Interactions Between Maternal Parenting and Children’s Early Disruptive Behavior: Bidirectional Associations across the Transition from Preschool to School Entry

This study was a prospective 2-year longitudinal investigation of associations between negative maternal parenting and disruptive child behavior across the preschool to school transition. Our main goals were to 1) determine the direction of association between early maternal negativity and child disruptive behaviors across this important developmental transition and 2) examine whether there would be different patterns of associations for boys and girls. Participants were 235 children (111 girls; T1; M = 37.7 months, T2; M = 63.4 months) and their mothers and teachers. Observational and multi-informant ratings of child disruptive behavior showed differential patterns of stability and associations with measures of parenting risk. Results indicated bidirectional and interactive contributions of externalizing behavior and negative parenting across time. Results also indicated that risk mechanisms operate similarly for both sexes. Findings support transactional models of disruptive child behavior that highlight the joint contributions of parents and children.     

Associations of Youth and Adulthood Body-Mass Index and Waist-Hip Ratio with Attachment Styles and Dimensions

The current cross-sectional study examined whether body-mass index (BMI) and waist-hip ratio are associated with adult attachment. Participants were 1,570 men and women participating in Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns study. BMI was measured in youth and in adulthood and waist-hip ratio in adulthood. A single measure of attachment style was conducted when participants were aged 24–39 years. In age and sex adjusted models, youth BMI (Beta = .066, p = .008), adulthood BMI (Beta = .069, p = .007) and waist-hip ratio (Beta = .082, p = .016) were associated with fearful attachment. The associations remained significant when education and relationship status were adjusted for. Age adjusted association between adulthood waist-hip ratio and preoccupied attachment was found in men (Beta = .132, p = .002). The association was not essentially changed by additionally adjusting for education and relationship status, and including fearful attachment in the model. Furthermore, associations for attachment dimensions were also found. These results suggest that in addition to previously reported negative effects of higher BMI on physical health, higher BMI might have negative associations with psychological functioning as well. Furthermore, our results imply that physical appearance might be associated with attachment style in adulthood.     

Electronic Diaries: A Feasible Method of Assessing Emotional Experiences in Youth?

The primary goal of this study was to examine whether electronic diaries are a feasible method of monitoring transitory emotional states with a school-age, community sample of youth. A second goal was to examine preliminary relations between indices of emotional functioning captured via electronic diaries and other measures of child emotional and psychological functioning. Participants included 38 youth between the ages of 7 and 12 (51% males, M age = 9 [1.52] years and 49% females, M age = 9 [1.94] years) and their mothers (M age = 39 years) and fathers (M age = 42 years). Children were prompted to indicate the intensity of their current emotion four times a day for 1 week using Palm Tungsten E2s. Youth also completed self-report measures of emotion intensity, awareness, and dysregulation. Parents completed measures of child emotion regulation and symptoms of externalizing and internalizing psychopathology. Sixty percent of the prompts were answered as intended. Higher levels of positive emotion intensity based on electronic diary ratings were negatively related to parent reports of adaptive emotion regulation and were positively related to youths’ reports of emotion dysregulation and poor emotion awareness. Given that the electronic diary data offered unique information on youth emotional functioning, strategies to increase compliance with the diaries are suggested.     

Gender Differences in Psychopathic Traits,Types, and Correlates of Aggression Among Adjudicated Youth

The current study investigated gender differences in types and correlates of aggression among 150 adjudicated youth (M age = 15.2, SD = 1.4). In cluster analysis, consistent with past studies, one aggressive group characterized by moderate levels of reactive aggression and one characterized by high levels of proactive and reactive aggression emerged and these patterns were consistent across gender. For both boys and girls, the combined proactive/reactive aggression cluster showed the greatest levels of aggression, impulsivity, and callous-unemotional traits, supporting a severity over a typology model of proactive and reactive aggression. Girls displayed significantly higher rates of physical and relational aggression than boys. Girls were highly aggressive toward both girls and boys, whereas boys were highly aggressive only toward other boys. Girls also showed multiple indications of severity and emotionality, indexed by higher rates of negative affect, anxiety, distress about social provocations, and empathy.     

The 10-Item Positive and Negative Affect Schedule for Children, Child and Parent Shortened Versions: Application of Item Response Theory for More Efficient Assessment

The Positive and Negative Affect Schedule for Children (PANAS-C/P; child and parent versions) yield positive affect (PA) and negative affect (NA) scales that are clinically useful for identifying youth with anxiety and mood problems. Despite the advantages that item response theory (IRT) offers relative to classical test theory with respect to shortening test instruments, no studies to date have applied IRT methodology to the PANAS-C/P scales. In the present study, we thus applied IRT methodology using a school-based development sample (child sample: N = 799; parent sample: N = 553) and developed a shortened 5-item PA scale (joyful, cheerful, happy, lively, proud) and a 5-item NA scale (miserable, mad, afraid, scared, sad) for the sake of simultaneously increasing the assessment efficiency of the PANAS-C/P scales while improving the psychometric properties of the scales. The reduced PA and NA child scales classified relevant diagnostic groups in a separate clinic-referred validation sample (N = 662) just as well as the original PANAS-C child scales and may be used to help identify youth with internalizing disorders in need of mental health services.     

The Effects of Experimentally Induced Rumination, Positive Reappraisal, Acceptance, and Distancing When Thinking About a Stressful Event on Affect States in Adolescents

The current study compares the effects of experimentally induced rumination, positive reappraisal, distancing, and acceptance on affect states in adolescents aged 13–18. Participants (N = 160) were instructed to think about a recent stressful event. Next, they received specific instructions on how to think about that event in each condition. Manipulation checks revealed that the manipulations were successful, except for acceptance. The two most reported events were “a fight” and “death of loved one”. Results showed that positive reappraisal (i.e., thinking about the benefits and personal growth) caused a significantly larger increase in positive affect and decrease in negative affect compared to rumination, distancing, and acceptance. Current findings implicate that positive reappraisal seems an adequate coping strategy in the short-term, and therefore could be applied in interventions for youth experiencing difficulties managing negative affect. Future research should focus on long-term effects of these cognitive strategies and on more intensive training of acceptance.     

Mothers as a Resource in Times of Stress: Interactive Contributions of Socialization of Coping and Stress to Youth Psychopathology

This study examined the hypothesis that maternal socialization of coping would make a differential contribution to youth depression and externalizing psychopathology depending on youths’ level of exposure to life stress. A sample of 155 youth (M age = 12.41, SD = 1.21) and their maternal caregivers completed semi-structured interviews and questionnaires in a two-wave longitudinal study over a 1-year period. Results provided evidence for two types of socialization × stress interactions—an amplification-effects model and a differential-effects model. In the context of interpersonal stress, findings supported an amplification-effects model wherein the risk and protective effects of engagement and disengagement socialization of coping emerged in youth exposed to high but not mild levels of stress. In the context of noninterpersonal stress, findings supported a differential-effects model wherein disengagement socialization of coping contributed to heightened risk among youth exposed to high stress but dampened risk among youth exposed to mild stress. This research identifies maternal socialization of coping as a noteworthy contributor to risk for youth psychopathology, and highlights the need to consider parenting × environment interactions when investigating parenting processes related to youth psychopathology.     

Does Childhood Executive Function Predict Adolescent Functional Outcomes in Girls with ADHD?

We prospectively followed an ethnically and socioeconomically diverse sample of preadolescent girls with ADHD (n = 140) and matched comparison girls (n = 88) over a period of 5 years, from middle childhood through early/mid-adolescence. Our aim was to examine the ability of measures of childhood executive function (EF) to predict functional outcomes in adolescence. Measures of neuropsychological functioning comprised the childhood predictors, with academic, social, and global functioning serving as adolescent criterion measures. Results indicated that childhood EF predicted (a) academic achievement and social functioning across our entire sample (independent of diagnostic group status) and (b) global functioning only in girls with ADHD (independent of IQ). These results highlight the non-specificity of EF deficits and suggest the importance of assessing and developing interventions that target EF impairments, particularly in those at high-risk for negative outcomes, in order to prevent long-term difficulties across a range of important functional domains.     

Dyadic Flexibility in Early Parent–Child Interactions: Relations with Maternal Depressive Symptoms and Child Negativity and Behaviour Problems

Lower levels of parent–child affective flexibility indicate risk for children's problem outcomes. This short‐term longitudinal study examined whether maternal depressive symptoms were related to lower levels of dyadic affective flexibility and positive affective content in mother–child problem‐solving interactions at age 3.5 years (N = 100) and whether these maternal and dyadic factors predicted child emotional negativity and behaviour problems at a 4‐month follow‐up. Dyadic flexibility and positive affect were measured using dynamic systems‐based modelling of second‐by‐second affective patterns during a mother–child problem‐solving task. Results showed that higher levels of maternal depressive symptoms were related to lower levels of dyadic affective flexibility, which predicted children's higher levels of negativity and behaviour problems as rated by teachers. Mothers' ratings of child negativity and behaviour problems were predicted by their own depressive symptoms and individual child factors, but not by dyadic flexibility. There were no effects of dyadic positive affect. Findings highlight the importance of studying patterns in real‐time dyadic parent–child interactions as potential mechanisms of risk in developmental psychopathology. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Peer-Nominated Deviant Talk Within Residential Treatment: Individual and Group Influences on Treatment Response

This research examined deviant talk during summer residential treatment using peer nominations and extensive field observations. Participants were 239 youth (M _age = 12.62, SD = 2.60; 67% male), nested in 26 treatment groups. Deviant talk was present in this setting, showed individual differences, and increased over time, especially for younger boys. As expected, its relationship to treatment response was moderated by peer behavior. Initial levels of individual deviant talk were related to clinical improvement, but primarily when peer deviant talk was low. Initial levels of peer deviant talk were related to higher than expected end of treatment aggression, especially for youth who were high in deviant talk. Deviant talk effects were observed for staff impressions of change and observations of aggression and adjustment. Initial antisocial behavior affected whether individual or peer levels of deviant talk more heavily influenced treatment response. Implications for clinical assessment and treatment monitoring are discussed.     

The Impact of Positive and Negative Affect and Issue Framing on Issue Interpretation and Risk Taking

Two studies examined the influence of transient affective states and issue framing onissue interpretationandrisk takingwithin the context of strategic decision making. In Study 1, participants in whom transient positive or negative affective states were induced by reading a short story showed systematic differences in issue interpretation and risk taking in a strategic decision making context. Compared to negative mood participants, those in a positive mood were more likely to interpret the strategic issue as an opportunity and displayed lower levels of risk taking. Study 2 replicated and extended these results by crossing affective states with threat and opportunity frames. Results showed that framing an issue (as a threat or an opportunity) had a stronger impact on issue interpretation among negative affect participants than among positive affect participants. Affective states also moderated the impact of issue framing on risk taking: the effect of framing on risk-taking was stronger under negative rather than positive affect. These results are interpreted via information-processing and motivational effects of affect on a decision maker.     

Test of a Factor Mixture-Based Taxonic-Dimensional Model of Anxiety Sensitivity and Panic Attack Vulnerability among University and Clinical Samples in Mexico City

The aim of the present study was to evaluate a factor mixture-based taxonic-dimensional model of anxiety sensitivity (AS) (Bernstein et al. Behavior Therapy 41:515-521, 2010), as measured by the ASI-3 (Taylor et al. Psychological Assessment 19:176-188, 2007), in regard to panic attacks, anxiety symptoms, and behavioral impairment among a university sample (N = 150, n _females  = 107, M _age = 21.3 years, SD = 4.3) and a clinical sample (N = 150, n _females  = 102, M _age = 39.0 years, SD = 12.0) from Mexico City, Mexico. Findings demonstrated cross-national support for the conceptual and operational utility of the AS taxonic-dimensional hypothesis (Bernstein et al. Journal of Anxiety Disorders 20:1-22, 2007b). Specifically, (1) the FMM-based AS taxon class base rate was significantly greater among the clinical relative to the university sample; (2) risk for panic attacks was significantly greater among the AS taxon class relative to the AS normative class; and (3) continuous individual differences in AS physical and psychological concerns, within the AS taxon class, were associated with level of risk for panic attacks, as well as panic attack severity and anxiety symptom levels. Similar AS taxonic-dimensional effects were observed in relation to degree of behavioral impairment across domains of functioning. The study results are discussed with respect to their implications for better understanding the nature of AS-related cognitive vulnerability for panic and related anxiety psychopathology.     

Using circular questions to explore individual family member experiences of youth gender dysphoria in Australia

Abstract

Background: The number of young people reporting gender dysphoria is increasing worldwide, with gender dysphoria known to affect everyone in the family in unique ways. Previous research has highlighted the importance of family support and understanding; however, much less is known about individual and collective family member experiences, particularly for siblings under the age of 18?years.

Aims: This study sought to identify, describe and interpret individual family member experiences of youth gender dysphoria using semi-structured interviews, incorporating circular questioning, within a whole of family, clinical and wider social context.

Methods: Thirty-five individual family members living in Australia (nine young people aged 12-17?years experiencing gender dysphoria, 10 mothers, eight fathers, and eight siblings aged 11-17?years) were interviewed, exploring positive and negative experiences of youth gender dysphoria, within and outside of the family. Family relationships, support and healthcare experiences were also explored.

Results: All participants reported a mixture of positive and negative experiences of youth gender dysphoria. Levels of acceptance tended to change with the duration of transition, with most family members adapting with time. Siblings reported mixed experiences within the same family, with some struggling to adapt. Most family members felt that including the whole family in the healthcare of the young person was important, although dependent on individual circumstances and family context. Specialist gender care experiences were unanimously positive, although services were considered difficult to access.

Discussion: Family members reported shared and individual positive and negative experiences of youth gender dysphoria across social contexts. Accepting and facilitating gender transition for young people appeared to improve individual and family functioning. Most participants valued a whole of family approach within specialist healthcare. The use of circular questioning in the study helped dispel assumptions and facilitated curiosity for others’ experiences in the family.     

Transactional Associations Between Youths’ Responses to Peer Stress and Depression: The Moderating Roles of Sex and Stress Exposure

This study examined transactional associations between responses to peer stress and depression in youth. Specifically, it tested the hypotheses that (a) depression would predict fewer effortful responses and more involuntary, dysregulated responses to peer stress over time; and (b) fewer adaptive and more maladaptive responses would predict subsequent depression. Youth (M age = 12.41; SD = 1.19; 86 girls, 81 boys) and their maternal caregivers completed semi-structured interviews and questionnaires at three annual waves. Multi-group comparison path analyses were conducted to examine sex and stress-level differences in the proposed reciprocal-influence model. In girls and in youth exposed to high levels of peer stress, maladaptive stress responses predicted more depressive symptoms and adaptive stress responses predicted fewer depressive symptoms at each wave. These findings suggest the utility of preventive interventions for depression designed to enhance the quality of girls’ stress responses. In boys, depression predicted less adaptive and more maladaptive stress responses, but only at the second wave. These findings suggest that interventions designed to reduce boys’ depressive symptoms may help them develop more adaptive stress responses.     

Youth Developmental Assets and Perceived Life Satisfaction: Is There a Relationship?

This study explored associations between youth developmental assets (i.e., support by parents/other adults; accountability to adults; empowerment; school support; values regarding risk behaviors; quantity of other adult support; empathetic relationships) and adolescents’ perceptions of overall life satisfaction. Public high school students (N = 3,477) completed a self-report questionnaire. Analyses were conducted to examine relationships between developmental assets and perceived life satisfaction while controlling for socioeconomic status. Results indicated that significant (p ≤ .05) associations were established for perceived support by parents/other adults for all four race/gender groups, self and peer values regarding risk behavior for black females, quality of other adult support for black males and white females and life satisfaction for adolescents. Significant (p ≤ .05) associations were also established for perceived support by parents/other adults for White males and Black males, accountability to parents/other adults for White females, quality of other adult support for White males and Black females and for empathetic relationships for all four race/gender groups. Results suggest that perceived life satisfaction is related to youth developmental assets, although moderated by gender and race differences. Further research is necessary to identify the particular characteristics of youth and specific aspects of adolescent life satisfaction associated with youth developmental assets in order to develop gender appropriate and culturally sensitive health promotion programs.     

A Meta-analytic Review of the Role of Child Anxiety Sensitivity in Child Anxiety

Conflicting findings exist regarding (1) whether anxiety sensitivity (AS) is a construct distinct from anxiety in children and (2) the specific nature of the role of AS in child anxiety. This study uses meta-analytic techniques to (1) determine whether youth (ages 6–18 years) have been reported to experience AS, (2) examine whether AS differentiates anxiety disordered youth from youth without diagnoses, and (3) ascertain whether AS distinguishes youth with panic disorder from those with other anxiety disorders. The weighted mean effect size analyses included 15 studies and 6,579 participants. Results suggested positive correlational relationships between AS and anxiety for children (r = 0.26) and adolescents (r = 0.36) and higher levels of AS for anxiety disordered youth than non-clinical youth (d = 0.64). Findings tentatively suggested higher levels of AS for youth with panic disorder than youth diagnosed with other anxiety disorders. Implications and future directions in the research of child AS are discussed.     

Flexibility is not always adaptive: Affective flexibility and inflexibility predict rumination use in everyday life

The present study examined whether cognitive flexibility in the processing of emotional material (i.e., affective flexibility) predicts the use of rumination in response to negative events in daily life. One hundred fifty-seven undergraduate participants completed daily diaries for six consecutive days. Affective flexibility was measured with a novel task-switching paradigm using emotional pictures. Results show that affective inflexibility when switching away from processing the emotional meaning of negative material was associated with increased use of rumination in daily life. In contrast, affective inflexibility when switching away from processing the emotional meaning of positive material was related to decreased use of rumination. Importantly, affective flexibility predicted use of rumination beyond non-affective measures of executive functioning. This is the first study to show that inflexibility is not uniformly associated with increased rumination but that inflexibility in the processing of positive material can predict lower levels of rumination.     

The Affective Style Questionnaire: Development and Psychometric Properties

Affective style is an individual difference variable that refers to tendencies for regulating emotions. The emotion research literature has consistently identified three general strategies to handle emotional reactions: some strategies are aimed at re-adjusting affect to adapt successfully to situational demands; other strategies are intended to conceal or suppress affect; and a third approach is to tolerate and accept emotions, including unwanted and aversive reactions. We conducted two studies to develop a self-report measure to assess these affective styles. In the first study (n = 434), a list of 127 items related to this construct was administered. A factor analysis supported three factors: habitual attempts to conceal or suppress affect (Concealing subscale; 8 items), a general ability to manage, adjust, and work with emotions as needed (Adjusting subscale; 7 items), and an accepting and tolerant attitude toward emotions (Tolerating subscale; 5 items). The scale showed satisfactory internal consistency. Furthermore, the respective subscales showed different patterns of relations with existing instruments measuring similar constructs. Findings were cross-validated in an independent sample (n = 495). The factor structure and results of psychometric analyses were replicated. The final 20-item Affective Style Questionnaire is a brief instrument to measure individual differences in emotion regulation.     

Effects of Exposure to Community Violence on Internalizing Symptoms: Does Desensitization to Violence Occur in African American Youth?

The purpose of the current study was to examine the linear and curvilinear associations of exposure to community violence to internalizing symptoms in 251 African American adolescents (mean age = 12.86, SD = 1.28). Participants reported on exposure to community violence, anxiety symptoms, and depressive symptoms. Regression analyses were used to test the hypotheses and, consistent with predictions, the results indicated that the association between violence and depression was curvilinear; whereas the association to anxiety was linear and positive. The results highlight the importance of considering more complex models of the impact of exposure to community violence on psychological functioning in African American youth from economically- disadvantaged communities.     

A Psychometric Analysis of the Revised Child Anxiety and Depression Scale—Parent Version in a Clinical Sample

The Revised Child Anxiety and Depression Scale—Parent Version (RCADS-P) is a 47-item parent-report questionnaire of youth anxiety and depression, with scales corresponding to the DSM-IV categories of Separation Anxiety Disorder, Social Phobia, Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD), Panic Disorder, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, and Major Depressive Disorder (MDD). The RCADS-P is currently the only parent-report questionnaire that concurrently assesses youth symptomatology of individual anxiety disorders as well as depression in accordance with DSM-IV nosology. The present study examined the psychometric properties of the RCADS-P in a large (N = 490), clinic-referred sample of youths. The RCADS-P demonstrated favorable psychometric properties, including high internal consistency, convergent/divergent validity, as well as strong discriminant validity—evidencing an ability to discriminate between anxiety and depressive disorders, as well as between the targeted anxiety disorders. Support for the DSM-related six-factor RCADS-P structure was also evidenced. This structure demonstrated superior fit to a recently suggested alternative to the DSM-IV classification of anxiety and affective disorders—namely, the MDD/GAD “distress” factor.