The role of mothers' and fathers' adrenocortical reactivity in spillover between interparental conflict and parenting practices

Feeding under fire: Relations between parental stress hormones and controlling feeding behaviors

Under stress, parents tend to use more controlling feeding behaviors toward their children (Berge et al., 2017; Doan et al., 2022; Loth et al., 2016). However, the majority of prior work focuses on subjective reports of stress, and there is a dearth of research examining parental physiological stress and its impact on feeding behaviors. In the current study, we examined how parental physiological stress reactivity would influence their feeding behaviors under mild stress in a lab-based setting. Parents (n = 83, 50 % females) and their children (59% female, Mage = 42 months, SD = 4.48) participated. Stress was induced using the Trier Social Stress Test in the laboratory (Kirshbaum et al., 1993). Salivary samples were collected at 4 time points during the visit to index stress reactivity and later assayed for cortisol and DHEA. Parent-child interactions during the anticipatory period of the stress test were observationally coded for parent use of controlling feeding behaviors. To examine whether parent stress physiology predicts their feeding behaviors, we ran a Poisson regression using income, parent ethnicity, parent sex (mom/dad), time of day, and DHEA/cortisol ratio as predictors of controlling feeding behavior. Latinx parents used less controlling feeding behaviors, b = -0.323, p = 0.041 than non-Latinx parents. Parents with a higher DHEA/Cortisol ratio were less likely to use controlling feeding behaviors, b = -0.231, p = 0.008. To our knowledge, this is the first study to show that for both mothers and fathers, DHEA relative to cortisol has a protective role in controlling feeding practices, and lends support to the role of acute stress reactivity in predicting behavioral outcomes.

Family risk, parental cortisol contagion, and parenting: A process-oriented approach to spillover

This multi-method longitudinal study sought to investigate linkage in parental neuroendocrine functioning - indicated by cortisol - over two measurement occasions. In addition, we examined how parental cortisol linkage may operate as an intermediate factor in the cascade of contextual risks and parenting. Participants were 235 families with a young child (Mage = 33.56, 36.00 years for mothers and fathers respectively), who were followed for two annual measurement occasions. Parental cortisol linkage was measured around a laboratory conflict discussion task at both measurement occasions (i.e., pre-discussion, 20- and 40-minute post-discussion for each measurement occasion). Maternal and paternal parenting behavior was observed during a parent-child discipline discussion task. Findings indicated similar levels of cortisol linkage between parents over the two measurement occasions. Furthermore, cortisol linkage between parents operated as an intermediate factor between contextual risks and more compromised parenting behavior. That is, greater contextual risks, indicated by greater neighborhood risk and interparental conflict, were linked to greater cortisol linkage between parents over time, which was in turn linked to greater authoritarian parenting during parent-child interaction. Findings highlighted the importance of understanding physiological-linkage processes with respect to the impact of contextual risks on family functioning and may have crucial implications for clinical work.

Family instability, parenting, and child externalizing problems: Moderation by maternal sympathetic stress reactivity

This multi-method longitudinal study evaluated how changes in maternal sensitive parenting may operate as an indirect factor linking family instability and the development of child externalizing problems over time. This study also investigated how mothers' stress reactivity within the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) may moderate the association between family instability and the development of maternal sensitivity. Participants were 235 families with a young child (Mage = 2.97 years at the first measurement occasion) and these families were followed for two annual measurement occasions. Maternal sensitivity was observed during two discipline tasks (i.e., forbidden toy, discipline discussion tasks), and maternal SNS stress reactivity was indicated by their salivary alpha-amylase (sAA) reactivity to an interpersonal stressor. Findings revealed significant direct effects of family instability and family instability-x-sAA reactivity interaction in association with the change in maternal sensitivity over time. For both tasks, mothers with greater sAA reactivity exhibited stronger associations between family instability and the growth of their sensitivity. Tests of indirect effects indicated that change in maternal sensitivity operated as an indirect factor between family instability-x-sAA reactivity interaction and the change in child externalizing problems. The present findings have important implications for understanding parental and child sequelae associated with unstable family contexts.

Supporting Children Who Experience Domestic Violence: Evaluating the Child Witness to Domestic Violence Program

Impacting 1 in 4 children in the United States, childhood exposure to domestic violence predicts myriad negative sequelae. Intervening post exposure is critical to help children and their protective parent heal and avoid long-term negative consequences. Children aged 2-17 and their mothers who were victims of domestic violence participated in a 12-week group program delivered by domestic violence agency staff that provides psychoeducation on the impact of trauma and domestic violence and aims to improve parent and child well-being. The impact of the Child Witness to Domestic Violence (CWDV) program was tested in an intervention group (n = 69 children, 33 mothers) who participated in CWDV and control group (n = 80 children, 39 mothers) consisting of children whose mothers received adult-focused domestic violence services but were not enrolled in CWDV or other child-focused services. Multiple regression analyses controlling for child gender, child age, mother's age, and the outcome of interest at time 1 found that participation in CWDV program significantly predicted better child functioning as indicated by less hyperactivity (B = -.85, p = .06), fewer negative emotional symptoms (B = -1.14, p = .01), and fewer total behavioral difficulties (B = -2.48, p = .02) as well as higher maternal hope (B = .57, p = .03). These data provide promising evidence of the impact of a brief, replicable group intervention that promotes healing and well-being among children and parents exposed to domestic violence. Limitations include a quasi-experimental design and reliance on maternal report.

Marital satisfaction, parenting styles, and child outcomes in families of autistic children

Theory and research on the general population suggest that parents' marital relationship quality is associated with children's emotional and behavioral functioning directly, as well as indirectly, by affecting parenting attitudes and behaviors. However, little has been done to investigate the potential connection among parent marital satisfaction, parenting styles, and outcomes for autistic children. Using longitudinal data collected from 188 couples parenting an autistic child, this study tested the time-ordered indirect effect of parent marital satisfaction (assessed at Time 1) on the internalizing and externalizing symptoms (assessed at Time 3) of autistic children (originally aged 5-12 years) via parenting styles (assessed at Time 2) using actor-partner interdependence modeling extended to mediation. Results indicated that a lower level of marital satisfaction at Time 1 predicted impaired child outcomes at Time 3 via its impact on parenting style at Time 2. For both parents, lower marital satisfaction predicted more child externalizing symptoms via reports of more authoritarian parenting style. Lower marital satisfaction in mothers at Time 1 was also associated with higher levels of child internalizing symptoms at Time 3 via increased authoritarian parenting in mothers. No partner effects were found. A family-wide approach that includes support for the parent marital relationship, which may have downstream effects on parenting, is important for promoting optimal emotional and behavioral health in autistic children.

A biopsychosocial perspective on maternal parenting in the first two years of infant life

Guided by a biopsychosocial perspective of mothering, this study investigated the interplay among biological (maternal cortisol reactivity), psychological (maternal depressive symptoms), and social (infant emotion and regulation) factors in contributing to early changes in maternal parenting. Participants were 1292 low-income, mother-infant pairs, assessed when the infants were 6-months (T1), 15-months (T2), and 24-months old (T3). Maternal parenting was observed at all assessment points. At T1, infant emotion expression and orienting towards mothers were observed, when maternal cortisol reactivity was assessed. Mothers reported their depressive symptoms at T1. Exploratory factor analysis revealed two parenting factors across time points: positive engagement and negative intrusiveness. Second-order latent growth curve models revealed interactions among maternal cortisol reactivity, depressive symptoms, and child negative emotion/orienting at T1 in predicting intercepts and slopes of two parenting factors. T1 maternal cortisol reactivity was associated with a higher positive engagement intercept for infants having high negative emotion at T1, but a lower positive engagement intercept for infants with low negative emotion at T1, under low T1 maternal depressive symptoms. T1 maternal cortisol reactivity was also related to a lower negative intrusiveness intercept for infants showing high orienting at T1. Longitudinally, maternal cortisol reactivity at T1 predicted a faster decline in positive engagement when infants showed high negative emotion at T1, but a slower decline when infants were less negative at T1. This study reveals a bivalent adaptation process in maternal sensitivity and enhances the current understanding of how biopsychosocial factors contribute to maternal parenting in low-income families.

Parent-adolescent physiological synchrony: Moderating effects of adolescent emotional insecurity

The present study investigated physiological synchrony in the parasympathetic nervous system among fathers, mothers, and adolescents during a real-time family interaction, and child characteristics that may moderate the level of physiological synchrony. Our sample consisted of 191 families with adolescents (M_age  = 12.4 years) and both of their parents, who participated in a triadic family conflict discussion. During the discussion, respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) was measured for all three family members. Multilevel analysis indicated a significant positive concurrent synchrony between adolescents and their mothers, as well as between fathers and mothers on a minute-to-minute basis. No RSA synchrony was found between adolescents and their fathers. Furthermore, adolescent emotional insecurity significantly moderated mother-adolescent RSA synchrony. Whereas adolescents with low emotional insecurity exhibited positive synchrony with their mothers, no synchrony was observed when adolescent emotional insecurity was high. In conclusion, findings of the present study illuminate the patterns of RSA synchrony among parents and adolescents and highlight a link between adolescent emotional insecurity and attenuated mother-adolescent physiological synchrony.

Perinatal depression, PTSD, and trauma: Impact on mother-infant attachment and interventions to mitigate the transmission of risk

Early interactions between infants and their caregivers are fundamental to child development, and the parent-infant relationship is believed to provide the foundation for healthy and secure attachment relationships and for infant mental health. Over time, these secure attachment relationships become the backbone for positive child outcomes across development. Abundant research to date confirms that parental mental illness, including depression and PTSD following trauma exposure, may have a detrimental impact on parenting quality and subsequent early child relationship formations. This review paper summarizes the literature on the role of sensitive parenting and a healthy mother-infant relationship in establishing a secure mother-infant attachment bond, which in turn is critical for the child's healthy socioemotional and cognitive development. The review also highlights the roles of maternal perinatal depression, PTSD, and/or exposure to interpersonal violence or childhood maltreatment onto parenting, bonding, and child attachment style towards the caregiver. The final section discusses existing therapeutic interventions and approaches that bolster early parenting practices and early maternal-child relationships. Specific emphasis is placed on relational interventions that address bonding and attachment disturbances in the context of maternal perinatal mental health risk and trauma.

Fathers' and mothers' attachment styles, couple conflict, parenting quality, and children's behavior problems: an intervention test of mediation

A diverse sample of 239 primarily low-income couples participated in a random controlled trial of the Supporting Father Involvement couples group intervention. In this report, we examined the value of adding measures of fathers' attachment style and parenting to mothers' measures in order to explain variations in children's behavior problems. We also tested the hypothesis that the link between intervention-induced reductions in couple conflict and reductions in anxious/harsh parenting can be explained by intervention effects on parents' attachment insecurity or on anxiety and depression. Fathers' attachment security and parenting behavior added significantly to mothers' in accounting for children's internalizing and externalizing problem behaviors. Fathers' anxious attachment style and anxiety/depression mediated the link between post-intervention reductions in parental conflict and anxious/harsh parenting. For mothers, only improvements in attachment security accounted for those links. The findings support the need for attachment researchers to consider the contributions of both parents to their children's development.

Prenatal and postnatal cortisol and testosterone are related to parental caregiving quality in fathers, but not in mothers

Testosterone and cortisol have both been implicated in human parenting behavior. We investigated the relations between observed quality of caregiving during parent-child interactions and pre- and postnatal testosterone and cortisol levels, in both mothers (N = 88) and fathers (N = 57). Testosterone and cortisol were measured before and after interaction with an infant simulator (prenatal) and with their own child (postnatal) to index basal levels as well as steroid reactivity to the interaction. Our findings are that in fathers, interactions between cortisol and testosterone are related to quality of caregiving both pre- and postnatally. Prenatally there was a stronger negative relation between T and quality of caregiving in fathers with lower cortisol levels, and postnatally there was a stronger negative relation between cortisol and quality of caregiving in fathers high in testosterone levels. Furthermore, prenatal cortisol levels were related to paternal quality of caregiving during interaction with their own child. In mothers, no associations between quality of caregiving and our endocrine measures were observed. We interpret our findings in the context of hyperreactive physiological responses observed in parents at risk for insensitive caregiving, and in light of the dual-hormone hypothesis. The current findings contribute to the growing literature on the endocrine antecedents of human caregiving behavior.

Understanding Family-Level Effects of Adult Chronic Disease Management Programs: Perceived Influences of Behavior Change on Adolescent Family Members' Health Behaviors Among Low-Income African Americans With Uncontrolled Hypertensions

Background: Despite improvements in cardiovascular disease (CVD) prevention and treatment, low-income African Americans experience disparities in CVD-related morbidity and mortality. Childhood obesity disparities and poor diet and physical activity behaviors contribute to CVD disparities throughout the life course. Given the potential for intergenerational transmission of CVD risk, it is important to determine whether adult disease management interventions could be modified to achieve family-level benefits and improve primary prevention among high-risk youth. Objective: To explore mechanisms by which African-American adults' (referred to as index patients) participation in a hypertension disease management trial influences adolescent family members' (referred to as adolescents) lifestyle behaviors. Design/Methods: The study recruited index patients from the Achieving blood pressure Control Together (ACT) study who reported living with an adolescent ages 12-17 years old. Index patients and adolescents were recruited for in-depth interviews and were asked about any family-level changes to diet and physical activity behaviors during or after participation in the ACT study. If family-level changes were described, index patients and adolescents were asked whether role modeling, changes in the home food environment, meal preparation, and family functioning contributed to these changes. These mechanisms were hypothesize to be important based on existing research suggesting that parental involvement in childhood obesity interventions influences child and adolescent weight status. Thematic content analysis of transcribed interviews identified both a priori and emergent themes. Results: Eleven index patients and their adolescents participated in in-depth interviews. Index patients and adolescents both described changes to the home food environment and meal preparation. Role modeling was salient to index patients, particularly regarding healthy eating behaviors. Changes in family functioning due to study participation were not endorsed by index patients or adolescents. Emergent themes included adolescent care-taking of index patients and varying perceptions by index patients of their influence on adolescents' health behaviors. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that disease management interventions directed at high-risk adult populations may influence adolescent family members' health behaviors. We find support for the hypotheses that role modeling and changes to the home food environment are mechanisms by which family-level health behavior change occurs. Adolescents' roles as caretakers for index patients emerged as another potential mechanism. Future research should explore these mechanisms and ways to leverage disease management to support both adult and adolescent health behavior change.

A process model of the implications of spillover from coparenting conflicts into the parent-child attachment relationship in adolescence

Drawing on a two-wave, multimethod, multi-informant design, this study provides the first test of a process model of spillover specifying why and how disruptions in the coparenting relationship influence the parent-adolescent attachment relationship. One hundred ninety-four families with an adolescent aged 12-14 (M age = 12.4) were followed for 1 year. Mothers and adolescents participated in two experimental tasks designed to elicit behavioral expressions of parent and adolescent functioning within the attachment relationship. Using a novel observational approach, maternal safe haven, secure base, and harshness (i.e., hostility and control) were compared as potential unique mediators of the association between conflict in the coparenting relationship and adolescent problems. Path models indicated that, although coparenting conflicts were broadly associated with maternal parenting difficulties, only secure base explained the link to adolescent adjustment. Adding further specificity to the process model, maternal secure base support was uniquely associated with adolescent adjustment through deficits in adolescents' secure exploration. Results support the hypothesis that coparenting disagreements undermine adolescent adjustment in multiple domains specifically by disrupting mothers' ability to provide a caregiving environment that supports adolescent exploration during a developmental period in which developing autonomy is a crucial stage-salient task.

Interparental conflict and infants' behavior problems: The mediating role of maternal sensitivity

Although the negative effect of interparental conflict on child behavior problems has been well established, few studies have examined this association during infancy. This study examined the associations between mother-reported interparental conflict and young children's behavior problems over the first 2 years of their lives in a sample of 212 mothers and infants. Two aspects of maternal sensitivity, sensitivity during distressing and nondistressing contexts, were examined as possible mediators between interparental conflict and infants' behavior problems. Results indicated that interparental conflict was associated directly with infants' externalizing problems over time but was associated indirectly with infants' internalizing problems over time via compromised maternal sensitivity within distressing contexts but not through maternal sensitivity within nondistressing contexts. No significant child gender differences were found. Such findings add to a limited body of research suggesting that the early interparental relationship context is relevant for infant adjustment. The salient mediating role of maternal sensitivity within distressing contexts provides important theoretical and practical insights for future studies. (PsycINFO Database Record

Interparental conflict and infants' behavior problems: The mediating role of maternal sensitivity

Although the negative effect of interparental conflict on child behavior problems has been well established, few studies have examined this association during infancy. This study examined the associations between mother-reported interparental conflict and young children's behavior problems over the first 2 years of their lives in a sample of 212 mothers and infants. Two aspects of maternal sensitivity, sensitivity during distressing and nondistressing contexts, were examined as possible mediators between interparental conflict and infants' behavior problems. Results indicated that interparental conflict was associated directly with infants' externalizing problems over time but was associated indirectly with infants' internalizing problems over time via compromised maternal sensitivity within distressing contexts but not through maternal sensitivity within nondistressing contexts. No significant child gender differences were found. Such findings add to a limited body of research suggesting that the early interparental relationship context is relevant for infant adjustment. The salient mediating role of maternal sensitivity within distressing contexts provides important theoretical and practical insights for future studies. (PsycINFO Database Record

Dyadic flexibility mediates the relation between parent conflict and infants' vagal reactivity during the Face-to-Face Still-Face

Parent conflict is related to attenuated infant vagal reactivity, suggesting less effective regulation. Because infants' self-regulation develops in the context of coregulation, the current study examined a novel measure, flexibility, purported to reflect dyadic reorganization in response to contextual demands. Flexibility was expected to mediate the relation between greater conflict and lesser vagal reactivity during the reunion episode of the Face-to-Face Still-Face (FFSF). Six-month-old infants' and their mothers' (N = 53) affective behaviors were observed during the FFSF and heart rate data were collected for infants. Flexibility was computed using state-space analysis of dyadic behaviors and measured variability in and movement among dyadic states. Conflict was related to lesser infant vagal reactivity in the reunion through lower flexibility, suggesting less effective recovery from social stress. Flexibility may capture aspects of coregulation affected by environmental stress and may be one mechanism by which conflict contributes to developing vagal regulation.

Psychobiological influences on maternal sensitivity in the context of adversity

This study evaluated prospective longitudinal relations among an index of poverty-related cumulative risk, maternal salivary cortisol, child negative affect, and maternal sensitivity across the first 2 postpartum years. Participants included 1,180 biological mothers residing in rural and predominantly low-income communities in the United States. Multilevel growth curve analyses indicated that an index of cumulative risk was positively associated with maternal cortisol across the postpartum (study visits occurring at approximately 7, 15, and 24 months postpartum) over and above effects for African American ethnicity, time of day of saliva collection, age, parity status, having given birth to another child, contraceptive use, tobacco smoking, body mass index, and breastfeeding. Consistent with a psychobiological theory of mothering, maternal salivary cortisol was negatively associated with maternal sensitivity observed during parent-child interactions across the first 2 postpartum years over and above effects for poverty-related cumulative risk, child negative affect, as well as a large number of covariates associated with cortisol and maternal sensitivity. Child negative affect expressed during parent-child interactions was negatively associated with observed maternal sensitivity at late (24 months) but not early time points of observation (7 months) and cumulative risk was negatively associated with maternal sensitivity across the postpartum and this effect strengthened over time. Results advance our understanding of the dynamic, transactional, and psychobiological influences on parental caregiving behaviors across the first 2 postpartum years. (PsycINFO Database Record

Marital Hostility, Hostile Parenting, and Child Aggression: Associations from Toddlerhood to School Age

OBJECTIVE

The spillover hypothesis suggests that childhood aggression results from spillover of interparental conflict to poor parenting, which promotes aggressive child behavior. This study was designed to examine the spillover hypothesis in non-genetically related parent-child dyads from the toddler period through age 6 years.

METHOD

A sample of 361 sets of children, adoptive parents, and birth parents from the Early Growth and Development Study (EGDS) was assessed from child age 9 months to 6 years on measures of adoptive parent financial strain, antisocial traits, marital hostility, hostile parenting, and child aggression. Structural equation modeling was used to examine links from financial strain, parent antisocial traits, and marital hostility in infancy and toddlerhood to hostile parenting and child aggression at ages 4.5 and 6 years.

RESULTS

Spillover of marital conflict from child age 18 to 27 months was associated with more parental hostility in mothers and fathers at 27 months. In turn, adoptive fathers' parental hostility, but not mothers', was associated with aggression in children at age 4.5 years. However, there was no significant spillover from hostile parenting at 4.5 years to child aggression at 6 years. Birth mother antisocial traits were unassociated with child aggression.

CONCLUSION

This study is the first to examine spillover of marital hostility to parenting to child aggression from toddlerhood through age 6 years in an adoption design, highlighting the impact of these environmental factors from the toddler to preschool period. The findings support the potential benefit of early identification of marital hostility.

Beyond allostatic load: Rethinking the role of stress in regulating human development

How do exposures to stress affect biobehavioral development and, through it, psychiatric and biomedical disorder? In the health sciences, the allostatic load model provides a widely accepted answer to this question: stress responses, while essential for survival, have negative long-term effects that promote illness. Thus, the benefits of mounting repeated biological responses to threat are traded off against costs to mental and physical health. The adaptive calibration model, an evolutionary–developmental theory of stress–health relations, extends this logic by conceptualizing these trade-offs as decision nodes in allocation of resources. Each decision node influences the next in a chain of resource allocations that become instantiated in the regulatory parameters of stress response systems. Over development, these parameters filter and embed information about key dimensions of environmental stress and support, mediating the organism's openness to environmental inputs, and function to regulate life history strategies to match those dimensions. Drawing on the adaptive calibration model, we propose that consideration of biological fitness trade-offs, as delineated by life history theory, is needed to more fully explain the complex relations between developmental exposures to stress, stress responsivity, behavioral strategies, and health. We conclude that the adaptive calibration model and allostatic load model are only partially complementary and, in some cases, support different approaches to intervention. In the long run, the field may be better served by a model informed by life history theory that addresses the adaptive role of stress response systems in regulating alternative developmental pathways.

Selective impact of early parental responsivity on adolescent stress reactivity

Research in animals has shown that early life experience, particularly parenting behaviors, influences later-life stress reactivity. Despite the tremendous relevance of this finding to human development and brain function, it has not been tested prospectively in humans. In this study two aspects of parenting were measured at age 4 in a sample of healthy, low socioeconomic status, African American children, and stress reactivity was measured in the same children 11–14 years later using a modified version of the Trier Social Stress Test (n = 55). Salivary cortisol was measured before, during and after the stressor and data were analyzed using piecewise hierarchical linear modeling. Parental responsivity, independent of the use of physical discipline, was positively related to cortisol reactivity. Effects were independent of subjective appraisals of the stressor and were also independent of other environmental risk factors and current psychosocial functioning. Therefore this study demonstrates in a novel and precise fashion that early childhood parental responsivity prospectively and independently predicts stress reactivity in adolescence.

Differential susceptibility in spillover between interparental conflict and maternal parenting practices: evidence for OXTR and 5-HTT genes

Guided by the affective spillover hypothesis and the differential susceptibility to environmental influence frameworks, the present study examined how associations between interparental conflict and mothers' parenting practices were moderated by serotonin transporter (5-HTT) and oxytocin receptor (OXTR) genes. A sample of 201 mothers and their 2-year old child participated in a laboratory-based research assessment. Results supported differential susceptibility hypotheses within spillover frameworks. With respect to OXTR rs53576, mothers with the GG genotype showed greater differential maternal sensitivity across varying levels of interparental conflict. Mothers with one or two copies of the 5-HTTLPR S allele demonstrated differential susceptibility for both sensitive and harsh/punitive caregiving behaviors. Finally, analyses examined whether maternal depressive symptoms and emotional closeness to their child mediated the moderating effects. Findings suggest that maternal emotional closeness with their child indirectly linked OXTR with maternal sensitivity. The results highlight how molecular genetics may explain heterogeneity in spillover models with differential implications for specific parenting behaviors. Implications for clinicians and therapists working with maritally distressed parents are discussed.

Partner aggression in high-risk families from birth to age 3 years: associations with harsh parenting and child maladjustment

Aggression between partners represents a potential guiding force in family dynamics. However, research examining the influence of partner aggression (physically and psychologically aggressive acts by both partners) on harsh parenting and young child adjustment has been limited by a frequent focus on low-risk samples and by the examination of partner aggression at a single time point. Especially in the context of multiple risk factors and around transitions such as childbirth, partner aggression might be better understood as a dynamic process. In the present study, longitudinal trajectories of partner aggression from birth to age 3 years in a large, high-risk, and ethnically diverse sample (N = 461) were examined. Specific risk factors were tested as predictors of aggression over time, and the longitudinal effects of partner aggression on maternal harsh parenting and child maladjustment were examined. Partner aggression decreased over time, with higher maternal depression and lower maternal age predicting greater decreases in partner aggression. While taking into account contextual and psychosocial risk factors, higher partner aggression measured at birth and a smaller decrease over time independently predicted higher levels of maternal harsh parenting at age 3 years. Initial level of partner aggression and change over time predicted child maladjustment indirectly (via maternal harsh parenting). The implications of understanding change in partner aggression over time as a path to harsh parenting and young children's maladjustment in the context of multiple risk factors are discussed.

The impact of allostatic load on maternal sympathovagal functioning in stressful child contexts: implications for problematic parenting

The present study applies an allostatic load framework to an examination of the relationship between maternal psychosocial risk factors and maladaptive parenting behaviors. Specifically, the implications of low socioeconomic status and maternal depressive symptoms for maternal sympathovagal functioning during young children's distress were examined, as well as whether that functioning was, in turn, associated with maternal insensitivity, hostility, intrusiveness, and disengagement during mother-child dyadic interaction. Consistent with an allostatic framework, three patterns of sympathovagal functioning were expected to emerge: normative arousal, hyperarousal, and hypoarousal profiles. Furthermore, meaningful associations between maternal psychosocial risk factors, maladaptive parenting behaviors, and the three profiles of sympathovagal functioning were anticipated. Participants included 153 mother-toddler dyads recruited proportionately from lower and middle socioeconomic status backgrounds. Mothers' sympathovagal response to their child's distress was assessed during the Strange Situation paradigm, and mothers' parenting behavior was assessed during a dyadic free-play interaction. As hypothesized, normative arousal, hyperarousal, and hypoarousal profiles of maternal sympathovagal functioning were identified. Maternal depressive symptomatology predicted the hyperarousal profile, whereas socioeconomic adversity predicted hypoarousal. Moreover, allostatic load profiles were differentially associated with problematic parenting behaviors. These findings underscore the role of physiological dysregulation as a mechanism in the relationship between proximal risk factors and actual maladaptive parenting behaviors.

Mother's parenting practices as explanatory mechanisms in associations between interparental violence and child adjustment

This paper examined maternal parenting behaviors as mediators of associations between interparental violence and young children's internalizing and externalizing symptomatology. Participants included 201 toddlers and their mothers. Assessments of interparental violence and children's symptoms were derived from maternal surveys. Maternal parenting behaviors were assessed during an observational paradigm and coded for hostility, responsiveness and disengagement. Results indicated that mother's responsiveness and disengagement mediated associations between interparental violence and children's internalizing (e.g., withdrawn, inhibited, anxious, depressed behaviors) and externalizing (e.g., aggressive behaviors, attentional difficulties) symptoms. The results are interpreted in the context of conceptualizations that underscore how different dimensions of maternal parenting behaviors may play key explanatory roles in understanding associations between interparental violence and children's adjustment difficulties.

Mother's parenting practices as explanatory mechanisms in associations between interparental violence and child adjustment

This paper examined maternal parenting behaviors as mediators of associations between interparental violence and young children's internalizing and externalizing symptomatology. Participants included 201 toddlers and their mothers. Assessments of interparental violence and children's symptoms were derived from maternal surveys. Maternal parenting behaviors were assessed during an observational paradigm and coded for hostility, responsiveness and disengagement. Results indicated that mother's responsiveness and disengagement mediated associations between interparental violence and children's internalizing (e.g., withdrawn, inhibited, anxious, depressed behaviors) and externalizing (e.g., aggressive behaviors, attentional difficulties) symptoms. The results are interpreted in the context of conceptualizations that underscore how different dimensions of maternal parenting behaviors may play key explanatory roles in understanding associations between interparental violence and children's adjustment difficulties.