Children's Psychosocial Adjustment Research Articles

Peer Victimization and Psychosocial Adjustment in Children: Current Knowledge and Future Directions

Childhood peer victimization is the experience of being a target of peers' aggressive behavior. Peer victimization is a common occurrence and has been concurrently and prospectively linked to significant psychological distress. This paper provides a review of the extant literature on the relationship between peer victimization and psychosocial adjustment in nonclinical and pediatric populations. Clinical applications of this literature, as well as directions for future study, are presented.

Social and psychological characteristics of Kuwaiti children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes

Type 1 diabetes mellitus is a chronic disease that may have an impact on children's psychosocial adjustment. This study aimed to investigate the psychosocial characteristics of Kuwaiti children with type 1 diabetes as compared to healthy children without diabetes, and assess the impact of glycaemic control on psychosocial variables. A total of 349 school children aged 6–18 years with type 1 diabetes, and 409 children without diabetes having comparable age, gender, and social class were included in the study. Data were obtained by interviewing children and parents using a questionnaire. Psychological distress was measured by the Hopkins symptoms checklist-25 scale including anxiety and depression. Glycaemic control was assessed by glycosylated haemoglobin, HbA IC level. Glycaemic control was considered ‘good to excellent’ at HbA IC<8.0%, ‘fair’ at HbA IC 8.1 to 10.0%, and ‘poor’ at HbA IC>10.0%. Median scores of anxiety, depression, and total distress were significantly higher in children with diabetes indicating worse psychological adjustment. There was also significant difference between children with diabetes and those without diabetes in social aspects and school absence days. There was significant positive correlation between HbA IC concentration and scores of the psychological functioning indices. Children with poor glycaemic control had worse psychological adjustment. After controlling the variance accounted by gender and age, stepwise multiple regression analysis showed that girls, older children, children in need of emotional support, and those with higher HbA IC were at higher risk for psychological maladjustment. These variables explained 47.9% of the variation in total distress. In conclusion, the study supported our hypotheses. Children with diabetes had worse psychological adjustment, and distress was related to glycaemic control. Since psychological distress increases the risk for future complications due to its relation with glycaemic control, longitudinal studies are recommended to identify children with diabetes having distress at an early stage when preventive interventions are effective.

Behavioral Couples Therapy for Substance Abuse: Rationale, Methods, and Findings

Behavioral couples therapy (BCT), a treatment approach for married or cohabiting drug abusers and their partners, attempts to reduce substance abuse directly and through restructuring the dysfunctional couple interactions that frequently help sustain it. In multiple studies with diverse populations, patients who engage in BCT have consistently reported greater reductions in substance use than have patients who receive only individual counseling. Couples receiving BCT also have reported higher levels of relationship satisfaction and more improvements in other areas of relationship and family functioning, including intimate partner violence and children's psychosocial adjustment. This review describes the use of BCT in the treatment of substance abuse, discusses the intervention's theoretical rationale, and summarizes the supporting literature.

Peer victimization and psychosocial adjustment in children with type 1 diabetes.

This study investigated the frequency and psychosocial correlates of peer victimization in a sample of youths with diabetes. The Social Experience Questionnaire, Children's Depression Inventory, Social Anxiety Scale for Children-Revised, and Asher Loneliness Scale were administered to 32 children diagnosed with type 1 diabetes and 32 control children without a medical diagnosis who were matched for age and gender. Results indicated that children with diabetes reported higher rates of relational victimization and lower levels of prosocial peer support than youths without diabetes. In addition, relational victimization was positively associated with depression, social anxiety, and loneliness for diabetic children. Implications of these findings for clinicians working with this population are discussed.

A Comparison of the Psychosocial Functioning of Children with Drug‐Versus Alcohol‐Dependent Fathers

The present study compared the psychosocial functioning of children whose fathers primarily abused illicit drugs other than alcohol (n = 51) to children from a demographically matched sample of families whose fathers abused alcohol (n = 51). Children with drug‐abusing (DA) fathers exhibited significantly more negative child behaviors on a standardized child‐rating scale than did children from homes with alcohol‐abusing fathers. In addition, a significantly greater proportion of children with DA fathers met clinical cutoffs indicative of psychosocial impairment (n = 23; 45%) than did children whose fathers abused alcohol (n = 5; 10%). Mediation analyses indicated that severity of drug, legal, medical, employment, and family problems partially mediated the relationship between type of family (i.e., families with fathers who had an alcohol problem versus families with fathers who had a drug problem) and children's psychosocial adjustment.

The influence of cultural and racial identification on the psychosocial adjustment of inner-city African American children in school.

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship and combined influence of racial identity and Africentric values on African American children's psychosocial adjustment. Participants were 104 (53 males, 51 females) African American fourth-grade students attending an inner-city public school in a northeastern city. Child and teacher ratings were used to assess the relationship between racial identity, Africentric values, and several indices of child psychosocial adjustment, including child behavior control, school interest, and teacher perceptions of child strengths and problems in the classroom. Child self-esteem and the effects of gender and cohort were used as covariates in several analyses in the study. Overall, findings from the study supported the usefulness of combining racial identity and Africentric values into a single model of ethnic identification for African American children. Implications for risk prevention and enhancement of psychosocial functioning among African American children are discussed.

Parents' and Children's Perceptions of Parental Behavior: Associations with Children's Psychosocial Adjustment in the Classroom

Objective. We examined correspondence in parents' and children's perceptions of parenting and associations between these perceptions and children's social adjustment in the classroom. Design. The sample included 214 children (M age = 9) from third to fifth grades and their parents. Children and parents reported on parenting behavior. Results. Parents' self-reports and children's reports about parents showed systematic differences, with parents perceiving themselves as more supportive than children perceived them to be. Direction of discrepancy between child and parent reports appeared to be more important than size of discrepancy in predicting child outcomes. Hierarchical regression analyses showed that parents' self-perceptions of parenting and children's perceptions of parenting were predictive of different measures of child psychosocial adjustment. Conclusions. The results of this study support the assumption that parents' self-perceptions and children's perceptions of parenting provide unique views of the family and unique relations to children's psychosocial adjustment.

Growing Up With Chronic Illness: Psychosocial Adjustment of Children and Adolescents With Cystic Fibrosis

This chapter reviews the published research from 1980 through 2001 on the psychosocial adjustment of children and adolescents with cystic fibrosis. The inclusion criteria were that research was conducted by nurses and researchers from related disciplines that focused on the psychosocial adjustment of children (6 to 12 years) and/or adolescents (13 to 22 years) with cystic fibrosis (CF). Three computerized databases were used for retrieval: Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), Medline, and PsycINFO. Of the 74 citations published from 1980 through 2001, only 20 studies met the inclusion criteria, including 7 nursing research studies and 13 studies published by non-nurses in related disciplines. Key findings from this review were that the focus of nursing research was on the social consequences of chronic illness, while the non-nursing research focused on self-concept, self-worth, and psychiatric symptoms of anxiety, worry, and behavior problems. Only two programs of research were identified. Developmental science was used as a guiding framework for the critique of the research. Recommendations for future research include developmentally sensitive longitudinal studies to track developmental change and stability over time, as well as research that captures individual developmental differences.

The Relation of Social Capital to Child Psychosocial Adjustment Difficulties: The Role of Positive Parenting and Neighborhood Dangerousness

Substantial research attention has focused on the psychosocial adjustment problems of children and adolescents residing in disadvantaged neighborhoods. However, less attention has been directed to neighborhood factors within disadvantaged neighborhoods that may facilitate child psychosocial adjustment. An expanded model, assessing how social capital, neighborhood dangerousness, and positive parenting relate to child psychosocial adjustment difficulties, was estimated using structural equation modeling (Lisrel 8.3). Participants included 130 African American mothers and their children (mean age = 12.9 years) residing in inner city New Orleans, LA. The model examined 3 avenues through which social capital (e.g., support, neighborhood cohesion) may relate to fewer child psychosocial adjustment difficulties: a direct relation; through its relation to positive parenting; and through its relation to neighborhood dangerousness. Results indicate that social capital related to child psychosocial adjustment difficulties through positive parenting and neighborhood dangerousness, but not directly. Overall, the proposed model fit the observed data reasonably well. The results suggest that social capital in disadvantaged neighborhoods is important in indirectly facilitating child psychosocial adjustment and should be incorporated into assessment and intervention practices.

Neighborhood violence and coparent conflict: interactive influence on child psychosocial adjustment.

The interactive influence of neighborhood violence and coparent conflict on child psychosocial adjustment was examined in a sample of 117 low-income, inner-city African American families. Data were collected and analyzed cross-sectionally and longitudinally. Lower levels of coparent conflict buffered girls, but not boys, from the detrimental effects of living in neighborhoods characterized by high levels of violence. In both cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses, lower levels of coparent conflict, relative to higher levels, protected girls from depressive symptoms and aggressive behaviors in the context of higher levels of neighborhood violence. Clinical implications of the findings and directions for future research are discussed.

Factors Influencing Parent Reports on Quality of Life for Children with Asthma

Children and parents often differ in their perceptions of a complex disease such as asthma. This ancillary study of children with mild to moderate asthma that was conducted at four of the eight clinics in the Childhood Asthma Management Program had two aims: (1) to relate quality of life to asthma symptoms, sociodemographic characteristics, child psychosocial adjustment and family social support and (2) to relate agreement between child- and parent-reported quality of life to child age. For this study participants completed the Caregiver's Pediatric Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire (C-PAQLQ), Pediatric Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire, and a battery of psychosocial health outcomes questionnaires at the 12-month follow-up. The average asthma symptom score from diary cards for the 2 weeks before the visit was also collected. Parent-reported family burden was the strongest correlate of C-PAQLQ scores. Although the average asthma symptom score was not associated with parent-reported quality of life, the study had low power to detect a relationship because of the few episodes of asthma reported during the assessment period. The correlation between child and parent reported quality of life improved with increasing age of the child, suggesting increased child-parent agreement about quality of life outcomes was associated with increasing age of the child. Family characteristics, such as degree of cohesion among family members, are not associated with quality of life ratings.

Coparent conflict in single mother-headed African american families: Do parenting skills serve as a mediator or moderator of child psychosocial adjustment?

In an effort to expand the parental conflict literature beyond 2-parent and divorced families, this study examined the following questions: Is coparental conflict between single mothers and the individuals who assist them in raising their children associated with child adjustment, and do parenting skills mediate or moderate this association? The sample consisted of 238 African American mothers and their 7- to 11-year-old children. Data were collected at 2 time points separated by approximately 15 months. Results indicated that coparental conflict was associated with child adjustment both concurrently and longitudinally, and that this association was partially mediated, but not moderated, by parenting skills.

Positive parenting and child psychosocial adjustment in inner-city single-parent African American families. The role of maternal optimism.

The primary purposes of this study were to examine whether maternal optimism is related to positive parenting and child adjustment and whether it contributes beyond maternal depressive symptoms to our understanding. The participants were 141 African American single mothers and one of their children. Findings revealed that maternal optimism was associated with positive parenting and this association was only partially mediated by maternal depressive symptoms. Maternal optimism was not associated with child psychosocial adjustment, but positive parenting was associated with lower levels of both internalizing and externalizing difficulties. The utility of understanding the link between maternal optimism and parenting for prevention and intervention efforts aimed at enhancing quality of life and subsequent child adjustment is discussed, as well as directions for future research on maternal optimism.

Daily hassles and social support as predictors of adjustment in children with pediatric rheumatic disease.

To test hypotheses that social support moderates the effects of microstressors on the psychosocial adjustment of children with pediatric rheumatic diseases (PRDs) and that among multiple sources of support, classmate and parent support are significant predictors of adjustment, after controlling for demographic and disease severity variables. Children with PRDs (N = 160 children; 8-17 years) were recruited from three pediatric rheumatology centers and completed measures of daily hassles, social support, depressive symptoms, and state and trait anxiety; their parents completed measures of internalizing and externalizing behaviors. Fewer daily hassles and higher social support predicted fewer adjustment problems. Among the sources of support, classmate and parent support were significant predictors. Tests for moderation were significant only for a Hassles x Classmate Support interaction in the prediction of depression. A plot of the interaction between hassles and classmate support showed that children with high classmate support had lower levels of depression than children with low classmate support under high or low levels of daily hassles. Furthermore, children with high classmate support had lower levels of depression under conditions of low versus high daily hassles. Results are consistent with a main effect rather than buffering model for social support. Interventions should focus on management of daily hassles and increasing social support for children with PRDs.

Caregiving Styles and Adolescent Psychosocial Functioning in a Residential Treatment Facility

ABSTRACT Research has shown a strong relationship between caregiving styles and child functioning such that authoritative caregiving is associated with better child psychosocial adjustment (Baumrind, 1966). The purpose of the present study was to extend this research to determine whether a similar relationship exists between caregiving style and adolescent functioning in a residential treatment facility setting. Forty-seven adolescent females at a residential facility, their counselors and their social workers participated. Results revealed a significant relationship between caregiving style and adolescent psychosocial functioning. The implications of the results are discussed in terms of the impact of caregiving style at a residential treatment facility for adolescents.

Predictors of the psychosocial adjustment of children living in households of parents in which fathers abuse drugs: The effects of postnatal parental exposure

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between the psychosocial adjustment of children living in households of parents ( N=112) in which fathers were entering treatment for substance abuse and the following sets of variables: (a) parents' sociodemographic characteristics, (b) parents' dyadic adjustment, (c) fathers' substance use severity, and (d) parents' psychological adjustment. Mothers did not meet current criteria for a psychoactive substance use disorder on alcohol or other drugs; moreover, based on reports by parents, none of the children was not exposed prenatally to illicit drugs. Results of hierarchical-by-blocks regression analyses revealed that each of the variable sets made a significant unique contribution to the prediction of children's psychosocial adjustment. Furthermore, the following variables within the sets were also found to be significant: (a) parents' age, (b) weekly family income, (c) frequency of male-to-female physical aggression between the parents, (d) frequency of fathers' substance use during the previous year, (e) diagnosis of antisocial personality disorder of fathers, and (f) mothers' level of psychological distress.

Parenting and child psychosocial adjustment in single-parent African American families: Is community context important?

This study addressed two questions about single-parent African American families: Are parenting strategies associated with perceived risks in the environmental context? and Does the association between parenting and child adjustment depend on the context in which parenting occurs? Families (N = 277) resided in 2 communities that differed in violence-related risk: one rural (low risk) and one urban (high risk). Mother-reported monitoring and warm, supportive mother-child relationships and child-reported internalizing problems, externalizing problems, and social competence were examined. Mothers monitored their children more in the urban than the rural community. The warmth and supportive nature of the mother-child relationship did not differ across contexts. A warm, supportive mother-child relationship was associated with fewer internalizing and externalizing child behaviors in both contexts. Monitoring was associated with fewer problem behaviors only in the urban community.

Noninfected children of HIV-infected mothers: A 4-year longitudinal study of child psychosocial adjustment and parenting

The purposes of this study were to compare, across 4 years, the psychosocial adjustment of noninfected children (ages 6 to 11 at first assessment) whose mothers are and are not HIV-infected, examine differential changes of the two groups of children across the 4 years, and examine the role of parenting on the child's adjustment. Children of HIV-infected mothers reported more depressive symptoms across the four assessments than children whose mothers were not infected. Evidence for differential change of child psychosocial adjustment across assessments for the two groups did not emerge. Parenting variables, particularly the mother-child relationship, were related to child adjustment in both groups. Many of the findings suggest that mothers and children often provide unique perspectives. Prevention and intervention implications are considered.

Jack Tizard Memorial Lecture: Educational Reform and the Mental Health of Vulnerable Children and Young People

Although research has demonstrated the differential influence of schools on children's psychosocial adjustment, the influence of radical legislative changes since 1979 is less clear. Evidence of a sharp rise in exclusions and in referral for special educational needs is contrasted with evidence that behaviour in most schools is good, and with data showing a steep reduction in the number of pupils leaving school with no qualifications. It is argued that these reforms have improved overall standards and may thereby have contributed positively to the mental health of many vulnerable children. However, the way they have been implemented has undermined teachers in some schools and, as a result, pupils there experience education as an additional source of stress rather than of stability and support.

Jack Tizard Memorial Lecture: Educational Reform and the Mental Health of Vulnerable Children and Young People

Although research has demonstrated the differential influence of schools on children's psychosocial adjustment, the influence of radical legislative changes since 1979 is less clear. Evidence of a sharp rise in exclusions and in referral for special educational needs is contrasted with evidence that behaviour in most schools is good, and with data showing a steep reduction in the number of pupils leaving school with no qualifications. It is argued that these reforms have improved overall standards and may thereby have contributed positively to the mental health of many vulnerable children. However, the way they have been implemented has undermined teachers in some schools and, as a result, pupils there experience education as an additional source of stress rather than of stability and support.