Parent-child Relationship Quality Research Articles

Physical Custody Arrangements, Children’s Age, and Children’s Mental Health: A Comparison of Germany and Norway

This study investigated potential differences in mental health among children living in sole physical custody (SPC), asymmetric joint physical custody (JPC), and symmetric JPC; and it tested whether children’s age moderated the association between physical custody arrangements and children’s mental health. Using data from the Family Models in Germany (FAMOD) and Norwegian Dynamics of Family Conflict (FAMC) studies, we estimated OLS regression models for children aged 2 to 14. In the German sample, children in asymmetric JPC had fewer mental health problems than children in SPC. However, this difference disappeared when controlling for various background variables, including the quality of parent-child relationships. Additionally, children’s age moderated the association between physical custody arrangements and children’s mental health problems, with increasing age being related to fewer mental health problems in asymmetric JPC. This association remained even after controlling for the background variables. In the Norwegian sample, no differences were found in children’s mental health across physical custody arrangements; nor did children’s age moderate the association. The results of this study emphasize that there may be cultural differences in how children’s mental health is related to their physical custody arrangements. Furthermore, there are modest indications that asymmetric JPC may be related to better mental health among older children in Germany.

A 5 years' experience of a parent-baby day unit: impact on baby's development.

Psychiatric Mother-Baby Units are well established in France, United Kingdom, and Australia, mostly in full-time hospitalization. Inpatient units are considered as best practice for improving outcomes for mothers and babies when the mother is experiencing severe mental illness and many studies have showed the effectiveness of care for the mother or the mother-infant relationship. Only a limited number of studies have focused on the day care setting or on the development of the baby. Our parent-baby day unit is the first day care unit in child psychiatry in Belgium. It offers specialized evaluation and therapeutic interventions focused on the baby and involves parents with mild or moderate psychiatric symptoms. The advantages of day care unit is to reduce the rupture with social and family living. The objective of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of parent-baby day unit in prevention of babies' developmental problems. First, we present the clinical characteristics of the population treated in the day-unit in comparison to the features presented in the literature review about mother-baby units, which usually receive full-time treatment. Then, we will identify the factors that might contribute to a positive evolution of the baby's development. In this study, we retrospectively analyze data of patients admitted between 2015 and 2020 in the day unit. Upon admission, the 3 pillars of perinatal care - babies, parents, and dyadic relationships - have systematically been investigated. All the families have received a standard perinatal medico-psycho-social anamnesis, including data on the pregnancy period. In this unit, all the babies are assessed at entry and at discharge using the diagnostic 0 to 5 scale, a clinical withdrawal risk, and a developmental assessment (Bayley). Parental psychopathology is assessed with the DSM5 diagnostic scale and the Edinburgh scale for depression. Parent-child interactions are categorized according to Axis II of the 0 to 5 scale. We have evaluated the improvement of children symptomatology, the child development and the mother-child relation between the entrance (T1) and the discharge (T2) and we have compared two groups of clinical situations: a group of patients with a successful evolution (considering baby's development and the alliance with the parents) and a group of unsuccessful evolution during hospitalization. We use descriptive statistics to characterize our population. To compare the different groups of our cohort, we use the T-test and non-parametric tests for continue variables. For discrete variables, we used the Chi2 test of Pearson. The clinical population of the day unit is comparable to the mother-baby units in terms of psychosocial fragility but the psychopathological profile of the parents entering the day unit shows more anxiety disorder and less post-partum psychosis. The babies' development quotient is in the average range at T1 and is maintained at T2. In the day unit, the number of symptoms as well as the relational withdrawal of the babies is reduced between T1 and T2. The quality of parent-child relationship is improved between T1 and T2. The children of the group of pejorative evolution had a lower developmental quotient at the T1 and an overrepresentation of traumatic life events. These results indicate that parent-baby day unit lead to positive outcomes in clinical situations with anxio-depressive parents, relational withdrawal of the babies, functional problems of the babies but not when a significant impact on the development of the baby already exists. The results of this study can guide therapeutic approaches for the benefit of care in parent-baby day units, and improve the development of the child and of the dyadic relationships.

0120 Interactions between Temperament and Parent-Child Relationship Quality in Early Childhood and Sleep in Middle Childhood

Abstract Introduction Effects of child temperament on biopsychosocial outcomes, including sleep, are known to differ based on parent-child relationship quality (PCRQ). However, previous studies have primarily focused solely on early childhood, relied on subjective reports of PCRQ and sleep, and have neglected to examine variability in sleep, which is an important dimension of sleep health. We examined whether there were interactions between temperament and objectively measured PCRQ during early childhood in association with actigraphy measured sleep (average and variability) in middle childhood. Methods Participants included 90 preschoolers (mean age=4.24 years, SD=0.81) who were 47% female; 37% White, 17% Black, 47% other racial groups; and 46% Hispanic. Thirty-four percent experienced moderate to severe maltreatment. PCRQ was coded from a video-recorded free-play task between each child and their primary caregiver. Child temperament dimensions including Activity Level, Anger, Social Fear, Inhibitory Control, and Appropriate Attentional Allocation were measured with the parent-report Toddler Behavior Assessment Questionnaire. Child Mean and SDs of total sleep time (TST) and sleep efficiency (SE) were generated from actigraphy data collected for two weeks during a follow-up study when participants were ages 8-11. Results There were no direct effects of any of the temperament variables or PCRQ on sleep. In models adjusted for demographic characteristics and number of adversities experienced, greater attentional allocation was associated with greater average TST only among those children high in PCRQ (estimate = 20.59, 95% CI = 5.19, 35.99). For every one unit increase in attentional allocation score (possible range 1:7), there is a more than 20 min increase in mean TST. In contrast, greater activity levels were associated with better average sleep efficiency, only among those low in PCRQ (estimate = 2.35, 95% CI = 0.46, 4.24). For each unit increase in activity level score, there was a 2% increase in sleep efficiency. Conclusion Findings extend cross-sectional research in early childhood and provide support for models showing that children have differing susceptibility to the effects of temperament on sleep, depending on PCRQ. Support (if any) NIMH R01 MH083704, NICHD R01 HD086487, NICHD, R01 HD095837, SRCD Small Grant for Early Career Scholars, T32HD101392, NIGMS P20 GM139767.

Parental control and adolescent internet addiction: the moderating effect of parent-child relationships.

The present study investigated how maternal and paternal controls, including behavioral and psychological controls, predict adolescent Internet addiction, as well as the potential moderating effects of adolescent gender and parent-child relationships on the predictions. Data were collected from 1,974 Chinese adolescents (age range = 14-22; mean = 16.47; SD = 0.87; 1,099 girls) in Guizhou Province, mainland China in November 2021. Internet addiction was measured using the ten-item Internet Addiction Test developed by Kimberly Young, and Parental control and parent-child relationships were measured by the respective subscales derived from the validated Chinese Parent-Child Subsystem Quality Scale. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that after the covariates were statistically controlled, both parents' behavioral controls showed significant negative predictions on adolescent Internet addiction, while their psychological control tended to positively predict Internet addiction among adolescents, although the effect was only marginal. In addition, the impacts of maternal and paternal controls were equal, and such impacts did not vary between sons and daughters. While adolescent gender was not a significant moderator, the parent-child relationship quality significantly moderated the effects of paternal behavioral control, paternal psychological control, and maternal psychological control on adolescents' Internet addiction. Specifically, the prediction of paternal behavioral control was stronger while the effect of paternal and maternal psychological control was weaker among adolescents with a positive father-child relationship than those with a moderate or poor father-child relationship. These findings indicate the protective function of parents' behavioral control and the negative impact of psychological control on the development of adolescent Internet addiction. Further, a positive relationship between the father and the adolescent can strengthen the positive effect of paternal behavioral control and mitigate the negative effects of both parents' psychological controls.

Parental Factors Associated With Recovery After Mild Traumatic Brain Injury: A Systematic Review.

Abstract While parental factors have been shown to potentially influence recovery after mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) in children, both the strength and direction of the relationships remain unclear. We performed a systematic review regarding the association between parental factors and recovery after mTBI. PubMed, CINHL, Embase, PsychINFO, Web of Science, ProQuest, Cochrane Central, and Cochrane databases were queried for articles published between September 1, 1970, and September 10, 2022, reporting any parental factor and its association with recovery after mTBI in children younger than 18 years old. The review included both quantitative and qualitative studies published in English. Regarding the directionality of the association, only studies that assessed the effects of parental factors on recovery after mTBI were included. Study quality was assessed using a five-domain scale created by the Cochrane Handbook and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. The study was prospectively registered with PROSPERO (CRD42022361609). Of 2050 studies queried, 40 met inclusion criteria, and 38 of 40 studies used quantitative outcome measures. Across 38 studies, 24 unique parental factors and 20 different measures of recovery were identified. The most common parental factors studied were socioeconomic status/income (SES; n = 16 studies), parental stress/distress (n = 11), parental level of education (n = 9), pre-injury family functioning (n = 8), and parental anxiety (n = 6). Among all associations between parental factors and recovery reported, having a family history of a neurologic disease (i.e., migraine, epilepsy, neurodegenerative disease; 5/6 significant associations reported, 83%), parental stress/distress (9/11, 82%), parental anxiety (4/6, 67%), parental level of education (5/9, 56%), and SES/income (11/19, 57.9%) were shown to have the strongest evidence reporting significant associations with recovery, while a family history of psychiatric disease (3/6, 50%) and pre-injury family functioning (4/9, 44%) showed mixed results. Evidence regarding other parental factors including parental sex, race/ethnicity, insurance status, parental history of concussion, family litigation status, family adjustment levels, and family psychosocial adversity were limited, as studies investigating such factors were few. The current review highlights literature describing several parental factors that significantly influence recovery from mTBI. It will likely be useful for future studies to incorporate parental SES, education, stress/distress, anxiety, quality of parent-child relationships, and parenting style when examining modifying factors in recovery after mTBI. Future studies should also consider how parental factors may serve as potential interventions or policy levers to optimize sport concussion-related policy and return-to-play guidelines.

Association of parent-child relationship quality and problematic mobile phone use with non-suicidal self-injury among adolescents

BackgroundNon-suicidal self-injury behavior (NSSI) is a common mental health threat among adolescents. Poor parent-child relationship (PCR) and problematic mobile phone use (PMPU) are risk factors for NSSI. We aimed to explore the impact of PCR quality, PMPU, and their interaction effects on NSSI among adolescents in China, as well as the sex difference.MethodA survey was conducted among school students in 4 provinces in China between 2017 and 2018. The study included 14,500 valid participants. The students’ general demographic characteristics was collected, and further data on PCR quality, PMPU, and NSSI were obtained through self-rated questionnaire. Chi-square test, binomial logistic regression models, and the Andersson Excel were used for data analysis.ResultsThe 12-month prevalence of NSSI was 27.3%. Lower PCR quality and PMPU were significantly associated with NSSI, respectively. The low PCR + yes PMPU group had the greatest association with NSSI, followed by the high PCR + yes PMPU group, low PCR + no PMPU group. Moreover, in low father-child relationship + yes PMPU group, females had a higher risk of NSSI than males; in high mother-child relationship + yes PMPU group, females had a higher risk of NSSI than males. Additive interaction analysis indicated that mother-child relationship quality and PMPU were associated with increased risks of NSSI, in the subgroup of males.ConclusionsThe findings underline the importance of simultaneously studying the quality of PCR and PMPU for a comprehensive understanding of NSSI behavior, and especially highlights the significance of maternal relationship quality.

Short-term and long-term effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on child psychological well-being: a four-wave longitudinal study.

As the COVID-19 pandemic further unfolds, it becomes a key theoretical and practical question to identify trajectories of child psychological well-being and to explore risk and resilience factors for developmental adjustment. The current study addressed this research gap by means of an ecological design: A (lockdown)-B (relaxation)-B (relaxation)-A (lockdown). We collected parental reports via online questionnaires over four measurement occasions during the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany (non-probabilistic sample): from the first lockdown (T1-spring 2020, N = 1769) to the following period of relaxation (T2-summer 2020, n = 873; T3-fall 2020, n = 729) on to the second lockdown (T4-winter 2020/21, n = 748). Key measures at T1-T4 were child emotional and behavioral problems as well as hyperactivity, child emotional and family-related well-being, parental strain, and parent-child relationship quality. We found evidence for quadratic growth models. While child problem behaviors (b = 0.32, p < 0.001) and emotional well-being (b = -0.33, p < 0.001) improved after the first lockdown during subsequent periods of relaxation before worsening again in the second lockdown, child family-related well-being steadily decreased over all four measurement points (T1-T2: p < 0.001; T2-T3: p = 0.045; T3-T4: p = 0.030). Importantly, parental stress emerged as a strong risk factor (ps < 0.11) and the parent-child relationship quality constituted a resilience factor (p = 0.049) for child psychological well-being. These findings have major implications for policies aiming to further child health during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Transdiagnostic Symptoms in Children with Neurodevelopmental Disabilities and Perceived Parent-Child Relationship Quality: A Pilot Study

This pilot study examined associations between transdiagnostic symptoms and parent-perceived parent-child relationship quality in treatment-seeking families of children with neurodevelopmental disabilities, and interactions among clinical symptoms and cognitive functioning. Sixty-three children between 8 to 13 years of age and their caregivers were assessed at baseline while seeking cognitive behaviour therapy for emotion regulation and mental health difficulties. Diagnoses included autism, ADHD, cerebral palsy, and learning disability, with 52% of children having multiple diagnoses. Parent-perceived parent-child relationship quality was assessed by the Positive Affect Index, autism symptoms (e.g., social communication, repetitive behaviours) by the Social Responsiveness Scale, Second Edition, mental health (i.e., internalizing problems, externalizing problems, behavioural symptoms) by the Behaviour Assessment Scale for Children, Third Edition, and IQ by the Weschler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence, Second Edition. Results revealed that higher IQ scores and greater social communication challenges, externalizing problems, and behavioural symptoms, were associated with lower parent-child relationship quality. Interaction effects were found between IQ and social communication challenges, reflecting significantly stronger relationships between social communication challenges and lower parent-child relationship quality in the context of higher IQ. Understanding the interactions between cognitive functioning and social communication challenges can help to inform individualized supports, and advocate for a transdiagnostic approach to intervention.

Zero or 18

Zero or 18

Parents’ perceived social support and children’s mental health: the chain mediating role of parental marital quality and parent‒child relationships

The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between parents’ perceived social support and children’s mental health and the mediating role of parental marital quality and parent‒child relationships. The Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, the Parental Marital Quality Scale, the Child‒Parent Relationship Scale and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire were used to survey 822 parents of young children (50% fathers) in Changchun, Jilin Province, China. The results indicated that (1) parents’ perceived social support was positively correlated with children’s mental health; (2) parental marital quality and parent‒child relationships play a simple mediating role between parents’ perceived social support and children’s mental health; and (3) parental marital quality and parent‒child relationships also play a chain mediating role between parents’ perceived social support and children’s mental health. This suggests that providing good social support for parents enhances the quality of marriages and parent‒child relationships and will also contribute to good mental health in children.

Quality of the Parent-Child Relationship as a Moderator of Witnessing Violence and Youth Trauma Symptoms.

Traumatic event exposure affects two in every three adolescents in the United States and there is the potential for numerous deleterious effects including higher levels of youth depression, anxiety, posttraumatic stress symptoms, and emotional and behavioral problems. Witnessing violence is one of the more common experiences associated with trauma exposure. Despite the ample research on mental health outcomes associated with witnessing violence, less is known about the extent to which parent-child relationships play a role in youth mental health outcomes when youth are exposed to violence. With a clinically relevant, diverse sample of 806 youth ages 12years old who experienced maltreatment or were at risk of being maltreated, we tested hypotheses that the parent-child relationship quality would moderate the associations between witnessing violence and youth mental health outcomes. Results supported hypotheses for youths' symptoms of anxiety, depression, dissociation, and posttraumatic stress. The study contributes to the trauma literature by determining that the quality of the parent-child relationship moderated the effects of witnessing violence on trauma outcomes.

Marital and Parental Relationships in Adoptive and Nonadoptive Families: The Mediating Role of Coparenting

In the adoption field, there is evidence that parent–child relationship quality represents a crucial source of resilience for families. However, little is still known about the variables that may influence parental relationship and the mediating role played by coparenting in the association between marital and parental relationships. This study intended to explore the links between mothers’ and fathers’ perceptions of marital and parental relationships, assessing the mediating role of coparenting in adoptive families with internationally adopted adolescents in comparison with nonadoptive families. Participants were 91 Italian adoptive married couples and 69 nonadoptive married couples with an adolescent child. A self-report questionnaire was administered to participants. Results highlighted similarities and differences concerning mothers’ and fathers’ relationships within adoptive and nonadoptive families; the association of the marital relationship with the parental relationship through coparenting especially emerged within adoptive families. Results were discussed in relation to practical implications for family preventive and enrichment intervention.

Parental future orientation and parenting outcomes: Development and validation of an adapted measure of parental decision making

Parenting practices, especially those characterized by harsh and neglectful behaviors, have a significant impact on child development. Despite the importance of parenting, little attention has been paid to personality-linked constructs that may guide how parents make decisions regarding their interactions with their children. For instance, parents who focus on getting their child to do something immediately may engage in behaviors that yield rapid compliance (e.g., hitting, yelling) at the expense of longer-term parent-child relationship quality. Building on literatures examining the effects of time horizon on behavior, this series of studies examined the development of a measure of parental time horizon to evaluate whether parents who focus on short-term (immediate) consequences of their actions experience higher rates of parenting distress and engage in more negative parenting behaviors. Study 1 examined the psychometric properties of a parenting-adapted Consideration of Future Consequences Scale, finding that more immediate time orientation was associated with greater parenting stress. Study 2 replicated these results and relations to parenting distress, suggesting that time orientation was associated with positive and negative parenting behaviors in a socioeconomically distressed sample. Together, these studies demonstrate support for further evaluating parental time orientation and its effects on parent and child outcomes.

Parent-child relationship quality and emerging adult internalizing and externalizing problems: empathy as a pathway

Parent-child relationship quality and emerging adult internalizing and externalizing problems: empathy as a pathway

Emerging Adult Risky Sexual Behavior: The Influence of Perceived Parental Religiosity and Perceived Parent-Child Relationship Quality in the USA.

In the southern USA, where religiosity is higher than in other parts of the country, many researchers have questioned if the religiosity of parents plays a role in emerging adults' risky sexual behavior (RSB). Specifically, research suggests that certain aspects of religiosity (i.e., conservatism) are especially detrimental when examining RSB. In the current study, college students (N = 585, 65.5% women, 69.2% White, 25.0% Black) completed the following self-report measures: the Stearns-McKinney Assessment of Religious Traits - Short Form, the Parental Environment Questionnaire, and the Student Sexual Risks Scale. Results of path analysis (reported statistics have p < .05) indicated that perceived maternal relationship quality had a significant negative association with RSB in emerging adult women, β = -.27, and men, β = -.20; perceived paternal relationship quality also associated negatively with RSB in women, β = -.12, and men, β = -.20. Of all the parental religiosity variables, only perceived maternal conservatism had a significant effect, where it demonstrated a positive association with RSB in women, β = .34, and men, β = -.20. These results suggest that perceived parent-child relationship quality and perceived maternal conservative religiosity influence emerging adult RSB. This study presents novel insight into the specific aspects of perceived parental religiosity that, at least in the current study, are found to influence RSB.

Adversity, engagement, and later achievement: The role of emotion regulation and parent-child relationship quality

BackgroundStudents who have experienced adversity tend to demonstrate poorer academic outcomes than their non-maltreated peers. Academic engagement, a multidimensional, motivational construct, associated with a myriad of positive academic outcomes is an important academically-related mechanism that can be leveraged to improve the outcomes of this population. ObjectiveThe present study aimed to better understanding of how engagement develops in the context of adversity by exploring the effects emotion regulation skills and parent–child relationships have on engagement development. Participants and settingAnalyses were conducted on 795 participants in the NSCAW dataset. MethodsPath analysis was used to estimate mediation and moderated mediation models. ResultsEmotion regulation skills significantly mediated the effect experiencing trauma symptoms had on engagement. Parent-child relationship quality moderated the mediation effect emotion regulation skills had on the relationship between experiencing trauma symptoms and engagement. ConclusionsEmotion regulation skills and parent–child relationship quality are potential intervention targets to improve engagement for students who have experienced adversity.

Dysregulation and Parenting of Emerging Adults

ABSTRACT The dysregulation profile (DP; i.e., a profile that identifies individuals with high scores of attention-deficit, anxious/depressed, and aggressive problems) has been shown to be predictive of poor psychological and social outcomes. Previous studies have focused on the predictive profile among children, adolescents, and emerging adults but none have examined the profile among an adult parent population. Determining the influence of the dysregulation profile on parenting behaviors and the parent-child relationship may demonstrate the risk factors involved for both parents and children. Emerging adults were recruited from a large Southern university in the United States. We performed a latent profile analysis with the Adult Behavior Checklist to determine two groups of parents of emerging adult offspring that either had the dysregulation profile or did not. A MANCOVA was performed using the two dysregulation groups to determine differences in parental psychopathology, discipline, parent-child relationship quality, and emerging adult psychopathology. Parents in the dysregulation positive group were more likely to utilize harsh discipline, have poorer relationships with their children, and have children with higher scores of psychopathologies. The results of the current study highlight that those parental figures in the DP-positive group exhibited different characteristics in the parenting of their emerging adult offspring. DP- positive parents were perceived as delivering harsher discipline and poorer relationship quality with their children. Further research is encouraged to examine the bidirectionality of the DP (either of parents on their children or of the emerging adult on their parents, as well as other relationships and outcomes) over time.

Profiles of Resilience, Distress, and Posttraumatic Growth in Parents of Children with Cancer and the Relation to Subsequent Parenting and Family Functioning.

The aim of this study was to identify patterns of distress and growth in parents of children with cancer and examine associations with subsequent parenting, parent-child relationship, and family environment. Participants included children with cancer history (8-17 years) stratified by time since diagnosis and their parent. At enrollment, parents (n = 254) reported depression and anxiety, and post-traumatic stress symptoms, posttraumatic growth (PTG), and benefit finding in relation to their child's cancer. Three years later, children (n = 214) reported parenting behavior, parent reactions to their distress, and family environment. Parents reported their reaction to children's distress and qualities of the parent-child relationship. Latent profile analysis empirically identified 3 cross-sectional profiles using baseline data: "Resilience, High Growth" (50%), characterized by the lowest distress and the highest PTG/benefit finding; "Moderate Distress with Growth" (33%), characterized by relatively high levels of all indicators; and "Resilience, Low Growth" (17%), characterized by relatively low distress with low PTG/benefit finding. Membership in profiles was associated with parent gender; parents' stressful life events; socioeconomic status; and child diagnosis, on versus off treatment status, and treatment intensity. Parent membership in the Moderate Distress with Growth profile was generally linked with poorer parenting behavior, parent-child relationship quality, and family functioning. The majority of parents exhibited resilience and growth. However, a subset of parents displaying moderate distress may be at risk for subsequent parenting and family functioning challenges. Findings further highlight the importance of screening for even moderate parent distress and the possible impact of parent psychosocial interventions indirectly on parenting and family functioning.

Feasibility and Preliminary Impact of a Community-Based Intervention for Maternal PTSD and Parenting: Parenting-STAIR Pilot.

Trauma exposure and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) impact emotional and physical well-being, social functioning, and parent-child relationship quality. The effect of parental trauma on parenting and child maltreatment is often overlooked by current child welfare (CW) services. The novel intervention, Parenting-STAIR, was created to address maternal mental health, parenting skills, and child well-being outcomes. Parenting-STAIR is a combination of Skills Training in Affective and Interpersonal Regulation (STAIR) Narrative Therapy and Parent-Child Care (PC-CARE). This open pilot study aimed to examine the feasibility and preliminary impact of Parenting-STAIR in reducing maternal PTSD and increasing positive parenting skills for mothers and families involved in the child welfare system. Parenting-STAIR was delivered to 111 mothers receiving family preservation services in New York City. Of these, 70 completed treatment; statistical and clinically significant changes were observed for maternal PTSD and depression as well as in parenting stress, parenting skills, and child behaviors. These findings provide encouraging initial evidence for the feasibility and impact of this novel PTSD intervention. An evaluation of maltreatment recidivism is needed, as well as implementation of a randomized controlled trial to establish efficacy of the intervention.

Child maltreatment, parent-child relationship quality, and parental monitoring in relation to adolescent behavior problems: Disaggregating between and within person effects

BackgroundParent-child relationship quality (PCRQ) and parental monitoring (PM) are associated with adolescent behavior problems following child maltreatment (CM). Whether these associations are best characterized as between (trait) or within-person (state) differences is unknown. ObjectiveDisaggregate between and within-person effects for PCRQ and PM on adolescent behavior problems and test whether these effects vary as a function of prior CM. Participants and settingParticipants (n = 941) are from the Longitudinal Studies on Child Abuse and Neglect (LONGSCAN). MethodsMulti-level modeling was employed using PCRQ, PM, and adolescent behaviors assessed at ages 12, 14, and 16 and confirmed CM prior to age 12. ResultsAt the between-person level, adolescents with higher average levels of PCRQ and PM had significantly lower initial levels of externalizing (b = −9.47 and −5.54, respectively, p's < 0.05; possible range 0–66) and internalizing behaviors (b = −4.45 and −6.41, respectively, p's < 0.001; possible range 0–62). At the within-person level, greater declines in externalizing and internalizing behaviors were found when individuals reported higher-than-usual levels of PCRQ (b = −4.99 and −2.59, respectively, for externalizing and internalizing, p's < 0.001) and PM (b = −3.58 and −1.69, respectively, for externalizing and internalizing, p's < 0.001). There was an interaction between PM and CM on internalizing behaviors over time (b = −1.15, p = 0.026). ConclusionsThere are between and within-person effects of PCRQ and PM on adolescent behavior problems. Adolescents with CM histories and low levels of PM may be at risk for sustained internalizing behaviors.