Do Parenting Practices and Child Disclosure Predict Parental Knowledge? A Meta-Analysis

Associations of Parental Monitoring and Behavioral Control with Substance Use in Adolescents and Emerging Adults: A Meta-Analysis

BACKGROUND

It is important to identify factors that may prevent and/or reduce substance use in adolescents and emerging adults.

OBJECTIVES

The present meta-analysis tested how parental general behavioral control (e.g., rule setting, strictness) and aspects of monitoring relate to substance use in adolescents and emerging adults. The study has been preregistered at OSF. Search in electronic databases resulted in 571 studies with 2,006,077 participants that were included in hierarchic random-effects meta-analysis.

RESULTS

We found a small to moderate bivariate association (r = -0.16), and analysis of cross-lagged associations identified bidirectional links between control/monitoring and substance use (r = -0.08 each). Trim-and-fill analysis found no evidence for a file-drawer problem. While results did not vary between consumption of different substances, we found strongest associations in studies that assessed parental knowledge and child disclosure while associations were weakest in studies assessing parental solicitation. Associations of parenting and substance use were strongest in mid-adolescence. Effect sizes were also stronger when focusing on the parental dyad rather than on mothers and fathers separately and when information on parenting and substance use came from the same source.

CONCLUSIONS

We conclude that promotion of parental knowledge and child self-disclosure in mid-adolescence would be most promising for limiting young people's substance use.

Risks Associated with Recent Self-Harm in Preadolescent and Adolescent Youth: Parent-Report

OBJECTIVE

Self-harm among children and adolescents is a global public health issue, with concerning trends of increased rates of hospital presenting self-harm in younger age groups (5-12 years). Few studies have investigated risk factors of emerging self-harm in preadolescent populations (<12 years). This study aimed to identify key factors associated with recent (past 12-months) self-harm in preadolescents (5-12 years) compared to adolescents (13-18 years).

METHOD

This cross-sectional case-control study recruited 305 parents/guardians who had a child (aged 5-18 years) that had (i) recently engaged in self-harm (case group) or (ii) never engaged in self-harm (control group). Participants completed an online parent-report questionnaire that assessed demographic characteristics and self-harm, childhood adversity, child-parent relationships, peer relationships, and problematic digital media use. Data were analyzed using univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses.

RESULTS

Poorer emotion regulation (OR = 1/0.76 = 1.32), lower parental age (OR = 1/0.83 = 1.20), lower household income (OR = 4.38), problematic peer relationships (OR = 1.38), and lifetime suicidal ideation (OR = 20.34) were associated with increased odds of self-harm among all youth ages. Higher parent education was associated with greater odds of self-harm among preadolescents (OR = 0.02). Lifetime mental health diagnosis (OR = 7.84) and lower levels of childhood adversity (OR = 0.60) were associated with greater odds of recent self-harm among adolescents.

CONCLUSIONS

Coordinated multi-agency efforts are essential for holistically addressing common, modifiable individual, social, and socioeconomic risk factors of youth self-harm that may help to prevent onset in young people.

Reciprocal associations between child disclosure, parental solicitation, and behavior problems during middle childhood

Parental knowledge is often the result of parents soliciting information from their child and their child's disclosure of that information. Although child disclosure is most closely (and negatively) associated with behavior problems in adolescence, it is not yet known whether this is also the case in childhood. The aim of this study was to examine the longitudinal associations between child disclosure, parental solicitation, and behavior problems in Grades 1 to 4 in a Canadian sample, taking into account intra-individual stability, the child's gender, and socioeconomic status. The mothers and teachers of 911 children (62.7% boys) completed questionnaires in Grades 1, 2, 3, and 4. A Random Intercept Cross-Lagged Panel Model (RI-CLPM) showed that behavior problems in Grade 2 predicted an increase in parental solicitation in Grade 3. In contrast, behavior problems in Grade 3 predicted a decrease in parental solicitation in Grade 4. No cross-lagged association with child disclosure was observed. Although these results differ from those reported in adolescence, they suggest that middle childhood is a sensitive period for parent-child communication and behavior problems.

Exploring parent-child relationships in a Swedish child and adolescent psychiatry - cohort of adolescents with internet gaming disorder

BACKGROUND

While recent studies suggest a high prevalence of Internet gaming disorder (IGD) in child and adolescent psychiatry (CAP) clinics, little is known about the factors contributing to problematic gaming among these patients. Given the well-established role of parenting and parent-child relationships in the development of problem behaviors, this study aimed to explore parent-child relationships within a Swedish cohort of CAP patients with IGD.

METHODS

A total of 72 adolescents from CAP clinics in Skane, Sweden, diagnosed with IGD based on DSM-V criteria (73% boys), aged 13 to 18 years were included in the study. The adolescents completed the Game Addiction Scale for Adolescents (GASA) and reported on aspects of parent-child communication, such as parental control and adolescent disclosure and secrecy, and family climate. Adolescents were categorized as engaged, problem or addicted gamers based on core approach. Independent sample t-tests, Pearsons's correlations, and multivariate regression analyses were used to address the study goals.

RESULTS

Independent sample t-tests revealed that girls showed lower levels of parental knowledge than boys. Bivariate correlation analyses showed that IGD-symptoms were related to lower levels of child disclosure, while multivariate regression analyses revealed that higher IGD-symptoms were predicted by high levels of child secrecy and low child disclosure.

CONCLUSION

Parent-child relationships, in particular adolescent information management to parents, plays an important role for the level of IGD-symptoms in a clinical sample of adolescents. We suggest that therapeutic interventions for IGD should integrate family-focused strategies, such as parent training programs fostering open communication between parents and their children.

Theory for How Parental Monitoring Changes Youth Behavior

Low parental monitoring is a well-established risk factor for and presumed cause of teen problem behavior. However, an integrated theory for how monitoring changes teen behavior has not been articulated. We propose a model in which parental monitoring can reduce teen misbehavior via nine mechanisms organized into behavior-management (B), context-control (C), and relationship/support-mediated (R) domains (BCR Model). Parental monitoring increases the expectation and actual occurrence of punishment for misbehavior (B), enables the parent to steer the teens' socialization contexts (peers, non-parent adults, siblings, media) away from those that encourage misbehavior (C), and strengthens the teen's bond to parent, disclosure of information, and receipt of social support (R)-all of which in turn reduce misbehavior.

Parent Outreach Efforts Extend the Sustained Benefits of a Preschool Classroom Intervention: Adolescent Follow-Up of a Randomized Controlled Trial

The Research-based Developmentally Informed (REDI) program enriched Head Start classrooms with teacher-delivered curriculum components designed to enhance child social-emotional learning and language-literacy skills. Parents received information about the program via backpack express, including weekly handouts about program topics and three DVDs illustrating REDI interactive strategies and suggesting home learning activities. In addition to effects on child skill acquisition and school performance (reported previously), positive effects emerged on a family-based outcome: parents of children in REDI-enriched classrooms reported higher quality preschool parent-child conversations than parents in the randomized control group (usual practice) classrooms. This study examined the long-term benefits associated with intervention-related improvements in preschool conversations. The original sample included 356 children (58% White, 24% Black, and 18% Latinx; 54% girls, 46% boys); 77% had the high school follow-up data used in this study. Longitudinal GLM analyses documented significant REDI intervention effects on parent-adolescent communication quality (assessed in the 7th and 9th grades) and on parent- and youth-reported high school behavior problems (assessed in 11th grade). Path analyses revealed significant serial mediation from intervention-related improvements in preschool conversations to parent-adolescent communication quality (grades 7-9) to reductions in later youth-reported (but not parent-reported) behavior problems (grade 11). The findings suggest that including "light touch" parent engagement materials with preschool classroom interventions can contribute to long-term program benefits.

Gritty Parenting: The Development and Validation of the Parental Grit Scale

In this study, we aimed to expand the domain specificity of grit by exploring it in the realm of parenting. Parental grit was defined as parents' inclination to demonstrate perseverance, sustained passion, and adaptability in pursuing long-term parenting goals. With longitudinal data from 1,373 U.S. parents, we developed and validated the Parental Grit Scale (PGS) in three phases: item development and revision, establishment of factor structure, and examination of criterion-related and incremental validity. The PGS exhibited a three-factor structure and (partial) scalar measurement invariance across genders, the status of the child's special needs, and measurement occasions. The PGS demonstrated moderate temporal stability. We found evidence of its validity in predicting parental emotional exhaustion, self-efficacy, autonomy support, and parents' perceptions of children's school well-being. Parental grit explained variance in these outcomes beyond domain-general grit and conscientiousness. The PGS has sound psychometric properties and is a valuable measure in the parenting domain.

Longitudinal Associations among Psychological Control, Positive and Negative Interactions, and Adolescents' Domain-Specific Disclosure to Parents

Although much research has shown that parental psychological control undermines adolescents' routine disclosure to parents, past research has not examined whether the effects of psychological control on disclosure are domain-specific and mediated by the quality of adolescents' interactions with mothers and fathers. The present one-year longitudinal study examined whether parental support and negative interactions with each parent mediated longitudinal associations between adolescents' ratings of psychological control and adolescents' disclosure about routine prudential, personal, and multifaceted activities, as defined by social domain theory. These issues were examined over one year in 174 mostly White (74%), U.S. middle class middle adolescents (M = 15.70 years, SD = 0.63, 83 males). Greater parental psychological control was associated over time with less disclosure to both parents about personal activities and less disclosure to fathers about multifaceted issues. Perceived declines in support fully mediated the effects of psychological control on adolescent disclosure to mothers about personal issues and partially mediated the effects on disclosure to fathers about personal and multifaceted issues. In addition, negative interactions led to decreased disclosure about prudential issues. Thus, perceived psychological control and relationship quality had domain-specific and parent-specific longitudinal effects on adolescent disclosure to parents about their routine activities.

Parental Risk and Protective Factors Associated with Bullying Victimization in Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

The main objective of this meta-analysis was to investigate how modifiable parental factors are related to traditional and cyberbullying victimization in children and adolescents. A systematic literature search of modifiable parental factors associated with bullying victimization was conducted using PubMed, PsycINFO, Scopus, and Web of Science electronic databases. Meta-analyses were performed to assess the mean effect sizes of the associations between the broader categories of parental factors (risk and protective) and bullying victimization (traditional and cyber), as well as between specific parental factors and bullying victimization (traditional and cyber). The differential impact of maternal and paternal factors (risk and protective) was examined. Age and gender were tested as moderators. Out of the 13,171 records identified, 158 studies met the inclusion criteria. Larger evidence was found for the association between parental risk (i.e., authoritarian parenting, aversiveness, inter-parental conflict, over-involvement, permissive parenting, and withdrawal) and protective (i.e., authoritative parenting, autonomy granting, warmth, and monitoring) factors, respectively, and traditional bullying victimization, with parental warmth, aversiveness, and withdrawal being the only common related predictors for traditional and cyberbullying victimization. The effect sizes were generally small. Maternal and paternal factors showed similar patterns of association with both types of bullying victimization. Age had a moderating effect on the association between parental protective factors and cyberbullying victimization. Overall, the present findings suggest that parental factors are relevant in protecting or putting children at risk for bullying victimization, especially in the offline context.

Voluntariness, timing, and consistency in adolescent routine disclosure and lying to parents

INTRODUCTION

Whether adolescents' routine disclosure to parents is voluntary is assumed but rarely assessed. Researchers also have not examined whether disclosure and lying are premeditated, occurring before rather than after disclosure or lying, and whether adolescents use a single strategy consistently rather than applying multiple strategies when deciding whether to disclose or lie about their activities. This study investigated these significant gaps in the literature and tested whether voluntariness (for disclosure), timing, consistency, and parental psychological control are associated with lessons learned from disclosure and lying.

METHODS

Narrative interviews were conducted in 2014-2015 with 131 primarily middle-class, mostly White US early and middle adolescents and college students (M's = 12.74, 15.81, 20.41 years). Narrated disclosure and lying interviews were reliably coded for voluntariness, timing, consistency, and lessons learned. Parental psychological control was assessed using an online survey.

RESULTS

Disclosure was primarily strategic or voluntary and less often involuntary. Lying occurred more often before the narrated event, whereas disclosure occurred more often after. Youth typically reported using other strategies besides the elicited one. Disclosing after was associated with lessons learned. Voluntary disclosure was associated with psychological growth, and psychological control was associated with negative self-lessons.

CONCLUSIONS

Disclosure and lying are complex and nuanced, varying in their timing, consistency, and voluntariness. These features contribute to adolescents' meaning-make from disclosure and lying. The findings have implications for future research on disclosure and secrecy.

Parenting Practices and Psychosomatic Complaints Among Swedish Adolescents

Objectives: Parent-adolescent relationships play a crucial role in youth development. This study examines the associations between parenting practices (parental support, knowledge, and rule-setting) and psychosomatic complaints across middle and late adolescence. Methods: The study utilised data from a Swedish national cohort (n = 3,678). Participants completed self-report questionnaires in 2017 (∼15-16 years) and again in 2019 (∼17-18 years). Results: Parental support exhibited the strongest and most consistent inverse cross-sectional associations with psychosomatic complaints during both middle and late adolescence. Furthermore, increases in parental support and parental knowledge were associated with decreases in adolescent psychosomatic complaints. However, parental support and knowledge at age 15-16 were not prospectively associated with psychosomatic complaints at age 17-18. Conclusion: These findings underscore the importance of ongoing parental engagement, particularly in terms of providing constant support, throughout middle and late adolescence.

Developmental Changes in the Relation between Youth Disclosure and Parenting Behavior: A Cohort-sequential Analysis

To address a gap in the literature regarding the development of youth disclosure across the transition to adolescence, the current research uses a cohort-sequential approach to study youth disclosure from middle childhood through adolescence. Longitudinal data from three cohorts of parents were utilized (N = 1359; children at T1 were in grades 2 [M = 8.00 years, SD = 0.57 years, 45% female], 4 [M = 10.12 years, SD = 0.60 years, 45% female], and 9 [M = 15.19 years, SD = 0.57 years, 48% female]). Parents were assessed annually over a 3-year time period. The focal analyses explored contemporaneous associations between characteristics of the parent-youth relationship (specifically, parental rejection and parental consistent discipline) and youth disclosure after accounting for person-specific trajectories of disclosure. Associations of gender, age, and socioeconomic status with disclosure were also assessed. Regarding trajectories of youth disclosure, results indicate that youth disclose less information to their parents about their daily lives as they get older; this trend was consistent across gender and socioeconomic status. In terms of associations with youth disclosure, when parents provided more consistent discipline or engaged in less rejection of their child, youth disclosure increased, even after accounting for their own trajectory of disclosure across time. In addition, the association of consistent discipline with youth disclosure became stronger with increased youth age. Results are discussed in terms of implications for understanding youth autonomy development, and the dyadic and developmental impact of parenting behaviors over time.

Adolescents' Comfort in Disclosing to Caregivers Predicts Suicidal Thoughts and Behaviors Directly and Indirectly Through Difficulties in Emotion Regulation

Despite adolescents' suicidal thoughts and behaviors being major health problems, sparse literature exists on the roles of adolescents' disclosing their feelings to caregivers in their suicidal thoughts and behaviors. This study examined whether adolescents' comfort in disclosing their feelings and problems to caregivers predicts subsequent suicidal thoughts and behaviors and whether difficulties in emotion regulation mediate this association. High school students (N = 5,346 from 20 schools, 49% female-identified adolescents, and 35% 9th graders, 33% 10th graders, and 32% 11th graders) participated in the study for two years with four waves, each six months apart: fall semester in Year 1 (Wave 1), spring semester in Year 1 (Wave 2), fall semester in Year 2 (Wave 3), and spring semester in Year 2 (Wave 4). The degree to which adolescents felt comfortable disclosing their feelings and problems to caregivers at Wave 1 predicted lower suicidal thoughts and behaviors at Wave 4 directly and indirectly via higher emotional clarity at Wave 2 and feeling more able to handle negative emotions at Wave 3. Moreover, when female-identified adolescents reported feeling unable to handle negative emotions at Wave 3, they reported engaging in more suicidal thoughts and behaviors at Wave 4 than male-identified adolescents. Therefore, enhancing adolescents' comfort in disclosing their feelings and problems to caregivers and adolescent emotion regulation and taking a nuanced approach to support female-identified adolescents regarding their ability to handle negative emotions could prevent adolescents' suicidal thoughts and behaviors.

Internet-based parenting intervention: A systematic review

Digital technology has become an essential part of people's lives, and the Internet's innovation made it easier for humans to carry out activities. This systematic review aims to examine parenting with a specific internet-based intervention designed to help them gain information about child-rearing. Specifically, it analyses: 1) how the internet-based parenting intervention is studied, 2) how was the study of an internet-based parenting intervention done, and 3) what themes emerged from the systematic review. The finding suggests that most internet-based parenting interventions use transmitting information techniques visually, as the content is displayed through exciting and informative content. Four themes emerged from the thematic analysis: technology-assisted parenting programs, parenting interventions as support for mothers, professional support online, and improved parenting skills. Positive responses from parents as users show that this online parenting intervention can meet their needs and has the potential to continue to be developed. The literature is quite limited regarding assessing internet-based parenting intervention in early childhood education and developmental psychology. Because of that, further research to develop internet-based parenting interventions becomes essential to give parenting professional support.

Unraveling the Bidirectional Associations between Parental Knowledge and Children's Externalizing Behavior

Although within- and between-family bidirectional associations between parental knowledge and children's externalizing behavior have been theoretically proposed, studies that unravel these associations simultaneously remain scarce. This study examined these bidirectional associations within and between German families. 3611 families participated across one-year intervals between children ages 8 to 15 (50.6% boys, 34.5% fathers, 89.0% German-born, M_waves = 3.63, SD_waves = 2.00). Random intercept cross-lagged panel models (RI-CLPM) with linear slopes revealed negative between-family associations between parental knowledge and children's externalizing behavior, and a negative association between the random linear slopes. Generally, no within-family cross-lagged effects were found, but there were some correlated slopes across families. When teasing apart paternal and maternal knowledge, father-driven but not mother-driven lagged effects of increased knowledge predicting decreased externalizing behavior were found. The findings illustrate the importance of fathers' knowledge and new directions for within-family studies of parent-child interactions.

High School Students' Depression Literacy about Interventions and Prevention: A Survey in Tehran

Background

Given the high prevalence of depressive disorders in the present world and the lack of adequate awareness about prevention and appropriate interventions, increasing mental health literacy is vital for promoting mental health to reduce depression and its consequences.

Methods

In this descriptive cross-sectional study, participants were recruited among the second high school students in the 2018-2019 academic year. The sample size was 2038, and samples were selected by multistage cluster sampling from different areas of Tehran. Demographic variables like age, gender, level of education, and parents' characteristics and mental health literacy questions in treatment and prevention areas were evaluated.

Results

Analyses showed that of high school students, 83% considered getting help from psychiatrists and 80% considered learning stress management as the best preventive measures, while as the best treatment measures, 79.5% considered counseling the best place to refer for visiting a professional and 45% selected general counseling centers.

Conclusion

The study results showed that high school students have a positive attitude toward preventing and treating depressive disorders, getting help from specialists, and useful measures for depressed people. But they did not know enough about preventive measures, including learning effective coping skills, reading self-help books, and continuing to take psychiatric medications. Planning and providing the necessary training are important, especially for high school students.

Longitudinal Associations between Parental Support and Parental Knowledge on Behavioral and Emotional Problems in Adolescents

When testing longitudinal effects of parenting practices on adolescent adjustment, an integrated consideration of externalizing and internalizing behaviors is a gap in research. This study analyzed how parental support and parental knowledge directly and indirectly influence both antisocial behavior and emotional problems. The sample had 642 adolescents aged 12-15 (mean age = 12.49; 45.4% females) from Spain, who participated in a three-year long study. The results showed longitudinal bidirectional associations between parental support and parental knowledge. Only parental knowledge, however, directly predicted antisocial behavior and emotional problems. Parental support had an indirect effect on outcomes through the mediating effect of parental knowledge. This study has practical implications by indicating that increasing parental knowledge should be the target of educational-prevention programs.

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.