child Feeding Interactions.

Many studies have shown the influence of maternal perinatal depression on a child's emotional and behavioral regulation ability; yet there is scarce research on the impact of the father's perinatal depression on the caregiver-infant relationship and the child's development. Through a longitudinal study, we investigated maternal and paternal depression and its association with infants' emotionality and mother-infant feeding interactions The sample was constituted of 136 first-time parents (68 couples, and their full-term babies at 3 and 6 months old). At T1 (28th week of pregnancy), T2 (three months old), and T3 (at six months age) parents responded to the Edinburgh Postpartum Depression Scale. At Times 2 and 3, mothers and fathers completed the Infant Behavior Questionnaire, and recorded mother-infant interactions were coded by means of the Feeding Scale. Statistical analyses indicated stability of maternal and paternal depression over time. Correlations emerged between mother's higher depression scores, negative affective state during interactions at three months age, infant food refusal and mother-infant interactional conflict at six months age. Paternal higher depressive scores were associated with the mother-child interactional conflict. To finish, higher parental depression scores were related with infant negative emotionality. The current study confirms the relevance of embracing a cumulative risk model to support the child's development with early caregiver-child interventions.

Sorry Parents, Children Consume High Amounts of Candy before and after a Meal: Within-Person Comparisons of Children's Candy Intake and Associations with Temperament and Appetite.

Candy provides little nutritional value and contributes to children's energy intake from added sugars. Factors influencing children's candy intake remain largely unknown. This study describes children's total candy intake (kcal) before and after a meal and examines associations of candy intake in both conditions with children's temperament and appetite among a predominantly White, highly educated sample. Children (n = 38, age 5-8 years) were given free access to 11 candies (5 chocolate, 6 non-chocolate) and non-food alternatives during a pre-meal and a post-meal condition. Parents completed the Child Behavior Questionnaire and the Child Eating Behavior Questionnaire. Total candy intake was less when offered after a meal (209.3 kcal; SD = 111.25) than before a meal when still hungry (283.6 kcal; SD = 167.3), but not statistically different. Individual differences in candy intake between conditions was calculated to categorize children into three groups: "Better Regulators" consumed more candy before a meal (39%), "Consistent/Poorer Regulators" consumed similar amounts before and after a meal regardless of hunger (32%), and "Most Disinhibited" children consumed more candy after a meal when not hungry (29%). The "Better Regulators" group was lowest in negative affect and the "Consistent/Poorer Regulators" group was highest in food responsiveness. Children's candy intake was high relative to daily energy needs both before and after a meal. Child negative affect and food responsiveness appear to be child characteristics that predispose children to poor self-regulation of candy intake before and after a meal.

Longitudinal bidirectional relations between children's negative affectivity and maternal emotion expressivity.

Although children's negative affectivity is a temperamental characteristic that is biologically based, it is framed within and shaped by their emotional environments which are partly created by maternal emotion expressivity in the family. Children, in turn, play a role in shaping their family emotional context, which could lead to changes in mothers' emotion expressivity in the family. However, these theorized longitudinal bidirectional relations between child negative affectivity and maternal positive and negative expressivity have not been studied from toddlerhood to early school-age. The current study utilized a cross-lagged panel model to examine the reciprocal relations between children's negative affectivity and maternal expressivity within the family over the course of early childhood. Participants were 140 mother-child dyads (72 boys, mean age = 2.67 years, primarily White). Mothers reported the positive and negative expressivity in the family and children's negative affectivity in toddlerhood (T1), preschool (T2), and school-age (T3). Maternal negative expressivity and child negative affectivity at T1 were significantly correlated. Maternal negative expressivity at T1 significantly predicted child negative affectivity at T3. Children's negative affectivity at T2 significantly predicted mothers' negative expressivity at T3. Mothers' positive expressivity was not related to children's negative affectivity at any of the three time points. The findings demonstrate the reciprocal relations between children's negative affectivity and maternal negative expressivity in the family, suggesting the importance of the interplay between child temperament and maternal expressivity within the family emotional context.

Specific parenting behaviors link maternal education to toddlers' language and social competence.

Maternal sensitive parenting behavior has been shown to account, at least partially, for the relation between family background and children's language and behavioral outcomes. Yet, as previous studies often used a rather global or domain-general measure of maternal sensitivity, it remains an open question whether different domains of child development are influenced by the different facets of maternal sensitivity. Thus, this study investigated whether specific parenting behaviors differentially mediated the association between maternal education and children's language and social competence. Drawing on 2,478 mother-child dyads from the German National Educational Panel Study, we distinguished mothers' sensitive parenting behavior as cognitive-verbally stimulating and socioemotionally supportive parenting behaviors. These two observed specific parenting behaviors at 26 months were modeled as separate pathways linking maternal education and children's language outcomes at 26 months as well as children's social competence at 38 months. All analyses controlled for family net income, single parenthood, migration background, mother's depressive feelings, and child's negative affectivity. The results indicated that the mother's cognitive-verbally stimulating parenting behavior was specifically related to the children's language skills, whereas mother's socioemotionally supportive parenting behavior specifically predicted children's later social competence. Furthermore, these two separable parenting behaviors differentially mediated the association between maternal education and toddler's language and social competence. Most notably, children's language additionally mediated the relation between maternal education and children's social competence. The findings suggest that domain-specific intervention programs have the potential to promote early language and social development efficiently. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Do the Temperamental Characteristics of Both Mother and Child Influence the Well-Being of Adopted and Non-Adopted Children?

(1) Background: For decades, the temperaments of infants and small children have been a focus of studies in human development and been seen as a potential contributor to children’s developmental patterns. However, less is known about the interplay between the temperamental characteristics of mothers and their children in the context of explaining variations in developmental outcomes. The aim of our study was to explore the associations—with or without genetic links—of the temperaments and psychological distress of mothers and the temperaments of children with behavioral problems in a group of internationally adopted children and their adoptive mothers and in a group of non-adopted children and their mothers. (2) Methods: Data (n = 170) were derived from the ongoing Finnish Adoption (FinAdo) follow-up study. The children included were under the age of 7 years; 74 were adopted internationally through legal agencies between October 2010 and December 2016, and the remaining 96 were non-adopted children living with their birth parents (biological group) recruited from day-care centers. We used Mary Rothbart’s temperament questionnaires to assess temperament, the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) to obtain data on the children’s behavioral/emotional problems and competencies, and the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) to assess parental psychological distress. The study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Hospital District of Southwest Finland, and written informed consent was obtained from the parents and the children themselves. (3) Results: The negative affectivities of both mothers and children were associated with the total CBCL and with both internalizing and externalizing problem behaviors after adjusting for age, gender, and adoption status. Both relationships remained significant when tested simultaneously, suggesting additive effects. Maternal negative affect was associated with problem behavior irrespective of child extraversion/surgency. Child extraversion/surgency was associated with lower levels of all internalizing behavioral problems when adjusted for maternal sociability. Child negative affect was associated with all behavioral problem measures irrespective of maternal sociability or maternal psychological distress. Maternal distress was associated with child problem behaviors only in children with low extraversion/surgency. (4) Limitations: The sample size was relatively small, and the information was gathered solely with questionnaires. (5) Conclusions: The results of the study may be clinically significant. Child negative affect, maternal negative affect, and maternal experienced distress, combined with low child extraversion/surgency, may increase the risk of child problem behaviors in both adoptees and non-adoptees.

I Want More! The Role of Child, Family and Maternal Characteristics on Child Dispositional Greed and Sharing Behavior

Greed is often regarded as a negative trait that impedes prosocial behavior in adults. Yet, relatively little is known about the development of greed and its effects on children. We examine the effect of dispositional greed on sharing behavior in 4-to-6-year-olds. In addition, we identified potential factors associated with child greed, including child, family, and maternal characteristics. This study with 63 mother–child dyads (Agechild = 5.11, SD = 0.88, 50.8% female) revealed that child greed was associated with less prosocial behavior in an observational sharing task. More specifically, children who were reported as greedier by their mothers shared less than less greedy children. Having fewer siblings, less mindful maternal parenting style, and high maternal trait anxiety was associated with higher dispositional greed in children. Additionally, their mother rated greedier children as having higher negative affectivity. These findings suggest that child greed is an important developmental trait that warrants further investigation.Highlights• 63 mother–child dyads revealed that child greed was associated with less pro-social behavior in an observational sharing task• Child greed was associated with higher rates of child negative affectivity.• Having fewer siblings, less mindful parenting style, high maternal trait anxiety predicted dispositional greed in 4-to-6-year-old children

Maternal Functioning and Child's Externalizing Problems: Temperament and Sex-Based Driven Effects.

This study examines how maternal adverse parenting (hostility, neglect, low warmth) and psychological distress explain the associations between child temperament factors and externalizing problems. It also examines if these associations differ according to the child's biological sex. The sample consists of 339 school-age children receiving in-school services for conduct problems. Data were collected through questionnaires completed by mothers at 3 time points, at one-year intervals. Results from path analyses revealed that maternal psychological distress partly explained the associations between each child temperamental factors (negative affectivity, surgency/extraversion, effortful control) and levels of externalizing problems. Specifically, the indirect effect of psychological distress between child negative affectivity and externalizing problems was only significant for boys, not girls. Maternal hostility, on the other hand, mediated the association between child surgency/extraversion and externalizing problems in both boys and girls. Interestingly, neglectful parenting and maternal warmth did not explain the association between child temperamental factors and externalizing problems. The findings suggest small but significant temperament child-driven effects on maternal psychological distress and hostility, in turn, translating into higher levels of externalizing problems. These findings support the relevance of temperament-based interventions for children with conduct problems and of increased mental health support for their mothers. By aiding mothers in developing a larger repertoire of parenting strategies, mothers may be better equipped to respond appropriately to their child's various temperamental characteristics, hence, reducing their psychological distress and hostile behaviors and limiting the development of child externalizing problems.

Predicting preschool children's emotional eating: The role of parents' emotional eating, feeding practices and child temperament.

Emotional eating (EE; defined as overeating irrespective of satiety and in response to emotional states) develops within childhood, persists into adulthood, and is linked with obesity. The origins of EE remain unclear, but parental behaviours (e.g., controlling feeding practices and modelling) and child characteristics (e.g., temperament) are often implicated. To date, the interaction between these influences has not been well investigated. This study explores whether the relationship between parent and child EE is shaped by parental feeding practices, and if the magnitude of this relationship varies as a function of child temperament. Mothers (N = 244) of 3–5‐year‐olds completed questionnaires about their EE, feeding practices, their children's EE and temperament. Results showed that parental use of food to regulate children's emotions fully mediated the relationship between parent and child EE, and using food as a reward and restricting food for health reasons partially mediated this relationship. Analyses demonstrated that the mediated relationship between parent and child EE via use of food as a reward and restriction of food for health reasons varied as a function of child negative affect, where high child negative affect moderated these mediations. These findings suggest child EE may result from interrelationships between greater parent EE, use of food as a reward, restriction of food for health reasons and negative affective temperaments, but that greater use of food for emotion regulation may predict greater child EE irrespective of child temperament.

Parent and child adjustment dual trajectories at the beginning of the COVID-19 syndemic.

Children and their families have been significantly impacted by the unfolding of the COVID‐19 syndemic. We sought to identify (1) groups of families with distinct profiles of joint trajectories of parental anxiety and child emotional distress and (2) protective and risk factors associated with these dual‐trajectory profiles. A sample of 488 parents (65% White; 77% mothers) with 3‐ to 8‐year‐old children (M Age = 5.04, SD Age = 1.59) was followed from late March to early July in 2020. Survey data on parent (i.e., anxiety symptoms) and child (i.e., emotional distress) adjustment were collected at three time points. Using multivariate growth mixture modeling, we identified one group with low parental anxiety and child emotional distress (42.7%) and three other distinct groups with varying risk levels among parents and/or children. We also identified protective (e.g., positive parenting) and risk (e.g., child negative affect, negative parenting, perceived stress with racism) factors in predicting parent and child adjustment. It can be concluded that, overall, our sample (mostly middle‐ and high‐socioeconomic status families) demonstrated family resilience amid COVID‐19, consistent with prior disaster coping literature. At the same time, our findings also indicated the need to identify at‐risk families and modifiable factors for post‐disaster public health interventions.

Preconception maternal posttraumatic stress and child negative affectivity: Prospectively evaluating the intergenerational impact of trauma.

The developmental origins of psychopathology begin before birth and perhaps even prior to conception. Understanding the intergenerational transmission of psychopathological risk is critical to identify sensitive windows for prevention and early intervention. Prior research demonstrates that maternal trauma history, typically assessed retrospectively, has adverse consequences for child socioemotional development. However, very few prospective studies of preconception trauma exist, and the role of preconception symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) remains unknown. The current study prospectively evaluates whether maternal preconception PTSD symptoms predict early childhood negative affectivity, a key dimension of temperament and predictor of later psychopathology. One hundred and eighteen women were recruited following a birth and prior to conception of the study child and were followed until the study child was 3-5 years old. Higher maternal PTSD symptoms prior to conception predicted greater child negative affectivity, adjusting for concurrent maternal depressive symptoms and sociodemographic covariates. In exploratory analyses, we found that neither maternal prenatal nor postpartum depressive symptoms or perceived stress mediated this association. These findings add to a limited prospective literature, highlighting the importance of assessing the mental health of women prior to conception and providing interventions that can disrupt the intergenerational sequelae of trauma.

The still-face paradigm in Latin American mother–child dyads at 2 and 3 years: Effects of socioeconomic status and temperament

The still-face paradigm (SFP) is a common method in infancy used to assess emotion regulation and interactions when an adult (typically the caregiver) abruptly stops a positive interaction with a child and switches to a more neutral affect. The effect of this paradigm has been studied in different countries and age ranges, but research in Latin America and with toddlers (e.g., 2–3 years old) of different socioeconomic backgrounds is scarce. The current study analyzed caregiver–child interactions in this novel sample, to analyze the possibility of generalization of the typical response of this paradigm (i.e., less positive affect, reduced gaze, and more negative affect in children when parent affect changes). The sample consisted of 114 caregiver–child dyads from low to middle socioeconomic status (SES) (children’s Mage = 26.61 months, SD = 6.73, range = 18–36; 61 girls). The SFP modified version (i.e., on the floor and with a series of standardized toys), the temperament Early Childhood Behavior Questionnaire adapted for Argentina, and an SES scale were used. The typical SFP response was observed in Latin American children. In addition, older children and children with higher SES exhibited better general regulation, and there were weak associations with temperament. For gender differences, boys demonstrated more aggressive behaviors at Phase II. Results from this study suggest that children’s response to this paradigm is an unconditional response to the lack of social reinforcers and is only partially associated with social and individual variables.

Examining the Relationship between Infant Weight Status and Parent-Infant Interactions within a Food and Nonfood Context.

Background: Most observational research examining factors in the home environment that contribute to child adiposity has focused on feeding and physical activity, although aspects of one's nonfood home environment such as parent-child interactions can also impact body weight. The main objectives of this study were to determine if parent-infant interactions under different contexts provide a unique contribution to infants' concurrent adiposity after accounting for known obesity-related covariates. Methods: This was a cross-sectional analysis of 121 9- to 15-month-old infants using data collected at the baseline visit of an ongoing intervention study. Mother-infant interactions during a feeding episode and a free-play task were recorded and coded. Anthropometrics of infants were measured by trained research staff. We used two-step hierarchical multivariable regression models to examine the unique contribution of mother-infant interactions to weight status after accounting for known obesity-related covariates (i.e., maternal age, BMI, education, parity, and gestational age, child sex, breastfeeding duration, age of solid food introduction, and birthweight). Results: Maternal intrusiveness, child negative affect, and child responsiveness during free-play, but not feeding were significantly associated with z-weight-for-length. For every 1-U increase in maternal intrusiveness and child negative affect there was a 0.321 (p = 0.011) and 0.415 (p = 0.028) unit increase in z-weight-for-length, respectively, whereas for every 1-U increase in child responsiveness there was a decrease of 0.386 U in z-weight-for-length (p = 0.025). Conclusion: This research contributes new findings support the idea that parent-child interactions outside of the feeding context may relate to obesity. Clinical Trial Registration Number NCT02936284.

The feeding to Manage Child Behavior Questionnaire: Development of a tool to measure’ non-nutritive feeding practices in low income families with preschool-aged children

The parent feeding literature has largely focused on the use of controlling, intrusive practices to manage children's food intake (e.g., restriction, pressure). Less research has been conducted on parents' use of food as a contingency to direct or motivate child behavior. The aim of this study was to develop and validate the Feeding to Manage Child Behavior Questionnaire (FMCBQ). A mixed-methods approach was used to develop the 10-item questionnaire. Cognitive interviews informed the modification, deletion and/or replacement of items. The survey was distributed to mothers of children aged 2–5 years participating in the Women, Infants, and Children program or Head Start (n = 334). Factor analysis was conducted to test our theoretical model and construct validity was assessed. Caregivers also completed the Structure and Control in Parenting Feeding (SCPF) questionnaire and Child Behavior Questionnaire (CBQ). Exploratory factor analysis revealed a 2-factor model; 5-item Food to Soothe (FTS) and 4-item Food as Reward (FAR) subscale. Internal consistencies were good (0.84, 0.70 respectively). Both subscales were weakly and negatively associated with maternal self-reported BMI. As predicted, both subscales were positively correlated with child negative affect and other control-based feeding practices, whereas only FTS was negatively associated with structure-based feeding. The FMCBQ provides a short, reliable, and valid tool to assess use of FAR and FTS in response to a variety of contexts to better understand how mothers feed their children.

Distance learning, parent-child interactions, and affective well-being of parents and children during the COVID-19 pandemic: A daily diary study.

To slow down the spread of the COVID-19 virus, schools around the world were closed in early 2020, transferring children's scholastic activities to the homes and imposing a massive burden on parents and school-age children. Using data of a 21-day diary study conducted between March and April 2020 in Germany, this work examined whether (a) distance learning and (b) parents' involvement therein were associated with negative parent-child interactions and affective well-being of parents and children, over and above the effect of daily stressors. Participants were 562 parents (489 mothers, Mage = 42.79, SDage = 6.12, range = 25-63) most of whom were married (n = 382, 68.0%). They responded to the daily items with respect to the youngest child living in their household (Mage = 9.74, SDage = 2.81, range = 6-19). On days when children were working on school tasks, parents reported more negative parent-child interactions as well as lower parental and child positive affect and higher child negative affect, but not higher parental negative affect. Moreover, days when parents were more heavily involved in learning (i.e., when children worked less independently) were days with more negative parent-child interactions, lower parental and child positive affect, and higher parental and child negative affect. Negative parent-child interactions were linked to lower affective well-being of parents and children, and partially accounted for the relation among daily stressors and affective well-being. The present work highlights the need for measures to better support school-age children and their parents during distance learning. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

The impact of prenatal maternal stress due to potentially traumatic events on child temperament: A systematic review.

The objective of the current study was to complete a systematic review of the relationship between prenatal maternal stress due to potentially traumatic events (PTEs) and child temperament. Eligible studies through June 2020 were identified utilizing a search strategy in PubMed and PsycInfo. Included studies examined associations between prenatal maternal stress due to PTE and child temperament. Two independent coders extracted study characteristics and three coders assessed study quality. Of the 1969 identified studies, 20 met full inclusion criteria. Studies were classified on two dimensions: (1) disaster-related stress and (2) intimate partner violence during pregnancy. For disaster-related prenatal maternal stress, 75% (nine out of 12) of published reports found associations with increased child negative affectivity, 50% (five out of 10) also noted associations with lower effortful control/regulation, and 38% (three out of eight) found associations with lower positive affectivity. When considering prenatal intimate partner violence stress, 80% (four out of five) of published reports found associations with higher child negative affectivity, 67% (four out of six) found associations with lower effortful control/regulation, and 33% (one out of three) found associations with lower positive affectivity. Prenatal maternal stress due to PTEs may impact the offspring's temperament, especially negative affectivity. Mitigating the effects of maternal stress in pregnancy is needed in order to prevent adverse outcomes on the infant's socioemotional development.

COVID-19 Employment Status, Dyadic Family Relationships, and Child Psychological Well-Being

PurposeCOVID-19 has led to soaring unemployment rates and the widespread adoption of working-from-home (WFH) arrangements that have disrupted family relationships and adolescent psychological well-being. This longitudinal study investigated how parental employment status (i.e., job loss and WFH) influenced adolescents' daily affect indirectly through family functioning (i.e., parent-adolescent conflict and parental warmth) and whether these links varied by family's socioeconomic status. MethodsDaily-diary approaches were used to collect dyadic parent-adolescent data from a nationwide American sample (6,524 daily assessments from 447 parent-adolescent dyads; 45% black, 36% white, 10% Latinx, 7% Asian American, 2% Native American) over the course of 15 consecutive days at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. ResultsParents who experienced job loss demonstrated increases in parent-child conflict, which in turn predicted decreases in child positive affect and increases in child negative affect. Furthermore, parents' WFH status predicted increases in parental warmth, which in turn predicted increases in child positive affect and decreases in child negative affect. Parents of low-income families were more likely to experience job loss (24% vs. 13%) and less likely to WFH (44% vs. 73%) than middle-high income parents. ConclusionsAdolescents from families facing economic hardship and employment shifts during COVID-19 experienced changes in parent-child relational dynamics that influenced their emotional well-being. Recognizing these shifts in family ecology is critical to health providers' ability to screen for mental health, assess existing family supports, and provide timely, targeted information about stress management and contending with family conflict.