Emotional Reactivity to Daily Family Conflicts: Testing the Within-Person Sensitization

Dynamic characteristics of parent-adolescent closeness: Predicting adolescent emotion dysregulation

Emotion dysregulation is linked to adolescent psychological problems. However, little is known about how lability in daily closeness of parent-adolescent dyads affects the development of emotion dysregulation. This study examined how closeness lability with parents was associated with emotion dysregulation 12 months later. The sample included 144 adolescents (M = 14.62, SD = 0.83) who participated in a baseline assessment, 21-day daily diaries, and a 12-month follow-up assessment. Parents and adolescents both reported adolescent emotion dysregulation at baseline and follow-up assessments, while adolescents reported daily parent-adolescent closeness. Results indicate that lability in father-adolescent closeness was associated with increased emotion dysregulation at 12 months reported by adolescents. However, lability in mother-adolescent closeness was not associated with adolescent emotion dysregulation. Moreover, when baseline father-adolescent closeness was high, greater lability in father-adolescent closeness was associated with decreased emotion dysregulation. Findings indicate that daily fluctuations in father-adolescent closeness are a key family characteristic that links to long-term adolescent emotion dysregulation.

Bidirectional associations between parenting stress and child psychopathology: The moderating role of maternal affection

Parenting stress and child psychopathology are closely linked in parent-child dyads, but how the bidirectional association varies across childhood and adolescence, and shifts depending on maternal affection are not well understood. Guided by the transactional model of development, this longitudinal, prospective study examined the bidirectional relations between parenting stress and child internalizing and externalizing problems and investigated the moderating role of maternal affection from childhood to adolescence. Participants were from the Future of Families and Child Wellbeing Study, a diverse, nationally representative sample of 2,143 caregiving mothers who completed assessments at children ages 5, 9, and 15. Using cross-lagged panel modeling, we found bidirectional effects between parenting stress and child internalizing and externalizing problems. However, additional multigroup analyses showed that bidirectional associations depend on the levels of maternal affection. In the high maternal affection group, parenting stress at age 5 predicted higher internalizing and externalizing problems at age 9, and reverse child-to-parent paths were found from age 9 to age 15. In contrast, only one cross-lagged path was found in the low maternal affection group. Findings suggest that maternal affection can heighten the transactional associations between parenting stress and child psychopathology.

The Prospective Association between Emotional Reactivity and Adolescent Suicidal Ideation

Despite the importance of emotions in our daily lives, less is known about the role of emotional reactivity in suicidal risk. This brief study investigated whether emotional reactivity is associated with adolescent suicidal ideation six months later. Participants were 139 adolescents (55% female; Mage = 12.79, SDage = 0.73) who completed baseline assessments, a 10-day daily diary protocol, and six-month follow-up assessments. Results showed that higher emotional reactivity indicated by increased negative emotions and decreased positive emotions was associated with a greater risk for suicidal ideation. The findings suggest that adolescents with greater emotional reactivity to daily school problems had elevated risks for suicidal ideation. This study supports the importance of emotional reactivity in daily life for preventing adolescent suicidal ideation.

Daily association between parent-adolescent relationship and life satisfaction: The moderating role of emotion dysregulation

INTRODUCTION

In adolescence, life satisfaction is an early indicator of later psychological well-being. However, researchers know little about how daily family relationships shape adolescent life satisfaction. The current study examined the day-to-day associations between parent-adolescent relationships and life satisfaction, and whether adolescent emotion dysregulation moderated these associations.

METHODS

A total of 191 adolescents (Mage  = 12.93, SDage  = 0.75, 53% female) recruited from junior high schools in Taiwan participated in a 10-day daily diary protocol. We conducted multilevel analyses to examine within-family and between-family processes.

RESULTS

At the within-family level, adolescents reported higher life satisfaction on days when parent-adolescent closeness was higher, but lower life satisfaction on days when parent-adolescent conflict was higher. At the between-family level, higher parent-adolescent closeness was associated with greater life satisfaction on average, while parent-adolescent conflict was not related to adolescent life satisfaction. Cross-level interactions indicated that within-family changes in parent-adolescent closeness and conflict were only associated with life satisfaction for adolescents with higher levels of emotion dysregulation, indicating emotion dysregulation may intensify the role of daily parent-adolescent relationships in shaping adolescent life satisfaction.

CONCLUSIONS

This study expands current literature and provides novel evidence that changes in day-to-day parent-adolescent relationships have important implications for adolescent life satisfaction, especially for youth higher in emotion dysregulation. The findings underscore the importance of evaluating family and individual characteristics to better support adolescent well-being.

The Mediation of Care and Overprotection between Parent-Adolescent Conflicts and Adolescents' Psychological Difficulties during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Which Role for Fathers?

BACKGROUND

There is evidence of a significant raise in youths' emotional and behavioral difficulties during the pandemic. Only a few studies have addressed parent-adolescent conflict, and none investigated the possible mediating effect of parenting in the association between conflicts with parents and adolescents' symptoms. This study aimed at investigating youths' psychological symptoms during the pandemic, focusing on the predicting effect of parent-adolescent conflict. The mediating role of care and overprotection was also explored, considering whether adolescent gender moderated this mediation.

METHODS

195 adolescents aged 14-18 years participated in an online longitudinal study. Perceived conflict with parents and parenting dimensions (Parental Bonding Instrument; PBI) were assessed at baseline (2021). Self-reported psychological difficulties (Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire; SDQ) were collected at baseline and after one year (2022).

RESULTS

A significantly severer symptomatology was found in adolescents having a conflictual relationship with one or both parents. Major conflicts with parents correlated with lower care and greater overprotection in mothers and fathers. However, parental overprotection and maternal care were not mediators of the relationship between conflict and youths' difficulties. The only exception was represented by paternal care that fully mediated this relationship in both adolescent males and females.

CONCLUSIONS

Although further investigations are needed to overcome limitations due to the small sample, findings extend our insight into the impact of parent-adolescent conflict, highlighting the role of fathers' care and the need to maximize their involvement in clinical interventions.