Search

Guided by the life course perspective, this study investigated the developmental antecedents of contact, closeness/warmth, and negativity in young adults' relationships with their parents. Taking the developmental systems approach, we considered interindividual differences in not only initial levels of parenting quality in early adolescence (Grade 6) but also developmental changes in parenting quality across adolescence (Grades 6-12) as predictors of young adult-parent relationship quality. Data were from a large sample of young adults (N = 1,631; M[subscript age] = 22.84; 57% female; 90% White; 25% received free/reduced-price school lunch in Grade 6) followed from the fall of Grades 6 to 12 at eight time points, plus a young adult assessment. Using multivariate latent growth curve modeling, we identified a nuanced pattern of predictors of the three relationship dimensions. Higher initial levels of and lower rates of decline in parental involvement across adolescence predicted more young adult contact with mothers and fathers. Higher initial levels of parental warmth and parental involvement, as well as lower rates of decline in parental warmth, predicted greater closeness/warmth with mothers and fathers in young adulthood. Higher initial levels of and lower rates of decline in effective discipline predicted less young adult negativity toward mothers and fathers. These results held even when accounting for important adolescent and young adult covariates (adolescent sex and race, adolescent family income and structure, adolescent aggressive behavior tendencies, young adult living arrangement). The study offers new insights into how parenting practices in adolescence contribute to parent-child relationship in young adulthood.

We examined whether participation in adolescent substance use prevention programming can enhance long-term resilience into adulthood such that individuals were better able to cope with adversities during the initial months of the COVID-19 pandemic, yielding benefits for the individuals, their partners/spouses, and children; 197 adults (28-30 years old) who entered the PROSPER randomized trial of substance use prevention programming as 6th graders and subsequently had become parents--and 128 of their partners--participated in two waves of long-term follow-up data collection. Respondents completed questionnaires on substance use, adjustment, parenting quality, and children's mood and behavior problems 15 years after baseline, and again via an online survey in the first three months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Results were mixed, with some indications of better adjustment of PROSPER intervention compared to control participants during the early phase of the pandemic (less increase in alcohol use and less decrease in parenting warmth) and their children (lower levels of externalizing and internalizing problems) but several null results as well (no differences in other substance use behaviors, other parenting measures, or parent depression). Adolescent substance use prevention programs can foster long-term individual and interpersonal resilience factors that allow participants--as well as their children--to adapt and cope with unforeseen periods of acute stress and adversity with less deterioration in health and well-being.

Adolescents are tasked with navigating competing priorities, including whether to marry, have children, pursue a job/career, go to college, and contribute to society. The developmental task of building expectations for the future is especially complex for Cambodian adolescents living within a society that strongly prioritizes family obligations yet increasingly provides educational and professional opportunities. The current study, guided by Seginer's (2003) future orientation model, applied latent profile analysis (LPA) to explore patterns of Cambodian adolescents' (N = 580, 64% female, M[subscript age] = 15.85) future expectations across key life domains and predictors of those patterns. LPA identified four profiles: Low Expectancy (low expectations across all domains; 12%), Family Focused (high expectations to get married and have children; 31%), Professional/Service Focused (high expectations across education, employment, and societal contribution domains; 27%), and High Expectancy (high expectations across all domains; 30%). Females were more likely than males to be in the Professional/Service Focused than High Expectancy profile. Adolescents with greater internal locus of control and family obligation were less likely to be in the Low Expectancy and Family Focused than High Expectancy profile, whereas adolescents in higher grade levels were more likely to be in the Family Focused than High Expectancy profile. Adolescents with closer relationships with mothers were "less" likely to be in the Professional/Service Focused than High Expectancy profile; adolescents with closer relationships with fathers were "more" likely to be in the Professional/Service Focused than High and Low Expectancy profiles. Findings elucidate configurations of adolescents' future expectations, and factors distinguishing among adolescents with different configurations.

Family systems research has identified two key processes (spillover and compensatory), linking interparental relationship quality to the parent-child relationship. However, previous research has focused on the parent as the sole initiator and had not often considered the role of the child in these processes. The present study adds to the literature by leveraging a genetically informed design to examine possible child evocative effects on spillover and compensatory processes. Participants were from a longitudinal parent-offspring adoption sample of 361 linked sets of adoptive parents of an adopted child (57% male), and the child's birth parents. Adoptive parents reported on child pleasure and anger at 18 months and the interparental relationship at 27 months. Parent-child interactions were observed at child age 6 years, and heritable influences were assessed via birth mother self-report at 5 months. Our results indicated a dampening effect where higher interparental warmth at child age 27 months was associated with less adoptive mother-child coercion at child age 6 years, and a compensatory effect where higher interparental conflict was associated with more adoptive father-child positive engagement. Moreover, our results indicated child-driven effects via both genetic and environmental pathways. Specifically, higher levels of birth mother negative affect (heritable characteristic) were associated with lower levels of adoptive father-child coercion. Also, child anger was positively associated with interparental conflict, and child pleasure was positively associated with interparental warmth. These findings support findings from the family literature with evidence of compensatory mechanisms, while also highlighting the active role children play in shaping family interactions.

Introduction: This study examined the role of family functioning in predicting family adherence to health-protective behaviors (HPBs) aimed at reducing COVID-19 spread. Pre-COVID-19 family functioning, disruptions to family functioning (cohesion, conflict, routines), and family chaos during the COVID-19 pandemic were tested as pathways to HPB adherence. Method: We utilized a sample of N = 204 families, comprising parents who had children ([M.sub.age] = 4.17). Parents ([M.sub.age] = 27.43) completed one survey prior to COVID-19 onset in the United States, and twice during COVID-19, at a 2-week interval. Structural equation modeling was used to test three potential pathways between prepandemic family-level functioning and HPB adherence during the COVID-19 pandemic. Results: Findings indicated that families with higher levels of chaos during COVID-19 demonstrated consistently lower HPB adherence across all three models. Additionally, disruptions in family cohesion from pre-COVID was associated with lower levels of parent and child HPB adherence. Family conflict was indirectly associated with HPB adherence via family chaos during COVID-19; whereas family routines were not associated with HPB adherence at all. Discussion: These findings suggest that family functioning is a meaningful predictor of HPB adherence. Family-based support may be effective in improving HPB adherence by focusing on promoting cohesion and reducing conflict and chaos for families coping with reduced community support and resources. Strategies for family-based supports are discussed. Public Significance Statement Adherence to health-protective behaviors was a critical public health strategy for reducing spread of the COVID-19 virus. Stay-at-home mandates disrupted family functioning, which in turn undermined health-protective behavior adherence. Findings suggest that support efforts to minimize disruptions to family relationships can improve health-protective behavior adherence, potentially reducing virus transmission during early stages of the pandemic. Keywords: COVID-19, health-protective behaviors, family relationships, family processes, social distancing Supplemental materials: https://doi.org/10.1037/fsh0000649.supp, Community strategies, including school, child-care, and public recreation area closures, combined with health-protective beliavior (HPB) strategies including increased personal hygiene, wearing protective face masks, and social distancing (e.g., working from [...]

Feeling loved by one's caregiver is essential for individual flourishing (i.e., high levels of psychological well‐being in multiple dimensions). Although similar constructs are found to benefit adolescent well‐being, research that directly tests parental love as a feeling from the recipient's perspective is rare. Historically, parental love has been measured using single‐assessment methods and assumed to be a stable, trait‐like characteristic; yet, like any feeling, it may fluctuate in meaningful ways on a day‐to‐day basis—the implications of which are unknown. Using a sample of 150 adolescents (59.3% female; ages 14–16), this study estimated level (person's mean level across days) and instability (fluctuations across days) of feeling loved by a caregiver across 21 days for each adolescent, and then examined their prospective effects on adolescent flourishing 1 year later. After controlling for demographics (adolescent age, gender, family income, and parent's sex) and variable baseline levels, feeling more loved by one's caregiver in daily life significantly predicted higher levels of flourishing in two global measures 1 year later. Moreover, level and instability of feeling loved by one's caregiver played different roles for different dimensions of flourishing: higher levels significantly predicted higher levels of autonomy, purpose in life, and personal growth, whereas higher instability significantly predicted lower levels of positive relations with others and environmental mastery. Findings emphasized the importance of considering daily dynamics of feeling loved by one's caregiver and demonstrated that level (of feeling loved) is particularly important for intrapersonal aspects while instability is particularly important for interpersonal aspects of flourishing. Research Highlights: Adolescents feeling more loved by their caregiver in daily life had higher levels of overall flourishing 1 year later.Level (of feeling loved) is particularly important for intrapersonal aspects of adolescent flourishing, including autonomy, purpose in life, and personal growth.Stability (of feeling loved) is particularly important for interpersonal aspects of adolescent flourishing, including positive relations with others and environmental mastery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explored young children's mental health trajectories during the pandemic (May 2020 to April 2021) as well as associations with family functioning (i.e., cohesion, conflict, chaos, and routines) using data reported by 204 parents (children Mage 5.49; 45% girls, 90% White). Children's internalizing problems decreased early on with the onset of the pandemic, but then leveled off, while no change in externalizing problems was found. Family conflict and chaos were significantly associated with internalizing and externalizing problems at the within‐ and between‐family level, when examined independently. When family‐level factors were evaluated simultaneously, family conflict emerged as a robust risk factor. Intervention efforts, specifically for families experiencing increased conflict, may help support the mental health needs of children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Children with externalizing symptoms typically show dysregulated arousal when facing emotional challenges and are at risk for antisocial outcomes later in life. The model of emotion socialization (Eisenberg, Cumberland, & Spinrad, 1998) points to supportive emotion-related parenting as central to promoting children's regulatory capability and behavioral adjustment. However, the role of emotion-related parenting is less clear for children living in disadvantaged conditions and already displaying behavioral problems, and little is known about how these parenting practices shape the physiological underpinnings of behavioral adjustment. This study examined the relation between supportive emotion-related parenting and the trajectories of physiological regulation and externalizing symptoms across early school years among 207 children (66% male) from high-risk urban communities, who showed aggressive/oppositional behaviors at school entry. Mothers' supportive emotion-related parenting was observed in kindergarten during structured interactions. Children's respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), an indicator of parasympathetic influence over cardiac arousal, was measured at rest and during an anger scene each year from kindergarten to the 2nd grade. Teacher ratings of externalizing symptoms were also obtained every year. Over time, supportive emotion-related parenting was related to a developmental trend from RSA augmentation toward RSA withdrawal during the anger scene as well as lower risk for escalating externalizing symptoms. The developmental changes of RSA reactivity partially accounted for the relation between parenting and trajectories of externalizing symptoms. Findings underscore the potential of supportive emotion-related parenting for diverting at-risk children from antisocial trajectories by shaping their physiological regulation and behavioral adjustment.

Antisocial peer behavior and low parental knowledge of adolescents' activities are key interpersonal risk factors for adolescent substance use. However, how the magnitude of associations between these risk factors and substance use may vary across adolescence remains less well understood. The present study examined the age-varying associations of parental knowledge and antisocial peer behavior with adolescents' substance use (i.e., cigarette use, drunkenness, and marijuana use) using time-varying effect modeling. Using data from the Promoting School-Community-University Partnerships to Enhance Resilience (PROSPER) study, the final sample consists of 8,222 adolescents, followed from Grade 6 to Grade 12 (age 11 to age 18.9), including those who newly joined the schools at the targeted grade levels. Results showed that low parental knowledge and antisocial peer behavior were significantly associated with the use of each of the three substances across the majority of adolescence. The magnitude of the associations between substance use and both risk factors decreased across age, except between peer risk and marijuana use. Further, there was a significant interaction between parent and peer risk factors such that low parental knowledge was less strongly associated with substance use at higher levels of antisocial peer behavior. Findings highlighted early adolescence as an important period to target parent and peer prevention and interventions for reducing early substance use.

In line with family systems theory, we examined patterns of hostile interactions within families and their associations with externalizing problems among early-adolescent children. Using hostility scores based on observational data of six dyadic interactions during a triadic interaction (n = 462; i.e., child-to-mother, mother-to-child, child-to-father, father-to-child, mother-to-father, father-to-mother)--latent profile analysis supported three distinct profiles of hostility. The "low/moderate hostile" profile included families with the lowest levels of hostility across dyads; families in the "mutual parent-child hostile" profile scored higher on parent-child hostility, but lower on interparental hostility; the "hostile parent" profile showed higher levels of parent-to-child and interparental hostility, but lower child-to-parent hostility. Concerning links to youth outcomes, youth in the "mutual parent-child hostile" profile reported the highest level of externalizing problems, both concurrently and longitudinally. These results point to the importance of examining larger family patterns of hostility to fully understand the association between family hostility and youth adjustment.

The goal of this study was to broaden the developmental understanding of the implications of interparental conflict (IPC) and threat appraisals of conflict for adolescents' relationships with peers. Guided by the cognitive contextual framework and evolutionary perspectives, we evaluated a developmental model in which adolescents who are exposed to IPC perceive these conflicts as threatening to their well-being or that of their family. In turn, threat appraisals of IPC increase risk that adolescents experience worries and fears about the peer context (i.e., social anxiety), leading to decreased support from friends and increased feelings of loneliness and engagement with antisocial peers. Autoregressive analyses were conducted with a sample of 768 two-parent families across four measurement occasions. Exposure to IPC was related to increases in youths' perceived threat, which increased their risk for social anxiety symptoms. Consistent with our hypothesis, heightened social anxiety symptoms undermined youths' subsequent functioning in the peer context. Specifically, youth with greater adolescent social anxiety symptoms experienced increased feelings of loneliness and decreased perceptions of friendship support. Significant indirect effects were substantiated for adolescent loneliness and friendship support. Findings did not vary as a function of adolescent gender. The findings highlight the enduring implications of IPC and threat appraisals of IPC for youths' functioning, which can be expanded beyond broad measures of youth psychopathology, and the critical role of social anxiety symptoms as an explanatory mechanism in this process.

Studies that distinguish parental monitoring (parent-driven behaviors) from parental knowledge often fail to find protective effects of monitoring on adolescent behavior problems. To answer whether parental monitoring is more strongly associated with adolescent behavior problems among adolescents who may need it most, this study applied group-based trajectory modeling to change in early- to mid-adolescent aggressive behavior problems and examined associations between parental monitoring with different subgroups. Three latent groups of adolescents were found: Low Aggression, Medium-Increasing Aggression, and High-Increasing Aggression. Results show that more maternal and paternal monitoring were associated with fewer adolescent aggressive behavior problems only for adolescents in the High-Increasing Group. This result suggests that parental monitoring is a protective factor against adolescent aggressive behavior problems for subgroups of adolescents who may need it most and less impactful for other adolescents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to family systems and life course theories, periods of intense change, such as early adolescence, can disrupt stable family systems, leading to changes in family relationships. In this longitudinal study, we investigate 2 types of change in parental hostility and warmth toward their children during early adolescence (Grades 6 to 8)--developmental trends (linear declines) and lability (within-person fluctuations around developmental trends)--and their linkages to youth substance use and delinquency in Grade 9 (N = 618). We also test if the linkages between lability and youth risky behavior are moderated by youth gender. After controlling for between-person differences in level and developmental trends, we find greater lability (more fluctuations) in youth-reported parents' warmth and hostility are associated with greater youth delinquency, tobacco use, and polysubstance use initiation. The associations between youth-reported lability in mother and father hostility and polysubstance use demonstrated an inverted U shape pattern: Moderate levels of lability were associated with higher substance use but very low and high lability was associated with relatively lower rates of substance use. Many of the linkages between lability and youth delinquency were significant for girls but not boys. Fewer effects of lability on youth outcomes were found using parent reports. Developmental trends in parents' warmth and hostility were also associated with youth delinquency. Lability has unique implications for youth adjustment, yet appears to differ by youth outcome, gender, and reporter. The discussion focuses on mechanisms that might link changes in parent-youth warmth and hostility to youth risky behavior.

The formation and maintenance of young adult romantic relationships that are free from violence and are characterized by love, connection, and effective problem-solving have important implications for later well-being and family functioning. In this study, we examined adolescent hostile-aggressive behavior (HAB) and family relationship quality as key individual and family level factors that may forecast later romantic relationship functioning. Guided by a family systems framework, we evaluated the reciprocal influences of adolescent hostility and family climate, to provide a more comprehensive picture of the etiology of romantic relationship functioning. We drew on a large sample (N = 974) of young adults (mean age = 19.5) that were followed starting in the fall of 6th grade, and subsequently in spring of 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th grades prior to the young adult assessment. Using a latent difference score cross-lag model (McArdle, 2009), our results indicated that a more positive family climate was associated with decreases in HAB, but HAB was not associated with changes in family climate. Further, the influence of the family climate on HAB was consistent across all time points. HAB and family climate had different predictions for young adult romantic relationships: Increasing HAB over adolescence predicted relationship violence, while maintenance in family climate was a key predictor of relationship problem-solving skills. The only predictor of love and connection in relationships was early family functioning. Implications for developmental theory and prevention science are discussed.

Effortful control has been proposed as a set of neurocognitive competencies that is relevant to self-regulation and educational attainment (Posner & Rothbart, 2007). This study tested the hypothesis that a multiagent report of adolescents' effortful control (age 17) would be predictive of academic persistence and educational attainment (age 23-25), after controlling for other established predictors (family factors, problem behavior, grade-point average, and substance use). Participants were 997 students recruited in 6th grade from 3 urban public middle schools (53% males; 42.4% European American; 29.2% African American). Consistent with the hypothesis, the unique association of effortful control with future educational attainment was comparable in strength to that of parental education and students' past grade-point average, suggesting that effortful control contributes to this outcome above and beyond well-established predictors. Path coefficients were equivalent across gender and ethnicity (European Americans and African Americans). Effortful control appears to be a core feature of the self-regulatory competencies associated with achievement of educational success in early adulthood. These findings suggest that the promotion of self-regulation in general and effortful control in particular may be an important focus not only for resilience to stress and avoidance of problem behavior but also for growth in academic competence.

Several dimensions of family functioning are recognized as formative influences on children's emotion regulation. Historically, they have been studied separately, limiting our ability to understand how they function within the family system. The present investigation tested models including family emotional climate, interparental conflict, and maternal and paternal warmth and emotional support in relation to children's emotion regulation, using a multimethod, multi-informant design with 150 ethnically diverse two-parent families. Mother, father, and child surveys and observational techniques were used to assess the variables of interest. Three theoretically informed comprehensive models were tested and compared. The best fitting model highlighted positive family climate and maternal warmth and sensitivity as unique predictors. Interparental conflict was indirectly linked with children's emotion regulation through both processes. This study underscores the value of evaluating family-wide, interparental, and parenting dimensions within a broader family systems model to gain a more complete understanding of children's regulation. (Contains 2 tables and 2 figures.)

Long-term studies evaluating threat appraisals as an intervening variable linking interparental conflict (IPC) and internalizing problems are lacking, as are longitudinal studies evaluating the role of the broader family context in these models. Guided by the cognitive-contextual framework, this study followed 225 adolescents (53% females) and their families from age 11 into young adulthood (age 19.6) to evaluate the long-term implications of IPC and threat appraisals for young adult internalizing symptoms. First, a long-term mediation model revealed that increases in IPC from age 11 to 14 (but not initial levels) best accounted for adolescent threat appraisals at age 14. In turn, threat appraisals mediated the association between IPC and young adult (age 19.6) internalizing problems. Second, the family climate—defined as high levels of cohesion and organization—moderated the relation between IPC and threat appraisals. Adolescents in families that experienced declines in positive family climate and increasing IPC had the highest threat appraisals; however, families that maintained (or increased in) positive family climate were protective against increasing IPC. Interestingly, the combination of decreasing IPC and decreasing positive family climate corresponded with the lowest threat appraisals in the sample, contrary to expectations. This finding seems consistent with a family disengagement perspective which may be less threatening to adolescents but may confer risk for other problem outcomes. This study underscores the importance of IPC and threat appraisals during adolescence, and offers new insights into the role of the family climate in protecting against escalating IPC for young adult internalizing risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]