Why do ethnic minority (Indian) children living in Britain display more internalizing problems than their English peers? The role of social support and parental style as mediators

The purpose of this paper was to examine explanatory mechanisms of differences in children's internalizing problems between ethnic minority (i.e., Indian) and ethnic majority (i.e., English) children living in Britain. Fifty-nine English children (31 girls) and 66 Indian children (30 girls), and their parents constituted the sample of this study. Both mothers and fathers reported on the children's internalizing problems, and provided reports of their own parenting style and social support. Analysis showed that maternal positivity, paternal negativity, and both parents’ reports of social support mediated the link between ethnicity and internalizing problems. Furthermore, according to the best-fitting structural equation model, ethnicity did not have a direct influence on children's internalizing problems, nor on parental style. Ethnicity instead predicted parental reports of social support. Social support, in turn, contributed to children's internalizing problems directly as well as indirectly through parenting style. Finally, although parenting style significantly influenced children's internalizing problems, social support was a much stronger contributor. The role of the distal as well as the proximal environments on children's adjustment is discussed.

A Culturally Informed Model of Academic Well-Being for Latino Youth: The Importance of Discriminatory Experiences and Social Support

This study tested a culturally informed model of academic well-being for 278 Latino youth. We examined detrimental effects of discriminatory experiences and protective effects of social support on self-reported academic outcomes. Models specified main and buffering effects of social support and compared contributions of support provided by parents, school, and peers. Data indicated that discrimination was associated with lower academic well-being, social support buffered effects of discrimination on academic well-being, and parental support was most predictive of greater academic well-being. Combined sources of social support were more important than any one source alone. Implications for culturally specified research, preventive interventions, and practitioners are discussed.

Genetic and environmental influences on ratings of manifest anxiety by parents and children

Parental reports and children's self-reports of manifest anxiety were obtained from a community-based sample of twin pairs on two occasions approximately 19 months apart, using the Revised Child Manifest Anxiety Scale (Reynolds & Richmond, 1978). In prior cross-sectional studies, a low degree of agreement between parent and child assessments of anxiety was found. Furthermore, parental reports were found to reflect a higher heritability than children's self-reports (Eaves et al., 1997; Thapar & McGuffin, 1995). The index of temporal stability was moderate for all informants (circa r = .5 to r = .6). To test whether the components contributing to the temporal stability differed between the informants, structural equation models were fitted to the data using the program, Mx: Statistical Modeling (Neale, 1995). The results showed substantial differences in genetic effects according to both gender and informant. For children's self-reports, temporal stability was largely a function of environmental effects, with genetic effects contributing a modest 20%, whereas for parental reports, temporal stability was largely a function of genetic effects. The heritability was higher for parental reports than for boys' self-reports and the genetic covariance between parents and their sons was near zero, indicating that they were reporting on quite different aspects of anxiety. However, for girls, heritability for maternal reports was lower than for self-reports, and the genetic covariance between mother and daughter was about the same as that between mothers and fathers, meaning that they were assessing the same genetically influenced aspect of anxiety. These results highlight the need to focus on gender differences.

Negative life events and the adjustment of school-age children: testing protective models

Investigated the association between negative life events and protective factors in predicting the adaptive, emotional, and behavioral functioning of school-age children. Three possible models of this relation were tested using hierarchical analyses: the compensatory model, the challenge model, and the immunity/vulnerability model. Participants were 140 children between the ages of 8 to 13.6 years. Inconsistent with all 3 models, negative life events were not associated with adaptive or internalizing behavior. However, consistent with the compensatory model, both negative life events and protective factors contributed independently to the prediction of externalizing behavior. Also, a significant interaction was found in predicting internalizing behavior for the female-only sample showing girls with significant negative life events and social support demonstrating less internalizing behavior.

The role of parental and extrafamilial social support in the psychosocial adjustment of children with a chronically ill father

The relationships among illness stress, perceived support, and child psychosocial adjustment were examined for children living with a chronically ill father. Participants included fathers, mothers, and one child from 53 families in which the father had hemophilia and, in some cases, was HIV seropositive. Objective indicators of severity of illness and subjective measures of the physical and psychological impact of illness were used as sources of children's stress. Results indicated that the impact of illness, but not the severity of illness itself, related to child psychosocial adjustment. Main effects were observed for parental support on child- and parent-reported internalizing problems and stress-buffering effects were obtained for parental support and extrafamilial support on parent-reported internalizing problems. Parental support also demonstrated a stress-buffering effect for child-reported depression. Assessment and intervention implications for behavioral clinicians and researchers are discussed.

Social support and psychological distress in Kuwaiti boys and girls exposed to the Gulf crisis

Tested hypotheses about the role of social support in the relation between trauma from the Gulf crisis experience and psychological or health distress 2 years after the crisis. Participants were 151 Kuwaiti boys and girls exposed to high or low levels of trauma during the crisis. Participants were administered the Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Index (PTSDI), Children's Depression Inventory (CDI), and measures of social support and health complaints. Children exposed to high levels of trauma had higher PTSDI and CDI scores and more health complaints than controls. Social support did not mediate the relation between trauma and distress. However, social support and sex functioned jointly as moderators of trauma on distress. Social support was shown to buffer the effect of trauma in girls but not in boys. Boys, however, reported lower levels of support than girls. The findings underscore the importance of the appropriate model specification in studies of stress and social support.

Impact of two social-cognitive interventions to prevent adolescent substance use: test of an amenability to treatment model

An amenability to treatment model stipulates that interventions may be differentially effective for subgroups of individuals with similar characteristics. Using such a model, the present study tests the impact of two social-cognitive interventions implemented in the sixth (Intervention I) and eighth/ninth (Intervention II) grades on students' skill acquisition and on their ninth and tenth grade substance use. A randomized factorial design was used to examine main and interaction effects within the context of student family household status and gender. Positive program effects were found for Intervention II on skill acquisition and overall drug involvement. Interaction effects of Intervention II x Family Household Status provided support for the amenability to treatment model, but no support for the model was observed based on student gender. Possible explanations for the study findings are presented and future research directions are proposed to address why differences emerge in amenability to intervention and why such differences occur for specific subgroups.

Temperament and school-aged children's coping abilities and responses to stress

To measure children's temperament and coping abilities, we administered the Stress Impact Scale to sixty 9- to 12-year-old children. Trained observers also completed an observational rating scale of coping behavior, the Coping Inventory, for each of the participants. The Stress Response Scale and Middle Childhood Temperament Questionnaire were completed by the mothers of the participants. Results showed that activity level was most predictive of effective coping as observed in the school environment. Dimensions of temperament that were most closely associated with less difficult responses to stress, fewer behavior problems, and a lower perceived stress impact were the following: predictability of behavior, positive mood, adaptability to change, higher approach, lower intensity of reaction, and lower responsiveness threshold. Age was also strongly associated with coping abilities observed in the school environment. The results have implications for therapists, teachers, and other professionals who work with children.

Perceived family and social support: impact on children

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relation of children's perceived family and social support to their behavior and hopelessness.

METHOD

Subjects were 100 child psychiatric inpatients who completed a series of self-report measures, including the Social Support Questionnaire-Self Report, the Scales of Independent Behavior, and the Hopelessness Scale for Children.

RESULTS

Children who perceived lower levels of family and social support were more withdrawn or inattentive and were more harmful to others, damaging to property, and uncooperative. In addition, children who reported fewer supportive persons in their lives had higher levels of hopelessness.

CONCLUSIONS

These data emphasize the connection between social support systems, psychopathology, and hopelessness. These relationships may indicate that children need a sense that they are cared for and supported if they are to avoid serious problems and feelings of hopelessness.

The effects of child temperament, maternal characteristics, and family circumstances on the maladjustment of school-age children

Eighty-nine mothers with children between the ages of 8 and 11 years reported perceptions of their child's adjustment and temperament, and described concurrent family circumstances such as socioeconomic status, level of parental distress, major life events experienced, maternal hassles, and their own psychiatric symptoms. A conceptual model hypothesizing the direct and indirect effects of family circumstances, maternal characteristics, and child temperament on the maladjustment of school-age children was tested using causal modeling with residual analysis. Fifty-six percent of child externalizing behavior was directly explained by the negative reactivity and nonpersistence of the child's temperament, and maternal hassles. A total of 33% of the variance of internalizing behavior was explained by the direct effects of negative reactivity of the child's temperament and maternal hassles. For both externalizing and internalizing behavior, a total of 54% of the variance in maternal hassles was explained by three variables: maternal psychiatric symptoms contributed 34%, major life events added 15%, and the intensity of the mother's temperament added an additional 5%. These three variables have a direct effect on maternal hassles and together had an indirect effect of .24 on child externalizing behavior through maternal hassles. Likewise, they have a direct effect on maternal hassles and together had an indirect effect of .31 on child internalizing behavior through maternal hassles.

Assessment of psychosocial experiences in childhood: methodological issues and some illustrative findings

The development of a new standardised investigator-based interview, PACE (Psychosocial Assessment of Childhood Experiences), for the assessment of acute life events and long-term psychosocial experiences is described. An application of PACE to a sample of 84 children referred to psychiatric clinics and 22 general population controls, is presented. Reliability was assessed using a separate clinic sample of 15 child-parent pairs. The findings showed that PACE has satisfactory reliability and discriminant validity.

Child maltreatment, stressful life events, and behavior problems in school-aged children in residential treatment

This study examined the prevalence of child maltreatment, stressful life events, and behavior problems in school-aged children in residential treatment. The sample included 44 children, ages 5-13 years; 61% were male and 39% female. Results indicated that the entire sample had experienced one or more types of maltreatment, with physical abuse being more prevalent. Seventy-four percent of subjects scored in the clinical range on the Child Behavior Checklist (Achenbach & Edelbrock, 1983). Proportionally more physically abused children scored in the clinical range when compared to nonphysically abused children. The number of stressful life events experienced after admission to the treatment facility was found to be related to increased behavior problems.

A two-year longitudinal study of stressful life events, social support, and social problem-solving skills: contributions to children's behavioral and academic adjustment

We investigated the contributions of stressful life events and resources (social support and social problem-solving skills) to predicting changes in children's adjustment. At Time 1, 361 third through fifth graders completed measures of social support and social problem-solving skills. Their parents completed a stressful life events scale and a child behavior rating measure. The children's teachers provided ratings of behavioral and academic adjustment. 2-year follow-up data (Time 2) were obtained for approximately half of the sample on the same measures. Time 1 stressful life events and resources showed some significant but modest zero-order correlations with the Time 2 adjustment indices. Hierarchical multiple regressions revealed prospective effects for Time 1 social support on later teacher-rated competencies and grade-point average. In addition, increases over time in social support and social problem-solving skills (a composite score) were significantly related to improvement in behavioral and academic adjustment, whereas stressful life events were not predictive of adjustment.

Child and parent perceptions of the upsettingness of major life events

An adaptation of the Coddington Social Readjustment Rating Scale for use with first-grade children was administered to 164 first-graders and their parents. Parents indicated whether each event occurred and both parents and their children rated the upsettingness to the child. Parent ratings of stress are significantly higher than child ratings for specific events and a composite stress measure. Parent and child composite scores correlated 0.21 when the number of events was controlled. Implications for research on life events and childhood stress are discussed.