Perceptions and Satisfaction with Father Involvement and Adolescent Mothers’ Postpartum Depressive Symptoms

This study examined the associations between adolescent mothers’ postpartum depressive symptoms and their perceptions of amount of father care giving and satisfaction with father involvement with the baby. The sample included 100 adolescent mothers (ages 13–19; mainly African-American and Latina) whose partners were recruited for a randomized study for fathers only. Controlling for prenatal depressive symptoms and other prenatal and postpartum variables, we found that higher levels of mothers’ satisfaction with father involvement rather than perception of amount of fathers’ care giving was significantly associated with fewer postpartum depressive symptoms. The relationship between satisfaction with father involvement and depressive symptoms was partially mediated by mothers’ sense of parenting competence and not by mothers’ parenting stress. Policy and programs should place greater emphasis on early support for adolescent mothers and their partners, particularly when mothers desire the involvement of the father with his child.     

Who Shapes Whom in the Family: Reciprocal Links Between Autonomy Support in the Family and Parents’ and Adolescents’ Coping Behaviors

Coping research has neglected the study of the reciprocal links between parents’ and adolescents’ coping behaviors and the potential influence of parental support for the development of adolescent autonomy. This study, therefore, analyzed the coping behaviors of fathers, mothers, and children (53% females) in 196 families who participated in a four-year longitudinal study that started when the child was an early adolescent. The results of cross-lagged panel design models examining direct links between parents’ and their children’s coping styles suggested that parents and children do not affect each others’ abilities to cope with family stress over time. However, indirect relationships between parents’ and children’s coping styles via autonomy support in the family were found. Both the parents’ and adolescents’ perceptions of autonomy support in the family were important in shaping their respective coping styles. The child’s individual characteristics (e.g., gender and physical maturity) had a greater influence on the fine-tuning of mothers’ coping behaviors than on the fathers’. The findings underscore the significance of autonomy-enhancing parent–child interactions for the development of adolescent coping.     

Parent–Child Relations,Conduct Problems and Cigarette Use in Adolescence: Examining the Role of Genetic and Environmental Factors on Patterns of Behavior

This study investigated genetic and environmental influences on the associations between mother–child relationship quality (warmth and hostility) and adolescent conduct problems and cigarette use. Participants included 601 mothers and adolescent twin pairs (aged 12–17 years). Mothers and adolescents provided separate reports of mother-to-child warmth and hostility. A combined measure of mother and adolescent reported conduct problems was used while adolescents provided reports of their cigarette use. Analyses were conducted using bivariate genetic analyses of correlated factors models and regression analyses of monozygotic twin differences. Genetic influences were found for most ratings of the parent–child relationship, with evidence of gender and/or rater-specificity for some measures. The relationship between mother–child hostility with adolescent conduct problems and cigarette use was influenced by genetic and environmental effects. Evidence was found for shared environment effects on the relationship between mother–child warmth and conduct problems. Examining monozygotic twin differences provided further support for non-shared environmental influence on the relationship between mothers’ expressions of hostility and low warmth and adolescent adjustment. Findings are discussed in relation to the interplay between genetic and environmental effects underlying links between parent–child relations and adolescent behavior problems.

The Impact of Pubertal Timing and Parental Control on Adolescent Problem Behaviors

This study examined the relationship among pubertal timing, parental control, and problem behaviors. There were 267 participants, whose ages ranged from 9 to 16 years. Both maternal and paternal psychological control predicted problem behaviors over and above the effects of behavioral control. For boys, early maturation and high levels of paternal psychological control, whereas for girls, on-time maturation and low levels of paternal psychological control were associated with low levels of internalizing problem behaviors. Early maturation and high levels of maternal psychological control predicted high levels of externalizing problem behaviors. The implications of these findings were discussed in terms of the detrimental effects of psychological control on adolescent wellbeing, the role that pubertal timing may or may not play during this period, and finally the need to separately examine fathers’ parenting and mothers’ parenting while investigating the impact of parental control on adolescent problem behaviors. Rübab G. Arım is a Doctoral Student at the University of British Columbia. She received her M.A. degree in Human Learning, Development, and Instruction from the University of British Columbia. Her major research interests include evaluating the long-term impact of biological and contextual factors on adolescent problem behaviors. Jennifer D. Shapka is an Assistant Professor at the University of British Columbia. She received her Ph.D. in Human Development and Applied Psychology from the University of Toronto. Her major research interests include identifying patterns of risk and protective factors impacting adolescent well-being over time.     

Social Support and Low-Income,Urban Mothers: Longitudinal Associations with Adolescent Delinquency

The current study examined the role of engaged parenting in explaining longitudinal associations between maternal perceptions of social network support and whether youth engage in delinquent behaviors during the transition into adolescence. The sample included 432 low-income, African American and Latino youth (49% female) and their mothers participating in “Welfare, Children, and Families: A Three City Study”. Results from longitudinal SEM analyses demonstrated that social network support was associated positively with mothers’ engaged parenting as youth transitioned into early adolescence. Engaged parenting, which functioned as a mediating variable, was associated with less youth delinquency during transitions into middle adolescence. Taken together, social network supports appeared to facilitate mothers’ abilities to remain engaged with their children and to deter youth from becoming involved in delinquent behaviors.     

Socioenvironmental Risk and Adjustment in Latino Youth: The Mediating Effects of Family Processes and Social Competence

The direct and mediated effects of socioenvironmental risk on internalizing and externalizing problems among Latino youth aged 10–14 were examined using prospective analyses. Participants in this study were 464 Latino mother and child dyads surveyed as part of the Welfare, Children & Families: A Three City Study. It was hypothesized that socioenvironmental risk (i.e., maternal psychological distress, maternal parenting stress, neighborhood disadvantage, and perceived financial strain) would influence later adolescent adjustment by interrupting important family processes and interfering with opportunities for adolescents to develop appropriate social competence. Using path analyses, the mediational model was compared across high and low acculturation groups. With two exceptions, the models for the high and low acculturation groups were equivalent. Results supported a mediated effect between early socioenvironmental risk and later adjustment problems for the low acculturation group through family routines and adolescent social competence. Among families high in acculturation, socioenvironmental risk effects were partially mediated through family routines and adolescent social competence. Finally, a path from gender to maternal monitoring was present in the low acculturation group model but not the high acculturation group model. Assistant professor at the University at Albany, State University of New York. She received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of North Texas. Her major research interests are risk and resiliency processes in minority youth. Assistant professor at the University of Texas at Austin. She received her Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology from Michigan State University. Her major research interests are the effects of microenvironmental factors in the externalizing and internalizing behaviors of European American and Latino youth. Assistant professor at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. She received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Michigan State University. Her major research interests are risk and protective factors in children and adolescents at-risk because of parental substance abuse.     

Mexican-Origin Adolescent Mothers’ Stressors and Psychosocial Functioning: Examining Ethnic Identity Affirmation and Familism as Moderators

Mexican-origin adolescent mothers are at increased risk for poor psychosocial functioning as a result of various stressors with which they must contend; however, existing theory suggests that cultural strengths may help mitigate the negative effects of stress. As such, the current study examined the associations between cultural and economic stressors and Mexican-origin adolescent mothers’ (N = 207; M age = 16.23 years, SD = 1.0) internalizing and externalizing behaviors, as well as the degree to which ethnic identity affirmation and familism values moderated these links. Adolescent mothers who reported higher levels of discrimination, acculturative stress, and economic stress also reported higher depressive symptoms and greater involvement in risky behaviors. Importantly, ethnic identity affirmation minimized the negative associations between cultural stressors and adolescents’ involvement in risky behaviors, with the associations being weakest among adolescents with high levels of ethnic identity. Familism appeared to serve a protective function under conditions of low levels of discrimination, but not under conditions of high levels of discrimination. Findings are discussed with special attention to the developmental and cultural contexts in which these adolescent mothers’ lives are embedded, and implications for future research and practice are presented.     

The Influence of Maternal Acculturation,Neighborhood Disadvantage,and Parenting on Chinese American Adolescents’ Conduct Problems: Testing the Segmented Assimilation Hypothesis

Associations among neighborhood disadvantage, maternal acculturation, parenting and conduct problems were investigated in a sample of 444 Chinese American adolescents. Adolescents (54% female, 46% male) ranged from 12 to 15 years of age (mean age = 13.0 years). Multilevel modeling was employed to test the hypothesis that the association between maternal acculturation and adolescents’ conduct problems could be explained by differences in mothers’ reliance on monitoring and harsh discipline. In addition, guided by segmented assimilation theory, measures of neighborhood disadvantage were expected not only to be related to differences in parenting, but also to moderate the effects of maternal acculturation on parenting. Results indicated that increased maternal acculturation was related to higher levels of maternal monitoring and lower levels of harsh discipline, which, in turn, were related to lower levels of adolescents’ conduct problems. Hierarchical linear modeling results revealed that neighborhood disadvantage was related to lower levels of maternal monitoring. However, neighborhood disadvantage did not moderate the link between maternal acculturation and parenting practices.

Exposure to Community Violence and Adolescents’ Internalizing Behaviors Among African American and Asian American Adolescents

Exposure to community violence can seriously threaten healthy adolescent development. This longitudinal study examines the relationship between exposure to violence in the community and the internalizing behaviors of Asian American and African American adolescents. Data analyzed was from 901 adolescents (57.9% female and 42.1% male, and 84.7% African American and 15.3% Asian American) who had participated in both Wave I and II interviews of the National Longitudinal Survey of Adolescent Health conducted between 1994 and 1996. Being female, having prior internalizing behaviors at baseline, and being exposed to violence significantly predicted African American adolescents’ subsequent report of internalizing behaviors and their symptoms. Being female and having prior internalizing behaviors also predicted Asian American adolescents’ subsequent internalizing behaviors and their symptoms. However, exposure to violence was not associated with Asian American adolescents’ internalizing behaviors. Findings suggested a need to conceptualize mental health risk in a more nuanced context of cultural diversity.     

“My Child is Shy and Has No Friends: What Does Parenting Have to Do with It?”

Accumulating evidence suggests that parents may react differentially to children based on their children’s temperament, children’s gender, and the interaction of these factors. Furthermore, parents’ differential reactions to their children have direct implications for their children’s social success. The present study assessed the moderating influence of mothers’ and fathers’ psychological control on the relationship between shy temperament and peer exclusion in grade five children (n = 153; 57% female), an age during which peer connections are particularly salient. Teachers reported on children’s shyness and peer exclusion, and children reported on parents’ psychological control. Regression analyses showed fathers’ psychological control to be associated with greater peer exclusion for males. Both mothers’ and fathers’ psychological control were associated with peer exclusion for shy females. Results suggest the importance of parents considering how psychologically controlling behaviors may work in concert with their children’s gender and temperament in influencing peer connections during the adolescent transition.     

Discrimination and Mexican-Origin Adolescents’ Adjustment: The Moderating Roles of Adolescents’, Mothers’, and Fathers’ Cultural Orientations and Values

Drawing on García Coll et al.’s integrative framework and the risk and resilience model, this study examined the relationships between adolescents’ perceived discrimination and psychosocial adjustment and the moderating roles of adolescents’, mothers’, and fathers’ cultural orientations and values, and adolescent gender in a sample of 246 Mexican-origin families. Using multilevel modeling with data from mothers, fathers, seventh graders (M _age = 12.8 years; SD = .57 year) and older siblings (M _age = 15.7 years; SD = 1.5 years), findings revealed that perceived discrimination was positively related to depression, risky behaviors, and deviant peer affiliations. In addition, parents’ cultural orientations and values and adolescent gender moderated the relationships between perceived discrimination and some indicators of adjustment. These findings suggest that parents’ cultural orientations and values can serve as protective and vulnerability factors in the associations between Mexican-origin adolescents’ perceived discrimination and their psychosocial adjustment.     

Parent Relationships,Emotion Regulation,Psychosocial Maturity and College Student Alcohol Use Problems

This study tested associations between problems in parent-youth relationships and problems with alcohol use among college students (N = 1592) using structural equation modeling. Hypotheses were that relationships between both substance-specific parenting factors (parental drinking) and non-substance-specific parenting factors (parental intrusive control and lack of support) and college student drinking behaviors would be mediated by the developmental tasks of managing difficult emotions and establishing a mature psychosocial identity. Sex, ethnicity and age were entered as control variables in the analyses and were tested for moderating effects. Results showed that the unconstrained model for males and females differed significantly from a model in which the two groups were constrained to be similar. Among young women, emotion regulation and psychosocial maturity were partial mediators of the effects of parent problems on alcohol use problems. Among young men, parent problems were indirectly related to alcohol use problems through emotion regulation. Implications for alcohol use prevention activities on college campuses are discussed. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the National Council on Family Relations Annual Meeting, November, 2004, Orlando, Florida. Research interests in college student alcohol misuse. Research interests in adolescent psychosocial maturity. Research interests in young adult relationships.     

A Longitudinal Family-Level Model of Arab Muslim Adolescent Behavior Problems

Arab-American Muslim adolescents in immigrant families face a number of challenges that put them at risk for behavior problems. This study of Arab-American Muslim Adolescents and their relatively recent immigrant mothers tested a longitudinal family-level model of adolescent behavior problems. Mother-adolescent dyads (N = 530) completed measures of maternal and adolescent stressors, active and avoidance coping, and social support; maternal distress; quality of mother–child relationship; and adolescent behavior problems at Time 1 and approximately 18 months later. The youth were between the ages of 11 and 15 years at Time 1 and 48.7% were girls. Longitudinal analyses were conducted using latent change modeling with change scores from Time 1 and Time 2 data. Social support facilitated active coping for both mothers and adolescents. Although maternal avoidance coping mediated maternal stressors and its effect on maternal distress, maternal stressors and maternal distress were not related to adolescent behavior problems. The only factor mitigating the effects of adolescent stressors on adolescent behavior problems was the quality of the mother–child relationship. These findings suggest that adolescents are insulated from maternal stress and distress as long as there is a good mother–child relationship.     

Cross-Informant Ratings of the Emotional and Behavioral Functioning of College Students

One hundred seventy-four college students and a subset of their mothers and fathers provided ratings of college students’ emotional and behavioral functioning. College students and their mothers and fathers demonstrated variable levels of correspondence in their ratings of college students’ internalizing and externalizing behavior problems. Similar findings were noted with t-test comparisons, with college students rating themselves as experiencing significantly higher levels of behavior problems than did their mothers and fathers. Further, college students’ ratings of their mothers’ and fathers’ parenting and their perceptions of their parents predicted significantly their ratings of their own behavior problems. Although mothers’ communication reciprocity and perceptions of their college students served as significant predictors of mothers’ ratings, a different pattern of results occurred with paternal variables. Overall, these findings further the understanding of correspondence and predictors of cross-informant ratings of college students’ emotional and behavioral functioning. Kimberly Renk is currently an Associate Professor at the University of Central Florida (UCF) in Orlando, Florida, serving the Department of Psychology’s Clinical Psychology Ph.D. program. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology at the University of Illinois, her Master’s degree in Clinical Psychology at Illinois State University, and her Doctoral degree in Clinical Psychology at the University of South Florida after completing a predoctoral internship in Clinical Psychology at the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center. Her current interests include parents’ perceptions of their children’s emotional and behavioral functioning and parent-child interactions. She and her graduate students pursue the study of these topics and provide clinical services to the community surrounding UCF through the Understanding Children and Families laboratory. Reesa Donnelly is a Doctoral student at the University of Central Florida. She received her B.A. in Psychology from the University of Virginia and her M.S. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Central Florida. Her major research interests include parent-child relationships in the context of cognitive development and health psychology. Jenny Klein is a Doctoral student at the University of Central Florida. She received her B.S. in Psychology from the University of Florida and her M.S. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Central Florida. Her main research interests are in the area of family interactions, parenting, and child emotional and behavioral problems in minority populations. Arazais Oliveros is a Doctoral student at the University of Central Florida. She received her B.A. in psychology from Florida International University and her M.S. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Central Florida. Her major research interests involve the area of children and parenting, especially in families with risk factors for child maltreatment (e.g., marital abuse, medical concerns). Elizabeth Baksh is a Graduate student at the University of Central Florida. She received her B.S. in psychology and religious studies from the University of Miami and her M.S.W. from the University of South Florida. Her major research interests include parent-child relationships in the context of pediatric psychology.     

Parenting Predictors of Early-Adolescents’ Health Behaviors: Simultaneous Group Comparisons Across Sex and Ethnic Groups

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the invariance of predictive relations across early-adolescent sex and ethnic groups regarding parenting factors and externalizing and internalizing problems and victimization. Data (n = 598; 54% female) from a triethnic (Hispanic, non-Hispanic white, and non-Hispanic black) probability sample of fifth graders collected from three sites (Birmingham, AL, Houston, TX, and Los Angeles, CA) were used in the analyses. Simultaneous group structural equation modeling supported the invariance of parenting-early adolescent outcomes across sex and ethnic groups. Parental monitoring and parental norms were relatively robust predictors of early-adolescent externalizing problems and victimization, and to a lesser extent, of internalizing problems. A maternal nurturance by parental monitoring interaction was statistically significant for all outcome behaviors, indicating that higher monitoring in conjunction with higher maternal nurturance was associated with lower levels of early-adolescent problem behaviors. The findings suggest that core parenting factors such as nurturance, monitoring, and normative expectations for early adolescent problem behaviors may serve as a foundation for parenting components of multi-component intervention studies.     

Adolescents’ internalizing and aggressive behaviors and perceptions of parents’ psychological control: a panel study examining direction of effects

This panel study investigated the directionality of relations between adolescents’ perceptions of their parents’ psychological control and adolescents’ self-reported internalizing and aggressive (physical and relational) behaviors. Data were collected from a random, community sample of 530 adolescents ages 12–19 years old at time 1, and again 2 years later. Hierarchical regression analyses found that adolescents’ perceptions of parents’ psychological control at baseline did not predict changes in adolescents’ internalizing and aggressive behaviors over 2 years but higher internalizing behavior and physical aggression at time 1 predicted increases in adolescents’ estimates of their mothers’ and fathers’ psychologically controlling behaviors. Higher relational aggression reported by adolescents at time 1 predicted increases in their perceptions of mothers as psychologically controlling. This study provides more evidence for child effects on adolescents’ ratings of their parents’ psychological control than for parent effects of perceived psychological control on adolescents’ behavior.

Interparental Conflict,Parenting, and Childhood Depression in a Diverse Urban Population: The Role of General Cognitive Style

Research on the mechanisms by which interparental conflict (IPC) affects child depression suggests that both parenting and children’s conflict appraisals play important roles, but few studies have explored the role of general cognitive style or included both parenting and cognitions in the same design. Moreover, the effects of IPC on minority children are not well understood. In this longitudinal study, parenting was examined as a mediator of the relation between increasing IPC and change in depression. General cognitive style was included as a moderator. The combined influence of parenting and cognitions was also explored. A racially and ethnically diverse sample of 88 fifth and sixth graders from two urban schools reported their cognitive style, depressive symptoms, and perceptions of conflict and parenting at two time points separated by one year. Parental warmth/rejection mediated the relation between IPC and depression, and general cognitive style acted as a moderator. Parenting, cognitive style, and IPC did not significantly interact to predict change in depression over time. Findings indicate that both parenting and children’s general cognitive style play a role in understanding the impact of increasing IPC on children’s well-being.     

Parenting and Internalizing and Externalizing Problems in Moroccan Immigrant Youth in the Netherlands

This study explores the relationship of parenting to internalizing and externalizing problems in Moroccan immigrant youth in the Netherlands. Interviews were conducted with 713 Moroccan immigrant parents, using the Child Behavior Checklist and the Nijmegen Rearing Questionnaire. Child rearing varied with socioeconomic status and psychological acculturation level of the parent, and gender and age of the child. In accordance with studies in Western populations, high levels of affection and monitoring were associated with low levels of problem behavior and high levels of discipline were associated with high levels of problem behavior. However, in contrast to studies in Western populations, a positive relationship was revealed between affection and discipline, and the univariate associations between discipline and problem behavior were modest. Discipline and internalizing problems were unrelated in low SES families, whereas a positive relationship was found in high SES families. The relationship between monitoring and externalizing problems was age-specific: We found a negative association for adolescents and no association for children. Assistant Professor at the department of Interdisciplinary Social Sciences of the University of Utrecht. She received her Ph.D. in Child & Adolescent Psychiatry at the Erasmus MC/Sophia, Rotterdam. Her research interests concern the psychological development of immigrant children and adolescents. Interdisciplinary Social Sciences, Faculty of Social Sciences Professor of Developmental Psychopathology at the department of Interdisciplinary Social Sciences of the University of Utrecht. Her research in the past years has been focused on mental health problems and addiction in adolescents and adults, and on the importance of the risk factors related to migrant status and ethnicity. Interdisciplinary Social Sciences, Faculty of Social Sciences Received her Ph.D. at the University of Leiden in 1991. She is a Senior Researcher and head of the research group ‘Multicultural Questions’ at the Verwey-Jonker Institute. Her field of study is socialization and psychological development of children of ethnic minorities. Verwey-Jonker Institute, Kromme Nieuwegracht 6 Dutch Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist and Associate Professor at the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at ErasmusMC/Sophia, Rotterdam. His research examines levels of emotional and behavioral problems as well as predictors of these problems in Turkish and Moroccan immigrant youth in the Netherlands. Dr. Crijnen is also the principal investigator in studies on the prevention of disruptive behavior and substance use in children and adolescents through school- and parent-based interventions. Department of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry     

Factors Contributing to Gender Differences in Depressive Symptoms: A Test of Three Developmental Models

In a longitudinal study on 115 early adolescents, the impact of major events, relationship stressors, and coping style in interaction with biological changes on depressive outcome in late adolescence were explored. Three developmental models proposed by Nolen-Hoeksema and Girgus (1994, Psychol. Bull. 115: 424–433), which attempt to explain the emergence of gender differences in adolescent depressive symptoms, were tested. Multiple regression analyses conducted to test Model 1 identified two etiological factors associated with gender differences of depression, namely, stress in the adolescent–mother relationship and a more negative body image. Tests of Model 2 revealed etiological factors which correlated with depression in adolescent girls but not adolescent boys. The correlational patterns of avoidant coping and body image emerged as relevant factors for Model 2. Finally, tests of Model 3 searched for factors which were more likely to be observed in adolescent girls than boys and which would put girls at risk should they interact with a third etiological factor. Early maturational timing emerged as a factor for Model 3.