Relationship of mother and child variables to child outcomes in a high-risk sample: A causal modeling analysis.

Children of depressed mothers are at risk for psychopathology, but most studies have failed to examine mediators of the effects, mutual influence of children and mothers on each other, and effects of children's own characteristics. Children, aged 8 to 16, of 64 mothers with recurrent unipolar or bipolar affective disorders, chronic medical illness, or no disorder were assessed on initial and 6-month follow-up measures. Structural equation modeling tested a model in which children's outcomes 6 months later were caused by maternal functioning (including depression symptoms, role adjustment, and observed positive interaction) and characteristics of the child. A reciprocal relationship was predicted between maternal functioning and child characteristics (including quality of interactions with the mother, self-concept, and age). Results supported the model; although maternal functioning is related to symptoms and dysfunction in children, characteristics of the child also contribute to maternal functioning in a cycle of negative mutual influence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Father and mother physical abuse and child aggressive behaviour in two generations.

Research in developmental psychopathology has not adequately examined the role of fathers in abuse, nor has it adequately examined the effects of abuse on girls. This study was an investigation of physical child abuse from fathers and mothers in the prediction of aggressive behavior among boys as well as girls. The participants consisted of 1,536 parents and their 983 college-age children. A parallel 2-generation, cross-sectional design was utilized. Results indicated that physical abuse from fathers and from mothers emerged as significant and additive predictors of aggressive behavior among boys as well as girls. The results point to the important role fathers appear to play in the adaptive and maladaptive functioning of their children. The results also suggest that child maltreatment should be examined within the context of the family unit or microsystem. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of paternal and maternal depressive symptoms on child internalizing symptoms and asthma disease activity: Mediation by interparental negativity and parenting.

This study tested a hypothesized model of the relationships among parental depressive symptoms, family process (interparental negativity and negative parenting behavior), child internalizing symptoms, and asthma disease activity. A total of 106 children with asthma, aged 7 to 17, participated with their fathers and mothers. Parental depressive symptoms were assessed by self-report. Interparental and parenting behaviors were observed and rated during family discussion tasks. Child internalizing symptoms were assessed by self-report and by clinician interview and rating. Asthma disease activity was assessed according to National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute guidelines. Results of structural equation modeling generally supported interparental negativity and negative parenting behavior as mediators linking parental depressive symptoms and child emotional and physical dysfunction. However, paternal and maternal depressive symptoms play their role through different pathways of negative family process. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Children's fearfulness as a moderator of parenting in early socialization: Two longitudinal studies.

Findings from 2 longitudinal studies replicate and considerably extend past work on child temperament as a moderating link between parenting and successful socialization outcomes. In Study 1 (N = 106 mothers and children), child fearfulness, mother-child positive relationship, and maternal power assertion were assessed at 22 and 33 months; the outcome-children's moral self-was assessed at 56 months. In Study 2 (N = 102 mothers, fathers, and children), child fearfulness and parent-child positive relationship were assessed at 7 and 15 months; parents' power assertion was assessed at 15 months. The outcomes were children's receptive, willing stance toward the parent at 25 months, and rule-compatible conduct without supervision at 38 months. Child fearfulness significantly moderated the impact of parenting: In both studies, for relatively fearless children, mother-child positive relationship predicted future successful socialization outcomes in mother-child dyads. There was no analogous moderation effect in father-child dyads in Study 2. For relatively fearful children, fathers' power assertion in Study 2 predicted poor socialization outcomes. All Temperament × Parenting interactions appeared limited to measures obtained in the 2nd year. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Child Maltreatment, Parent Alcohol- and Drug-Related Problems, Polydrug Problems, and Parenting Practices: A Test of Gender Differences and Four Theoretical Perspectives.

The authors tested how adverse childhood experiences (child maltreatment and parent alcohol- and drug-related problems) and adult polydrug use (as a mediator) predict poor parenting in a community sample (237 mothers and 81 fathers). These relationships were framed within several theoretical perspectives, including observational learning, impaired functioning, self-medication, and parentification-pseudomaturity. Structural models revealed that child maltreatment predicted poor parenting practices among mothers. Parent alcohol- and drug-related problems had an indirect detrimental influence on mothers' parenting and practices through self-drug problems. Among fathers, emotional neglect experienced as a child predicted lack of parental warmth more parental neglect, and sexual abuse experienced as a child predicted a rejecting style of parenting. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Fathers and mothers of school-age children with developmental disabilities: parental stress, family functioning, and social support

Thirty pairs of fathers and mothers who had school-age children with mental retardation and other disabilities were compared with each other and with 32 father and mother pairs of parents of children without disabilities. Responses to family scales indicated that fathers and mothers of children with developmental disabilities did not differ from each other nor from fathers and mothers of children without disabilities in parental stress, family social support, or family functioning. However, parents of children with disabilities experienced a disproportionately greater level of stress relating to their children than did those of children without disabilities. Fathers' and mothers' stress was associated with aspects of family functioning as perceived by themselves and their spouses.     

A meta-analytic review of the influence of pediatric cancer on parent and family functioning.

This study used meta-analytic methods to compare the functioning of parents of children with cancer to parents of physically healthy children or normative samples. A meta-analysis using fixed effects, weighted least squares methods was conducted on 29 studies examining psychological distress and marital and family functioning among parents of children with cancer. Mothers and fathers of children newly diagnosed with cancer reported significantly greater distress than comparison samples. Mothers reported greater distress than fathers up to 12 months postdiagnosis. Mothers of children with cancer reported higher levels of family conflict than mothers of healthy children. Findings suggest that pediatric cancer impacts parents' perceptions of self- and family functioning, especially within the 1st year following diagnosis. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Parental Problem Drinking and Children's Adjustment: Attachment and Family Functioning as Moderators and Mediators of Risk.

Children's perceived attachments with parents, and family cohesion and adaptability were examined as predictors, mediators, and moderators in the parental problem drinking-child outcomes link. A total of 216 6- to 12-year-olds (110 boys, 106 girls) participated. Data were obtained from children and their mothers, fathers, and teachers. A higher level of family cohesion and adaptability functioned as (a) a robust protective factor against adjustment and cognitive difficulties otherwise associated with problem drinking and (b) a mediator of adjustment problems. Children's perceptions of attachments to mothers and fathers were consistent predictors of behavioral, social, and cognitive problems and further moderated relations between problem drinking and child functioning. The results support that child-parent and family functioning variables act as either pathways and/or vulnerability and protective factors for children exposed to a high-risk environment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Parent Functioning in Families of Preadolescents With Spina Bifida: Longitudinal Implications for Child Adjustment.

The purpose of this study was to test a strength-of-association model regarding possible longitudinal and bidirectional associations between parent functioning and child adjustment in families of children with spina bifida (n = 68) and families of able-bodied children (n = 68). Parent functioning was assessed across 3 domains: parenting stress, individual psychosocial adjustment, and marital satisfaction. Child adjustment was indexed by teacher-reported internalizing and externalizing symptoms, self-reported depressive symptoms, and observed adaptive behavior. Findings revealed that all 3 parent functioning variables predicted child adjustment outcomes, and that such results were particularly strong for externalizing symptoms. Associations between parent functioning and child adjustment tended to be in the direction of parent to child and were similar across both groups. These findings have implications for potential interventions targeted at helping families manage the transition into early adolescence in families of children with spina bifida as well as families of healthy children. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Expectant parents' representations of early attachment relationships: Associations with mental health and family history.

The association between adult representations of early attachment relationships and history of individual and family mental health was examined in a sample of 233 expectant mothers and fathers. As predicted, security of attachment was linked to mental health. Parents classified as Preoccupied were more likely than other parents to report suicidal ideation, whereas parents classified as Unresolved more- often reported suicidal ideation, emotional distress, and substance abuse. With respect to family history, Unresolved and Preoccupied attachment classifications were significantly related to child abuse involving a relative and parental separation or divorce. These findings support theoretical conceptualizations regarding the link between adult attachment and mental health in middle-class American adults. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Parental warmth, control, and indulgence and their relations to adjustment in Chinese children: A longitudinal study.

A sample of children, initially 12 years old, in the People's Republic of China participated in this 2-year longitudinal study. Data on parental warmth, control, and indulgence were collected from children's self-reports. Information concerning social, academic, and psychological adjustment was obtained from multiple sources. The results indicated that parenting styles might be a function of child gender and change with age. Regression analyses revealed that parenting styles of fathers and mothers predicted different outcomes. Whereas maternal warmth had significant contributions to the prediction of emotional adjustment, paternal warmth significantly predicted later social and school achievement. It was also found that paternal, but not maternal, indulgence significantly predicted children's adjustment difficulties. The contributions of the parenting variables might be moderated by the child's initial conditions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Fathering in family context and child adjustment: A longitudinal analysis.

This study focuses on relations between fathers’ behavior in family context and children’s adjustment, including the roles of paternal depressive symptoms, paternal marital conflict behaviors, paternal parenting, and children’s emotional security. Participants included 235 families with a six-year-old child, with families followed longitudinally each year for three years. In terms of fathers’ adjustment, paternal problem drinking was related to paternal negative marital conflict behaviors and decreased positive parenting, which was associated with children’s externalizing and internalizing problems. Fathers’ depressive symptoms were directly related with children’s internalizing problems. Children’s emotional security was an intervening variable in relations between father’s behavior in family context and children’s development. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Assessment of fairness in child custody decisions

Court-appointed child advocates, attorneys, guardians ad litem, and therapists were asked to rate preferred traits for mothers and fathers, and to make custody decisions and abuse likelihood ratings for children in one of two vignettes that varied only as to whether mother or father was described as incompetent to parent without threat of further abuse. Results revealed that this sample of professionals did not hold double standards with respect to attributes important for mothers versus fathers. To the contrary, interpersonal sensitivity traits, traditionally identified as most prevalent among women, were valued equally in mothers and fathers and preferred for both parents to interpersonal potency, traditionally ascribed more readily to men. Further, decisions about custody and placement or abuse likelihood were not affected by any sex-role stereotypes professionals held about parents, nor by professionals' gender or specific occupation. The only factor that affected custody judgments and abuse likelihood ratings was the competence of the parent in question. These findings suggest that biases with regard to gender to gender or traditional sex-role preferences for parents are disappearing among professionals who make important placement decisions in the lives of abused children. Future studies must assess whether these theoretical findings translate into actual behavior in real-life abuse cases for the professional groups represented in this sample.     

Association of maternal psychological functioning to pathology in child sexual abuse victims

The purpose of this study was to assess the psychological impact of disclosure of sexual abuse on child victims and their mothers and evaluate whether there was an association between maternal distress and report of child behavioral and psychological problems. Data on child psychological and behavioral problems and maternal psychological functioning were collected at the time of disclosure of sexual abuse and 9 months later for 49 subjects. The study showed the heterogeneity and severity of problems among victims and their mothers at baseline. These problems persisted almost a year later. Maternal distress was strongly correlated with the mothers' assessments of child functioning and was less strongly associated with the children's own assessments of their status. Because the mothers in this study reported high levels of persistent distress for themselves and their children, comprehensive intervention with the family may be an efficient route to child recovery after disclosure of sexual abuse.     

Parenting during the second year: effects of children's age, sex, and attachment classification

70 2-parent families with 12-month-old infants and 67 2-parent families with 18-month-old toddlers participated in the study. Mothers and fathers participated in separate interviews and filled out questionnaires on family and child behaviors. Mothers and their children participated in the Ainsworth Strange Situation, and the families were observed for a total of 4 hours in their homes. Families were compared on composite measures of family environment variables, parents' perception of their children, and on process variables from home observations. Family differences in environmental stress and marital adjustment showed no effects for attachment classifications, although parents of 12-month-olds reported greater marital adjustment and more pleasure in parenting than parents of 18-months-olds. Both mothers and fathers reported that children classified as resistant were more difficult on several temperament measures. During home observations, 12-month-old children received more positive responses from mothers, and 18-month-old children received more instructions and directions from both parents. Insecure boys (both avoidant and resistant) received the least instructions and directions from both parents, but insecure-avoidant girls received the most instruction from fathers.     

Mothers and fathers teaching 3-year-olds: Authoritative parenting and adult scaffolding of young children's learning.

Investigated variations in parental tutoring of children on the basis of Vygotsky's (1978) theorizing and concept of parental scaffolding of children's learning. Twenty-four couples and their 3-year-old children participated. Mothers and fathers worked separately with the child on three difficult tasks: a block construction task, a matrix classification task, and a story retelling task. Parental interventions were classified by level of support and were used to define the region of sensitivity to instruction, following the work of Wood (1980). Independent observers rated each parent separately on authoritative/uninvolved and authoritarian/permissive styles, following Baumrind's (1967, 1973) typology. Both mothers and fathers adjusted their support of the child as predicted. Later portions of the tutoring interactions demonstrated more fine tuning of interventions by parents than earlier portions. However, authoritative mothers and fathers were generally more likely than nonauthoritative parents to focus interventions in the region of sensitivity across tasks and to shift their interventions contingent on child success or failure. These patterns were also associated with more dyadic success on task as predicted. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

In vitro fertilization and the family: Quality of parenting, family functioning, and child psychosocial adjustment.

This study examined associations between homologous in vitro fertilization (IVF) and quality of parenting, family functioning, and emotional and behavioral adjustment of 3–7-year-old children. A cross-sectional survey was conducted in Taiwan with 54 IVF mother–child pairs and 59 mother–child pairs with children conceived naturally. IVF mothers reported a greater level of protectiveness toward their children than control mothers. Teachers, blind to condition, rated IVF mothers as displaying greater warmth but not overprotective or intrusive parenting behaviors toward their children. Teachers scored children of IVF as having fewer behavioral problems than control children. In contrast, IVF mothers reported less satisfaction with aspects of family functioning. Family composition moderated parenting stress: IVF mothers with only 1 child perceived less parenting stress than did those in the control group. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social support in families of children with chronic conditions: supportive and nonsupportive behaviors

We questioned parents of 182 young children with a variety of chronic health conditions concerning the amount of emotional, informational, and tangible social support they received from the family, community, and service providers. We also asked parents to describe nonsupportive or hurtful behaviors received from family or community members. Both mothers and fathers reported that family members provided the most emotional and tangible social support and service providers the most informational support. The amount of perceived support from all sources increased over time, but 78% of mothers and 60% of fathers reported at least one instance of nonsupport from these same sources, primarily from extended family members and health professionals. We encourage health professionals to show respect and to provide timely, accurate information in a sensitive manner to parents whose child has a chronic health condition and to assist parents in handling nonsupportive behaviors from family and friends.     

Somatic complaints in pediatric patients: A prospective study of the role of negative life events, child social and academic competence, and parental somatic symptoms.

This prospective study of 197 pediatric patients with chronic abdominal pain examined the role of negative family life events and several potential moderator variables (child social and academic competence, parental somatic symptoms, and child sex) in child somatic complaints 1 year after a clinic visit. Results indicated that (a) among children low in social competence at the time of the initial clinic visit, higher levels of subsequent negative life events predicted higher levels of somatic complaints at follow-up; (b) among boys in families with high levels of negative life events, those whose mothers were characterized by high levels of somatic symptoms had higher levels of somatic complaints at follow-up; and (c) children whose fathers were characterized by high levels of somatic symptoms showed higher levels of somatic complaints at follow-up, regardless of the level of life events. Possible mechanisms accounting for these findings are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Toward a contingency hypothesis of empathy development.

Found that the empathy level (assessed by a version of the Feshbach and Roe Situational Test for Empathy) of 42 normal 9- and 10-yr-old children from a Greek island was negatively related to their fear of physical punishment from their parents, particularly from their fathers. Low empathy Ss also reported more spanking from and more fear of their fathers than their mothers. Ss whose fathers were away from home for most of the year scored higher in empathy. Results are explained in terms of the relatively distant and ambivalent relationship that Greek children have with their fathers, in contrast to the very positive relationship they have with their mothers. It is therefore suggested that when punishment is delivered by a parent with whom the child has a prior strong positive bonding, such punishment may not be very deleterious to the child's development of empathy. (9 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)