Family Cumulative Risk Research Articles

Family cumulative risk, life satisfaction, and anxiety and depression in adolescents: A developmental cascades model.

Family cumulative risk (FCR) is predominantly regarded as an antecedent for adolescent mental health, as the prevailing perspective continues to emphasize the influential role of parents, despite recognizing the child's influence. To identify the interplay between family adversity (FCR, process-related FCR, and sociodemographic-related FCR), life satisfaction (LS), and anxiety and depression (AD), this study examined the cascade effects among these constructs. Participants (N = 707; 52.9% male; grades 10 and 11) from four high schools in Wuhan, China, were recruited to participate, and they completed the measures in October 2018, April 2019, and November 2019. Family sociodemographic risk (e.g., single parenthood) and family process risk (e.g., low family cohesion) were simulated in the models for FCR, sociodemographic-related FCR, and process-related FCR. The random intercept cross-lagged panel models (RI-CLPMs) revealed a lagged effect from LS to FCR; lagged effects from LS and AD to process-related FCR at the within-person level; and significant associations between LS, AD, and family adversity at the between-person level. The lagged effects provide evidence for the influential child perspective and suggest that FCR and family process risk are sensitive to adolescent well-being and psychopathological symptoms. School mental health prevention and intervention programs that take a complete mental health approach to enhance children's well-being and alleviate symptoms would help prevent increases in family risk.

Review of Young Childrens Mental Toughness: Family, School, and Peer Factors

Mental toughness is of great significance to individual development. Young children are the key period for the formation and development of mental toughness. Research on the factors affecting the development of mental toughness of young children can intervene in the development of mental toughness of children, so as to help their future development. Factors affecting mental toughness are classified into three categories: Family factors, school factors, peer factors, and the existing literature and research were summarized. The scale used to assess mental toughness and other methods were introduced. Family factors, such as cumulative risk of family, parenting style, marital conflict have an important impact on children's mental toughness. A good teacher-child relationship in school factors can protect and regulate family cumulative risk in family factors, and the relationship between children and peers will be affected by the relationship between children and parents. Family factors, school factors and peer factors are not separate, but need to coordinate the whole, the three need to cooperate with each other. Finally, some suggestions and future research directions are put forward.

Relationship between family risk factors and adolescent mental health.

Family risk factors are crucial to adolescent mental health. Few studies have investigated the complex relationship between family risk factors and adolescent mental health. This study aims to investigate the complex relationship between family cumulative risk (FCR) and adolescent mental health, and to clarify the factors contributing to adolescent mental health problems. This study recruited 903 junior high school students and 991 senior high school students in Changsha, Hunan and was conducted through an offline computer-based questionnaire survey using the Middle School Student Mental Health Scale (MSSMHS) and the Family Cumulative Risk Questionnaire (FCRQ) to assess the mental health status and FCR factors, respectively. Statistical analyses were conducted to clarify the demographic factors influencing MSSMHS total and factor scores, and to analyze the relationship between FCRQ and MSSMHS total and factor scores. Females exhibited more mental health problems than males in various MSSMHS factors (all P<0.05); adolescents were prone to different mental health problems at different stages (junior high school first-grade vs. senior high school first-grade); senior high school first-grade students were more likely to experience academic pressure and maladjustment than junior high school first-grade students (P<0.01), and junior high school first-grade students were more likely to exhibit obsessive, paranoia, and hostility symptoms than senior high school first-grade students (all P<0.01); adolescents with low family intimacy and high family conflict reported more symptoms in every dimension of MSSMHS (all P<0.05); adolecents with poor parent-child separation reported higher obsessive-compulsive symptoms, interpersonal sensitivity, anxiety, academic pressure, maladjustment, emotional instability, and unbalanced mind than those with good parent-child separation (all P<0.05). Female, low family intimacy, high family conflict, and poor parent-child separation are risk factors of adolescent mental health problems. Higher-grade middle school students are prone to exhibit academic pressure and maladjustment, while lower-grade middle school students are prone to exhibit obsessive, paranoia, and hostility symptoms.

Do Neighborhood Resources Mitigate Family Risk to Preschool Children's Executive Function Skills Growth?

Despite previous studies showing that children's development of executive function (EF) skills is associated with the differing contexts in which children live, evidence about the independent and synergistic effects of families and neighborhoods is limited. Using a sample from a two-cohort longitudinal study of preschoolers from low-income families, we examined whether residential neighborhood resources (measured with the Child Opportunity Index (COI)) moderated the relationship between family cumulative risk and the growth trajectory of children's EF skills. Results from conditional growth curve models indicate family cumulative risk was negatively related to baseline EF skills and the rate of EF skill growth. In contrast, the overall COI and the COI social and economic domain z-score were positively associated with the initial, but not linear, growth of EF skills. We found no evidence of moderator effects. Policies that aim to better target and support the most vulnerable children should consider the unique contribution of family risks and neighborhood resources to child development.

Psychological Difficulties Mediate and Self-Efficacy Moderates the Relationship Between Family Cumulative Risk and Hope Among Chinese Children From Low-Income Families.

This longitudinal study investigated the role of psychological difficulties and self-efficacy in the relationship between family cumulative risk and hope among children from low-income families. The participants were 392 Chinese children from low-income families; the study extended for 2 years, and participants completed data that were collected with the following questionnaires: the Family Cumulative Risk Index, Children's Hope Scale, Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire-Difficulties subscale, and General Self-efficacy Scale. The results demonstrated that psychological difficulties played a mediating role in the relationship between family cumulative risk and hope; specifically, family cumulative risk predicted hope of children via psychological difficulties. Self-efficacy moderated the relationship between psychological difficulties and hope. This moderation supported “a drop in the ocean effect”; the protective effect of high self-efficacy worked only when psychological difficulties were at low levels. When psychological difficulties were at high levels, the buffering effect of self-efficacy on family cumulative risk was gradually weakened and eventually lost.

55 Profiles of Sleep Problems among Young Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

Abstract Background Sleep problems are more common and severe among children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) compared to their typically developing peers. The goal of this study was to characterize sleep problems profiles and their clinical correlates, based on a five-factor model of the Children’s Sleep Habits Questionnaire (CSHQ) among preschool children with ASD. Objectives (1) To describe empirically-derived patterns (i.e., latent profiles) of sleep problems among young children with ASD; and (2) To examine relations between family cumulative risk and emotional-behavioral dysregulation symptoms and sleep profile membership. Design/Methods The study included 318 three-to-five year old children (M= 49.45 months; SD = 5.77). Latent profile analysis was used to identify and describe profiles of sleep problems. Sleep problems were assessed using a previously established CSHQ five-factor model: (1) Bedtime Routine; (2) Sleep Onset &amp; Duration; (3) Night Waking; (4) Morning Waking; and (5) Sleep Disordered Breathing, with higher scores indicating greater problems. We assess whether profile membership was associated with dysregulation difficulties (CBCL 1.5-5) and family cumulative risk index (CRI; constructed based on socioeconomic status, maternal distress, family functioning, and other related factors) using a three-step method (Vermunt &amp; Magidson, 2013). Results A five-profile model of children’s sleep problems showed the best fit (Figure 1). Profile 1, Nighttime Sleep Problems (28%), consisted of children with scores around the sample mean, except relatively lower scores on Morning Waking. Profile 2, Severe Sleep Problems (25%), consisted of children with relatively high scores across all sleep problems. Profile 3, Low Sleep Problems (18%), included children with the lowest levels of all sleep problems. Profile 4, Moderate Sleep Problems (17%), included children with all sleep problem levels near the sample mean. Profile 5, Morning Waking Problems (12%), consisted of children with low scores on Bedtime Routine problems but pronounced Morning Waking problems. Dysregulation difficulties (Wald = 13.90; p = .001) and family CRI (Wald = 13.27; p =.001) emerged as significant predictors of profile membership. Higher CRI was associated with higher odds of membership in Profile 2 (Severe Sleep Problems), and lower scores for dysregulation difficulties were associated with higher odds of membership in Profile 3 (Low Sleep Problems). Conclusion Children with ASD present distinct profiles of sleep problems that differ, not only by overall severity, but also by relative severity across types of sleep problems. Children’s dysregulation and family risk should be considered in examining children’s sleep.

Using Finger Puppets in the Primary Care Setting to Support Caregivers Talking With Their Infants: A Feasibility Pilot Study.

Disadvantaged children often show disparities in early language development. We tested the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy of introducing finger puppets in the primary care setting at the 2-month well visit to support caregivers talking with their infants. Caregivers completed a sociodemographic survey and were contacted by phone 2 weeks later to assess initial usage and satisfaction. Ages & Stages Questionnaires (ASQ-3) were independently recorded at well visits. A family cumulative risk score was calculated from the sociodemographic survey. Thirty-four caregiver-child pairs were enrolled. Caregivers reported high satisfaction with the intervention. ASQ-3 Communication and Total scores at 6, 12, and 18 months were significantly higher for high puppet users across all age levels with no significant interactions with age or cumulative risk. Finger puppets provide a low-cost way to promote language-rich interactions. Preliminary evidence suggests that high puppet usage may have long-lasting effects on child development and should be further evaluated.

Stress of Language Brokering and Mexican American Adolescents' Adjustment: The Role of Cumulative Risk.

This study focused on early adolescents' stress of language brokering and examined the moderating role of family cumulative risk in the relation of language brokering to adjustment problems. Data came from self-reports of 604 low-income Mexican American adolescent language brokers (54% female; ; SD = 0.97; 75% born in the United States) and their parents (99% foreign-born) in central Texas. Path analyses revealed that brokering stress, but not frequency, was positively associated with adolescents' adjustment problems, including depressive symptoms, anxiety, and delinquency. We also found that the relation between stress of brokering for mothers and adolescents' depressive symptoms was stronger among families with a high cumulative risk. Further, with a high cumulative risk, adolescents exhibited delinquent behaviors regardless of the levels of stress from translating for fathers. Current findings underscore the importance of examining family contexts in assessing the consequences of language brokering for Mexican American early adolescents' well-being.

Family cumulative risk and at-risk kindergarteners’ social competence: the mediating role of parent representations of the attachment relationship

ABSTRACTSecure attachment relationships have been linked to social competence in at-risk children. In the current study, we examined the role of parent secure base scripts in predicting at-risk kindergarteners’ social competence. Parent representations of secure attachment were hypothesized to mediate the relationship between lower family cumulative risk and children’s social competence. Participants included 106 kindergarteners and their primary caregivers recruited from three urban charter schools serving low-income families as a part of a longitudinal study. Lower levels of cumulative risk predicted greater secure attachment representations in parents, and scores on the secure base script assessment predicted children’s social competence. An indirect relationship between lower cumulative risk and kindergarteners’ social competence via parent secure base script scores was also supported. Parent script-based representations of the attachment relationship appear to be an important link between lower levels of cumulative risk and low-income kindergarteners’ social competence. Implications of these findings for future interventions are discussed.

Family Resources and Effects on Child Behavior Problem Interventions: A Cumulative Risk Approach

Family resources have been associated with health care inequality in general and with social gradients in treatment outcomes for children with behavior problems. However, there is limited evidence concerning cumulative risk—the accumulation of social and economic disadvantages in a family—and whether cumulative risk moderates the outcomes of evidence-based parent training interventions. We used data from two randomized controlled trials evaluating high-intensity (n = 137) and low-intensity (n = 216) versions of Parent Management Training—Oregon (PMTO) with a 50:50 allocation between participants receiving PMTO interventions or regular care. A nine-item family cumulative risk index tapping socioeconomic resources and parental health was constructed to assess the family’s exposure to risk. Autoregressive structured equation models (SEM) were run to investigate whether cumulative risk moderated child behaviors at post-treatment and follow-up (6 months). Our results showed opposite social gradients for the treatment conditions: the children exposed to cumulative risk in a pooled sample of both PMTO groups displayed lower levels of behavior problems, whereas children with identical risk exposures who received regular care experienced more problems. Furthermore, our results indicated that the social gradients differed between PMTO interventions: children exposed to cumulative risk in the low-intensity (five sessions) Brief Parent Training fared equally well as their high-resource counterparts, whereas children exposed to cumulative risk in the high-intensity PMTO (12 sessions) experienced vastly better treatment effects. Providing evidence-based parent training seem to be an effective way to counteract health care inequality, and the more intensive PMTO treatment seemed to be a particularly effective way to help families with cumulative risk.

Infant attachment disorganization and moderation pathways to level and change in externalizing behavior during preschool ages

ABSTRACTThis research examined the child, parent, and family conditions under which attachment disorganization was related to both level and change in externalizing behavior during preschool among a community sample. Using the ordinary least squares regression, we found that attachment disorganization at 12 months significantly predicted children’s externalizing behavior at 36 months and this prediction was not contingent on any other factors tested. For predicting changes in externalizing behavior from 36 to 60 months, we found a significant main effect of family cumulative risk and an interaction effect between attachment disorganization at 12 months and maternal sensitivity at 24 months. Specifically, high disorganization was related to a significant decrease in externalizing behavior from 36 to 60 months when maternal sensitivity at 24 months was high. Our main-effect findings replicated the significant effect of attachment disorganization and cumulative risk on externalizing behavior with preschool-aged children. Our interaction finding provided support for understanding the parenting conditions under which infant attachment disorganization may be related to change in externalizing behavior during preschool ages. Implications of the findings were discussed.

Variable- and person-centered approaches to examining temperament vulnerability and resilience to the effects of contextual risk

Using both variable- and person-centered approaches, this study examined the role of temperament in relation to children’s vulnerable or resilient responses to cumulative risk. Observed reactivity and regulation dimensions of temperament were tested as mediating and moderating the relation between family cumulative risk and teacher-reported adjustment problems in a sample of 259 preschool-age children. Further, latent profile analyses were used to examine whether profiles of temperament, accounting for multiple characteristics simultaneously, provided additional information about the role of temperament in children’s responses to risk. Results support a diathesis-stress model in which high frustration, low fear, and low delay ability confer particular vulnerability for children in high-risk contexts. Benefits of multiple approaches are highlighted.