Child Adjustment Problems Research Articles

A Randomized Controlled Trial of Group Triple P With Chinese Parents in Mainland China.

This study evaluated the effects of Group Triple P with Chinese parents on parenting and child outcomes as well as outcomes relating to child academic learning in Mainland China. Participants were 81 Chinese parents and their children in Shanghai, who were randomly allocated to an intervention group or wait-list control group. Parents in the intervention condition received Group Triple P training, and parents and children were assessed at three/two time points. Compared with the control group, parents in the intervention group reported significant improvements in child adjustment problems, parenting practices, parental adjustment, and parenting self-efficacy at post-assessment. Moreover, there was a significant increase in parents' satisfaction with children's academic achievement and a reduction in children's academic problem behaviors at post-intervention. All these effects were maintained at 6-month follow-up. There was also a significant increase in the child report of positive parenting at post-intervention.

Bidirectional Relations Between Temperament and Parenting Predicting Preschool-Age Children’s Adjustment

Bidirectional associations between child temperament (fear, frustration, positive affect, effortful control) and parenting behaviors (warmth, negativity, limit setting, scaffolding, responsiveness) were examined as predictors of preschool-age children’s adjustment problems and social competence. Participants were a community sample of children (N = 306; 50% female, 64% European American) and their mothers. Observational measures of child temperament and parenting were obtained using laboratory tasks at two time points (children’s ages 36 and 54 months). Teacher-reported adjustment measures were collected at the first and third time points (children’s ages 36 and 63 months). Cross-lagged analyses were performed to examine whether child temperament and parenting predict changes in one another, whether they each contribute independently to children’s adjustment, and whether these transactional relations account for adjustment outcomes. Maternal negativity at 36 months predicted increases in child frustration at 54 months. Maternal negativity and child effortful control predicted decreases in each other from 36 to 54 months. Maternal warmth predicted increases in child effortful control over time. Child frustration, child effortful control, maternal warmth, and maternal negativity at 54 months each independently predicted child adjustment problems at 63 months, controlling for problems at 36 months. Child executive control at 54 months predicted increases in child social competence at 63 months. The findings suggest that temperament and parenting have independent and additive effects on preschool-age child adjustment, with some support for a bidirectional relation.

Children's exposure to intimate partner violence: Should sexual coercion be considered?

This study examined whether male-perpetrated sexual intimate partner violence (IPV) directed at a child's mother is associated with children's adjustment problems and if sexual IPV increases risk for children's adjustment problems over and above the risk associated with physical IPV alone. Participants were a community sample of 539 mothers and their children (age 7-10 years). Mothers and children reported on children's externalizing and internalizing problems. Mothers reported on recent male-perpetrated physical and sexual IPV and on their own psychological distress (depressive symptoms, relationship dissatisfaction). Four groups were formed on the basis of mothers' reports of IPV: nonviolent, physical only, sexual only, and sexual + physical. Children in the physical-only, sexual-only, and sexual + physical groups exhibited greater levels of externalizing problems than did children in the nonviolent group. Levels of externalizing problems among children in the physical-only and sexual-only groups did not differ. Including sexual IPV in the conceptualization of children's exposure to IPV may offer a more comprehensive understanding of how children are affected by IPV. (PsycINFO Database Record

Single mothers by choice: Mother-child relationships and children's psychological adjustment.

Fifty-one solo mother families were compared with 52 two-parent families all with a 4–9-year-old child conceived by donor insemination. Standardized interview, observational and questionnaire measures of maternal wellbeing, mother–child relationships and child adjustment were administered to mothers, children and teachers. There were no differences in parenting quality between family types apart from lower mother–child conflict in solo mother families. Neither were there differences in child adjustment. Perceived financial difficulties, child’s gender, and parenting stress were associated with children’s adjustment problems in both family types. The findings suggest that solo motherhood, in itself, does not result in psychological problems for children.

The Multivariate Roles of Family Instability and Interparental Conflict in Predicting Children's Representations of Insecurity in the Family System and Early School Adjustment Problems.

This study examined the moderating role of family instability in relations involving destructive interparental conflict, children's internal representations of insecurity in the family system, and their early school maladjustment. Two hundred forty-three preschool children (M age=4.60years; 56% girls) and their families participated in this multi-method (i.e., observations, structured interview, surveys) multi-informant (i.e., observer, parent, teacher), longitudinal study. Findings indicated that the mediational role of children's insecure family representations in the pathway between destructive interparental conflict and children's adjustment problems varied significantly depending on the level of family instability. Interparental conflict was specifically associated with insecure family representations only under conditions of low family instability. In supporting the role of family instability as a vulnerable-stable risk factor, follow up analyses revealed that children's concerns about security in the family were uniformly high under conditions of heightened instability regardless of their level of exposure to interparental conflict.

Consequences of 'tiger' parenting: a cross-cultural study of maternal psychological control and children's cortisol stress response.

Parenting strategies involving psychological control are associated with increased adjustment problems in children. However, no research has examined the extent to which culture and psychological control predict children's stress physiology. We examine cultural differences in maternal psychological control and its associations with children's cortisol. Chinese (N=59) and American (N=45) mother-child dyads participated in the study. Mothers reported on psychological control. Children's cortisol was collected during a stressor and two indices of Area Under the Curve (AUC) were computed: AUCg which accounts for total output, and AUCi, which captures reactivity. Results indicate that Chinese mothers reported higher levels of psychological control and Chinese children had higher levels of AUCg than their American counterparts. Across both cultures, psychological control was significantly associated with increased cortisol levels as indexed by AUCg. There were no associations for AUCi. Finally, mediation analyses demonstrated that psychological control fully explained cultural differences in children's cortisol stress response as indexed by AUCg.

Does father-child conflict mediate the association between fathers' postnatal depressive symptoms and children's adjustment problems at 7 years old?

Paternal depressive symptoms are associated with children's emotional and behavioural problems, which may be mediated by negative parenting. But there is no research on the influence of paternal depressive symptoms on children's emotion regulation and limited literature investigating fathers' parenting as a mediator in the pathway between paternal depressive symptoms and children's externalizing and internalizing problems. We aimed to investigate the mediating role of father-child conflict (at 3 years) in the association between postnatal paternal depressive symptoms (at 9 months) and children's emotional and behavioural problems (at 7 years) (aim 1). We also examined whether mediation pathways were more pronounced for boys or for girls (aim 2). Secondary data analysis was conducted on the Millennium Cohort Study, when children were 9 months, 3 years and 7 years old (n = 3520). Main study variables were measured by self-report questionnaires. Fathers completed the Rutter Scale (depressive symptoms) and the Parent-Child Relationship Questionnaire (father-child conflict), while mothers completed the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire and the Social Behaviour Questionnaire (child emotional and behavioural problems, emotion regulation). We used structural equation modelling to estimate direct, indirect and total effects of paternal depressive symptoms on child outcomes, mediated by father-child conflict whilst adjusting for relevant covariates (maternal depressive symptoms, child temperament, marital conflict, and socio-economic factors such as poverty indicator and fathers' education level). Multi-group and interaction analysis was then conducted to determine the differential effect by gender of the association between paternal depressive symptoms on child outcomes via father-child conflict. Father-child conflict mediated the association between paternal depressive symptoms and emotion regulation problems [standardized indirect effect (SIE) 95% confidence interval (CI) -0.03 to -0.01, p < 0.001; standardized total effect (STE) 95% CI -0.05 to -0.01, p < 0.05] (aim 1). Father-child conflict mediated a larger proportion of the effect in boys (SIE 95% CI -0.03 to -0.01, p < 0.001; STE 95% CI -0.05 to 0.00, p = 0.063) than it did in girls (SIE 95% CI -0.02 to -0.01, p < 0.001; STE 95% CI -0.04 to 0.01, p = 0.216) (aim 2). Father-child conflict may mediate the association between postnatal paternal depressive symptoms and children's emotion regulation problems. Paternal depressive symptoms and father-child conflict resolution may be potential targets in preventative interventions.

The Impact of Deployment on Parental, Family and Child Adjustment in Military Families

Since 9/11, military service in the United States has been characterized by wartime deployments and reintegration challenges that contribute to a context of stress for military families. Research indicates the negative impact of wartime deployment on the well being of service members, military spouses, and children. Yet, few studies have considered how parental deployments may affect adjustment in young children and their families. Using deployment records and parent-reported measures from primary caregiving (N=680) and military (n=310) parents, we examined the influence of deployment on adjustment in military families with children ages 0-10years. Greater deployment exposure was related to impaired family functioning and marital instability. Parental depressive and posttraumatic stress symptoms were associated with impairments in social emotional adjustment in young children, increased anxiety in early childhood, and adjustment problems in school-age children. Conversely, parental sensitivity was associated with improved social and emotional outcomes across childhood. These findings provide guidance to developing preventive approaches for military families with young children.

Testing Family Stress and Family Investment Explanations for Conduct Problems Among African American Adolescents

AbstractThe recent U.S. recession has resulted in higher rates of unemployment, underemployment, and child poverty, with African Americans disproportionately represented among the financially disadvantaged. Although past research has established the relationship between family financial hardship and various child adjustment problems, African Americans remain an understudied group. In the current study the authors used longitudinal data from the Family and Community Health Study (n = 422), an all African American sample, to investigate the impact of economic distress on adolescent conduct problems. They examined the extent to which this relationship can be explained by 2 frequently employed models: (a) the family stress model and (b) the family investment model. The authors extend past research by assessing the relative contributions of each model while controlling for the paths proposed by the other model. The results suggest that the family processes identified by the family stress model provide a more accurate explanation for why economic hardship is associated with increased conduct problems among African American adolescents.

Appraisal and coping as mediators of the effects of cumulative risk on preadolescent adjustment.

This study examined the concurrent and longitudinal relations among cumulative risk, appraisal, coping, and adjustment. Longitudinal path models were tested in a community sample of 316 children in preadolescence to examine hypotheses that threat appraisal and avoidant coping mediate the effects of cumulative risk on child adjustment, whereas positive appraisal and active coping were hypothesized to predict better adjustment independently. Children and their mothers were assessed during in-home interviews at three time points at one-year intervals. Children reported on appraisal and coping strategies. Mothers and children reported on child adjustment problems and positive adjustment. Rank-order changes in appraisal and coping predicted rank-order changes in adjustment. Cumulative risk was concurrently related to higher threat appraisal and avoidant coping at each time point. Threat appraisal and avoidant coping mediated the relations of cumulative risk to rank-order changes in adjustment. There is specificity in the relations of cumulative risk to threat appraisal and avoidant coping, whereas positive appraisal and active coping are independent of risk and operate as individual resource factors.

Validation of the Dependency-Oriented and Achievement-Oriented Psychological Control Scale in Middle Childhood

The psychometric properties of the Dependency-oriented and Achievement-oriented Psychological Control Scale (DAPCS) have been proved appropriate for adolescent samples. Since parental psychological control plays a key role in the development of child pathology from an early age, it is important to evaluate the DAPCS in younger samples too. We examine the DAPCS’ validity in two samples of elementary school age children (n = 180 and n = 118). Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses in the first sample supported a two-factor structure, indicating the distinction between dependency-oriented psychological control (DPC) and achievement-oriented psychological control (APC). Confirmatory factor analysis in the second sample resulted in successful replication of the factor structure. Significant negative correlations between both parental psychological control dimensions and parental emotional support indicated the convergent validity of the scale. Discriminant validity was indicated by a significant unique association between higher levels of DPC and child perceived social problems, and higher levels of APC and child sensitivity to mistakes. This study provides initial justification for the application of a shorter version of the DAPCS in clinical and research settings dealing with parental psychological control in middle childhood and related child adjustment problems.

Mindful Parenting and Parents' Emotion Expression: Effects on Adolescent Risk Behaviors.

Mindful parenting is associated with greater adjustment and fewer behavior problems in children and adolescents. However, the mechanisms by which mindful parenting functions to mitigate risk in adolescence is not well understood. This study investigated parent emotional expression as a potential mechanism in the relationship between low mindful parenting and adolescent risk behaviors. A sample of 157 12-14 year old adolescents (49% female) and their primary caregivers (99% female) participated in an emotionally-arousing conflict interaction. Parents reported on their mindful parenting practices, and parents' emotion expressions during the conflict interaction were coded including negative emotion, positive emotion, and shared parent-youth positive emotion. Adolescent substance use and sex behaviors were assessed through self-report, interview, and physical toxicology screens. Results indicated that mindful parenting was associated with less parental negative emotion and greater shared positive emotion during the parent-adolescent conflict. Further, results revealed a significant indirect effect of mindful parenting on youth's substance use through shared parent-adolescent positive emotion. Findings highlight the relevance of emotional functioning in the context of stressful parenting situations in mindful parenting.

Do children's adjustment problems contribute to teacher–child relationship quality? Support for a child-driven model

This study examined three models testing directional associations between children's adjustment problems (internalizing and externalizing problems) and teacher–child relationship quality (closeness, conflict, and dependency) over one school term. The relationship-driven model tested the hypothesis that teacher–child relationship quality contributes to prospective levels of adjustment problems. The child-driven model tested the hypothesis that children's adjustment problems contribute to prospective relationship quality. The transactional model tested the hypothesis that adjustment problems and relationship quality are reciprocally related over time. These models were tested with a sample of low-income, ethnically diverse children in kindergarten to grade 3 who were assessed at three time points over one school term (winter, early spring, and late spring). Overall, the child-driven model best explained the directional associations between adjustment problems and conflictual and dependent teacher–child relationships. When children showed higher levels of externalizing problems, they subsequently experienced more conflict in their relationships with their teachers. When children showed more internalizing problems they experienced more prospective dependency in their relationships with their teachers. Adjustment problems and teacher–child closeness were modestly related within time but not across time.

Family migration from Mexico to the United States and from Peru to Italy

The purpose of this paper is to present the results of an investigation of a psychosocial nature, made with transnational families who migrate from Mexico to the United States and from Peru to Italy. These families are known in the literature on migration as transnational families, because they are characterized by the separation of its members in two countries and live, as a result of this split family in their internal structure, changes and alterations in the mental health of any of its members. The methodology used in this study was qualitative (ethnography and in-depth interview) with fifty families (twenty five Mexican and twenty Peruvian). The results obtained in this investigation indicate that the traditional structures of Mexican families can be modified, as a result of male migration, resulting in a new form of transnational family characterized by the distance of the couple, the peripheral father's absence and adjustment problems of both children and wife at the time of family reunification.In the case of the traditional families of Peru, the results indicate that the transformation process begins with the separation from the mother's home, which assumes the role of provider and manager of the family still in the distance, while the father remains as caretaker of the children in the place of origin. When family reunification is achieved, by the wife becomes more employment and economic role, leaving the husband to a position of distance and passivity. The experience of living apart, husband/wife and daughters/sons long-living "here" and "there" - are circumstances which may favour the disappearance of traditional patriarchal structures of the past that have shaped the family life of the countries of Latin America. In such circumstances, members of transnational families – both Peruvian and Mexican – are exposed to the deterioration of their mental health. Economic gains migration have provided an emotional toll, as evidenced in certain conditions such as depression, stress and psychological pain, conditions that are maximized by the conditions of secrecy, solitude, racial discrimination, rejection, job segregation and overcrowding migrants living in the host society.

The effects of parental components in a trauma-focused cognitive behavioral based therapy for children exposed to interparental violence: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

BackgroundInterparental violence is both common and harmful and impacts children’s lives directly and indirectly. Direct effects refer to affective, behavioral, and cognitive responses to interparental violence and psychosocial adjustment. Indirect effects refer to deteriorated parental availability and parent-child interaction. Standard Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy may be insufficient for children traumatized by exposure to interparental violence, given the pervasive impact of interparental violence on the family system. HORIZON is a trauma focused cognitive behavioral therapy based group program with the added component of a preparatory parenting program aimed at improving parental availability; and the added component of parent-child sessions to improve parent-child interaction.Methods/designThis is a multicenter, multi-informant and multi-method randomized clinical trial study with a 2 by 2 factorial experimental design. Participants (N = 100) are children (4–12 years), and their parents, who have been exposed to interparental violence. The main aim of the study is to test the effects of two parental components as an addition to a trauma focused cognitive behavioral based group therapy for reducing children’s symptoms. Primary outcome measures are posttraumatic stress symptoms, and internalizing and externalizing problems in children. The secondary aim of the study is to test the effect of the two added components on adjustment problems in children and to test whether enhanced effects can be explained by changes in children’s responses towards experienced violence, in parental availability, and in quality of parent-child interaction. To address this secondary aim, the main parameters are observational and questionnaire measures of parental availability, parent-child relationship variables, children’s adjustment problems and children’s responses to interparental violence. Data are collected three times: before and after the program and six months later. Both intention-to-treat and completer analyses will be done.DiscussionThe current study will enhance our understanding of the efficacy interparental violence-related parental components added to trauma focused cognitive behavioral group program for children who have been exposed to IPV. It will illuminate mechanisms underlying change by considering multiple dimensions of child responses, parenting variables and identify selection criteria for participation in treatment.Trial registrationNetherlands Trial Register NTR4015. Registered 4th of June, 2013.

Adjustment issues among Adolescents of Substance Using Parents.

Adolescence is the most important period of human life which is called the transitional period of life. Adolescence is also a period of progress towards mental, intellectual and emotional maturation. It is estimated that six to nine million children and adolescents in the United States have mental or behavioral problems. Indian Council of Medical Research reported that about 12.8 per cent of children (1–16 years) suffer from mental health problems. With respect to adolescent adjustment, parental warmth/involvement and behavioral control are associated with greater social competence, autonomy, positive attitudes toward school and work, academic achievement and self-esteem, as well as with less depression, school misconduct, delinquency and drug use. There is strong evidence to suggest that family dysfunction during childhood can negatively influence later life experiences and adjustment. Drinking behavior may interrupt normal family tasks, cause conflict and demand adjustive and adaptive responses from family members who do not know how to appropriately respond. Parental alcohol abuse is an independent risk factor for attention and conduct problems at school, which is not fully mediated by adolescent mental distress. Prior research has found that characteristics of the family (e.g., parental monitoring, parental discipline, family conflict, family rituals) may mediate and/or moderate the relationship between parental alcoholism and offspring adjustment. The Longitudinal associations between fathers ’heavy drinking patterns and children's psychosocial adjustment results demonstrated significant and meaningful associations between these drink patterns in fathers and adjustment problems in children over time. It is therefore important that the therapeutic needs of these children are addressed through individual psychotherapy and other supportive therapies by providing an opportunity for ventilation of feelings and integrating elements that will boost their self esteem and promote their psychosocial adjustment in deficient areas. Normal difficulties and dilemmas associated with adolescence in general could be worked through in these sessions besides focusing on issues pertaining to parental alcoholism. Intervention with children of alcoholics or substance users, must hence involve resolution of individualized issues pertaining to adolescence as well as parental alcoholism. Elements to enhance their self esteem and adjustment across various domains need to be consciously included besides involving them in family therapy sessions.

Children's Appraisals and Involvement in Interparental Conflict: Do They Contribute Independently to Child Adjustment?

This study examines concurrent and prospective relations between children's threat and self-blame appraisals of interparental conflict, their involvement in interparental conflict, and their internalizing and externalizing problems. 539 children aged 7-10 years old and their mothers participated in the study. They completed 3 assessments spaced 6 months apart. At each assessment, children reported on their threat and self-blame appraisals of interparental conflict, their conflict involvement, and their internalizing and externalizing problems. Mothers also reported on children's internalizing and externalizing problems. In concurrent analyses, threat and self-blame appraisals and conflict involvement were each positively and independently associated with children's adjustment problems. Threat related more strongly to internalizing problems than to externalizing problems; self-blame related more strongly to externalizing problems than to internalizing problems. Threat appraisals were associated with children's adjustment problems prospectively, but self-blame appraisals and conflict involvement were not. Although threat and self-blame appraisals and conflict involvement may each contribute to children's concurrent adjustment problems, threat appraisals appear most salient to their future adjustment problems.

Treatment Effectiveness of PMTO for Children's Behavior Problems in Iceland: Child Outcomes in a Nationwide Randomized Controlled Trial.

Well-documented treatment methods must be tested following their implementation in community service agencies and across different cultures to ensure continuing effectiveness. This study was a randomized controlled trial (RCT) of Parent Management Training-the Oregon model (PMTO), conducted within a nationwide implementation in Iceland. Families of 102 clinically referred children with behavior problems were recruited from five municipalities throughout Iceland. Child age ranged from 5 to 12; 73% were boys. Families were randomly assigned to either PMTO or services usually offered in the communities (SAU). Child adjustment was measured with a latent construct based on parent, child, and teacher reports of externalizing and internalizing problems and social skills. Prepost intent-to-treat analyses showed that PMTO treatment led to greater reductions in child adjustment problems relative to the comparison group, obtaining a modest to medium effect size based on the construct score. Only one indicator (parent-rated Social Skills) showed significant change independently and information on amount and kind of treatment in the SAU was limited. Overall, findings indicate that PMTO is an effective method to treat children's behavior problems in a Northern European culture and supply evidence for the method's successful implementation in community settings in Iceland. This is one of few nationwide implementation studies of PMTO outside the United States and the first RCT in Iceland to test a treatment model for children's behavior problems.

The Value of a Smile: Child Positive Affect Moderates Relations Between Maternal Emotion Dysregulation and Child Adjustment Problems

Little is known about how processes underlying maternal psychopathology, such as emotion dysregulation, are related to children’s adjustment problems. Further, scant research has explored child protective factors that can buffer these associations. We used a multi-method approach to examine whether child positive affect functions as a protective and/or promotive factor in the context of maternal emotion dysregulation in a cross-sectional sample of 95 mothers (M age = 30.38 years, SD = 6.10) and their preschool-age children (M age = 3.52 years, SD = .52). We assessed maternal emotion dysregulation using respiratory sinus arrhythmia data and a self-report measure. Mothers reported on their children’s positive affect as well as their internalizing and externalizing behaviors. Results yielded significant bivariate relations between maternal self-reported emotion dysregulation and children’s internalizing and externalizing problems. Moderation analyses indicated that high child positive affect facilitated adjustment across both internalizing and externalizing domains when maternal physiological emotion dysregulation was low. In addition, high child positive affect facilitated adjustment in the internalizing domain when self-reported maternal emotion dysregulation was low. The identification of factors contributing to adjustment problems during the preschool period is crucial given the potential for the prevention of long-term maladaptation, and our results suggest that child positive affect and maternal emotion dysregulation may be important targets for prevention and intervention work.

Relational aggression and psychological control in the sibling relationship: mediators of the association between maternal psychological control and adolescents' emotional adjustment.

The association between mothers' psychological control and their children's emotional adjustment problems is well documented. However, processes that may explain this association are not well understood. The present study tested the idea that relational aggression and psychological control within the context of the sibling relationship may help to account for the relation between mothers' psychological control and adolescents' internalizing symptoms. Older (M = 16.46, SD = 1.35 years) and younger (M = 13.67, SD = 1.56 years) siblings from 101 dyads rated the psychological control they received from mothers and siblings, and the relational aggression they received from siblings. Despite some similarities between psychological control and relational aggression, confirmatory factor analyses provided evidence that the two sibling processes are distinct. Maternal psychological control was related to psychological control and relational aggression within the sibling relationship, which were related to adolescents' anxiety and depressed mood. In addition, sibling relational aggression was a more powerful mediator of the relationship between maternal psychological control and adolescent adjustment than sibling psychological control.