Parent-child Relationship Quality Research Articles

The Predictive Role of Parents’ Integrative Mindfulness and Self- Knowledge in Adolescents’ Emotion Regulation Patterns

Background: One of the main challenges for parents during puberty is to tackle emotional problems in their teenagers, which may threaten their current and future health and affect the quality of parent-child relationships. Integrated parental self-awareness was assessed on the emotional regulation patterns of adolescents aged 13 to 15 years. This study was conducted to investigate the predictive role of parental awareness and self-awareness in emotion regulation patterns of 13 to 15 year olds. Methods: The research design was descriptive-correlational. The statistical population was 13 to 15-year-old adolescents of Parsian city and their mothers, 140 of whom were selected using appropriate random sampling method in years 2019-2020. The data were collected utilizing the Emotional Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ), the Mind/Conscious Mind Scale (MMS) and the Integrated Self-Knowledge Scale (ISK). Pearson correlation coefficient and stepwise regression were employed to analyze the data. Results: The obtained results revealed a significant inverse relationship between integrated self-cognition and cognitive repression (P<0.002, r=0.46) and mindfulness with cognitive repression (P≤0.004, r=-0.32). There was a direct and significant relationship between knowledge with cognitive reassessment assessment (P≤0.001, r=0.45) and integrated self-knowledge with cognitive reassessment (P≤0.004, r=0.37) at a confidence level of 0.95. Moreover, the results of linear regression to predict emotion regulation patterns in adolescents showed that the coherent variable of self-awareness with a coefficient of explanation of 0.43 and the variable of consciousness with a coefficient of explanation of 0.35 could predict cognitive emotion. Conclusions: Parents, family, and child counselors could make use of parental awareness and self-knowledge education and increase the mental health components of mothers as a way to prevent and reduce adolescents’ emotional problems.

Socio-Ecological Predictors of Resilience Development Over Time Among Youth With a History of Maltreatment

While there is a growing body of research examining resilient development in adolescents with a history of maltreatment, it remains unclear whether youth resilient functioning changes over time and what factors predict such change. The current study aimed to identify the socio-ecological predictors of the change in resilient functioning over time among adolescents with a history of maltreatment. Multinomial logistic regression analyses were conducted with a sample of 771 adolescents drawn from the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being (NSCAW-II). Over 18 months, 23.2% of the adolescents remained in the less resilience group, 45.4% stayed in the greater resilience group, 17.4% moved from the greater resilience group to the less resilience group, and 14.0% moved from the less resilience group to the greater resilience group. Younger age, better parent-child relationship quality, and neighborhood safety were associated with stable and continued resilient functioning over time. Conversely, child physical abuse, affiliation with deviant peers, and receipt of behavioral services were negatively associated with continued resilience. Our findings suggest that interventions that support adolescents in building positive relationships with their parents and peers may prevent a loss of resilience over time and ensure continued resilient functioning in child welfare-involved adolescents.

Experiences of adolescents and their guardians with a school-based combined individual and dyadic intervention

ABSTRACT The quality of parent-child relationships during adolescence has the potential to impact adolescents' mental health. This study explored how seven dyads (parent-child) might experience a two-component intervention (Method of Levels therapy-MOL and a parent-child activity) over four months. Following this, six dyads were interviewed and a thematic analysis was conducted. The most helpful aspect of the intervention for participants was the opportunity to talk. The intervention facilitated helpful conversations that increased participants' awareness and broadened their perspective on the topics discussed. This process helped participants find solutions to their problems. Young people and parents reported that the Shared Goals activity helped them improve their communication and relationships. Young people stated that MOL allowed them to figure things out for themselves.

Dispositional mindfulness is cross-sectionally predicted by interactions between interparental conflict and parent-child relationships

Theory emphasizes the importance of the family environment for the development of dispositional mindfulness, but past research has focused exclusively on parent-child attachment relationships as family-level predictors of mindfulness. Our goal was to examine unique and joint associations of both interparental conflict and parent-child relationship quality with dispositional mindfulness. Participants were 150 youth (14–21 yrs) who reported the warmth and support in their relationships with mothers and fathers separately, as well as their appraisals of the properties of their parents' conflict, how threatening that conflict is, and how responsible for it they feel, in addition to dispositional mindfulness. Results indicated consistent interactions between conflict properties and mother-child relationship quality in relation to dispositional mindfulness. Dispositional mindfulness was lowest for youth who reported low levels of frequent/intense interparental conflict and poor-quality relationships with mothers. In contrast, either self-blame/threat or poor-quality relationships with mothers predicted lower levels of dispositional mindfulness. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.

Confía en mí, Confío en ti: Applying developmental theory to mitigate sociocultural risk in Latinx families.

Ed Zigler was a champion for underprivileged youth, one who worked alongside communities to fight for long-lasting systemic changes that were informed by his lifespan and ecological perspective on the development of the whole child. This paper reports on the development, implementation, and preliminary outcomes of an intervention that embodied the Zigler approach by adopting a community participatory research lens to integrate complementary insights across community-based providers (promotoras), Latinx immigrant families, and developmental psychologists in the service of promoting parent-child relationship quality and preventing youth aggression and violence. Analyses from the first 112 Latinx mother-youth dyad participants (46% female children, ages 8-17) in the resultant, Confía en mí, Confío en ti, eight-week intervention revealed significant pre-post increases in purported mechanisms of change (i.e., attachment security, reflective functioning) and early intervention outcomes (i.e., depressive, anxiety, and externalizing problems). Treatment responses varied by youth age. A case analysis illustrated the lived experiences of the women and children served by this intervention. We discuss future directions for the program, as well as challenges to its sustainability. Finally, we consider Ed's legacy as we discuss the contributions of this work to developmental science and our understanding of attachment relationships among low-income immigrant Latinx families.

Parent-Child Relationship Quality as a Mediator of the Association between Perceived Stress and Diabetes Self-Management in Adolescents With Type 1 Diabetes.

Diabetes self-management is suboptimal in adolescents with type 1 diabetes (T1D), including those in China. The aim of the study was to investigate the impact of parent-child relationship quality on diabetes self-management. Data were collected by a self-report survey among 122 Chinese adolescents from April to July 2017. The data were analyzed using a one-way analysis of variance, descriptive analyses, correlation analyses, and mediation analyses. The mean age was 13.8 (range, 10-18) years, and the mean diabetes duration was 4.1 (±3.1) years. About half of the adolescents with T1D experienced high levels of perceived stress. Parent-child relationship quality mediated the associations between perceived stress and collaboration with parents, diabetes care activities, and diabetes communication on aspects of diabetes self-management (ps < 0.05). To reduce the negative impacts of perceived stress on diabetes self-management in this population, parent-child relationship quality should be considered an important element of family-based interventions and clinical practice.

Subjective well-being among male veterans in later life: the enduring effects of early life adversity

Objectives This study investigated the association between childhood and young adult adversities and later-life subjective well-being among older male veterans. We also explored whether early-life parent–child relationships and later-life social engagement served as moderators and mediators, respectively. Methods Data were from the 2008 to 2012 waves of the Health and Retirement Study for male veterans (N = 2026). Subjective well-being measures included depressive symptoms, self-rated health, and life satisfaction. Linear regression with the Process macro was employed to estimate the relationships. Results Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) were positively associated with number of depressive symptoms and negatively related to life satisfaction. Combat exposure, a young adulthood adversity experience, was positively associated with depressive symptoms, but not with self-rated health or life satisfaction. Later-life social engagement mediated the relationship between ACEs and subjective well-being indices. Parent–child relationship quality did not moderate the association between the measures of adversity and any measure of subjective well-being. Discussion Childhood adversity and combat exposure were related to worse later life subjective well-being. Also, later-life social engagement mediated the association of two early life adversity measures and subjective well-being. Future research should examine subjective well-being and early life adversity for female veterans and should employ more detailed information about combat exposure.

A qualitative investigation of consumer experiences of the child directed interaction phase of parent–child interaction therapy with toddlers

BackgroundParent–child interaction therapy with toddlers (PCIT‐T) is an adaptation of standard PCIT, developed to treat young children (12–24-months) with disruptive behaviours. The aim of this study was to gather preliminary qualitative data to gauge parental perceptions about the program.MethodsSemi‐structured interviews were conducted with five parents who received the first phase of the program, ‘child directed interaction‐Toddler’ (CDI‐T) at a community based child behaviour treatment clinic. Interview transcripts were analysed thematically.ResultsParticipants were initially motivated to seek treatment because of concerns about and difficulties managing child behaviour. All participants reported a range of positive gains as a result of CDI‐T including new parenting strategies, improved parental confidence and improved parent–child relationship quality. Live coaching from behind the one‐way mirror, the relationship with the therapist and the home‐based practice of skills between sessions were identified as important treatment components. Many participants spoke, however, about the difficulties they experienced with continuing to implement the home practice after program completion.ConclusionsResults suggest that CDI‐T is perceived positively by consumers, and highlight a number of key program components.

Interparental Hostility Interacts with Interparental Cooperative Conflict to Predict Adolescent Social Competence Through Parent-Child Relationship Quality.

An emerging (yet still scant) body of research has linked interparental hostility to youth compromised social competence over time among adolescents. Moreover, little is known about the conditions under which and the processes through which this association might occur. Using prospective data from 878 youth (50.23% females) and their parents and teachers, this study examined how interparental hostility and cooperative conflict might work in conjunction with each other to predict youth social competence over time via parent-child relationship quality. Results demonstrated that interparental cooperative conflict at grade 5 buffered the negative association between interparental hostility at grade 5 and mother-child but not father-child relationship quality at grade 6. Mother-child relationship quality, in turn, was associated positively with youth social competence at age 15. As such, interparental hostility at grade 5 was negatively related to youth social competence at age 15 via mother-child relationship quality at grade 6 only when interparental cooperative conflict at grade 5 was low. This study represents a more nuanced and specific examination of the implications of interparental hostility for child later social development by highlighting underlying moderating and mediating mechanisms. Relevant implications for the development of more targeted and effective interventions are also discussed.

Social Relationships in Early Life and Episodic Memory in Mid- and Late Life.

This study examines the longitudinal relationships between retrospective reports of early-life social relationships (i.e., having good friends, parent-child relationship quality, and childhood neighborhood social cohesion) and episodic memory in China. We analyzed 2 waves of data (2011 and 2015) from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study. The analytical sample included 9,285 respondents aged 45 and older at baseline. A lagged dependent variable approach was used to estimate the associations between measures of early-life social relationships and episodic memory change at the study's 4-year follow-up. Retrospective reports of better early-life social relationships are significantly associated with higher levels of episodic memory performance in 2015 among middle-aged and older Chinese, controlling for episodic memory in 2011, childhood socioeconomic status, adulthood sociodemographic variables, and the history of stroke. Educational attainment accounts for a significant portion of the associations between early-life social relationships and episodic memory. In contrast, mental health and social engagement in adulthood account for a small part of these associations. The findings suggest that positive early-life social relationships are beneficial for episodic memory in mid- and late life, and more research is needed to examine the underlying mechanisms.

Self-control in early childhood: Individual differences in sensitivity to early parenting.

This study extends existing research on the role of infant temperament as a moderator of the association between the quality of parent-child relationships and children's self-control during the pre-school years. In particular, we focus on the potential moderating role of a dimension of early infant temperament known as behavioral inhibition. Assumptions formulated within the diathesis-stress, the vantage-sensitivity, and the differential susceptibility models of individual differences in environmental sensitivity are tested. Data are from the Millennium Cohort Study, a nationally representative birth cohort of 18,552 infants born in the United Kingdom during 2000/01. The results show that the quality of both mother-child and father-child relationships are associated with children's development of self-control in early childhood. Additionally, individual differences in infant temperament moderate the association between mother-child conflict and children's development of self-control. Specifically, high behavioral inhibition shows a vantage-sensitivity pattern for mother-child conflict. Aspects of both mothers' and fathers' relationships with their young children independently predict variations in self-control. This study also provides an initial indication that behavioral inhibition, a temperamental trait best-known for being a risk factor for anxiety, may provide small benefits in relation to young children's self-control development.

Parent-child relationship quality and emotional adjustment among college students: The role of parental financial support

Many emerging adults experience increases in well-being as they exit adolescence, but college students are at particular risk for emotional adjustment problems, including depression and anxiety. Although receiving financial support from parents may reduce stress and aid emotional adjustment, not all parents are able to provide financial support. Maintaining high-quality relationships with parents may be particularly important for emotional adjustment in these instances. The present study examined whether the quality of parent-emerging adult relationships differed depending on level of parental financial support, and whether parental financial support moderated associations between relationship quality and emotional adjustment. Participants were 260 college students who completed questionnaires during their first and fourth year of college about the quality of their relationships with mothers and fathers, depressive and anxiety symptoms, and parental financial support. On average, parent-child relationships were high-quality, especially when parents provided more financial support. Furthermore, high-quality relationships with parents were related to fewer depressive and anxiety symptoms 3 years later for female students, especially when they received less financial support. However, high-quality relationships along with greater financial support was related to increased anxiety among male students. Results may help colleges and universities developing parent programming understand the nuanced implications of parental support for student mental health.

Adult Children's Daily Experiences With Parental Advice: The Importance of Life Problems and Relationship Quality.

Parents often provide advice to their adult children during their everyday interactions. This study investigated young adult children's daily experiences with parental advice in U.S. families. Specifically, the study examined how receiving advice and evaluations of parental advice were associated with children's life problems, parent-child relationship quality, and daily mood. Young adult children (aged 18-30 years; participant N = 152) reported whether they received any advice and perceived any unwanted advice from each parent (parent N = 235) for 7 days using a daily diary design (participant-day N = 948). Adult children also reported their positive and negative mood on each interview day. Results from multilevel models revealed that adult children who reported a more positive relationship with their parents were more likely to receive advice from the parent, whereas adult children who had a more strained relationship with their parents were more likely to perceive advice from the parent as unwanted. Receiving advice from the mother was associated with increased positive mood, whereas unwanted advice from any parent was associated with increased negative mood. Furthermore, the link between unwanted advice and negative mood varied by children's life problems and parent-child relationship quality. Indeed, parental advice is not "the more the better," especially when the advice is unsolicited. This study highlights the importance of perceptions of family support for emerging adults' well-being.

Connecting Youth: The Role of Mentoring Approach.

While formal youth mentoring can positively influence youth connectedness, little research has studied the specific approaches mentors engage in that support mentee social development. This study examines how mentors' specific approaches are uniquely associated with youth connection outcomes in formal community-based mentoring. Participants were 766 youth, ranging in age from 11 to 14 (M = 12.29), 56.7% female, and racially/ethnically diverse (41.0% Black/African American, 21.4% Hispanic/Latinx, 20.0% White, 10.2% Multiracial/Multiethnic, 5.9% Native American, 1.2% other race, and 0.4% Asian/Pacific Islander). Person-centered analyses revealed three mentoring profiles which were differentially associated with youth outcomes: "Status Quo Mentors," who reported low-to-moderate levels of closeness within the mentor-mentee dyad, low levels of connecting their mentees with programs and people in their community, and low levels of mediating for their mentees; "Close Connectors," who reported moderate-to-high levels of closeness, moderate-to-high levels of connecting, and low levels of mediating; and "Connector-Mediators," who reported moderate levels of closeness, connecting, and mediating. Youth mentored by "Close Connectors" demonstrated the greatest benefit, with significant improvements in parent-child relationship quality, extracurricular activity involvement, and help-seeking. Results suggest that community-based mentoring programs that emphasize connecting youth within their communities may be more effective in enhancing youth support networks.

Childhood correlates of adult positive mental well-being in three British longitudinal studies

BackgroundPrevious evidence has shown how experiences within childhood, such as parenting and socioeconomic conditions, are associated later on in life with adult mental well-being. However, these studies tend to focus...

Motivation to leave home during the transition to emerging adulthood among Turkish adolescents

ABSTRACT Although the age of leaving home has increased during the past few decades, senior year in high school remains a significant period during which many adolescents consider moving out, especially to attend university. However, the role of personal, practical and familial factors on adolescents’ motivation to leave home prior to the actual transition are still unknown. The current study investigated adolescents’ motivation to leave home while they still lived with their parents and its association with adolescent-reported personal and practical circumstances, and parent–child relationship quality. Participants were 558 Turkish senior high school students (62% female), all living with their parents in Istanbul, Turkey. Results showed that just above one third of the adolescents (38%) wanted to leave home after high school. Boys, adolescents from high SES and nonintact families were more likely to be motivated to leave home. Satisfaction with living situation, parental support for home-leaving, and importance of practical and personal circumstances influenced adolescents’ motivation to leave home. The adolescent-mother relationship was differently related to adolescents’ motivation compared to the adolescent-father relationship. Conflict with both parents, but only fathers’ warmth was associated with motivation to leave home above and beyond all practical and personal circumstances.

Parents' relationship maintenance as a buffer for the stress of their adolescent's type 1 diabetes.

Having an adolescent with Type 1 diabetes (T1D) can be stressful for the entire family. This study examined the impact of parents' relationship maintenance on their ability to manage the conflict associated with their child's T1D, the parents' physiological health (inflammation), and the relationships within the family. Sixty couples and their adolescent children with T1D participated. The couples engaged in a stressful conversation about their child's T1D in their home, followed by random assignment to a 2-week intervention designed to increase the relationship maintenance in the marriage. Results from the home visit revealed that when husbands and wives received greater maintenance from each other the past month, they perceived less conflict when talking about their adolescent's T1D, which was associated with less relational load and lower levels of C-reactive protein (CRP). For wives, greater relationship maintenance was also directly associated with less relational load and lower CRP levels. In addition, the relationship maintenance received was directly and positively associated with parent-child relationship quality for fathers, but this association was mediated by interparental conflict for mothers. Finally, the 2-week intervention reduced parents' relational load and the number of stressful conversations and improved the mother-adolescent relationship but did not significantly reduce parents' CRP. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

PARENT-CHILD RELATIONSHIP QUALITY AND CHILD PSYCHOLOGICAL ADJUSTMENT IN EGG DONATION FAMILIES: CHILDREN’S PERSPECTIVES AT AGE 5

The first phase of this longitudinal study indicated that subtle differences may exist in mother-infant relationship quality between egg donation and IVF families, with egg donation mothers and infants showing less optimal relationship quality. The current study examined parent-child relationship quality and child psychological adjustment from the child’s perspective in early childhood.

Daddy, Mommy, and Money: The Association Between Parental Materialism on Parent–Child Relationship Quality

This study examined the longitudinal relationships among materialism, parent–child relationship quality, and psychological control for fathers and mothers. Data came from 254 heterosexual couples participating in the Flourishing Families Project, a 10-year longitudinal study of inner family life. We found that the association of parents’ materialism at T1 and parent–child relationship at T2 differed by gender. In harmony with our hypothesis, fathers’ materialism at T1 significantly predicted a decrease in father–child relationship quality at T2. Contrary to our hypothesis, mothers’ materialism at T1 was not significantly associated with mother–child relationship quality at T2. Parental psychological control was negatively related to both father–child and motherchild relationship quality but did not serve as a moderator in the relationship between materialism and parent–child relationships. That materialism appears to be detrimental to father–child relationship quality but not detract from mother–child relationship quality is thought provoking. We propose several possible explanations for these disparate findings, including a possible link between materialism and empowerment for women (but not men), and that materialism for women (but not men) may be associated with goods purchased for the benefit of the family rather than the individual. We provide suggestions for future research based on these findings.

Parent-child Relationships and Sexual Minority Youth: Implications for Adult Alcohol Abuse.

Sexual minority (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and same-sex attracted) youth and adults report elevated rates of alcohol use and abuse relative to their heterosexual peers; these differences are strongest for sexual minority girls and women. Although preliminary evidence suggests that unsupportive parenting and maladaptive parent-child relationship qualities are associated with concurrent substance use among sexual minority youth, questions remain about the long-term implications of these early familial experiences on drinking behaviors among sexual minority youth and adults. Nationally-representative prospective data (n = 14,800; 53.1% female; Wave 1 Mean age = 15.61; Wave 4 Mean age = 28.51) were used to test the longitudinal association between parent-child relationships and parental autonomy granting between the ages of 13-18, and sexual-orientation-related disparities in alcohol abuse during adulthood. The findings showed that adolescent same-sex attraction was associated with alcohol abuse during adulthood for sexual minority women and that deficits in parent-child relationship quality statistically mediated this association. No sexual orientation differences in alcohol abuse were found among men. The findings suggest that the quality of relationships with parents in early adolescence has long-lasting impact on sexual minority women's vulnerability for alcohol abuse. Early interventions that bolster supportive parent-child relationship qualities may have enduring consequences for sexual minority women's alcohol use across the life course.