Mothers' and fathers' negative responsibility attributions and perceptions of children's problem behavior

Parents' negative responsibility attributions about their child's misbehavior are related to a perception that the child has more behavior problems. This study used a dyadic framework to explore how mothers' and fathers' attributions relate to their own perceptions and to their partner's perceptions of the child's externalizing problems. Participants included 102 couples interviewed when children were 7 years old. Results confirmed that mothers reported more externalizing behavior problems in their children than did fathers, and fathers of boys reported more child behavior problems than fathers of girls. Dyadic analyses suggested that parents' negative responsibility attributions of the child's behavior were associated with greater perceptions of child externalizing problems on behalf of parents and their partners.     

Mothers' and Fathers' Depressive Symptoms and Conflict-Resolution Strategies in the Marriage and Children's Externalizing and Internalizing Behaviors

The authors examined mothers' and fathers' avoidance and attacking conflict-resolution strategies in the marriage and their depressive symptoms as they related to children's externalizing and internalizing behaviors. A nonclinical community sample of 51 families and their children's 1st-grade teachers (N = 41) participated. Both mothers and teachers completed a behavior-problem checklist in order to evaluate the incidence of internalizing and externalizing behaviors in the children. Correlational statistics revealed significant associations between parents' avoidance and attacking strategies and their depressive symptoms. Also, parents' use of avoidance was related to more internalizing behaviors in the children. When hierarchical regression analyses were used to examine the contributions of the parents' attributes to children's externalizing and internalizing behaviors, mothers' avoidance and an interaction between mothers' and fathers' avoidance were identified as significant predictors of children's internalizing behaviors.     

Parental depression,parenting behaviours,and behaviour problems in young children

In the past, research has demonstrated that parental depression and parenting practices are related. More recently, there has been an increase in research examining child outcomes as they are related to maternal and paternal psychopathology. To continue with this line of research, this study examined the relationships among mothers' and fathers' symptoms of depression, characteristics of their parenting practices, and their ratings of their young children's internalizing and externalizing behaviour problems. The results of this study demonstrated that these variables are related significantly. Further, the results of this study suggested that mothers' parenting, particularly their limit setting with their young children, is an important predictor of their ratings of their young children's externalizing behaviour problems in the context of their own symptoms of depression. A different pattern of relationships may be present for fathers, as both their symptoms of depression and their parenting characteristics predicted their ratings of their young children's externalizing behaviour problems. Such findings were not supported for young children's internalizing behaviour problems. These findings suggested that interventions should have different targets for mothers and fathers. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Treatment Acceptability

The present study assessed mothers' and fathers' acceptance of six interventions frequently used to alter children's problem behavior. This is the first study to assess fathers' perceptions of behavioral interventions for children. Positive reinforcement, response cost, medication, room timeout, chair timeout and spanking were rated by parents using the Treatment Evaluation Inventory (TEI). In addition, parents' perceptions of their children's behavior and own marital adjustment were measured using standardized checklists. Parents' acceptability ratings differed significantly across treatment conditions depending on parent gender, child behavior problems, and marital adjustment. Treatment preference order was equivalent for all groups.     

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.     

How early triadic family processes predict children's strengths and difficulties at age three

This study aimed to determine longitudinal associations of early triadic family processes and 3-year-old children's strengths and difficulties and to control those associations for family risk factors. In 80 families expecting their first child, we assessed parents' anticipations of future family relationships (Triadic Capacity) and parents' psychological distress, marital quality, and education level. When the children were 4 months of age, we observed triadic family interaction in a standardized laboratory play scenario. The children's strengths and difficulties at age three were assessed using multiple methods. As expected, parents' Triadic Capacity assessed before the child was born predicted triadic family interaction 4 months after birth. Early triadic family processes explained variance in children's emotional functioning at age three over and above the effects of family stress factors assessed before the child was born. However, early triadic family processes did not explain children's co-operative behaviour or children's symptoms at age three. Results also highlighted the roles of fathers' education level in children's externalizing behaviour, mothers' psychological distress at children's low co-operative behaviour, and low marital quality in children's internalizing behaviour.     

Vocabularies

Negative emotionality is considered to be the core of the difficult temperament concept (J. E. Bates, 1989; R. L. Shiner, 1998). In this correlational study, the authors examined whether the relations between children's negative emotionality and problematic behavior (internalizing and externalizing) were partially mediated by parenting style (authoritative and authoritarian) in a community sample of 196 3-year-old children and their mothers. The authors assessed maternal perception of child negative emotionality using the Children's Behavior Questionnaire (M. K. Rothbart, S. A. Ahadi, K. L. Hershey, &; P. Fisher, 2001) and assessed problematic child behavior by means of maternal report using the Child Behavior Checklist (T. M. Achenbach, 1992). The results showed that the relations between child negative emotionality and internalizing and externalizing behaviors were partially mediated by mothers' authoritative parenting style. Moreover, when the authors used confirmatory factor analysis to decontaminate possible overlap in item content between measures assessing temperament and problematic behavior, the association between negative emotionality and internalizing behavior was fully mediated by authoritative parenting.     

The relationship between Turkish children's perceptions of marital conflict and their internalizing and externalizing problems

The present study investigated the relationship between children's perceptions of marital conflict and children's internalizing and externalizing problems. Additionally, investigating gender and age differences in children's perceptions and the type of problems they exhibited were the other purposes of the study. The sample consisted of 9‐ to 12‐year‐old, nonclinical children from intact families (N = 232), one of their parents, and teachers. The data were gathered by administering the Child Behavior Checklist for Ages 4–18 and the Teacher's Report Form to adult participants and the Children's Perception of Interparental Conflict Scale and the Children's Depression Inventory to the child participants. Findings indicated that there was a significant relationship between children's perceptions of marital conflict and their internalizing and externalizing problems. More specifically, children's perceptions of conflict properties were associated with their internalizing problems in parents', teachers', and children's reports. Children's perceptions of threat were associated with child‐reported depression. Children's perceptions of self‐blame were associated with child‐reported depression, parent‐reported internalizing and externalizing problems, and teacher‐reported externalizing problems. Furthermore, it was found that there were gender and age differences in children's perceptions of marital conflict and their internalizing and externalizing problems. Findings indicated that boys have higher self‐blame scores and teacher‐reported externalizing problems than girls and that girls have more parent‐ and teacher‐reported internalizing problems than boys. Additionally, it was found that 9‐year‐old children have more teacher‐reported internalizing and externalizing problems than 12‐year‐old children. Also, 9‐year‐old boys have higher parent‐reported externalizing problems than 9‐year‐old girls and 9‐year‐old boys have higher parent‐reported externalizing problems than 12‐year‐old boys.     

The relationship of adolescent mothers' expectations,knowledge, and beliefs to their young children's coping behavior

Developmental researchers have begun to explore parental cognitions in an effort to better understand adolescent parenthood. However, most research on adolescent mothers has failed to relate cognitions of the mother to the child's functioning. To extend the research on adolescent-parent families, we examined the association between adolescent mothers' knowledge of child development, parental expectations, and child-rearing beliefs to their infants' or toddlers' coping behavior. Trained observers rated children on the three subscales of the Early Coping Inventory–Sensorimotor, Reactive Behavior, and Self-Initiated Behavior. The findings indicated that the adolescent mothers' self-reports of their expectations for their own and their children's behaviors and emotions accounted for a significant proportion of the variance in objective ratings of the children's coping behavior in the sensorimotor and reactive behavior domains. Adolescent mothers who reported more positive, more realistic, and more mature expectations about parenting, children, and the parent-child relationship had children who were rated to display more adaptive and effective sensorimotor and reactive behavior coping capacities. An interaction between the adolescent mothers' knowledge and beliefs significantly predicted self-initiated child behaviors. Implications of the findings include the importance of exploring a “good match” in adolescent mother-child relationships.     

The Reciprocal Relations Between Teachers’ Perceptions of Children's Behavior Problems and Teacher–Child Relationships in the First Preschool Year

To examine the reciprocal relations between teacher–child relationships and children's behavior problems, the authors analyzed cross-lagged longitudinal data on teacher–child relationships and children's internalizing and externalizing problems using a structural equation modeling approach. The homeroom teachers of 105 first-year preschoolers aged 2–3 years filled in the Student–Teacher Relationship Scale and the Child Behavior Checklist/2–3, first at 3 months after the children's preschool entrance and then at the end of the first preschool year. Results showed significant cross-wave reciprocal relations between externalizing problems and teacher–child conflict and significant cross-wave relation from early internalizing problems to later teacher–child conflict. However, the cross-wave associations between internalizing and externalizing problems and teacher–child closeness were not significant.     

Risk factors for child physical abuse

We review the risk and protective factors for child physical abuse (CPA). An etiological model based on moderate to strongly supported risk factors would begin with distal perpetrator variables of being abused as a child/teen and receiving less family social support as a child. Next might come current family variables such as parents' youth, father's drinking, and family's living in a community that is impoverished and/or has a lower percentage of two parent families. More proximal variables that increase the probability of parents, especially mothers, employing severe or abusive physical tactics could include mothers' dysphoria (e.g., unhappiness, emotional distress, anxiety, loneliness and isolation, depression, somatic complaints, interpersonal problems, feelings of incompetence as a parent, a tendency toward becoming upset and angry), and stress (more stressful life events, including parenting and other family stresses) and coping (most likely a protective factor, including problem solving and social support). Finally, risk factors that are proximal to abuse could include mothers' high reactivity (impulsivity, high negative affect and autonomic nervous system arousal), high-risk parenting (harsh discipline strategies, verbal aggression, yelling), and negative attributions, and children's behavior problems (e.g., socialized aggression, attention deficits, and internalizing and externalizing problems).     

An observational measure of children's behavioural style: Evidence supporting a multi‐method approach to studying temperament

This study demonstrates the potential utility of the Behavioural Style Observational System (BSOS) as a new observational measure of children's behavioural style. The BSOS is an objective, short and easy to use measure that can be readily adapted to a variety of home and laboratory situations. In the present study, 160 mother–child dyads from the Concordia Longitudinal Risk Project (CLRP) were observed during an 11‐min behavioural sample. Videotaped interactions were coded using the BSOS for children's mood, activity level, vocal reactivity, approach to toys, mood consistency and adaptability. Comparisons between the BSOS observational ratings and mothers' ratings of the child on the EAS Temperament Survey (EAS) provided support for modest congruence between these two measurement systems, and revealed a differential predictive pattern of children's functioning. Specifically, the observation‐based BSOS predicted children's cognitive performance and adaptive behaviour during testing, whereas the mother‐rated EAS predicted maternal ratings of children's internalizing and externalizing behaviour problems. Both measures were found to independently predict mothers' ratings of parenting stress. Overall, the findings imply that neither observational measures nor maternal ratings alone are sufficient to understand children's behavioural style, and that comprehensive evaluations of children's temperament should optimally include both types of measures. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Stepfamily Relationship Quality and Children's Internalizing and Externalizing Problems

The stepfamily literature is replete with between‐group analyses by which youth residing in stepfamilies are compared to youth in other family structures across indicators of adjustment and well‐being. Few longitudinal studies examine variation in stepfamily functioning to identify factors that promote the positive adjustment of stepchildren over time. Using a longitudinal sample of 191 stepchildren (56% female, mean age = 11.3 years), the current study examines the association between the relationship quality of three central stepfamily dyads (stepparent–child, parent–child, and stepcouple) and children's internalizing and externalizing problems concurrently and over time. Results from path analyses indicate that higher levels of parent–child affective quality are associated with lower levels of children's concurrent internalizing and externalizing problems at Wave 1. Higher levels of stepparent–child affective quality are associated with decreases in children's internalizing and externalizing problems at Wave 2 (6 months beyond baseline), even after controlling for children's internalizing and externalizing problems at Wave 1 and other covariates. The stepcouple relationship was not directly linked to youth outcomes. Our findings provide implications for future research and practice.     

Mothers' and Fathers' Internal State Language with Their Young Children: An Examination of Gender Differences During an Emotions Task

The current study examined gender differences in mothers' and fathers' internal state language (ISL), children's use of ISL, and whether ISL was related to parents' ratings of the children's social skills. Fifty‐seven (28 boys, 29 girls) toddler/preschool children (M age = 32.5 months, SD = 5.38 months) were observed separately with their mothers and fathers in their homes while they discussed pictures of children's facial expressions of emotions. Parents completed a questionnaire concerning their child's social–emotional behaviours (i.e. BASC‐2). Parents used more ISL with sons compared with daughters, and sons used more ISL with mothers than with fathers. No overall differences were found between mothers' and fathers' ISL. Children's social skills as rated by mothers were predicted by mothers' ISL comments, whereas children's social skills as rated by fathers were predicted by children's age and fathers' ISL clarifications. Implications and limitations of the study are discussed. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Maternal attributions and young children's conduct problems: a longitudinal study

The association between negative maternal attributions and child conduct problems is well established in correlational studies. However, little is known about how these variables influence each other over time. The present study examined patterns of prediction over time between maternal attributions and pre‐school conduct problems. Sixty mothers and their 3‐year‐old children with a range of levels of conduct problems were interviewed when the child was just 3, and then again when the child was just 4. Childhood conduct problems were assessed using the parental account of childhood symptoms and parental attributions were assessed using a modification of Walker's Parental Attribution Questionnaire. Results indicate that even as young as age 3, child conduct problems are associated with negative maternal attributions. In longitudinal analyses, children's conduct problems at age 3 predicted mothers' attributions at age 4, but mothers' attributions did not predict children's conduct problems over the same time period. The data are consistent with the notion that negative attributions may be a result, rather than a cause, of having a difficult‐to‐manage child. This has implications for current proposed mechanisms that link maternal attributions and child conduct problems, and thus for interventions for these problems. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Associations Between Fathers’ and Mothers’ Psychopathology Symptoms,Parental Emotion Socialization,and Preschoolers’ Social-Emotional Development

In this study we tested whether the relation between fathers’ and mothers’ psychopathology symptoms and child social-emotional development was mediated by parents’ use of emotion talk about negative emotions in a sample of 241 two-parent families. Parents’ internalizing and externalizing problems were measured with the Adult Self Report and parental emotion talk was observed while they discussed a picture book with their children (child age: 3 years). Children’s parent-reported internalizing and externalizing problems and observed prosocial behaviors were assessed at the age of 3 years and again 12 months later. We found that mothers’ use of emotion talk partially mediated the positive association between fathers’ internalizing problems and child internalizing problems. Fathers’ internalizing problems predicted more elaborative mother–child discussions about negative emotions, which in turn predicted more internalizing problems in children a year later. Mothers’ externalizing problems directly predicted more internalizing and externalizing problems in children. These findings emphasize the importance of examining the consequences of parental psychological difficulties for child development from a family-wide perspective.     

More than Just the Breadwinner: The Effects of Fathers' Parenting Stress on Children's Language and Cognitive Development

Despite numerous studies on parenting stress suggesting negative influences on parent–child interactions and children's development, the majority of these studies focus on mothers' parenting stress with little or no acknowledgement of fathers. Using data from the National Early Head Start Research and Evaluation Project, this study examined (i) the effects of fathers' parenting stress during toddlerhood on children's language and cognitive outcomes when children are 3 years old (ii) whether the effects of fathers' parenting stress on children's language and cognitive development vary by child gender? Results from mixed linear models showed fathers' parenting stress predicted children's lower cognitive scores, but there were no gender differences in the effects of fathers' parenting stress on children's cognitive outcomes. In the language domain, boys, not girls, were found to be more susceptible to the effects of fathers' parenting stress. These findings indicated that fathers, in addition to mothers, should be included in early parenting research and interventions. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

“I want to behave prosocially and I can choose to do so”: Effectiveness of TIGER (Kanjertraining) in 8- to 11-year-olds

This study examined whether TIGER (“Kanjertraining” in the Netherlands) reduces psychosocial problems in eight- to eleven-year-olds in a mental health-care setting. TIGER is a cognitive behavioural intervention in the peer group, with an additional parent component. Characterizing features include the emphasis on affirming children's prosocial intentions and feelings of responsibility for their own behaviour. To study effectiveness in routine daily practice, a quasi-experimental design with 185 intervention and 39 waiting list control children was used. Results indicated that TIGER significantly reduced externalizing and internalizing problems. Children with clinical-level internalizing problems at pretest benefited more from TIGER than children with subclinical or nonclinical internalizing problems. Effect sizes (between .33 and .46) were in the small to medium range and comparable to behavioural parent-training and cognitive-behavioural therapy. Future interesting topics to study are the long-term effects of TIGER and mechanisms of change.     

Cognitive Behavioral Principles Within Group Mentoring: A Randomized Pilot Study

This study evaluated the effectiveness of a group mentoring program that included components of empirically supported mentoring and cognitive behavioral techniques for children served at a community mental health center. Eighty-six 8- to 12-year-old children were randomly assigned to either group mentoring or a wait-list control group. Group mentoring significantly increased children's reported social problem-solving skills and decreased parent-reported child externalizing and internalizing behavior problems after controlling for other concurrent mental health services. Attrition from the group mentoring program was notably low (7%) for children. The integration of a cognitive behavioral group mentoring program into children's existing community mental health services may result in additional reductions in externalizing and internalizing behavior problems.     

Parents' inconsistent emotion socialization and children's socioemotional adjustment

Parents socialize children's emotion through active, purposeful strategies and through their own expressivity; yet little research has examined whether parents are inconsistent within or between these socialization domains. The author presents a heuristic model of inconsistency in parents' emotion socialization. Parents (M age = 34.8 years, 85% mothers) of preschool-aged children (M age = 4.5 years, 53% female) reported on their responses to children's emotions, their own expressivity, child emotion regulation and expressivity, child social competence, and child internalizing and externalizing. Parents were largely consistent in their emotion socialization, with one exception being that some highly negatively expressive parents punished children's negative expressivity. This pairing of inconsistent socialization behaviors interacted to explain variance in child emotion regulation and internalizing. The author discusses the implications and limitations of the findings and directions for future research.