Reciprocal relations between parenting and adjustment in a sample of juvenile offenders

The over-time reciprocal links between parenting and adolescent adjustment were examined in a sample of 1,354 serious adolescent offenders followed for 3 years (16 years of age at baseline, SD = 1.14). Parallel processing growth curve models provided independent estimates of the impact of parenting on adolescent functioning as well as the impact of adolescent functioning on parenting. Positive adolescent development was facilitated by high parental warmth and low parental hostility. Parental monitoring predicted less problematic behavior, but less positive functioning as well. Predictably, parents became warmer and less hostile in response to positive adolescent development, and less warm in response to problematic adolescent functioning. Parental monitoring declined when adolescents exhibited either positive or problematic functioning.     

The peer group as a context: moderating effects on relations between maternal parenting and social and school adjustment in chinese children

This 2-year longitudinal study examined, in a sample of Chinese children (initial M age = 11 years), the moderating effects of the peer group on relations between maternal supportive parenting and social and school adjustment. Data were collected from multiple sources including peer assessments, teacher ratings, school records, and maternal reports. It was found that whereas group prosocial-cooperative functioning strengthened the role of supportive parenting in helping children develop social and school competence, group antisocial-destructive functioning undermined the contributions of supportive parenting to children's social and academic achievement. The results indicated the significance of the peer group as a social context for socialization and development in Chinese children.     

Marriage, adult adjustment, and early parenting

The impact of parents' marriages, measured prenatally, on their parenting of firstborn, 3-month-old infants was assessed. Though the association between marriage and parenting was the focus, adult psychological adjustment was measured also to rule out the alternative hypothesis that psychological adjustment relates to both marital quality and parenting quality and accounts for any association between them. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses in which parental adjustment was entered first as a covariate were used to test the relation between close/confiding marriages and parenting of 3-month-old infants. From the findings, it was concluded that even when differences in individual psychological adjustment are taken into account, mothers are warmer and more sensitive with their infants and fathers hold more positive attitudes toward their infants and their roles as parents when they are in close/confiding marriages. It is asserted that qualities of marriage play an important part in the development of parent-child relationships.     

Maternal parenting and children's conscience: early security as moderator

Socialization research is shifting from direct links between parenting and children's outcomes toward models that consider parenting in the context of other factors. This study proposed that the effects of maternal responsive, gentle parenting on child conscience are moderated by the quality of their relationship, specifically, early security. A 2-process model of early conscience development was proposed and confirmed in this longitudinal study. The child's security and trust in the caregiver, assessed at 14 months in the Strange Situation, rendered him or her receptive and eager to accept the caregiver's socialization agenda. That early security then enhanced the effectiveness of parental adaptive parenting style, observed from 14 to 45 months, in terms of promoting conscience at 56 months, which encompassed moral conduct, moral cognition, and moral self.     

The relations of effortful control and impulsivity to children's resiliency and adjustment

The unique relations of effortful control and impulsivity to resiliency and adjustment were examined when children were 4.5 to 8 years old, and 2 years later. Parents and teachers reported on all constructs and children's attentional persistence was observed. In concurrent structural equation models, effortful control and impulsivity uniquely and directly predicted resiliency and externalizing problems and indirectly predicted internalizing problems (through resiliency). Teacher-reported anger moderated the relations of effortful control and impulsivity to externalizing problems. In the longitudinal model, all relations held at T2 except for the path from impulsivity to externalizing problems. Evidence of bidirectional effects also was obtained. The results indicate that effortful control and impulsivity are distinct constructs with some unique prediction of resiliency and adjustment.     

Friendship moderates prospective associations between social isolation and adjustment problems in young children

This longitudinal study investigated prospective links between social isolation and adjustment problems among 166 (77 girls, 89 boys) Finnish children ages 7 to 9. Peer nominations for social engagement and self-reports of internalizing and externalizing problems were collected in the spring of the 1st and 2nd grade. Friendship moderated prospective associations between peer and adjustment variables. Among friended children, there were no prospective associations between social isolation and either internalizing or externalizing problems. Among unfriended children, initial social isolation was positively linked to subsequent increases in internalizing and externalizing problems, and initial internalizing and externalizing problems predicted subsequent increases in social isolation. The findings suggest that friendship buffers against the adverse consequences associated with being isolated and presenting adjustment difficulties.     

The relations among child negative interactive behavior,child temperament,and maternal behavior

Negative behavior toward the mother during toddlerhood might be a marker of increased risk for maladjustment. The aim of the present study was to examine the possible antecedents of toddler boys’ negative behavior observed in interaction with the mother: child temperament, and maternal behavior toward the child. We studied the moderating and mediating role of two dimensions of maternal behavior, sensitivity and intrusiveness, in the relationship between children's temperamental traits (frustration, soothability and activity level), on the one hand, and child negative behavior, on the other hand. The sample consisted of 112 mother–son dyads observed when the child was 17 months old. A temperament questionnaire was completed by the mothers. Child negative interactive behavior, maternal sensitivity and intrusiveness were observed at home during a 13-min play session. Maternal sensitivity was negatively related to child negative interactive behavior regardless of child temperament. Maternal intrusiveness, however, moderated the relation between activity level and negative behavior, i.e., children with high activity level showed higher levels of negative behavior especially when the mother was highly intrusive. Furthermore, maternal intrusiveness acted as a mediator in the relation between soothability and negative behavior, i.e., low soothability was linked to higher maternal intrusiveness, which in turn was associated with higher negative behavior.     

The relations of parenting,effortful control,and ego control to children's emotional expressivity

The relations of observed parental warmth and positive expressivity and children's effortful control and ego control with children's high versus low emotional expressivity were examined in a 2-wave study of 180 children (M age = 112.8 months). There were quadratic relations between adults' reports of children's emotional expressivity and effortful control; moderate expressivity was associated with high effortful control. Structural equation models supported the hypothesis that children's ego overcontrol (versus undercontrol) mediated the relation between parental warmth or positive expressivity and children's emotional expressivity, although parenting at the follow-up did not uniquely predict in children's expressivity after controlling for the relations in these constructs over time. The alternative hypothesis that children's ego overcontrol elicited positive parenting and expressivity also was supported.     

Goal self-concordance moderates the relationship between achievement goals and indicators of academic adjustment

This study examined whether the good or bad outcomes associated with mastery- and performance-approach achievement goals depend on the extent to which these goals are pursued for self-concordant reasons. A sample of 220 undergraduate students completed measures of achievement goals, goal self-concordance, academic satisfaction, and academic anxiety before mid-term exams. A total of 115 participants completed a follow-up measure of their semester GPA. Results of moderated regressions revealed that mastery-approach goals were positively associated with academic satisfaction and performance, but only for students with high levels of mastery goal self-concordance. Performance-approach goals were also associated with higher performance, but only for students with high levels of performance goal self-concordance. Both types of goals were positively associated with anxiety for individuals with low levels of goal self-concordance. This study illustrates the importance of considering the joint influence of goal content and goal motivation in their association with consequential educational outcomes.     

Relations of parenting and temperament to Chinese children's experience of negative life events, coping efficacy, and externalizing problems

The relations of parenting and temperament (effortful control and anger/frustration) to children's externalizing problems were examined in a 3.8-year longitudinal study of 425 native Chinese children (6–9 years) from Beijing. Children's experience of negative life events and coping efficacy were examined as mediators in the parenting- and temperament-externalizing relations. Parents reported on their own parenting. Parents and teachers rated temperament. Children reported on negative life events and coping efficacy. Parents, teachers, children, or peers rated children's externalizing problems. Authoritative and authoritarian parenting and anger/frustration uniquely predicted externalizing problems. The relation between authoritarian parenting and externalizing was mediated by children's coping efficacy and negative school events. The results suggest there is some cross-cultural universality in the developmental pathways for externalizing problems.     

The relations among young children's peer-reported trustworthiness, inhibitory control, and preschool adjustment

Sixty-five (38 male and 27 female) preschool children (mean age = 5 years 1 month) completed measures of peers’ trustworthiness (promise keeping and secret keeping). Teachers rated the preschool children's inhibitory control, trustworthiness, and preschool adjustment. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) yielded support for the hypothesized model. The expected positive paths were found from (1) gender to preschool adjustment and inhibitory control, (2) age to peer-reported trustworthiness, (3) peer-reported trustworthiness to preschool adjustment, (4) inhibitory control to peer-reported trustworthiness, and (5) inhibitory control to preschool adjustment. The findings confirmed the hypothesized development of trustworthiness with age and girls’ advantage over boys in inhibitory control and preschool adjustment. The findings supported the hypotheses that trustworthiness is associated with preschool adjustment and mediates, in part, the relation between inhibitory control and preschool adjustment.     

Infant temperament and subject loss in a habituation procedure

It has been assumed that subject loss in habituation procedures is most likely due to random factors such as the behavioral state of the infant during testing. This study explored the possibility that infant temperament might contribute to subject loss. 114 infants at 3 age levels (11, 18, and 28 weeks) were rated by their mothers on a temperament questionnaire and then subjected to a habituation procedure. Analyses showed that female infants who were unable to complete the habituation task were reported as being more fussy and unadaptable. Female infants were less likely to complete at least part of the procedure than were male infants. The results suggest that subject loss in habituation studies may be the result of nonrandom individual difference factors and not just the result of temporary fluctuations in state.     

Exposure to childhood sexual and physical abuse and adjustment in early adulthood

OBJECTIVE: This research examined linkages between exposure to childhood sexual abuse (CSA) and childhood physical punishment/abuse (CPA) and mental health issues in early adulthood. METHOD: The investigation analyzed data from a birth cohort of over 1,000 New Zealand young adults studied to the age of 25. RESULTS: Exposure to CSA and CPA was associated with increased risks of later mental disorders including depression, anxiety disorder, conduct/anti-social personality disorder, substance dependence, suicidal ideation, and suicide attempts at ages 16-25. Control for social, family, and individual factors reduced the associations between CPA and mental health outcomes to the point of statistical non-significance. However, there was a consistent finding for CSA to remain associated with increased risks of later mental health problems. After adjustment, those exposed to CSA including attempted or completed sexual penetration had rates of disorder that were 2.4 times higher than those not exposed to CSA. Those exposed to harsh or abusive physical punishment had rates of disorder that were 1.5 times higher than those exposed to no or occasional physical punishment. It was estimated that exposure to CSA accounted for approximately 13% of the mental health problems experienced by the cohort. Findings showed that exposure to CPA had only weak effects on later mental health. It was estimated that exposure to CPA accounted for approximately 5% of the mental health problems experienced by the cohort. CONCLUSIONS: Exposure to CSA was associated with consistent increases in risks of later mental health problems. Exposure to CPA had weaker and less consistent effects on later mental health. These findings suggest that much of the association between CPA and later mental health reflects the general family context in which CPA occurs, whereas this is less the case for CSA.     

Poverty,family resources and children's early educational attainment: The mediating role of parenting

This study uses longitudinal data from the UK Millennium Cohort Study to show the extent to which episodic and more persistent poverty in early childhood and the lack of other family resources disadvantage children at the start of their school careers in terms of whether they have achieved the target indicator of ‘good level of achievement’ on the Foundation Stage Profile. Positive parenting is shown to be an important contributor to school achievement that matters for children, regardless of poverty experience or family disadvantage. It is also shown to be an important mediator in redressing the effects of poverty and disadvantage.     

Family resources and parenting quality: links to children's cognitive development across the first 3 years

Reciprocal associations among measures of family resources, parenting quality, and child cognitive performance were investigated in an ethnically diverse, low-income sample of 2,089 children and families. Family resources and parenting quality uniquely contributed to children's cognitive performance at 14, 24, and 36 months, and parenting quality mediated the effects of family resources on children's performance at all ages. Parenting quality continued to relate to children's cognitive performance at 24 and 36 months after controlling for earlier measures of parenting quality, family resources, and child performance. Similarly, children's early cognitive performance related to later parenting quality above other measures in the model. Findings merge economic and developmental theories by highlighting reciprocal influences among children's performance, parenting, and family resources over time.     

Child temperament, teacher-child interactions, and teacher-child relationships: A longitudinal investigation from first to third grade

The quality of children's relationships with teachers in early elementary grades has implications for their academic and behavioral outcomes in later grades (e.g., Hamre & Pianta, 2001). The current study uses data from the NICHD SECCYD to extend work from a recent study of first grade (Rudasill & Rimm-Kaufman, 2009) by examining connections between child shyness, effortful control, and gender and teacher-child relationship quality in third grade directly and indirectly through the frequency of teacher- and child-initiated interactions in third grade, and teacher-child relationship quality in first grade. Path analyses using structural equation models were used to test two different models, one for conflict and one for closeness. Findings reveal five main points: (a) Children's characteristics (i.e., shyness and effortful control) were related to the frequency of interactions they initiated with their third grade teachers; (b) The number of teacher-initiated interactions with a child in third grade was positively related to teacher perception of conflict, but not closeness, with that child; (c) Teachers’ perceptions of relationship quality and the number of teacher-initiated interactions in first grade predicted teachers’ perceptions of relationship quality and the number of teacher-initiated interactions in third grade; (d) Children's gender predicted the number of teacher-initiated interactions and teachers’ perceptions of relationship quality in third grade; (e) Teacher-child relationship quality in first grade, and the number of teacher and child-initiated interactions in third grade, mediated associations between children's characteristics and teacher-child relationship quality in third grade. Findings have implications for future research and training for preservice and practicing teachers.