Parental conflict and dominance in late adolescent maladjustment: A triple interaction model.

52 male and 40 female undergraduates were administered the Psychological Screening Inventory and a list of issues to measure conflict between the Ss' parents. Indices of neuroticism and major psychopathology were predicted by parental conflict, but they were better predicted when the gender of the S and the gender of the dominant parent were also considered. More neurotic daughters came from high conflict families with dominant fathers, whereas more neurotic sons came from high conflict families with dominant mothers. The triple interaction of conflict, parental dominance, and gender of the child adds significantly to the prediction of adolescent neuroticism and major psychopathology but not to the prediction of social nonconformity. Social nonconformity was significantly predicted only by parental conflict. (14 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Family structure and depression in female college students: Effects of parental conflict, decision-making power, and inconsistency of love.

Based on earlier findings that maladjusted Ss come from families with high interparental conflict and dominance by the parent opposite in sex to the S's, a model was developed that predicted depression in female college students. Depression was predicted to depend on parental conflict, inconsistent love from the father, and the Conflict?×?Dominance?×?Father's Inconsistency interaction. Questionnaire measures of father's and mother's inconsistency, parental conflict, and relative decision-making power (dominance) were completed by 98 college women. Averages of scores on the Beck Depression Inventory and a reworded form measuring worst past depression were entered into a hierarchical multiple regression analysis. Significant relations were found between average depression and (a) parental conflict, (b) father's inconsistency, and (c) mother's inconsistency. Father's inconsistency accounted for twice as much independent variance as mother's inconsistency. The predicted triple interaction approached significance (p?=?0.06), with inconsistent love from the father in high-conflict, paternally dominated families associated with the greatest vulnerability to depression. Consistent paternal love, low conflict, and paternal dominance were associated with the least vulnerability to depression. (10 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interparental conflict and the children of discord and divorce.

Reviews the literature on the relation between marital turmoil (i.e., discord and divorce) and behavior problems in children. Some variables affecting this relationship include type of marital turmoil, form of the child's behavioral response, sex differences, age effects, parental buffering, and effects of parental psychopathology. Children's conflict responses in both broken and intact families are discussed, and the author notes that since parental conflict does not terminate with divorce, the conflict responses found in children of divorce are often similar to those of children from discordant, intact marriages. Studies have found that marital discord is more strongly related to boys' than to girls' maladaptive behavior, but age has not been shown to alter the reaction. Hypotheses about how marital turmoil produces childhood disorders include (a) disruption of attachment bonds, (b) modeling, (c) altered discipline practices, and (d) stress models. (108 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Commentary: Some focus and process considerations regarding effects of parental depression on children.

Six main questions are considered: How does depression affect parent-child interaction? Are the effects of parental depression uniform? Do they stem specifically from depressions as such? Do the risks derive from alterations in parent-child interaction? Which psychological functions in the child are affected? and Why do children differ in their responses to parental depression? The main challenges include the need (a) to study aspects of parenting that extend beyond styles of immediate interaction, (b) to differentiate varieties of parental psychopathology, (c) to consider the extent to which effects on children derive from parental depression per se rather than associated risk factors, (d) to differentiate between varied types of psychological dysfunction in the children, (e) to consider genetic as well as environmental transmission, (f) to examine mediating risk and protective mechanisms, and (g) to investigate the processes involved in individual differences in children's responses. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Monitoring challenges: A closer look at parental monitoring, maternal psychopathology, and adolescent sexual risk.

The present study sought to examine associations between maternal psychopathology, parental monitoring, and adolescent sexual activity among adolescents in mental health treatment. Seven hundred ninety mother-adolescent dyads recruited from adolescent mental health treatment settings completed audio computer-assisted structured interview assessments examining parent psychiatric symptoms, parental monitoring, and adolescent sexual risk behavior. Path analysis was used to examine the associations between variables of interest. Maternal caregivers who reported more mental health symptoms were more likely to have adolescents who reported recent sex and this relationship was mediated by less parental monitoring. These findings suggest that maternal caregivers with mental health symptoms may need specific interventions that provide assistance and support in monitoring their teens in order to reduce sexual risk taking among adolescents in mental health treatment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Parent–adolescent conflict in the context of parental support: Families with alcoholic and nonalcoholic fathers.

The authors tested the hypothesis that parental support provides a social context that moderates the effects of parent–adolescent conflict on adolescent problem behavior. They also examined the possible potentiating effects of a family risk factor, paternal alcoholism, on parent–adolescent conflict. Cross-sectional and prospective analyses of 269 adolescents and their parents showed that parent–adolescent conflict was more highly related to adolescent problem behavior when parental support was low than when support was high. Parent–adolescent conflict was related to problem behavior for adolescent children of alcoholics, but not for children of nonalcoholic parents. These findings support the contention that the effects of parent–adolescent conflict need to be understood within the context of other interpersonal and family background characteristics. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Security, emotionality, and parental depression: A commentary.

New studies suggest that changes in family environments due to parental depression increase children's risk for psychopathology. However, some aspects of family and child functioning may not be adversely affected. Future directions include (a) more precise definition of the response processes that are at risk in children and (b) differentiation of response processes linked with different dysfunctional family processes (e.g., parenting, marital conflict). Little elaboration of conceptual models has occurred in response to recent findings. Emotional security provides an explanatory construct for how certain family environments associated with parental depression increase children's risk for psychopathology. New directions are outlined for the study of relations between family environments associated with parental depression and children's emotional security. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social influence and counterinfluence within families of four types of disturbed adolescents.

Investigated factors in the intrafamilial environment which may explain variations in the forms of adolescent psychopathology. Social influence messages were elicited from 24 disturbed boys and 8 disturbed girls, median age 16 yr., and their parents. These messages were used subsequently in a simulated interaction task. Application of a social influence coding system to the influence statements, expectations of others' responses, and actual responses and shifts in responses following awareness of expectations differentiated families of 4 types of disturbed adolescents. 2 parameters of parental behavior were significant in differentiating among the adolescent problem groups: (a) the overtness or assertiveness used in exerting parental social influence, and (b) the focus of power in 1 or the other parent. The interaction of these variables is discussed in relation to the types of disturbance shown in the adolescents. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Developmental trajectories of delinquency symptoms in childhood: The role of marital conflict and autonomic nervous system activity.

Trajectories of delinquency symptoms across middle and late childhood were examined through latent growth modeling, with a focus on the role of interactions among parental marital conflict, child sex, and multiple indices (baseline, reactivity) of either parasympathetic nervous system activity, indexed by respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), or sympathetic nervous system activity, indexed by skin conductance level (SCL), as predictors of growth. At Time 1, 128 girls and 123 boys (mean age = 8.23 yrs ± 0.73) and their parents participated. The sample comprised 64% European American and 36% African American children. Families participated in second and third waves of data collection with a 1-year lag between each wave. Interactions among marital conflict, sex, baseline RSA, and RSA reactivity from baseline to a frustrating lab task were significant predictors of growth in delinquent behavior from age 8 to age 10, with overall patterns indicating increasing symptoms for boys who lived in high-conflict homes and had an RSA response profile comprising lower RSA during the baseline and RSA augmentation (increase from baseline to the frustrating task). Furthermore, increases in delinquency symptoms over time were observed for children from high-conflict homes and with an SCL profile characterized by higher baseline levels and lower reactivity (less pronounced SCL increases from baseline) to the frustrating task. Findings highlight the importance of contemporaneous assessments of resting and reactivity levels when examining relations among the environment, physiological functioning, and psychopathology. Results are discussed in the context of interactions between biology and environment as relevant to the development of psychopathology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Marital conflict and child adjustment: An emotional security hypothesis.

An emotional security hypothesis that builds on attachment theory is proposed to account for recent empirical findings on the impact of marital conflict on children and to provide directions for future research. Children's concerns about emotional security play a role in their regulation of emotional arousal and organization and in their motivation to respond in the face of marital conflict. Over time these response processes and internalized representations of parental relations that develop have implications for children's long-term adjustment. Emotional security is seen as a product of past experiences with marital conflict and as a primary influence on future responding. The impact and interaction of other experiential histories within the family that affect children's emotional security are also examined, with a focus on parent–child relations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Developmental psychopathology in children of depressed mothers.

It is suggested that the tripartite model by R. D. Parke et al (1988) of the ways that parents influence their child's social development might be used to organize the study of abnormal development in children of depressed mothers. Parents influence their child through dyadic interaction, coaching and teaching practices, and managing their child's social environment. Disruption in each of these areas has been associated with parental psychopathology and has been implicated in the development of deviant child outcomes. The components of a theoretical model of developmental psychopathology are outlined, as well as theoretical and methodological problems that have yet to be resolved. Issues of concern include the heterogeneity of maternal diagnoses; distinguishing among genetic, parenting, and environmental effects; matching the level of behavioral analysis with the question being answered; the heterogeneity of child outcomes; age-related effects; bidirectional influences; and the role of paternal psychopathology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Parental affective style risk and the family system: A social relations model analysis.

Social relations model analysis was used to clarify family dynamics associated with parental affective style, an index of parent-to-child behavior associated with severe psychopathology in the child. Results from 70 families who had sought clinical services for an adolescent family member (39 girls and 31 boys) suggest (1) that adolescents elicit the negative parental affective style that puts them at risk and (2) that elicitation of negative parental affect is strongly tied to adolescents' expression of negative affect toward their parents (i.e., a reciprocity effect). The findings support the views that children contribute to their own risk of psychopathology and that parent–child behavior ought to be interpreted in the broader context of the family system. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Competence-enhancing communication by parents of high-risk children.

Examined parental competence-enhancing communication (CEC), which is transactional behaviors that may facilitate healthy child development. A set of coding categories was applied to Rorschach protocols from both parents of 61 10-yr-old boys who were at risk for the development of psychopathology; a parent in each family had previously been hospitalized for a mental disorder. Teacher and peer ratings of the children were also obtained. On the individual Rorschach, parents of well-adjusted children made clear transitions to each new percept and gave responses freely. These features of parental CEC were independent of parental psychopathology. CEC, symptomatic, and pathogenic communication seem to be separate domains of parenting. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Conflicting preferences of parents and offspring over criteria for a mate: A study in Argentina.

Current evolutionary research on human mating has largely ignored the fact that mating decisions may be heavily influenced by parents. Recent research, however, shows that parents and children may have conflicting mate preferences. Specifically, parents tend to have a relatively stronger preference for children to pair with mates with characteristics signaling high parental investment and cooperation with the in-group, whereas children tend to have a relatively stronger preference to pair with mates with characteristics signaling genetic quality. The present research among 242 young adults from Argentina showed that in this country the same parent–offspring conflict was observed as had been found previously in North America, the Netherlands, Uruguay, and Kurdistan. This result provides additional support for the universal character of this type of conflict. In addition, the present research expanded previous work by showing that the two conflict dimensions were indeed psychometrically independent, and that more conflict was reported by older and married participants. In addition, more conflict was reported among women who were more in favor of parental control over mate choice and among men who were higher in social comparison orientation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Parental concordance on child rearing and the interactive emphases of parents: Sex-differentiated relationships during the preschool years.

An objective index of parental concordance on child-rearing values was generated in families of 3-year-old children by comparing the independent responses of 70 parent dyads with the set of 91 Child-rearing Practices Report (CRPR) Q-items. The CRPR agreement index was then related to mother–child and father–child structured interaction observed 2 years later in a structured interaction situation. In families of boys, concordance on child rearing was positively associated with parental education. Relations between parental value concordance and parents' interactive emphases were more readily apparent for parents of boys than for parents of girls, with the largest number of correlates obtained in the mother–son dyad. In the sample of boys, converging parental value systems were associated with a maternal interactive style characterized by permissive control strategies, nonauthoritarianism, indirectness of maternal communication, resourcefulness, and by an absence of intrusive and competitive maternal behaviors. In the mother–son dyad, reliable relationships between the CRPR agreement index and maternal interactive behaviors continued to be observed after controlling for mother's education. When the interactive correlates of parental value concordance were compared across the four parent–child dyads, the father–daughter dyad was described as being particularly different from the other three dyads. The implications of these results for the understanding of marriage–parenting relationships as moderated by sex are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Common and specific correlates of preadolescent internalizing and externalizing psychopathology.

The specificity of various child characteristics and environmental correlates of childhood internalizing and externalizing problems was examined using both cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses (from ages 2–3 and 4–5 years) in a general population sample of 10–11-year-olds. Specificity was defined according to a between-subjects and a within-subjects method, using parent and teacher reports of psychopathology. Temperamental withdrawal, parental internalizing psychopathology, and early single parenthood (for girls) were identified as correlates that are specific for internalizing problems, whereas temperamental high general activity level was identified as externalizing-specific. Further, parenting stress, poor school results (only for boys), and stressful life events (only for girls) were found to be common correlates of psychopathology. Research implications regarding the findings and the use of a within-subjects method are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social cognition and adjustment in children at risk for psychopathology.

This study tested two models of how social cognition affects the link between child adjustment and two family risk factors, maltreatment and parental psychopathology. The mediation model proposed that social cognition mediates the link between the risk factors and maladjustment. The compensation model proposed that social cognition compensates for the risk factors. Social cognitive measures were social problem-solving competency and hostile attributional and response biases. In 83 Ss (7 to 14 years of age), maltreatment, but not parental psychopathology, predicted aggression and peer rejection. The adjustment of Ss with a disturbed parent depended on maltreatment status. Risk status did not predict social cognition, so the mediation model was not supported. Consistent with the compensation model, Ss with high social cognitive skills were better adjusted regardless of risk status. Implications for high-risk research are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Childhood depression and conduct disorder: II. An analysis of family interaction patterns in the home.

Directly sampled the interaction patterns of families with depressed (DEP), conduct-disordered (CD), mixed DEP-CD, and comparison children (aged 7–14 yrs) in the homes during the evening meal. Observational measures were taken of positive and aversive behaviors and affect expression for both parents, the referred children, and their siblings. Results replicated previous research showing that CD children express high levels of aversive behavior and anger and are part of a family system marked by conflict and aggression. The DEP children were exposed to maternal aversiveness but did not show any evidence of elevated levels of anger or aversiveness. Surprisingly, this was also true for the mixed-disorder children. High levels of depression in both groups of DEP children were associated with low levels of conflict and anger in family members. Overall, siblings showed very similar patterns of behavior and were exposed to similar patterns of parental behavior as the referred children. Results are discussed in terms of family models that emphasize the function of aggression and depression in the maintenance of child psychopathology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Can we trust parent reports in research on cultural and ethnic differences in child psychopathology? Using the bicultural family design to test parental culture effects.

Research comparing cultural and ethnic groups on child psychopathology has relied heavily on parent reports. But don't parents' own cultural backgrounds bias their reports, undermining valid assessment of actual child behavior? The question is hard to address because parent and child culture tend to be confounded. To solve this problem, we assembled an unusual but heuristically valuable sample: 50 bicultural families, each with an ethnic Thai parent reared in Thailand and a Caucasian parent reared in the U.S. Parents in each pair independently completed standardized problem checklists on the same child in their family. Across all 10 empirically derived problem syndromes, no parental culture effect was either significant or larger than "small," by Cohen's (1988) standards; across all 140 specific problems, the mean percent of variance accounted for by parent culture was less than 1%. Results do not point to a biasing effect of parental culture. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Family dynamics and presenting problems in college students.

Psychological separation from parents, parental conflict and dominance, and parental symptoms were examined in relation to the common presenting problems of college students. In a random sample of 83 male and 107 female college students from intact families, a direct relation was found between degree of interpersonal conflict in the family and intrapersonal distress among family members as reported by the student. We found that the greater the degree of the conflictual dependence of the student on either or both parents, the more symptoms the student reported, both for him- or herself and for the parents. Conflict between the parents was also related to student and parental symptoms. The effect of parental conflict did not, however, vary as a function of which parent was dominant in the marital relationship. Finally, parental symptoms were found to be related to students' presenting problems, with emotional dependence serving as an important mediating variable. Implications for future research and for counseling college students are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)