Role of maternal functioning and parenting skills in adolescent functioning following parental divorce.

While divorce has been associated with impaired child functioning, the mechanisms within the divorce process leading to such an outcome have rarely been examined. The following hypothesis was examined: Divorce is associated with poor parental adjustment or disrupts parenting behavior, or both, which leads to poor adolescent functioning. Subjects were 121 and 93 young adolescents from intact and recently divorced families, respectively, and their mothers and teachers. Mothers completed measures assessing parental conflict and depression, observers coded parenting skills during a mother–adolescent interaction, and teachers completed measures assessing adolescent functioning. Although the magnitude of differences was not large, analyses of variance indicated that the divorced sample was functioning poorer than the married sample on all measures except interparental conflict. Path analysis suggested that parental functioning and parenting skills play a role in adolescent functioning following divorce. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Parenting stress, perceived parenting behaviors, and adolescent self-concept in European American families.

This study assesses whether the stresses associated with parenting a child are indirectly related to adolescent self-concept through parenting behaviors. We examined longitudinal associations among mothers' and fathers' parenting stress at age 10, children's perceptions of parenting at age 10, and adolescents' self-concept at age 14 in 120 European American families. Mothers' and fathers' parenting stress was related to children's perceptions of acceptance and psychologically controlling behavior, and psychologically controlling behavior (and lax control for fathers) was related to adolescent self-concept. We further examined which domains of parenting stress and perceived parenting behaviors were associated with adolescents' scholastic competence, social acceptance, physical appearance, and behavioral conduct. Parenting stress was related to specific parenting behaviors, which were, in turn, related to specific domains of self-concept in adolescence. Parenting stress appears to exert its effects on early adolescent self-concept indirectly through perceived parenting behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cognitive readiness and adolescent parenting.

Compared cognitive readiness for parenting in 171 pregnant adolescents, 48 nonpregnant adolescents, and 38 pregnant adults. The relations between cognitive readiness and parenting stress and behavior were also assessed. Results indicated that adolescents were less cognitively prepared, experienced more stress in the parenting role, and were less adaptive in their parenting style than adult mothers. Finally, relations between cognitive readiness and parenting stress and maternal interactional style were found. Additional analyses controlling for multiple demographic factors suggested that demographic variables played a role in explaining age-related differences in cognitive readiness as well as the relations between readiness to parent and parenting behavior. Cognitive readiness, however, had unique and differential explanatory power in predicting parenting stress. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Gender labeling, gender stereotyping, and parenting behaviors.

Are gender labeling and gender stereotyping in 24-, 30-, and 36-mo-old children related to each other and to mothers' sex-role attitudes and responses to sex-typed behavior in a free-play situation with their children? The gender stereotyping measure indicated that gender schemata include information that is metaphorically rather than literally associated with each sex. Children who understood labels for boys and girls displayed more knowledge of gender stereotypes than children who did not. Mothers whose children had mastered labels for boys and girls endorsed more traditional attitudes toward women and toward sex roles within the family. The same mothers also initiated and reinforced more sex-typed toy play with their children. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Models of parenting and adolescent drinking.

Comments on the A. W. Collins et al article (see record 2000-13816-002) which discusses behavioral genetics and the parenting theory. The current author points out that Collins et al made little mention of the influence of parenting on adolescent drinking behavior. Selected studies on this topic are reviewed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Personal values as a mediator between parent and peer expectations and adolescent behaviors.

The current study examined the mediating role of adolescents' personal values on the relation between maternal and peer expectations for prosocial behaviors and adolescents' self-reported prosocial and antisocial behaviors. One hundred thirty-four adolescents (mean age = 16.22 years, 54% girls) completed measures of their own values and behaviors, as well as their perceptions of the positive expectations that their mother and their best friend(s) had for their (the adolescents') prosocial behaviors. Stepwise regression analyses suggested that adolescents' personal prosocial values mediated the relation between adolescents' perceptions of both maternal and peer expectations and adolescents' prosocial behaviors. In addition, for boys, perceptions of positive peer expectations were directly and negatively related to antisocial behaviors. The current study has important implications for parents, educators, and practitioners who are concerned about promoting adolescents' positive behaviors and discouraging negative behaviors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Parent influences on adolescent peer orientation and substance use: the interface of parenting practices and values

This study examines how experiences in the family domain may magnify or mitigate experiences in the peer domain, and how processes in both milieus may influence adolescent substance use. The data derived from 666 European American mother-adolescent dyads and 510 European American father-adolescent dyads. Consistent with individuation-connectedness theory, mothers' responsiveness lessened their adolescents' orientation to peers, which, in turn, reduced adolescent substance use. This process was moderated by maternal values regarding adolescent alcohol use; that is, the relation of maternal responsiveness to adolescent substance use depended on the extent of maternal approval or disapproval of adolescent alcohol use. Among fathers, closer monitoring was directly associated with less adolescent substance use, with stronger effects among fathers who held more disapproving values regarding adolescent alcohol use. Theoretical, methodological, and pragmatic implications are given.     

Long-term effects of divorce on parent–child relationships.

100 introductory psychology students from families that had experienced divorce 7 or more years previously and 141 introductory psychology students from continuously intact families completed a series of self-report questionnaires assessing their perceptions of their relationship with their parents. Findings indicate that although there was considerable variation from person to person, Ss from divorced families perceived their relationships with their parents, and particularly their fathers, less positively than those from intact families. It was also found that these potentially negative consequences of divorce were attenuated by Ss' recall of a healthy predivorce family life, by a more successful adjustment on the part of the child before the divorce, and by a higher quality relationship between the ex-spouses after the divorce. Results support the notion that active involvement on the part of the father and added stresses placed on the mother after the divorce are the critical determinants of the perceived quality of the current parent–child relationships. (31 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Long-term effects of parental divorce on parent-child relationships, adjustment, and achievement in young adulthood.

Longitudinal data from the National Survey of Children were examined to investigate whether effects of parental divorce are evident in young adulthood. Among 18–22 yr olds from disrupted families, 65% had poor relationships with their fathers and 30% with their mothers, 25% had dropped out of high school, and 40% had received psychological help. Even after controlling for demographic and socioeconomic differences, youths from disrupted families were twice as likely to exhibit these problems as youths from nondisrupted families. A significant effect of divorce on mother–child relationships was evident in adulthood, whereas none was found in adolescence. Youths experiencing disruption before 6 yrs of age showed poorer relationships with their fathers than those experiencing disruption later in childhood. Overall, remarriage did not have a protective effect, but there were indications of amelioration among those who experienced early disruption. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Becoming an adolescent father: Precursors and parenting.

Precursors and outcomes of adolescent pregnancy receive considerable research attention; however, most studies deal with adolescent mothers. This study examined whether risk factors that are precursors to adolescent fatherhood would be consistent with the family coercion model (G. R. Patterson, 1976) of the development of antisocial behavior in childhood. Hypotheses were tested in the Oregon Youth Study (OYS) sample of 206 at-risk boys who were first seen at 9 or 10 years of age. At 18–20 years of age, the profiles for the 35 adolescent fathers included more arrests and substance use than the other OYS participants. At around 2 years of age, 40% of the children had no contact with their fathers. The children, compared with a normative control sample, had somewhat greater health risks. The at-risk parents, compared with a control sample, were observed to show higher levels of negative reactions when their children were working on a puzzle task. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Black grandmothers' and Black adolescent mothers' knowledge about parenting.

Questionnaire data from teenagers and grandmothers about infant development indicated that grandmothers who were more knowledgeable had daughters who were also more knowledgeable only when the latter had parenting responsibilities. The presence of a young infant seemed to provide the context in which the grandmother helped the young mother acquire accurate information about her baby's normative development. Grandmothers also exhibited a more responsive and less punitive interactive style than did their daughters. The data provided evidence that important socialization of parenting processes probably occurs in low-income Black three-generation households in which there is a very young mother. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Marital quality, parenting, and adolescent internalizing problems: A three-wave longitudinal study.

The present 3-wave, 3-year longitudinal study examined direct and indirect associations between marital quality, parenting, and adolescent internalizing problems, taking into account bidirectional associations between these concepts. Data were used from 428 Dutch families, consisting of 2 biological parents and 2 adolescents with mean ages of 13.4 and 15.2 years (at Time 1). Results from structural equation modeling analyses showed that low marital quality at Time 1 was directly related to adolescent internalizing problems at Time 2 in oldest siblings. However, support was not found for any indirect associations through parenting or for longitudinal associations from adolescent internalizing problems to parents' marital quality. Results are discussed in terms of implications for understanding the mechanism by which marital quality is related to adolescent internalizing problems. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Paths of influence of divorce on preschool children's psychosocial adjustment.

This study examined the direct and indirect influences of parental divorce on preschool children's psychosocial adjustment through its effect on maternal strain, family socioeconomic status, the quality of the family's interpersonal relationships, and mother–child interaction. Participants included 198 married (n?=?99) and divorced (n?=?99), predominantly White, lower- to middle-income families with preschool children. Analyses using structural equation modeling (SEM) indicate that family structure and processes in combination most strongly influenced child outcomes. Specifically, the effects of divorce on children's adjustment were mediated by maternal strain and the quality of mother–child interaction. The goodness-of-fit indices (.90 to .94), root mean square error of approximation index (.03), and nonsignificant chi-square (p?=?.12) indicated a good fit for the generated structural equation model. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The relationship between work status congruence and work-related attitudes and behaviors.

Research investigating differences in attitudes among full-time and part-time employees has a long history. Unfortunately, the empirical results have been mixed and conflicting. To resolve inconsistencies in prior research, the authors conducted 2 studies. In the 1st study, the authors developed a measure of work status congruence, which measures the degree to which employers match employee preferences for full-time or part-time status, schedule, shift, and number of hours. The authors hypothesized that a match or congruence between worker preferences and organizational staffing practices would be associated with positive employee attitudes and behaviors. In the 2nd study, the authors tested these hypotheses. The results indicate that work status congruence is positively associated with job satisfaction, organizational commitment, employee retention, as well as in-role and extra-role performance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Maternal and paternal parenting: Critical dimensions in adolescent functioning.

Three dimensions of parenting exhibited by mothers and fathers were examined: acceptance, firm control, and psychological control. Ss were 70 adolescents and their parents. The results indicated that (1) mothers reported exhibiting each parenting dimension more than fathers; (2) acceptance by each parent predicted that parent's relationship with the adolescent; (3) the father's acceptance score was the primary predictor of adolescent functioning outside the home; and (4) the mother's and the father's parenting styles interacted to predict some areas of adolescent functioning. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Parental work schedules and adolescent risky behaviors.

Using a large contemporary data set (the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth–Child Supplement), the authors examined the effects of parental work schedules on adolescent risky behaviors at age 13 or 14 and the mechanisms that might explain them. Structural equation modeling suggests mothers who worked more often at night spent significantly less time with children and had lower quality home environments, and these mediators were significantly linked to adolescent risky behaviors. Similar effects were not found for evening work schedules, while other types of maternal and paternal nonstandard work schedules were linked to higher parental knowledge of children's whereabouts, which led to lower levels of adolescent risky behaviors. Subgroup analyses revealed that boys, those in families with low incomes, and those whose mothers never worked at professional jobs may particularly be affected by mothers working at nights, due to spending less time together, having a lower degree of maternal closeness, and experiencing lower quality home environments. In addition, the effects of maternal night shifts were particularly pronounced if children were in the preschool or middle-childhood years when their mothers worked those schedules. Implications and avenues for future research are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Maternal personality, parenting cognitions, and parenting practices.

A community sample of 262 European American mothers of firstborn 20-month-olds completed a personality inventory and measures of parenting cognitions (knowledge, self-perceptions, and reports about behavior) and was observed in interaction with their children from which measures of parenting practices (language, sensitivity, affection, and play) were independently coded. Factor analyses of the personality inventory replicated extraction of the 5-factor model of personality (Openness, Neuroticism, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness). When controlling for sociodemographic characteristics, the 5 personality factors qua variables and in patterns qua clusters related differently to diverse parenting cognitions and practices, supporting the multidimensional, modular, and specific nature of parenting. Maternal personality in the normal range, a theoretically important but empirically neglected factor in everyday parenting, has meaning in studies of parenting, child development, and family process. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Peer influence on adolescent drug use.

Empirical support for the assumption that peers are major determinants of adolescent drug use derives largely from the frequent finding that adolescents who said that their friends used drugs were at increased likelihood of using drugs themselves. It is suggested that the strong and consistent correlation in drug use by friends is at least partially due to factors other than peer influence. It is argued that social network analysis is an appropriate method for studying adolescent drug use in the context of peer groups. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Parental divorce and adolescent delinquency: Ruling out the impact of common genes.

Although the well-documented association between parental divorce and adolescent delinquency is generally assumed to be environmental (i.e., causal) in origin, genetic mediation is also possible. Namely, the behavior problems often found in children of divorce could derive from similar pathology in the parents, pathology that is both heritable and increases the risk that the parent will experience divorce. To test these alternative hypotheses, the authors made use of a novel design that incorporated timing of divorce in a sample of 610 adoptive and biological families. They reasoned that if genes common to parent and child mediate this association, nonadopted youth should manifest increased delinquency in the presence of parental divorce even if the divorce preceded their birth (i.e., was from a prior parental relationship). However, should the association be environmental in origin, the authors reasoned that adolescents should manifest increased delinquency only in response to divorce exposure, and this association should not vary by adoption status. Results firmly supported the latter, suggesting that it is the experience of parental divorce, and not common genes, that drives the association between divorce and adolescent delinquency. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)