Parent-child Relationship Quality Research Articles

How Parents Still Help Emerging Adults Get Their Homework Done: The Role of Self-Regulation as a Mediator in the Relation Between Parent–Child Relationship Quality and School Engagement

Although parents are increasingly involved in their college students’ academic lives, scholars have yet to investigate parents’ role in their college students’ school engagement. We hypothesized that college students’ self-regulation would mediate the relation between parent–child relationship quality and school engagement. For the 790 undergraduates who completed questionnaires online, self-regulation mediated the relation between mother–child relationship quality and school engagement for men, and an indirect effect was found for the relation between father–child relationship quality and school engagement by way of self-regulation. Therefore, parents continue to matter in promoting their college students’ academic success.

Parent–child relationships and offspring’s positive mental wellbeing from adolescence to early older age

We examined parent-child relationship quality and positive mental well-being using Medical Research Council National Survey of Health and Development data. Well-being was measured at ages 13–15 (teacher-rated happiness), 36 (life satisfaction), 43 (satisfaction with home and family life) and 60–64 years (Diener Satisfaction With Life scale and Warwick Edinburgh Mental Well-being scale). The Parental Bonding Instrument captured perceived care and control from the father and mother to age 16, recalled by study members at age 43. Greater well-being was seen for offspring with higher combined parental care and lower combined parental psychological control (p < 0.05 at all ages). Controlling for maternal care and paternal and maternal behavioural and psychological control, childhood social class, parental separation, mother’s neuroticism and study member’s personality, higher well-being was consistently related to paternal care. This suggests that both mother–child and father–child relationships may have short and long-term consequences for positive mental well-being.

Sharing information with children conceived using in vitro fertilisation: the effect of parents’ privacy orientation

Objective: To examine the moderating effect of parents’ approach to sharing information with children on the outcomes of information-sharing about in vitro fertilisation (IVF) conception. Background: Mental health professionals encourage parents to share information about IVF conception with their children, but limited research is available on associations among information-sharing, parent–child relationship quality and child adjustment. Predictions based on Communication Privacy Management Theory suggest that how parents share private information with children will moderate the association between sharing information about a child’s IVF conception and parent–child relationship quality and indirectly affect child adjustment. Method: Study hypotheses were tested using a sample of 175 families with 246 6- to 12-year-old children conceived using IVF. Path models hypothesised associations among information-sharing, parent privacy orientation, parent–child relationship satisfaction and child behavioural and emotional adjustment. Results: The results supported the proposed process. Among parents with an ‘open’ privacy orientation, IVF information-sharing with children positively related to parent–child relationship quality (r = .19, p = .03). This association was negative when parents had a ‘restricted’ privacy orientation (r = –.34, p = .01). In turn, relationship quality affected child adjustment. Conclusion: Children conceived using IVF report wanting to know about their conception method and infertility counsellors often recommend information-sharing. These findings support the need to better understand IVF information-sharing processes, and parents who favour a ‘restricted’ privacy orientation may require additional support to promote open communication with children about their IVF conception.

Integrating donor conception into identity: parent-child relationships and identity development in donor-conceived adolescents

This study explores the experiences of donor-conceived adolescents connecting to same-donor offspring (individuals conceived using the same donor), and whether the quality of parent-child relationships relates to how donor-conceived adolescents, informed of their genetic origins in early development, integrate donor conception into their sense of identity.

Parents' perception of children's fear: from FSSC-IT to FSSC-PP.

Studies involving parents' reports about children's fears and multiple informant comparisons are less extended than investigations on children's self-reporting fear schedules. Starting with the Italian version of FSSC-R, the FSSC-IT, the main aims of this study were to adapt a schedule for parents' perception of their children's fear: the FSSC-Parent Perception. Its psychometric properties were examined in a large sample of parents (N = 2970) of children aged 8–10 years. Exploratory and confirmatory factorial structures were examined and compared with the Italian children's ones. Mother vs. father, children's gender and school age group effects were analyzed. The confirmatory factor analysis confirmed a four correlated factors solution model (Fear of Danger and Death; Fear of Injury and Animals; Fear of Failure and Criticism; Fear of the unknown and Phobic aspects). Some effects related to child gender, age group, mother vs. father, were found. The FSSC-PP properties supported its use by parents to assess their children's fears. A qualitative analysis of the top 10 fears most endorsed by parents will be presented and compared with children's fears. Clinical implications about the quality of parent-child relationships where discussed, comparing mothers and fathers, and parents' perception about daughters' and sons' most endorsed fears.

Parents' Differential Treatment of Adolescent Siblings in African American Families.

Research on European and European American families suggests that parents' differential treatment of siblings has negative implications for youths' adjustment, but few studies have explored these dynamics in minority samples. This study examined parents' differential acceptance and conflict in a sample of mothers, fathers, and two adolescent siblings in 179 African American families who were interviewed on three annual occasions. In an effort to replicate findings from European and European American samples, we assessed the longitudinal associations between differential treatment and adolescent adjustment and tested three sibling characteristics (birth order, gender, and dyad gender composition) as potential moderators of these linkages. To illuminate the sociocultural context of differential treatment and its implications, we also explored parents' cultural socialization practices and experiences of financial stress as potential moderators of these links. Multilevel models revealed that, controlling for average parent-child relationship qualities, decreases in parental acceptance and increases in parent-youth conflict over time-relative to the sibling-were associated with increases in youths' risky behavior and depressive symptoms. Links between differential treatment and adjustment were not evident, however, when mothers engaged in high levels of cultural socialization and in families under high financial stress. The discussion highlights the significance of sociocultural factors in family dynamics.

Heterogeneity of Relational Backgrounds is Associated With Variation in Non-Suicidal Self-Injurious Behavior.

Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) is a self-destructive behavior of common prevalence in adolescence and young adulthood. Engagement in NSSI has been consistently linked in the literature with perceptions of one's parent-child relationships as negative or invalidating. However, the potential for multiple combinations of such relational characteristics to be associated with varying cognitive and behavioral manifestations of NSSI remains uninvestigated. In the current study, a person-centered approach to studying perceived parent-child relationship quality and NSSI was adopted; functions and behavioral severity of NSSI were then compared across the different relational profiles created. A latent profile analysis in a sample of 264 self-injuring university students (205 females; m(age) = 19.37 years, sd = 1.50) revealed four distinct profiles, two characterized by negative parent-child perceptions and two by positive parent-child perceptions. The perceived relational dimensions of these profiles were unique compared to a parallel group of 264 non-self-injurers (207 females; m(age) = 19.27 years, sd = 1.33). Participants reporting negative parent-child relationships endorsed more severe NSSI, and engaged in NSSI to regulate aggressive emotions. In contrast, individuals reporting positive parent-child relationships engaged in less extreme manifestations of NSSI overall, suggesting lower psychological deficits. Findings suggest that, although not all self-injurers perceive their relationships with parents negatively, variation in the perception of relational quality is implicated in behavioral and cognitive variation in NSSI engagement.

Parent–child relationships among older Chinese immigrants: the influence of co-residence, frequent contact, intergenerational support and sense of children's deference

ABSTRACTImmigration disrupts the bonding process in families. Maintaining close relationships with adult children can be an important protective factor for older immigrants' health and wellbeing. Quantitative research explaining such close relationships is rare. This study examined factors associated with close parent–child relationships in a purposive sample of 236 older Chinese immigrants in Los Angeles who provided information regarding 365 children. Two-level regression models were estimated to investigate factors contributing to cohesive parent–child relationships among these older adults. The findings showed that co-residence, a characteristic that distinguishes immigrant families from most non-immigrant families, was associated with lower parent–child relationship quality. Frequent contact was associated with closer relationships. While receiving instrumental and monetary support from children was associated with favourable ratings of relationships with children, providing such support to children was not related to parents' assessment of relationship quality. Parental perceptions of children being respectful was also associated with better relationship quality ratings. Overall, the findings demonstrate how family-related changes in the immigration context shape parent–child relationships in later life. Implications for future research and practice are provided.

Parent-Child Relationship Quality and Gender as Moderators of the Influence of Hurricane Exposure on Physical Health Among Children and Youth.

To investigate the long-term influence of disaster exposure, parent-child relationship quality (PCRQ), and gender on child and youth physical health. Parent-child dyads (N = 1,886) were randomly selected and interviewed approximately 18 months after Hurricane Georges hit Puerto Rico (1998), and reinterviewed 12 months later. The outcome variables were parent report of a global rating of children's physical health, and frequency of medical problems and medical visits in the past year. Conservative analyses that accounted for a host of postdisaster health-relevant factors showed that hurricane exposure exerted detrimental influence on physical health at both 18 and 30 months after the event. The moderating role of PCRQ in the relation between hurricane exposure and physical health varied by gender. Disasters have long-term potential to influence the physical health of children and adolescents. PCRQ serves as resource but its role in the context of disasters is complex.

Configurations of Adolescents' Peer Experiences: Associations With Parent-Child Relationship Quality and Parental Problem Behavior.

Adolescents' peer experiences embrace behavior, relationship quality, status, and victimization, but studies that account for multiple dimensions are rare. Using latent profile modeling and measures of peer behavior, relationship quality, peer status, and victimization assessed from 1,677 adolescents, four profiles were identified: High Quality, Low Quality, Low Quality Victimized, and Deviant Peers. Multinomial logistic regressions showed that negative parent-child relationships in preadolescence reduced the likelihood of High Quality peer relations in mid-adolescence but only partly differentiated between the other three profiles. Moderation by gender was partly found with girls showing greater sensitivity to parent-child relationship quality with respect to peer experiences. Results underline the multifaceted nature of peer experiences, and practical and theoretical implications are discussed.

Family‐of‐origin experience and emotional health as predictors of relationship self‐regulation in marriage

The purpose of this study was to understand differences in one's ability to implement relationship self‐regulation (RSR) in marriage based on the family‐of‐origin variables of parent–child relationship quality, parental marital satisfaction and current emotional health. The participants were 484 married couples who completed the relationship evaluation. Structural equation modelling was used to test a model that showed that the actor and partner's emotional health were associated with RSR in marriage, while most family‐of‐origin factors were not directly associated with RSR. However, the perceived mother–child relationship quality was associated with RSR for wives, but not husbands, when controlling for the other variables in the model. There were no significant relationships between father–child relationship quality or parental marital satisfaction and RSR. Implications for couple therapists and educators are discussed.Practitioner points Relationship self‐regulation (RSR) involves recognizing one's own positive and negative contribution to the relationship. Emotional health affects RSR and should be attended to in work with couples. Helping partners address emotional health issues may increase a couple's ability to collaboratively work on their relationship. Open expression of emotions and positive communication skills may decrease emotional health symptomology and increase the couples' use of RSR.

The Rewards of Caregiving for Communally Motivated Parents

Research on the provision of need-based care in communal relationships has focused exclusively on adult close relationships. For the first time, we extend communal theory to the parent–child relationship to understand how communally motivated parents feel when giving care to their children. In a cross-sectional study (N = 696), a 10-day experience sampling study (N = 118), and an experimental study (N = 367), we found that communally motivated parents felt more authentic than less communally motivated parents when providing care to their children; in turn, feeling more authentic was associated with greater emotional well-being, parent–child relationship quality, and responsiveness to a child’s needs. These effects could not be attributed to child-centrism, idealization of parenthood, care difficulty, children’s mood, or the specific caregiving behavior in which parents engaged. The findings of the current studies contribute to an emerging body of research on parenting and well-being by highlighting for whom parenting may be maximally rewarding and why.

Observed parent-child relationship quality predicts antibody response to vaccination in children.

Quality of the parent-child relationship is a robust predictor of behavioral and emotional health for children and adolescents; the application to physical health is less clear. We investigated the links between observed parent-child relationship quality in an interaction task and antibody response to meningococcal conjugate vaccine in a longitudinal study of 164 ambulatory 10-11 year-old children; additional analyses examine associations with cortisol reactivity, BMI, and somatic illness. Observed Negative/Conflict behavior in the interaction task predicted a less robust antibody response to meningococcal serotype C vaccine in the child over a 6 month-period, after controlling for socio-economic and other covariates. Observer rated interaction conflict also predicted increased cortisol reactivity following the interaction task and higher BMI, but these factors did not account for the link between relationship quality and antibody response. The results begin to document the degree to which a major source of child stress exposure, parent-child relationship conflict, is associated with altered immune system development in children, and may constitute an important public health consideration.

Decline in the Quality of Family Relationships Predicts Escalation in Children's Internalizing Symptoms from Middle to Late Childhood.

An integration of family systems perspectives with developmental psychopathology provides a framework for examining the complex interplay between family processes and developmental trajectories of child psychopathology over time. In a community sample of 98 families, we investigated the evolution of family relationships, across multiple subsystems of the family (i.e., interparental, mother-child, father-child), and the impact of these changing family dynamics on developmental trajectories of child internalizing symptoms over 6years, from preschool age to pre-adolescence. Parent-child relationship quality was observed during lengthy sessions, consisting of multiple naturalistic, carefully scripted contexts. Each parent completed reports about interparental relationship satisfaction and child internalizing symptoms. To the extent that mothers experienced a steeper decline in interparental relationship satisfaction over time, children developed internalizing symptoms at a faster rate. Further, symptoms escalated at a faster rate to the extent that negative mother-child relationship quality increased (more negative affect expressed by both mother and child, greater maternal power assertion) and positive mother-child relationship quality decreased (less positive affect expressed by both mother and child, less warmth and positive reciprocity). Time-lagged growth curve analyses established temporal precedence such that decline in family relationships preceded escalation in child internalizing symptoms. Results suggest that family dysfunction, across multiple subsystems, represents a driving force in the progression of child internalizing symptoms.

Concurrent parent–child relationship quality is associated with an imprinting-like effect in children's facial preferences

Humans have been shown to display phenomena resembling sexual imprinting, whereby adults are attracted to features in potential mates which resemble their opposite sex parent. In humans this may be particularly so when the parent–child relationship is positive, but there are currently limited data elucidating the causes of these patterns. Here we investigate whether such preferences can be documented in children on the cusp of puberty, for whom prospective data exist on parent–child relationships. Sixty 9-year-olds and their parents were recruited from a British longitudinal sample who have been studied since infancy. Parents were photographed, and children were then presented with stimuli in which a computer generated face was manipulated to appear more or less like the parent. Children also reported on their current relationship with each parent. Although attachment at 15months did not predict imprinting at 9years of age, children reporting a more accepting current relationship with their parents preferred parental features significantly more than those who reported a more rejecting relationship with their parents. These data support the suggestion that imprinting-like phenomena in humans may arise through associative learning.

Parent and family factors associated with service use by young people with mental health problems: a systematic review.

To conduct a systematic review of parent and family factors associated with service use for young people with mental health problems, to inform early intervention efforts aimed at increasing service use by young people. A systematic search of academic databases was performed. Articles were included in the review if they had: a sample of young people aged between 5 and 18 years; service use as the outcome measure; one or more parental or family variables as a predictor; and a comparison group of non-service using young people with mental health problems. In order to focus on factors additional to need, the mental health symptoms of the young person also had to be controlled for. Stouffer's method of combining P-values was used to draw conclusions as to whether or not associations between variables were reliable. Twenty-eight articles were identified investigating 15 parental or family factors, 7 of which were found to be associated with service use for a young person with mental health needs: parental burden, parent problem perception, parent perception of need, parent psychopathology, single-parent household, change in family structure and being from the dominant ethnic group for the United States specifically. Factors not found to be related to service use were: family history of service use, parent-child relationship quality, family functioning, number of children, parent education level, parent employment status, household income and non-urban location of residence. A number of family-related factors were identified that can inform effective interventions aimed at early intervention for mental health problems. Areas requiring further research were also identified.

Models of Attachment On the Web

Background Adolescents with a problematic use of the Web reported less satisfaction also in interpersonal relationships and poorer onces with their parents (Liu & Kou, 2007). Other studies have shown that attachment plays a role in the way in which the person interacts with others in the network (Buote et.al. 2009). Aim of the Study This study was focused on the psychological profile of a sample of young Facebook users and on the relationships between the time spent on the Web, symptoms detected by the SLC-90, the state of attachment (Ca-Mir), and the self perception of attachment to parents and friends. Methods 500 adolescents (F = 221, M = 214), aged between 13 and 18 years, were assessed by means of self rating questionnaires (BFAS Over-Bergen Facebook Addiction Scale, SPQ – Shorter Promis Questionnaire, MPIQ – Mobile Phone Involvement Questionnaire, UCLA – Loniless Scale, Self-Disclosure Online, IPPA – Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment, SCL-90 – Syntom Check List, Ca-mir). On two subjects was performed EEG recording, during exposure to stimuli related to Facebook and to the Web. Results A subgroup of young people were spending more time on the Web and were also reporting situations of mental and emotional vulnerability asociated with dysfunction in family relationships. Conclusions These results emerge from profiles of normality and risk, even multiples, which relate the quality of parent-child attachment relationship and the proper use of social networks and the Internet in general. Further investigations are needed to fully understand the brain dynamics behind these profiles.

Adolescent disclosure of information about peers: the mediating role of perceptions of parents' right to know.

Following the important insight that what parents know about their adolescent offspring depends primarily on what the child tells them, this study examines how attitudes about what parents have a right to know mediate the associations between several factors (quality of parent-child relationships, time spent with family and peers, levels of antisocial and prosocial behaviors, and gender and age) and adolescents' disclosures about peer relations. In two studies of early and middle adolescents (Ns=231, 249; M ages=14.5, 13.0; 62.3, 51.8% female; 53.7, 67.5% European American), a new measure of right-to-know attitudes is derived and then applied to four facets of adolescents' experiences with peers: details of activities with peers, issues in specific relationships, and positive and negative peer characteristics. The findings indicate that adolescents are more inclined to disclose certain aspects of their peer relations than others, but these inclinations are related to several factors-especially the quality of mother-child relationships and involvement in antisocial behavior-and mediated by adolescents' attitudes regarding what parents have a right to know about peers. The results are related to autonomy development and parental oversight of adolescent peer interactions.

The impact of family intactness on family functioning, parental control, and parent-child relational qualities in a chinese context.

The current study investigated the differences between intact and non-intact families in family processes, including systematic family functioning, parental behavioral control, parental psychological control, and parent–child relational qualities. The participants were 3,328 Secondary One students, with a mean age of 12.59 years, recruited from 28 secondary schools in Hong Kong. Four validated scales were used to assess family processes. Results showed that adolescents in non-intact families perceived relatively poorer family functioning, lower level of paternal and maternal behavioral control, lower level of paternal psychological control, and poorer parent–child relational qualities than did adolescents in intact families. This generally indicated that family processes were poorer in non-intact families, compared with those in intact families. The theoretical and practical implications of the findings were discussed.

Influence of Family and School-Level Factors on Age of Sexual Initiation

PurposeThis study examined the association of individual, family, and school-level characteristics with age of sexual initiation (ASI) and focused specifically on school context as a moderator of known predictors of ASI. MethodsData are from Waves I and IV of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (N = 10,596). Predictors include grade point average, physical development, attitudes about sex, likelihood of higher education, alcohol use, delinquency, family structure, parents' education level, childhood abuse, maternal approval of sex, parental monitoring, and parent–child relationship quality. School-level predictors are averages of adolescents' attitudes about sex and likelihood of higher education and parents' education. Hierarchical linear models run separately by sex were used to predict ASI. ResultsWhen school-level attitudes about sex are more favorable, both boys and girls report younger ASI, and school mean parental education attainment moderates the influence of individual adolescents' attitudes about sex on ASI. More of the predictors are significant for girls than boys, whereas perception of maternal and peer approval of sexual activity are the most salient predictors of younger ASI for boys. ConclusionsResults highlight the importance of school context for understanding adolescents' motivations for early ASI. Findings support the need for school-wide prevention interventions that engage adolescents, peers, and parents in addressing attitudes about early sex.