Specificity of relations between children's control-related beliefs and internalizing and externalizing psychopathology

Parent reports of children's working memory, coping, and emotional/behavioral adjustment in pediatric brain tumor patients: A pilot study

Neurocognitive problems in childhood survivors of brain tumors are well documented. Further, research has shown that problems in cognitive functioning may be associated with impairment in the use of complex strategies needed to cope with stress, including secondary control coping strategies (e.g., acceptance and cognitive reappraisal) which have been associated with fewer adjustment problems. The present study measured cognitive function, coping strategies, and adjustment in children ages 6-16 years at the time of brain tumor diagnosis and at two follow-up time-points up to 1 year post-diagnosis. In a prospective design, working memory was assessed in a total of 29 pediatric brain tumor patients prior to undergoing surgery, child self-reported coping was assessed at 6 months post-diagnosis, and parent-reported child adjustment was assessed at 12 months post-diagnosis. Significant correlations were found between working memory difficulties and secondary control coping. Secondary control coping was also negatively correlated with child attention and total problems. Regression analyses did not support secondary control coping mediating the association between working memory difficulties and child attention or total problems. These findings represent the first longitudinal assessment of the association between working memory, coping, and adjustment across the first year of a child's brain tumor diagnosis and suggest a possible role for early interventions addressing both working memory difficulties and coping in children with brain tumors.

Children and adolescents coping with cancer: self- and parent reports of coping and anxiety/depression

OBJECTIVE

The diagnosis and treatment of cancer present children and adolescents with significant stress. However, research on the ways that children and adolescents cope with cancer-related stress has not yielded clear findings on the efficacy of different coping strategies, and has been limited by reliance primarily on self-reports of both coping and distress. To address this gap, the current study used a control-based model of coping to examine self- and parent reports of child/adolescent coping and symptoms of anxiety and depression in a sample of children with cancer.

METHOD

Children and adolescents (5 to 17 years old) and their parents were recruited near the time of a child's diagnosis or relapse of cancer (M = 1.30 months postdiagnosis). Child self-reports (n = 153), mother reports (n = 297), and father reports (n = 161) of children's coping and symptoms of anxiety/depression were obtained.

RESULTS

Bivariate correlations revealed significant associations for secondary control coping (efforts to adapt to source of stress; e.g., acceptance, cognitive reappraisal) and disengagement coping (e.g., avoidance, denial) with anxiety/depression within and across informants. Linear multiple regression analyses indicated that secondary control coping accounted for unique variance in symptoms of anxiety/depression both within and across informants.

CONCLUSIONS

Secondary control coping appears important for children and adolescents during early phases of treatment for cancer, and it may serve as an important target for future interventions to enhance adjustment in these children.

Adverse life events and depressive symptoms in african american youth: the role of control-related beliefs

The association between experiences of adverse life events and adolescent depressive symptoms has been well documented. However, this association is not consistently observed in urban and low income African American youth. In addition, mechanisms linking life event stress and African American adolescents' depressive symptoms have received little attention. This study examined past year violent and nonviolent life events assessed in 6th grade as predictors of 7th grade depressive symptoms among a community epidemiologically defined sample of 447 (47% girls) urban African American adolescents. Depressive symptoms were assessed twice, at a 1-year interval, and initial depressive symptoms were controlled in the analyses. Control-related beliefs were examined as mediators of the association between life events and depressive symptoms, and gender was examined as a moderator of the association between control-related beliefs and depressive symptoms. Associations among study variables were examined in a series of models, from general to more specific. A model in which nonviolent and violent life events were examined separately and control and contingency beliefs examined as one latent variable was the most informative about the etiology of depressive symptoms in a sample of urban, African American youth. Implications of the findings for preventive interventions and future research are discussed.

A longitudinal study of child maltreatment, mother-child relationship quality and maladjustment: the role of self-esteem and social competence

This study examined the concurrent and longitudinal relations of mother-child relationship quality, self-esteem, social competence, and maladjustment among maltreated (n = 206) and nonmaltreated (n = 139) school-aged children from low-income families. Results of the path analysis using structural equation modeling revealed that maltreatment at Time 1 was related to internalizing and externalizing symptomatology at Time 1, both directly as well as indirectly, through its influence on social competence at Time 1. Regardless of maltreatment status, secure mother-child relationship quality was negatively related to internalizing symptomatology at Time 1 and to internalizing and externalizing symptomatology at Time 2 via its influence on self-esteem at Time 1. The results are discussed as suggestive of the role of self-esteem and social competence as mediating mechanisms in the link between relational risks and children's maladjustment.