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.     

A Longitudinal Study of Emotion Regulation,Emotion Lability‐Negativity,and Internalizing Symptomatology in Maltreated and Nonmaltreated Children

The longitudinal contributions of emotion regulation and emotion lability‐negativity to internalizing symptomatology were examined in a low‐income sample (171 maltreated and 151 nonmaltreated children, from age 7 to 10 years). Latent difference score models indicated that for both maltreated and nonmaltreated children, emotion regulation was a mediator between emotion lability‐negativity and internalizing symptomatology, whereas emotion lability‐negativity was not a mediator between emotion regulation and internalizing symptomatology. Early maltreatment was associated with high emotion lability‐negativity (age 7) that contributed to poor emotion regulation (age 8), which in turn was predictive of increases in internalizing symptomatology (from age 8 to 9). The results imply important roles of emotion regulation in the development of internalizing symptomatology, especially for children with high emotion lability‐negativity.     

Childhood abuse and current interpersonal conflict: The role of shame

ObjectiveTo examine whether shame-proneness mediates the relationship between women's histories of childhood sexual abuse and their current partner and family conflict and child maltreatment. Previous research has found that women with childhood sexual abuse histories experience heightened shame and interpersonal conflict. However, research examining the relationship of shame to interpersonal conflict is lacking.MethodParticipants were 129 mothers of children enrolled in a summer camp program for at-risk children from financially disadvantaged families. Data were collected on women's childhood abuse histories, shame in daily life, and current interpersonal conflict involving family conflict, intimate partner conflict (verbal and physical aggression), and child maltreatment.ResultsConsistent with our hypothesis, the results of hierarchical regressions and logistic regression indicated that shame significantly mediated the association between childhood sexual abuse and interpersonal conflict. Women with sexual abuse histories reported more shame in their daily lives, which in turn was associated with higher levels of conflicts with intimate partners (self-verbal aggression and partner-physical aggression) and in the family. Shame did not mediate the relationship between mothers’ histories of sexual abuse and child maltreatment.ConclusionThe role of shame in the intimate partner and family conflicts of women with sexual abuse histories has not been examined. The current findings indicate that childhood sexual abuse was related to interpersonal conflicts indirectly through the emotion of shame.Practical ImplicationsThese findings highlight the importance of investigating the role of shame in the interpersonal conflicts of women with histories of childhood sexual abuse. Healthcare professionals in medical and mental health settings frequently treat women with abuse histories who are involved in family and partner conflicts. Assessing and addressing the links of abused women's shame to interpersonal conflicts could be important in clinical interventions.     

The protective effects of religiosity on maladjustment among maltreated and nonmaltreated children

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate the role of child religiosity in the development of maladaptation among maltreated children. METHODS: Data were collected on 188 maltreated and 196 nonmaltreated children from low-income families (ages 6-12 years). Children were assessed on religiosity and depressive symptoms, and were evaluated by camp counselors on internalizing symptomatology and externalizing symptomatology. RESULTS: Significant interactions indicated protective effects of religiosity. Child reports of the importance of faith were related to lower levels of internalizing symptomatology among maltreated girls (t=-2.81, p<.05). Child reports of attendance at religious services were associated with lower levels of externalizing symptomatology among nonmaltreated boys (t=1.94, p=.05). CONCLUSION: These results suggest that child religiosity may largely contribute to stress coping process among maltreated and nonmaltreated children from low-income families. The results also indicate that the protective roles of religiosity varied by risk status and gender. PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS: The results indicate that a range of child religiosity behaviors and practices can be assessed in translational prevention research. It is recommended that healthcare professionals, psychologists, and social workers working with maltreated children and their families assess for salience of religiosity and may encourage them to consider the role religiosity plays in the development of prevention and intervention programs to alleviate distress and enhance stress coping.     

Longitudinal trajectories of self-system processes and depressive symptoms among maltreated and nonmaltreated children

This study used latent growth modeling to investigate longitudinal relationships between self-system processes and depressive symptoms among maltreated (n = 142) and nonmaltreated children (n = 109) aged 6-11 years. On average, self-esteem and self-agency increased and depressive symptoms decreased over time. Multivariate growth modeling indicated that, regardless of gender, physical abuse was negatively related to initial levels of self-esteem, and physical abuse and physical neglect were positively associated with initial levels of depressive symptoms. Emotional maltreatment was predictive of changes in self-esteem and changes in depressive symptoms. Initial levels of self-esteem were negatively associated with initial levels of depressive symptoms. The findings contribute to enhancing our understanding of the developmental processes whereby early maltreatment experiences are linked to later maladjustment.     

Neural Correlates of Risk Processing Among Adolescents: Influences of Parental Monitoring and Household Chaos

Adolescent risky behavior is related to developmental changes in decision‐making processes and their neural correlates. Yet, research investigating how the family environment relates to risk processing in the adolescent brain is limited. In this study, longitudinal data were collected from 167 adolescents (13–15 years, 53% male) who self‐reported household chaos and their parent's monitoring practices, and completed a decision‐making task during functional MRI at Time 1 and Time 2 (1 year apart). Parental knowledge was positively related to insular risk processing only among adolescents in low‐chaos environments at both time points. Results highlight environmental correlates of insular risk processing in the developing brain.