The Impact of PREP Training on Marital Conflicts Reduction: A Randomized Controlled Trial With Iranian Distressed Couples

The purpose of this study was to examine the efficacy of the Prevention and Relationship Education Program (PREP) training on marital conflict and marital satisfaction among a sample of distressed couples in Iran. The research procedure was experimental with a pretest, posttest, and follow-up design, including a control group. The sample included 76 volunteer couples among a sample of distressed couples who were randomly selected and assigned to the experimental or control group. They completed demographic questions, the Marital Conflicts questionnaire, and a revised Marital Satisfaction Inventory in pretest, posttest and at the 1-year follow-up. Results showed that PREP training effectively led to decreased marital conflict and improvement of marital satisfaction of couples at posttest and at the 1-year follow-up. The result of covariance analysis showed significant differences between the experimental and the control groups' marital conflict and marital satisfaction at posttest and at the 1-year follow-up.     

Integrating Parents' Views on Sibling Relationships to Tailor an Evidence‐based Parenting Intervention for Sibling Conflict

Parents play a crucial role in the development of their children's relationships with their siblings. Despite this, relatively few evidence‐based parenting programs exist that specifically offer parents the strategies and techniques they desire and require for managing their children's sibling relationships. One way of bridging this gap is to design a tailored parenting intervention for sibling relationships that incorporates the parent voice in various aspects of program design. The current study recruited a convenience sample of 409 Australian parents to complete an online survey relating to their views on difficult sibling behaviors and what, if any, help they desire in dealing with the issue. The majority of respondents were Caucasian, middle‐ to upper‐class mothers. Respondents predominantly attributed the causes of sibling conflict to their child's internal traits, but expressed strong desire for assistance with managing behavioral problems, especially when sibling relationships were marked by physical aggression. Respondents reported high levels of acceptability for positive, rather than punitive, parenting strategies and showed a clear preference for parenting interventions delivered in easy‐to‐access formats. The findings are interpreted in the context of guiding the development of a tailored parenting intervention for enhancing sibling relationships and reducing conflict.     

Paternal Caregivers’ Parenting Practices and Psychological Functioning among African American Youth Living in Urban Public Housing

Structural factors associated with public housing contribute to living environments that expose families to adverse life events that may in turn directly impact parenting and youth outcomes. However, despite the growth in research on fathers, research on families in public housing has practically excluded fathers and the role fathers play in the well‐being of their adolescents. Using a sample of 660 African American adolescents recruited from public housing, we examined the relationship between paternal caregivers’ (i.e., fathers’ and father figures’) parenting practices and adolescents’ depressive symptoms, attitudes toward deviance, and self‐efficacy. Using a latent profile analysis (LPA), we confirmed a four‐class model of paternal parenting practices ranging from high to low levels of monitoring and encouragement. Results from a one‐way ANOVA indicated that paternal caregivers with high (compared to moderate) levels of encouragement and monitoring were associated with youth who reported less depressive symptoms, higher levels of self‐efficacy, and less favorable attitudes toward deviance. Discriminant analysis results indicated that approximately half of the sample were correctly classified into two paternal caregiver classes. The findings provide evidence that some of these caregivers engage in parenting practices that support youths’ psychological functioning. More research is needed to determine what accounts for the variability in levels of paternal encouragement and supervision, including environmental influences, particularly for paternal caregivers exhibiting moderate‐to‐low levels of paternal encouragement and monitoring.     

Child Characteristics,Parent Education and Depressive Symptoms,and Marital Conflict Predicting Trajectories of Parenting Behavior from Childhood Through Early Adolescence in Taiwan

The study examined how child and parent characteristics, and contextual sources of stress, such as marital conflict predict initial status and trajectories of parent involvement, support, and harsh control, over a 4‐year period in families in Taiwan (n = 4,754). Based on Belsky's (1984) ecological model of parenting, three domains predicting parenting were tested, child characteristics (age cohort and gender), father and mother characteristics (education and depressive symptoms), and contextual sources of stress (marital conflict). The study followed two cohorts of children; the younger cohort was followed from first to fourth grade and the older cohort from fourth to seventh grade. Initially, fourth graders reported more parental involvement, support, and harsh control than first graders. However, involvement, support, and harsh control decreased across the 4 years for the older cohort as they transitioned to early adolescence. In the first year, girls reported more parental involvement and support and less harsh control than boys. Across the 4 years, involvement and support increased, and harsh control decreased for boys; whereas involvement stayed the same, support slightly decreased, and harsh control slightly increased for girls. Children whose parents were more educated reported more parent involvement, support, and harsh control in the first year. Children whose fathers were chronically depressed and whose parents were experiencing marital conflict reported decreasing parent involvement and support over the years.     

Preparing the Field for Feasibility Testing of a Parenting Intervention for War‐Affected Mothers in Northern Uganda

In this article, we discuss the successful implementation of an adapted evidence‐based parenting intervention for families affected by two decades of war in Northern Uganda. The adaptation and adoption of such interventions to support mental health and family functioning is widely endorsed by prevention scientists and considered a priority in global mental health. The preparation and early adoption phases of engaging with a highly vulnerable community affected by war trauma are documented in this paper along with a discussion of the steps taken to adapt a parenting intervention for cultural and contextual fit. This study is a component of an overall program of research aimed at reducing the long‐term negative effects of war on parenting practices and childhood outcomes, which have considerable implications for preventing mental, neurological, and substance‐use disorders. The processes described here cover a 4‐year period culminating in the implementation of the nine‐session Enhancing Family Connection intervention piloted with a group of 14 mothers. The lessons in cultural adaptation have been valuable and the feasibility results promising for further testing the intervention.     

The Differential role of parenting,peers, and temperament for explaining interindividual differences in 18-months-olds’ comforting and helping

This study analyzes temperamental and social correlates of 18-month-olds’ (N = 58) instrumental helping (i.e., handing over out-of-reach objects) and comforting (i.e., alleviating experimenter’s distress). While out-of-reach helping as a basic type of prosocial behavior was not associated with any of the social and temperamental variables, comforting was associated with maternal responsible parenting, day care attendance, and temperamental fear, accounting for 34% of the total variance in a corresponding regression model. The data of the present study suggest that, while simple instrumental helping seems to be a robust developmental phenomenon, comforting is associated with specific social experiences and child temperament that constitute interindividual differences and thereby help to explain the domain-specific development of prosociality.     

Applying a Social Justice Lens to Youth Mentoring: A Review of the Literature and Recommendations for Practice

Youth mentoring interventions are often designed with the intention of promoting improved outcomes among marginalized youth. Despite their promise to reduce inequality through the provision of novel opportunities and increased social capital to marginalized youth, youth mentoring interventions hold the potential to reproduce rather than reduce inequality. In the current review, we explore literature on youth mentoring that has incorporated a social justice lens. We conclude that there is a need for greater attention to principles of social justice in the design, implementation, and evaluation of youth mentoring interventions. After reviewing the literature, we make recommendations for research and practice based on a social justice perspective and explore alternatives to traditional youth mentoring that may allow for better alignment with social justice principles.     

Childhood antecedents of Agreeableness: A longitudinal study from preschool to late adolescence

Although the consensus view is that Agreeableness originates from childhood difficultness and regulatory deficits, few studies have investigated such assumptions longitudinally. In this study, we examined this issue by assessing enduring and mediating effects of self-regulation as well as the impact of parenting behaviors on the development of Agreeableness from preschool to late adolescence. Longitudinal data from 965 Norwegian families following children from 1.5 years to 16.5 years were used. Path analyses revealed childhood difficultness at age 4 to be related to Agreeableness at age 16.5; this effect was mediated through emotion regulation in late childhood. However, such mediation effects were primarily found when parents used punitive practices towards their children. Our findings point to personality coherence throughout development.     

No thanks! Autonomous interpersonal style is associated with less experience and valuing of gratitude

Gratitude has been promoted as a beneficial emotional experience. However, gratitude is not universally experienced as positive. The current work examines whether an autonomous interpersonal style is associated with differential experience of gratitude. Study 1 found an inverse relationship between trait autonomy and both trait gratitude and positivity of response to receiving a hypothetical benefit from a friend. Study 2 replicated the finding that those higher in autonomy report less trait gratitude, and also demonstrated an inverse relationship between autonomy and valuing gratitude. Study 3 found that those higher in autonomy had more self-image goals and reduced compassionate goals in relationships, and that valuing gratitude mediated the relationship between autonomy and relationship goals. These results show a consistent inverse relationship between autonomy and the experience and valuing of gratitude, suggesting that degree of autonomy is one determinant of whether gratitude is experienced as positive.     

Family processes in the midst of urban poverty: What does the trauma literature tell us?

Consistent with a family systems framework, this paper examines the clinical and research literatures to clarify the connection between chronic trauma exposure and family processes with a focus on the social ecology of low-income, urban neighborhoods. Strong empirical evidence demonstrates the impact of chronic trauma on individual family members and, in turn, on multiple family subsystems. Additionally, there is evidence that living under chronically harsh, traumatic circumstances slowly erodes family processes, specifically structure, relations, and coping. However, existing research reflects the problems inherent in sorting out relationships among multiple, often interrelated factors. Future research requires comprehensive theoretical models, such as systemic, transactional, or ecodevelopmental, along with sophisticated research designs, prospective, longitudinal or intervention, and multilevel analytic methods.