The longitudinal consistency of mother-child reporting discrepancies of parental monitoring and their ability to predict child delinquent behaviors two years later

Examining profiles of convergence and divergence in reports of parental warmth: Links to adolescent developmental problems

Parental warmth during the transition from childhood to adolescence is a key protective factor against a host of adolescent problems, including substance use, maladjustment, and diminished well-being. Moreover, adolescents and parents often disagree in their perceptions of parenting quality, and these discrepancies may confer risk for problem outcomes. The current study applies latent profile analysis to a sample of 687 mother-father-6th grade adolescent triads to identify patterns of adolescent-parent convergence and divergence in perceptions of parental warmth. Five profiles were identified, and associations with adolescent positive well-being, substance use, and maladjustment outcomes in 9th grade were assessed. Patterns of divergence in which adolescents had a pronounced negative perception of parental warmth compared to parents, as well as those wherein pronounced divergence was present in only one adolescent-parent dyad, were associated with diminished positive well-being compared to adolescents who had more positive perceptions of warmth than parents. Having more negative perceptions of warmth compared to parents was also associated with elevated risk for alcohol and marijuana initiation, but only when the divergence was pronounced rather than more moderate. These findings add nuance to findings from previous between-family investigations of informant discrepancies, calling for further family-centered methods for investigating multiple perspectives.

Inhibitory Control in Late Childhood as a Predictor of Antisocial Behavior in Adolescence and the Role of Social Context

Understanding the factors contributing to adolescent antisocial behavior is crucial for effective interventions. Protracted development of cognitive control systems supporting inhibitory control may be linked to increases in adolescent antisocial behavior, suggesting the promotion of inhibitory control as a potential preventative strategy. Concurrently, social contextual factors, including peer relationships, parent-child dynamics, and the neighborhood environment, may exacerbate or buffer the risk posed by low inhibitory control. In a large, longitudinal sample of youth from racially and ethnically diverse low-income families (N = 731), we examined the association between inhibitory control (age 10.5) and antisocial behavior (age 14) and explored contextual factors (neighborhood, peer relationships, parent-child relationship) as potential moderators. Lastly, we investigated whether a randomized controlled trial of the Family Check-Up (FCU) intervention started at age 2 predicted a decreased youth report of antisocial behavior in adolescence via increased inhibitory control in late childhood. We found that lower inhibitory control in late childhood predicted increased antisocial behavior in adolescence. For youth with low inhibitory control, living in a dangerous neighborhood or associating more with deviant peers increased the risk for adolescent antisocial behavior. Finally, the FCU intervention indirectly reduced youth-reported adolescent antisocial behavior via enhancing inhibitory control in late childhood, and the indirect effect was strongest for youth in risky contexts (e.g., low parental knowledge and control). Although risky contexts can exacerbate individual risks related to deficits in inhibitory control, greater inhibitory control may be a protective factor. Additionally, early childhood interventions can improve inhibitory skills and decrease the risk of adolescent antisocial behavior, particularly for youth within risky contexts.

Links between parental monitoring and parent-adolescent conflict: A multimodal test of bidirectional relations

During adolescence, youth increase in both independence and conflict with parents. Parents vary in how much they know about their adolescents' whereabouts and activities and how they acquire this information (i.e., the sources of what parents know). We probed how parental knowledge of adolescents' whereabouts and activities-and their information sources-relates to (a) domains of parent-adolescent conflict (fighting about, or having different beliefs about, daily life topics) and (b) parent and adolescent attachment-related behavior during a conflict discussion task. Using the Actor-Partner Interdependence Model, we tested links between parental knowledge and its sources and conflict processes. Eighty-seven adolescents (Mage = 15.18; 55% female) and parents completed surveys about parental knowledge and its sources (i.e., parental solicitation of adolescents' activities, adolescent disclosure to parents about their activities) and separate interviews on conflict domains. A subset of parent-adolescent dyads (n = 65) interacted for 5 min about an adolescent-identified conflict topic. Different beliefs about daily life topics related to parental knowledge: parents' reports of greater different beliefs about daily life topics predicted less knowledge of adolescents' activities/whereabouts, solicitation, and disclosure, for both parent and adolescent reports of these domains. For adolescents, greater different beliefs related to less solicitation and disclosure. Only adolescent reports of parental knowledge, solicitation, and disclosure predicted attachment-related behaviors both dyad members displayed during the conflict discussion task. Findings reveal links between parental knowledge of adolescents' activities and conflict processes and demonstrate dyadic interdependence between parental knowledge of adolescents' activities and conflict processes. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Profiles of Maternal-Child Interactions and their Association with Children's External Resilience Resources

Parent-child interactions, which substantially impact children's psychosocial functioning, can be affected by caregiver adversity exposure. Considering that caregivers and their children often have divergent perspectives on their interactions, the current study included maternal- and child-reports of parenting practices and parent-child communication as indicators in a latent profile analysis. This study included 263 dyads comprised of children aged 8-17 (M Age = 12.13, SD = 2.77; 88.2% Black) and their female caregivers (M Age = 36.43, SD = 7.89; 82.9% Black) who were recruited based on caregivers' differing experiences with the SAVA syndemic (i.e., potentially harmful substance use, intimate partner violence (IPV), HIV, or none of these adversities). After identifying empirically-derived profiles of maternal-child interactions, we examined associations between these established profiles and children's external resilience resources. A three-class model emerged as the best fit: Concordant: Child/Mother Positive (C-PP; 73.4%), Discordant: Child Very Negative/Mother Slightly Negative (D-CN; 13.1%), and Discordant: Child Positive/Mother Negative (D-CP; 11.8%). Caregiver endorsement of SAVA syndemics did not predict class membership. Dyads with older children were more likely to be in the D-CN class, and dyads reporting lower SES were more likely to be in the D-CP class. Compared to children in the D-CN class, children in the C-PP class reported significantly higher resilience in school (Est. = -0.42, p = 0.006), community (Est. = -0.51, p = 0.001), and peer (Est. = -0.37, p = 0.004) contexts. No other class differences emerged. Findings highlight the importance of positive and consistent maternal-child interactions, which may help youth access a network of resilience resources that can promote healthy development and bolster well-being.

Discrepancies in Mate Preferences among Chinese Families between Fathers, Mothers, and Children: A Latent Profile Analysis

Parents develop their own preferences regarding prospective in-laws, which influence their children's mate selection processes and outcomes. From an evolutionary perspective, fathers, mothers, and their offspring have partially divergent genetic interests, potentially leading to conflicts in mate preferences. Currently, the characteristics of discrepancy profiles in mate preferences within Chinese families and their influencing factors remain unclear. Adopting an individual-centered perspective, this study examined the profiles of discrepancies in mate preferences between fathers, mothers, and children across a diverse set of Chinese families, along with their associations with family relations and evaluations of children. This study recruited 337 complete families. The results revealed three distinct profiles of father-mother mate preference discrepancies in families with sons and four profiles in families with daughters. Additionally, both families with sons and daughters displayed three profiles of discrepancies in parent-child mate preferences. Parental perceptions of marital relationships and their evaluations of children were linked to diverse father-mother discrepancy profiles in both families with sons and daughters. The father-son relationship was associated with the profiles of parent-child discrepancies in families with sons, while maternal evaluations of children and daughters' self-evaluations were related to the profiles of parent-child discrepancies in families with daughters. This study provides insights into understanding the conflict patterns and underlying reasons regarding mate preference between Chinese parents and their children within family settings.

What is Parental Monitoring?

Parental monitoring is a construct of longstanding interest in multiple fields-but what is it? This paper makes two contributions to the ongoing debate. First, we review how the published literature has defined and operationalized parental monitoring. We show that the monitoring construct has often been defined in an indirect and nonspecific fashion and measured using instruments that vary widely in conceptual content. The result has been a disjointed empirical literature that cannot accurately be described as the unified study of a single construct nor is achieving a cumulative scientific character. Second, we offer a new formulation of the monitoring construct intended to remedy this situation. We define parental monitoring as the set of all behaviors performed by caregivers with the goal of acquiring information about the youth's activities and life. We introduce a taxonomy identifying 5 distinct types of monitoring behaviors (Types 1-5), with each behavior varying along five dimensions (performer, target, frequency, context, style). We distinguish parental monitoring from 16 other parenting constructs it is often conflated with and position monitoring as one element within the broader parent-youth monitoring process: the continuous, dyadic interplay between caregivers and youth as they navigate caregivers attempts' to monitor youth. By offering an explicit and detailed conceptualization of monitoring, we aim to foster more rigorous and impactful research in this area.

Parent-child educational aspiration congruence and adolescents' internalizing problems: The moderating effect of SES

Previous studies have found that adolescents and their parents may hold discrepant views about educational aspirations. However, little is known about how these discrepancies affect adolescents' internalizing problems and the moderating effect of SES on the relation between (in)congruence of parent-child educational aspirations and adolescents' internalizing problems. Therefore, this study explored the relation between (in)congruence of parent-child educational aspirations and adolescents' internalizing problems, and further tested the moderating role of SES. Based on two-wave survey data collected from a nationally representative sample of 8194 parent-child dyads in China (51.3 % boys, mean age = 13.58 years), multilevel polynomial regression and response surface analysis were performed to investigate the hypotheses. The results found that (1) internalizing problems were minimal when the two educational aspiration variables were congruent, (2) internalizing problems were the highest when the discrepancy between child educational and parental educational aspirations was largest, and (3) SES moderated the relation between (in)congruence in educational aspirations and adolescents' internalizing problems. The study's results not only comprehensively and intuitively reveal the influence of parents' and children's educational aspirations on adolescents' internalizing problems, but also provide targeted guidance and suggestions regarding parenting practices for families from diverse SES backgrounds.

Internal Migration: Understanding Parent-Child Differences in Educational Expectations

Although educational expectations of parents and children are associated with educational investments and attainment, children and parent expectations do not always align. Previous research on parent-child discrepancies in educational expectations focuses heavily on the consequences of the discrepancies but has less often considered factors that lead to different expectations on the part of parents and children. This paper asks whether children's internal migration from rural areas in China is associated with greater discrepancies in educational expectations between parents and their children when compared to non-migrant rural-origin youth. Our analyses rely on the China Educational Panel (CEPS) in 2013 and 2014 and consider the potential for familial relationships and extra-familial social capital to act as mediators between children's migration and parent-child educational expectation discrepancies. We found that rural-to-urban migrant adolescents are more likely to hold high and aligned educational expectations. Rural-to-urban migrant youth also report stronger intra-familial relationships but weaker access to extra-familial social capital when compared to rural non-migrant youth. Yet, multinomial logistic regression and subsequent analyses indicate that only intra-familial relationships serve as a mediator between children's migration status and parent-child discrepancies in educational expectations.

Contrasting Views of Autism Spectrum Traits in Adults, Especially in Self-Reports vs. Informant-Reports for Women High in Autism Spectrum Traits

There is uncertainty among researchers and clinicians about how to best measure autism spectrum dimensional traits in adults. In a sample of adults with high levels of autism spectrum traits and without intellectual disability (probands, n = 103) and their family members (n = 96), we sought to compare self vs. informant reports of autism spectrum-related traits and possible effects of sex on discrepancies. Using correlational analysis, we found poor agreement between self- and informant-report measures for probands, yet moderate agreement for family members. We found reporting discrepancy was greatest for female probands, often self-reporting more autism-related behaviors. Our findings suggest that autism spectrum traits are often underrecognized by informants, making self-report data important to collect in clinical and research settings.

Parent-adolescent discrepancies in positive parenting and adolescent problem behaviors in Chinese families

Based on the discrepancy-maladaptive hypothesis and general strain theory, in this study, we examined two key aspects: first, the mediating role of self-control in the relationship between parent-adolescent discrepancies in positive parenting and adolescent internalizing and externalizing problems, and second, variations in problem behavior among subgroups with different parent-adolescent dyads reporting patterns. The participants were 349 intact Chinese families, with parents as the primary caregivers and teenagers aged 15-18 years who are attending secondary vocational schools. The results revealed that adolescents generally perceived lower levels of caring and behavioral control than parents. Compared to behavioral control, discrepancies in perceived levels of caring had more significant predicting levels of internalizing and externalizing problems, and the relationship between discrepancies of caring and internalizing and externalizing problems was mediated by self-control. Latent profile analysis revealed three parent-adolescent responding patterns (subgroups); compared to the other subgroups, only the subgroup characterized by adolescents perceiving lower caring and behavioral control than parents exhibited higher levels of internalizing and externalizing problems. The findings of this study provide insights on how parent-adolescent discrepancies may lead to adolescent problem behaviors and highlight the importance of self-control as a mediating mechanism.

The roles of parenting, resilience, and interpersonal relationships on adolescents' mental health and stress-related growth during COVID-19

BACKGROUND

The present longitudinal study investigated parenting style as a precursor for Chinese adolescents' stress-related growth and mental health difficulties during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the mediating roles of intrapersonal resilience and interpersonal relationships (i.e., peer and parent-adolescent).

METHODS

Chinese adolescents in a middle school (7th grade) and their parents in Beijing, China, were invited to complete a survey at two time points (T1: September 2020, T2: June 2021). A total of 206 adolescents (52.9% boys; Mage  = 12.90 years, SDage  = 0.33) and parents (17.5% fathers, 82.4% mothers; Mage  = 43.50 years, SDage  = 4.76 years) were included in this study.

RESULTS

Results showed that Chinese parents' authoritarian, not authoritative parenting, predicted adolescents' mental health difficulties nine months later. In addition, parent-adolescent relationships, but not peer relationships nor resilience, mediated the relations between parenting style and stress-related growth. Adolescents' resilience predicted fewer mental health difficulties.

CONCLUSION

It is important to target multiple ecologies (e.g., family) of adolescents for promoting positive adjustment.

Are Discrepancies Between Father and Adolescent Perceptions of Harsh Parenting and Conflict Associated with Adolescent Mental Health Symptoms?

Though differences in informant perceptions of family processes are associated with poorer health, few studies have examined discrepancies between father- and adolescent-report of family phenomena and their impact on adolescent mental health. This study examined how father and adolescent-reported parenting and the differences in their perceptions is related to adolescent mental health. Participants were 326 father-adolescent dyads (Fathers: Mage = 41.2; Adolescents: 7th grade students, Mage = 12.0, 48.5% female). Overall, analyses revealed significant main effects of father and/or adolescent report of father-adolescent conflict and harsh parenting on adolescent internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Analyses revealed two instances in which discrepancies between father- and adolescent-report of family phenomena was related to adolescent mental health. Given the mixed nature of the findings based on the outcome reporter, the current study discusses implications for discrepancy research and future directions to better understand discrepant perceptions as useful information on their own. The parent clinical trial is registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (Identifier: NCT03125291, Registration date: 4/13/2017).

Discrepancies in Adolescent-Parent Perceptions of Parental Phubbing and Their Relevance to Adolescent Smartphone Dependence: The Mediating Role of Parent-Child Relationship

Parental phubbing behavior is a significant predictor of adolescent smartphone dependence. However, previous research has mainly focused on the child and adolescent's perspective, overlooking potential differences in how parents and their children perceive parental phubbing. Therefore, this study investigates whether disparities exist in how parents and adolescents perceive parental phubbing and how these perceptual differences impact adolescent smartphone dependence. We also explore the role of the parent-child relationship in this context. In this study, 728 families from a middle school in Wuhan were selected and surveys were administered to both children and parents. The findings are as follows: (1) Significant perceptual differences were found between parents and adolescents regarding parental phubbing. (2) These perceptual discrepancies positively predict adolescent smartphone dependence and negatively impact parent-child relationships. Additionally, parent-child relationships have a negative influence on adolescent smartphone dependence. (3) The parent-child relationship serves as a mediator between perceptual differences in parental phubbing behavior and adolescent smartphone dependence. In summary, this research highlights the importance of considering both parent and adolescent perspectives on parental phubbing and emphasizes the role of the parent-child relationship in influencing adolescent smartphone dependence.

Parent-Child Discrepancies in Perceived Parental Emotion Socialization: Associations with Children's Internalizing and Externalizing Problems in Chinese Families

Parental emotion socialization is highly associated with children's internalizing and externalizing problems. However, research on parent-child discrepancies in parental emotion socialization perceptions and their relationship with children's developmental outcomes remains limited. This study explores the relationship between parent-child discrepancies in their reports of parental emotion socialization and children's internalizing/externalizing problems in Chinese families. The participants were 390 children (55% girls, M_age = 11.70 years, SD_age = 1.17) and their primary caregivers (68% mother, M_age = 39.52 years, SD_age = 5.23). A latent profile analysis identified three profiles of parent-child discrepancies in supportive parental emotion socialization and four profiles in non-supportive parental emotion socialization. Children with more negative perceptions of parental emotion socialization than their parents exhibited the most internalizing and externalizing problems. The parent-child perception difference of the supportive dimension connected to internalizing and externalizing problems, while the perception difference of the non-supportive dimension connected only to internalizing problems. These findings advocate for the conceptualization of perceptions of parent-child discrepancies within family dynamics, which may predict children's developmental outcomes.

A Comparison of Parents' and Students' Reports of General and Alcohol-Specific Parenting Behaviors Across the Four Years of College

OBJECTIVE

Whether college students' reports of their parents' behaviors are as reliable a predictor of student drinking as their parents' own reports remains an open question and a point of contention in the literature. To address this, the current study examined concordance between college student and mother/father reports of the same parenting behaviors relevant to parent-based college drinking interventions (relationship quality, monitoring, and permissiveness), and the extent to which student and parental reports differed in their relation to college drinking and consequences.

METHOD

The sample consisted of 1,429 students and 1,761 parents recruited from three large public universities in the United States (814 mother-daughter, 563 mother-son, 233 father-daughter, and 151 father-son dyads). Students and their parents were each invited to complete four surveys over the course of the students' first 4 years of college (one survey per year).

RESULTS

Paired samples t tests revealed that parental reports of parenting constructs were typically more conservative than student reports. Intraclass correlations revealed moderate associations between parental and student reports on relationship quality, general monitoring, and permissiveness. The associations between parenting constructs and drinking and consequences were also consistent when using parental and student reports of permissiveness. Results were generally consistent for all four types of dyads, and at each of the four time points.

CONCLUSIONS

Taken together, these findings provide additional support for the use of student reports of parental behaviors as a valid proxy of parents' actual reports and as a reliable predictor of college student drinking and consequences.

Mother-Adolescent Perceived Parenting Profiles and Mexican-origin Adolescents' Academic Performance

Mothers and adolescents often perceive parenting differently, but it is unclear how different profiles of mother-adolescent perceived parenting and developmental transitions of such profiles would influence adolescent academic performance longitudinally. The current study adopted a three-wave dataset of 604 Mexican-origin adolescents (54% female; Mwave1.age = 12.92 years) and 595 mothers. Adolescents who agreed on high levels of positive parenting with their mothers in early adolescence (i.e., the Both High group) and stayed in the Both High group demonstrated the best academic performance in late adolescence. However, adolescents who changed from the Both High group in early adolescence and ended with discrepancies in perceived parenting or an agreement on low positive parenting with mothers in late adolescence had the worst academic performance. The findings suggest the plasticity of mother-adolescent relationships during adolescence, which can be an intervention target to improve Mexican-origin adolescent academic performance.

Discrepancies in youth self-report and case file report of maltreatment and association with internalizing and externalizing symptoms

BACKGROUND

Childhood maltreatment is a potential risk factor for the later development of psychopathology (Jaffee, 2017). However, there is no gold standard for identifying victims of child maltreatment, and when multiple informants - such as case files and youth self-report - are used, these sources often disagree (Cooley & Jackson, 2022).

OBJECTIVE

The current study aimed to explore discrepancies between youth self-report and case file report of maltreatment and examine how these discrepancies related to internalizing and externalizing symptoms.

PARTICIPANTS/SETTING

Participants were 470 youth living in foster care between the ages of 8 and 18 and their caregivers.

METHODS

Latent class analysis (LCA) was used to create novel groups based on informant discrepancies.

RESULTS

Agreement between informants was in the poor-to-fair agreement range for all types of maltreatment. Latent class analysis identified a 3-class solution with significant group differences on both externalizing (Χ² (2, N = 470) = 6.16, p = 0.05) and internalizing symptoms (Χ² (2, N = 470) = 6.10, p = 0.05). Specifically, those in the "self-report only" class had significantly higher symptoms than those in the "neither informant/case file only" class for both internalizing and externalizing behavior.

CONCLUSIONS

Case files and youth self-report of maltreatment are discrepant. Youth self-report of maltreatment history may be more closely linked to psychopathology than case file report of maltreatment. Researchers and practitioners should look to youth self-report rather than relying solely on case files when determining risk for psychopathology.

Whose Outcomes Come Out? Patterns of Caregiver- and Youth-reported Outcomes Based on Caregiver-youth Baseline Discrepancies

OBJECTIVE

Discrepancies between caregiver and youth reports of emotional and behavioral symptoms are well-documented, with cross-informant correlations often falling in the low to moderate range. Studies have shown that caregiver-youth (dis)agreement in reporting of youth symptoms is related to treatment outcomes. However, commonly used methods for exploring reporter discrepancies (e.g., difference scores) are limited by their inability to assess discrepancies across multiple symptom domains simultaneously, and thus these previous findings do not explore multiple patterns of (dis)agreement.

METHOD

We used latent profile analysis (LPA) to identify subgroups of clinically referred youths based on patterns of caregiver- and youth-reported internalizing and externalizing symptoms for 174 caregiver-youth dyads. Longitudinal multilevel models were used to examine changes in weekly caregiver- and youth-reported internalizing symptoms, externalizing symptoms, and top problems for identified subgroups.

RESULTS

The LPA identified four latent subgroups: (a) Caregiver Internalizing (9%), (b) Caregiver Internalizing-Externalizing (45%), (c) Youth Internalizing (7%), and (d) Caregiver-Youth Internalizing-Externalizing (39%). Clinical outcomes varied across informants and subgroups. Significant improvements in caregiver- and youth-reported outcome measures were documented within the Caregiver Internalizing, Caregiver Internalizing-Externalizing, and Caregiver-Youth Internalizing-Externalizing subgroups. However, only youth-reported improvements were detected in the Youth Internalizing subgroup. The results show differences in treatment outcomes across caregiver-youth informant subgroups.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings suggest how youth and caregiver baseline data could provide guidance for clinicians in interpreting discrepant reporting and its relevance to change during treatment.

Discrepant Parent-Adolescent Reports of Parenting Practices: Associations with Adolescent Internalizing and Externalizing Symptoms

Discrepancies in multi-informant reports of parenting practices represent a meaningful clinical construct that can be harnessed to predict adolescent mental health outcomes and shed light on the nature of parent-adolescent relationships. To date, however, no research has sought to examine discrepancies in perceptions of parenting practices among adolescents with histories of substance use disorders, a population for whom supportive parenting is a critical protective factor during the recovery process. This study examined parent-adolescent informant discrepancies of parenting practices and their associations with externalizing and internalizing symptomology among a sample of adolescents with substance use disorder histories. Data were analyzed from 294 adolescents (M adolescent age = 16 years; 45% female, 72% white) and their parents (87% female, 83% white) from a larger longitudinal study. Parenting practices of interest were positive parenting, inconsistent discipline, and poor monitoring. Polynomial regression analyses were used to test the discrepancy hypotheses. The results generally suggested null associations between single informant reports and internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Discrepancies were noted, however, in multi-informant reports of positive parenting, such that higher levels of adolescent-reported positive parenting were associated with higher levels of internalizing symptoms at high (but not low) levels of parent-reported positive parenting. Similarly, discrepancies were noted in multi-informant reports of poor monitoring, such that lower levels of adolescent-poor monitoring were associated with higher externalizing symptoms at low levels of parent-reported poor monitoring. The findings are discussed in terms of research and clinical implications of collecting and utilizing multi-informant data among clinical samples of adolescents with unique risk profiles.

Informant Discrepancies in Child Maltreatment Reporting: A Systematic Review

Potential informants on child maltreatment include the youth who has experienced the alleged maltreatment, and the youth's caregivers, social workers and case files. When multiple informants are compared, they often disagree about whether or not a youth has experienced maltreatment. Such determinations are critical as endorsement-or lack of endorsement-of maltreatment can have significant consequences on the child's safety, future living arrangements and referral for treatment and services. The current study provides a systematic review of the literature on informant discrepancies in child maltreatment. Three databases-PsychINFO, Web of Science, and PubMed-were used to identify studies for the review and 13 articles met inclusion criteria. Results showed that more youth tend to report physical, sexual and emotional abuse than seen in case files. By contrast, more case files include neglect than reported by youth. Implications and future directions are discussed.

Antecedents and Consequences of Discrepant Perceptions of Racial Socialization between Parents and Adolescents within Mexican-Origin Families

Parents and adolescents often have different views regarding parental racial socialization practices; however, studies documenting such discrepancies remain scarce. Using a person-centered approach, this study investigated patterns of parent-adolescent discrepant views on racial socialization (i.e., cultural socialization, bias coping, bias awareness) as well as antecedents and consequences of the discrepancy profiles. Participants were 604 adolescents (54% female, Mage = 12.41, Rangeage = 11-15) and their mothers and fathers. The results showed distinct discrepancy patterns and suggested that more maternal/paternal warmth was associated with profiles that have smaller discrepancies or profiles in which adolescents reported higher socialization than parents. Adolescents who reported higher or similar socialization as parents demonstrated better adjustment. Implications for interventions aimed at strengthening parent-child relationships and communication about race and culture are discussed.

Perceptions of Parenting in Daily Life: Adolescent-Parent Differences and Associations with Adolescent Affect

Adolescents can perceive parenting quite differently than parents themselves and these discrepancies may relate to adolescent well-being. The current study aimed to explore how adolescents and parents perceive daily parental warmth and criticism and whether these perceptions and discrepancies relate to adolescents' daily positive and negative affect. The sample consisted of 80 adolescents (M_age = 15.9; 63.8% girls) and 151 parents (M_age = 49.4; 52.3% women) who completed four ecological momentary assessments per day for 14 consecutive days. In addition to adolescents' perception, not parents' perception by itself, but the extent to which this perception differed or overlapped with adolescents' perception was related to adolescent affect. These findings highlight the importance of including combined adolescents' and parents' perspectives when studying dynamic parenting processes.

The influence of youth and parent reports of parental knowledge and monitoring and reporting discrepancy on high risk youth offending

INTRODUCTION

Positive parenting practices are known to be related to lower levels of youth offending. Questions remain as to the overlap between youth and parent perceptions of parenting practices, and the relationship of perception discrepancies with youth offending. This study examines the concordance of parenting behaviors reports, the relationship between parent and youth perceptions of parenting measures with youth offending, and whether discordant youth and parent reports are related to heterogeneity in youth offending.

METHODS

Survey data from 818 high risk U.S. youth averaging 16 years old who participated in the Pathways to Desistance study and his or her parent form the basis of this analysis.

RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS

Results demonstrate youth and parent reports of parental knowledge and parental monitoring are correlated, yet independent predictors of youth offending variety scores. Youth and parent reports about parenting measures demonstrate youth offending is highest when youth perceive parents as uninvolved, and lowest when youth estimates of parental knowledge and monitoring are higher than parent estimates. Parenting matters for high-risk youth, especially in reducing the likelihood of property offending. Using multiple perspectives to assess parenting practices is important in studying these dyadic relationships.

Longitudinal Discrepancy in Adolescent Aggressive Behavior Problems: Differences by Reporter and Contextual Factors

Little is known about the developmental course of informant discrepancies in adolescent aggressive behavior problems, though whether aggression increases or decreases over time depends on reporter. Evaluating discrepancies longitudinally can uncover patterns of agreement/disagreement between reporters across time and determine contexts that give rise to these differences. This study addresses longitudinal informant discrepancies by examining parent-report and adolescent report of adolescent aggressive behavior problems over time and further investigates possible contextual factors related to the longitudinal discrepancy. Five-waves (from age 11.5 to 15) of multi-informant data from the PROSPER project (N = 977; 52% female; 87% Caucasian) were used to test longitudinal change in informant discrepancies between mother-, father-, and adolescent-reported aggressive behavior problems. Results showed that parents reported more aggression than their adolescents at age 11.5 and that the discrepancy at first converged over time before diverging. By age 15, adolescents reported more aggression than their parents. Parental hostility, family status, and adolescent gender predicted change in informant discrepancies. Practical and developmental implications are discussed for assessing and determining accurate change in adolescent aggressive behavior problems.

Perception of Parental Knowledge by Parents and Adolescents: Unique Effects on Recent Substance Use in a Latinx Sample

The main objective of the current study is to analyze how the unique perspectives from both parents and children in regards to parental knowledge of the child's whereabouts, activities, and friendships are related to the adolescent's recent substance use four months later. Differences between parents and children, as well as between male and female adolescents are examined. Data come from a Latinx sample (mostly Mexican-origin) of 523 parent-adolescent dyads from Arizona (US) using a multi-informant approach (parent and adolescent reports). The results indicate that parents, especially mothers, report higher levels of parental knowledge than adolescents do. The structural equation modeling (SEM) results for the total sample indicate that both parents' and adolescents' unique perception of the level of parental knowledge is negatively related to the adolescents' recent alcohol and cannabis use four months later. Further, multi-group SEM results split by gender indicate that parents' unique perception of higher levels of parental knowledge is only marginally related to lower alcohol use for both males and females, whereas adolescents' unique perception is negatively related to alcohol and cannabis use (significantly) and tobacco use (marginally) for both males and females. No significant gender differences were found in the effects of parental knowledge on substance use. Findings suggest that parents' and adolescents' perceptions seem to be quite distinctive and independent from each other. Implications of these results regarding intervention programs for preventing substance use are discussed.

Differential Associations Between Parents' Versus Children's Perceptions of Parental Socialization Goals and Chinese Adolescent Depressive Symptoms

Although prior studies have demonstrated the associations between parental socialization goals and parenting practices, as well as parenting practices and adolescent depressive symptoms, respectively, research examining the comprehensive developmental pathways among these constructs (i. e., the path from parental socialization goals to parenting practices to adolescent depressive symptoms) is scarce, especially in the Chinese context. Grounded in the integrative model of parenting, this study investigated the associations between parental socialization goals and adolescent depressive symptoms by examining the indirect pathways through parents' autonomy support and psychological control as well as the moderating effect of educational stage. In Study 1, 345 Chinese adolescents and their primary caregivers completed a measure on parental socialization goals. Adolescents also reported on their depressive symptoms. Results showed that children who reported more self-development parental goals showed fewer depressive symptoms. However, parents' reports of goals or child-parent perceptual discrepancies were not related to children's depressive symptoms. Drawing on this finding, 424 middle school and 301 high school Chinese adolescents completed measures regarding parental socialization goals, autonomy support, psychological control, and their own depressive symptoms in Study 2. Results showed that parental autonomy support linked the associations of self-development and achievement-oriented parental goals and children's depressive symptoms among middle school students, whereas parental psychological control linked such associations among high school students. Our findings provide a more holistic view on how parents' socialization goals are related to children's depressive symptoms via their parenting practices. We also discussed the practical implications for the clinical work regarding adolescent depressive symptoms.

An Evaluation of Mechanisms of Change in Multisystemic Therapy for Juvenile Justice-Involved Youths A Decade Following Treatment

Although researchers have identified the more immediate mechanisms of change in family-based treatments for juvenile justice-involved youths, it is not known whether these same mechanisms continue to prevent criminal offending into adulthood. The present study evaluated whether caregiver-directed improvements in family relations, youth prosocial peer relations, and youth academic performance during multisystemic therapy (MST) for serious and violent juvenile offenders had an impact on young adult involvement in criminal activity and sentencing 10.2 years following treatment. The results showed that improvements in family relations were associated with reduced odds of criminal outcomes a decade later for former MST participants. Furthermore, improvements in youth prosocial peer relations and academic performance were also related to lower odds of long-term criminal activity. These results are consistent with the underlying theory of change in family-based treatments and demonstrate that caregivers are critical to achieving and sustaining decreased antisocial behavior for youths with serious and violent criminal histories.

Perceived Parental Monitoring: A Systematic Review of Monitoring Instruments

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

The purpose of this systematic review was to evaluate parental monitoring instruments and the theoretical perspectives informing their development.

METHODS

Following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines, seven databases were searched for original studies using a monitoring instrument. The psychometric properties of each identified instrument were assessed using the "COnsensus-based Standards for the selection of health status Measurement INstruments" (COSMIN) methodology.

RESULTS

Of 2,245 articles identified, 72 studies representing six parental monitoring instruments met inclusion criteria. Quality of reporting on psychometric properties varied widely across instruments with only three including content validation studies.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings of this review reveal inattention to the psychometric quality of child self-reported monitoring instruments. Future research must focus on the psychometric quality of instruments used to measure the parent-child relationship.

Youth Perceptions of Parental Involvement and Monitoring, Discrepancies With Parental Perceptions, and Their Associations With First Cigarette Use in Black and White Girls

OBJECTIVE

Low parental involvement and monitoring are risk factors for adolescent cigarette use. Assessments of parental involvement and monitoring by youth and parents may capture an additional source of risk: differences in perceptions of these parenting behaviors. This study tested for unique contributions of youth-reported parental involvement and monitoring and youth-parent discrepancies in reporting to first cigarette use in girls.

METHOD

Data were drawn from interviews at ages 8-17 with 1,869 girls (57.3% Black, 42.7% White) and their primary caregivers (94% mothers) in the Pittsburgh Girls Study. Cox proportional hazards regression analyses were conducted to predict first cigarette use as a function of girls' reports of parental involvement and monitoring, magnitude and direction of youth-parent reporting discrepancies, and the interaction between them, adjusting for neighborhood, socioeconomic, and individual level factors.

RESULTS

High magnitude of discrepancy in parental involvement reports (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.14, 95% confidence interval [CI] [1.03, 1.26]) and lower perceived parental involvement by girls (HR = 1.14, CI [1.03, 1.27]) were associated with an elevated risk for first cigarette use. Girls' reports of low parental monitoring also predicted first cigarette use (HR = 1.14, CI [1.06, 1.21]).

CONCLUSIONS

Girls whose parents have limited awareness of their whereabouts and friends (i.e., low monitoring) are at an elevated risk for trying cigarettes, but parent-daughter differences in perceived awareness do not affect risk. By contrast, girls who perceive a lower degree of parental involvement than their parents do are at increased risk. Monitoring is one component of parenting that may reduce smoking risk; shared perspectives on the parent's level of involvement are similarly important.

Pathways of Internalizing and Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms Across Childhood and Adolescence

Research in adult populations has suggested a number of possible explanations for the high co-morbidity between posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) and internalizing symptoms, including shared risk factors and reciprocal causation. Little research has examined these hypotheses in children or has considered the separation of between- and within-person effects. The objective of this study was to examine pathways between PTSS and internalizing symptoms using two samples drawn from the Longitudinal Studies on Child Abuse and Neglect (LONGSCAN, n = 1221) and the first National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being (NSCAW-I, n = 309). Each sample included three waves of data (LONGSCAN: ages 8, 12, and 16; NSCAW: ages 8, 11, 15). It was hypothesized: (1) PTSS would predict future internalizing symptoms; (2) the strength of the relationship between internalizing symptoms and PTSS would increase over time; and (3) childhood trauma would be associated with higher levels of internalizing symptoms and PTSS. The hypotheses were examined using traditional cross-lagged panel models (CLPMs) as well as a CLPM with random intercepts (RI-CLPM), which has the advantage of separating within-person effects from between-person stability in symptoms. Results from both CLPMs and RI-CLPM support rising symptom comorbidity from late childhood to mid-adolescence. Results between the models, however, suggest that the reciprocal influence between symptom complexes over time may not hold after separating between- and within-persons effects, lending stronger support to the shared risk factors hypothesis and highlighting the need for future research to explore other possible explanatory mechanisms for the rising comorbidity of these symptom complexes over development.

Multi-informant prediction of near-term suicidal behavior independent of suicidal ideation

BACKGROUND

Both the Suicide Crisis Syndrome (SCS) and clinicians' emotional responses to suicidal patients are predictive of near-term suicidal behaviors. Thus, we tested predictive validity of a combination of the proposed Diagnostic and Statistical Manual SCS criteria and the Therapist Response Questionnaire Suicide Form (TRQ-SF) for near-term suicidal behavior.

METHODS

The presence of SCS in adult psychiatric outpatients (N=451) was assessed using relevant items from validated psychometric assessments. Clinicians completed the TRQ-SF immediately after patient intake. Suicide attempts (SA) and a combination of suicide plans and attempts (SPA) were measured at one month follow-up (N=359).

RESULTS

At follow-up nine patients reported having SPA and seven reported SA. Meeting the SCS criteria were associated with near-term SA (χ2=5.987, p<0.01), while high TRQ-SF scores were associated with both near-term SA (χ2=5.971, p<0.05) and SPA (χ2=7.069, p<0.01). Meeting either the SCS or having high TRQ-SF scores, but not both, was associated with near-term SA (χ2=11.893, p<0.01) and SPA (χ2=11.449, p<0.01). Incremental predictive validity over standard suicide risk factors and individual scales was demonstrated in logistic regressions.

CONCLUSIONS

Multi-informant risk assessment not reliant on patient self-reported ideation appear to enhance predictive power of traditional risk assessments in identifying imminent suicide risk.

A review of psychosocial factors linked to adolescent substance use

PURPOSE

Informed by ecological theories and models of influence, this review discusses various psychosocial risk and protective factors that contribute to adolescent substance use behavior. Given typical patterns of substance use initiation during this developmental period, an emphasis is placed on alcohol, cigarette, and marijuana use.

FINDINGS

Consistent with bioecological theories, peers and parents tend to have the strongest effect on adolescent substance use behavior. Influences can be both direct, such as offers and availability to use substances, as well as indirect influences, such as the perception of substance use approval. Schools and neighborhoods also contribute to adolescent substance use behavior, but this effect is often less direct. Moreover, the effect of neighborhoods on adolescent behavior reflects both structural components (e.g., neighborhood racial composition, teacher-student ratios) in addition to social process (e.g., neighborhood social cohesion, school connectedness). A review of parallel studies conducted with animals is also provided.

SUMMARY

Adolescent substance use behavior does not occur in a vacuum. Investigations must encompass the relevant social ecologies that affect adolescent behavior, including family, peer, school, and neighborhood contexts to provide a more complete understanding of substance use etiology.

Family Functioning among Rural Teens and Caregivers: Interactive Influence on Teen Dating Violence

Multi-informant assessment of family functioning is considered best practice in research and clinical settings. However, in the area of teen dating violence, multi-informant assessment of family functioning has received limited attention. The current study investigated whether and to what extent caregiver and adolescent perceptions of family functioning interact in their influence on adolescent dating violence. Participants were 493 adolescents and their primary caregivers from a rural southeastern community in the United States. As hypothesized, a paired-samples t test showed that adolescents' scores on the family functioning measure were significantly lower than their caregivers' scores. Logistic regressions revealed that adolescents' positive views of family functioning were significantly associated with a lower likelihood of dating violence victimization but not perpetration and that caregivers' views on family functioning moderated the impact of adolescent-reported family functioning on both dating violence outcomes. Post hoc analyses showed that adolescents with negative perceptions of family environment were most likely to be victims and perpetrators of dating violence when their parents also reported more negative views of family environment. The article concludes with a discussion of how these findings can: (a) advance our understanding of the impact of family functioning on teen dating relationships and (b) inform practical efforts aimed at preventing dating aggression among teens.

Association of Adolescent- and Parent-Reported Relationship Functioning with HIV Sexual Risk Among Adolescents in Botswana

Globally, adolescents in sub-Saharan Africa are the youth most affected by HIV. Parent-adolescent relationships can be protective in child and adolescent development and may be implicated in lowered adolescent HIV sexual risk. However, the importance of parental and adolescent perceptions of their relationship and assessing the implications of family functioning in adolescents' risk for HIV or other sexually transmitted infections are not well established in the research literature. This dyadic study simultaneously assessed both parents' and adolescents' perceptions of family functioning and their relationships with adolescent sexual behaviors in Botswana. Seventy-two parent-adolescent dyads completed audio computer-assisted self-interview surveys. Surveys, independently completed by parents and their adolescent, assessed multiple indicators of their relationship and is the first such study in Botswana to collect the perspectives of both the parents and their adolescents. The results highlight significantly discrepant views of their relationships and revealed that the magnitude of those discrepancies was associated with greater adolescent HIV sexual risk behavior across multiple measures of family relationships. Parents' inaccurate perceptions of their adolescents' sexual activity were also associated with greater adolescent sexual risk. These findings elucidate the importance of improving parent-adolescent communications and relationships, which may subsequently assist in lowering adolescents' sexual risk for HIV and other negative sexual health outcomes.

Parent-Child Discrepancies in Perceived Parental Favoritism: Associations with Children's Internalizing and Externalizing Problems in Chinese Families

Previous studies have found discrepancies between parent and child reports of parental favoritism. Some studies have also found that these discrepancies have unique effects on children's psychosocial adjustment. Nonetheless, much is still unknown about discrepancies between parent-reports and child-reports of parental favoritism and how they are associated with children's development. The current study examines discrepancies in multi-informant reports on parental favoritism in relation to children's internalizing and externalizing problems. The sample consisted of 556 mother-child dyads and 554 father-child dyads (46% boys, M_age = 12.52 years, SD_age = 1.18). Polynomial regression analyses and response surface analyses were used to disentangle the effects of parent-child discrepancies in perceived parental favoritism. The results indicate that children reported higher parental favoritism than their parents. And the highest internalizing and externalizing problems occurred when both the mother and the child reported high maternal favoritism, and when both the father and the child report high paternal favoritism. Therefore, these findings partly support the assumptions based on the operations triad model. The findings also highlight the importance of the discrepancy between child- and parent-reports on parental favoritism in the development of children's internalizing and externalizing problems.

Kindergarten antecedents of the developmental course of active and passive parental monitoring strategies during middle childhood and adolescence

Decades of research have highlighted the significance of parenting in children's development, yet few studies have focused specifically on the development of parental monitoring strategies in diverse families living in at-risk neighborhoods. The current study investigated the development of active (i.e., parental discussions and curfew rules) and passive (i.e., child communication with parents) parental monitoring strategies across different developmental periods (middle childhood and adolescence; Grades 4-5 and 7-11) as well as individual (child, parent), family, and contextual antecedents (measured in kindergarten) of this parenting behavior. Using an ecological approach, this study evaluated longitudinal data from 753 participants in the Fast Track Project, a multisite study directed at the development and prevention of conduct problems in at-risk children. Latent trajectory modeling results identified little to no mean growth in these monitoring strategies over time, suggesting that families living in at-risk environments may engage in consistent levels of monitoring strategies to ensure children's safety and well-being. Findings also identified several kindergarten antecedents of the growth factors of these parental monitoring strategies including (a) early child conduct problems; (b) parental warmth/involvement, satisfaction, and efficacy; and (c) parent-child relationship quality. These predictive effects largely highlighted the important role of early parenting behaviors on later levels of and growth in parental monitoring strategies. These findings have important implications for potential prevention and intervention targets to promote the development of parental monitoring strategies among families living in more at-risk contexts.

Discrepancies in Mother-Adolescent Reports of Parenting Practices in a Psychiatric Sample: Associations with Age, Psychopathology, and Attachment

Discrepancies in parent-adolescent reports of parenting practices may reveal important information about parent-adolescent relationship quality. Youth attachment security has been identified as a factor that may explain discrepancies between parents and adolescents in reporting on parenting. However, previous research has not examined this question among clinical samples, and has generally utilized non-optimal analytic strategies in modeling discrepancies. The current study aimed to extend previous work by using latent profile analysis (LPA) to identify patterns of mother-adolescent divergence in reports of parenting in a large clinical sample, examining the characteristics of discrepancy groups in terms of age, gender, and psychopathology, and examining associations between attachment and discrepancies. A sample of adolescents with psychiatric disorders (N = 416; ages 12-17) and their mothers completed reports of parenting practices. Adolescents also completed the Child Attachment Interview and a measure of psychopathology. LPA was used to identify groups of mother-adolescent dyads with similar patterns of divergence across domains of parenting. Chi-square, ANOVA, and logistic regression analyses were used to test associations between youth age, gender, psychopathology, and attachment and mother-adolescent discrepancy profile membership. Three discrepancy profiles emerged: Strong Divergence, Moderate Divergence, and Low Divergence. Youth in the Moderate Divergence profile were oldest and had highest levels of externalizing pathology. Youth with insecure (dismissing and preoccupied) attachment, relative to securely attached youth, were more likely to be in the Strong Divergence profile. Securely attached adolescents were more likely to be in Low or Moderate Divergence profiles. Clinical implications are discussed.

School Cohesion Perception Discrepancy and Student Delinquency

Research suggests that positive school environments contribute to lower levels of school disorder. Studies have also documented stark differences between how students and personnel perceive their schools. The current study examines such "perception discrepancies" as a meaningful dimension of the school environment, investigating the hypothesis that when students perceive their schools as less cohesive than their teachers, they are more likely to engage in delinquent conduct. The University of Missouri-St. Louis Comprehensive School Safety Initiative (UMSL CSSI) study allows comparisons between student and personnel perceptions of school climate among an analytic sample of 2741 students nested in 12 American middle schools (average age = 13.6; 54% female; 39% black; 39% white). The results of a series of hierarchical regression models demonstrate that students engage in higher levels of delinquency when they perceive their school environments as less cohesive, on average, than do school personnel. This suggests that discrepancies among students and personnel concerning aspects of the school climate represent a deficiency in the school's ability to protect against student delinquency.

The Relationship between Maternal Overprotection, Adolescent Internalizing and Externalizing Problems, and Psychological Need Frustration: A Multi-Informant Study Using Response Surface Analysis

Parents and adolescents may hold discrepant views about parents' behaviors, which may be related to adolescent maladjustment. The goal of the present investigation was to examine associations between overprotective parenting and adolescents' internalizing and externalizing problems and the frustration of their psychological needs (for autonomy, relatedness and competence), thereby considering both congruence and incongruence in adolescents' and mothers' reports of overprotective parenting. Our sample consisted of 402 mother-adolescent dyads (M adolescent age = 16.8 years, 63% female), who reported upon the mothers' overprotective parenting. In addition, adolescents filled out questionnaires assessing their internalizing and externalizing problems and psychological need frustration. Data were analyzed using polynomial regressions with response surface analysis. Results showed evidence for a linear, additive relationship between adolescents' and mothers' reports of overprotective parenting, and adolescents' internalizing and externalizing symptoms and relatedness and competence frustration. That is, higher scores in adolescents' and mothers' ratings of overprotective parenting were associated with more maladjustment and more need frustration. Moreover, results indicated that incongruence between adolescents' and mothers' reports related to more externalizing problems and more autonomy and relatedness frustration, and this was especially the case when adolescents perceived higher levels of overprotection than what was reported by mothers. These results underscore the importance of considering multiple perspectives when studying the dynamics involved in overprotective parenting.

The Prospective Impact of Family Functioning and Parenting Practices on Court-Involved Youth's Substance Use and Delinquent Behavior

Court-involved youth exhibit high rates of psychiatric symptoms, substance use, and delinquency, yet little is known about the contributing roles of caregiver and family factors. The current study examined whether family functioning and parental monitoring mediate the relationship between caregiver and youth psychiatric symptoms (at first court contact) and youth substance use and delinquency (two years later). Participants were 400 first-time offending court-involved youth (M_age = 14.5 years; 57.3% male; 45.6% non-Latinx White, 42.0% Latinx) and an involved caregiver (M_age = 41.0 years; 87.2% female; 53.0% non-Latinx White, 33.8% Latinx). Structural equation modeling revealed that caregiver and youth psychiatric symptoms were prospectively associated with worse family functioning, which was in turn related to higher levels of youth delinquency and greater likelihood of substance use. The results support the notion of addressing the needs of justice-involved youth and families holistically rather than treating youth as "the problem" in isolation.

The Pathways for African American Success: Does Delivery Platform Matter in the Prevention of HIV Risk Vulnerability Among Youth?

PURPOSE

Technology provides new possibilities for disseminating effective prevention programming to underserved families, such as those residing in rural communities. The present study is an evaluation of a technology-delivered HIV risk prevention program designed for rural African-American families, Pathways for African American Success (PAAS), to determine its promise for increasing access to evidence-based youth risk prevention programs among those in the greatest need.

METHODS

Four hundred and twelve parent/youth dyads were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: (1) in-person facilitator-led PAAS small group, (2) self-directed PAAS technology, or (3) a literature control with home-mailed educational materials.

RESULTS

Compared with families in the literature control condition, families assigned to the PAAS technology or small group conditions demonstrated significantly stronger intervention induced parent-child protective processes (e.g., enhanced discussion quality, clearly articulated norms, and parental expectations about risk engagement) and lower youth intentions to engage in risky behaviors 6 months postintervention. Although some important nuances were noted, this study suggests that the PAAS technology-delivered modality is just as efficacious as the in-person facilitator-led, small group modality in dissuading HIV-related risk behaviors among rural African-American youths.

CONCLUSIONS

Implications for having a menu of service delivery models that address the diverse needs and contexts of families are discussed, including the promise of technology as an alternative modality for reaching populations often characterized as difficult to reach and to engage in family-based preventive interventions.

Trajectories of Perceived Parental Psychological Control across Adolescence and Implications for the Development of Depressive and Anxiety Symptoms

Theory and research indicate considerable changes in parental control across adolescence (e.g., declining behavioral control), but the developmental course and significance of psychological control remains largely unknown. This study examined trajectories of adolescents' reports of mothers' and fathers' psychological control from ages 12 to 19, predictors of occupying distinct trajectories, and the developmental significance of these trajectories for adolescents' development of depressive and anxiety symptoms. It used eight waves of survey data on 500 adolescents (M_age = 11.83, SD = 1.03; 52% female; 67% White, 12% African American) and their parents from the Pacific Northwest United States. Most adolescents (about 90%) reported low but increasing levels of parental psychological control over time, with a small but significant subset (about 10%) perceiving perpetually elevated levels. Mothers' (but not fathers') depressive symptoms, reported at the age 12 assessment, predicted adolescents' membership in the elevated psychological control trajectory. Adolescents occupying these elevated trajectories showed more problematic growth in depressive and anxiety symptoms across adolescence. Taken together, the findings suggest that many adolescents experience increased parental psychological control as they age, and that variability in these trends indicates individual differences in their development of depressive and anxiety symptoms over time.

Does Negative Emotional Reactivity Moderate the Relation between Contextual Cohesion and Adolescent Well-Being?

Although well-being is a chief indicator of positive mental health, much research has neglected to consider individual-specific and contextual factors that may promote this important outcome among youth. To address this gap, we examined whether neighborhood and family social cohesion are associated with well-being among youth varying in negative emotional reactivity, and whether findings were consistent with the diathesis-stress or differential susceptibility hypothesis. Participants were assessed at 3 time points: Time 1 (N = 775, M age = 10.95 ± 0.88 years; 71% male); Time 2 (n = 660, M age = 12.99 ± 0.95 years); and Time 3 (n = 633, M age = 15.50 ± 0.56 years). At Time 1, caregivers reported on family and neighborhood cohesion. Youth reported on their negative emotional reactivity at Time 2 and well-being at Time 3. Negative emotional reactivity moderated the relation between family cohesion and well-being. Among youth higher in negative emotional reactivity, lower family cohesion was associated with lower levels of well-being compared to higher family cohesion. Youth higher and lower in emotional reactivity evidenced similar levels of well-being when exposed to higher family cohesion. The findings thus support the diathesis-stress model, suggesting that less cohesive families may contribute to reduced happiness and well-being, particularly among youth with higher negative emotional reactivity.

Parent-Adolescent Conflict across Adolescence: Trajectories of Informant Discrepancies and Associations with Personality Types

Parent–adolescent conflict can be intense, yet parents and adolescents do not always agree on the intensity of conflict. Conflict intensity tends to change during adolescence and is thought to be an indicator of how the parent–adolescent relationship transforms. However, parents and adolescents might differently perceive change in conflict intensity, resulting in changing discrepancies in conflict intensity throughout adolescence. Also, personality characteristics of parents and adolescents might affect the extent to which there are discrepancies in perceptions of conflict intensity. This multi-informant longitudinal study investigated a) the trajectories of parent–adolescent conflict intensity, b) the trajectories of informant discrepancies, and c) the prediction of these trajectories by parental and adolescent personality. Dutch adolescents (N = 497, 43.1% female, M_age = 13.03 at T1), their mothers, and their fathers reported on parent–adolescent conflict intensity and personality for six years. Latent Growth Curve Modeling and Latent Congruence Modeling revealed curvilinear changes in conflict intensity, as well as in discrepancies thereof. Two cycles of discrepancies emerged. First, in early-to-middle-adolescence discrepancies in perceptions of parents and adolescents increased, reflecting that adolescents’ perceived conflict intensity increased. Second, in middle-to-late-adolescence, father–adolescent discrepancies increased further, reflecting that fathers’ perceptions of conflict decreased. Resilient adolescents, mothers, and fathers reported lower levels of conflict intensity than Undercontrollers and Overcontrollers, but personality was not associated with the rate of change in conflict intensity. Finally, undercontrolling fathers and overcontrolling adolescents showed higher father–adolescent discrepancies. This study showed that parents and adolescents differentially perceive conflict intensity and that in the adolescent–father relationship, the extent of the differences depends on adolescent and father personality.

Relations among Perceptions of Neighborhood Cohesion and Control and Parental Monitoring across Adolescence

Social disorganization theory argues that disadvantaged neighborhoods will have less cohesion and control, and therefore will be less conducive to effective parental monitoring. This study aims to test these relationships using four waves of the Pitt Mother and Child Project (ages 11, 12, 15, and 17). The sample consists of 185 low-income males and their parents, 56.44% of whom identify as White, and 34.67% of whom identify African American. Crossed-lagged path models were estimated and the indirect effect of neighborhood disadvantage on parental monitoring through neighborhood cohesion and control was estimated. Separate models were estimated for parental and adolescent perceptions of parental monitoring. The results demonstrate a positive relationship between parental perception of neighborhood social cohesion and parental monitoring, and a negative relationship found between parental perceptions of neighborhood social control and parental monitoring in both models. The findings of this study suggests that neighborhoods may be an important target for interventions that are aiming to improve parental monitoring and ultimately adolescent outcomes.