Matching Items (18)
Description
Anxiety is one of the most common psychiatric disorders among children yet characterized by lower use of mental health services. Preventive efforts have demonstrated promise in the ability to reduce anxiety symptoms. However, as evidence-based interventions move into real-world settings, there is a need to systematically examine potential implementation factors that may affect program outcomes. The current study investigates the relations between different aspects of implementation and their effect on outcomes of a school-based preventive intervention targeting anxiety symptoms. Specifically, the study examines: (1) the measurement of quality of delivery, (2) specific relations among implementation components, (3) relations between these facets and anxiety program outcomes. Implementation data were collected from nine school-based mental health staff and observer ratings. Program outcomes (pretest and immediate posttest) were measured from 59 participants and their parents (mostly mothers) in the intervention condition. Implementation components included adherence, quality of delivery, time spent, participant responsiveness, and perceived usefulness of program materials. Program outcomes included child-reported emotional expressivity, physiological hyperarousal, negative cognitions, social skills, self-efficacy, and child and parent reported levels of child anxiety. Study findings indicated that quality of delivery was best captured as two facets: skillful presentation and positive engagement. Adherence and quality of delivery were associated with greater participant responsiveness, although time spent was not. Significant relations were found between some implementation components and some program outcomes. Further efforts can be used to optimize the translation of evidence-based programs into real-world settings.
ContributorsChiapa, Amanda (Author) / Pina, Armando (Thesis advisor) / Dishion, Thomas (Committee member) / Wolchik, Sharlene (Committee member) / Grimm, Kevin (Committee member) / Berkel, Cady (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2017
Description
Dysregulated cortisol has been linked to a variety of adverse physical and psychological consequences. Stressors in the childhood family environment can influence cortisol activity throughout development. For example, research has shown that both infants and children of depressed mothers exhibit altered levels of cortisol compared to infants and children of non-depressed mothers. It is unclear, however, whether exposure to maternal depression in childhood and adolescence is related to cortisol activity at later stages of development. The current study examined the longitudinal relation between maternal depressive symptoms during late childhood (9-12 years old) and adolescence (15-19 years old) and cortisol activity in offspring in young adulthood (24- 28 years old) in a sample of 40 young adults and their mothers. Maternal depressive symptoms were prospectively assessed at four time points across the 15 year study. Cortisol samples were collected from young adult offspring at the final time point. Findings revealed that higher levels of maternal depressive symptoms during late childhood were associated with lower total cortisol output in young adulthood. Results suggest that attenuated cortisol levels, which put these young adults at risk for a variety of stress-related physical and psychological illnesses, may be a long-term consequence of exposure to maternal depression,. Depressive symptoms in mothers during their child's adolescence, however, did not relate to cortisol output. These findings suggest a sensitive period in late childhood during which the development of HPA activity may be susceptible to the environmental stressor of maternal depression.
ContributorsMahrer, Nicole Eva (Author) / Wolchik, Sharlene (Thesis advisor) / Luecken, Linda (Thesis advisor) / Tein, Jenn-Yun (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Children's coping efforts and coping efficacy: effects of parenting, surgency, and effortful control
Description
Stress responses play a central role in the development of psychopathology. Coping efforts, one subset of stress responses, have been shown to influence the relations between stress and adjustment. Although the relations between youths' coping and emotional and behavioral outcomes are well-documented, less is known about the factors that predict youths' coping. Given their importance for adaptation, understanding influences on youths' coping has important implications for developmental theories and preventive interventions. The current study examined the main and interactive effects of positive parenting and youths' temperament on youths' coping efforts and coping efficacy one year later in a sample of 192 youth aged 9-15 years when assessed initially. Data used were from the first and third waves of a four-wave, prospective, longitudinal study of families where one or both parents recently became unemployed. Positive parenting was measured with a combination of mother-report, child-report, and observational measures. Temperament was assessed with mother-report, child-report, and/or teacher-report measures. Children reported on their coping. It was hypothesized that positive parenting, effortful control, and surgency would be positively associated with active coping and coping efficacy, and negatively associated with avoidant coping. Further, it was hypothesized that the relations between positive parenting and youths' coping would be stronger for youths low in effortful control or surgency. Structural equation modeling with latent variables revealed no significant main effects of positive parenting, effortful control, or surgency on youths' coping efforts or coping efficacy. Path analyses revealed no significant positive parenting by temperament interactions in the prediction of youths' coping efforts or coping efficacy. Several significant correlations between measures of positive parenting or surgency and youths' coping emerged. The pattern of correlations provided some support for the hypothesized relations. For example, aspects of positive parenting (e.g., maternal acceptance) and youth surgency were associated with more adaptive coping both concurrently and longitudinally, whereas an aspect of negative parenting (i.e., maternal rejection) was associated with less adaptive coping both concurrently and over time. Potential explanations of the unexpected findings and future directions for understanding the role of parenting and youths' temperament in youths' coping efforts and coping efficacy are discussed.
ContributorsVélez, Clorinda Eileen (Author) / Wolchik, Sharlene (Thesis advisor) / Eisenberg, Nancy (Thesis advisor) / Ayers, Tim (Committee member) / Millsap, Roger (Committee member) / Sandler, Irwin (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2010
Description
Disordered weight control behaviors (DWCB) are a pervasive and serious public health issue associated with a wide variety of psychological and physiological problems. Using the transdiagnostic cognitive behavioral model and an intersectional framework, this study uses latent class analysis to examine DWCB in a national longitudinal sample (N = 2,874) of late adolescents and emerging adults (19-22 years) with focus on gender and race/ethnicity. Three latent classes were identified cross-sectionally across all timepoints: A restriction behaviors group, a combined restriction and compensatory behaviors group, and a group exhibiting low DWCB. Women of all racial/ethnic groups were consistently more likely than were men to classify in the restriction behaviors class, and Black and Hispanic women were more likely to classify in the combined behaviors class in waves 6 and 7. Longitudinally, two classes were identified: A low stable and a higher stable class. Women of all racial/ethnic groups were more likely to classify in the high stable class compared with White men, however, no other racial/ethnic differences emerged. Hispanic men were more likely to classify in the high stable group. This study highlights the utility of transdiagnostic, intersectional, cross-sectional, and longitudinal approaches to studying DWCB in nonclinical populations. More work is needed to examine the influence of restriction and combined DWCB behaviors on adolescent and emerging adult development and functioning. In addition, this work underlines the need for more nuanced measurement of disordered eating pathology in national studies and epidemiological research. Finally, this study demonstrates the need for continual focus on intersectionality frameworks and the addition of cultural and identity-related variables in disordered eating research to promote wellbeing, health, and equity for all individuals.
ContributorsYu, Kimberly (Author) / Perez, Marisol (Thesis advisor) / Edwards, Michael (Committee member) / Su, Jinni (Committee member) / Wolchik, Sharlene (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2023
Description
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common childhood mental health conditions. An ADHD diagnosis is associated with adverse near- and long-term outcomes such as academic difficulties, social deficits, and poor family relationships. Behavioral Parent Training (BPT) is a common evidence-based treatment for childhood ADHD associated with significant and large-magnitude improvements across multiple functional domains; however, nearly two-thirds of children exhibit persistent symptoms and impairment following treatment. Empirical evidence has established parents’ quality of BPT skill use as an important mechanism of BPT response, but less is known about the factors that predict parents’ skill use. The goal of the current study was to explore whether parental cognitive errors (i.e., distorted cognitions parents hold regarding their parenting and their child) and treatment engagement attitudes (i.e., how interesting and helpful parents find treatment) predict skill use quality. The current study comprised a secondary data analysis of a randomized control trial of the Child Life and Attention Skills (CLAS) program (N=199), a behavioral intervention for children with ADHD-Inattentive Presentation. First, an exploratory factor analysis was conducted to determine whether subdomains of cognitive errors exist within this population, and two factors were observed: parent behavior errors (i.e., distorted cognitions about parents’ own parenting behavior) and child behavior errors (i.e., distorted cognitions parents have regarding their child’s behavior). This two-factor structure was then utilized in mediation analyses to examine the effect of parent and child behavior errors on quality of skill use via treatment engagement attitudes. Results from these analyses demonstrated that parent behavior errors significantly predicted quality of skill use, such that parents with higher levels of parental behavior errors demonstrated lower quality skill use, but no evidence of mediation was observed. Finally, moderated mediation models explored the impact of parent psychopathology (i.e., parental ADHD and depression) on mediational relations and found no evidence of moderation. Findings suggest that targeting parental cognitive errors, particularly cognitions about parents’ own parenting behavior, may be a novel target to improve BPT skill use and child outcomes.
ContributorsFabrikant-Abzug, Gabrielle L (Author) / Friedman, Lauren M (Thesis advisor) / Wolchik, Sharlene (Committee member) / Anderson, Samantha (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2023
Description
Family disruption, or the separation of children from caregivers, has been well-established in prior literature as a risk factor for child maladjustment; however, little is known about how family disruption impacts youth into adulthood, particularly how it influences children’s later parenting of their own offspring. The present study examined whether cumulative family disruption (i.e., parental hospitalization, death, incarceration, divorce) in childhood exerts effects on children’s parenting of their own offspring in adulthood, beyond other demographic characteristics and risk factors. Further, several potential mechanisms were hypothesized to underlie the association between family disruption in the first and second generation (G1-G2) family and later parenting provided from second-generation (G2) adults to third-generation (G3) children. Mediators included conflict and disorganization in the G1-G2 family and dysregulation in the G2 child.
Participants (N = 236 in models that included multiple G2 siblings; N = 110 in models without siblings) were drawn from a larger sample of at-risk (i.e., alcoholic) and comparison families followed longitudinally for over 30 years and across three generations. Four mediation models were estimated to examine effects of two separate G1-G2 family disruption components (deviance-related and health-related disruption) on parenting of G3, mediated by family conflict, family disorganization, and G2 dysregulation. Results indicated that health-related disruption impairs consistency of parenting provided to G3 offspring through conflict in the G1-G2 family. A direct effect of health-related disruption was also seen on parental monitoring. There were no direct or mediated effects of deviance-related disruption on parenting. Implications and future directions will be discussed.
Participants (N = 236 in models that included multiple G2 siblings; N = 110 in models without siblings) were drawn from a larger sample of at-risk (i.e., alcoholic) and comparison families followed longitudinally for over 30 years and across three generations. Four mediation models were estimated to examine effects of two separate G1-G2 family disruption components (deviance-related and health-related disruption) on parenting of G3, mediated by family conflict, family disorganization, and G2 dysregulation. Results indicated that health-related disruption impairs consistency of parenting provided to G3 offspring through conflict in the G1-G2 family. A direct effect of health-related disruption was also seen on parental monitoring. There were no direct or mediated effects of deviance-related disruption on parenting. Implications and future directions will be discussed.
ContributorsBlake, Austin Joy (Author) / Chassin, Laurie (Thesis advisor) / Meier, Madeline (Committee member) / Wolchik, Sharlene (Committee member) / McNeish, Daniel (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2019
Description
Using data from a randomized, experimental trial of a brief family-based preventive intervention for parentally-bereaved families, this study evaluated whether participation in the Family Bereavement Program (FBP) when the offspring were in childhood/adolescence (ages 8 to 16) improved competencies when the offspring were emerging/young adults (ages 23 to 32). Participants were 244 emerging/young adults; data used were from assessments at pretest, posttest, 6 years post-intervention, and 15 years post-intervention. In addition to testing the direct effects of the program, developmental cascade effects models were used to test the relations between program-induced improvements in positive parenting and decreased negative life events at posttest and subsequent effects on domains of competence and behavior problems in adolescence/emerging adulthood (ages 14 to 22) and four developmental competencies of emerging/young adulthood: academic, peer, romantic, and work competence. Results supported a cascading effects model of program effects on competence outcomes. In the full sample, there were significant mediation effects of the intervention to decreased negative life events at posttest to increased grade-point average (GPA) at the 6-year follow-up to higher academic and work competence at the 15-year follow-up. For females only, two additional significant mediational pathways of the FBP occurred. The FBP led to an increase in peer competence 6 years post-intervention, which was associated with an increase in work competence 15 years post-intervention. Also, the FBP led to a decrease in externalizing problems in adolescence/emerging adulthood, but externalizing problems were positively associated with work competence. For males, additional mediation effects of the FBP on work competence occurred. The FBP decreased negative life events. However, higher negative life events were associated with lower externalizing problems in adolescence/emerging adulthood, and externalizing problems were positively associated with work competence. For males only, a significant three-pathway mediation effect of the intervention occurred on increased positive parenting at posttest to increased romantic attachment at the 6-year follow-up to higher romantic competence at the 15-year follow-up. Peer competence showed continuity over development. Mediational analyses highlighted the role of program-induced improvements in parenting, reductions in exposure to negative life events, and earlier developmental competencies on competence outcomes in emerging/young adulthood. Implications for promoting resilience in parentally-bereaved, at-risk youth are discussed.
ContributorsINGRAM, ALEXANDRA M (Author) / Wolchik, Sharlene (Thesis advisor) / Corbin, William (Committee member) / Infurna, Frank (Committee member) / Tein, Jenn-Yun (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2020
Description
Dysregulated cortisol is a risk factor for poor health outcomes. Children of distressed mothers exhibit dysregulated cortisol, yet it is unclear whether maternal distress predicts cortisol activity in later developmental stages. This longitudinal study examined the prospective relation between maternal distress during late childhood (9–12 years) and adolescence (15–19 years) and cortisol response in offspring in young adulthood (24–28 years). Data were collected from 51 recently divorced mothers and their children across 15 years. Higher maternal distress during late childhood was associated with lower total cortisol independent of levels of maternal distress in adolescence or young adulthood. Maternal distress during adolescence marginally predicted blunted cortisol when distress in childhood was low. Findings suggest that blunted cortisol activity in young adulthood may be a long-term consequence of exposure to maternal distress earlier in development.
ContributorsMahrer, Nicole (Author) / Luecken, Linda (Author) / Wolchik, Sharlene (Author) / Tein, Jenn-Yun (Author) / Sandler, Irwin (Author) / College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor)
Created2014-11-01