Permissive Parenting, Deviant Peer Affiliations, and Delinquent Behavior in Adolescence: the Moderating Role of Sympathetic Nervous System Reactivity

The Role of Emotion Dysregulation and Self-Esteem in the Relationships Between Parenting Styles and Adolescents' Impostor Feelings: A Multiple Mediation Model by Parent and Child Gender

The study probes the relationship between parenting styles and three adolescents' psychological outcome variables: impostor phenomenon, self-esteem, and emotion dysregulation. Using path analysis, it aimed at testing the mediating role played by the latter two variables in the association between parenting and adolescents' impostor feelings, while differentiating between maternal and paternal parenting effect in the context of the child's gender. The sample consisted of 103 adolescent males and 117 females whose mean age was 14.10 ± 1.53. The participants took part in an online survey, where they reported their parents' parenting styles and their psychological variables using battery of instruments. For mothers, authoritative parenting was directly associated among male adolescents and indirectly associated (via higher self-esteem) among female adolescents with lower impostor feelings. For fathers, a similar an indirect association via self-esteem was recorded solely among male adolescents. Emotion dysregulation was found to be uniquely related to authoritarian parenting among adolescent females and to permissive parenting among adolescent males. Respectively, these psychological variables mediated the relationships between parenting styles and adolescents' impostor feelings. The study contributes unique evidence for the role played by emotion dysregulation and self-esteem in explaining adolescents' impostor feelings, while considering the importance of parenting styles and parent-child gender.

Child Maltreatment and Adolescent Dissociative Symptomatology: Moderation by Autonomic Regulation

This study drew on the biological sensitivity to context model (Ellis & Boyce, 2008) and polyvagal theory (Porges, 2007) to evaluate the moderating influence of children's autonomic nervous system (ANS) regulation on pathways from child emotional abuse (CEA) and child physical abuse (CPA) to later dissociative symptoms in adolescence. Participants were 232 youth (50.2% assigned female at birth, 45.9% Latine) who reported on their experiences of CEA and CPA at ages 6, 8, and 10 years. Resting cardiography measures of respiratory sinus arrythmia (RSA) and pre-ejection period (PEP) assessed children's parasympathetic and sympathetic activation, respectively, at these same ages. Youth reported on their dissociative symptoms at age 17. Parasympathetic activation qualified predictions from CEA to dissociative symptoms with relatively high RSA sensitizing children to CEA effects. Sympathetic activation qualified interactive predictions from both CEA and CPA to dissociative symptoms, but in different directions depending on the level of CPA. These findings suggest that resting ANS regulation may sensitize children to the effects of CEA and/or CPA on later dissociative symptoms in adolescence.

A Test of the Self-Medication Hypothesis Using a Latent Measurement Model: Are Stress and Impaired Control over Alcohol Mediating Mechanisms of Parenting Styles on Heavy Episodic Drinking and Alcohol-Related Problems among University Students?

INTRODUCTION

The self-medication hypothesis (SMH) suggests that individuals consume alcohol to alleviate stressful emotions. Still, the underlying mechanisms between stress and heavy episodic drinking remain to be explored. Impaired control over drinking (IC) reflects a failure of self-regulation specific to the drinking context, with individuals exceeding self-prescribed limits. Parenting styles experienced during childhood have a lasting influence on the stress response, which may contribute to IC.

METHOD

We examined the indirect influences of parenting styles (e.g., permissive, authoritarian, and authoritative) on heavy episodic drinking and alcohol-related problems through the mediating mechanisms of stress and IC. We fit a latent measurement model with 938 (473 men; 465 women) university students, utilizing bootstrap confidence intervals, in Mplus 8.0.

RESULTS

Higher levels of authoritative parenting (mother and father) were indirectly linked to fewer alcohol-related problems and less heavy episodic drinking through less stress and IC. Maternal permissiveness was indirectly linked to more alcohol-related problems and heavy episodic drinking through more stress and, in turn, more IC. Impaired control appeared to be a mediator for stress and alcohol-related problems.

CONCLUSIONS

Maternal permissiveness contributes to the use of alcohol to alleviate stress. Thus, reducing stress may reduce problematic heavy drinking and alcohol problems among emerging adults with high IC who may also have experienced permissive parenting. Stress may exacerbate behavioral dysregulation of drinking within self-prescribed limits.

Racial differences in sympathetic nervous system indicators: Implications and challenges for research

Growing evidence indicates the presence of racial differences in sympathetic nervous system (SNS) functioning, yet the nature of these differences is unclear and appears to vary across different indices of SNS activity. Moreover, racial differences among commonly used indices of SNS activity are under-investigated. This systematic review examines racial differences among widely used resting SNS indices, such as electrodermal activity (EDA), pre-ejection period (PEP), and salivary alpha-amylase (sAA). Our review reveals that Black participants have consistently been found to display lower resting EDA compared to White participants. The few studies that have investigated or reported racial differences in PEP and sAA yield mixed findings about whether racial differences exist. We discuss potential reasons for racial differences in SNS activity, such as index-specific factors, lab confounds, psychosocial environmental factors, and their interactions. We outline a framework characterizing possible contributors to racial differences in SNS functioning. Lastly, we highlight the implications of several definitional, analytic, and interpretive issues concerning the treatment of group differences in psychophysiological activity and provide future recommendations.

A systematic review and meta-analysis of the association between parenting and child autonomic nervous system activity

Parental socialization may influence the development of children's autonomic nervous system (ANS), a key stress-response system. However, to date no quantitative synthesis of the literature linking parenting and child ANS physiology has been conducted. To address this gap, we conducted a pre-registered meta-analysis. A systematic review of the literature identified 103 studies (n = 13,044 participants) with available effect sizes describing the association between parenting and either parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) or sympathetic nervous system (SNS) activity in children. The overall analysis revealed non-significant associations between parenting and child ANS physiology on average. However, moderation analyses revealed a positive association between more positive parenting and higher resting PNS activity that was stronger when a study was experimental rather than correlational, and when the sample included children with a clinical condition. In conclusion, well-controlled experimental studies show that positive parenting is associated with the development of higher resting PNS activity, an effect that may be stronger among children who are at elevated developmental risk.

Autonomic reactivity to social rejection, peer difficulties, and the buffering effects of adolescent friendships following early psychosocial deprivation

Autonomic nervous system reactivity has been posited to be a mechanism contributing to social and emotional problems among children exposed to early adversity. Leveraging data from the Bucharest Early Intervention Project, a longitudinal randomized controlled trial of foster care versus institutional care of abandoned children in Romania, we assessed whether altered sympathetic reactivity to peer rejection feedback in early adolescence mediated the relation between early institutional rearing and peer problems in later adolescence. We also assessed whether adolescent friendship quality or randomized placement in foster care early in life moderated these associations. Participants include 68 institutionalized children randomized to care as usual, 68 institutionalized children randomized to foster care, and 135 never-institutionalized children. At age 12, participants reported friendship quality with respect to a best friend and completed a social rejection task while electrocardiogram and impedance cardiography were recorded. Sympathetic nervous system reactivity to rejection feedback was assessed using preejection period (PEP). At ages 12 and 16, peer problems were reported by parents. Mediation analysis revealed that less PEP reactivity to social rejection at age 12 partially mediated the association between early institutionalization and greater peer problems at age 16. Further moderated mediation analysis revealed that this indirect effect was evidenced among previously institutionalized youths with low, but not high, quality friendships. We did not observe foster care intervention effects. These findings suggest that altered sympathetic reactivity to social rejection might be a mechanism linking early institutionalization to social difficulties into adolescence, however, positive adolescent friendships may buffer these effects. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Parental Self-Efficacy and Physiological Responses to Stress among Mothers of Early Adolescents

Little research addresses how parental self-efficacy is related to stress responses, and no research does so among parents of early adolescents. To fill this research gap, the current study examined the association between maternal self-efficacy and physiological stress responses during early adolescence. Participants were 68 mother-early adolescent dyads with youth in the 6th grade (M = 11 years; 56% female). Physiological responses (i.e., skin conductance, respiratory sinus arrythmia, cortisol) were measured before and after mothers observed their children engage in a modified Trier Social Stress Test for Children. Mothers reported on parental self-efficacy. Mothers with higher parental self-efficacy exhibited a more moderate skin conductance response to the speech portion of the task, and a smaller increase in cortisol, compared to mothers with lower parental self-efficacy. Respiratory sinus arrhythmia change was not related to parental self-efficacy. The findings are consistent with a "caring but confident" physiological profile among mothers with high parental self-efficacy, suggesting that greater confidence about parental influence might reduce parents' experience of stress/anxiety as they observe children face certain challenges.

We Know Even More Things: A Decade Review of Parenting Research

In this article, we highlight the important ideas that have emerged from research on parenting and adolescent development over the past decade. Beginning with research on authoritative parenting, we examine key elements of this parenting style and its influence across diverse contexts and populations. We turn our attention to four topics that have generated much research in the past decade: (1) how parenting contributes to adolescent peer and romantic relationships; (2) the impact of parenting on adolescent brain development; (3) gene-environment interactions in parenting research; and (4) parents' involvement in adolescents' social media use. We discuss contemporary challenges and ways parents can promote healthy development. We consider the integration of research, practice, and policy that best supports parents and adolescents.

Using the biopsychosocial model for identifying subgroups of detained juveniles at different risk of re-offending in practice: a latent class regression analysis approach

BACKGROUND

Juvenile delinquents constitute a heterogeneous group, which complicates decision-making based on risk assessment. Various psychosocial factors have been used to define clinically relevant subgroups of juvenile offenders, while neurobiological variables have not yet been integrated in this context. Moreover, translation of neurobiological group differences to individual risk assessment has proven difficult. We aimed to identify clinically relevant subgroups associated with differential youth offending outcomes, based on psychosocial and neurobiological characteristics, and to test whether the resulting model can be used for risk assessment of individual cases.

METHODS

A group of 223 detained juveniles from juvenile justice institutions was studied. Latent class regression analysis was used to detect subgroups associated with differential offending outcome (recidivism at 12 month follow-up). As a proof of principle, it was tested in a separate group of 76 participants whether individual cases could be assigned to the identified subgroups, using a prototype 'tool' for calculating class membership.

RESULTS

Three subgroups were identified: a 'high risk-externalizing' subgroup, a 'medium risk-adverse environment' subgroup, and a 'low risk-psychopathic traits' subgroup. Within these subgroups, both autonomic nervous system and neuroendocrinological measures added differentially to the prediction of subtypes of reoffending (no, non-violent, violent). The 'tool' for calculating class membership correctly assigned 92.1% of participants to a class and reoffending risk.

CONCLUSIONS

The LCRA approach appears to be a useful approach to integrate neurobiological and psychosocial risk factors to identify subgroups with different re-offending risk within juvenile justice institutions. This approach may be useful in the development of a biopsychosocial assessment tool and may eventually help clinicians to assign individuals to those subgroups and subsequently tailor intervention based on their re-offending risk.

Onset of substance use: Deviant peer, sex, and sympathetic nervous system predictors

We evaluated whether the association between deviant peer affiliation and onset of substance use is conditional upon sex and sympathetic nervous system (SNS) reactivity as measured by pre-ejection period (PEP). Community-sampled adolescents (N = 251; M = 15.78 years; 53% female; 66% White, 34% Black) participated in three waves. PEP reactivity was collected during a mirror star-tracer stress task. Alcohol, marijuana, tobacco, or any substance use, as well as binge drinking and sexual activity involving substance use were outcomes predicted by affiliation with deviant peers and two- and three-way interactions with sex and PEP reactivity. Probability of substance use increased over time, but this was amplified for adolescents with greater deviant peer affiliation in conjunction with blunted PEP reactivity. The same pattern of results was also found for prediction of binge drinking and sexual activity involving substance use. Findings are discussed in the context of biosocial models of adolescent substance use and health risk behaviors.

Community Violence Exposure and Externalizing Problem Behavior Among Chinese High School Students: The Moderating Role of Parental Knowledge

Adolescents' community violence exposure (CVE) has been demonstrated with a range of behavioral and psychological problems, but the processes that explain these correlations are not clear. In our 2017 study, the mediating role of deviant peer affiliation in the relationship between CVE and externalizing problem behaviors has been confirmed. However, the moderating effect of parental factors is still unclear. Therefore, a new group (high school group) was adopted in this study to further explore the moderating effect of parental knowledge based on also confirming the mediating effect of deviant peer affiliation. Stratified-cluster sampling was used to recruit 1,797 volunteers who completed questionnaires on CVE, deviant peer affiliation, parental knowledge, and externalizing problem behaviors. The results of the structural equation modeling were: on the basis of our previous research, we further analyzed the mediating role of deviant peer affiliation, and the mediated association was moderated by parental knowledge. Especially when the school climate is added as a covariate, the moderating effect of parental knowledge has changed, that is, the positive association between CVE and externalizing problem behaviors was much stronger for adolescents who reported lower levels of parental knowledge than for those who reported higher levels of parental knowledge. The results support the assumptions of social learning theory and have implications for interventions of community violence.

Parental Socialization of Emotion and Psychophysiological Arousal Patterns in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are at considerable risk for difficulties with emotion regulation and related functioning. Although it is commonly accepted that parents contribute to adaptive child regulation, as indexed by observable child behavior, theory and recent evidence suggest that parenting may also influence relevant underlying child physiological tendencies. The current study examined concurrent associations between two elements of parental socialization of emotion and measures of both sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system activity in 61 children with ASD aged 6 to 10 years. To index parental socialization, parents reported on their reactions to their children's negative emotions, and parental scaffolding was coded from a dyadic problem-solving task. Children's baseline respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), electrodermal reactivity (EDA-R), and RSA reactivity in response to challenge were obtained as measures of the children's physiological activity. Regression analyses indicated that supportive parent reactions were related to higher child baseline RSA, a biomarker of regulatory capacity. Fewer unsupportive parent reactions and higher quality scaffolding were associated with higher EDA-R, a physiological index of inhibition. The identification of these concurrent associations represents a first step in understanding the complex and likely bidirectional interplay between parent socialization and child physiological reactivity and regulation in this high-risk population.

An autonomic nervous system context of harsh parenting and youth aggression versus delinquency

Harsh parenting is a significant predictor of youth aggression and delinquency. However, not every child exposed to adverse parenting develops such problem behaviors. Recent developmental evolutionary models suggest that variability in stress response reactivity to parenting, reflected by autonomic nervous system (ANS) functioning, may affect the impact of adverse parenting on youth behavioral adjustment. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether the parasympathetic and sympathetic branches of the ANS moderate the association between parenting and aggressive and delinquent behaviors. The study sample included low-income, ethnically diverse preadolescents (M = 10.28 years old; N = 101) and their caregivers. Direct effects were found from basal RSA to delinquent behaviors. In addition, harsh parenting predicted increased youths' aggressive and delinquent behaviors in the context of high RSA withdrawal and increased youths' delinquent behaviors in the context of shortened basal PEP. Implications for prevention and intervention are discussed.

Interparental Conflict and Delinquency Among Chinese Adolescents: Parental Knowledge as a Mediator and Deviant Peer Affiliation as a Moderator

Interparental conflict has been found to positively affect adolescent delinquency; however, the underlying mechanism that explains this association remains unclear. This study investigated whether parental knowledge mediates the association between interparental conflict and adolescent delinquency, and whether this mediating process is moderated by deviant peer affiliation. To examine this, a total of 3,129 Chinese adolescents (47.27% boys, Mean_age = 14.94 years) completed a survey. Structural equation modeling indicated that the positive association between interparental conflict and adolescent delinquency is mediated by parental knowledge. Moreover, for adolescents with high deviant peer affiliation, interparental conflict was found to positively predict delinquency via parental knowledge; however, this indirect link was non-significant for adolescents with low deviant peer affiliation. These findings highlight the influence of parental knowledge and deviant peer affiliation on the association between interparental conflict and adolescent delinquency. This can provide guidance for the development of effective interventions that address the adverse effects of interparental conflict.

Sympathetic and Parasympathetic Nervous System Functioning and Experiences of Peer Exclusion: Links to Internalizing Problems in Early Adolescence

This study examines the moderating effect of both branches of the autonomic nervous system (sympathetic and parasympathetic) on associations between peer exclusion and internalizing behaviors. Young adolescents (N = 68) self-reported their perceptions of peer exclusion and internalizing problems and participated in stress-inducing public speaking tasks. Skin conductance and respiratory sinus arrhythmia were assessed at baseline (skin conductance baseline, SCLB; respiratory sinus arrhythmia baseline, RSAB) and during the challenge task to provide measures of physiological reactivity (skin conductance reactivity, SCLR; respiratory sinus arrhythmia reactivity, delta RSA). Youth with high delta RSA (low vagal suppression) had higher levels of internalizing problems when they perceived more peer exclusion in their social environments. The combination of low SCLR and high delta RSA (reciprocal parasympathetic) predicted higher levels of internalizing problems, whereas the combination of high SCLR and high delta RSA (coactivation) predicted lower levels of internalizing problems. The association between peer exclusion and youth internalizing problems was not moderated by ANS reactivity profiles which reflected combinations of SCLR and delta RSA.

Firm parenting and youth adjustment: Stress reactivity and dyadic synchrony of respiratory sinus arrhythmia

Parental behaviors are potent risk and protective factors for youth development of externalizing problems. Firm control is a parenting strategy that is inconsistently linked to youth adjustment, possibly due to variations in individual biological contexts. Growing research shows that dyadic coregulation of the autonomic nervous system (e.g., parent-child physiological synchrony) is a neurobiological mechanism that links parenting to youth adjustment. However, physiological synchrony may be context-dependent (e.g., adaptive in positive interactions, maladaptive in negative interactions). We aimed to test the role of dyadic synchrony in respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) during parent-child conflict as a mediator between parent firm control and youth's externalizing problems. To capture youth's stress reactivity, we also tested how galvanic skin response reactivity (GSR-R) moderated this indirect path. The sample included 101 dyads of low socioeconomic-status at-risk preadolescents and parents. Results indicated that youth higher levels of GSR-R significantly intensified the link between parent firm control and dyadic RSA synchrony during conflict. Dyadic RSA synchrony further predicted youth increased in externalizing problems. Overall, results suggest that when parents employ firm control parenting with highly reactive teens, dyadic RSA synchrony elevates, potentially modeling less optimal coping with conflict for the youth, which is associated with increased externalizing problems.

Perfectionism and self-medication as mediators of the links between parenting styles and drinking outcomes

Objective

Perfectionism reflects unreasonably high expectations for oneself that are rarely obtainable leading to negative affect. The self-medication model suggests that alcohol consumption is negatively reinforced and subsequently escalated due to reductions in negative affect when drinking (Hersh & Hussong, 2009). Wang (2010) found that parents directly influence perfectionism levels. Parents have also been found to indirectly influence alcohol-related problems (Patock-Peckham & Morgan-Lopez, 2006, 2009). The current study sought to examine the indirect effects of parenting on alcohol-related problems and alcohol use quantity/frequency through perfectionism dimensions, (i.e. order, discrepancy, and high standards) depression, and self-medication motives for drinking. We hypothesized that more critical parenting and perfectionism discrepancy would be associated with heavier drinking by increasing depressive symptoms and promoting drinking for negative reinforcement.

Method

A structural equation model with 419 university volunteers was utilized to test our mediational hypotheses.

Results

The analyses identified an indirect link between maternal authoritarian parenting and alcohol-related problems operating through perfectionism discrepancy. Higher levels of maternal authoritarian parenting were associated with greater perfectionism discrepancy which contributed to higher levels of depression, and in turn, stronger self-medication motives, as well as more alcohol-related problems.

Conclusions

Maternal authoritarian parenting style is directly linked to perfectionism discrepancy along the self-medication pathway to alcohol-related problems. Our results suggest that the reduction of perfectionism discrepancy may be a good therapeutic target for depression as well as inform the development of parent or individual based prevention efforts to reduce risk for alcohol-related problems.

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Mother authoritarian parenting was linked with negative facets of perfectionism.

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Father authoritarian parenting was linked with positive facets of perfectionism.

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Authoritative parenting was associated with positive facets of perfectionism.

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Perfectionism mediated effects of parenting on depression and alcohol use.

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Perfectionism mediated parenting effects on self-medication motives for drinking.

Parenting, deviant peer affiliation, and externalizing behavior during adolescence: processes conditional on sympathetic nervous system reactivity

BACKGROUND

This study examined associations between permissive parenting, deviant peer affiliations, and externalizing behavior across mid to late adolescence in a plausible indirect effects model of change over time with deviant peer affiliation serving as the mediator. We also evaluated potential conditional indirect effects wherein these relationships may be moderated by sex and sympathetic nervous system (SNS) activity, indexed by skin conductance level (SCL) reactivity.

METHOD

Participants included 242 community-sampled adolescents (M = 15.79 years; 48% boys; 66% European American, 34% African American) with two additional longitudinal assessments lagged by 1 year. Permissive parenting, SCL reactivity, and sex were considered as time invariant predictors of repeated measures of deviant peer affiliation and externalizing behavior in latent growth models that tested whether any of the direct or indirect associations were conditional on sex or SCL reactivity.

RESULTS

Evidence was found for indirect effects of permissive parenting on externalizing behavior via deviant peer affiliation, but only for males with lower SCL reactivity to stress. Additionally, these effects were found on latent intercepts, but not slopes indexing change over time, perhaps reflecting established individual differences in relationships among these variables.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings are discussed in the context of biosocial models of adolescent development and risk factors that may inform interventions for vulnerable youth.

Parental Psychological Control and Adolescent Aggressive Behavior: Deviant Peer Affiliation as a Mediator and School Connectedness as a Moderator

Abundant evidence has demonstrated an association between parental psychological control and adolescent aggressive behavior. However, the mediating and moderating mechanisms underlying this relation are still under-investigated. Grounded in the social development model and stress-buffering model, this study investigated whether deviant peer affiliation mediates the relation between parental psychological control and adolescent aggressive behavior, and whether this indirect link is moderated by school connectedness. A total of 4265 adolescents (Mean_age = 13.66 years, SD = 2.74, 48.63% male) from southern China completed questionnaires regarding parental psychological control, deviant peer affiliation, school connectedness, and aggressive behavior. Structural equation models revealed that the relation between parental psychological control and aggressive behavior is partially mediated by deviant peer affiliation. Moreover, this indirect link was stronger for adolescents with low levels of school connectedness than for those with high levels of school connectedness. This study thus identifies the potential underlying mechanism by which parental psychological control is associated with adolescent aggressive behaviors, which has important implications for theory and prevention.

Parasympathetic and sympathetic activity are associated with individual differences in neural indices of selective attention in adults

Multiple theoretical frameworks posit that interactions between the autonomic nervous system and higher-order neural networks are crucial for cognitive and emotion regulation. However, few studies have directly examined the relationship between measures of autonomic physiology and brain activity during cognitive tasks, and fewer studies have examined both the parasympathetic and sympathetic autonomic branches when doing so. Here, 93 adults completed an ERP auditory selective attention task concurrently with measures of parasympathetic activity (high-frequency heart rate variability; HF-HRV) and sympathetic activity (preejection period; PEP). We focus on the well-studied N1 ERP component to test for associations with baseline values of HF-HRV and PEP. Individuals with higher resting HF-HRV and shorter resting PEP showed larger effects of selective attention on their ERPs. Follow-up regression models demonstrated that HF-HRV and PEP accounted for unique variance in selective attention effects on N1 mean amplitude. These results are consistent with the neurovisceral integration model, such that greater parasympathetic activity is a marker of increased selective attention, as well as other theoretical models that emphasize the role of heightened sympathetic activity in more efficient attention-related processing. The present findings highlight the importance of autonomic physiology in the study of individual differences in neurocognitive function and, given the foundational role of selective attention across cognitive domains, suggest that both parasympathetic and sympathetic activity may be key to understanding variability in brain function across a variety of cognitive tasks.

Cumulative risk exposure moderates the association between parasympathetic reactivity and inhibitory control in preschool-age children

A child's cumulative risk for early exposure to stress has been linked to alterations of self-regulation outcomes, including neurobiological correlates of inhibitory control (IC). We examined whether children's ability to engage the parasympathetic nervous system impacts how risk affects IC. Children ages 3-5 years completed two laboratory measures of IC while respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) was measured, indexing parasympathetic activity. Children with greater risk demonstrated lower IC; risk also moderated associations between RSA reactivity and IC. For children with less risk, greater RSA withdrawal during IC tasks was associated with better IC. In contrast, greater risk was associated with poor IC, regardless of RSA withdrawal. Effects of risk were more pronounced for cumulative than individual measures. Results suggest that cumulative risk exposure disrupts connectivity between physiological and behavioral components of self-regulation in early childhood. Parasympathetic withdrawal to cognitive tasks may be less relevant for performance in developmental samples experiencing greater life stress.

Mediating effect of deviant peers on the relationship between sensation seeking and lifetime smoking among high school students

BACKGROUND

Despite the greater risk of lifetime smoking among high sensation seekers, it is difficult to change a sensation seeking tendency through interventions. Therefore, it is important to identify a modifiable factor mediating the link between these two conditions in order to weaken or disconnect the association.

OBJECTIVES

Based on the literature, deviant peers may play a pivotal role in explaining this association. Thus, we aimed to investigate the mediating effect of deviant peers on the association between sensation seeking and lifetime smoking among Korean adolescents.

METHODS

We analyzed secondary data obtained from 876 high school students. Approximately 51% of the participants were male. In order to investigate the mediating effect of deviant peers after controlling for 16 factors, we tested an indirect effect in a simple mediation model using the PROCESS macro, which is a regression-based approach.

RESULTS

We found a significant total effect of sensation seeking on lifetime smoking: greater risk of lifetime smoking among high sensation seekers. In addition, we found a significant mediating effect of deviant peers on the association between the two conditions. Specifically, higher sensation seeking successfully predicted a greater number of deviant peers, which, in turn, successfully predicted greater risk of lifetime smoking.

CONCLUSION

Given difficulties in directly changing levels of sensation seeking and the significant mediating effect of deviant peers on the association between the two conditions, prevention strategies focusing on peers may be advantageous for high sensation seekers in reducing their risk of lifetime smoking in adolescence.

Perceived parental monitoring and adolescent internet addiction: A moderated mediation model

Bronfenbrenner's (1979) ecological model focuses on the interrelation between different contexts and the interaction between individuals and their proximal contexts. Based on this theory, the present study tested a moderated mediation model of family, peer, and individual characteristics to investigate how they impact adolescent Internet addiction. Specifically, we examined whether deviant peer affiliation partially mediated the relation between perceived parental monitoring and adolescent Internet addiction, and whether this indirect relation was moderated by effortful control. A total of 747 Chinese middle school students filled out anonymous questionnaires concerning perceived parental monitoring, deviant peer affiliation, effortful control, and Internet addiction. The findings indicated that while the impact of parental monitoring on Internet addiction was partially mediated by deviant peer affiliation, effortful control moderated the first stage of the indirect relationship. For low effortful control adolescents, perceived parental monitoring negatively predicted deviant peer affiliation. Conversely, the indirect path was not significant for high effortful control adolescents. These findings highlight the need to consider family, peer and individual factors simultaneously when evaluating risks associated with adolescent Internet addiction and have important implications for the prevention and intervention of adolescent Internet addiction.

Are Negative Peer Influences Domain Specific? Examining the Influence of Peers and Parents on Externalizing and Drug Use Behaviors

Most studies tend to characterize peer influences as either positive or negative. In a sample of 1815 youth from 14 different schools in Caracas, Venezuela, we explored how two types of peer affiliations (i.e., deviant and drug-using peers) differentially mediated the paths from positive parenting to youth's externalizing behavior and licit and illicit drug use. We used Zero Inflated Poisson models to test the probability of use and the extent of use during the past 12 months. Results suggested that peer influences are domain specific among Venezuelan youth. That is, deviant peer affiliations mediated the path from positive parenting to youth externalizing behaviors, and peer drug-using affiliations mediated the paths to the drug use outcomes. Mediation effects were partial, suggesting that parenting explained unique variance in the outcomes after accounting for both peer variables, gender, and age. We discuss implications for the development of screening tools and for prevention interventions targeting adolescents from different cultures.

Parental management of peers and autonomic nervous system reactivity in predicting adolescent peer relationships

The present study examined sympathetic and parasympathetic indices of autonomic nervous system reactivity as moderators of the prospective association between parental management of peers via directing of youths' friendships and peer adjustment in a sample of typically developing adolescents. Participants included 246 adolescents at Time 1 (T1) [47% boys; 66% European American (EA), 34% African American (AA)] and 226 adolescents at Time 2 (T2; 45% boys; 67% EA, 33% AA). Adolescents were approximately 16 and 17 years old at T1 and T2, respectively. To address study aims, a multiinformant, multimethod longitudinal design was utilized. Skin conductance level (SCL) and respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) were measured during a baseline period and challenge task (star-tracing). Reactivity was computed as a difference score between the task and baseline period. Results from path models revealed that higher levels of mother-reported parental directing predicted decreases in adolescent-reported peer rejection and friends' deviant behavior from T1 to T2 at relatively low levels of physiological arousal in response to challenge (i.e., low SCL reactivity, RSA augmentation). Further, exploratory analyses indicated that directing was associated with decreases in friends' deviant behavior and peer rejection particularly among boys who exhibited lower levels of physiological arousal, but increases in friends' deviant behavior among boys who exhibited higher levels of arousal reflected in RSA withdrawal only. Overall, findings are consistent with prior studies revealing the benefits of parental behavioral control for underaroused youth, contributing to the growing literature on the interplay of parenting and physiological factors in the adolescent peer domain. (PsycINFO Database Record