Negative parenting and functions of relational aggression: The moderating roles of gender and physiological reactivity

Dimensions of negative parenting, including permissive, authoritarian, and psychologically controlling parenting behaviors, are associated with children's engagement in relational aggression. However, some youth may be more strongly influenced by negative parenting than others, and effects may depend on whether aggression is proactive or reactive in function. In a community sample of 236 preadolescent children followed over 1 year, we examined whether children's skin conductance level reactivity (an index of “fight or flight” response) and gender moderated links between parents' self-reported negative parenting behaviors and increases in children's teacher-reported proactive and reactive relational aggression. Findings indicated that negative parenting predicted increases in proactive and reactive relational aggression, and, consistent with differential susceptibility theory, effects often emerged among highly reactive youth. Associations between negative parenting and proactive relational aggression emerged for boys but not girls. Results tentatively suggest that associations between parenting and aggression vary by the function of aggression, children's physiological reactivity to stress, and gender, although results should be interpreted with caution due to high levels of missing data. Implications for theory and intervention are discussed.     

教养方式的母子感知差异与儿童抑郁的关系：母子依恋的中介作用

本研究以300个三至六年级双亲家庭中的儿童和母亲为研究对象,采用儿童版和家长版教养方式问卷、父母与同伴依恋问卷、流调中心抑郁量表,通过响应面分析法探讨了母子感知到的教养方式差异与儿童抑郁的关系,并使用标准分差法计算感知差异,通过结构方程模型分析了母子依恋是否在其中起到中介作用。研究发现:(1)母亲感知到的权威型、独裁型教养方式显著高于儿童感知,而纵容型教养方式则显著低于儿童;(2)权威型教养方式的母子感知差异正向线性预测儿童抑郁,独裁型教养方式的母子感知差异负向线性预测儿童抑郁,纵容型教养方式的感知差异对儿童抑郁没有显著预测作用;(3)母子依恋质量在权威型教养方式的母子感知差异和儿童抑郁之间起完全中介作用,但在独裁型教养方式的母子感知差异对儿童抑郁的预测中没有起到中介作用。     

父母严苛型教养方式与青少年自杀倾向:一个有调节的中介模型

在对西安市四所中学4071名中学生进行问卷调查的基础上,实证研究了父母严苛型教养方式与青少年自杀倾向之间的关系。结果表明:(1)从直接效应上讲,父母严苛型教养方式和个体自身对自杀行为的合理化认知对青少年自杀倾向具有显著的正向预测作用;(2)青少年对自杀行为的合理化认知在父母严苛型教养方式和自杀倾向的相关关系中起部分中介作用;(3)在严苛型教养方式通过自杀行为合理化认知影响自杀倾向的模型中,同伴支持变量不存在显著的调节作用,而教师支持变量在这一模型的直接路径与中介模型后半段均起调节作用。     

Shared space: Different age groups’ perspectives

BackgroundShared spaces, in the context of road transport, often refer to areas shared by unprotected and protected road users and intended to facilitate a living city space for every-one. A basic idea behind shared spaces is to create traffic safety by inducing some uncertainty. This study investigates how young, middle-aged, and elderly pedestrians experience shared space, as well as whether and, if so, how two shared space designs (without and with large flowerpots) affect this experience.MethodThirty-seven participants, divided into three age groups, participated in the study, conducted in Fisherman’s Square, Västervik, Sweden. An adjacent non-signal-regulated pedestrian crossing was used as a control. Two studies – visual scanning and Q studies – were combined. In the visual scanning study, eye-tracking examined how the two designs affected the participants’ visual scanning behaviour (i.e., what participants looked at) as pedestrians. In the Q-study, Q-methodology was used to examine how the two designs affected the participants’ experiences as pedestrians.ResultsThe visual scanning study showed that different age groups were affected in different ways by designs without and with large flowerpots in the shared space. While the middle-aged participants always glanced more often at traffic-relevant objects, and young participants always glanced equally often at traffic-relevant and non-traffic-relevant objects, the elderly participants changed their visual scanning behaviour depending on the design. Without large flowerpots deployed, the elderly participants glanced more often at traffic-relevant than non-traffic-relevant objects. No such difference was obtained when large flowerpots were deployed. The Q-study showed that participants, regardless of age, experienced no great uncertainty in this shared space. The perceived uncertainty, which nevertheless existed, was reduced with large flowerpots deployed to recreate the traditional division with clear zones where pedestrians could stay in relatively car-free areas while motor vehicles had clear paths to travel along.ConclusionThe results suggest that shared space, without large flowerpots, succeeded in inducing some uncertainty, especially among middle-aged and elderly pedestrians. However, deploying large flowerpots seemed to decrease this uncertainty, especially among elderly pedestrians. The major concern prompted by these results is how this decreased uncertainty affects traffic safety. Shared space also needs to be studied from the car driver’s perspective to understand the interaction between different road user groups.     

You are Such a Bad Child! Appraisals as Mechanisms of Parental Negative and Positive Affect

Although parent cognitions are considered important predictors that determine specific emotional reactions and parental practices, models on the cognitive strategies for regulating parental distress or positive emotions are not well developed. Our aim was to investigate the nature of cognitions involved in parental distress and satisfaction, in terms of their specificity (parental or general) and their processing levels (inferential or evaluative cognitions). We hypothesized that parent's specific evaluative cognitions will mediate the impact of more general and inferential cognitive structures on their affective reactions. We used bootstrapping procedures in order to test the mediation models proposed. Results obtained show indeed that rather specific evaluative parental cognitions are mediating the relationship between general cognitions and parental distress. In terms of the cognitive processing levels, it seems that when parents hold both low self-efficacy and parental negative global evaluations for the self/child, this adds significantly to their distress.     

The Impact of Children's Language Ability on Parent Cognitions and Harsh Discipline Practices

This study examined associations between children's language ability and maternal cognitions about the intentionality and aversiveness of child behaviour, and mothers' reported harsh discipline responses to child misbehaviour. We tested associations with each type of cognition separately as well as in a single model to explore their unique associations. Participants included 69 mothers and their 18‐ to 37‐month‐old children. Mothers completed the Parenting Scale and were asked to rate the aversiveness and intentionality cognitions in response to eight common toddler problem behaviours. The Preschool Language Scale was administered to the children by an objective evaluator. A path analysis demonstrated that children's language ability was associated with maternal intentionality cognitions about their children's behaviour, which, in turn, was associated with mothers' harsh discipline. These findings highlight the importance of examining developmental markers of harsh parenting. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

母亲抑郁情绪对幼儿内化问题的影响：有调节的中介模型

采用问卷法对298名6个月婴儿的母亲进行为期8个月的追踪,通过交叉滞后回归以及多层回归分析探究母亲抑郁情绪与母亲教养压力的准因果关系,母亲抑郁情绪与幼儿内化问题间的有调节的中介效应。结果表明：（1）母亲抑郁情绪与母亲教养压力存在准因果关系,母亲抑郁情绪可显著正向预测母亲的教养压力。（2）母亲感受到的教养压力对母亲抑郁情绪与幼儿内化问题的关系具有部分中介效应。母亲抑郁情绪不仅对幼儿内化问题产生直接影响,也可通过母亲的教养压力对幼儿内化问题产生间接影响。不过这一中介模型受母亲受教育程度的调节。只有在母亲受教育程度低时,教养压力对母亲抑郁情绪与幼儿内化问题的中介作用才成立,母亲较高的受教育程度可以明显减弱由于母亲抑郁情绪对幼儿内化问题的影响。这在一定程度上揭示了母亲抑郁情绪对幼儿内化问题的影响机制,对缓解母亲抑郁水平高的幼儿的内化问题提供理论和参考价值。     

父母受教育水平与青少年学业适应的关系：父母教养与亲子沟通的中介作用

选取716名高一和高三青少年为被试考察父母受教育水平与青少年学业适应之间的关系,揭示父母教养行为与亲子沟通在其中的中介作用。结果发现,（1）父母受教育水平、亲子沟通、教养行为以及学业适应之间均存在显著相关。（2）父母教养行为的接纳/参与、严厉/监督维度以及亲子沟通在父母受教育水平与青少年学业适应之间起中介作用。（3）直接效应模型和中介模型具有跨性别、城乡和年级等同性。因此,既应关注父母受教育水平与青少年学业适应的直接关系,也应重视亲子互动在其中的重要作用。     

UNDERSTANDING PARENTING STRESS AND CHILDREN'S BEHAVIOR PROBLEMS AMONG HOMELESS,SUBSTANCE‐ABUSING MOTHERS

This article tested a model of parenting stress as a mediator between maternal depressive symptoms, emotion regulation, and child behavior problems using a sample of homeless, substance‐abusing mothers. Participants were 119 homeless mothers (ages 18–24 years) and their young children (ages 0–6 years). Mothers responded to questions about their depressive symptoms, emotion regulation, parenting stress, and child behavior problems. A path analysis showed that maternal depressive symptoms were positively associated with child behavior problems through increased parenting stress whereas maternal cognitive reappraisal was negatively associated with child behavior problems through decreased parenting stress. Moreover, maternal expressive suppression was negatively related to child externalizing problems. Findings support the parenting stress theory and highlight maternal parenting stress as a mechanism associated with homeless children's mental health risk. This study has significant implications for understanding the parenting processes underlying child's resilience in the context of homelessness and maternal substance use.