Positive Parent-child Relationships Research Articles

Correlations between the screen time of children with special needs and their parent-child relationships, home participation, and occupational performance

This study aimed to examine the relationships between the screen time of children with special needs and of their parents with their home participation, occupational performance, and parent-child relationships according to sex and diagnosis. Parents of 150 children with special needs (age range, 4 to 6 years) such as autism spectrum disorder, cerebral palsy, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, as well as undiagnosed and developmentally risky children, were included. The Demographic Information Form, Screen Time Usage Form, Parent-Child Relationship Scale, Participation and Environment Measure for Children and Youth, and Short Child Occupational Profile were used for the data collection. There was a significant relationship between the screen time of girls and their parent-child relationships, home participation, and occupational performance. Moreover, we detected a relationship between the screen time of children with autism spectrum disorder and positive parent-child relationships, home participation, and occupational performance. Therapists should account for screen time in their interventions associated with parent-child relationships, home participation, and occupational performance.

Evaluating the filial behaviour scale across three cultural groups using exploratory structural equation modelling.

Filial piety is a Confucian concept that guides how children treat and take care of their parents. The Filial Behaviour Scale (FBS) is a 25-item instrument developed in the Chinese context measuring behavioural manifestations of filial piety. Although the components of filial piety have been found to be relevant across cultures, little research has investigated the psychometric properties of the FBS in other cultural contexts. The present study evaluated the factor structure, internal consistency, measurement invariance and construct validity of the FBS across three cultural groups: the United States, Italy and Malaysia. Participants were 1090 emerging adults (67% females; Mage =21.29 years, SD=1.97; White Americans: n=455, White Italians: n=428, Malays: n=328). A two-factor structure emerged across groups: Obedience/Obligation (behaviours showing obedience and obligation towards parents) and Relationship (behaviours expressing affection and promoting positive parent-child relationships). The two factors demonstrated adequate internal consistency, full configural, partial metric and partial scalar invariance, as well as unique associations with depressive symptoms and parent-child relationships across groups. These findings yielded a more nuanced understanding of filial behaviour and supported the utility of a two-factor FBS among emerging adults in various cultural contexts.

Cultural stressors, internalizing symptoms, and parent-child alienation among Mexican-origin adolescents.

The current study investigated the relation of various cultural stressors, parent-child alienation, and Mexican-origin adolescents' internalizing symptoms at both between- and within-person levels across the course of adolescence. Positive parent-child relationships can be a critical buffer against cultural stressors for Mexican-origin adolescents. However, it is unclear whether low levels of parent-child alienation (a) buffer the negative effects of different types of cultural stressors on internalizing symptoms and (b) function at the individual level more generally or during specific periods when adolescents experience high cultural stressors. The current study used a three-wave longitudinal dataset of 604 Mexican-origin adolescents (Wave 1: Mage = 12.41, SD = 0.97, 54% female, 75% born in the United States) and conducted multilevel regression analysis. At the between-person level, overall low parent-child alienation buffered the adverse effects of ethnic discrimination on anxiety and cultural misfit on depressive symptoms. There were no significant within-person-level interactions of parent-child alienation and cultural stressors on adolescent internalizing symptoms. The findings suggest that interventions should aim to reduce parent-child alienation throughout the course of adolescence to alleviate the impact of cultural stressors on internalizing symptoms among Mexican-origin adolescents.

The relationship model among parent–child relationship, coping responses and behavioral problems in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

BackgroundAttention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) constitutes a prevalent behavioral problem. The present study examined the parent–child relationship model and investigated strategies to cope with behavioral problems in children with ADHD.MethodsThis descriptive study selected 300 children with ADHD using convenience sampling. The data collected using the child behavior checklist, the parent–child relationship scale (PCRS), the Billings and Moos Coping Checklist, the socioeconomic status questionnaire, the general health questionnaire-28 (GHQ-28) and a demographic checklist were analyzed in SPSS-25 and LISREL 8.8.ResultsAccording to the results of the path analysis on the relationship model among parent–child relationship domains, coping responses and children's behavioral problems, parent–child dependency domain (B = 0.22) in the direct path, disease duration (B = 0.085) in the indirect path, and conflicts in the domain of parent–child relationship (B = 0.366) in both direct and indirect paths had the most positive causal effect on behavioral problems. Furthermore, intimacy in the said domain (B = -0.42) had the most negative causal effect in both direct and indirect paths. The extent to which parents used coping responses via the direct path had a positive causal effect on behavioral problems (B = 0.12).Based on the path analysis test findings in the relationship model among positive parent–child relationship, coping responses and children's behavioral problems, the positive parent–child relationship score had the most negative causal effect via the direct path (B = -0.56). Conversely, the child's age had the highest positive causal effect via the indirect path (B = 0.1) on behavioral problems in children.ConclusionBased on findings, there is a causal and significant relationship between the parent–child relationship and the extent to which coping responses are used. It is recommended that training programs be developed to strengthen communication skills, coping responses and problem-solving techniques in parents.

How social support and parent-child relationship quality relate to LGBTQ+ college students' well-being during COVID-19.

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has negatively impacted the well-being of many college students, particularly lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning (LGBTQ +) students who are already at a disproportionate risk for negative mental health and well-being outcomes. To identify potential risk and protective factors we examined LGBTQ + college students' disclosure of sexual orientation, gender identity, or both (SOGI) to mothers and fathers, living arrangements (whether or not students lived with mothers and fathers), social support from family and friends, and parent-child relationship quality and their association with stress, depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, and problem drinking during the pandemic. LGBTQ + college students (N = 366; Mage = 20.4) completed an online survey. Students who reported more social support from family and friends and better quality relationships with mothers or fathers had better well-being and were less likely to perceive a substantial decrease in their well-being due to the pandemic. In contrast, SOGI disclosure and whether or not students lived with mothers or fathers were generally unrelated to well-being. Findings suggest that universities should consider offering mental health resources for students living on- and off-campus, and that clinical professionals should consider strategies to help these young adults identify and maintain support systems and highlight the value of positive parent-child relationships. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Affect Modulated Startle Response in Anorexia Nervosa, Restricting Type: Implications for Theory and Practice.

Objective: Individuals with anorexia nervosa (AN), restricting type demonstrate unique emotional responses to hedonically positive stimuli beyond eating disorder (ED)-related stimuli. The goal of this study was to evaluate differences in responses to five types of emotionally positive stimuli among acutely ill anorexia nervosa (IAN), restricting type patients, weight-recovered anorexia patients (WRAN), and healthy controls (HCs) using affect modulated startle response (AMSR) as an objective measure.Method: A total of 28 participants were recruited (n=28). Fourteen participants were recruited as IAN using the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-V (DSM-V) criteria, seven were WRAN, and seven were HC females. All participants were female and aged between 8 and 18 years. The participants viewed images depicting negative, neutral, standardized, and non-eating disorder (ED)-related positive stimuli. Additionally, four categories of ED-related stimuli (high-calorie food, body image, success, and parent-child relationships) were presented to all participants during a standard AMSR paradigm.Results: No significant between-group differences were found for any of the four ED stimulus categories; all groups showed an inhibited startle response to the four ED-related categories. In contrast, IAN and WRAN showed reduced hedonic responses to standardized positive stimuli relative to HC-replicating previous results. Reduced hedonic response to the standardized (non-ED) positive stimuli was highly correlated with self-reported social anxiety, low self-esteem, body dissatisfaction, asceticism, interpersonal problems, and ineffectiveness.Conclusion: AN patients had a reduced hedonic response to some non-ED-related positive stimuli, which correlated with several anxiety-related traits. In contrast, their early automatic responses to high-calorie food, normal weight models, images of success, and positive parent-child relationships did not differ from HC, suggesting these stimuli are either being evaluated as highly interesting or hedonically positive.

Family processes and structure: Longitudinal influences on adolescent disruptive and internalizing behaviors.

The present study revisits the assumption in American culture, based in "family privilege," that children fare better in two-parent households by longitudinally examining associations between family structure, process, and adolescent behavior. Societal assumptions and cross-sectional research suggest that there is a difference in child adjustment across varying family structures. Relatedly, the family process literature emphasizes the importance of parent-child relationship quality in addition to family structure on child adjustment. We utilized a longitudinal, prospective design that assessed family structures on nine occasions covering a 12-year period beginning when the target child was 2 years of age for a large (N=714), ethnically and racially diverse sample of low-income families. We examined the relation between self-reported, teacher-reported, and primary caregiver-reported adolescent disruptive and internalizing problem behavior across family structures and parent-child relationship quality. Across seven identified family structures, adolescent behavior did not differ after accounting for middle-childhood adjustment and relevant contextual factors. However, consistent with family process models of child adjustment, positive parent-child relationship quality predicted lower rates of adolescent maladaptive behavior. These findings serve to combat stigma related to family structures that deviate from married parents raising their children and highlight the need for interventions designed to foster positive parent-child relationships. Policy makers and practitioners should aim to support efforts to foster positive parent-child relationships across types of family structures and refrain from promoting or discouraging the formations of specific family structure types.

Digital universal parent training program to promote positive parenting skills – A randomized waiting-list study

IntroductionParent training programs have high potential to promote positive parent-child relationships as well as reach and engage parents to participate. Digitally delivered programs may overcome the barriers associated with face-to-face interventions, such as stigma, logistic challenges and limited resources.ObjectivesTo assess the effectiveness and feasibility of digital universal parent training program for families with 3 years-old children, focusing on parenting skills and child´s behavior.MethodsA non-blinded randomized controlled trial (RCT) with two groups: (I) the intervention group, in which participants receive the parent training and (II) the waiting list group, in which participants are placed on a waiting list to receive the parent training intervention after the first follow-up measurement have been completed. Participants must meet the following inclusion criteria: a) guardians having a child age 3 years, b) participating to annual health checkup in child health clinic, c) at least one of the guardian is able to understand the languages that intervention is provided.ResultsPilot study with feasibility assessment finished at early 2021. Recruitment of the wider RCT study is currently ongoing. The results from the pilot study and more detailed description about the intervention will be presented.ConclusionsThis study with good national geographical coverage is a unique possibility to evaluate universal parenting program on promoting parenting behaviors associated with the promotion of optimal child emotional development. This study also provides population level information about parenting skills and child´s behavior.DisclosureNo significant relationships.

Mindful Parents, Mindful Children? Exploring the Role of Mindful Parenting

SYNOPSIS Objective. Mindfulness in parents is associated with a number of positive family characteristics, including positive parenting behaviors, fewer externalizing or internalizing difficulties in children, and positive parent-child relationships. However, little is known about whether parents’ and children’s mindfulness may be linked, or whether mindful parenting may indirectly support this link. The present cross-sectional study sought to explore these associations in mothers and fathers and their preadolescent children. Design. One hundred and twelve triads consisting of mothers, fathers, and their 9- to 12-year-old children participated. Mothers and fathers rated their mindfulness and mindful parenting, and children rated their mindfulness. Results. Mothers’ mindfulness was indirectly associated with children’s mindfulness through mothers’ mindful parenting. This indirect effect was not significant for fathers, although one facet of mindfulness – nonreactivity to thoughts and feelings – led to a significant indirect association. Conclusions. Mindful parents report more mindful parenting behaviors, which in turn may relate to higher child mindfulness. Implications for the socialization of mindfulness in the family are discussed.

Expressed Emotion and Attributions in Parents With Schizophrenia.

We examined expressed emotion (EE) and attributions in parents with schizophrenia and compared them to parents without serious mental illness (SMI) in order to better understand the emotional climate of families in which a parent has schizophrenia. Parenting practices and parental reports of child behavior were also compared between the two groups. The relationship of EE to attributions was examined in each group separately. Relationships between parental mental health, EE, and attributions were explored in the parents with schizophrenia only. The Camberwell Family Interview was used to determine both EE and attributions in 20 parents with schizophrenia and 20 parents without SMI. We found that more parents with schizophrenia were rated as high EE than those without (60 and 35%, respectively) although this was not a statistically significant difference. Parents with schizophrenia demonstrated significantly more hostility and criticism toward their children than those without SMI and made more child-blaming attributions. Blame was associated with increased hostility, less warmth, and fewer positive remarks. Parental warmth was related to greater parenting self-efficacy, less harsh parenting practices, better child behavior, and a more positive parent–child relationship. We conclude that EE and attributions are potential explanatory variables to be considered in the development of preventative and early intervention strategies for families with a parent with schizophrenia or other psychotic disorder. Blame and warmth are modifiable factors that could be targeted within family and parenting interventions.

A Cross-Cultural Study of Filial Piety and Palliative Care Knowledge: Moderating Effect of Culture and Universality of Filial Piety

Filial piety is a Confucian concept derived from Chinese culture, which advocates a set of moral norms, values, and practices of respect and caring for one’s parents. According to the dual-factor model of filial piety, reciprocal and authoritarian filial piety are two dimensions of filial piety. Reciprocal filial piety is concerned with sincere affection toward one’s parent and a longstanding positive parent-child relationship, while authoritarian filial piety is about obedience to social obligations to one’s parent, often by suppressing one’s own wishes to conform the demands of the parent. The primary aim of this study is to investigate the moderating effect of culture on the relationships between filial piety and palliative care knowledge. The secondary aim is to investigate whether filial piety is a universal construct across Singaporean and Australian cultures. A total of 508 participants living in Singapore and Australia were surveyed between May and October 2020. The final sample comprised of 406 participants, with 224 Singaporeans and 182 Australians. There were 289 females (71.1%), 115 males (28.3%), and two unspecified gender (0.6%) in the sample, with an average age of 27.27 years (SD = 9.79, range = 18–73). Results indicated a significant effect of culture on authoritarian filial piety and palliative care knowledge. Singaporeans showed higher authoritarian filial piety and higher palliative care knowledge than Australians. However, no effect of culture was found on reciprocal filial piety. Overall, no significant correlation existed between palliative care knowledge and reciprocal filial piety and authoritarian filial piety. For Singaporeans, a weak negative correlation was found between palliative care knowledge and authoritarian filial piety. In contrast, Australians and Singaporeans indicated a positive, moderate correlation between reciprocal and authoritarian filial piety. Further, culture moderated the relationship between authoritarian filial piety and palliative care knowledge. High authoritarian filial piety was associated with increased palliative care knowledge among Australians, while high authoritarian filial piety was associated with decreased palliative care knowledge among Singaporeans. The results support the conceptualization of filial piety as a possible psychological universal construct. In addition, the results point out an important implication that public health programs should target the appropriate filial piety types to enhance palliative care knowledge among Singaporeans and Australians.

Inner child of the past: long-term protective role of childhood relationships with mothers and fathers and maternal support for mental health in middle and late adulthood.

National longitudinal studies that investigate the long-term association between early family life and mental health in middle and older adulthood are limited. This study aims to fill the gap by examining the protective effect of positive childhood relationships with mothers and fathers and parental support against depression among women and men in middle and late adulthood. The sample of 12,606 adults (7319 females; 5287 males) from the US Health and Retirement Study was nationally representative with the inclusion of 7 depression measures from 2008 to 2018. Two depression measures, CESD-8 scale and binary indicators of severe depressive symptoms, were used. Generalized estimation equations (GEE)-negative binomial models were estimated for CESD-8 and GEE-logit models were estimated for the binary indicator of severe depression. This study aimed to assess how positive parent-child relationships and maternal support protect the mental health of women and men in adulthood. Other risk and psychosocial factors, such as childhood depression, traumatic life events, stressful life events, marital status, and social support in adulthood were adjusted for. Positive childhood relationships with mothers, fathers, or both parents and increased maternal support were associated with a lower risk of depression among both females and males from middle to old age, even if they experienced trauma, stressful life events, divorce, singlehood, widowhood, or little social support. Females benefited more psychologically than males from positive mother-daughter relationships and high-quality relationships with both parents. However, compared to mother-child relationships, positive father-child relationships protected men better psychosocially than females. Findings underscore the importance of fathers' roles in promoting their children's, especially sons', emotional well-being. Interventions in early mother-child and father-child relationships and parental support are crucial for healthy aging in mental development.

Influence of Parental Involvement on Secondary Level StudentOutcomes

This review examines research on the influence of parental involvement onsecondary level student outcomes. The review considers the positive and negativeeffects of parental involvement on students’ academic achievement, social andemotional wellbeing, and educational aspirations. The review also examines thefactors that may affect the effectiveness of parental involvement, such as familybackground, cultural values, and school context. The review finds that parental involvement can have both positive and negative effects on secondary student outcomes, with the most beneficial results seen in families with high levels of parental involvement and positive parent-child relationships. The findings suggest that parental involvement has the potential to improve academic achievement, social and emotional wellbeing, and educational aspirations of secondary level students, however, there are various factors that can influence the effectiveness of parental involvement.

The Relationship between Parent-Child Relationship and Perceived Stress among Adolescents in Kerala

The 21st century has been plagued with the advent of technological advances that has significantly diminished the value of parent-child relationships among adolescents. The present quantitative study examines how parent child relationship affects stress levels among adolescents and was conducted among a young adolescents group with a sample size of 60 individuals. The tools used for conducting the study was Perceived Stress scale, Parent-Child relationship scale and the socio-demographic sheet. A correlational analysis was conducted to analyze the relationship between stress and parent-child relationship along with simple linear regression to explain the relationship. The results indicate that there is a significant relationship between stress and parent-child relationship with respect to both, mother and father-child relationships. By establishing parental warmth, care, and affection it is possible to regulate any distress resulting in lower stress for adolescents. The effects of a positive-parent child relationship can also be extended to helping manage academic stress by providing parental support and alleviating concerns of loneliness in managing crisis. Other noteworthy benefits of a positive parent-child relationship are in helping children to build confidence among themselves thereby enabling them to handle potentially demanding future events as well. In light of these findings, it may be argued that the effects of parent-child relationship, explored in the present study have long-term implications for children in general.

Emotional Availability as a Moderator of Stress for Young Children and Parents in Two Diverse Early Head Start Samples.

Positive parent-child relationship quality is critical for buffering children from the effects of stress on development. It is thus vital to develop interventions that target parent-child relationship quality for families experiencing stress. We examined the moderating role of parent-child relationship quality (as measured by parental emotional availability [EA]) in the intergenerational association between parental adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and their young children's hair cortisol concentrations (HCCs)-a physiological marker of cumulative hypothalamic pituitary adrenal (HPA)-axis activity. Using data from 127 parent-child dyads collected by two of six ACF-funded Buffering Toxic Stress consortium sites, we tested interaction effects of parental ACEs with parental EA on young children's (Mage = 18.38, SDage = 7.10) HCC. Results revealed curvilinear main effects such that higher parental ACEs were significantly associated with greater HCC and stronger associations occurred at higher levels of parental ACEs. However, this association was moderated by parental EA. Thus, among children with higher parental history of ACEs, children of parents with higher EA had lower HCC compared to children of parents with lower EA. These findings provide support for the risk-buffering and risk-exacerbating role of parent-child relationship quality (e.g., EA) for the transmission of parents' early life adversity on their children's HPA-axis activity, documented here in a racially and ethnically diverse sample of children and parents served by Early Head Start. Findings suggest that intervention and prevention efforts targeting stress response in children of mothers with childhood adversity should also support parents in building an emotionally available relationship with their children.

Association of parenting with suicidal ideation and attempts in children and youth: protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies

BackgroundSuicide is a leading cause of death in children and youth, with suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts (referred to as non-fatal suicidal behaviors (NFSB)) being among its strongest predictors. Positive parenting (e.g., warmth, responsiveness), negative parenting (e.g., control, hostility), and parent-child relationship quality (e.g., trust, communication) have been reported to be associated with differences in NFSB in this population. To date, no comprehensive systematic review has considered together the wide range of parenting factors studied in relation to NFSB, and no meta-analysis of existing findings has been conducted. The present study will critically appraise and synthesize the existing evidence from observational studies that examine the relationships between parenting factors and (i) suicidal ideation and (ii) suicide attempt in children and youth.MethodsStudies will be retrieved from APA PsycInfo, MEDLINE, CINAHL, Embase, Scopus, and the Cochrane Library databases. Retrospective, cross-sectional, and longitudinal studies, conducted in clinical and population settings, among youth aged less than 25 years and published as articles and dissertations in English or French will be eligible. Two reviewers will select articles using the Covidence Software after title and abstract screening and full-text assessment, will extract information using double data entry, and will appraise studies’ quality using the Quality Assessment Tool for Observational Cohort and Cross-Sectional Studies. Any disagreements will be discussed with a third reviewer. Publication bias will be evaluated using funnel plots and Egger’s test. In addition to a narrative summary of results, meta-analyses will be conducted using results from at least three studies. Three-level random effect models will allow to derive pooled estimates from dependent effect sizes (from the same sample or study). In case of significant heterogeneity, moderation analyses will be performed considering participants’ characteristics and methodological aspects of studies. The results will be reported according to the PRISMA guidelines, and the certainty of evidence will be assessed using the GRADE approach.DiscussionIn highlighting parenting factors associated with NFSB and in estimating the overall strength of these associations in children and youth, our results will inform further intervention and prevention strategies designed for young people experiencing NFSB and their families.Systematic review registrationPROSPERO CRD42020165345

The Interaction Effects Between Father-Child Relationship Quality and Parent-perpetrated Maltreatment on Adolescent Behavior Problems.

Despite ample evidence supporting the positive and important role fathers play in youth well-being, currently little is known about the potential buffering effects of positive father-child relationships on adolescent behavioral functioning, especially within the context of child maltreatment. Clarifying whether positive parent-child relationships are helpful in the presence of maltreatment perpetrated by the same or another parent is critical for designing and implementing successful family-based interventions for positive youth development. Thus, the present study aimed to investigate the unique and combined effects of the perpetrator of child maltreatment (i.e., maltreatment perpetrated by fathers versus mothers alone) and father-child relationship quality on adolescent internalizing and externalizing problems. A series of Ordinary Least Squares multiple regressions were conducted on a sample of 14-year-old high-risk youth (N = 661) drawn from the Longitudinal Studies of Child Abuse and Neglect. The results indicated that both father-perpetrated maltreatment and mother-alone maltreatment were associated with higher levels of internalizing and externalizing problems. Higher quality of father-child relationships was associated with lower levels of internalizing but was not significantly associated with externalizing problems. Higher quality father-child relationships had a buffering impact against adolescent internalizing and externalizing problems when adolescents were maltreated by mothers alone. The findings suggest that policy and practical efforts seeking to build resilience of youth should strive to nurture and leverage positive, non-maltreating father-child relationships. Such efforts may support the positive development of adolescents, even in the face of mother-perpetrated maltreatment.

Adaptation and implementation of a parenting curriculum in a refugee/immigrant community using a task-shifting approach: a study protocol

BackgroundDelivering evidence-based interventions to refugee and immigrant families is difficult for several reasons, including language and cultural issues, and access and trust issues that can lead to an unwillingness to engage with the typical intervention delivery systems. Adapting both the intervention and the delivery system for evidence-based interventions can make those interventions more appropriate and palatable for the targeted population, increasing uptake and effectiveness. This study focuses on the adaptation of the SafeCare© parenting model, and its delivery through either standard implementation methods via community-based organizations (CBO) and a task-shifted implementation in which members of the Afghans, Burmese, Congolese community will be trained to deliver SafeCare.MethodAn adaptation team consisting of community members, members of CBO, and SafeCare experts will engage a structured process to adapt the SafeCare curriculum for each targeted community. Adaptations will focus on both the model and the delivery of it. Data collection of the adaptation process will focus on documenting adaptations and team member’s engagement and satisfaction with the process. SafeCare will be implemented in each community in two ways: standard implementation and task-shifted implementation. Standard implementation will be delivered by CBOs (n = 120), and task-shifted implementation will be delivered by community members (n = 120). All interventionists will be trained in a standard format, and will receive post-training support. Both implementation metrics and family outcomes will be assessed. Implementation metrics will include ongoing adaptations, delivery of services, fidelity, skill uptake by families, engagement/completion, and satisfaction with services. Family outcomes will include assessments at three time points (pre, post, and 6 months) of positive parenting, parent-child relationship, parenting stress, and child behavioral health.DiscussionThe need for adapting of evidence-based programs and delivery methods for specific populations continues to be an important research question in implementation science. The goal of this study is to better understand an adaptation process and delivery method for three unique populations. We hope the study will inform other efforts to deliver health intervention to refugee communities and ultimately improve refugee health.

Who's Influencing Who? Adolescent Symptomatology and Caregiver Mindful Parenting.

Mindful parenting is linked to positive youth emotion regulation, mental health, and parent-child relationship quality. We examined bidirectional relations between adolescent mental health and mindful parenting among a diverse sample of 249 7th grade students and their female (N = 232) and male caregivers (N = 120). We conducted multiple-group cross-lagged models (grouped by adolescent sex). Female adolescents' externalizing symptoms predicted decreased female caregiver mindful parenting six months later, but male and female adolescent externalizing behaviors were negatively associated with male caregivers' mindful parenting one year later. Findings suggest mindful parenting capacities are vulnerable to disruption via adolescent problem behavior. Mindful parenting's potential benefits, caveats, and need to support parent efforts to sustain mindful parenting amidst adolescents' externalizing behaviors are discussed.

Predicting Parenting and Stepparenting Difficulties among Newly Remarried Parents

ABSTRACT Positive parent-child relationships in cases of remarriage are associated with more harmonious stepfamily relationships; however, little research has focused on factors influencing parenting difficulties in early remarriage. In this study, we examine factors that are associated with parenting and stepparenting difficulties for newly remarried biological parents and stepparents from a family systems theory perspective. Regression analyses indicate that greater perceived marital stability was associated with fewer parenting difficulties for all parental roles, while premarital cohabitation was associated with fewer stepparenting difficulties for stepmothers. With the exception of biological mothers, number of dependent children was associated with greater parenting difficulties for all parental roles. Practical implications are discussed.