Parents' stressful life events and social networks: Relations with parenting and children's competence.

Explored relations between parents' stressful life events and social networks, parent–child interactions, and children's competence in preschool, in 30 normally functioning, 2-parent families. Family interactions were assessed by home observations, observer ratings, and parent self-reports; children's competence in preschool was assessed by teacher ratings. Stress was not strongly linked with parenting, although loss (deaths of relatives and friends) was associated across methods with decreased warmth for both parents. Structural and functional differences emerged for social support from spouse, kin, and friends. Aspects of mothers' and fathers' social networks were associated with the others' parenting. Partial correlation analyses were consistent with the view that effects of parental stress on child behavior were mediated by parent–child interactions, while social networks influenced children directly. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Two-career families: Demographic variables, parenting, and competence in young children.

Data on parenting were collected for 30 families with 1 or 2 3–5.8 yr old children, using home observations, observer ratings, and self-reports. Children's competence was assessed by a preschool behavior Q-sort. Patterns of employment and socioeconomic status (SES) differed for mothers and fathers, apparently in response to the demands of the childbearing and rearing. For both parents, SES was related across methods to parental warmth. Paternal variables were more strongly associated with children's competence than were maternal variables. Partial correlation analyses suggested that the links between paternal measures and competence were mediated by father warmth. These results have implications for models of the processes connecting demographic variables, parenting, and child outcomes. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Parent styles associated with children's self-regulation and competence in school.

This study assessed three dimensions of parent style, autonomy support, involvement, and provision of structure in 64 mothers and 50 fathers of elementary-school children in Grades 3–6, using a structured interview. Construct validity data for the interview ratings suggested that the three parent dimensions were reliable, relatively independent, and correlated with other parent measures in hypothesized ways. Aspects of children's self-regulation and competence were measured through children's reports, teacher ratings, and objective indices. Parental autonomy support was positively related to children's self-reports of autonomous self-regulation, teacher-rated competence and adjustment, and school grades and achievement. Maternal involvement was related to achievement, teacher-rated competence, and some aspects of behavioral adjustment, but no significant relations were obtained for father involvement. The structure dimension was primarily related to children's control understanding. Results are discussed in terms of the motivational impact of the parent on school competence and adjustment and in terms of transactional models of influence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Children's relationships with peers: differential associations with aspects of the teacher-child relationship

Associations between children's social competence with peers and differential aspects of their teacher-child relationships were examined in a longitudinal sample of 48 4-year-old children enrolled in child care as infants. Toddler security with teacher was negatively associated with hostile aggression and positively with complex peer play and gregarious behaviors. Prosocial behaviors and withdrawing behaviors were associated with preschool security with teacher. Dependence on teachers as a preschooler was associated with social withdrawal and hostile aggression. Positive toddler teacher socialization was associated with higher perceived peer acceptance. Preschool teacher negative socialization was negatively associated with complex peer play, teacher ratings of hesitancy, friendly enactment, and accidental attribution and positively related to teacher ratings of difficulty.     

The socialization of emotional expression: Relations with prosocial behaviour and competence in five samples.

To replicate and extend the findings of W. Roberts and J. Strayer (1987), this paper reports on 5 studies that investigated parents' responses to the emotional distress of their children (emotional socialization) in relation to children's prosocial behaviour and ego resilience in preschool. Meta-analytic techniques were used to combine results across samples (3 from Ontario and 2 from British Columbia). In all, 150 families participated; children's mean age?=?4.2 years. Nearly 79% of all comparisons replicated across samples. Consistent with the cognitive-emotional processing model (Roberts and Strayer, 1987), (1) children's ego-resilient and prosocial behaviours were related to parents' tolerant, non-punitive responses to emotional distress; (2) partial correlations supported the contention that emotional socialization practices affect outcomes independently of other parenting dimensions; and (3) longitudinal data (available for 1 sample of children) indicated that greater emphasis on emotional control was related to declines in boys' ego-resilient behaviours 2.5 yrs later. However, consistent with emotion regulation models, parenting practices that emphasized the control of emotional expression were sometimes positively related to contemporary measures of competence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mothers' scaffolding of children's problem solving: Establishing a foundation of academic self-regulatory competence.

The study examined relations between dimensions of mothers' scaffolding and children's academic self-regulatory behaviors in school. Mothers and their preschool children (68 dyads) were visited in their homes the summer before the child entered kindergarten. Mothers' metacognitive content and manner of instruction, emotional support, and transfer of responsibility were coded as mothers provided assistance to their children during 4 problem-solving tasks. Children's self-regulatory behaviors were assessed the following school year. Metacognitive content and manner of instruction were predictors of child behaviors related to cognitive awareness and management: metacognitive talk, monitoring, and help seeking. Emotional support and transfer of responsibility were related to children's task persistence and behavior control in school. Mothers' scaffolding appears to lay the foundation for children's subsequent academic self-regulatory competence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Using the Marschak Interaction Method Rating System for Chinese families: Relationship between parent-child interaction pattern and child's social behavior.

This study investigated the use of the Marschak Interaction Method Rating System (MIMRS) in assessing parent–child interaction patterns and its relationship with preschool children's social behavior in a Chinese sample. Fifty-two preschoolers and their parents (either mother or father) participated in the study. The MIMRS demonstrated moderate to high internal consistency. There was also a moderate positive correlation between the MIMRS and the Kinship Centre Attachment Questionnaire (Kappenberg & Halpern, 2006). With reference to parent–child interaction and the child's social behavior, a negative relationship was identified between child anger/aggressive behavior and parent's nurturing toward his or her child. In addition, a child's demonstration of exploratory behavior, reciprocity with parent, and regulatory capacities were positively related to that child's social competence and negatively related to the child's anger/aggressive behavior. The practical uses of the MIMRS as a screening tool for working with parents and children in a non-Western culture are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Expressed emotion. Trait or state?

BACKGROUND: This exploratory study addresses the question of whether expressed emotion (EE) is a response characteristic of the parent (trait) or a parental response to specific circumstances or persons (state). METHOD: Seventeen parents participated in two audiotaped interviews, using modified versions of the Camberwell Family Interview. One interview concerned the child with chronic schizophrenia and the other a well sibling. Subsequent ratings of the EE variables of critical comments (CC), emotional overinvolvement (EOI) and warmth were completed and compared. RESULTS: EE response patterns directed towards patients, as compared with towards siblings, were significantly different on two measures: EOI (P = 0.01) and warmth (P = 0.02). The parents showed significantly more emotional overinvolvement with the child with schizophrenia and significantly more warmth towards the well child. CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest that the EE variables of EOI and warmth are related to the state of child, and the lack of a significant difference in CC suggests that this is a parental trait.     

Cultural differences in the relationship between parenting and children's behavior.

Parent and teacher data for 14,990 children from the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth were used in multilevel analyses to examine the relationship between ethnicity, children's aggression and emotional problems, and parenting. Using parent and teacher report, relationships between ethnicity and child behavior were present but modest. The association between parental harshness and child aggression differed between ethnic groups and across informants. Using teacher report of outcomes, parental harshness was positively related to child aggression in European Canadian families but negatively related in South Asian Canadian families. For all ethnic groups, parental harshness was positively related to children's aggression when parent report of outcomes was used, but relationships varied in strength across ethnic groups. The relationship of parental harshness with child emotional problems did not differ across groups, irrespective of informant. The results are discussed within the context of an ecological model of parenting. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Socialization of children's vicarious emotional responding and prosocial behavior: Relations with mothers' perceptions of children's emotional reactivity.

Examined mother–child emotion-related interactions and how these interactions related to mothers' perceptions of children's emotional reactivity. Mothers of 49 kindergartners and 54 2nd graders told their children 2 stories about distressed others. Children's emotional, physiological, and prosocial responses were also obtained. Mothers rated children's tendencies to become emotional when exposed to distressed others. For kindergartners, mothers' perceptions of children's emotional reactivity were positively related to her use of positive facial expressions. Mothers' perceptions of 2nd graders' emotional reactivity were inversely related to maternal responsiveness. These findings suggest that mothers may "adjust" their interactions with their children based on their perceptions of children's emotional tendencies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Creating informal play opportunities: Are parents' and preschoolers' initiations related to children's competence with peers?

Preschoolers' social competence may depend on the frequency with which informal play activities are initiated by parents, children, and playmates. In this study, measures of children's peer relations in informal and school contexts and the frequency of parents', children's, and peers' play initiations were obtained with 83 preschool children and their families on 2 occasions. Frequent parent initiations were associated with higher levels of prosocial behavior, lower levels of nonsocial behavior, and, among boys, greater peer acceptance in preschool. Children who were more initiating of informal peer contacts displayed less anxious behavior in school and were better liked by their classmates. Finally, the degree to which parents involved children in the process of arranging informal play activities was positively related to the frequency with which children initiated their own peer contacts. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Family-school context: Parent and teacher agreement on child temperament.

A parent and teacher agreement index was developed as a measure of agreement on child temperament. Data was presented from three studies representing parents, their preschool children, and their children's teachers from diverse backgrounds and settings. The parent–teacher agreement index correlated with a variety of teacher and parent ratings over several samples. Across the three studies emerged a consistent pattern in which the more parents and teachers agreed on child temperament, the more likely it was that the child was a nonproblem, socially adaptable, confident and academically skillful child. The utility of the data for understanding the meaning of temperament as rated by mothers, fathers, and teachers is discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Partner aggression and children's externalizing problems: Maternal and partner warmth as protective factors.

This research examined maternal and partner warmth as moderators of the relation between men's intimate partner aggression and children's externalizing problems. Participants were 157 mothers and their children (ages 7-9 years). Results indicate that maternal and partner warmth each moderated the relation between men's intimate partner aggression and children's externalizing problems. Partner-to-mother aggression was positively associated with child reports of externalizing problems at lower, but not higher, levels of maternal warmth. Similarly, partner-to-mother aggression was positively associated with mother reports of girls', but not boys', externalizing problems at lower, but not higher, levels of maternal warmth. On the other hand, the moderating effect of partner warmth was in the opposite direction and was found only with child-reported externalizing problems. Increased levels of partner-to-mother aggression related positively to child-reported externalizing problems when partners were higher, but not lower, in warmth. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Parental competence and styles of problem solving/play behavior with children.

The relationship of parental psychosocial competence to parent interaction behaviors in a joint problem-solving/play session was studied in 23 adult–preschool child pairs. Parents were assessed using self-report questionnaires to determine degrees of self-efficacy, optimistic trust, and an active, competent coping style. Children and parents participated in a semistructured problem-solving/play task with observers rating the parental behaviors in the interactions; child responses were not specifically studied. More competent parents treated the child as being more capable and resourceful, showed generally warm and positive feelings, and were more helpful with problem solving. Thus, these parental competence attributes are confirmed as significant variables relating to parental behavior and to their styles of interaction, which are part of the socialization context of their children. (21 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A longitudinal study of social competence among children of alcoholic and nonalcoholic parents: Role of parental psychopathology, parental warmth, and self-regulation.

This study tested a conceptual model predicting children's social competence in a sample of children with alcoholic and non-alcoholic parents. The model examined the role of parents' alcohol diagnoses, depression, and antisocial behavior at 12–18 months of child age in predicting parental warmth/sensitivity at 2 years of child age. Parental warmth/sensitivity at 2 years was hypothesized to predict children's self-regulation and externalizing behavior problems at 3 years. Parenting, self-regulation, and behavior problems were expected to predict social competence in kindergarten. Structural equations modeling was supportive of this model. Fathers' alcohol diagnosis was associated with lower warmth/sensitivity. Lower maternal warmth/sensitivity at 2 years was predictive of lower child self-regulation at 3 years. Parenting, self-regulation, and externalizing behavior problems were predictive of social competence in kindergarten, although associations varied by reporter (parents or teacher). There was a direct association between fathers' alcohol diagnosis and father reports of social competence, and between fathers' depression and teacher reports of social competence. The study elucidates developmental processes in predicting social competence and the role of fathers' alcoholism and associated risk factors in this process. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Parent-chld relationships and the management of insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus.

Several dimensions of parent–child relationships were examined as predictors of adherence to treatment and metabolic control in a multi-informant study of 88 children and adolescents with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus who were recruited from 2 endocrinology clinics. Ratings of parent–child discipline, warmth, and behavioral support were not significantly associated with diabetes outcome, but parent–child conflict was a consistent correlate of both adherence and metabolic control. Within a public hospital subsample, conflict was related to parent, child, and nurse ratings of adherence and to a physiological index of metabolic control. These results were partially replicated in a private practice sample where conflict was significantly related to parents' ratings of adherence and to metabolic control. Conflict accounted for unique variance in diabetes outcome beyond that associated with other measures of the parent–child relationship, but the relation between conflict and metabolic control was no longer significant when adherence ratings were entered into regression equations first. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interparental conflict and children's school adjustment: The explanatory role of children's internal representations of interparental and parent-child relationships.

This study examined how children's insecure internal representations of interparental and parent-child relationships served as explanatory mechanisms in multiple pathways linking interparental conflict and parent emotional unavailability with the emotional and classroom engagement difficulties the children had in their adjustment to school. With their parents, 229 kindergarten children (127 girls and 102 boys, mean age = 6.0 years, SD = .50, at Wave 1) participated in this multimethod, 3-year longitudinal investigation. Findings revealed that children's insecure representations of the interparental relationship were a significant intervening mechanism in associations between observational ratings of interparental conflict and child and teacher reports on children's emotional and classroom difficulties in school over a 2-year period. Moreover, increased parental emotional unavailability accompanying high levels of interparental conflict was associated with children's insecure representations of the parent-child relationship and children's difficulties in classroom engagement at school entry. The findings highlight the importance of understanding the intrinsic processes that contribute to difficulties with stage-salient tasks for children who are experiencing interparental discord. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A conceptual model for the development of externalizing behavior problems among kindergarten children of alcoholic families: Role of parenting and children's self-regulation.

The purpose of this study was to test a conceptual model predicting children's externalizing behavior problems in kindergarten in a sample of children with alcoholic (n = 130) and nonalcoholic (n = 97) parents. The model examined the role of parents' alcohol diagnoses, depression, and antisocial behavior at 12-18 months of child age in predicting parental warmth/sensitivity at 2 years of child age. Parental warmth/sensitivity at 2 years was hypothesized to predict children's self-regulation at 3 years (effortful control and internalization of rules), which in turn was expected to predict externalizing behavior problems in kindergarten. Structural equation modeling was largely supportive of this conceptual model. Fathers' alcohol diagnosis at 12-18 months was associated with lower maternal and paternal warmth/sensitivity at 2 years. Lower maternal warmth/sensitivity was longitudinally predictive of lower child self-regulation at 3 years, which in turn was longitudinally predictive of higher externalizing behavior problems in kindergarten, after controlling for prior behavior problems. There was a direct association between parents' depression and children's externalizing behavior problems. Results indicate that one pathway to higher externalizing behavior problems among children of alcoholics may be via parenting and self-regulation in the toddler to preschool years. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Family instability and the problem behaviors of children from economically disadvantaged families

This longitudinal study examined the relation between family instability and the problem behaviors of children from economically disadvantaged families. Family instability was assessed when the children were ages 5 and 7 and included number of residence changes, changes of intimate caregiver relationships, and recent negative life events. The results showed direct concurrent relations between family instability and preschool children's externalizing behavior in the context of other family process variables, relations between subsequent family instability and 1st-grade children's internalizing behavior (i.e., with preschool behavior ratings controlled), and an effect for persistent instability across grade. Moderator effects were also found for child variables, including gender, temperamental adaptability, and prior externalizing scores.