Parents' and early adolescents' self-efficacy about anger regulation and early adolescents' internalizing and externalizing problems: A longitudinal study in three countries

Research Review: Child emotion regulation mediates the association between family factors and internalizing symptoms in children and adolescents - a meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

Parental influence on children's internalizing symptoms has been well established; however, little is known about the underlying mechanisms. One possible mechanism is child emotion regulation given evidence (a) of its associations with internalizing symptoms and (b) that the development of emotion regulation during childhood and adolescence is influenced by aspects of the family environment. This meta-analysis aimed to systematically investigate the mediating role of child emotion regulation in the relationship between various family factors and internalizing symptoms in children and adolescents.

METHODS

We searched Medline, Embase, PsychInfo, and Web of Science for English articles up until November 2022. We included studies that examined child emotion regulation as a mediator between a family factor and child/adolescent internalizing symptoms. Random-effects models were used to calculate pooled indirect effects and total effects for nine family factors. Heterogeneity and mediation ratio were also calculated.

RESULTS

Of 49 studies with 24,524 participants in this meta-analysis, family factors for which emotion regulation mediated the association with child/adolescent internalizing symptoms included: unsupportive emotion socialization, psychological control, secure attachment, aversiveness, family conflict, parent emotion regulation and parent psychopathology, but not supportive emotion socialization and behavioral control.

CONCLUSIONS

Various family factors impact children's emotion regulation development, and in turn, contribute to the risk of internalizing symptoms in young people. Findings from this study highlight the need for interventions targeting modifiable parenting behaviors to promote healthy emotion regulation and better mental health in children and adolescents.

Predictors and outcomes associated with the growth curves of self-efficacy beliefs in regard to anger and sadness regulation during adolescence: a longitudinal cross-cultural study

Introduction

This longitudinal study examined unique and joint effects of parenting and negative emotionality in predicting the growth curves of adolescents' self-efficacy beliefs about regulating two discrete negative emotions (anger and sadness) and the association of these growth curves with later maladjustment (i.e., internalizing and externalizing problems).

Methods

Participants were 285 children (T1: M age = 10.57, SD = 0.68; 53.3% girls) and their parents (mothers N = 286; fathers N = 276) from Colombia and Italy. Parental warmth, harsh parenting, and internalizing and externalizing problems were measured in late childhood at T1, whereas early adolescents' anger and sadness were measured at T2 (T2: M age = 12.10, SD = 1.09). Adolescent self-efficacy beliefs about anger and sadness regulation were measured at five time-points from T2 to T6 (T6: M age = 18.45, SD = 0.71), and internalizing and externalizing problems were measured again at T6.

Results

Multi-group latent growth curve models (with country as the grouping variable) demonstrated that in both countries there was on average a linear increase in self-efficacy about anger regulation and no change or variation in self-efficacy about sadness regulation. In both countries, for self-efficacy about anger regulation (a) T1 harsh parenting and T1 externalizing problems were negatively associated with the intercept, (b) T2 anger was negatively associated with the slope, and (c) the intercept and the slope were associated with lower T6 internalizing and externalizing problems, controlling for T1 problems. For self-efficacy about sadness regulation, (a) T1 internalizing problems were negatively associated with the intercept only in Italy, (b) T2 sadness was negatively associated with the intercept only in Colombia, and (c) the intercept negatively predicted T6 internalizing problems.

Discussion

This study advances knowledge of the normative development of self-efficacy beliefs about anger and sadness regulation during adolescence across two countries, highlighting the predictive value of pre-existing family and individual characteristics on this development and prediction by the development of self-efficacy beliefs on later adjustment.

Family, personal, parental correlates and behavior disturbances in school-aged boys with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD): a cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND

To evaluate the relationship among family, personal, parental correlates, and behavioral disturbances in boys with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

METHODS

We performed a hospital-based cross-sectional study. School-aged boys who first visited the hospital between 2000 and 2011 with ADHD were identified. Through medical records review, demographic information, family characteristics, personal characteristics, parental characteristics, and the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) collected during the first outpatient visit were retrieved. A T-score higher than 63 in the internalizing or externalizing subscale of the CBCL indicated severe behavioral disturbances in each domain. Multivariable logistic regression was used to evaluate the relationship between the correlates and behavioral disturbances. Eligible patients were further classified into groups without behavioral disturbance, with either only severe internalizing or only severe externalizing behaviors, or with both behaviors. Multivariable ordinal logistic regression was used to investigate the association between the correlates and the number of types of behavioral disturbances.

RESULTS

A total of 1855 boys with ADHD were included. In the multivariable logistic regression, family factors, including being first-born, living in a family not with both parents, and family history of mental disorder, were associated with severe internalizing and externalizing behaviors. Personal factors, including prenatal complications, perinatal complications, and medical and psychiatric comorbidities, were associated with severe internalizing behaviors, but only prenatal complications and medical comorbidities were associated with severe externalizing behaviors. Parental factors were only associated with severe externalizing behaviors. A higher paternal education level had a protective effect, but younger motherhood increased the risk. In ordinal logistic regression, these factors were also associated with more types of behavioral disturbances.

CONCLUSIONS

Multiple factors are related to behavioral disturbances in ADHD. Our study reported the association among family, personal, parental factors, severe internalizing behavior, severe externalizing behavior, and number of behavioral disturbances in boys with ADHD. However, the impacts differed as the behavior phenotypes varied. Further research is needed to better understand the heterogeneity of ADHD behavior.

The interplay between expressive suppression, emotional self-efficacy and internalizing behavior in middle adolescence

Background

Maladaptive emotion regulation strategies are predictive of negative outcomes in adolescence which, in turn, may impact on later well-being.

Objective

The current study aimed at testing the moderating role of emotional self-efficacy on the relation between expressive suppression and the engagement in internalizing behavior, controlling for gender effect.

Method

A total of 526 adolescents (Mage = 14.7 years, age range = 14–17 years) filled out self-report questionnaires evaluating expressive suppression, emotional regulatory self-efficacy, and internalizing behavior, respectively.

Results

Suppressors with lower positive emotion self-efficacy were more likely to engage in internalizing behavior than suppressors with higher positive emotion self-efficacy.

Conclusions

Despite several limitations, the study provided preliminary insights on the role played by emotional self-efficacy in the relation between expressive suppression and internalizing behavior in middle adolescence.

Harsh Parenting and Children's Aggressive Behavior: A Moderated Mediation Model

Harsh parenting and its effect on children’s aggressive behavior has received attention from researchers, however few studies have considered the role of the emotional process. This study aims to examine the relationship between harsh parenting, children’s aggressive behavior, normative beliefs about aggression, and regulatory emotional self-efficacy, alongside their mechanism of interplay. A sample of 235 senior primary school students in Beijing were recruited as participants by using the Harsh Parenting Scale, the Normative Beliefs about Aggression Scale, the Buss–Warren Aggression Questionnaire, and the Regulatory Emotional Self-Efficacy Scale. Results indicated that: (1) Harsh parenting had a significant positive predictive effect on children’s aggressive behavior after controlling gender; (2) normative beliefs about the aggression of children mediated the relationship between harsh parenting and children’s aggressive behavior; and (3) regulatory emotional self-efficacy had moderating effects both the mediation model of normative beliefs about the aggression of children and in the direct predictive model of harsh parenting on children’s aggressive behavior. The results are not only helpful to understand the relationship between harsh parenting and children’s aggressive behavior from the perspective of an integrated model of emotion processes and cognition, but also provide a new practical way to prevent and intervene in children’s aggressive behavior in the future.

Negative Parenting, Adolescents' Emotion Regulation, Self-Efficacy in Emotion Regulation, and Psychological Adjustment

This study examines associations between parents' rejection and control, adolescents' self-efficacy in their regulation of negative emotions, and maladjustment. Path analyses were employed to test (a) whether adolescents' dysregulation and self-efficacy regarding anger/sadness regulation mediate the relationship between parental rejection/control and adolescent maladjustment; (b) whether adolescent adjustment mediates the association between parental rejection/control and dysregulation and self-efficacy regarding anger/sadness regulation. Participants included 103 Italian adolescents (Time 1: M age = 15.57; 53% male), their mothers (n = 103), and their fathers (n = 79). Follow up data were assessed one year later (Time 2). At Time 1, adolescent reports of the frequency of mothers' and fathers' rejection and control were examined. At Time 2, adolescent-reports of their beliefs about self-efficacy in regulating anger and sadness, as well as anger and sadness dysregulation, were assessed by two methods: questionnaire and mobile ecological momentary assessment. At Time 2, mothers', fathers', and adolescents' reports of adolescents' aggressive behaviors and depressive problems were also assessed. Maternal rejection was associated with higher one year later aggressive problems, which in turn were associated with higher dysregulation of sadness, and lower self-efficacy in dealing with both anger and sadness. In addition, maternal rejection was associated with higher depressive symptoms one year later, which in turn were associated with lower self-efficacy in dealing with sadness and higher dysregulation of both anger and sadness. Finally, maternal control was associated with higher depressive symptoms, whereas paternal control was associated with lower depressive symptoms.

Father-Child Conflict and Chinese Adolescent Depression: A Moderated Mediation Model

To investigate the effects of father-child conflict and regulatory emotional self-efficacy (RESE) on Chinese adolescent depression, 654 middle-school students were measured. The results showed that: (1) Father-son conflict was significantly lower than father-daughter conflict, girls’ depression was significantly higher than that of boys, and boys’ RESE and self-efficacy in regulating negative emotions (NEG) were significantly higher than that for girls, but there was no significant difference between boys and girls in self-efficacy in expressing positive emotions (POS). (2) Father-child conflict was significantly positively associated with Chinese adolescent depression. Father-child conflict was negatively correlated with RESE, and its two dimensions. Both POS and NEG played a partial mediating role in the relationship between father-child conflict and adolescent depression. (3) Gender only regulated the relationship between NEG and adolescent depression. Compared to boys, girls are more affected by depression at the low level of NEG.

Trait anger expression mediates childhood trauma predicting for adulthood anxiety, depressive, and alcohol use disorders

BACKGROUND

General aggression and evolutionary models posit that more severe early exposure experiences to trauma (physical, emotional, sexual abuse and/or neglect) place one at risk for adulthood psychopathology through heightened trait anger expression-internal (Anger-In) and external (Anger-Out). However, there are a dearth of empirical studies explaining the longitudinal childhood maltreatment-adulthood psychopathology relation.

OBJECTIVE

Therefore, this study investigated if childhood maltreatment exposure severity predicted elevated adulthood major depressive disorder (MDD), generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), panic disorder (PD), and alcohol use disorder (AUD). Moreover, we tested if trait anger expression - internal and external - mediated the childhood maltreatment-adulthood MDD, GAD, PD, and AUD symptom associations.

METHOD

Participants took part in two waves of measurement spaced approximately 9 years apart. Time 1 childhood trauma severity (retrospectively-reported Childhood Trauma Questionnaire), Time 2 Anger-In and Anger-Out (State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory), and Time 3 adulthood MDD, GAD, PD (Composite International Diagnostic Interview-Short Form), and AUD (Alcohol Screening Test) diagnoses were measured.

RESULTS

Anger-Out and Anger-In partially mediated the relations between childhood trauma severity and adulthood psychopathology diagnoses after adjusting for Time 2 symptoms. Higher Time 1 childhood trauma severity was related to greater Time 2 Anger-Out and Anger-In, and increased Time 2 Anger-Out and Anger-In were thereby related to elevated Time 3 adulthood MDD, PD and AUD, but not GAD severity. Trait anger accounted for 14 to 50% of the variance of childhood trauma-adulthood MDD, PD and AUD relations.

DISCUSSION

Theoretical and clinical implications, such as the need for trauma-informed care, are discussed.

Longitudinal associations between mothers' and fathers' anger/irritability expressiveness, harsh parenting, and adolescents' socioemotional functioning in nine countries

The present study examines parents' self-efficacy about anger regulation and irritability as predictors of harsh parenting and adolescent children's irritability (i.e., mediators), which in turn were examined as predictors of adolescents' externalizing and internalizing problems. Mothers, fathers, and adolescents (N = 1,298 families) from 12 cultural groups in 9 countries (China, Colombia, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, Philippines, Sweden, Thailand, and United States) were interviewed when children were about 13 years old and again 1 and 2 years later. Models were examined separately for mothers and fathers. Overall, cross-cultural similarities emerged in the associations of both mothers' and fathers' irritability, as well as of mothers' self-efficacy about anger regulation, with subsequent maternal harsh parenting and adolescent irritability, and in the associations of the latter variables with adolescents' internalizing and externalizing problems. The findings suggest that processes linking mothers' and fathers' emotion socialization and emotionality in diverse cultures to adolescent problem behaviors are somewhat similar. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Las creencias parentales en el proceso de crianza y sus relaciones con el comportamiento adolescente

Resumen Las creencias parentales están integradas estructuralmente en la relación entre padres e hijos y pueden ser consideradas como contribuciones para comprender el desarrollo adolescente. El presente trabajo busca analizar los vínculos entre las creencias parentales y el comportamiento adolescente, para ello se desarrolló una revisión bibliográfica en seis bases de datos, que incluyó 53 estudios en donde se dimensiona la influencia de las creencias parentales en la crianza con adolescentes. En el análisis de datos, se destacaron como “creencias parentales” los siguientes conceptos: las creencias generales sobre los atributos y las experiencias humanas, las expectativas parentales, las percepciones sobre las capacidades de los hijos, los valores y metas parentales, la autoeficacia parental y las creencias sobre el control de las situaciones. Se concluye que las creencias parentales son afectadas por los atributos y las experiencias de los padres, lo que influye en un efecto de cascada sobre el comportamiento adolescente.

Perceived parental guan and school adjustment among Chinese early adolescents: The moderating role of interdependent self-construal

INTRODUCTION

Previous research suggests that supportive parenting is positively related to adolescents' academic and psychological functioning. However, most extant research has focused on parenting styles observed in Western countries, whereas less is known about the role of culturally specific parenting dimensions in Eastern countries such as China. The purpose of this study was to examine the association between parental guan and school adjustment in Mainland Chinese early adolescents, postulating moderation by interdependent self-construal (ISC).

METHODS

Participants were 148 early adolescents (48.6% girls) aged between 10 and 13 years, who completed a questionnaire survey. Teachers rated their students' school-related social competence, while academic grades were obtained from school records.

RESULTS

Linear regression models controlling for age, gender, and socioeconomic status showed that maternal guan was positively associated with social competence. Furthermore, ISC moderated the link between maternal guan and school adjustment. Specifically, high levels of ISC were found to enhance the positive relation between perceived maternal guan and both social competence and academic performance. However, no significant associations were found for paternal guan.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings extend prior research by documenting the positive role of guan parenting style and ISC in early adolescents' school adjustment, and underscore the centrality of mothers in the childrearing process within Chinese families.

Adolescent psychopathology in times of change: Introduction to the special issue

The aim of this special issue is to understand better the many changes in adolescent psychopathology have taken place over the last decades. The factors associated with adjustment problems and psychopathology in adolescence today are not necessarily the same as the factors that predicted problems and psychopathology in the past. But the basic strategies for connecting negative experiences with adolescent psychopathology remain as important today as they were for understanding adolescent psychopathology decades ago. This is well exemplified in the studies included in this Special Issue. What all this studies have in common is that parenting and the family environment are assumed to play a key role in adolescents' adjustment and psychopathology. Finally, given that all papers in this special issue are based on conference presentations at the 15th Biennial Conference of the European Association for Research on Adolescence (EARA), some more information on that conference in included in this introduction.

Adolescent psychopathology in Times of Change: The need for integrating a developmental psychopathology perspective

In addition to the major physical, sexual and cognitive changes, as well as changes in relationships with parents and peers, in recent years adolescents also have to cope with many technological changes and increasing societal instabilities. Most of the existing research has examined the extent to which increasing uncertainties might impact expression of psychopathology and its magnitude. Emerging from a developmental psychopathology perspective, we are looking first for a better understanding of the meaning that adolescents give to these changes, which in turn is likely to affect their behavior. We are also looking for better understanding the importance of the role parents, and other societal systems/institutions (such as peers) play in ameliorating or enhancing the likelihood of maladaptive adolescent behavior under these circumstances.