Children's Socioemotional Well-being Research Articles

Parental depressive tendencies, gender, and immigrant status in fragile families

While empirical support that focuses on maternal depression has received substantial publicity on several fronts, paternal depression has not garnered as much empirical attention. Additionally, despite the increase in the prevalence of immigration in the US, there has been slow progress in identifying underlying mechanisms and risks among immigrant families and their impact on younger children's socio-emotional wellbeing. Utilizing the framework of intersectionality, this study investigated the effect of parental depressive tendencies on school-age children's internalizing and externalizing behaviors. To understand the familial links that safeguard young school-age children's behavioral outcomes, the discrepancies of parental depressive propensities with respect to parents’ gender and immigrant status were discussed. Overall, the postulation that paternal and maternal depressive tendencies exerted differing impact was partially upheld. Fathers with a history of depressed mood were more likely to rate thei...

Family play and leisure activities: correlates of parents' and children's socio-emotional well-being

Guided by systems theory, this mixed-methods study of 98 families examined parent- and child-reported play, exploration, and leisure activities in relation to family members' socio-emotional well-being. Parents and children completed surveys independently and interviews were conducted with a subset of families. Quantitative findings showed that child report of secure exploration with both parents, and mother report of leisure activities, were associated with some couple and parent–child well-being indicators and nearly all child well-being indicators. Father report of play and leisure activities was associated with more couple and parent–child well-being indicators than mother report and showed some differences in associations with child well-being indicators. Interview data provided examples of how families incorporate play and leisure into their busy lives and the perceived benefits and enjoyment derived from these activities. These findings emphasize the importance of family play and leisure involvement for parents' and children's well-being.

Building on the positive in children's lives: a co-participatory study on the social construction of children's sense of agency

This study is grounded on the argument that agentic experiences and their reflection in supportive social contexts are crucial protective elements mediating children's socio-emotional well-being. Drawing on the socio-cultural perspective, we investigate the ways in which agency is manifested in children's social interactions while they reflect upon their self-taken photos of positive events in their lives. The empirical data were collected with primary school children via the ‘children as co-researchers’ methodology, and were examined via a micro-level interaction analysis of video-recorded photo-reflection situations. The results illuminate interactions in which the children are constructing, maintaining and contesting the cultural practices of what it means to have agency in their social settings in and outside school. The study contributes towards a more nuanced understanding of the relationship between co-participatory practices upon positive in children's lives and the promotion of children's sense of agency that engenders their socio-emotional well-being.

Development and validation of the Parents’ Beliefs About Children’s Emotions Questionnaire.

Parents' beliefs about children's emotions comprise an important aspect of parental emotion socialization and may relate to children's mental health and well-being. Thus, the goal of this study was to develop the multifaceted Parents' Beliefs About Children's Emotions (PBACE) questionnaire. Central to our work was inclusion of multiple ethnic groups throughout the questionnaire development process, from initial item creation through assessment of measurement invariance and validity. Participants included 1,080 African American, European American, and Lumbee American Indian parents of 4- to 10-year-old children who completed the initial item pool for the PBACE. Exploratory factor analyses were conducted with 720 of these parents to identify factor structure and reduce items. Confirmatory factor analysis was then conducted with a holdout sample of 360 parents to evaluate model fit and assess measurement invariance across ethnicity and across parent gender. Finally, validity of the PBACE scales was assessed via correlations with measures of parental emotional expressivity and reactions to children's emotions. The PBACE is composed of 33 items in 7 scales. All scales generally demonstrated measurement invariance across ethnic groups and parent gender, thereby allowing interpretations of differences across these ethnic groups and between mothers and fathers as true differences rather than by-products of measurement variance. Initial evidence of discriminant and construct validity for the scale interpretations was also obtained. Results suggest that the PBACE will be useful for researchers interested in emotion-related socialization processes in diverse ethnic groups and their impact on children's socioemotional outcomes and well-being. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved).

Strengthening socio‐emotional competencies in a school setting: Data from the Pyramid project

Development of socio-emotional competencies is key to children's successful social interaction at home and at school. This study examines the efficacy of a UK primary school-based intervention, the Pyramid project, in strengthening children's socio-emotional competencies. Participants were 385 children from seven schools in two UK cities. All children were aged 7-8 years and in school Year 3. Children were screened for socio-emotional difficulties through the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ; Goodman, 1997) and a multi-agency meeting of relevant professionals before being allocated to attend a Pyramid Club intervention (n= 103) or a comparison group (n= 282). A 2 × 2 mixed-model design was used: group (intervention group vs. comparison group) × 2 time points (pre- vs. 12 weeks post-intervention) with repeated measures on the time factor to investigate the impact of the Pyramid Year 3 intervention. Teachers completed the SDQ-T4-16 for all children pre- and post-intervention to measure participants' socio-emotional health status. As measured by the two SDQ difficulty sub-scales of Emotional and Peer problems and the SDQ strength sub-scale of Prosocial behaviour, post-intervention improvements in the Pyramid attendee group were of greater magnitude than those of the comparison group. The Pyramid project intervention improves the socio-emotional health of vulnerable children through promoting positive outcomes as well as reducing socio-emotional deficits. These findings further support the inclusion of a salutogenic approach in promoting children's socio-emotional well-being.

Media use, face-to-face communication, media multitasking, and social well-being among 8- to 12-year-old girls.

An online survey of 3,461 North American girls ages 8-12 conducted in the summer of 2010 through Discovery Girls magazine examined the relationships between social well-being and young girls' media use--including video, video games, music listening, reading/homework, e-mailing/posting on social media sites, texting/instant messaging, and talking on phones/video chatting--and face-to-face communication. This study introduced both a more granular measure of media multitasking and a new comparative measure of media use versus time spent in face-to-face communication. Regression analyses indicated that negative social well-being was positively associated with levels of uses of media that are centrally about interpersonal interaction (e.g., phone, online communication) as well as uses of media that are not (e.g., video, music, and reading). Video use was particularly strongly associated with negative social well-being indicators. Media multitasking was also associated with negative social indicators. Conversely, face-to-face communication was strongly associated with positive social well-being. Cell phone ownership and having a television or computer in one's room had little direct association with children's socioemotional well-being. We hypothesize possible causes for these relationships, call for research designs to address causality, and outline possible implications of such findings for the social well-being of younger adolescents.

Parent versus child assessment of quality of life in children using cochlear implants

Objective Children with hearing loss who use cochlear implants have lower quality of life (QoL) in social situations and lower self-esteem than hearing peers. The child's QoL has been assessed primarily by asking the parent rather than asking the child. This poses a problem because parents have difficulty judging less observable aspects like self-esteem and socio-emotional functioning, the domains most affected by hearing loss. Methods This case-control study evaluated QoL in 50 preschoolers using a cochlear implant and their parents with the Kiddy KINDL ®, an established QoL measure. Children's responses were compared to a hearing control group and correlated with demographic variables. We used a questionnaire for parents and a face-to-face interview with children. T-tests were used to compare (a) paired parent–child ratings and (b) children with cochlear implants versus normal hearing. Pearson rank correlations were used to compare QoL with demographic variables. Results Children using cochlear implants rated overall QoL significantly more positively than their parents ( M Difference = 4.22, p = .03). Child rating of QoL did not differ significantly by auditory status (cochlear implant (82.8) vs. hearing (80.8), p = .42). Overall QoL correlated inversely with cochlear implant experience and chronologic age, but did not correlate with implantation age. Conclusions Preschool children using cochlear implants can assess adequately their own QoL, but parents afford valuable complementary perspective on the child's socio-emotional and physical well-being. Preschool children using cochlear implants rate overall QoL measures similar to hearing peers. A constellation of QoL measures should be collected to yield a better understanding of general QoL as well as specific domains centered on hearing loss.

Shift Work, Parenting Behaviors, and Children's Socioemotional Well-Being

Many U.S. employees with children work nonstandard hours, yet we know little about the linkages among maternal shift schedules, mothers' and fathers' parenting behaviors, and children's socioemotional outcomes. In a sample of 55 dual-earner families with children age 8 to 14 years and mothers working day versus evening shifts, the authors found that mothers' work schedules are unrelated to their parenting behaviors. However, fathers whose wives work evenings (vs. days) spend more time with children, know more about children's activities, receive more disclosures from children, and have better parenting skills, variables that are inversely associated with children's internalizing, externalizing, and risk-taking behaviors.

How Are Family-Responsive Workplace Arrangements Family Friendly? Employer Accommodations, Parenting, and Children's Socioemotional Well-Being

Family-responsive workplace arrangements, including schedule flexibility, reduced hours, and workplace social support, are often touted as important to employed parents' abilities to balance the simultaneous demands involved in work and childrearing. Empirical evidence regarding this supposition has most often focused on employed parents' perceptions of work-family incompatibility, leaving little understanding of (1) which arrangements are associated with parenting and children's well-being and (2) the process through which these arrangements may be related to these aspects of family life. A stress perspective on the work-family interface suggests that work-family arrangements might be related to parenting and children through the mechanisms of parents' psychological well-being. I use data from a regional sample of employed mothers to investigate this proposition. Findings from path models show that most relationships between arrangements and parenting are direct and unmediated by mothers' well-being and that work-family arrangements are only indirectly associated with children's socioemotional well-being.

How Are Family-Responsive Workplace Arrangements Family Friendly? Employer Accommodations, Parenting, and Children's Socioemotional Well-Being

Family-responsive workplace arrangements, including schedule flexibility, reduced hours, and workplace social support, are often touted as important to employed parents' abilities to balance the simultaneous demands involved in work and childrearing. Empirical evidence regarding this supposition has most often focused on employed parents' perceptions of work-family incompatibility, leaving little understanding of (1) which arrangements are associated with parenting and children's well-being and (2) the process through which these arrangements may be related to these aspects of family life. A stress perspective on the work-family interface suggests that work-family arrangements might be related to parenting and children through the mechanisms of parents' psychological well-being. I use data from a regional sample of employed mothers to investigate this proposition. Findings from path models show that most relationships between arrangements and parenting are direct and unmediated by mothers' well-being and that work-family arrangements are only indirectly associated with children's socioemotional well-being.

Children's perceptions of the fairness of parental preferential treatment and their socioemotional well-being.

Being the recipient of favored parental treatment has been identified as a correlate of enhanced socioemotional well-being. However, knowledge of children's perceptions of the legitimacy of preferential treatment may provide a more complete understanding of associations between preferential treatment and children's socioemotional well-being. The current study investigated whether children's well-being varies in accordance with their views about the fairness of preferential parental treatment. One hundred thirty-five children (M = 11.74 years) and their older siblings (M = 14.64 years) were interviewed independently about parents' distribution of affection and control. Although the amount of preferential control children reported experiencing was related to more externalizing behavior problems, lower levels of internalizing behavior problems and greater global self-esteem were indicated when children perceived that such preferential behaviors were fair.