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This study examined bidirectional relations between television exposure and effortful control accounting for the effects of family contextual risk factors. Data were from a sample (N = 306) of parents and their preschool‐age children (T1 M = 36 mos. in 2008–2010) assessed four times, once every 9 mos. At T1, adolescent parent status predicted lower child delay ability (DA), and maternal depression predicted higher TV time. Above these effects, higher T1 and T2 child executive control (EC) prospectively predicted lower T2 and T3 TV time, while higher T1 TV time predicted lower T2 EC. Higher EC at T4 predicted fewer total problems, greater social competence, and greater academic readiness at T4, and higher TV time at T4 predicted lower academic readiness. DA was unrelated to TV time or adjustment. Findings suggest executive control and TV time predict changes in each other in early childhood, and in turn, executive control predicts better child adjustment while TV time might be more relevant for academic readiness. Moreover, family risk factors appear to play a role in both TV viewing time and effortful control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Previous research suggests that exposure to interparental conflict may affect children's attention and memory performance, but few studies have examined this hypothesis experimentally. Objective: The goal of this study was to address this gap by completing an experimental approach using audiotaped couple conflict simulations. Method: School classes of fifth‐ and sixth‐graders were randomly assigned to listen to one of the following three types of conversations: (a) an unresolved couple conflict, (b) a resolved couple conflict, or (c) a neutral couple conversation. Children's attention and memory performance were measured before and after stimulus exposure by performance tasks and their emotional insecurity was assessed by self‐report. Results: Children's emotional insecurity moderated the impact of the simulated couple conflict on their memory performance but not on attention. At low levels of emotional insecurity, children performed better in the memory task after hearing the unresolved couple conflict compared with the control group. Conclusion: Children's responses to simulated conflicts differ by a child's history of interparental conflict and conflict characteristics, such as whether arguments are resolved. Implications: Consideration of the family background is warranted when studying or treating child cognitive performance problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Violence against Indigenous women in the United States is higher than for any other racial group. Indigenous women tend to rely on families for support and recovery, yet the risk factors related to Indigenous families affected by violence are unknown. Therefore, interviews from a critical ethnography were used to uncover the perspectives of Indigenous women who have experienced intimate partner violence, along with the professionals who serve them, to understand potential risk factors that create vulnerability to and impair recovery from violence. Several themes emerged from pragmatic horizon analysis of interviews with 49 Indigenous women and professionals who work with tribal members affected by violence, including family divisions and parental impairments (i.e., intergenerational patterns of absent parental figures, parental alcohol abuse, and impaired bonding). Future research should examine these potential risk factors related to families affected by violence and their connections with historical oppression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Despite their great potential to inform intervention planning, screening instruments that assess children's exposure to multiple, non-behavioural risk factors are rare. The Family Risk Factor Checklist - Parent (FRFC-P), was designed to facilitate community risk factor profiling and subsequent intervention planning. The aims of the current study were to establish the psychometric properties of the FRFC-P and to examine the relative importance of family risk factors in relation to the onset versus persistence of children's mental health problems. Method: Data were collected from 1022 parents of 4-8-year-old children as part of the Promoting Adjustment in Schools Project (PROMAS). The FRFC-P assessed children's exposure to risk across five domains: adverse life events and instability (ALI); family structure and SES (SES); parenting practices (PAR); parental verbal conflict and mood problems (VCM); and parental antisocial and psychotic behaviour (APB). Results: The FRFC-P had satisfactory test-retest reliability and construct validity, but modest internal consistency. Risk assessed by the PAR domain was the most important determinant of mental health problem onset, while the PAR, VCM, and APB domains were the strongest predictors of mental health problem persistence. Conclusions: These findings highlight the importance of considering risk factors for onset separately from risk factors for persistence of mental health problems and indicate that the studied population may benefit the most from preventive interventions that address parenting practices and treatment interventions that address parenting practices, and parental mood problems, conflict, antisocial behaviour, and psychiatric disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]