Matching Items (13)
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- All Subjects: parenting
- Creators: Bradley, Robert
- Creators: Lemery, Kathryn
Description
This study investigated father-child Activation Theory and the impact of activative fathering on children's dysregulation and social skills. The sample followed 145 families of typically developing children across ages 4 to 6. Fathering and mothering behaviors were coded via naturalistic observations at child age 4, children's dysregulation was coded during a laboratory puzzle task at age 5, and children's social skills were rated by parents and teachers at age 6. Results found support for a constellation of activative fathering behaviors unique to father-child interactions. Activative fathering, net of mothering behaviors, predicted decreased behavioral dysregulation one year later. Support was not found for moderation of the relation between activative fathering and children's dysregulation by paternal warmth, nor was support found for children's dysregulation as a mediator of the relation between activative fathering and children's social skills. These results suggest that parenting elements of father-child activation are unique to fathering and may be more broadly observable in naturalistic contexts not limited to play activities alone. Additionally, activative fathering appears to uniquely influence children's self-regulatory abilities above and beyond identical mothering behavior. In the present work, paternal warmth was not a necessary for activative fathering to positively contribute to children's regulatory abilities nor did children's dysregulation link activative fathering to social skills.
ContributorsStevenson, Matthew (Author) / Crnic, Keith (Thesis advisor) / Dishion, Thomas (Committee member) / Bradley, Robert (Committee member) / Eisenberg, Nancy (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Description
Family plays an important yet understudied role in the development of psychopathology during childhood, particularly for children at developmental risk. Indeed, much of the research on families has actually concentrated more on risk processes in individual family members or within-family subsystems. In general, important and complex associations have been found among family-related constructs such as marital conflict, parent-child relationships, parental depression, and parenting stress, which have in turn been found to contribute to the emergence of children's behavioral problems. Research has begun to emerge that certain family system constructs, such as cohesion, organization, and control may influence children's development, but this research has been limited by a focus on parent-reports of family functioning, rather than utilizing observational methods. With notable exceptions, there is almost no observational research examining families of children at developmental risk. This study examined the longitudinal relations among family risk and family system constructs, as well as how family systems constructs mediated the relations between family risk and child outcome. Further, the study examined how developmental risk moderated these relations. The sample followed 242 families of children with and without developmental risk across the transition-to-school period. Family risk factors were assessed at 5 years, using parental reports of symptomatology, parenting stress, and marital adjustment, and observational assessments of the parent-child relationship. Family system constructs (cohesion, warmth, conflict, organization, control) were measured at age 6 using structured observations of the entire family playing a board game. Child behavior problems and social competence were assessed at age 7. Results indicated that families of children with developmental delays did not differ from families of typically developing children on the majority of family system attributes. Cohesion and organization mediated the relations between specific family risk factors and social competence for all families. For families of typically developing children only, higher levels of control were associated with more behavior problems and less social competence. These findings underscore the importance of family-level assessment in understanding the development of psychopathology. Important family effects on children's social competence were found, although the pathways among family risk and family systems attributes are complex.
ContributorsGerstein, Emily Davis (Author) / Crnic, Keith A (Thesis advisor) / Aiken, Leona (Committee member) / Bradley, Robert (Committee member) / Gonzales, Nancy (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
Using a sample of children from divorced homes, the current study assesses the effects of family relationship variables on romantic outcomes in young adulthood, through the influence of several individual-level variables. In particular, children's coping efficacy and peer competence are examined as mediators of the effects of parenting and interparental conflict on children's later romantic involvement and relationship quality. Assessments occurred during childhood, when children were between the ages of nine and 12, in adolescence, when children were ages 15 to 18, and in young adulthood, when children were ages 24 to 27, spanning a period of 15 years. Childhood and adolescent variables were measured using child- and mother-report data and young adult measures were completed by the young adults and their romantic partners. One model was tested using all participants in the sample, regardless of whether they were romantically involved in young adulthood, and revealed that maternal warmth in childhood was linked with children's coping efficacy six years later, which was marginally related to an increased likelihood of being romantically involved and to decreased romantic attachment at the 15-year follow-up. A model with only the participants who were romantically involved in young adulthood also revealed a link between childhood maternal warmth and coping efficacy in adolescence, which was then marginally related to increased romantic satisfaction and to confidence in the romantic relationship in young adulthood. Marginal mediation was also found for several of the proposed paths, and there was little evidence to support path differences between males and females. Implications of the present findings for research with children from divorced families and the development of preventive interventions are discussed. In particular, parenting, interparental conflict, peer competence, and coping efficacy are examined as modifiable targets for change and existing preventive interventions employing these targets are described.
ContributorsSigal, Amanda (Author) / Sandler, Irwin N. (Thesis advisor) / Millsap, Roger (Committee member) / Crnic, Keith (Committee member) / Lemery, Kathryn (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
This study drew upon a bioecological framework to empirically investigate the relations between environmental chaos and preschoolers' language across time, including the potentially mediating roles of children's effortful control and parenting. Child sex also was examined as a moderator of these relations. For this study, the following data were collected at 30, 42, and 54 months of age. Household chaos and (at 30 months) socioeconomic status (SES) were reported by mothers. Children's effortful control (EC) was rated by mothers and nonparental caregivers, and was observed during a number of laboratory tasks. Maternal vocalizations were assessed during free play sessions with their children (at 30 and 42 months), and supportive and unsupportive parenting behaviors and affect were observed during free play and teaching tasks at each age. Mothers also reported on their own reactions to children's negative emotions. Finally, (at 54 months) children's expressive and receptive language was measured with a standard assessment. Structural equation modeling and path analyses indicated that SES at 30 months and greater levels of household chaos at 42 months predicted not only poorer language skills, but also deficits in children's EC and less supportive parenting in low-income mothers at 54 months, even when controlling for stability in these constructs. Children's effortful control at 42 months, but not parenting, positively predicted later language, suggesting that EC may play a mediating role in the relations between household chaos, as well as SES, and preschoolers' language abilities. Child sex did not moderate the pattern of relations. Post-hoc analyses also indicated that the negative relation between chaos and language was significant only for children who had low EC at 42 months. This study represents a much-needed addition to the currently limited longitudinal research examining environmental chaos and children's developmental outcomes. Importantly, findings from this study elucidate an important process underlying the links between chaos and children's language development, which can inform interventions and policies designed to support families and children living in chaotic home environments.
ContributorsGaertner, Bridget Maria (Author) / Spinrad, Tracy L. (Thesis advisor) / Eisenberg, Nancy (Committee member) / Hanish, Laura (Committee member) / Bradley, Robert (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
The purpose of this study was to examine the longitudinal relations of maternal behaviors, children`s temperamental negative emotionality, and children`s emotion perception processes, including emotion perception accuracy (EPA) and emotion perception bias (EPB), to children`s conduct disorder symptoms in a normative sample. Separate structural equation models were conducted to assess whether parenting or children`s proneness to negative emotions at 24-30 (T2), 36-42 (T3) and 48-54 (T4) months predicted children`s EPA and EPB over time, and whether T3 and T4 children`s emotion perception processes were predictive of children`s conduct disorder at 72 months of age (T5). None of the hypothesized longitudinal relations was supported; however, other noteworthy results were observed. T3 children`s proneness to negative emotions was positively related to children`s concurrent bias toward anger. The latent constructs of negative parenting, children`s proneness to negative emotions, and the observed measure of children`s emotion perception accuracy showed stability over time, whereas the observed measures of children`s bias toward understanding distinct negative emotions were unrelated across time. In addition, children`s expressive language was predicted by children`s earlier emotion perception accuracy, which emphasized the importance of improving children`s emotion understanding skills during early years. Furthermore, the previously established negative relation between EPA and EPB variables was only partially supported. Findings regarding the relations between parenting, children`s negative emotionality and emotion perception processes are discussed from a developmental perspective.
ContributorsSeyed Nozadi, Sara (Author) / Spinrad, Tracy L. (Thesis advisor) / Eisenberg, Nancy (Committee member) / Bradley, Robert (Committee member) / Eggum, Natalie (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
Understanding how interpersonal relationships, such as parenting and sibling relationships, may contribute to early sleep development is important, as early sleep dysregulation has been shown to impact later sleep behavior (Sadeh & Anders, 1993), as well as cognitive and behavioral functioning (Gregory et al., 2006; Soffer-Dudek et al., 2011). In addition, twin studies provide an optimal opportunity to estimate genetic and environmental contributions to parenting, sibling relationships and child sleep, as they are influenced by both genetic and contextual factors. As such, the current thesis examined whether parental punitive discipline and sibling conflict were associated with child sleep duration, dysregulation and daytime sleepiness at 12 months, 30 months, and five years in a longitudinal sample of young twins recruited through birth records (Lemery-Chalfant et al., 2013). Mixed model regression analyses and quantitative behavioral genetic models (univariate and bivariate) were conducted to explore bidirectional relations and estimate genetic and environmental contributions to parental punitive punishment, sibling conflict and child sleep parameters. Sleep duration and dysregulation showed stability over time. Parental punitive discipline did not predict concurrent or future sleep parameters, nor were there bidirectional relations between punitive discipline and child sleep behaviors. Greater sibling conflict at five years was associated with shorter concurrent child sleep duration and greater daytime sleepiness, suggesting that sibling conflict may be a critical interpersonal stressor that negatively impacts child sleep. Shared environmental factors also accounted for the greatest proportion of the covariance between sibling conflict and sleep duration and daytime sleepiness at five years. These findings hold promise for sleep and sibling interaction interventions, including educating parents about fostering positive sibling relations and teaching caregivers to utilize specific parenting behaviors that may encourage better child sleep behaviors (e.g., establishing bedtime routines). Future studies should aim to understand the nuances of associations between family relationships (like punitive discipline and sibling conflict) and child sleep, as well as other explore person- and family-level factors, such as child negative emotions and parenting, that may influence associations between family relationships and child sleep.
ContributorsBreitenstein, Reagan Styles (Author) / Doane, Leah D (Thesis advisor) / Lemery, Kathryn (Committee member) / Bradley, Robert (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
Description
Children's chronic pain has many contributing factors, including family environment, genetics, and parenting. Still, pediatric chronic pain remains understudied, and little research has been conducted on predictors of child pain onset. This study aims to elucidate some of these factors by examining the role of parenting style and parental pain in children's chronic pain experience. The study answered the following questions: 1) Is child chronic pain heritable?; 2) Do parenting styles and/or parental pain predict child pain?; and 3) Is parenting style the mediating variable in the relation between parent pain and child pain? A twin study design was employed to account for both genetic and environmental influences in pain. Primary and secondary caregivers completed pain questionnaires regarding their own and their children's pain. The caregivers also completed questionnaires regarding their own parenting styles. Observer ratings were used as additional measures of primary caregiver parenting. Results indicated that child pain is heritable and that parental pain was significantly related to child pain. However, parenting style did not predict child pain and was not a mediator in the relationship between parental pain and child pain. Further research on other parenting factors or predictors of pain may lead to prevention of pediatric chronic pain or more effective management of child pain symptoms.
ContributorsPatel, Maya (Author) / Davis, Mary (Thesis director) / Lemery, Kathryn (Thesis director) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
According to a 2016 National Cyber Security Alliance survey, "30 percent of teens say their parents are 'not aware at all' or 'not very aware' of their online activities while 57 percent of parents surveyed admit that they are similarly in the dark about what their kids are doing online." The Parenting in the Digital Age project (parentingdigitalage.com) aims to provide parents of high schoolers with information about the effects of internet and social media use on their children, as well as information on specific websites and apps their children are using. The goal of the project is to combine cyberpsychology research with journalistic techniques to create an informative, user-friendly website. Parents deserve clear and concise resources to help navigate parenting in the digital age, and this website will serve as one.
ContributorsSwarner, Jessica Kaye (Author) / James, Venita Hawthorne (Thesis director) / Bodford, Jessica (Committee member) / Volz, Dustin (Committee member) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-12
Description
ABSTRACT
This cross-sectional study examined whether the temperament dimensions of negative emotionality, positive emotionality, and impulsivity moderated the relation between interparental conflict and children’s internalizing and externalizing problems. The sample consisted of 355 divorced mothers and their children (9-12 years old) who participated in a randomized controlled trial of a preventive parenting intervention for divorcing families. Children provided reports of their experiences of interparental conflict and internalizing and externalizing problems; mothers provided reports of children’s temperament and internalizing and externalizing problems. The relations were examined separately for child report and mother report of outcomes using multiple regression analyses. Results found no support for the interactive effect of interparental conflict and temperament dimensions on children’s internalizing or externalizing problems. Consistent with an additive model of their effects, interparental conflict and temperament dimensions were directly and independently related to the outcomes. There was a significant, positive effect of interparental conflict and negative emotionality on children’s internalizing and externalizing problems. Positive emotionality was significantly, negatively related to internalizing and externalizing problems. Impulsivity was significantly, positively related to externalizing problems only. The patterns of results varied somewhat across mother and child report of interparental conflict on externalizing problems and positive emotionality on internalizing problems. The results of this study are consistent with the previous research on the significant main effects of interparental conflict and temperament dimensions on children’s internalizing and externalizing problems. These findings suggest that children’s environment and intrapersonal characteristics, represented by children’s experiences of interparental conflict and temperament, both uniquely contribute to children’s post-divorce internalizing and externalizing problems.
This cross-sectional study examined whether the temperament dimensions of negative emotionality, positive emotionality, and impulsivity moderated the relation between interparental conflict and children’s internalizing and externalizing problems. The sample consisted of 355 divorced mothers and their children (9-12 years old) who participated in a randomized controlled trial of a preventive parenting intervention for divorcing families. Children provided reports of their experiences of interparental conflict and internalizing and externalizing problems; mothers provided reports of children’s temperament and internalizing and externalizing problems. The relations were examined separately for child report and mother report of outcomes using multiple regression analyses. Results found no support for the interactive effect of interparental conflict and temperament dimensions on children’s internalizing or externalizing problems. Consistent with an additive model of their effects, interparental conflict and temperament dimensions were directly and independently related to the outcomes. There was a significant, positive effect of interparental conflict and negative emotionality on children’s internalizing and externalizing problems. Positive emotionality was significantly, negatively related to internalizing and externalizing problems. Impulsivity was significantly, positively related to externalizing problems only. The patterns of results varied somewhat across mother and child report of interparental conflict on externalizing problems and positive emotionality on internalizing problems. The results of this study are consistent with the previous research on the significant main effects of interparental conflict and temperament dimensions on children’s internalizing and externalizing problems. These findings suggest that children’s environment and intrapersonal characteristics, represented by children’s experiences of interparental conflict and temperament, both uniquely contribute to children’s post-divorce internalizing and externalizing problems.
ContributorsIngram, Alexandra Marie (Author) / Wolchik, Sharlene (Thesis advisor) / Lemery, Kathryn (Committee member) / Suk, Hye Won (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016
Description
Parental depression is a risk factor for children’s healthy language development, however, the mechanisms of risk transmission are less understood. The present study aimed to examine aspects of parent-child interactions as mediators of the negative relations between mothers’ and fathers’ depression and children’s expressive language. Using longitudinal data from families in a large city of the Western United States (N = 497; child Mage = 5.83 months; 47% female), I examined these relations using mothers’ and fathers’ reports of depression, observations of mothers’ and fathers’ parent-child interactions, and observational indices of children’s expressive language in the home. Although results indicated no longitudinal relations between mothers’ or fathers’ depression and children’s expressive language, mothers’ depression was negatively related to mothers’ and fathers’ later parental supportiveness. Moreover, mothers’ acceptance and fathers’ supportiveness were positively related to children’s later expressive language. These findings shed light on family dynamics when mothers’ experience heightened levels of postpartum depression and how specific parent-child interactions support healthy language development.
ContributorsClifford, Brandon Neil (Author) / Eggum, Natalie (Thesis advisor) / Rainey, Vanessa (Committee member) / Lucca, Kelsey (Committee member) / Bradley, Robert (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2023