Intergenerational effects of war trauma among Palestinian families mediated via psychological maltreatment

We tested the hypothesis that intergenerational effects of parents’ war trauma on offspring's attachment and mental health are mediated by psychological maltreatment. Two hundred and forty children and their parents were sampled from a war-prone area, Gaza, Palestine. The parents reported the number and type of traumatic experiences of war they had had during their lifetime before the child's birth and during a current war when the child was 10–12 years old. The children reported their war traumas, experiences of psychological maltreatment, attachment security, and symptoms of posttraumatic stress (PTSS), depression, and aggression. The direct and indirect intergenerational effects of war trauma were tested in structural equation models. The hypotheses were confirmed for father's past war exposure, and disconfirmed for mother's war exposure. The father's past war trauma had a negative association with attachment security and positive association with the child's mental health problems mediated by increased psychological maltreatment. In contrast, the mother's past war trauma had a negative association with the child's depression via decreased psychological maltreatment. The mother's current war trauma had a negative association with the child's depression and aggression via decreased psychological maltreatment. Among fathers, past war exposure should be considered as a risk factor for psychological maltreatment of children and the associated attachment insecurity and mental health problems. Among mothers, war exposure as such could be given less clinical attention than PTSS in the prevention of psychological maltreatment of children.     

Parents’ perception of child behavior,parenting stress,and child abuse potential: Individual and partner influences

Based on the Social Information Processing model of parenting risk for child abuse, the present study examined the associations between mothers’ and fathers’ perception of child behavior and child abuse potential, as well as whether parenting stress mediates the association between these constructs. Two hundred and fifty-nine mother-father couples raising preschool children answered the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL), the Parenting Stress Index (PSI), and the Child Abuse Potential Inventory (CAPI). The results of dyadic path analysis showed that perception of child behavior was related to heightened parenting stress and abuse potential in both mothers and fathers. Concerning partner effects, we found that mothers’ perception of child behavior problems was positively associated with fathers’ parenting stress and that the higher the mothers’ distress, the higher the fathers’ risk of physical abuse. Finally, parenting distress partially mediated the association between parents’ perception of child behavior and child abuse potential, with mothers’ perception of their children as problematic showing a significant indirect effect through distress on their own abuse risk and on fathers’ CAP as well. These findings suggest that parental distress may represent a critical mechanism by which parents’ negative views of their children contribute to abuse potential. Moreover, mothers seem to influence fathers’ tendency towards abusive behaviors.     

Mothers’ and fathers’ well-being, parenting styles, and their children’s cognitive and behavioural strategies at primary school

One-hundred and five 6- to 7-year-old children were given a test measuring their helplessness, failure expectations, task-irrelevant behaviour, lack of persistence and search for social support in a classroom setting in order to examine the impact of parental well-being and parenting styles on the children’s cognitive and behavioural strategies at school. Both parents were also asked to fill in scales measuring their depression, parenting stress and parenting styles. The results revealed that maternal depressive symptomatology was associated with their children’s use of maladaptive strategies, whereas paternal depression was not. Moreover, maternal authoritative parenting styles and authoritarian control, seemed to decrease their children’s use of maladaptive strategies. On the other hand, the more parenting stress reported by the fathers, the more their children showed the use of maladaptive strategies.     

The role of negative parental attributions in the associations between daily stressors,maltreatment history,and harsh and abusive discipline

Negative parental attributions are related to parent and family stressors and are thought to be important predictors of subsequent disciplinary actions and, potentially, abusive parenting. We examined if negative parental attributions mediate the relation between daily stressors (i.e., low SES, parenting stress, partner-related stress) parents’ own history of child maltreatment, and harsh and abusive parenting. Mothers (n = 53) completed a computerized attribution task and reported on daily stressors, their own history of child maltreatment and their discipline strategies. Mothers’ negative parental attributions mediated the association between parenting stress (but not the other stressors) and harsh and abusive discipline. These finding implicate that interventions to decrease (the risk of) child abuse should not only focus on reducing abuse-related stressors, but also target negative parental attributions.     

Parental absence,child victimization,and psychological well-being in rural China

Using cross-sectional data regarding 793 rural children aged 10–16 in Sichuan Province of China, the present study examined the preceding-year rates of seven forms of child victimization (physical assault, property crime, peer/sibling victimization, child maltreatment, sexual victimization, witnessing family violence, and exposure to community violence) and poly-victimization, and found children’s victimization experiences increased as the degree of parental absence increased (from the presence of two biological parents, to parental migration and parental separation and divorce). Elevated levels of depression were also found among left-behind children and children of separated or divorced parents, compared to children living with both biological parents; and child poly-victimization added to the risk of child depression. Certain demographic characteristics (being a boy and younger) and parental factors were associated with child victimization in rural China. This study highlights the need for child protection in rural China, and in particular for parent-absent children.     

普通中学生的家庭教养方式及其与职高生的异同

采用修订的《家庭教养方式调查表》测查了470名普通中学生的家庭教养方式,并探讨了其中247名普通高中生家庭教养方式与321名职高生家庭教养方式的异同。结果显示,由24道题组成的调查表具有较好的一致性和效度;普通高中生父母对子女的要求程度和关心程度都显著低于初中生,父母对子女的要求程度显著高于其关心程度;尽管母亲对中学男女生的教养方式没有明显差异,父亲对男生尤其是高中男生的要求程度、对女生尤其是初中女生的关心程度都明显高一些;结合两个维度对中学生家庭教养方式进行诊断之后发现,采取放任型教养方式的父母的文化程度偏低,而权威型和溺爱型的父母文化程度则较高。应用该调查表对职业高中生的测查发现了类似的规律,但职高生父母对子女的关心程度明显高于其要求程度,这与普高生父母的做法刚好相反;尽管他们采用权威型教养方式的比例差别不大,但有更多的职高生父母采取了放任型和溺爱型的教养方式,采取专制型教养方式的职高生父母相对更少。     

Parenting Practices and Aggressive Behavior in Chinese Children

Objective. We examined relations between parental warmth, guidance, and power assertion and child aggressive behavior in Chinese children. Design. A sample of children (N = 68), at 4 years of age, and their parents in P. R. China, participated in the study. Observational data concerning parenting and child compliance were obtained from home visits. Aggressive behavior was assessed in the context of peer interactions in the laboratory. Results. Maternal warmth and guidance were negatively associated with aggression. Parental power assertion was positively associated with aggression. The relations between parenting practices and aggressive behavior might be moderated by the child's characteristics: Whereas maternal warmth was negatively related to aggression mainly for compliant children, paternal positive parenting was negatively related to aggression for noncompliant and defiant children. Finally, maternal power assertion and paternal power assertion interacted with each other in predicting child aggression. Conclusions. The study provided valuable information about functional "meanings" of major parenting dimensions in Chinese culture.     

Child emotional security and interparental conflict

Guided by the emotional security hypothesis developed by Davies & Cummings (1994), studies were conducted to test a conceptual refinement of children's adjustment to parental conflict in relation to hypotheses of other prominent theories. Study 1 examined whether the pattern of child responses to simulations of adult conflict tactics and topics was consistent with the emotional security hypothesis and social learning theory in a sample of 327 Welsh children. Supporting the emotional security hypothesis, child reports of fear, avoidance, and involvement were especially prominent responses to destructive conflict. Study 2 examined the relative roles of child emotional insecurity and social-cognitive appraisals in accounting for associations between parental conflict and child psychological symptoms in a sample of 285 Welsh children and parents. Findings indicated that child emotional insecurity was a robust intervening process in the prospective links between parental conflict and child maladjustment even when intervening processes proposed in the social-cognitive models were included in the analyses. Studies 3 and 4 explored pathways among parental conflict, child emotional insecurity, and psychological adjustment in the broader family context with a sample of 174 children and mothers. Supporting the emotional security hypothesis, Study 3 findings indicated that child insecurity continued to mediate the link between parental conflict and child maladjustment even after specifying the effects of other parenting processes. Parenting difficulties accompanying interparental conflict were related to child maladjustment through their association with insecure parent-child attachment. In support of the emotional security hypothesis, Study 4 findings indicated that family instability, parenting difficulties, and parent-child attachment insecurity potentiated mediational pathways among parental conflict, child insecurity, and maladjustment. Family cohesiveness, interparental satisfaction, and interparental expressiveness appeared to be protective factors in these mediational paths. No support was found for the social learning theory prediction that parent-child warmth would amplify associations between parental conflict and child disruptive behaviors.     

Parents’ Perspectives on Inclusive Schools for Children with Autism Spectrum Conditions

Children with autism spectrum conditions (ASC) increasingly participate in inclusive education. The present study reviewed studies of children with ASC for parents’ perceptions of aspects they believed contributed to inclusive mainstream school settings. Understanding the parental perspective on the facilitators for inclusion of their child with ASC in mainstream schools is likely to improve inclusive practice. Twenty-eight empirical articles revealed that parents perceived teachers as playing a vital role in the inclusion of their children with ASC. The school was considered important in creating an environment that enabled inclusion, particularly through positive peer relations, prevention of bullying and help from support staff. At the societal level, funding and legislative policies were considered important. By understanding these aspects, policy-makers, teachers, school administrators and therapists may better be able to address parents’ inclusion concerns and thereby develop strategies to improve inclusion in mainstream schools.     

留守儿童心理一致感、同伴依恋和心理健康的关系研究

为了探讨农村留守儿童的心理一致感、同伴依恋和心理健康之间的关系,对327名西南地区留守儿童施测心理一致感量表简版(SOC-13)、父母同伴依恋问卷(IPPA)中的同伴依恋分问卷和中国中学生心理健康量表(MSSMHS)。结果发现:(1)留守儿童的心理一致感、同伴依恋性别差异显著,女生的同伴依恋、心理一致感均显著高于男生;(2)留守儿童的心理一致感、同伴信任、同伴沟通、同伴依恋与心理健康水平呈显著正相关,同伴信任、心理一致感显著正向预测留守儿童的心理健康水平;同伴疏远与心理健康水平呈显著负相关,前者显著负向预测后者;(3)心理一致感在同伴依恋和心理健康之间存在部分中介效应,中介效应占总效应的4.9%。因此,可通过调节留守儿童的心理一致感和同伴依恋水平对其心理健康进行干预。     

Responsive Parenting Buffers the Impact of Maternal PTSD on Young Children

SYNOPSIS

Objective. This study investigates maternal responsive parenting behaviors as a theorized buffer to the detrimental impact of maternal PTSD symptoms on young children’s depression and anxiety symptoms, disruptive behavior, and stress-related symptoms. Design. A multi-ethnic sample of 242 trauma-exposed mothers and their preschool-aged children was assessed. Maternal responsive parenting behaviors were observed during standardized parent-child interactions. Maternal and child mental health symptoms were reported by mothers. Results. Maternal PTSD symptoms were associated with their responsive parenting behaviors and predicted children’s mental health symptoms. Responsive parenting was inversely associated with children’s depression and stress-related symptoms. Moderation analyses revealed an interactive effect of maternal symptoms and responsive parenting on preschool children’s disruptive behavior and stress-related symptoms. Conclusions. Responsive parenting behaviors can mitigate the ill effects of maternal PTSD symptoms. Nurturing relationships buffer the impact of maternal PTSD. Helping parents’ to sensitively respond to their young children’s distress can support positive outcomes in children.     

Harsh parenting and child aggression: Child moral disengagement as the mediator and negative parental attribution as the moderator

As the negative outcomes of harsh parenting for child development have been gradually revealed, researchers become increasingly interested in the mechanisms through which harsh parenting affects child development. This study aimed to explore the mediating role of child moral disengagement and the moderating role of negative parental attribution in the relation of harsh parenting to child aggression. A sample of 397 Chinese adolescents aged from 12 to 16 years (227 boys and 170 girls, Mage = 13.98) with their parents were recruited as participants from two public schools situated in rural areas of Shandong province in China. Data were gathered from parents reporting on their harsh parenting and negative parental attribution, adolescents reporting on their moral disengagement, and peers nominating out aggressive children. Results indicated that harsh parenting was both directly and indirectly associated with adolescent aggression via adolescent moral disengagement. Negative parental attribution was found to moderate the indirect relation of harsh parenting to adolescent aggression via moral disengagement. Specifically, harsh parenting was only significantly associated with moral disengagement for adolescents with high levels of moral disengagement was more likely to induce aggression among adolescents with high levels of negative parental attribution (bsimple = of harsh parenting to adolescent aggression, adolescent moral disengagement could mediate the association between harsh parenting and aggressive behaviors for adolescents with high levels of negative parental attribution.     

Parenting behavior and the risk of becoming a victim and a bully/victim: A meta-analysis study

Objective

Being bullied has adverse effects on children's health. Children's family experiences and parenting behavior before entering school help shape their capacity to adapt and cope at school and have an impact on children's peer relationship, hence it is important to identify how parenting styles and parent–child relationship are related to victimization in order to develop intervention programs to prevent or mitigate victimization in childhood and adolescence.

Methods

We conducted a systematic review of the published literature on parenting behavior and peer victimization using MEDLINE, PsychINFO, Eric and EMBASE from 1970 through the end of December 2012. We included prospective cohort studies and cross-sectional studies that investigated the association between parenting behavior and peer victimization.

Results

Both victims and those who both bully and are victims (bully/victims) were more likely to be exposed to negative parenting behavior including abuse and neglect and maladaptive parenting. The effects were generally small to moderate for victims (Hedge's g range: 0.10–0.31) but moderate for bully/victims (0.13–0.68). Positive parenting behavior including good communication of parents with the child, warm and affectionate relationship, parental involvement and support, and parental supervision were protective against peer victimization. The protective effects were generally small to moderate for both victims (Hedge's g: range: −0.12 to −0.22) and bully/victims (−0.17 to −0.42).

Conclusions

Negative parenting behavior is related to a moderate increase of risk for becoming a bully/victim and small to moderate effects on victim status at school. Intervention programs against bullying should extend their focus beyond schools to include families and start before children enter school.     

Relationships among parental beliefs in corporal punishment, reported stress, and physical child abuse potential.

OBJECTIVE: The present study examined the extent to which parental belief in the value of corporal punishment moderates the association between level of parenting stress and physical child abuse potential. Based on existing theory, it was expected that levels of parenting stress would be positively associated with physical child abuse potential among parents who reported high levels of belief in the value of corporal punishment. METHOD: Forty-one parents (25 general population and 16 at-risk parents) were assessed for belief in the value of corporal punishment, level of parenting stress, and physical child abuse potential using self-report measures. After removal of respondents due to response distortion or missing data, the final sample consisted of 31 parents with valid and complete protocols. Based on their responses on the study measures, respondents were categorized as either high or low on belief in corporal punishment and parenting stress. RESULTS: Level of parenting stress was positively associated with physical child abuse potential. As expected, the interaction of parenting stress and belief in the value of corporal punishment was significant. Level of parenting stress was positively associated with physical child abuse potential among parents who reported high levels of belief in the value of corporal punishment. In contrast, level of parenting stress was not associated with physical child abuse potential among parents who reported low belief in the value of corporal punishment. CONCLUSIONS: The present findings are consistent social information processing and stress and coping models of the etiology of physical child abuse, and underscore the importance of considering both parental cognitions and levels of parenting stress in assessing potential for physical child abuse.     

Children's attitudes towards ADHD,depression and learning disabilities

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), depression and general learning disabilities (LD) are common difficulties for British primary school children. It has been found that characteristics associated with these difficulties can result in negative attitudes and stigma from other children, causing problems with peer relationships. Furthermore, problematic peer relations can intensify the difficulties associated with these disorders. Packages such as ‘Tackling Stigma: A Practical Toolkit’ aim to combat stigma in schools. However, these packages have not been based on evidence regarding children's attitudes towards different disorders. This study aims to explore children's attitudes towards ADHD, depression and LD from a conative (measure of social distance) and cognitive (measure of positive or negative attributes ascribed to a person) perspective. Participants were 273 children (M= 9.2 years). Vignettes were used to describe a child with ADHD, depression, or LD or a ‘normal’ child. The Shared Activities Questionnaire was utilised to assess conative attitudes, and the Adjective Checklist was utilised to assess cognitive attitudes. Results showed that children generally displayed more negative attitudes to vignettes describing mental health difficulties (MHD) (ADHD and depression) than LD. Children had more negative attitudes towards the ADHD (externalising disorder) vignette than the depression vignette (internalising disorder). Younger children had more positive conative attitudes than older children. Those who had previous contact with children with ADHD, depression and LD had more positive attitudes. These findings can enhance current stigma reduction interventions through contributing a deeper understanding of children's attitudes towards the most common MHD and LD in childhood.     

Parenting Practices in Preschool Leading to Later Cognitive Competence: A Family Stress Model

Research Findings: This study investigates the effect of the early home environment on self-regulation in preschoolers, and how self-regulation relates to later school achievement, while taking into account family resources. Participants were part of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development's Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development. Our model tested paths from family income and maternal depression through parenting to dyadic and child outcomes, including attachment, self-regulation, and child cognitive outcomes in the 1st grade. Findings indicated that family income and maternal depression had a substantial effect on parenting practices. Children whose parents did not display negative affect toward them during episodes of depression were more likely to maintain healthy attachment styles. Parenting, which was directly affected by family income, was the most important predictor of children's cognitive development. Practice or Policy: Regarding implications for practice, this research indicates that parents who provide a safe and stimulating environment for their children, despite limited financial resources or mental health issues, are more likely to have children who are prepared for school. School counselors, child care administrators, and policymakers should be aware of the importance of parenting to school success and should provide opportunities for parent education and involvement during the first years of life.     

The relations of parental warmth and positive expressiveness to children's empathy-related responding and social functioning: a longitudinal study

This study examined the concurrent and cross-time relations of parental observed warmth and positive expressivity to children's situational facial and self-reported empathic responding, social competence, and externalizing problems in a sample of 180 elementary school children. Data was collected when the children were in second to fifth grades (age: M = 112.8 months), and again 2 years later. Cross-sectional and longitudinal structural equation models supported the hypothesis that parents' (mostly mothers') positive expressivity mediated the relation between parental warmth and children's empathy, and children's empathy mediated the relation between parental positive expressivity and children's social functioning. These relations persisted after controlling for prior levels of parenting and child characteristics. Moreover, concurrent and cross-time consistencies were found on measures of parenting, children's situational empathic responding, and social functioning.     

Child physical abuse – High school students’ mental health and parental relations depending on who perpetrated the abuse

The aim of this study was to contribute to the research of child physical abuse (CPA) by examining if there were any differences in high school students’ mental health (in this study symptoms of depression and anxiety, self-esteem and sense of coherence) and/or, in how they perceive their parents, depending on whether or not they had been subjected to CPA during childhood. In addition, if high school students reported different mental health and/or, relationships with their parents, depending on if their mother, father or both parents were the perpetrators of CPA.A representative national sample of high school students (N = 3288, data collected 2009) participated in the study. Participants completed the following: questions about CPA and alleged perpetrators, the Hopkins Symptom Checklist, Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, the Sense of Coherence Scale and Parental Bonding Instrument.The results showed students who reported experiences of CPA were more likely to report symptoms of mental illness and negative perceptions of their parents’ parenting. However, there were no mental health differences depending on whether their mother, father or both parents were the perpetrators of CPA. Still, there were differences in perceived parenting indicating that mothers’ parenting was perceived as more negative when mothers only or both parents were perpetrators of the abuse than when only fathers were perpetrators.     

初中生的父母教养方式、社会支持和心理健康的关系

通过对549名初中生的父母教养方式、社会支持和心理健康状况相互关系的问卷调查发现,父母教养方式与初中生的社会支持、心理健康状况有密切联系,父母教养方式积极（高情感接纳）的被试,对社会支持的感受积极,其心理健康状况也相对较好.通过初中生感受到的重要他人的社会支持可以预测其心理健康状况,这其中既有初中生的同伴、教师的作用,也包括父母的作用.初中生的家庭内环境特点与其家庭外社会关系状况有内在联系,两者不是相互独立的.     

Associations among Family Relationships, Antisocial Peers, and Adolescents' Externalizing Behaviors: Gender and Family Type Differences

This study investigated the relations among parenting, sibling relationship, peer group, and adolescent externalizing behaviors. With data obtained from a sample of 341 male and 313 female adolescents (M age = 14.4 years) and their parents and siblings from nonstepfamilies and stepfather families, cross-sectional analyses supported the hypothesis that the contributions of parental negativity, parental monitoring, and sibling negativity to adolescents' externalizing behaviors would operate directly and also indirectly through deviant peer associations. The findings of multigroup comparison analyses suggested that the relationships between family and peer correlates and adolescent externalizing behaviors vary as a function of family type and adolescent gender.