The mediating role of parenting in the associations between household chaos and children's representations of family dysfunction

Self-Compassion and Depressive Symptoms as Determinants of Sensitive Parenting: Associations with Sociodemographic Characteristics in a Sample of Mothers and Toddlers

Parenting that is sensitive and responsive to children's needs has been shown to support children's optimal growth and development in many cultural contexts. Numerous studies suggest that self-compassion is positively related to sensitive parenting. Despite growing research interest linking self-compassion to responsive parenting, there are considerable gaps in the literature. The current study examined the associations between self-compassion, depressive symptoms, socioeconomic status, and sensitive parenting. Data was obtained from a cohort study of 300 families in central Ohio enrolled when children were a mean (SD) calendar age of 18.2 (0.7) months. Children of all gestational ages at birth are included, and 37% were born preterm (<37 weeks' gestation). Observational protocols were used to determine maternal sensitivity in a semi-structured play setting. Self-compassion was assessed with the Self-Compassion Scale when children were 24 months old. Self-compassion was not associated with sociodemographic characteristics including maternal education, household income, child sex and gestational age. In unadjusted regression models, depressive symptoms were related to sensitive parenting (B = -0.036, SE = 0.016, p = 0.03), but self-compassion was not a statistically significant predictor (p = 0.35) of sensitivity, and neither self-compassion nor depressive symptoms were statistically significant predictors of sensitive parenting after adjustment for covariates. Considerations for future studies are discussed.

Chaos during the COVID-19 outbreak: Predictors of household chaos among low-income families during a pandemic

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this study was to explore whether household chaos measured during the COVID-19 pandemic is predicted by prepandemic parental and household characteristics.

BACKGROUND

The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically altered children's home environments and routines due to stay-at-home orders, school closures, and economic shocks. These disruptions have been especially challenging for low-income families who have limited resources and have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic. Household chaos, which captures routines, organization, stability, noise, and crowding in the home, is a documented threat to parent functioning and positive child development. The pandemic has likely exacerbated household chaos, especially for low-income families.

METHOD

Data come from a larger, ongoing study of low-income children and their parents in Tulsa, Oklahoma; this analysis relies on data from the subset of low-income parents who responded to surveys when their children were in kindergarten (in 2018-2019) and during the pandemic, when their children were in first grade (n = 335). We use multivariate ordinary least squares regression models to test whether household chaos measured during the pandemic is predicted by prepandemic parental and household characteristics.

RESULTS

Prepandemic parental depression and household chaos were significantly predictive of chaos during the pandemic, even after accounting for household demographics.

IMPLICATIONS

The current study highlights pandemic-induced elevations in parental distress and household chaos among low-income families. Results will provide valuable direction to policymakers, educators, and parents on how best to offset negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on family functioning and child development.

Play & Grow: prospective observational cohort of toddlers to inform obesity prevention, Columbus, Ohio, USA

PURPOSE

Obesity prevention is increasingly focused on early childhood, but toddlers have not been well-studied, and children born preterm are frequently excluded. The Play & Grow Cohort was established to investigate child growth in relation to parent-child interactions in mealtime and non-mealtime settings.

PARTICIPANTS

Between December 2017 and May 2019, 300 toddlers and primary caregivers were recruited from records of a large paediatric care provider in Columbus, Ohio, USA. This report describes recruitment of the cohort and outlines the data collection protocols for two toddler and two preschool-age visits. The first study visit coincided with enrolment and occurred when children (57% boys) were a mean (SD) calendar age of 18.2 (0.7) months.

FINDINGS TO DATE

Children in the cohort are diverse relative to gestational age at birth (16%, 28-31 completed weeks' gestation; 21%, 32-36 weeks' gestation; 63%, ≥37 weeks' gestation) and race/ethnicity (8%, Hispanic; 35%, non-Hispanic black; 46%, non-Hispanic white). Caregivers enrolled in the cohort are primarily the child's biological mother (93%) and are diverse in age (range 18-54 years), education (23%, high school or less; 20% graduate degree) and annual household income (27%, <US$20 000 24%, ≥US$90 000). Parent-child interactions were video-recorded during play in the laboratory at 18 months (n=299) and during play, reading and mealtime in the home (n=284) at 24 months. The preschool phase of the study was impacted by COVID-19. Parent-child interactions were video-recorded during play and mealtime at home at 36 months (n=141) and during a standardised buffet meal in the laboratory at 42 months (n=50). Caregivers unable to participate in face-to-face visits due to COVID-19 completed questionnaires.

FUTURE PLANS

Assessment during middle childhood is being planned. Future visits will include anthropometric measurements and parent-child interactions at mealtime. School-based outcomes are additionally being considered.

Can the family drawing be a useful tool for assessing attachment representations in children? A systematic review and meta-analysis

A systematic review and meta-analysis were conducted to evaluate the quality and validity of Family Drawings (FD) with an Attachment-Based Coding System in assessing attachment representations among pre-school and school-age children. A literature search in notable databases identified 645 records, of which 20 were eligible after screening and quality assessment. Results showed: 1) ABCD attachment distribution in community children was: 48% secure, 20% avoidant, 21% ambivalent, 11% disorganized. Security prevailed both in classifications and Fury et al.' scales. 2) No significant differences according to the cultural background; 3) At-risk/clinical children showed higher insecurity than community ones using scales; 4) Girls were more secure than boys. In conclusion, FD may be a culture-fair method to assess attachment representations in children. Global scales seem more reliable than ABCD classifications for discriminating at-risk and clinical children, but further studies on these groups are needed.

Intimate Partner Violence, Parenting, and Children's Representations of Caregivers

Children's representational models of self and relationship quality with caregivers in the context of intimate partner violence (IPV) were investigated using family drawings created by children in their first-grade year. The present study examines the mediating role of mothers' and fathers' sensitive parenting behaviors in the relations between IPV and children's representations of relationship quality with mothers and fathers. The sample (N = 947) is drawn from a longitudinal study of rural poverty exploring the ways in which child, family, and contextual factors shape development over time. Results of analyses indicate significant associations between IPV, sensitive parenting, and children's representation of relationship quality with mothers and fathers. There was a significant indirect effect from IPV on children's representation of relationship quality with fathers through paternal parenting behaviors. The findings from this study suggest that exposure to violence may affect how children view their family relationships and that fathers' parenting behavior is a key mediating process. Implications of the findings and directions for future study are proposed.

A mixed methods analysis of environmental and household chaos: considerations for early-childhood obesity research

BACKGROUND

Chaos has implications for child health that may extend to childhood obesity. Yet, results from studies describing associations between chaos and childhood obesity are mixed. New approaches to studying the environments of young children may help to clarify chaos-obesity relationships.

METHODS

We conducted a concurrent mixed methods analysis of quantitative and qualitative data describing home and neighborhood chaos among a diverse cohort of 283 caregiver-toddlers dyads from Ohio. We examined the underlying structure of environmental and household chaos using exploratory factor analysis then sought to validate the structure using qualitative field notes. We generated total scores for factors of chaos and described their distributions overall and according to cohort characteristics. Additionally, we conducted a thematic content analysis of brief ethnographies to provide preliminary construct validity for our indicators of chaos.

RESULTS

Dyads varied according to household composition, income, education, and race/ethnicity. We found evidence for a multi-factor structure for chaos, which included disorganization and neighborhood noise. Household disorganization scores ranged from 0 to 7.3 and were on average 2.1 (SD = 1.8). Neighborhood noise scores ranged from 0 to 4 and were on average 1.1 (SD = 1.1). Both disorganization and neighborhood noise were associated with indicators of socioeconomic disadvantage, such as lower educational attainment and household income. Qualitative data from households with high and low scores on the two identified factors were aligned in ways that were supportive of construct validity and further contextualized the social and material environments in which chaos occurred.

CONCLUSIONS

Chaos represents a complex construct with implications spanning various disciplines, including childhood obesity research. Previous studies suggest challenges associated with measuring chaos may limit the conclusions that can be drawn about which aspect of chaos (if any) matter most of early childhood weight development. We advance the literature by demonstrating chaos may be comprised of conceptually distinct subdomains. Future childhood obesity prevention research may benefit from more contemporary measure of chaos, such as those relying on direct observations that account for a multifaceted underlying structure.

Parent-Child Conflict Profiles in Chinese American Immigrant Families: Links to Sociocultural Factors and School-Age Children's Psychological Adjustment

Research suggests that parent-child conflict is a salient family process in Asian immigrant families and often a stressful experience for Asian American youth due to value discrepancies between Asian and Western cultures. The present study examined ratings of parent-child conflict across conflict topics from parents' and children's perspectives in a sample of Chinese American immigrant families with school-age children (N = 239; age = 7.5-11 years). Latent profile analyses identified three parent-rated conflict profiles and four child-rated conflict profiles. Parent and child conflict profiles were unrelated to each other and differentially related to family sociocultural factors and children's psychological adjustment. Parents' moderate conflict profile scored highest on parent-rated child behavior problems and had the highest household density and lower parent Chinese orientation. Children's moderate-specific and high conflict profiles scored higher on child-reported behavior problems than the low conflict profile. These results highlight the need to assess family conflict from both parents' and children's perspectives and target parent-child conflict communication as a pathway to prevent or reduce behavioral problems in Chinese American children of immigrant families.

Household Chaos, Parental Responses to Emotion, and Child Emotion Regulation in Middle Childhood

Parents' responses to children's negative emotional states play a key role in the socialization of emotion regulation skills in childhood. Much of the prior research on child ER has focused on early development using cross-sectional designs. The current study addresses these gaps by using a longitudinal design to examine individual differences of ER at two times points in middle childhood. We examined the development of children's ER by testing hypotheses about the interplay of parent response to emotions and household chaos in the prediction of individual differences in children's ER. Participants were the mothers of children at 6 and 9 years of age among 224 families in a socioeconomically diverse sample that was part of an ongoing longitudinal study. Mothers completed questionnaires regarding themselves, their children, and their home environment. Mothers' reports of better child ER at both time points were positively associated with mothers' more supportive responses and negatively associated with mothers' less non-supportive responses, as well as lower household chaos. Chaos statistically moderated the link between non-supportive parental responses to emotion and child ER, but only at 6 years of age. The strength of the link between child ER and non-supportive parental responses to emotions was strong only at lower levels of household chaos. At the beginning of middle childhood, family processes linking parent responses to child emotions and children's developing ER may not function at higher levels of household chaos.

The relationship between household chaos and child, parent, and family outcomes: a systematic scoping review

BACKGROUND

Household chaos, represented by the level of disorganisation or environmental confusion in the home, has been associated with a range of adverse child and family outcomes. This review aims to (1) identify how household chaos is measured, (2) chart study details of household chaos literature, and (3) map the existing literature with respect to the relationship between household chaos and child, parent, and family outcomes. We expect that this review will highlight the need to consider the importance of household chaos in child well-being research, particularly in those families where children may be more vulnerable to the adverse effects of household chaos.

METHODS

We searched five electronic databases (last updated September 1st 2018) in addition to Google Scholar, and identified publications via a 3-stage screening process, which was conducted by two researchers. Published studies were included if they investigated the association between household chaos and child, parent, or family outcomes. Research that investigated household chaos as a mediator or moderator, or that investigated how the relationship between household chaos and the outcome of interest was mediated or moderated, were also included.

RESULTS

One hundred twelve studies in 111 publications were included. The majority were conducted in the United States (n = 71), and used either cross-sectional (n = 60) or longitudinal (n = 49) study designs. Outcomes of interest were categorised into seven categories: (1) cognitive and academic (n = 16), (2) socio-emotional and behavioural (n = 60), (3) communication (n = 6), (4) parenting, family, and household functioning (n = 21), (5) parent outcomes (n = 6), (6) hormone (n = 8), and (7) physical health and health behaviours (n = 19). There was consistent evidence for significant correlations between household chaos and adverse outcomes across all seven categories in diverse populations with respect to age, disease status, and socio-economic status (SES).

CONCLUSION

There is consistent evidence for associations between household chaos and a number of adverse child, parent, and family-level outcomes. Household chaos may also help describe variations in outcomes between low SES and child development.

Maternal and Paternal Attachment Style and Chaos as Risk Factors for Parenting Behavior

Household chaos and insecure parental attachment styles are associated with lower quality parenting behaviors. However, there is a paucity of evidence regarding fathers' parenting behaviors, and no studies examine if chaotic home environments moderate the attachment style-parenting behavior relationship. Using data from both mothers and fathers of 742 children (40.5% African American) living in rural, low-resource communities, the current study examined the individual and joint effects of self-reported adult attachment style and two domains of household chaos on observed maternal and paternal parenting behaviors during structured play with their 58-month old child (49.6% female). Multivariate models revealed that, even after controlling for confounders, attachment insecurity predicted lower quality parenting behavior for mothers and fathers. Further, for both mothers and fathers, the disorganized domain of household chaos, representing environments high in noise, clutter and disorder, predicted less sensitive and more intrusive parenting behavior. Finally, for mothers with dismissive attachment styles, high levels of disorganization appeared to exacerbate caregiving difficulties; this moderating relationship was not evident for fathers. These findings suggest that the stress of a chronically disorganized family environment may impact the expression of mothers' insecure tendencies in the context of parenting, thereby intensifying less sensitive and more intrusive parenting behaviors.

Self-Reported Adult Attachment and Observed Parenting Behavior of New Mothers and Fathers

This study examined associations between parents’ self-reported adult attachment and observed parenting behavior using a dyadic and family systemic approach. 182 primiparous expectant couples (182 mothers and 182 fathers) reported on their attachment avoidance and anxiety during the third trimester of pregnancy and were observed interacting with their infants at 3 and 9 months postpartum to assess positive and negative parenting behavior. Path analyses revealed that fathers had the lowest observed negative parenting behavior at 3 months postpartum when they were low in anxiety and mothers were also low in anxiety or avoidance. At 9 months postpartum, greater attachment avoidance was associated with lower observed positive parenting behavior and higher observed negative parenting behavior regardless of parent gender. Moreover, when mothers were more anxious and fathers more avoidant, mothers exhibited greater negative parenting behavior; when mothers were more avoidant and fathers more anxious, mothers exhibited less positive parenting behavior.

The role of coparenting in the association between parental neuroticism and harsh intrusive parenting

This study examined the moderating role of the coparenting relationship in the associations between neuroticism and harsh intrusive parenting for mothers and fathers. Data came from a longitudinal study of 182 U.S. dual-earner, primiparous couples and their infant children, and were derived through self-report and observational assessments across 3 waves of data collection. Sequential regression analyses indicated that greater undermining coparenting behavior was positively associated with maternal harsh intrusive behavior. Moderation analyses revealed that only when undermining coparenting was high was maternal neuroticism significantly associated with greater harsh maternal intrusiveness. We did not find associations of father neuroticism and coparenting with paternal harsh intrusive parenting behavior. Findings suggest that undermining coparenting behavior has both theoretical and practical significance for understanding the associations between maternal neuroticism and mothers' harsh intrusive parenting. Practitioners guiding the development and refinement of parenting interventions may find it prudent to include the coparenting subsystem when working with families. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Early student (dis)engagement: Contributions of household chaos, parenting, and self-regulatory skills

Previous studies suggest that the roots of school dropout (a) can be established early in life, (b) are likely to involve multilevel factors (home, child, classroom) operating prior to and during the elementary school years, and (c) can be identified by 3rd grade. The decision to drop out of school is thus a dynamic developmental process that can begin with disengagement in elementary school. Yet few studies have examined the multilevel factors that might contribute to children's early disengagement from school. In the present study, we examined associations between household chaos (i.e., disorganization and instability) from birth to age 5 and student (dis)engagement in third grade. We also examined positive parenting in early childhood (6-60 months) and child self-regulatory skills at kindergarten as potential mediators in this pathway. Participants were 1,097 children who participated in the Family Life Project, a longitudinal study of the development of children living in underresourced high poverty rural areas. Study questions were addressed using structural equation models. Results indicated that, even after taking into account a considerable number of covariates, early positive parenting and children's self-regulatory skills were viable process mechanisms through which early household disorganization, but not instability, was linked to student (dis)engagement in third grade. Findings are discussed with respect to the multilevel proximal forces at play in children's risk for early disengagement from school. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Parenting and Child Development: A Relational Health Perspective

A child's development is embedded within a complex system of relationships. Among the many relationships that influence children's growth and development, perhaps the most influential is the one that exists between parent and child. Recognition of the critical importance of early parent-child relationship quality for children's socioemotional, cognitive, neurobiological, and health outcomes has contributed to a shift in efforts to identify relational determinants of child outcomes. Recent efforts to extend models of relational health to the field of child development highlight the role that parent, child, and contextual factors play in supporting the development and maintenance of healthy parent-child relationships. This review presents a parent-child relational health perspective on development, with an emphasis on socioemotional outcomes in early childhood, along with brief attention to obesity and eating behavior as a relationally informed health outcome. Also emphasized here is the parent-health care provider relationship as a context for supporting healthy outcomes within families as well as screening and intervention efforts to support optimal relational health within families, with the goal of improving mental and physical health within our communities.

Associations between parenting behavior and executive function among preschool-aged children born very preterm

The objective of the current study was to determine whether three domains of observed parenting behavior were associated with executive function in preschool-aged children born very preterm (<30 completed weeks' gestation). Executive function of 41 preschool-aged (3.5 to 4.5 years) children was assessed using a standardized protocol (gift delay) and by parent-report (Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function-Preschool, BRIEF-P). Observational protocols were used to determine parental sensitivity, harsh intrusiveness, and dyadic mutuality in a semi-structured play task. Parental sensitivity and mutuality were rated as higher, and harsh intrusiveness was rated as lower for children high in executive function on the gift delay task. Similarly, correlations between the three parenting scales and the BRIEF-P Global Executive Composite t-score were in the expected direction though not always statistically significant. Findings suggest that very preterm children who experienced sensitive parenting and were rated as having greater mutuality in their interactions with their caregivers scored higher on executive function tasks. These findings add to the growing literature on the key role that sensitive parenting and mutually responsive, harmonious interactions between caregivers and children may play in the development of executive function in very preterm children.

Positive Parenting Moderates the Association between Temperament and Self-Regulation in Low-Income Toddlers

Self-regulation develops rapidly during the toddler years and underlies many important developmental outcomes, including social-emotional competence and academic achievement. It is important to understand factors that contribute to early self-regulation skills among children at risk for adjustment difficulties in these domains, such as children growing up in poverty. The current study examined mother-reported child temperament (negative affect, effortful control) and observed maternal parenting (during a mother-child free play) as contributing factors to toddlers' observed self-regulation during delay of gratification tasks at 27 months (snack delay) and 33 months (gift delay). Participants were 198 toddlers (M age = 27 months; 53% boys; 48% non-Hispanic white) and their mothers from low-income families. Mothers' negative parenting characterized by negative affect, hostility, and negative control was associated with poorer self-regulation contemporaneously. Toddlers' lower negative affect and higher effortful control predicted better self-regulation at 33 months, but positive parenting characterized by positive affect and sensitivity moderated these associations at both time points. Specifically, we found a buffering effect of high positive parenting among toddlers with a temperamental risk and a deleterious effect of low positive parenting despite toddlers' temperamental strength. Results highlight the importance of positive parenting for fostering the development of self-regulation among toddlers growing up with poverty-related and child-level risks.

Stability of Household and Housing Characteristics Among Farmworker Families in North Carolina: Implications for Health

Household and housing stability are important for health and well-being of individuals, particularly children. This analysis examines stability in household and housing over 2 years for North Carolina farmworker families with children. Mothers with a child aged 2-4 years in farmworker families (n = 248) completed interviews over 2 years. Household measures included number of adults and children, moves, and spouse absence. Housing measures included tenure, persons per bedroom, and kitchen facilities. Household and housing characteristics for participants retained in the study over 2 years (n = 221) were stable in number of persons, tenure, persons per bedroom, and kitchen facilities. Households were large with one-third having 3 or more adults, and one-quarter having 4 or more children. Most families rented houses (over 15 % owned), which were crowded. Participants lost to follow-up were similar to retained participants in household characteristics, but had worse housing characteristics. Comparative research on farmworker family household composition is needed.

Olhares de experiência: Investigação-Ação de futuros docentes com pictogramas de crianças

Desejamos que estudantes adquiram uma postura ativa e reflexiva em interações com crianças. Os objetivos de Investigação-Ação com futuros docentes, do Instituto de Educação, da Universidade do Minho, foram os seguintes: (1) o seu conhecimento experiencial com menino/as, entre 4 e12 anos, mediante técnicas de escuta ativa, rapport e análise de textos visuais/mistos; e (2) a sua sensibilidade a mudanças de vida precoce, em conversações, escrita e desenho. Apreciam-se fatores relacionais, moderadores socioculturais (e de estrutura familiar) e discriminaram-se indicadores de mal-estar subjetivo, risco e crise familiar. Apresenta-se a adesão e contrato, avaliação e finalização do processo.

Family Drawings before and after Treatment for Child Conduct Problems: Fluidity of Family Dysfunction

Children's drawings have previously been found to reflect their representations of family relationships. The present study examined whether evidence-based parent training for child conduct problems impacts on representations of family functioning using the Family Drawing Paradigm (FDP). N = 53 clinic-referred children (aged 3-15) with conduct problems and their families were assessed pre-treatment and at 6-month follow-up on a modified version of the FDP. Analyses of changes in the FDP revealed improvements in family functioning but not tone of language (as indicated by written descriptors) following treatment. Higher family dysfunction scores were associated with increased levels of callous-unemotional (CU) traits in the children pre-treatment. Children with high levels of CU, however, demonstrated greater change in FDP dysfunction than a low CU group, resulting in similar levels at follow-up. CU traits also moderated the association between change in family warmth and conduct problem severity, with increased FDP warmth more strongly related to improved conduct problems in the high vs. the low CU group. FDP drawings are sensitive to changes in family functioning arising from parent training, accounting for unique variance in child outcomes independent of verbal reports.

The interplay among socioeconomic status, household chaos, and parenting in the prediction of child conduct problems and callous-unemotional behaviors

Child conduct problems (CP) reflect a heterogeneous collection of oppositional, aggressive, norm-violating, and sometimes violent behaviors, whereas child callous-unemotional (CU) behaviors reflect interpersonal styles of interactions reflecting a lack of guilt and empathy as well as uncaring and shallow emotional responses to others. Taken together, high levels of child CP and CU behaviors are thought to identify a relatively homogenous group of children at elevated risk for persistent and more severe problem behaviors across childhood and into adulthood. Although a large body of research has examined the developmental etiology of CP behaviors, only recently has a developmental psychopathology approach been applied to early CU behaviors. The current study examines multiple levels of contextual influences during the first years of life, including family socioeconomic status, household chaos, and parenting behaviors, on CP and CU behaviors assessed during the first-grade year. Whereas previous studies found associations between parenting behaviors and child problem behaviors moderated by household chaos, the current study found no evidence of moderation. However, path analyses suggest that the associations between child CP and CU behaviors and the contextual variables of socioeconomic status (family income and parental education) and household chaos (disorganization and instability) were mediated by maternal sensitive and harsh-intrusive parenting behavior. Analyses are presented, interpreted, and discussed with respect to both bioecological and family stress models of development.

The role of household chaos in understanding relations between early poverty and children's academic achievement

The following prospective longitudinal study used an epidemiological sample (N = 1,236) to consider the potential mediating role of early cumulative household chaos (6-58 months) on associations between early family income poverty (6 months) and children's academic achievement in kindergarten. Two dimensions of household chaos, disorganization and instability, were examined as mediators. Results revealed that, in the presence of household disorganization (but not instability) and relevant covariates, income poverty was no longer directly related to academic achievement. Income poverty was, however, positively related to household disorganization, which was, in turn, associated with lower academic achievement. Study results are consistent with previous research indicating that household chaos conveys some of the adverse longitudinal effects of income poverty on children's outcomes and extend previous findings specifically to academic achievement in early childhood.

Parenting and children's representations of family predict disruptive and callous-unemotional behaviors

Data from a large prospective longitudinal study (n = 1,239) was used to investigate the association between observed sensitive parenting in early childhood and children's representations of family relationships as measured by the Family Drawing Paradigm (FDP) in first grade as well as the extent to which these representations partially mediate the influences of early caregiving experiences on later conduct problems and callous-unemotional behaviors. A structural equation modeling approach revealed that less sensitive parenting at 24, 36, and 58 months predicts higher levels of conduct problems (CP) and callous-unemotional (CU) behaviors in first grade controlling for earlier measures of CP and CU behaviors. Results also indicated that greater dysfunctional family representations, as assessed with the FDP, are significantly associated with higher CU behaviors in the first grade, but not CP. Finally, a test of the indirect pathway suggests that children's dysfunctional family representations may, in part, account for the association between sensitive parenting and CU behaviors.

Childhood sexual trauma and subsequent parenting beliefs and behaviors

Using propensity-matched controls, the present study examines the long-term adjustment of women reporting childhood sexual trauma (CST) at or before the age of 14 in terms of parenting efficacy and parenting behavior. Data for these analyses were obtained from mother reports and from observational protocols from a longitudinal study of low-income, rural families. The novel use of propensity-matched controls to create a control group matched on family of origin variables provides evidence that when women with CST are compared with the matched comparison women, females who experienced CST show poorer functioning across multiple domains of parenting (sensitivity, harsh intrusiveness, boundary dissolution), but not in parenting efficacy. Follow-up moderation analyses suggest that the potential effects of trauma on parenting behaviors are not attenuated by protective factors such as higher income, higher education, or stable adult relationships. Implications for interventions with childhood sexual trauma histories and directions for future study are proposed.