Warm Parenting and Effortful Control in Toddlerhood: Independent and Interactive Predictors of School-Age Externalizing Behavior

The effectiveness of parent-Child observation in parent-Mediated programmes for children with developmental disabilities and externalizing disorders: A systematic review and meta-analysis

This systematic review evaluated the treatment effects of communication-focused parent-mediated interventions (CF-PMT), a form of intervention that involves therapists observing parent-child interactions and giving feedback to parents on how they can practice positive parenting strategies to prevent or reduce externalizing behaviours in children with developmental disabilities. A literature search was conducted on three electronic databases. To be included in the review, studies had to: evaluate CF-PMT where therapists give feedback after observing parent-child interactions; examine changes in externalizing behaviours amongst children with any forms of developmental disability; and adopt a randomised controlled trial study design. Fifteen studies met eligible criteria for the literature review, of those, 13 studies had available data on changes in the primary (child externalizing behaviours) and secondary outcomes (parental stress, child linguistic abilities and child social responsiveness). We found significant treatment effects for CF-PMT in reducing child externalizing behaviours (d = -.60) but not for any of the secondary outcomes. A sensitivity analysis showed a small but significant treatment effect for parental stress (d = -.18). Considerable bias was observed due to the lack of available information reported by studies on aspects measured by the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool. Overall, we found evidence to support the benefits of complex interventions which incorporate direct parent-child observations and feedback to improve behavioural outcomes amongst children with developmental disabilities.

Positive Parenting and Sociodemographic Factors Related to the Development of Chilean Children Born to Adolescent Mothers

The lack of economic resources has a negative effect on the maternal role of younger mothers. In Chile, the majority of adolescent pregnancies occur in socially and economically vulnerable contexts. The current study aimed to examine the relationship between demographic variables within the family context and parenting behaviors among Chilean adolescent mothers (including affection, responsiveness, encouragement, and teaching). These factors were correlated with communication, problem-solving abilities, and personal-social development in typically developing infants. The study included a sample of 79 Chilean adolescent mother-child dyads with children aged 10 to 24 months. Communication, problem-solving, and personal-social development were assessed using the Ages and Stages Questionnaire-3, along with a demographic information questionnaire. The parenting behaviors mentioned above were observed using the Spanish version of Parenting Interactions with Children: Checklist of Observations Linked to Outcomes. The findings indicated that mothers in employment and those who had not dropped out of school had children with better problem-solving skills. Additionally, children residing with their fathers and female children performed better in communication, problem-solving, and personal-social development. Maternal responsiveness was associated with communication and problem-solving, while maternal encouragement was linked to improved problem-solving skills. Maternal teaching was connected to communication, problem-solving, and personal-social development. The study emphasized the significance of parenting and sociodemographic factors among adolescent mothers and their influence on their children's development.

The mediating effects of parenting style on the relationship between parental stress and behavioral problems in girls with precocious puberty in Korea: a cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND

This study aimed to examine the mediating effects of parenting style on the relationship between parental stress and behavioral problems of girls with precocious puberty.

METHODS

This cross-sectional study analyzed a convenience sample of 200 mothers of girls with precocious puberty at a university hospital located in a metropolitan area. The Parental Stress measurement, Parents as Social Context Questionnaire, and Korean version Child Behavior Checklist (K-CBCL) 6-18 were measured via self-report questionnaires. Descriptive, t-test, Pearson correlation, and bootstrapping analyses were used to analyze the data.

RESULTS

Negative parenting styles had a full mediating effect on the relationship between parental stress and internalizing and externalizing behavioral problems.

CONCLUSIONS

Care plans for parents of girls with precocious puberty should be designed and applied in health care settings to reduce internalizing and externalizing behavioral problems by decreasing negative parenting styles.

Family Functioning and Intraindividual Reaction Time Variability Interactively Predict Children's Externalizing Problems

Family functioning including family adaptability and family cohesion, and intraindividual reaction time variability (IIV) which serves as an index of attentional control has been found to relate to children's externalizing problems. However, it remains unknown whether family functioning interacts with children's IIV to predict their externalizing problems based on the diathesis-stress model. The present study examined this concern. Participants included 168 (M_age = 7.35 years, SD = 0.48; 48% boys) and 155 (M_age = 8.32 years, SD = 0.45; 49% boys) children at the first (T1) and second (after one year, T2) measurements, respectively. At T1, a flanker task was used to assess children's IIV. Mothers reported family functioning using the Chinese version of the Family Adaptability and Cohesion Scales, and children's externalizing problems using the Chinese version of the Child Behavior Checklist. At T2, mothers reported children's externalizing problems again. Results indicated that family functioning negatively and IIV positively correlated with children's externalizing problems. Furthermore, family functioning interacted with children's IIV to predict their externalizing problems concurrently and longitudinally. Specifically, low family functioning combined with greater IIV predicted prospective externalizing problems. Findings suggested that better attentional control (indexed by lower IIV) may buffer the negative effect of poor family functioning.

Overlapping brain correlates of superior cognition among children at genetic risk for Alzheimer's disease and/or major depressive disorder

Early life adversity (ELA) tends to accelerate neurobiological ageing, which, in turn, is thought to heighten vulnerability to both major depressive disorder (MDD) and Alzheimer's disease (AD). The two conditions are putatively related, with MDD representing either a risk factor or early symptom of AD. Given the substantial environmental susceptibility of both disorders, timely identification of their neurocognitive markers could facilitate interventions to prevent clinical onset. To this end, we analysed multimodal data from the Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development study (ages 9-10 years). To disentangle genetic from correlated genetic-environmental influences, while also probing gene-adversity interactions, we compared adoptees, a group generally exposed to substantial ELA, with children raised by their biological families via genetic risk scores (GRS) from genome-wide association studies. AD and MDD GRSs predicted overlapping and widespread neurodevelopmental alterations associated with superior fluid cognition. Specifically, among adoptees only, greater AD GRS were related to accelerated structural maturation (i.e., cortical thinning) and higher MDD GRS were linked to delayed functional neurodevelopment, as reflected in compensatory brain activation on an inhibitory control task. Our study identifies compensatory mechanisms linked to MDD risk and highlights the potential cognitive benefits of accelerated maturation linked to AD vulnerability in late childhood.

Child Effortful Control as a Moderator of the Effects of Parenting on Children's Behavioral Adjustment: A Longitudinal Study Spanning 3 to 10 Years

This study aimed to examine independent and interactive contributions of parenting behaviors (e.g., physical punishment, inductive discipline, warm responsiveness) and child effortful control on child externalizing problems during early and middle childhood. Participants were 241 children (123girls) of middle-income families in the U.S. who were primarily European Americans (91%) and at risk for school-age problem behaviors. Data were collected at ages 3, 6, and 10 using multiple methods, informants, and contexts. Results of hierarchical regression analyses indicated both independent and interactive influences of parenting behaviors and child effortful control on children's externalizing behaviors. Importantly, effortful control buffered the negative influence of physical punishment, but not other parenting behaviors, such that physical punishment was associated with external behaviors at 6 years only for children with poorer effortful control abilities. The results highlight both parental discipline strategies and child effortful control as promising targets for early identification and prevention of future problem behaviors. Summary: Parenting and child effortful control have long been topics of research on child development. However, relatively little is known about the long-term effects of early parenting in the context of effortful control and the possibility that those processes may differ across different dimensions of parenting (i.e., warm responsiveness, inductive discipline, and physical punishment) Therefore, this study aimed to examine independent and interactive contributions of parenting behaviors and child effortful control on child externalizing problems during early and middle childhood. Participants were 241 children (123girls) of middle-income families who were at risk for school-age problem behaviors. Data were collected using multiple methods, informants, and contexts. Specifically, child effortful control at 3 years was measured using multiple tasks, and parenting at 3 years was assessed via maternal report during home interview. Teachers contributed ratings of child externalizing behaviors at 3, 6, and 10 years. Results indicated both independent and interactive influences of parenting behaviors and child effortful control on children's externalizing behaviors. Importantly, effortful control buffered the negative influence of physical punishment, but not other parenting behaviors, such that physical punishment was associated with external behaviors at 6 years only for children with poorer effortful control abilities. Moreover, parents' use of physical punishment at age 3 showed a long-lasting association with children's problem behaviors at ages 6 and 10 years. The findings suggest that children with more advanced effortful control may be less susceptible to long-term detrimental contribution of physical punishment, although by no means they are protected from harmful effects of punitive discipline. This study provides more sophisticated explanations on the influence of early parenting and child effortful control on externalizing behaviors spanning early to middle childhood. The results also highlight different parental discipline strategies and child effortful controls as promising targets for early identification and prevention of children's future problem behaviors in childhood.

Parental Psychological Flexibility and Children's Behavior Problems in Rural Areas in Northeast China: The Mediation of Children's Emotion Regulation

Children's behavior problems are not conducive to their sustainable development. Therefore, it is of great value to explore the mechanism of relevant influencing factors on the behavior problems of rural preschoolers. This study aimed to reveal the direct effect of parental psychological flexibility on children's behavior problems and the mediating effect of children's emotion regulation. Based on simple random sampling, 355 caregivers (male = 31.25 years, SD = 9.78; 74.08% females; 9.01% bachelor degree) were recruited from eight rural kindergartens in three provinces in northeast China. With questionnaires, caregivers reported their parental psychological flexibility and assessed their children's emotion regulation and behavior problems. SPSS 25.0 software was used for statistical data analysis. The results support our hypotheses, suggesting that parental psychological flexibility, emotional stability, and emotional regulation negatively predicted children's externalizing and internalizing behavior problems. Meanwhile, emotional stability and regulation partially mediated the relationship between parental psychological flexibility and children's externalizing and internalizing behavior problems. These findings provide a new perspective for preventing and intervening in preschoolers' behavior problems.

Continuity versus change in latent profiles of emotion regulation and working memory during adolescence

Significant structural and functional brain development occurs during early adolescence. These changes underlie developments in central neurocognitive processes such as working memory (WM) and emotion regulation (ER). The preponderance of studies modeling trajectories of adolescent brain development use variable-centered approaches, omitting attention to individual differences that may undergird neurobiological embedding of early life stress and attendant psychopathology. This preregistered, data-driven study used latent transition analysis (LTA) to identify (1) latent profiles of neural function during a WM and implicit ER task, (2) transitions in profiles across 24 months, and 3) associations between transitions, parental support, and subsequent psychopathology. Using two waves of data from the ABCD Study (Mage T1 = 10; Mage T2 = 12), we found three unique profiles of neural function at both T1 and T2. The Typical, Emotion Hypo-response, and Emotion-Hyper response profiles were characterized by, respectively: moderate amygdala activation and fusiform deactivation; high ACC, fusiform, and insula deactivation; and high amygdala, ACC, and insula response to ER. While 69.5 % remained in the Typical profile from T1 to T2, 27.8 % of the sample moved from one profile at T1 to another at T2. However, neither latent profiles nor transitions exhibited associations between parental support or psychopathology symptoms.

Parenting Behaviors as Mediators of the Association Between Parental Internalizing Symptoms and Child Externalizing Symptoms

This study analyzes whether the association between parental internalizing symptoms (depression, anxiety, stress) and child symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) is mediated by positive and negative parenting behaviors. Cross-sectional data of 420 parents of children (age 6-12 years) with elevated levels of externalizing symptoms were collected in a randomized controlled trial. Measures included parent ratings of their internalizing symptoms and parenting behaviors and of their child's externalizing symptoms. Two mediation models were examined, one including ADHD symptoms and one including ODD symptoms as the dependent variable. Parental internalizing symptoms were modeled as the independent variable and positive and negative parenting behaviors were modeled as parallel mediators. Regression analyses support negative parenting behavior as a mediator of the association between parental internalizing symptoms and child ODD symptoms. For the ADHD model, no significant mediator could be found. Future studies should use prospective designs and consider reciprocal associations.

The role of parental genotype in the intergenerational transmission of externalizing behavior: Evidence for genetic nurturance

The purpose of this study was to examine possible pathways by which genetic risk associated with externalizing is transmitted in families. We used molecular data to disentangle the genetic and environmental pathways contributing to adolescent externalizing behavior in a sample of 1,111 adolescents (50% female; 719 European and 392 African ancestry) and their parents from the Collaborative Study on the Genetics of Alcoholism. We found evidence for genetic nurture such that parental externalizing polygenic scores were associated with adolescent externalizing behavior, over and above the effect of adolescents' own externalizing polygenic scores. Mediation analysis indicated that parental externalizing psychopathology partly explained the effect of parental genotype on children's externalizing behavior. We also found evidence for evocative gene-environment correlation, whereby adolescent externalizing polygenic scores were associated with lower parent-child communication, less parent-child closeness, and lower parental knowledge, controlling for parental genotype. These effects were observed among participants of European ancestry but not African ancestry, likely due to the limited predictive power of polygenic scores across ancestral background. These results demonstrate that in addition to genetic transmission, genes influence offspring behavior through the influence of parental genotypes on their children's environmental experiences, and the role of children's genotypes in shaping parent-child relationships.

Parenting in the Context of the Child: Genetic and Social Processes

The focus on the role of parenting in child development has a long-standing history. When measures of parenting precede changes in child development, researchers typically infer a causal role of parenting practices and attitudes on child development. However, this research is usually conducted with parents raising their own biological offspring. Such research designs cannot account for the effects of genes that are common to parents and children, nor for genetically influenced traits in children that influence how they are parented and how parenting affects them. The aim of this monograph is to provide a clearer view of parenting by synthesizing findings from the Early Growth and Development Study (EGDS). EGDS is a longitudinal study of adopted children, their birth parents, and their rearing parents studied across infancy and childhood. Families (N = 561) were recruited in the United States through adoption agencies between 2000 and 2010. Data collection began when adoptees were 9 months old (males = 57.2%; White 54.5%, Black 13.2%, Hispanic/Latinx 13.4%, Multiracial 17.8%, other 1.1%). The median child age at adoption placement was 2 days (M = 5.58, SD = 11.32). Adoptive parents were predominantly in their 30s, White, and coming from upper-middle- or upper-class backgrounds with high educational attainment (a mode at 4-year college or graduate degree). Most adoptive parents were heterosexual couples, and were married at the beginning of the project. The birth parent sample was more racially and ethnically diverse, but the majority (70%) were White. At the beginning of the study, most birth mothers and fathers were in their 20s, with a mode of educational attainment at high school degree, and few of them were married. We have been following these family members over time, assessing their genetic influences, prenatal environment, rearing environment, and child development. Controlling for effects of genes common to parents and children, we confirmed some previously reported associations between parenting, parent psychopathology, and marital adjustment in relation to child problematic and prosocial behavior. We also observed effects of children's heritable characteristics, characteristics thought to be transmitted from parent to child by genetic means, on their parents and how those effects contributed to subsequent child development. For example, we found that genetically influenced child impulsivity and social withdrawal both elicited harsh parenting, whereas a genetically influenced sunny disposition elicited parental warmth. We found numerous instances of children's genetically influenced characteristics that enhanced positive parental influences on child development or that protected them from harsh parenting. Integrating our findings, we propose a new, genetically informed process model of parenting. We posit that parents implicitly or explicitly detect genetically influenced liabilities and assets in their children. We also suggest future research into factors such as marital adjustment, that favor parents responding with appropriate protection or enhancement. Our findings illustrate a productive use of genetic information in prevention research: helping parents respond effectively to a profile of child strengths and challenges rather than using genetic information simply to identify some children unresponsive to current preventive interventions.

Maternal and paternal parenting stress and children's aggression and anxiety/depression: Children's self-regulation as a moderator

I examined whether maternal and/or paternal parenting stress predicted children's aggression and anxiety/depression, and whether this parenting stress interacted with children's self-regulation in the prediction of their aggression and anxiety/depression. Data were obtained from the 7th wave of longitudinal data of the Panel Study on Korean Children. Results of hierarchical multiple regression analysis demonstrate that both maternal and paternal parenting stress significantly and positively predicted children's aggression and anxiety/depression. In addition, the effects of maternal parenting stress on children's aggression and anxiety/depression were stronger for children with low (vs. high) self-regulation. My results show that the configuration of maternal parenting stress and children's selfregulation should be considered in the design of teachers' and parents' early supportive interventions for effective prevention of children's aggression and anxiety/depression.

The centrality of temperament to the research domain criteria (RDoC): The earliest building blocks of psychopathology

The research domain criteria (RDoC) is an innovative approach designed to explore dimensions of human behavior. The aim of this approach is to move beyond the limits of psychiatric categories in the hope of aligning the identification of psychological health and dysfunction with clinical neuroscience. Despite its contributions to adult psychopathology research, RDoC undervalues ontogenetic development, which circumscribes our understanding of the etiologies, trajectories, and maintaining mechanisms of psychopathology risk. In this paper, we argue that integrating temperament research into the RDoC framework will advance our understanding of the mechanistic origins of psychopathology beginning in infancy. In illustrating this approach, we propose the incorporation of core principles of temperament theories into a new "life span considerations" subsection as one option for infusing development into the RDoC matrix. In doing so, researchers and clinicians may ultimately have the tools necessary to support emotional development and reduce a young child's likelihood of psychological dysfunction beginning in the first years of life.

Evaluating the Effect of Parent-Child Interactive Groups in a School-Based Parent Training Program: Parenting Behavior, Parenting Stress and Sense of Competence

The Exploring Together program is a group-based parent training program that comprises separate parent, child, and teacher components, and a combined parent-child interactive component. A cluster-randomized trial design was used to compare the Exploring Together program with (Exploring Together; ET) and without (Exploring Together-Adapted; ET-Adapted) the parent-child interactive component. One hundred and thirty-six parents and their children (aged 5-10 years) with externalizing and/or internalizing problems participated in the trial, recruited from primary schools. There was a significant reduction in negative parenting behavior across both treatment groups (ET and ET-Adapted) but no significant improvement in positive parenting behaviors. Parenting self-efficacy improved significantly across both treatment groups however there was no significant change in parenting satisfaction or parenting stress. There was no consistent evidence of superiority of one version of the Exploring Together program over the other. Further investigation regarding treatment dosage and mastery of parenting skills associated with the program is warranted.

Charting the trajectories of adopted children's emotional and behavioral problems: The impact of early adversity and postadoptive parental warmth

Children who are adopted from care are more likely to experience enduring emotional and behavioral problems across development; however, adoptees’ trajectories of mental health problems and factors that impact their trajectories are poorly understood. Therefore, we used multilevel growth analyses to chart adoptees’ internalizing and externalizing problems across childhood, and examined the associations between preadoptive risk and postadoptive protective factors on their trajectories. This was investigated in a prospective longitudinal study of case file records (N = 374) and questionnaire-based follow-ups (N = 96) at approximately 5, 21, and 36 months postadoptive placement. Preadoptive adversity (indexed by age at placement, days in care, and number of adverse childhood experiences) was associated with higher internalizing and externalizing scores; the decrease in internalizing scores over childhood was accelerated for those exposed to lower levels of preadoptive risk. Warm adoptive parenting was associated with a marked reduction in children's internalizing and externalizing problems over time. Although potentially limited by shared methods variance and lack of variability in parental warmth scores, these findings demonstrate the deleterious impact of preadoptive risk and the positive role of exceptionally warm adoptive parenting on children's trajectories of mental health problems and have relevance for prevention and intervention strategies.

Parental Corporal Punishment and Child Temperament: Independent and Interactive Predictors of Child Emotion Regulation in China

The goal of this study was to simultaneously examine the independent and interactive effects of paternal and maternal corporal punishment, and child temperament on child emotion regulation over time in China. These links were assessed on a longitudinal study of 619 father-mother dyads and their children in primary schools (data collected in 2011 and 2014). Results showed an additive model where both parental corporal punishment and child temperament independently predicted child emotion regulation 3 years later. In addition, the effects of parental corporal punishment exhibited gender differences, with paternal corporal punishment predicting girls' emotion regulation and both paternal and maternal corporal punishment predicting boys' emotion regulation 3 years later. Moreover, the interactive effects of paternal and maternal corporal punishment and temperament on child emotion regulation were not found in the present study. These findings point to the importance of examining multiple factors within the family system to further understand the developmental process of child emotion regulation, particularly within the Chinese cultural context.

Parental characteristics and offspring mental health and related outcomes: a systematic review of genetically informative literature

Various parental characteristics, including psychiatric disorders and parenting behaviours, are associated with offspring mental health and related outcomes in observational studies. The application of genetically informative designs is crucial to disentangle the role of genetic and environmental factors (as well as gene-environment correlation) underlying these observations, as parents provide not only the rearing environment but also transmit 50% of their genes to their offspring. This article first provides an overview of behavioural genetics, matched-pair, and molecular genetics designs that can be applied to investigate parent-offspring associations, whilst modelling or accounting for genetic effects. We then present a systematic literature review of genetically informative studies investigating associations between parental characteristics and offspring mental health and related outcomes, published since 2014. The reviewed studies provide reliable evidence of genetic transmission of depression, criminal behaviour, educational attainment, and substance use. These results highlight that studies that do not use genetically informative designs are likely to misinterpret the mechanisms underlying these parent-offspring associations. After accounting for genetic effects, several parental characteristics, including parental psychiatric traits and parenting behaviours, were associated with offspring internalising problems, externalising problems, educational attainment, substance use, and personality through environmental pathways. Overall, genetically informative designs to study intergenerational transmission prove valuable for the understanding of individual differences in offspring mental health and related outcomes, and mechanisms of transmission within families.

Cool and hot effortful control moderate how parenting predicts child internalization in Chinese families

Internalization of external rules is a behavioral manifestation of moral development during childhood, and its development has come to be understood from the view of a complex parenting-by-temperament process. To examine this developmental process, the current research investigated how maternal parenting behaviors and child effortful control foretell internalization throughout early to middle childhood with two longitudinal samples of Chinese mother-child dyads. In Study 1 (N = 226), maternal respect for autonomy and negative control during free plays at 15 months of age were observed. At 25 months, child cool and hot effortful control were measured with a Stroop-like categorization task and an externally imposed delay task. At 37 months, observed internalization of maternal rules was assessed. Results showed that for toddlers with high levels of cool effortful control, maternal respect for autonomy positively predicted later internalization. In Study 2 (N = 88), maternal respect for autonomy and negative control during free plays at 38 months of age were coded. At 60 months, child cool and hot effortful control were measured with a Stroop-like inhibition task and a delay-of-gratification task. Observed internalization of maternal and experimenter rules and mother-reported internalization in everyday life were assessed at 60 and 84 months. Results showed that for children low on either cool or hot effortful control, maternal respect for autonomy negatively predicted later internalization during childhood. Together, the current findings support an age-relevant goodness-of-fit model for internalization development in Chinese children throughout the first 7 years of life.

Positive parenting, effortful control, and developmental outcomes across early childhood

The current study evaluated bidirectional associations between mother and father positive parenting and child effortful control. Data were drawn from 220 families when children were 3, 4, 5, and 6 years old. Parenting and effortful control were assessed when the child was 3, 4, and 5 years old. These variables were used to statistically predict child externalizing and school performance assessed when the child was 6 years old. The study used random intercept cross-lagged panel models to evaluate within-person and between-person associations between parenting and effortful control. Results suggest that prior positive parenting was associated with later effortful control, whereas effortful control was not associated with subsequent parenting from ages 3 to 5. Stable between-child differences in effortful control from ages 3 to 5 were associated with school performance at age 6. These stable between-child differences in effortful control were correlated with externalizing at age 3. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Children's behavioural problems and its associations with socioeconomic position and early parenting environment: findings from the UK Millennium Cohort Study

AIMS

To investigate behavioural problems throughout childhood and adolescent, and its relationship with socioeconomic position (SEP) and early parenting environment.

METHODS

Using data from the Millennium Cohort Study conducted in the UK, behavioural problems of 14 452 children were analysed using a growth curve model. The children were followed from birth to adolescence, and their behavioural problems were measured by the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). The SDQ was sub-scaled into externalising and internalising problems. After assessing the general trajectory of children's behavioural problems, variables representing SEP and parenting environments were introduced to the model to analyse the association with children's outcomes.

RESULTS

Overall, children's trajectories in externalising problems showed a decreasing trend while internalising problems increased as they aged. Household income and maternal education in early childhood were independently associated with children's behavioural problems, while the association for maternal occupation was significantly weaker. Positive early parenting environments attenuated the association between SEP and children's behavioural problems. Also, with regards to children's behavioural problems, positive parenting explained more variance between children compared to SEP. Favourable parent-child relationship buffered the income gradient in children's behavioural problems during early childhood, and although this buffering effect did not last until adolescence, those who had good parent-child relationships developed better outcomes regardless of their SEP.

CONCLUSIONS

The results of the study emphasise the importance of a positive early parenting environment for improving and reducing the socioeconomic gap in children's behavioural problems and encourages policies to promote better parenting circumstances.

Continuity and change in anger and aggressiveness from infancy to childhood: The protective effects of positive parenting

Early signs of anger and aggression can be identified in infancy. Our aim was to use person-centered methods to identify which infants were most at risk for clinically significant behavioral problems by age 3 and diagnoses of ODD/CD by 7 years, while considering the role of family risk factors and positive parenting. A representative British community sample of 304 infants was assessed by multiple informants at mean ages of 6, 21, and 36 months of age. Latent Transition Analysis (LTA) identified three ordered subgroups at each age, with one subgroup (18%) displaying high levels of physical force as well as anger. These angry aggressive infants were at elevated risk for behavioral problems in early childhood and diagnoses of conduct disorder (CD) and/or oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) at 7 years of age. After other risk factors were taken into account, parents' beliefs in warm parenting and their observed positive affect while interacting with their infants were protective factors. These findings indicate the significance of very early manifestations of angry aggressiveness and have relevance for developmental theories of aggression and prevention strategies.

Does Maternal Warmth Moderate Longitudinal Associations Between Infant Attention Control and Children's Inhibitory Control?

Attention control (AC) is thought to play an important role in the development of inhibitory control (IC) in children, yet there are few longitudinal studies of this association. This study used a prospective parent-child adoption design (N = 361 children) to examine whether maternal warmth at child age 27 months moderated the link between AC during infancy and IC during childhood. Tobit regression analyses indicated that low levels of infant AC at 9 months predicted low levels of IC at 6 years, controlling for birth parent IC, prenatal risk, infant distress to limitations, child sex, and openness of adoption. Adoptive mother warmth at 27 months moderated this association. In the context of higher levels of maternal warmth, the longitudinal association between low AC and low IC was attenuated. Thus, high levels of early maternal warmth may help diminish the effects of extant risk for IC deficits.

Maternal Anxiety, Parenting Stress, and Preschoolers' Behavior Problems: The Role of Child Self-Regulation

OBJECTIVE

Maternal anxiety is a well-known risk factor for early childhood behavior problems. In this study, we explore (1) whether parenting stress mediates this relation and also (2) whether child factors, namely self-regulation, modify the influence of maternal well-being on child externalizing and internalizing problems at 4 years of age.

METHOD

Mothers taking part in the Growing Up in Singapore Towards Healthy Outcomes cohort completed the Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory when their children were 24 months of age. At 42 months of age, children performed a self-regulation task (n = 391), and mothers completed the Parenting Stress Index. When children were 48 months old, both parents completed the Child Behavior Checklist.

RESULTS

As predicted, parenting stress mediated the relation between maternal trait anxiety and child externalizing and internalizing problems. This mediating effect was further moderated by child self-regulation. The indirect effect of maternal trait anxiety through parenting stress on child externalizing problems was stronger among children with low self-regulation.

CONCLUSION

Parenting stress is an additional pathway connecting maternal trait anxiety and children's externalizing and internalizing behavior problems. The risk for child externalizing problems conveyed by elevated maternal trait anxiety and parenting stress may be buffered by better self-regulation in 4-year-olds. These results suggest that interventions that include decreasing parenting stress and enhancing child self-regulation may be important to limiting the transgenerational impact of maternal trait anxiety.

The Early Growth and Development Study: A Dual-Family Adoption Study from Birth Through Adolescence

The Early Growth and Development Study (EGDS) is a prospective adoption study of birth parents, adoptive parents and adopted children (n = 561 adoptees). The original sample has been expanded to include siblings of the EGDS adoptees who were reared by the birth mother and assessed beginning at age 7 years (n = 217 biological children), and additional siblings in both the birth and adoptive family homes, recruited when the adoptees were 8-15 years old (n = 823). The overall study aims are to examine how family, peer and contextual processes affect child and adolescent adjustment, and to examine their interplay (mediation, moderation) with genetic influences. Adoptive and birth parents were originally recruited through adoption agencies located throughout the USA following the birth of a child. Assessments are ongoing and occurred in 9 month's intervals until the adoptees turned 3 years of age, and in 1 to 2 year intervals thereafter through age 15. Data collection includes the following primary constructs: child temperament, behavior problems, mental health, peer relations, executive functioning, school performance and health; birth and adoptive parent personality characteristics, mental health, health, context, substance use, parenting and marital relations; and the prenatal environment. Findings highlight the power of the adoption design to detect environmental influences on child development and provide evidence of complex interactions and correlations between genetic, prenatal environmental and postnatal environmental influences on a range of child outcomes. The study sample, procedures and an overview of findings are summarized and ongoing assessment activities are described.

A Pragmatic Internet Intervention to Promote Positive Parenting and School Readiness in Early Childhood: Initial Evidence of Program Use and Satisfaction

BACKGROUND

Internet-based parenting programs have the potential to connect families to research-informed materials to promote positive child development. However, such programs can only succeed to the extent that the intended population engages with them.

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to evaluate engagement in the 5-a-Day Parenting program, a technology-based program designed with low-income families in mind, to promote daily use of 5 specific parenting activities conducive to children's school readiness. Following earlier pilot data, the program was enhanced with an initial motivational e-intervention and tailored text messages designed to promote engagement.

METHODS

Parents were recruited from local childcare centers and through a participant registry. We examined rates of receipt of program text messages and use of video-based content on the program website, 3 factors that may affect website use, and satisfaction with key program elements.

RESULTS

A total of 360 parents of young children learned about the study and had the opportunity to use the 5-a-Day Parenting website. Of these, 94 parents participated in the study, and 33% (31/94) accessed the video-based content on the website at least once. No association was found between website use and program recruitment approach, program-affiliation message, sociocontextual risk, and baseline use of the five parenting activities. Satisfaction with text messages and video-based content was high.

CONCLUSIONS

For some parents, technology-based programs appear useful; however, engagement could still be enhanced. Additional research should seek innovative strategies for promoting engagement in Web-based parenting programs.

Adverse Childhood Experiences of Children Adopted from Care: The Importance of Adoptive Parental Warmth for Future Child Adjustment

We investigated the relationship between adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and children's internalising symptoms and externalising problems in the Wales Adoption Cohort Study, a prospective longitudinal study that used case file records (n = 374) for a sample of British children adopted from care (M = 2 years, 55% male). Parents (n = 96) completed questionnaires at 3-5 months, 15-17 months, and 31-33 months post-placement. We hypothesised that: (1) children adopted from care would have experienced more ACEs than children in the general population; (2) the number of ACEs would be associated with higher internalising symptom and externalising problem scores; and (3) adoptive parental warmth would moderate the relationship between ACEs and post-placement internalising symptoms and externalising problems. Nearly half (42%) of the children experienced four or more ACEs. Internalising symptoms and externalising problems were significantly higher than the UK general population. The number of ACEs was associated with internalising symptoms 3 years post-adoptive placement but this relationship was moderated by adoptive parental warmth. This study profiles the experiences and characteristics of a national sample of adopted children and highlights the potential importance of parent warmth as a factor that ameliorates the impact of ACEs on poor child outcomes.

Impact of Maternal Perinatal Anxiety on Social-Emotional Development of 2-Year-Olds, A Prospective Study of Norwegian Mothers and Their Offspring : The Impact of Perinatal Anxiety on Child Development

Introduction Anxiety in women is highly prevalent during pregnancy and in the postnatal period. Anxiety disorders in mothers have been linked to adverse outcomes in their children's development. However, large-scale prospective studies on this issue, covering both the prenatal and postnatal period with follow-up periods beyond the first year of life are scarce. Method In this prospective cohort study, data gathered from 1336 Norwegian women and their children were used. Maternal anxiety symptoms were measured at gestation week 17-19 and 32, as well as 8 weeks postpartum using the Symptom Check List. Child development problems were assessed at 2 years postpartum using the Ages & Stages Questionnaire: Social-Emotional. Logistic regressions were conducted to examine the association between maternal prenatal, postnatal, and perinatal anxiety and the risk of social-emotional development problems in 2-year-old children. Results Of all women, 8.2% experienced prenatal anxiety, 4.0% had postnatal anxiety, and 4.4% reported perinatal anxiety (i.e., anxiety in both the prenatal and postnatal period). 5.6% of the 2-year-olds showed problems in their social-emotional behavior. Child development problems were associated with maternal prenatal anxiety (Odds Ratio [OR] = 2.48, 95% CI 1.55-4.92), postnatal anxiety (OR 3.32, 95% CI 1.43-7.74), and anxiety both in the prenatal and postnatal period (OR 3.98, 95% CI 1.85-8.56). Adjusted for confounders, maternal anxiety continued to be a significant predictor of adverse child social-emotional development (postnatal anxiety: OR 2.46, 95% CI 1.01-5.97; perinatal anxiety: OR 2.40, 95% CI 1.03-5.59). Discussion Maternal postnatal anxiety and anxiety both during and after pregnancy are unique substantial predictors for problems in a 2-year-old's social-emotional development, even when controlled for confounders.

Parenting and prenatal risk as moderators of genetic influences on conduct problems during middle childhood

This study examines interactions of heritable influences, prenatal substance use, and postnatal parental warmth and hostility on the development of conduct problems in middle childhood for boys and girls. Participants are 561 linked families, collected in 2 cohorts, including birth parents, adoptive parents, and adopted children. Heritable influences on internalizing and externalizing (including substance use) problems were derived from birth mothers' and fathers' symptoms, diagnoses, and age of onset from diagnostic interviews, and the proportion of first-degree relatives with the same type of problems. Smoking during pregnancy (SDP) and alcohol use during pregnancy were assessed retrospectively from birth mothers at 5 months postpartum. Earlier externalizing problems and parental warmth and hostility and were assessed at 1 assessment prior to the outcome (Cohort II: 4.5 years; Cohort I: 7 years). Conduct problems were symptoms from a diagnostic interview assessed at age 6 (Cohort II) or 8 (Cohort I). Findings from regression analyses suggest that (a) SDP plays an important role for the development of conduct problems, (b) some relatively well-accepted effects (e.g., parental hostility) were less important when simultaneously considering multiple factors influencing the development of conduct problems, and (c) main effects of genetic risk and SDP, and interactions among genetic risk and postnatal warmth, SDP and postnatal warmth, and genetic risk, SDP, and postnatal hostility for conduct problems were important for boys' but not girls' conduct problems. Replication is needed, but the current results provide preliminary but empirically grounded hypotheses for future research testing complex developmental models of conduct problems. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Interaction Effects of Life Events and Hair Cortisol on Perceived Stress, Anxiety, and Depressive Symptoms Among Chinese Adolescents: Testing the Differential Susceptibility and Diathesis-Stress Models

The differential susceptibility model and the diathesis-stress model on the interaction effect between the individuals’ traits and environmental factors will be conducive to understand in depth whether the psychophysiological traits are the risk factors of child development. However, there is no study focusing on the activity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. We examined whether the HPA activity serves as a physiological marker of the differential susceptibility model or the diathesis-stress model by exploring the interactive effect of life events and hair cortisol on perceived stress, anxiety, and depressive symptoms among Chinese adolescents. The participants were 324 students in senior high school. They reported their psychological states with questionnaires in their first semester after a 3-month adaptation period; 2 weeks later, they provided 1-cm hair segments closest to the scalp. We measured hair cortisol concentration as a biomarker of HPA activity using high-performance liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry. There was a significant interaction effect of academic events and hair cortisol on adolescents’ perceived stress, anxiety, and depression symptoms. We also observed a significant interaction between interpersonal events and hair cortisol on adolescents’ anxiety symptoms. Looking at the region of significance, proportion of interaction index, and proportion affected index, we found that adolescents with higher cortisol levels had a tendency to experience higher perceived stress and anxiety symptoms when they had high academic events scores, but lower perceived stress and anxiety symptoms when they had lower academic events scores. By contrast, adolescents with higher cortisol levels had a greater risk of experiencing high depressive symptoms only when they had higher academic events scores. Adolescents with higher cortisol levels also tended to have lower anxiety symptoms when they had higher interpersonal events scores, but greater anxiety symptoms when they had lower interpersonal events scores. These results suggested that HPA activity might serve as a biomarker of the differential susceptibility model for perceived stress and anxiety symptoms, while for depressive symptoms, it might serve as a marker of the diathesis-stress model.

Personality development in the context of individual traits and parenting dynamics

Our conceptualization of adult personality and childhood temperament can be closely aligned in that they both reflect endogenous, likely constitutional dispositions. Empirical studies of temperament have focused on measuring systematic differences in emotional reactions, motor responses, and physiological states that we believe may contribute to the underlying biological components of personality. Although this work has provided some insight into the early origins of personality, we still lack a cohesive developmental account of how personality profiles emerge from infancy into adulthood. We believe the moderating impact of context could shed some light on this complex trajectory. We begin this article reviewing how researchers conceptualize personality today, particularly traits that emerge from the Five Factor Theory (FFT) of personality. From the temperament literature, we review variation in temperamental reactivity and regulation as potential underlying forces of personality development. Finally, we integrate parenting as a developmental context, reviewing empirical findings that highlight its important role in moderating continuity and change from temperament to personality traits.

Maternal Systemic Interleukin-6 During Pregnancy Is Associated With Newborn Amygdala Phenotypes and Subsequent Behavior at 2 Years of Age

BACKGROUND

Maternal inflammation during pregnancy increases the risk for offspring psychiatric disorders and other adverse long-term health outcomes. The influence of inflammation on the developing fetal brain is hypothesized as one potential mechanism but has not been examined in humans.

METHODS

Participants were adult women (N = 86) who were recruited during early pregnancy and whose offspring were born after 34 weeks' gestation. A biological indicator of maternal inflammation (interleukin-6) that has been shown to influence fetal brain development in animal models was quantified serially in early, mid-, and late pregnancy. Structural and functional brain magnetic resonance imaging scans were acquired in neonates shortly after birth. Infants' amygdalae were individually segmented for measures of volume and as seeds for resting state functional connectivity. At 24 months of age, children completed a snack delay task to assess impulse control.

RESULTS

Higher average maternal interleukin-6 concentration during pregnancy was prospectively associated with larger right amygdala volume and stronger bilateral amygdala connectivity to brain regions involved in sensory processing and integration (fusiform, somatosensory cortex, and thalamus), salience detection (anterior insula), and learning and memory (caudate and parahippocampal gyrus). Larger newborn right amygdala volume and stronger left amygdala connectivity were in turn associated with lower impulse control at 24 months of age, and mediated the association between higher maternal interleukin-6 concentrations and lower impulse control.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings provide new evidence in humans linking maternal inflammation during pregnancy with newborn brain and emerging behavioral phenotypes relevant for psychiatric disorders. A better understanding of intrauterine conditions that influence offspring disease susceptibility is warranted to inform targeted early intervention and prevention efforts.

Systematic review of meditation-based interventions for children with ADHD

Meditation-based interventions such as mindfulness and yoga are commonly practiced in the general community to improve mental and physical health. Parents, teachers and healthcare providers are also increasingly using such interventions with children. This review examines the use of meditation-based interventions in the treatment of children with Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Electronic databases searched included PsycINFO, Medline, CINAHL, and AMED. Inclusion criteria involved children (aged to 18 years) diagnosed with ADHD, delivery of a meditation-based intervention to children and/or parents, and publication in a peer-reviewed journal. Studies were identified and coded using standard criteria, risk of bias was assessed using Risk of Bias in Non-randomised Studies- of interventions (ROBINS-I), and effect sizes were calculated. A total of 16 studies were identified (8 that included children in treatment, and 8 that included combined parent-child treatment). Results indicated that risk of bias was high across studies. At this stage, no definitive conclusions can be offered regarding the utility of meditation-based interventions for children with ADHD and/or their parents, since the methodological quality of the studies reviewed is low. Future well designed research is needed to establish the efficacy of meditation-based interventions, including commonly used practices such as mindfulness, before recommendations can be made for children with ADHD and their families.