Matching Items (63)
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
I examined the role of children's or teacher's effortful control (EC) in children's academic functioning in early elementary school in two separate studies. In Study 1, I tested longitudinal relations between parents' reactions to children's displays of negative emotions in kindergarten, children's EC in first grade, and children's reading or math achievement in second grade (N = 291). In the fall of each school year, parents reported their positive or negative reactions and parents and teachers reported on children's EC. Standardized achievement tests assessed achievement each spring. Results from autoregressive panel mediation models demonstrated that constructs exhibited consistency across study years. In addition, first-grade EC mediated relations between parents' reactions (i.e., a difference composite of positive minus negative reactions) at kindergarten and second-grade math, but not reading, achievement. Findings suggest that one method of promoting math achievement in early school is through the socialization of children's EC. In Study 2, I examined relations between teachers' EC, teachers' reactions to children's negative emotions, the student-teacher relationship (STR), and children's externalizing behaviors or achievement among 289 second-graders and their 116 teachers. Results from mixed-model regressions showed that negative reactions and teacher-reported STR mediated relations between teachers' EC and math achievement. In addition, teacher-reported STR mediated links between teachers' EC and externalizing problems across reporters and between teachers' EC and reading achievement. Tests of moderated mediation indicated that a high-quality STR was negatively associated with externalizing problems and high levels of teachers' negative reactions were negatively related to math achievement only for students low in EC. In tests of moderation by social competence, teachers' reports of high-quality STRs tended to be negatively associated with externalizing problems, but relations were strongest for students not high in social competence. For students low in social competence only, children's reports of a high-quality STR was related to lower reading achievement. These results highlight the utility of considering whether and how teachers' own intrinsic characteristics influence classroom dynamics and students' academic functioning outcomes.
ContributorsSwanson, Jodi Michelle (Author) / Valiente, Carlos (Thesis advisor) / Bradley, Robert H (Thesis advisor) / Kochenderfer-Ladd, Becky (Committee member) / Lemery-Chalfant, Kathryn (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
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
This multiple case study examined Mexican mothers' beliefs on social and moral development in light of their adaptation to the United States. Super and Harkness' (1986, 2002) ecocultural framework and more specifically, the concept of the developmental niche, guided the analysis. Participants were five Mexican immigrant mothers living in the Phoenix metropolitan area with children between three and four years old. Using participant observation, mothers were shadowed during the day for a period of nine months and were interviewed four times. Additionally, a Q-sort activity on cultural values and a vignette activity were conducted. Evidence of continuity in the importance given to traditional beliefs such as being "bien educado" (proper demeanor) and showing "respeto" (respect) was found. However, the continuity on the teaching of cultural values was accompanied by changes in beliefs and practices. The traditional construct of a "chipil child" (a needy, whiny child) was connected to the idea that mothers somehow need to restrict how much affection, time and gifts they give to their children. This concern was in turn related to the higher access to consumption goods in the United States. It is argued that acculturation is lived differently by mothers, according to their educational attainment, use of expert advice and contact and knowledge with American mainstream culture.
ContributorsFuster, Delia Tamara (Author) / Arzubiaga, Angela (Thesis advisor) / Tobin, Joseph (Committee member) / Nakagawa, Kathryn (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
The present study utilized longitudinal data from a high-risk community sample (n=254, 52.8% female, 47.2% children of alcoholics, 74% non-Hispanic Caucasian) to test questions concerning the effects of genetic risk, parental knowledge, and peer substance use on emerging adult substance use disorders (SUDs). Specifically, this study examined whether parental knowledge and peer substance use mediated the effects of parent alcohol use disorder (AUD) and genetic risk for behavioral undercontrol on SUD. The current study also examined whether genetic risk moderated effects of parental knowledge and peer substance use on risk for SUD. Finally, this study examined these questions over and above a genetic "control" which explained a large proportion of variance in the outcome, thereby providing a stricter test of environmental influences.
Analyses were performed in a path analysis framework. To test these research questions, the current study employed two polygenic risk scores. The first, a theory-based score, was formed using single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) from receptor systems implicated in the amplification of positive effects in the presence of new/exciting stimuli and/or pleasure derived from using substances. The second, an empirically-based score, was formed using a data-driven approach that explained a large amount of variance in SUDs. Together, these scores allowed the present study to test explanations for the relations among parent AUD, parental knowledge, peer substance use, and SUDs.
Results of the current study found that having parents with less knowledge or an AUD conferred greater risk for SUDs, but only for those at higher genetic risk for behavioral undercontrol. The current study replicated research findings suggesting that peer substance use mediated the effect of parental AUD on SUD. However, it adds to this literature by suggesting that some mechanism other than increased behavioral undercontrol explains relations among parental AUD, peer substance use, and emerging adult SUD. Taken together, these findings indicate that children of parents with AUDs comprise a particularly risky group, although likelihood of SUD within this group is not uniform. These findings also suggest that some of the most important environmental risk factors for SUDs exert effects that vary across level of genetic propensity.
Analyses were performed in a path analysis framework. To test these research questions, the current study employed two polygenic risk scores. The first, a theory-based score, was formed using single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) from receptor systems implicated in the amplification of positive effects in the presence of new/exciting stimuli and/or pleasure derived from using substances. The second, an empirically-based score, was formed using a data-driven approach that explained a large amount of variance in SUDs. Together, these scores allowed the present study to test explanations for the relations among parent AUD, parental knowledge, peer substance use, and SUDs.
Results of the current study found that having parents with less knowledge or an AUD conferred greater risk for SUDs, but only for those at higher genetic risk for behavioral undercontrol. The current study replicated research findings suggesting that peer substance use mediated the effect of parental AUD on SUD. However, it adds to this literature by suggesting that some mechanism other than increased behavioral undercontrol explains relations among parental AUD, peer substance use, and emerging adult SUD. Taken together, these findings indicate that children of parents with AUDs comprise a particularly risky group, although likelihood of SUD within this group is not uniform. These findings also suggest that some of the most important environmental risk factors for SUDs exert effects that vary across level of genetic propensity.
ContributorsBountress, Kaitlin (Author) / Chassin, Laurie (Thesis advisor) / Crnic, Keith (Committee member) / Lemery-Chalfant, Kathryn (Committee member) / MacKinnon, David (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
Description
The purpose of this study was to examine whether maternal personality (i.e., Agreeableness and Conscientiousness) predicted maternal positive parenting (i.e., warmth/sensitivity and structure), and whether maternal parenting predicted children's regulation and sympathy and/or prosocial behavior. Additionally, the mediated effect of maternal warmth/sensitivity on the relation between maternal Agreeableness and children's regulation and the mediated effect of maternal structure on the relation between maternal Agreeableness and children's observed sympathy/prosocial behavior were investigated. Maternal personality was measured when children (N = 256 at Time 1) were 18 months old; maternal parenting was assessed when children were 18, 30, and 42 months old; children's regulation and sympathy/prosocial behavior (observed and reported) were assessed when children were 30, 42, and 54 months old. Mothers reported on their personality; maternal warmth/sensitivity was observed; maternal structure was observed and mothers also reported on their use of reasoning; mothers and caregivers rated children's regulation (i.e., effortful control [EC]) and regulation was also observed; mothers and fathers rated children's prosocial behavior; sympathy and prosocial behavior were also observed. In a path analysis, Conscientiousness did not significantly predict maternal warmth/sensitivity or structure at 30 months, whereas Agreeableness marginally predicted maternal warmth/sensitivity at 30 months and significantly predicted maternal structure at 30 months. Maternal warmth/sensitivity at 18 months significantly predicted 30-month EC, and 30-month maternal warmth/sensitivity significantly predicted 42-month EC. Maternal structure at 30 months significantly predicted 42-month observed sympathy/prosocial behavior. Maternal warmth/sensitivity at 42 months significantly predicted 54-month observed sympathy/prosocial behavior and marginally predicted 54-month reported prosocial behavior. Maternal structure and EC did not significantly predict reported prosocial behavior across any time point. EC did not significantly predict observed sympathy/prosocial behavior across any time point and maternal warmth/sensitivity at 18 and 30 months did not predict observed or reported sympathy/prosocial behavior at 30 or 42 months, respectively. Maternal Agreeableness directly predicted 30-month reported prosocial behavior and additional paths suggested possible bidirectional relations between maternal warmth/sensitivity and structure. Mediation analyses were pursued for two indirect relations; however, neither mediated effect was significant. Additional results are presented, and findings (as well as lack thereof) are discussed in terms of extant literature.
ContributorsEdwards, Alison (Author) / Eisenberg, Nancy (Thesis advisor) / Spinrad, Tracy L. (Thesis advisor) / Lemery-Chalfant, Kathryn (Committee member) / Bradley, Robert A. (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
Description
This body of research sought to explore relationships between parenting practices, physical activity resources, and Hispanic children’s physical activity. Guided by the Family Ecological Model (FEM) and the Ecological Model of Physical Activity (EMPA) this study examined the influence of parents on children’s physical activity through an integrative review. A cross sectional study was conducted to investigate potential relationships between parental perception safety at school, gender, and children’s physical activity. A cross sectional study was also utilized to examine potential correlations between parenting practices, physical activity resources, and children’s physical activity. Parental role modeling of physical activity and parental support for physical activity emerged as parenting practices that have considerable potential to impact children’s physical activity. Gender differences among children’s physical activity were also a key finding of this study with boys participating in more physical activity than boys. While quality of physical activity resources did not have significant associations with parenting practices or children’s physical activity, more research is needed to determine how resources for physical activity may impact parenting practices, and children’s physical activity.
ContributorsHutchens, Amy (Author) / Lee, Rebecca E (Thesis advisor) / Todd, Michael (Committee member) / Lyles, Ann Marie (Committee member) / Holtzclaw, Barbara (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2017