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Children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) often experience academic challenges such as frequent homework difficulties. A subset of children with ADHD exhibit clinically significant levels of affect variability that may contribute to ADHD-related impairment such as homework difficulties. The present study sought to examine the relations between negative and positive affect variability and the two domains of homework problems (i.e., homework management and homework completion) in children with ADHD. It was hypothesized that both negative and positive affect variability would be associated with homework completion and homework management difficulties in children with ADHD. Participants (n = 47) included parents of 7–11-year-old children (M = 8.36, SD = 1.31) with ADHD. During the baseline session, parents completed a structured diagnostic interview and questionnaire measures to assess children's homework problems, ADHD symptoms, and related psychiatric conditions. Subsequently, parents provided ecological momentary assessments (EMA) ratings of their children's positive and negative affect three times daily over a one-week period. Results indicate that, while controlling for ADHD symptom severity, positive affect variability was significantly associated with homework management but not completion difficulties in children with ADHD; negative affect variability was not associated with homework problems in either domain. The current study highlights the importance of positive affect regulation in children's navigation of the homework process, and results suggest that children with ADHD who struggle with homework management difficulties might benefit from homework interventions that incorporate positive affect regulation strategies. Highlights: Positive affect variability is associated with homework management difficulties in children with ADHD. Negative affect variability is not significantly associated with homework problems in children with ADHD. Positive affect variability estimates homework management difficulties even when controlling for ADHD symptom severity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Maternal practices and their exposure to traumatic events might impede children's psychological adjustment; however, family relations, play, and leisure engagement may mitigate it. Previous research that has focused on the mechanisms influencing children's psychological adjustment has not included contextual factors such as family relations and children's engagement in play. In a sample of mothers with and without a history of trauma, this study aimed to examine the impact of maternal practices on children's psychological adjustment and to test their indirect effect through family relations and child engagement in play and leisure activities. A cross-sectional study comprised a sample of 99 mother-child dyads with children aged 6 to 12 years old, predominantly Caucasian, and mothers with college-level education. Self-report measures assessed parental acceptance-rejection, the impact of maternal exposure to traumatic events, family relations, child psychological adjustment, and play. Children of mothers who reported exposure to traumatic events had significantly more psychosocial difficulties. A moderated mediated model tested whether family relations and child play engagement effects varied based on maternal exposure to traumatic events. The model was significant and both direct and indirect effects were supported. Maternal rejection predicted children's psychological maladjustment and this relation was mediated by children's engagement in play for mothers with a trauma history. These findings point to the importance of play and leisure activities within and outside the family context during the middle childhood period. Highlights: Engagement in play was related to greater psychosocial functioning for children whose mothers reported traumatic events exposure impacted their lives. Family relations did not mitigate the relationship between maternal practices and children's psychosocial adjustment. Children's engagement in play and leisure activities may act as a protective factor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent research suggests that Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) may be influenced by interactions between the individual and their social context. This study examined the predictive value of family context variables and attentional control levels on child ADHD symptoms. A new explanatory model of the relationship amongst these variables was also tested. A sample of 754 families with children aged 7 to 11 was assessed through the Conners Parent Rating Scale, the Haezi-Etxadi Family Assessment Scale, and the Attention Network Test. Path analysis models showed a predictive association between children ADHD symptoms and Social Support Network, Parental Stress, Parental Self-efficacy, Attentional Control and being male. Furthermore, a stronger Social Support Network was associated with greater Parental Self-efficacy, a variable that predicted Parental Stress levels and children ADHD symptoms. In conclusion, a new multi-influence model of variables linked to ADHD symptomatology during mid-childhood is provided, which may be useful to support the design of family interventions. Highlights: Qualitatively different measures from prior research on the presence of ADHD in school-aged children were analysed. The path model showed that parents who perceived a stronger social support network showed greater parental self-efficacy. Greater parental self-efficacy was associated with lower parental stress; both factors related to children's ADHD symptoms. Attentional control and male sex were also directly related to ADHD symptoms in the path SEM model. Results showed that even non-clinical samples might benefit from primary preventive interventions in positive parenting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study examined the association between low-income mothers' and fathers' cognitive stimulation during early childhood and children's vocabulary knowledge in middle childhood and whether children's vocabulary knowledge in early childhood influences these relationships. We tested five hypotheses: that parental cognitive stimulation during early childhood will have a direct association on child vocabulary knowledge at age 9, that the longitudinal association between cognitive stimulation from one parent in early childhood and child vocabulary knowledge at age 9 will be stronger when the other parent also provides higher levels of cognitive stimulation in early childhood (accumulated advantage hypothesis), that higher level cognitive stimulation of one parent will compensate for lower level cognitive stimulation from the other parent (compensatory hypothesis), that the longitudinal association between cognitive stimulation from each parent at age 3 and child vocabulary knowledge at age 9 will be stronger when the child also has higher vocabulary knowledge at age 3, that parental cognitive stimulation at age 5 will mediate the association between child vocabulary knowledge at ages 3 and 9. Using data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing study (n = 1850), we found a positive and significant association between fathers' cognitive stimulation at age 3 and child vocabulary knowledge at age 9. We did not find support for the other hypotheses. Implications for future research and interventions are discussed. Highlights: Examined both low-income fathers' and mothers' cognitive stimulation in early childhood. Examined child vocabulary knowledge in middle childhood. Found that fathers' cognitive stimulation at age 3 was positively associated with child vocabulary knowledge at age 9. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parenting beliefs have a significant impact on the way parents interact with their children, but little is known about how children's behaviors may relate to changes in parents' childrearing beliefs over time, and whether changes in parents' beliefs may mediate the relation between child behavior and changes in parenting practices. We examined whether child externalizing behaviors at first grade related to changes in mothers' and fathers' obedience-oriented childrearing beliefs between first and fourth grade; whether parent anxiety interacted with child behavior problems to create conditions under which parents' beliefs were more resistant to change; and how changes in beliefs, in turn, related to changes in parents' autonomy granting behaviors between first and fifth grade. Participants included 895 families enrolled in a rich archival dataset, the NICHD Study of Early Childcare and Youth Development. Results showed that greater child externalizing behavior at first grade related to decreases in autonomy granting behaviors among mothers and high-anxiety fathers, as well as increases in low-anxiety mothers' traditional parenting beliefs. Mothers' more traditional beliefs related to declines in their own autonomy granting, and fathers' more traditional beliefs related to declines in their own and their partner's autonomy granting. Finally, a significant indirect effect showed that for mothers low in anxiety, child externalizing behaviors related to increases in traditional parenting beliefs which, in turn, related to decreases in mothers' autonomy granting. Findings are discussed in terms of parent gender differences and psychological flexibility. Highlights: The study examined how child externalizing behavior and parent anxiety relate to changes in parents' beliefs and behaviors Parents' traditional, obedience-oriented parenting beliefs related to declines in their autonomy granting behaviors For high-anxiety fathers, child externalizing related to declines in autonomy granting behaviors For low-anxiety mothers, child externalizing related to declines in autonomy granting through traditional parenting beliefs [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study examined the association between fathers' and mothers' additive risk during early childhood and children's social-emotional functioning in middle childhood. We also examined whether father and mother engagement with the child moderated the association between parental additive risk and child outcomes. We tested two moderation hypotheses (buffering and exposure hypotheses) to analyze the effect of fathers' engagement with children in early childhood on the relationship between fathers' additive risk and child outcomes and the effect of mothers' engagement in early childhood on the relationship between mothers' additive risk and child outcomes. Cross-over analyses were examined for the buffering hypothesis; in other words, whether parental engagement with children impacted the extent to which the other parent's additive risk was associated with child outcomes. Using data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing study (n = 1988), we found that higher levels of both fathers' and mothers' additive risk during early childhood were significantly associated with lower levels of children's social-emotional functioning at age 9. Moderation analyses supported the exposure hypothesis meaning that the association between fathers' additive risk and later child social-emotional functioning was greater when children had more exposure to fathers. The exposure hypothesis was not supported for mothers, the buffering hypothesis was not supported for fathers or mothers, and there were no cross-over buffering effects on the associations between parental additive risk and child outcomes. Implications for policy and future research are discussed. Highlights: Examines the association between parental additive risk during early childhood and children's social-emotional functioning in middle childhood and whether parental engagement moderates the association. Fathers' and mothers' additive risk during early childhood predict lower levels of children's social-emotional functioning in middle childhood. Higher levels of fathers' engagement with children during the early years is associated with lower social-emotional functioning in middle childhood when fathers have more risk factors. Higher levels of mothers' engagement with children during the early years is not associated with lower social-emotional functioning in middle childhood when mothers have more risk factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The developmental trajectory of the anxiety-related interpretive bias (a tendency to inappropriately interpret ambiguous stimuli as threatening) and its precursors is not fully elucidated. In this study we focused on the role of the interpretive theory of mind, relating it to the emergence of the interpretive bias, and to anxiety symptoms during middle childhood. Children aged 9–11 years (N = 86) were presented with 4 vignettes, each containing two parts. The first part assessed the child's interpretive bias using an ambiguous story paradigm, while the second part measured the interpretive theory of mind with a novel task assessing the understanding of biased social cognition. Parents reported on their children's theory of mind and anxiety symptoms, while children completed a self-report of the same anxiety measure. Results revealed that overall theory of mind ratings were negatively associated with interpretive bias and anxiety symptoms. Additionally, children with a higher performance on the novel interpretive theory of mind tasks had lower interpretive bias and anxiety symptoms. Children more prone to acknowledging the significance of a character's biased belief in constructing the character's interpretation and justification of the ambiguous situation (interpretive theory of mind), as well as those who used the relevant explicit information to construct their interpretation had lower anxiety symptoms, as well as lower scores on the interpretive bias task, than those that did not. Understanding the relationship between theory of mind and information processing biases is paramount for ameliorating early anxiety vulnerability signs during middle childhood. Highlights: Interpretive theory of mind is the ability to understand the mind as being constructive. We collected parental ratings of the child's theory of mind, anxiety and added children anxiety self-reports. We created stories assessing children's interpretive bias and their understanding on the importance of a biased belief in interpretation Higher levels of theory of mind (as measured by both tasks) were negatively associated with anxiety and interpretive bias in 9 to 11 year olds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Beginning with Ensink's seminal study (2015), the field entered a new era in which we were able to measure mentalizing in school-aged children. The goal of this work is to continue developing the state of the research within this tradition by exploring the psychometric properties of the Child Reflective Functioning Scale (CRFS) - a measure applied to the Child Attachment Interview and designed to assess RF during middle childhood - within both clinical and normative groups, and to examine if it differentiates between both groups. Participants were 159 Italian children (age range 8–12 years, Mage = 10.66, SD =1.83; 57% males) divided into two groups: 71 children with emotional-behavioral problems ('clinical group') and 88 children without emotional-behavioral problems ('community group'). Demographic data and Verbal Comprehension Index were collected. A two-factor model of CRFS (self- and other-focused RF) was confirmed in both groups, revealing that these intrapersonal and interpersonal indicators of children's RF are important domains of mentalizing abilities in middle childhood. The results revealed adequate inter-rater reliability of the CRFS. Controlling for the effect of potentially confounding demographic variables, significant differences on CRFS scales between clinical and community groups were found. The clinical group showed lower levels of CRFS scores than normative group, but importantly, the self-focused RF score uniquely predicted clinical/community status. Taken together, the findings showed that the CRFS is a reliable and validity measure for assessing RF in middle childhood with clinical and normative groups, contributing important information to the scientific literature on mentalizing in middle childhood. Highlights: The CRFS is a reliable and valid measure used to assess RF in middle childhood, discriminating between clinical and community children (children with and without emotional behavioral problems). Testing the psychometric proprieties of CRFS through the use of clinical and community groups, we found that the measure achieved adequate internal consistency, high inter-rater reliability, with a two-factor solution of CRFS (self- and other-focused RF). In both the clinical and the normative samples, CRFS scores were associated with age, gender and verbal competence, while they were not associated with SES and family composition. Clinical group showed lower levels of CRFS scores of all three dimensions (general, self- and other-focused RF) than the normative group, and only self-focused RF predicted clinical/community status in middle childhood. New evidence regarding the similar factorial invariance of CRFS for clinical and community children suggest that the two intrapersonal and interpersonal components of children's RF are reliable dimensions of mentalizing within clinical and community children during middle childhood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Explicit and implicit aspects of the mother-child relationship in middle childhood are thought to contribute to the development of child individuation in the context of close and protective relations. Implicit (nonverbal, procedural and non-conscious) aspects of the mother-child relationship were examined as predictors of children's adjustment through the Joint Painting Procedure (JPP). A multi-method research design was implemented to assess the implicit interactions between mother and child in terms of mutual recognition and role confusion beyond the child's temperament (effortful control) on a sample of 87 Jewish Israelis aged 9–12 and their mothers. The explicit aspects of the relationships were assessed on validated relationship questionnaires completed by both mothers and children. A high level of mutual recognition and a low level of role confusion as expressed in the Joint Painting Procedure were associated with better academic adaptation, and a low level of role confusion was associated with social adaptation. The implicit aspects predicted children's adjustment beyond the measures of explicit aspects and temperament. These findings thus point to the importance of assessing and treating implicit aspects of relationships. Highlights: The significance of implicit aspects of the mother-child relationship as predictors of children's adjustment in middle childhood were examined in terms of Mutual Recognition (MR) and Role Confusion (RC). The Joint Painting Procedure (JPP) a new art-based assessment tool was used to measure implicit ongoing interactions between mother and child. A high level of MR and a low level of RC on the JPP were associated with better academic adaptation. A low level of RC was associated with better social adaptation as reported by homeroom teachers beyond the prediction of explicit aspects of the mother-child relations and children's temperament (effortful control) as reported by mothers in questionnaires. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on the association between childhood attachment and depressive symptoms has primarily focused on the role of risk factors. This resulted in a lack of research on the role of potential resilience factors. In the current study, we suggest that middle childhood secure attachment is linked to adolescents' trait gratitude, which is linked to the enhanced resilience against the development of depressive symptoms in adolescence. In a longitudinal study, we measured 157 children's (9–12 years old, 48% boys) attachment appraisals (anxiety, avoidance, and trust), attachment representations (secure base script knowledge, and coherence) and depressive symptoms at baseline, and gratitude and depressive symptoms at follow-up two years later. Results supported our hypotheses that middle childhood attachment was robustly linked with adolescent trait gratitude. Moreover, trait gratitude indirectly linked middle childhood attachment avoidance, trust, and secure base script knowledge to change in depressive symptoms over time. These findings may help explain why more securely attached children are less likely to develop depressive symptoms. Highlights: Middle childhood secure attachment links to more trait gratitude in adolescence. Associations were found both for self-reported attachment appraisals and attachment representations derived from narratives. Trait gratitude indirectly linked attachment appraisals and representations to longitudinal changes in depressive symptoms. Trait gratitude is a resilience feature of more securely attached children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Children who have a good relationship with a best friend experience better social and emotional adjustment, making it critical to identify factors that foster the development of high-quality friendships. We examined whether the quality of the coparenting relationship, as perceived by each parent in middle childhood, predicted children's perceptions of the quality of their best friendship two years later. Eighty-eight families (50 girls) completed data collection at two timepoints. When children were in second grade (T1; mean age = 7.88 years), mothers and fathers each reported on the quality of their coparenting relationship. In fourth grade (T2; mean age = 9.79 years), children reported on the quality of their best friendship. Results from regression analyses showed that mothers who perceived a supportive coparenting relationship with their spouse had children who subsequently reported a relationship of higher quality with their best friend, and a post-hoc interaction analysis demonstrated that this association was magnified when fathers also perceived a supportive coparenting relationship. No direct links were found between fathers' perceptions of their coparenting relationship and children's friendships. These results suggest that the quality of the coparenting relationship, at least as perceived by mothers, relates to children's ability to establish and sustain important, intimate relationships with friends longitudinally. They also suggest that these effects are particularly pronounced when both parents agree on the quality of their coparenting relationship. Therefore, interventions aimed at promoting coparenting teamwork may help foster children's ability to form and maintain intimate friendships in middle childhood and beyond. Highlights: Research is scarce on longitudinal links between coparenting and child friendships. Mothers' coparenting reports relate to children's ability to form friendships. Links are magnified when fathers perceive a supportive coparenting relationship. Results are independent from parents' marital satisfaction. Future work should examine friendship reciprocity as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: This study investigated mentalization, operationalized as Reflective Functioning (RF), focusing on its differential subcomponents (self- and other-focused RF). The interplay between RF, attachment, and psychological maladjustment (operationalized as internalizing and externalizing problems) was examined during middle childhood in the service of forging a better understanding of the mentalizing framework. Methods: A community sample of Italian children aged 8–12 years (N = 96; Mage = 10.41 years, SD = 1.43 years) completed in an individual session the Child Attachment Interview, which later was coded for overall attachment coherence and RF by two separate teams of raters, and verbal comprehension subtests of the WISC-IV. Mothers completed the Child Behavior Checklist, comprising our measure of children's internalizing and externalizing problems. Results: Analyses showed that self-focused RF and other-focused RF together mediated the relation between attachment coherence and externalizing problems; further, only self-focused RF mediated the link between attachment coherence and internalizing problems. Conclusions: These findings contribute to theory and provide potential directions for intervention. Specifically, the findings may imply that targeting children's self-focused RF as an area of intervention may be more profitable in select psychological problems whereas in other cases it may be more useful to consider mentalizing in its totality. Possible mechanisms underlying these findings are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Grounded in Attachment Theory core conceptualization, maternal caregiving system, and reflective functioning this study aimed at examining whether maternal mental state and dispositions translate to how mothers play with their children. Methods: This study utilized an explanatory sequential mixed-method design consisting of qualitative approach and a quantitative cross-sectional design to explore maternal caregiving, reflective functioning, and support provided to child during joint play at the home environment. Seventy mother-child dyads were sampled for the quantitative phase. Measures used: Caregiving System Function scale, Rumination-Reflection Questionnaire, and an observation scale, Parent/Caregiver Support of Child's Playfulness to asses 15-min video recording of joint play. Next, twenty observations were selected for the qualitative analysis. Results: Maternal avoidant caregiving predicted reflective functioning, R2 = 0.15, β = −0.038. Anxious caregiving predicted rumination tendency, R2 = 0.16, β = 0.41. Reflective functioning predicted maternal support during joint play, R2 = 0.27, β = 0.27. Maternal caregiving dispositions predicated reflective functioning, which in turn predicted maternal support of child playfulness during joint play. From the qualitative analysis, of a sub-set of 20 dyads, the Balancing of task-oriented and process-oriented behaviors framework emerged and deepened our understanding of joint play experience during middle childhood period. Conclusions: Mothers who demonstrated enhanced support of their child's playfulness demonstrated higher reflective functioning. Researchers, as well as clinicians, can use the proposed framework to explore maternal support and parental dispositions and its effect on child's and dyadic behaviors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: This study tested the separate and combined effects of father involvement and paternal incarceration on child internalizing and externalizing behaviors at 9 years of age. Methods: Our sample contains completed interviews of 2652 fathers, 3515 mothers, and 3377 children. The mean age of fathers was 28 at child age 9. Multiple regression analysis of secondary data was conducted from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, a national study that followed a cohort of low-income married and unmarried parents and their young children living in 20 US cities. Results: Higher socioeconomic status and greater father involvement were associated with lower child internalizing and externalizing behaviors, while paternal incarceration for property crimes was associated with greater externalizing in boys and internalizing in girls. Incarceration for drug crimes was associated with lower father involvement. Conclusions: Multiple regression analyses confirmed the independent effects of father involvement on child internalizing and externalizing, but the incarceration for property crimes effects were attenuated and moderated by SES. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The importance of vulnerability expression for well-being is a prominent theme in contemporary psychology, but empirical support for this claim is lacking, including evidence for the belief that males are less open to states of vulnerability than females, and that people who are more judgmental of vulnerability experience difficulties in emotion regulation, and psychological well-being. Robust theoretical perspectives (attachment theory, emotion socialization) hold that children's views regarding vulnerability originate within the parent-child relationship; here we empirically examine parents' and children's views regarding vulnerability. Methods: We explored school-aged children's (8 to 12 years) and their parents' (N = 121) meta-emotional distress regarding vulnerability, as well as their perceptions of experiencing vulnerability as weak or strong, and their affective and behavioral reactions to vulnerability. We also compared perceptions of physical versus emotional vulnerability. Results: There were few gender differences in perceptions of vulnerability; however, children and parents evaluated physical vulnerability more favorably than emotional vulnerability. While meta-emotional distress to vulnerability was not consistently associated with emotion dysregulation or psychopathology, perceiving vulnerability as weak and as a reason to distance oneself, to not like the experiencer (children) or to discourage such expression (parents), were robustly associated with depressive symptoms and rejection sensitivity. Conclusions: Building relationships in which expressions of vulnerability—especially emotional vulnerability (states of fear and sadness)—are accepted and perceived as a means of building emotional resilience comports with attachment theory and with emotion- and attachment-based therapy principles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The current study explored longitudinal family conflict predictors of adolescent depressive symptoms occurring during middle childhood. Methods: We tested the mediating effects of mother–child and father–child conflict when children were in 6th grade on the relation between interparental conflict when children were in 5th grade and adolescent depressive symptoms when children were in 9th grade in a sample of 601 families enrolled in the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development. Results: Fathers' reports of interparental conflict at 5th grade were related to greater mother–child and father–child conflict at 6th grade, and mothers' reports of interparental conflict at 5th grade were related to greater mother–child conflict at 6th grade. Further, greater mother–child conflict at 6th grade was related to greater adolescent depressive symptoms at 9th grade. Conclusion: Results highlight the importance of understanding family system processes that unfold over time in predicting adolescent depressive symptoms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Self-reported romantic attachment style is a well-studied phenomenon within the romantic relationship literature, yet surprisingly little work examines its link with parenting- or child-related outcomes. Understanding the associations (or lack thereof) between adults' self-reported attachment anxiety and avoidance with relevant outcomes in children is crucial in revealing the extent to which romantic attachment style has empirical ties with the canonical work of Bowlby and Ainsworth. With the current study, we explored whether parents' self-reported romantic attachment style predicts a key outcome of attachment security—children's emotion reactivity and regulation. Within an ethnically diverse sample of school-aged children, we tested associations between parents' self-reported attachment styles and children's emotion reactivity and regulation, measured with subjective, behavioral, and physiological metrics at two time points. Results show that higher parental attachment anxiety, and to a lesser extent avoidance, predict multiple indices (behavioral, physiological, and subjective) of emotion reactivity and regulation in children. Children of parents reporting higher attachment anxiety self-reported greater positive and negative emotion, as well as greater use of emotion regulation strategies. These children also demonstrated lower physiological emotion regulation at follow-up. Children of parents higher in avoidance reported less negative emotion after a hypothetical stressor and less use of emotion regulation strategies, but more negative emotion following a failure task at follow-up. Findings add to the body of evidence suggesting that self-reported attachment anxiety and avoidance are associated with theoretically-relevant child variables in attachment research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined children’s narrative representations of peer experiences in cultural contexts and its concurrent and long-term relations to psychological adjustment. Thirty-four European American and 30 Chinese immigrant 9-10 years old children completed a narrative task to tell stories based on two scenario stems. Children’s peer-related self-views, loneliness, and social anxiety were assessed and again a year later. Peer interaction themes in children’s completed stories, particularly conflict resolution, were associated with European American children’s positive self-views and lower loneliness at both time points, as well as lower social anxiety at time 2. In contrast, conflictual themes exhibited significant association only with Chinese immigrant children’s engaging self-views at time 1. The associations of peer interaction themes to children’s positive self-views emerged to be significant for Chinese immigrant children only at time 2. Furthermore, peer interaction themes did not correlate with Chinese immigrant children’s loneliness and social anxiety at either time point. The results suggested the culture-dependent role of narrative representations of peer experiences in children’s psychological adjustment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Attachment representations have traditionally been considered a stable trait, although evidence is found that attachment varies over time and situations conditional upon exposure to life-events and diverse contextual factors. This suggests that attachment consists of both trait and state like components. The current study aimed to evaluate if experiences with maternal support modulate children’s state trust in mother’s availability. For this purpose, we set up an experimental procedure. First, children watched a negative mood inducing video to activate negative emotions. In the following experimental phase, mothers were randomly assigned to one of three conditions. In condition one, mothers were instructed to provide secure base support to the distressed child. In the second condition, mother was only physically present and did not offer the child emotional support. In the last condition, children had no contact with mother. After this experimental phase, all mothers were instructed to provide secure base support in the recovery phase to study if secure base support could restore the decreased trust states. In total, 120 mother-child dyads participated the study. Results indicated that distressed children whose mother was absent or only physically available during the experimental phase, had significantly lower scores on state trust in comparison with children who did receive secure base support. After receiving secure base care, no more differences in state-trust across the secure base support and non-support conditions were found. Temperament could not explain these effects, pointing at the impact of interactions with a support providing mother on the activation of trust states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Disordered eating in children is a major public health concern, as it is precursor to clinical eating disorders and obesity. However, little is known about the potential causes of child disordered eating. The current study examined marital conflict as a predictor of disordered eating in a sample of children aged 5-12 years, from the perspective of emotional security theory. Ninety five children and their parents in the Southeast United States participated in the study. We found that marital conflict was associated with higher levels of restrained eating, emotional eating and external eating behaviors controlling for demographics and parental feeding practices. Further, we examined the possible pathways between marital conflict and child disordered eating and found that marital conflict was related to greater child emotional insecurity about the family, which was associated with greater child anxiety, which were then related to disordered eating. In addition to serving as a secondary pathway linking emotional insecurity to child disordered eating, anxiety also significantly directly mediated the association between marital conflict and all three types of disordered eating: restrained eating, emotional eating and external eating in children. Next we examined if parental feeding practices (food monitoring, food restriction and parental pressure to eat) moderate the relation between marital conflict and child disordered eating. Parental pressure to eat was negatively associated with child disordered eating under higher marital conflict. The current study highlights the importance of marital conflict and child emotional security as precursors of child disordered eating. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study examined the differential effects of maternal and paternal parenting on prosocial and antisocial behavior during middle childhood, and the moderating role of child sex. Parents of 96 boys and 107 girls (mean age = 92.42 months, SD = 3.52) completed different questionnaires to assess parenting and child behavior. All participants were Caucasian from south of Spain. Multiple hierarchical regressions (enter method) were performed to determine significant predictors of prosocial and antisocial behavior. The results showed that maternal and paternal hostility predicted an increase of externalizing problems in boys and girls ( p < .001 in both sex groups). As well, Warmth/Induction of both parents predicted an increase in adaptive skills in boys and girls ( p < .001 in both sex groups). On the other hand, differential effects of fathers' and mothers' parenting were found: both for boys and girls, maternal inconsistency positively predicted externalizing problems and negatively adaptive skills ( p < .001 in both sex groups) and paternal overprotection positively predicted externalizing problems and negatively adaptive skills ( p < .05 in both sex groups). Finally, maternal coercion negatively predicted adaptive skills in boys and girls ( p < .05 in both sex groups); however, it increased externalizing problems only in girls ( p < .05), whereas maternal permissiveness only increased these problems in boys ( p < .01 in both cases). The discussion highlighted the importance of considering both parents' and children's sex to further knowledge of parenting styles affecting children's behaviors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The People in My Life questionnaire (PIML) is one of the few available self-report measures for assessing children's representations of the relationship with attachment figures (parents and peers) in middle childhood. The current study presents validation studies of the PIML in a sample of Portuguese children aged between 8 and 12 years ( N = 314) and adolescents aged between 13 and 18 years ( N = 281). The original factor structure, composed of a second-order factor of attachment and three first-order factors (Trust, Communication, and Alienation), was confirmed for both scales (Parents Attachment and Peers Attachment) in the sample of children and replicated in the sample of adolescents using confirmatory factor analyses. The Portuguese version of the PIML showed adequate internal consistency and correlated as expected with measures of intrapersonal and interpersonal functioning (internalizing and externalizing problems, prosocial behavior, quality of life, self-compassion, and emotion regulation strategies). The PIML proved to be a psychometrically robust measure of children's representations of their relationships with parents and peers, representing an important advance in the measurement of attachment in middle childhood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study investigated concordance between representations of attachment to mother and attachment to father, and convergence between two narrative-based methods addressing these representations in middle childhood: the Manchester Child Attachment Story Task (MCAST) and the Secure Base Script Test (SBST). One hundred and twenty 6-year-old children were assessed by separate administrations of the MCAST for mother and father, respectively, and results showed concordance of representations of attachment to mother and attachment to father at age 6.5 years. 75 children were additionally tested about 12 months later, with the SBST, which assesses scripted knowledge of secure base (and safe haven), not differentiating between mother and father attachment relationships. Concerning attachment to father, dichotomous classifications (MCAST) and a continuous dimension capturing scripted secure base knowledge (MCAST) converged with secure base scriptedness (SBST), yet we could not show the same pattern of convergence concerning attachment to mother. Results suggest some convergence between the two narrative methods of assessment of secure base script but also highlight complications when using the MCAST for measuring attachment to father in middle childhood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Both parental conditional regard for academics and depressogenic attributions are related to detrimental psychological outcomes for children. Here we examine associations among parental conditional negative regard, child depressogenic attributions, child depressive symptoms, and emotion reactivity in children between the ages of 8 and 12, as well as whether children's self-reported and behavioral attributions for negative events mediate associations between parental conditional negative regard for academics with children's depressive symptoms and emotion reactivity. In Study 1 ( N = 108, M = 9.73, 50 male), children's self-reported attributions for hypothetical events mediated the link between parental conditional negative regard and child depressive symptoms. In Study 2 ( N = 104, M = 10.28, 54 male), children attempted an impossible puzzle task while their skin conductance level was monitored, after which they completed an interview that was coded for spontaneous attributions for failure. Children's spontaneous attributions mediated the link between parental conditional negative regard and child emotion reactivity, but not depressive symptoms. Findings suggest that children's attributions may be a mechanism through which parental conditional negative regard is related to children's depressive symptoms and emotion reactivity during a performance challenge. These results have implications for developmental models of depression risk and potential areas for clinical interventions with both children and their parents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study examined whether reports of maternal socialization and child emotion expression differ depending on the emotion-eliciting context. Early adolescents and their mothers ( N = 146) from suburban middle-class families in Gujarat, India participated. In response to hypothetical academic and interpersonal situations, children rated the intensity of felt emotion, and likelihood of expressing felt emotion, and mothers rated the acceptability of their children's emotional expressions, and their behavioral responses to children. Results revealed that across both situations children reported expressing sadness more than anger, and expressing both emotions more in interpersonal than academic situations. Mothers reported child sadness to be significantly more acceptable than anger, and both emotions were significantly more acceptable in interpersonal than academic situations. Mothers reported problem-focused responses (solution) and scolding more in response to academic than interpersonal situations, whereas they reported problem-focused responses (explanation), coaxing, and distraction more in interpersonal than academic situations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The psychometric properties of the Dependency-oriented and Achievement-oriented Psychological Control Scale (DAPCS) have been proved appropriate for adolescent samples. Since parental psychological control plays a key role in the development of child pathology from an early age, it is important to evaluate the DAPCS in younger samples too. We examine the DAPCS' validity in two samples of elementary school age children ( n = 180 and n = 118). Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses in the first sample supported a two-factor structure, indicating the distinction between dependency-oriented psychological control (DPC) and achievement-oriented psychological control (APC). Confirmatory factor analysis in the second sample resulted in successful replication of the factor structure. Significant negative correlations between both parental psychological control dimensions and parental emotional support indicated the convergent validity of the scale. Discriminant validity was indicated by a significant unique association between higher levels of DPC and child perceived social problems, and higher levels of APC and child sensitivity to mistakes. This study provides initial justification for the application of a shorter version of the DAPCS in clinical and research settings dealing with parental psychological control in middle childhood and related child adjustment problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The assessment of attachment security in infancy and adulthood is well-studied, but middle childhood has been relatively neglected in the literature. The Child Attachment Interview (CAI) represents a promising assessment of attachment in middle childhood; recent evidence supports its reliability and validity in restricted samples. We assessed the construct validity of the CAI among a diverse sample of 104 8-12 year-old children ( M = 9.80 years; 50 boys; 49 % family income <$40,000; 38 % Latino/a). We evaluated associations among CAI variables and self-report measures of attachment (convergent validity). Further, we evaluated whether CAI variables uniquely relate to theoretically-relevant constructs (internalizing symptoms) above and beyond self-reported attachment (incremental validity) and a theoretically-distinct construct, child temperament (discriminant validity). Our findings support the CAI's validity, and have important implications for assessing and understanding attachment processes in middle childhood, as well as their development across the lifespan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Immigrant parent legal status is an important, but understudied aspect of children's developmental contexts that can affect their social emotional wellbeing. The present study used the Behavioral and Emotional Screening System to explore the influence of parents' legal status on the social emotional wellbeing of 7-10 year old U.S.-born children of immigrant parents from Dominican Republic, Mexico, and Central America. Aspects of parent-child relationships, measured via the Parent-Child Relationship Questionnaire , were also explored as potential moderators. One hundred and eighty families were recruited via school and community outreach. Forty-nine percent of participating families were mixed-status. Results indicate that children in mixed-status families experience higher levels of anxiety, but lower levels of hyperactivity, and that parent-child communication moderates the relationship between parent legal status and the child's hyperactivity. Results further indicate overall high levels of functioning among all families, regardless of parent legal status, across several domains of parent-child relationships. Findings suggest the importance of assessing for internalizing symptoms among children in mixed-status families as well as the potential for building on family strengths in the design of programs and policies to support immigrant families. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emotion knowledge contributes to emotion regulation and coping among adults, but few studies have investigated its role in children's coping development, especially in a cross-cultural context. We examine relations between children's emotion knowledge and coping in European American and Chinese immigrant families. One hundred and three 7- to 10-year-old children and their mothers from European American and Chinese cultural background participated in this study. Children's emotion knowledge was assessed using emotion-situation knowledge production task. This task examines their understanding of situational antecedents o discrete emotions. Children's use of coping strategies was reported by mothers using the Children's Coping Strategies Checklist. Results showed that Chinese immigrant children had greater emotion knowledge of fear and pride but were reported using less variety of coping strategies than European American children. The relationship between children's knowledge of self-conscious emotions and their use of distraction coping strategies was moderated by culture, whereby knowledge of self-conscious emotions was negatively associated with the parent-reported distraction strategies only for European American children but not for Chinese immigrant children. The importance of culture in both theory and practice related to emotion knowledge and coping is discussed. Findings in this study suggest that family intervention and children's emotion training programs may need to consider children's cultural background. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Elementary school children already show signs of problematic attitudes toward their body and disturbed eating attitudes. This study examined the contribution of familial and social variables to children's eating behaviors and attitudes and body image. 225 third and fourth graders completed questionnaires regarding eating behaviors and attitudes, body image, parenting practices, security in the family, and idol worship. Homeroom teachers reported on children's adjustment. Children with insecure patterns in the family and those reporting high levels of parental psychological control and high levels of idol worship were found to exhibit more problematic eating behaviors and attitudes, and displayed a lower body image than their counterparts. Parental support was negatively related to eating attitudes and idolization was positively associated with eating attitudes only among girls. The findings highlight the importance of early screening of at-risk groups. By identifying children's specific vulnerabilities, therapists and educators can consider different foci in intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A randomized prevention trial was conducted contrasting families who took part in the Strong African American Families Program (SAAF), a preventive intervention for rural African American parents and their 11-year-olds, with control families. The trial, which included 671 families, indicated that intervention-induced changes occurred in intervention-targeted parenting and youth behavior, as well as youth initiation of alcohol use and sexual activity. Four waves of data collected were obtained at pretest, 3-month post-test, 29 month long-term follow up; and 65 month long-term follow up. Three data points were selected and analyzed in the current study: pretest, post-test, and 65 month long-term follow up to capture the sustainability of SAAF during three critical developmental stages-middle childhood, early adolescence, and late adolescence. Intervention-induced changes in parenting mediated the effect of intervention-group influences on changes in the onset and escalation of alcohol use and sexual activity over 65 months through its positive influence on youths' perceptions and internalization of parental norms and resistance to engaging in risk opportunities. These findings highlight the potential for family-based prevention programs to enhance positive developmental outcomes to reduce HIV-related risk behaviors among rural African American youth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]