The Relationship Between Parent and Child Religiosity: Moderation by Perceived Parental Antisocial Problems

ABSTRACT

Parents influence their children’s religiosity through many factors including parenting practices, parental religiosity, and parental psychopathology. Little research, however, has been conducted on how different parental psychopathologies, such as antisocial problems, affect the relationship between parent and child religiosity. The current study used the Stearns-McKinney Assessment of Religious Traits to measure personal religiosity in emerging adults and asked them to report on the religiosity of their mothers and fathers. Participants reported the antisocial problems of their parents via the Adult Behavior Checklist. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to measure whether perceived parental antisocial problems, parent gender, and participant gender would moderate the relationship between perceived parental and emerging adult religiosity. Results indicated that maternal but not paternal interactions were significant, and gender analyses revealed that the interaction was significant only for females. Specifically, parental antisocial problems were associated with a weaker relationship between parent and child religiosity in the mother–daughter dyad only. Implications are discussed.     

Relationships Among Emerging Adult Psychological Problems,Maltreatment, and Parental Psychopathology: Moderation by Parent–Child Relationship Quality

Current research supports clear relationships between parental psychopathology, parental maltreatment, and emerging adult child psychopathology. Less research has examined how the role of the parent–child relationship influences these existing associations. The current study tested two models that examined the moderating effect of parent–child relationship quality on parental psychopathology and emerging adult mental health as well as the effect on parental maltreatment and emerging adult mental health. It was expected that high parent–child relationship quality would buffer against the negative effects of parental psychopathology and maltreatment while enhancing the effects of functional parenting characteristics. Participants included 1,452 emerging adults, predominantly Caucasian (73.3%) college students who completed surveys on their mental health, recent experienced maltreatment, and their parents’ mental health problems. Results suggested lowest rates of mental health problems for emerging adults were associated with higher parent–child relationship quality and lower parental psychological problems, whereas negative outcomes were associated with higher parental psychopathology, regardless of parent–child relationship quality. Additionally, physical maltreatment was associated with lower rates of mental health concerns in the context of higher mother-daughter relationship quality. Results emphasize the continuing impact of the parent–child relationship, particularly the mother-daughter relationship, on emerging adults’ mental health. Moreover, the current study demonstrates the continuing influence of parents on their emerging adult children.     

Exploring differences in youth and parent reports of antisociality among adolescent sexual and nonsexual offenders

This study examined the extent of, and explored several possible explanations for, the discrepancies found between adolescent and parent reports of conduct problems in adolescent sexual and nonsexual offenders. We found that adolescent sexual offenders scored lower on measures of conduct problems than did nonsexual offenders, whether on the basis of adolescent or parent report, though the difference was much larger for parent reports. Examining this discrepancy more closely, we found that parents of sexual offenders reported less antisocial behavior than did their sons, whereas parents of nonsexual offenders reported more antisocial behavior than did their sons. The same pattern of results was obtained for reports on impulsivity, but much less so with respect to antisocial personality traits such as narcissism and callousness. Measures of family functioning were generally not related to these parent-adolescent discrepancies in reports of conduct problems, but these discrepancies were positively correlated with parental reports of stress. The implications of these findings for the interpretation of research on adolescent sexual offenders and comparisons of sexual and nonsexual offenders are discussed.     

Testing Informant Discrepancies as Predictors of Early Adolescent Psychopathology: Why Difference Scores Cannot Tell You What You Want to Know and How Polynomial Regression May

Multiple informants commonly disagree when reporting child and family behavior. In many studies of informant discrepancies, researchers take the difference between two informants’ reports and seek to examine the link between this difference score and external constructs (e.g., child maladjustment). In this paper, we review two reasons why difference scores cannot serve as unambiguous predictors of outcomes. Further, we use polynomial regression analyses to both test the validity of difference scores and provide a more direct test of the hypothesis that discrepancies in parent and child reports predict child psychopathology. Data from 218 parent-adolescent dyads (M adolescent age?=?11.5 years, 51 % female; 49 % European American, 47 % African American) were used to predict adolescent-reported antisocial behavior and depression from parent and adolescent reports of parent-adolescent conflict, parental knowledge, parental acceptance, adolescent rule-breaking behavior, and adolescent pubertal development. Results demonstrate that analyses using difference scores do not provide valid tests of the utility of informant discrepancies in predicting adolescent psychosocial maladjustment. However, interaction terms in polynomial regression analyses provide evidence that informant discrepancies predict child psychopathology. Parent-adolescent informant discrepancies predict adolescent psychopathology but researchers should avoid using difference scores to measure informant discrepancies. Polynomial regression analyses provide more comprehensive and accurate tests of whether informant discrepancies predict child and adolescent psychopathology.     

Connection Between Parent–Child Religiosity: Moderated Mediation by Perceived Maternal and Paternal Warmth and Overprotection and Emerging Adult Gender

Previous research has shown a strong connection between parental religiosity and parenting behaviors in the transmission of religion from parent to child. Our study expanded upon previous research by examining how perceived maternal and paternal warmth and overprotection mediated the relation between parental and personal religiosity in males and females. A sample of 486 emerging adults reported maternal, paternal, and personal religiosity as well as their parents’ parenting behaviors. Results indicated that perceived paternal warmth served as a mediator for males only but neither perceived maternal nor paternal overprotection mediated the relationship between parental religiosity and emerging adult religiosity. Gender moderated the paths from perceived paternal religiosity to paternal overprotection, such that the relationship was stronger for females, and perceived paternal warmth to emerging adult religiosity, such that the relationship was stronger for males. Overall, results demonstrated that mediation effects occurred for males only, suggesting moderated mediation.

     

Perceived Parental Anxiety and Depressive Problems and Emerging Adult Oppositional Defiant Problems: Moderated Mediation by Psychological and Physical Maltreatment and Gender

Recent studies have argued that Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD) problems continue into emerging adulthood; however, few studies have examined ODD problems in this population. Moreover, previous studies have found that corporal punishment mediated the relationship between maternal anxiety/depression and child ODD problems in young children and that parental psychopathology is likely to affect child ODD. This study examined how maternal as well as paternal maltreatment (i.e., psychological and physical) mediated the relationship between parental anxiety/depressive problems and emerging adult ODD problems (i.e., irritability and defiance). Furthermore, child and parent gender were examined as moderators (i.e., moderated mediation). Participants included 1,012 emerging adults who completed questionnaires about parental psychological and physical maltreatment, parental anxiety and depression, and affective and behavioral ODD symptoms. Results suggested that mediation occurred for the father–daughter dyad along the perceived paternal depressive problems → psychological and physical maltreatment → irritability paths and for the mother–son dyad along the perceived maternal depressive and anxiety problems → psychological maltreatment → defiance paths. Given that mediation occurred for only these gender dyads, moderated mediation was suggested.     

Early Exposure to Parental Depression and Parenting: Associations with Young Offspring’s Stress Physiology and Oppositional Behavior

Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis reactivity to stress is posited to play a role in the intergenerational transmission of risk for psychopathology and other negative outcomes in the offspring of depressed parents. We tested the hypothesis that the joint, interactive effects of exposure to parental depression during early childhood and parental hostility impact the development of young children’s stress physiology and early emerging behavior problems. A sample of 165 preschool-age children (81 boys, 84 girls), of whom 103 had a parent with a history of depression, was exposed to a stress-inducing laboratory task, and five salivary cortisol samples were obtained. Parents completed clinical interviews and an observational parent–child interaction task. We found that the offspring exposed to maternal depression during early childhood and whose parents displayed hostile parenting behaviors during an observational task evidenced high and increasing cortisol levels in response to a laboratory stressor. In addition, the total amount of exposure to maternal depression over the child’s life exerted a dose–response effect on the positive relation between parental hostility and child observed oppositional behavior. This study underscores the importance of the early rearing environment on young children’s stress physiology and early emerging behavior problems.     

Parental Self-Efficacy and Intra- and Extra-Familial Relationships

Relationships are at the heart of well-being. Parental self-efficacy emerges as a powerful construct for understanding parenting and parent–child relationships. However, person-centered approaches that allow identification of different family-specific configurations of mothers’ and fathers’ parental self-efficacy and potential within-family discrepancies remain scarce. Families are more than the sums of their parts, and holistic approaches are needed to deepen our understanding of potential family-level accumulation of relationship well-being and vulnerability. A latent profile analysis of 249 families of preadolescents identified four family profiles of parental self-efficacy: (1) low–low, (2) low–average, (3) high–average, and (4) high–high (a mother’s–a father’s parental self-efficacy within the family). We further applied the Mplus auxiliary function to explore what characterizes mothers’, fathers’, and their preadolescents’ intra- and extra-familial relationships within these profiles. Belonging to the balanced low parental self-efficacy family profile was associated with intra- and extra-familial relationship vulnerability: mothers, fathers, and preadolescents reported the highest social and emotional loneliness, parents perceived their family communication as less open, and preadolescents were evaluated as the least prosocial (in parent, teacher, and peer evaluations) and as the most antisocial (in parent evaluations). Mothers’, fathers’, and preadolescents’ intra- and extra-familial relationship well-being was the strongest in high parental self-efficacy family profiles. Promoting parental self-efficacy can be a promising way to enhance all family members’ relationship well-being. Moreover, as loneliness experiences accumulated in the balanced low parental self-efficacy family profile, efforts to tackle preadolescents’ loneliness should acknowledge the well-being of all family members.

     

Young Women’s Accounts of Caregiving,Family Relationships,and Personal Growth When Mother Has Mental Illness

Family members often serve as the primary source of care and support for loved ones living with mental illness. Although existing research has examined the role of parents and well siblings in providing care to adult children with mental illness, relatively little is known about the caregiving experiences of adult children with a parent with a psychiatric disability. Guided by a life course perspective, the present qualitative study examined first-person accounts of 10 young women attending college (ages 18–22) who were raised by a mother living with mental illness (depression, bipolar, or schizophrenia). Participants completed individual semi-structured interviews in which they described their experiences of caregiving, role reversal, and felt obligation towards mother, their ties to father and siblings, and their views of the impact of maternal mental illness on their lives. Overall, young adults’ accounts of their relationship with mother could be characterized as either predominately positive or predominately negative. In general, participants’ accounts of their caregiving experiences, views of felt obligation, and supportiveness of family ties differed depending on their reports of the overall quality of the mother–daughter relationship. Adult daughters described positive impacts of maternal mental illness on their own lives, regardless of their accounts of relationship quality with their mothers.     

Discrepancies Between Parent and Adolescent Beliefs About Daily Life Topics and Performance on an Emotion Recognition Task

Parents and children and adolescents commonly disagree in their perceptions of a variety of behaviors, including the family relationship and environment, and child and adolescent psychopathology. To this end, numerous studies have examined to what extent increased discrepant perceptions—particularly with regard to perceptions of the family relationship and environment—predict increased child and adolescent psychopathology. Parents’ and children and adolescents’ abilities to decode and identify others’ emotions (i.e., emotion recognition) may play a role in the link between discrepant perceptions and child and adolescent psychopathology. We examined parents’ and adolescents’ emotion recognition abilities in relation to discrepancies between parent and adolescent perceptions of daily life topics. In a sample of 50 parents and adolescents ages 14-to-17 years (M?=?15.4 years, 20 males, 54 % African-American), parents and adolescents were each administered a widely used performance-based measure of emotion recognition. Parents and adolescents were also administered a structured interview designed to directly assess each of their perceptions of the extent to which discrepancies existed in their beliefs about daily life topics (e.g., whether adolescents should complete their homework and carry out household chores). Interestingly, lower parent and adolescent emotion recognition performance significantly related to greater parent and adolescent perceived discrepant beliefs about daily life topics. We observed this relation whilst accounting for adolescent age and gender and levels of parent-adolescent conflict. These findings have important implications for understanding and using informant discrepancies in both basic developmental psychopathology research and applied research in clinic settings (e.g., discrepant views on therapeutic goals).     

The Role Maturity of Parents of Emerging Adult Children: Validity of a Parental Maturity Measure

Parental maturity refers to parents’ ability to see their child as an independent adult with limitations and needs, and relate to him/her accordingly. In this study, we had two main aims: (a) develop a measure of parental maturity and test its construct validity in a sample of middle-aged parents with an emerging adult child, and (b) examine how the dimensions of parental maturity varied with a child’s gender and life course transitions (i.e., employment and leaving the parental home). A sample of 343 Portuguese parents (187 mothers and 156 fathers) aged 40–68 participated in this study. Factorial validity of the Parental Maturity Measure was tested using exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses and measurement invariance across mothers and fathers. Results gave support for a two-factor measure—Comprehending (6 items) and Letting Go (4 items)—with an equivalent meaning across parents. Dimensions of parental maturity were associated with differentiated and positive parent–child relationship qualities, but were quite independent of the child’s gender and life course transitions.     

Effects of Multiple Maternal Relationship Transitions on Offspring Antisocial Behavior in Childhood and Adolescence: A Cousin-Comparison Analysis

Previous studies of the association between multiple parental relationship transitions (i.e., when a parent begins or terminates an intimate relationship involving cohabitation) and offspring antisocial behavior have varied in their efforts to rule out confounding influences, such as parental antisocial behavior and low income. They also have been limited in the representativeness of their samples. Thus, it remains unclear to what degree parents’ multiple relationship transitions have independent effects on children’s antisocial behavior. Analyses were conducted using data on 8,652 6–9-year-old, 6,911 10–13-year-old, and 6,495 14–17-year-old offspring of a nationally representative sample of U.S. women. Cousin-comparisons were used in combination with statistical covariates to evaluate the associations between maternal relationship transitions and offspring antisocial behavior in childhood and adolescence. Cousin-comparisons suggested that associations between maternal relationship transitions and antisocial behavior in childhood and early adolescence are largely explained by confounding factors. In contrast, the associations between maternal relationship transitions and offspring delinquency in late adolescence were robust to measured and unmeasured confounds. The present findings suggest that interventions aimed at reducing exposure to parental relationship transitions or addressing the psychosocial consequences of exposure to parental relationship transitions could reduce risk for offspring delinquency in late adolescence.     

Parental Divorce, Familial Risk for Depression, and Psychopathology in Offspring: A Three-Generation Study

Research suggests a link between parental divorce and negative child outcomes; however, the presence of parental depression may confound this relationship. Studies exploring the simultaneous effects of depression and parents’ divorce on the adjustment of their children are scarce and rarely have a longitudinal design. This is the first three-generation study of the relative effects of depression and divorce on offspring psychopathology, based on data from a 25-year longitudinal study with families at high and low risk for depression. One hundred seventy-eight grandchildren (mean age?=?13.9?years) of depressed and nondepressed parents and grandparents were evaluated by raters blind to their parents’ and grandparents’ clinical status. We found that in both low and high-risk children, divorce had a limited impact on child adjustment over and above familial risk for depression. Divorce had a significant effect on child outcomes only among high-risk grandchildren with a depressed grandparent and non-depressed parents, with this group showing a threefold risk for anxiety disorders. Results support previous findings suggesting that familial risk for depression largely overshadows the effect of parental divorce on child psychopathology. Possible reasons for the lack of association between divorce and child psychopathology among low-risk offspring are discussed.     

The Relation Between Norm Accessibility,Pornography Use,and Parental Mediation Among Emerging Adults

Widespread access to and use of pornography has led to concern about the potentially negative effects of exposure to pornography on emerging adults—its largest user group. Past research shows that salient social norms can influence subsequent behavior. This study, therefore, explored the relationship between salient pornography-related norms and pornography use among emerging adults, as well as the relationship between parental mediation of pornography during adolescence and emerging adults’ salient pornography-related norms. Results revealed that emerging adults are more likely to view pornography when they hold a salient belief (norm) that their peers both approve of viewing and regularly view pornography. The study also found that parents’ provision of rules about viewing pornography during adolescence may reduce future pornography use by instilling the salient belief that the parent disapproves of viewing pornography. These findings suggest that the effect of rules in the home about adolescents’ use of pornography may persist into emerging adulthood.     

Self-Qualities and Self-Leadership as Pathways Linking Childhood Maltreatment to Depression and Relationship Quality

Among adults, childhood maltreatment is widely known to increase depressive symptoms and reduce quality of adult’s intimate relationships. Considering the association between childhood maltreatment and adult depression and relationship quality from systemic theories may help clinicians conceptualize and intervene with their clients. Internal Family Systems is an evidenced based psychotherapy and is a trauma-informed model. Self is one of the core concepts of the Internal Family Systems model and it is theorized to reduce mental health problems such as depression and strengthen adult romantic relationships. Despite this theoretical proposition there is no supporting empirical research. To address this gap, the current study examined Self, specifically the qualities of Self (e.g., compassion) and Self-Leadership (e.g., staying calm in face of distress) as pathways linking childhood maltreatment to depression and relationship quality. Using a sample of adults in a romantic relationship, the current study examined Self-Qualities and Self-Leadership as mediators linking retrospective reports of child maltreatment to current depressive symptoms and relationship quality. Results indicate that the indirect (mediating) effects from childhood maltreatment to depressive symptoms and relationship quality were significant through Self-Qualities, but not Self-Leadership. Findings suggest that childhood maltreatment is associated with less frequent access to the qualities of Self, such as compassion and confidence which, in turn, were associated with fewer depressive symptoms and higher levels of relationship quality. For clinicians, the use of IFS and specifically helping clients increase the Self-Qualities may reduce depressive symptoms and strengthen romantic relationships.

     

Ethnic Differences in the Relation Between Parental Emotion Socialization and Mental Health in Emerging Adults

The present study examined the relation between retrospectively reported parental emotion socialization practices and emerging adults’ mental health across four ethnic groups. Participants were 112 European American, 89 Latino/a American, 82 African American/Black, and 83 Asian American emerging adults. Participants completed questionnaires assessing current mental health symptoms and retrospective reports of parents’ responses to their expression of negative affect as adolescents. Fathers’ socialization practices were associated with emerging adults’ functioning across ethnic groups, but the relation between mothers’ socialization and emerging adults’ functioning varied across ethnic groups. Supportive practices were significantly associated with fewer symptoms in emerging adults only for Latino/a American families, and unsupportive practices were associated with more symptoms in emerging adults only for European American and African American/Black families. Results point to the importance of parental emotion socialization practices during adolescence for emerging adults’ well-being, but suggest that some practices may be more important than others depending on cultural background.     

Conduct Disorder and Psychosocial Outcomes at Age 30: Early Adult Psychopathology as a Potential Mediator

Conduct disorder (CD) is associated with a number of adverse psychosocial outcomes in adulthood. There is consistent evidence that CD is predictive of antisocial behavior, but mixed evidence that CD is predictive of other externalizing and internalizing disorders. Further, externalizing and internalizing disorders are often associated with similar psychosocial outcomes as CD. However, relatively little work has examined whether forms of psychopathology (e.g., externalizing and/or internalizing disorders) mediates the relationship between youth CD and adult psychosocial outcomes. The present study examined associations between youth CD and adult psychosocial outcomes and sought to identify forms of psychopathology that may potentially mediate this relationship. Participants completed self-report measures of psychosocial functioning and semi-structured diagnostic interviews during adolescence and young adulthood. Analyses found that most domains of adult psychosocial functioning were associated with youth CD. Adult antisocial behavior was the only form of psychopathology predicted by CD. Adult antisocial behavior appeared to mediate the relationship between CD and marital status, life satisfaction, and being in jail and partially mediated the relationship between CD and family support and global functioning. These data suggest that reducing the progression to adult antisocial behavior may improve multiple psychosocial outcomes among those with a history of CD.     

Parental Problem Drinking and Emerging Adult Problem Behavior: The Moderating Role of Parental Support

This study examined the relationship between parental problem drinking (maternal and paternal) and emerging adult problem behaviors (alcohol use, drug use, and antisocial behavior). In addition, the moderating role of parental support (maternal and paternal) was explored. Data were drawn from a nationally representative sample of emerging adults (N?=?600; Mage?=?20.00, SD?=?1.42; 50% women; 62% White). Results from regression analyses of survey data indicated that both maternal problem drinking and maternal support moderated the relationship between paternal problem drinking and emerging adult alcohol use. For drug use, there was a three-way interaction between paternal problem drinking, maternal problem drinking, and maternal support. The relationship between paternal problem drinking and drug use only was significant for those who reported high maternal problem drinking and low maternal support. For antisocial behavior, there were positive relationships between paternal problem drinking and antisocial behavior and between maternal problem drinking and antisocial behavior in contexts of varying levels of parental support. Findings highlight the potential for parental support to both buffer and enhance the adverse influence of parental problem drinking across varied contexts.     

Depressive Symptoms among Children with ODD: Contributions of Parent and Child Risk Factors in a Chinese Sample

Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD) is a developmental disorder characterized by serious and persistent social impairment, especially stressful interactions with parents. Although previous studies demonstrated associations between parent mental health and children’s ODD symptoms, less attention has been paid to integrating both parent and child risk factors. The purpose of the current study was to investigate the associations among parent emotion regulation, child emotion regulation, parental depression, and child depression in Chinese children with ODD. A total of 234 children with ODD ranging in age from 6 to 13 years, along with their fathers or mothers, completed questionnaires. Results indicated that: (1) Parent emotion regulation, parental depression and child emotion regulation were significantly correlated with children’s depressive symptoms. (2) Parent emotion regulation was related to children’s depression indirectly through parental depression and child emotion regulation. (3) Child emotion regulation fully mediated the relationship between parent emotion regulation and child depression, and also fully mediated the relationship between parental and child depression. These findings highlight the need to improve parent emotion regulation and pay attention to parental mental health, because both risk factors may exacerbate their children’s emotion regulation difficulties and further associate the high level of depressive symptoms among children with ODD.     

The Relationship Between Parental Alcoholism and Adolescent Psychopathology: A Systematic Examination of Parental Comorbid Psychopathology

The relationship between parental alcohol dependence (with and without comorbid psychopathology) and adolescent psychopathology was examined in a sample of 665 13-17 year-old adolescents and their parents. Results indicated that adolescents who had parents diagnosed with alcohol dependence only did not significantly differ from adolescents who had parents with no psychopathology in regard to any of the measures of psychological symptomatology (substance use, conduct disorder, and depression) or clinical diagnoses (alcohol dependence, marijuana dependence, conduct disorder, or depression) assessed. In contrast, adolescents who had parents diagnosed with alcohol dependence and either comorbid drug dependence or depression were more likely to exhibit higher levels of psychological symptomatology. In addition, adolescents who had parents diagnosed with alcohol dependence, depression, and drug dependence were most likely to exhibit psychological problems. These findings underscore the importance of considering parental comorbid psychopathology when examining the relationship between parental alcoholism and offspring adjustment.