COMT基因rs6267多态性与母亲教养行为对青少年身体攻击和关系攻击的交互作用

遗传与环境如何交互作用影响儿童青少年的攻击行为是当前攻击研究中的重要前沿课题之一。近年来, 分子遗传学关于人类攻击的研究已拓展到对不同攻击亚类(身体攻击和关系攻击)的遗传基础的探讨。本研究运用问卷法与DNA分型技术, 对1258名儿童进行为时4年(四年级—七年级)的追踪调查, 考察COMT基因rs6267多态性与母亲教养行为对青少年身体攻击和关系攻击的交互作用以及性别在其中的调节作用。结果发现, COMT基因rs6267多态性与母亲教养行为仅交互作用于男青少年的身体攻击, 母亲教养行为显著预测GG 基因型男青少年的身体攻击, 但对T等位基因男青少年身体攻击的预测作用并不显著。COMT基因rs6267多态性与母亲教养行为对青少年关系攻击的交互作用不显著。本研究结果表明, 身体攻击和关系攻击具有不同遗传基础和发生机制。     

Multilevel Correlates of Childhood Physical Aggression and Prosocial Behavior

The study identified independent individual, family, and neighborhood correlates of children's physical aggression and prosocial behavior. Participants were 2,745 2–11-year olds nested in 1,982 families, which were themselves nested in 96 Canadian neighborhoods. Hierarchical linear modeling showed that the total variation explained by the three-level model was 28.03% for physical aggression and 17.57% for prosocial behavior. For both childhood behaviors, approximately 66% of this explained variance was between individuals and up to 30% was between families. The smallest amount of observed variation was between neighborhoods. Significant individual-level predictors common to both childhood behaviors were child's sex and maternal hostility toward the target child. Specifically, boys had more mother-reported physical aggression and less prosocial behavior. Children who experienced greater-than-average maternal hostility (compared to siblings) were more physically aggressive and less prosocial. At the family level, significant common predictors were mother depressed mood and punitive parenting. Children had higher levels of physical aggression and lower levels of prosocial behavior in families where mothers had greater depressed mood and used more punitive parenting practices. At the neighborhood level, greater perceived problems and lower poverty level were associated with higher levels of physical aggression. Results are discussed with reference to past and future studies of multilevel effects on children's socialization.     

Parenting Stress and Childhood Psychopathology: An Examination of Specificity to Internalizing and Externalizing Symptoms

The purpose of this study was to examine if specificity exists between three factors of parenting stress (i.e., parental distress, parent–child (PC) dysfunctional interactions, and difficult child) and childhood internalizing and externalizing symptoms. The incremental validity of parenting stress beyond parental psychopathology was also examined. The sample was drawn from families of children aged 5–17 (N = 300), who sought treatment for their child from a community mental health clinic. Results indicated that the PC dysfunctional interactions factor showed specificity to internalizing symptoms when controlling for parental psychopathology. Parental distress did not show specificity or incremental validity and the difficult child factor was associated with both internalizing and externalizing symptoms when controlling for parental psychopathology. The influence of age, gender, and ethnicity on these associations is also presented, and findings are discussed in terms of how the results add to understanding the specific relations between parenting stress and child and adolescent symptoms.     

Maternal Predictors of Rejecting Parenting and Early Adolescent Antisocial Behavior

The present study examined relations among maternal psychological resources, rejecting parenting, and early adolescent antisocial behavior in a sample of 231 low-income mothers and their sons with longitudinal assessments from age 18 months to 12 years. The maternal resources examined were age at first birth, aggressive personality, and empathy. Each of the maternal resources predicted rejecting parenting during early childhood in structural equation models that controlled for toddler difficult temperament, and rejecting parenting in early childhood predicted antisocial behavior in early adolescence. Rejecting parenting accounted for the indirect effect of each of the maternal resources on antisocial behavior, but a direct effect was also supported between maternal aggressive personality and youth antisocial behavior. Results highlight the importance of these relatively understudied maternal resources and have implications for prevention and intervention programs that focus on parenting during early childhood.     

Concordance Between the Quality of Maternal and Paternal Parenting Behavior Within Couples

There is compelling evidence that the quality of maternal and paternal parenting behavior bears critical importance for child development. Yet, less is known of the degree of similarity between maternal and paternal parenting behavior in families, and especially little is known about the factors that may explain variation in degrees of similarity. This article aims to examine (a) the concordance (similarity) between the quality of mothers’ and fathers’ interactive behavior with their child and (b) the sociodemographic determinants of this concordance. The sample included 74 families (mother, father, and their child). The quality of maternal and paternal interactive behavior was assessed independently, and rated with the Maternal Behavior Q-Sort (mother–infant, 12 months; D. R. Pederson et al., 1990) or the Mutually Responsive Orientation scale (father–toddler, 18 months; N. Aksan et al., 2006). The results indicated that the overall correlation between the quality of mothers’ and fathers’ behavior was moderate. The concordance was greater among higher socioeconomic status families or when interacting with a boy, but did not differ according to the presence or absence of siblings in the family.     

Warmth and Contingency and Their Relationship to Maternal Attitudes Toward Parenting

In this study, the authors addressed the question of whether maternal parenting behaviors in terms of sensitivity, warmth, and contingency with respect to small infants were equally represented in attitudes toward parenting. Sixty mothers from central Germany with middle-class socioeconomic backgrounds were videotaped with their 1st born 3-month-old infant in a free-play and a caregiving episode in their home. The different maternal parenting components were behaviorally analyzed. Maternal attitudes toward parenting were assessed with self-report measures. The results showed that behavioral sensitivity was significantly associated with attitudes related to contingency, whereas behavioral warmth and contingency were not associated with maternal attitudes. The authors interpreted differential associations as a reflection of intuitive and explicit parenting strategies, with only sensitivity being explicitly represented.     

A Longitudinal Study of Mothers' Overreactive Discipline and Toddlers' Externalizing Behavior

The association between children's externalizing behavior problems and mothers' overreactive discipline was examined in a longitudinally assessed sample of toddlers and their mothers. Path analyses indicated that mothers' overreactive discipline and children's externalizing behaviors were significantly and similarly stable over a 2 1/2-year period. No evidence of a cross-time influence of either variable on the other was observed. Mothers' overreactive discipline at Time 2 had a significant effect on Time 2 externalizing behavior. No significant effects of children's behavior on mothers' discipline were found. Mothers' depressive symptomatology and marital discord predicted initial overreactivity and were related to externalizing problems through their relations to overreactivity. The results support the appropriateness of implementing parenting interventions for externalizing problems before age 2 years.     

The Role of Parenting in Relational Aggression and Prosocial Behavior among Emerging Adults

This study investigated the role of remembered parenting styles and parental psychological control in the prediction of relational aggression and prosocial behavior in a college student sample (N = 323). Participants’ retrospective ratings of how they were parented were related to relational aggression and prosocial behavior; however, somewhat different relationships emerged for African American and White participants. Permissive parenting, authoritative parenting, and parental psychological control predicted relational aggression. Participant race and all 3 parenting styles (authoritarian, authoritative, and permissive) predicted prosocial behavior. Participant race moderated the relationship between psychological control and prosocial behavior. Specifically, parental psychological control was inversely related to prosocial behavior for African American, but not White, participants.     

Maternal Psychiatric Disorders, Parenting, and Maternal Behavior in the Home During the Child Rearing Years

Data from the Children in the Community Study, a community-based longitudinal study, were used to investigate associations between maternal psychiatric disorders and child-rearing behaviors. Maternal psychiatric symptoms and behavior in the home were assessed in 782 families during the childhood and adolescence of the offspring. Maternal anxiety, depressive, disruptive, personality, and substance use disorders were independently associated with current and subsequent parenting difficulties and other problems in the home during the child rearing years, after co-occurring disorders and offspring behavior problems were controlled statistically. Maternal personality disorders were most consistently associated with problems in the home during the child rearing years. Less than 1 of 3 mothers with disorders reported having received treatment. Those who received treatment were significantly less likely to experience multiple difficulties in the home during the child rearing years. These findings suggest that maternal psychiatric disorder may be an important determinant of problematic maternal behavior in the home during the child rearing years. Improved recognition and treatment of maternal psychiatric disorders may help to reduce the amount of maladaptive parenting behavior that many youths might otherwise be likely to experience.     

Child Personality Moderates Associations Between Parenting and Relational and Physical Aggression

Although negative parenting strategies are a risk factor for relational and physical aggression, research has not previously investigated whether child personality traits moderate the association between negative parenting and relational and physical aggression. This was the aim of this study. Participants were mothers of 368 children (172 males, M_age = 11.61, SD = 0.82). Mothers reported on their parenting practices, child personality traits, and child aggression. Results indicated that 2 child personality traits (extraversion and openness) moderated the relationship between inconsistent discipline and relational aggression. Additionally, agreeableness moderated the relationship between poor monitoring and supervision and physical aggression. Specifically, children low on these personality traits showed the highest levels of aggression in the context of negative parenting. These results highlight the importance of examining child personality as a moderator of parental influences on psychopathology development, and emphasize important distinctions between parenting strategies and physical versus relational aggression outcomes.     

Maternal Emotional Distress,Abuse Risk,and Children's Symptoms: Child Gender as a Moderator of Parent Sensitivity as a Mediator

Mothers' distress is a correlate of their children's elevated behaviour problems and symptoms. Parenting practices have been shown to mediate these associations, but few studies have observed parenting or focused on parents at risk of child abuse. In this study of 269 high‐risk mothers and their young children (M = 4.2 years), structural equation modelling was used to test associations between mothers' distress and child externalizing and internalizing symptoms. Associations were expected to be partly indirect via mothers' observed low sensitivity, and child gender was expected to moderate associations. Also, mothers' child abuse risk was examined as a unique correlate of sensitivity and children's symptoms, and a moderator of associations of distress with sensitivity and symptoms. Associations showed a pattern of gender‐moderated mediation with the link between mothers' distress and internalizing mostly direct for boys, and equally direct and indirect via sensitivity for girls. The association of mothers' distress with externalizing was mostly direct for boys and girls. Mothers' child abuse risk was not uniquely associated with sensitivity or symptoms and did not moderate any associations. There were no differences in model paths between mothers referred from child welfare/mental health compared with other sources or self‐referred. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Teachers Matter: An Examination of Student-Teacher Relationships,Attitudes Toward Bullying,and Bullying Behavior

This study investigated the influence of student-teacher relationships and attitudes toward bullying on middle school students' bullying behaviors. Gender and grade differences were also examined. Data were collected from 435 middle school students. Results indicated that students' attitudes toward bullying mediated the relationship between student-teacher relationships and physical and verbal/relational bullying. There was a significant group difference on student-teacher relationships and attitudes toward bullying between bully, bully-victim, victim, and bystander groups and students not involved in bullying. In addition, sixth graders reported significantly more positive student-teacher relationships than seventh and eighth graders. Implications for the role of both cognitive and behavioral bullying intervention and prevention efforts are discussed.     

父亲、母亲抚养压力在母亲抑郁和学龄前儿童内外部问题行为间的链式中介作用

研究旨在探讨父亲和母亲的抚养压力在母亲抑郁与学龄前儿童内、外部问题行为间的作用。以北京市某区75所幼儿园的2222名3~5岁在园幼儿及其父母为被试,采用《流调中心抑郁量表》、《抚养压力量表》、《学龄前儿童问题行为问卷》分别对母亲抑郁、父母抚养压力及儿童问题行为进行测查,结果发现：（1）母亲抑郁可以正向预测儿童的内、外部问题行为;（2）母亲抑郁对儿童内部问题行为的作用被"母亲抚养压力"、"母亲抚养压力-父亲抚养压力"两条路径部分中介;（3）母亲抑郁对儿童外部问题行为的作用被"母亲抚养压力"、"母亲抚养压力-父亲抚养压力"两条路径完全中介。综上,研究揭示了母亲抚养压力、父亲抚养压力在母亲抑郁和学龄前儿童内、外部问题行为间的链式中介作用。     

Ethnic Differences in Parents' Attitudes toward Girls' Use of Aggression

Few studies have attempted to explain ethnic differences in female aggression. The degree to which ethnic differences exist in the influence of parents' approval of aggression on their preadolescent daughters' use of physical, verbal, and relational aggression was explored in a sample of 97 parent-child dyads. Results indicate that European American parents were more disapproving of their daughters' aggressive behavior than were African American parents. Parents' attitude toward aggression was predictive of European American girls' use of physical and verbal aggression and African American girls' use of relational aggression. Implications for aggression prevention and intervention for girls are discussed.     

Peer Rejection in Childhood: Effects on Maternal Depression and Behavior Problems in Toddlers

The aim of this study was to develop a conceptual model that would clarify how a woman's recollections of peer and parent rejection in childhood influence her emotional well-being and, resultantly, her own child's behavior problems. Given current interest in peer versus parent influences, the authors used a design and analysis to reveal the unique contributions of peer and parent rejection. The participants were a community sample of 88 mothers and their 2 1/2-year-old children. The study found that mothers' recollections of peer rejection in childhood were significantly associated with depressive symptomatology, but recollections of parental rejection in childhood were unrelated to current depressive symptoms. Recollections of peer rejection during childhood, internal representation of self, and depressive symptoms made significant, unique contributions to the variance in behavior problems in their children. Together, these variables significantly explained 27% of the variance in the final model.     

Maternal Antisocial Behavior, Parenting Practices, and Behavior Problems in Boys at Risk for Antisocial Behavior

We investigated the independent contributions of maternal history of antisocial behavior and parenting practices to the worsening course of sons' behavior problems in a sample of young urban boys at risk for antisocial behavior. Mothers reported on boys' behavior problems at baseline and one year later, as well as on their own history of antisocial behavior before and after age 15, and of lifetime depression and substance use disorders (provisional DSM-III-R diagnoses). Baseline reports of parenting practices were obtained. Lower involvement, lower monitoring, and higher levels of parent–child conflict and maternal Conduct Disorder (CD) before age 15 contributed to the worsening of boys' behavior problems one year later; mothers' symptoms of Antisocial Personality Disorder after age 15 did not. Mothers' lifetime history of Major Depression and Substance Use Disorder did not add to the worsening of boys' behavior problems after accounting for these other factors. Although maternal CD contributed directly to the worsening of boys' behavior problems, the effect of parenting was more substantial. We discuss clinical implications for prevention and treatment of children's antisocial behavior, and intergenerational implications of girls' early antisocial behavior.     

Inconsistent Discipline as a Mediator Between Maternal Distress and Aggression in Boys

The current study examines inconsistent discipline as a mediator in the association between maternal distress and child aggression and attention problems. Participants were 215 boys, ranging in age from 9 to 12 years, and their mothers. Mothers provided self-report data on socioeconomic status (SES), parenting stress, maternal distress (depression and anxiety/somatization), and use of parenting practices. They also rated their sons' levels of aggression and attention problems. Of five parenting practices measured, inconsistent discipline was most clearly related to the maternal and child variables of interest. Regression analyses indicated that inconsistent discipline partially mediated the relation between maternal distress and child aggression, when controlling for SES and stress, whereas the mediating role of inconsistent discipline in the association between maternal distress and attention problems was not supported. The different pattern for attention problems, which also includes nondisruptive behaviors, suggests that this mediation may be specific to certain types of child behavior. Given that aggressive behaviors in childhood often lead to more serious delinquency in adolescence, these findings are important for informing prevention and intervention efforts. The need for future research to examine other mediators also is discussed.     

Predictors of Externalizing Behavior Problems in Early Elementary-Aged Children: The Role of Family and Home Environments

As children enter elementary school they display behavioral orientations that reveal potential developmental trajectories. Developmental transitions offer unique opportunities for examining developmental pathways and the factors that influence emerging pathways. The primary goal of this investigation was to examine characteristics of family and home contexts in predicting externalizing behavior problems among children transitioning into elementary school. Dimensions of the family and home environments of maltreated and nonmaltreated children (N = 177) were examined and used to predict externalizing behavior problems. Maltreatment was assessed using case file information, characteristics of the family and home environment were rated by interviewers, and externalizing behavior was assessed by mother's ratings on the Child Behavior Checklist. Relative to nonmaltreated children, the family environments of physically abused children were characterized by higher levels of negative social interactions. Also, in comparison to nonmaltreated children, the home environments of children who experienced neglect were characterized as less organized and clean. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that physical abuse was the strongest predictor of externalizing behavior. After controlling for the contribution of physical abuse, mother's negative behavior toward the focal child, aggression between siblings, and the lack of an organized and clean home were each predictive of externalizing behavior.     

Intergenerational Transmission of Trauma-Related Distress: Maternal Betrayal Trauma,Parenting Attitudes,and Behaviors

The purpose of this study was to elucidate mechanisms involved in the intergenerational transmission of trauma-related distress. This study investigated whether betrayal trauma (BT; abuse by a person close to the victim) and specific parenting attitudes and behaviors among mothers with child abuse histories predicted internalizing and externalizing symptoms in their children. Mothers and children (ages 7–11) were recruited for a project on parenting and stress (N = 72). Maternal betrayal trauma predicted both internalizing (β = 0.33, p < .01) and externalizing symptoms (β = 0.25, p < .05) even when controlling for mothers’ trauma-related symptoms. Negative attitudes toward limit setting predicted externalizing symptoms (β = ?0.33, p < .05). Poorer communication (β = ?0.39, p < .05) but higher parenting satisfaction (β = 0.38, p < .01) predicted internalizing symptoms. These findings demonstrate the importance of assessing maternal trauma and parenting characteristics as part of interventions with symptomatic children.     

Associations of Maternal Prenatal Smoking with Early Childhood Physical Aggression,Hyperactivity-Impulsivity,and Their Co-Occurrence

This study investigated associations between maternal prenatal smoking and physical aggression (PA), hyperactivity-impulsivity (HI) and co-occurring PA and HI between ages 17 and 42 months in a population sample of children born in Québec (Canada) in 1997/1998 (N=1745). Trajectory model estimation showed three distinct developmental patterns for PA and four for HI. Multinomial regression analyses showed that prenatal smoking significantly predicted children’s likelihood to follow different PA trajectories beyond the effects of other perinatal factors, parental psychopathology, family functioning and parenting, and socio-economic factors. However, prenatal smoking was not a significant predictor of HI in a model with the same control variables. Further multinomial regression analyses showed that, together with gender, presence of siblings and maternal hostile reactive parenting, prenatal smoking independently predicted co-occurring high PA and high HI compared to low levels of both behaviors, to high PA alone, and to high HI alone. These results show that maternal prenatal smoking predicts multiple behavior regulation problems in early childhood.