The Association of Externalizing Behavior and Parent-Child Relationships: An Intergenerational Study

Associations between externalizing behavior problems and risky sexual behaviors in adolescence: Attachment as a mediator

INTRODUCTION

Risky sexual behaviors in adolescence are associated with negative health and psychological functioning outcomes. Although the association between behavior problems and risky sexual behaviors is well established, addressing these problems requires understanding the mechanisms that help explain this association. Adolescent attachment, while related to risky sexual behavior, has not been extensively explored as an outcome of childhood externalizing problems. The two objectives of this study were to explore the links between parental and peer attachment and risky sexual behaviors and to examine the mediating effect of attachment on the links between behavior problems and risky sexual behaviors.

METHODS

Five hundred and ninety-eight French-Canadian adolescents (46.2% girls), Mage at T1 = 13.23; Mage at T2 = 14.28; Mage at T3 = 17.35) participated in this longitudinal study.

RESULTS

The quality of parental attachment at T2 was significantly and negatively associated with risky sexual behaviors 3 years later, at T3. More specifically, a lower quality parental attachment relationship was associated with having nonexclusive partners as well as with inconsistent condom use. Finally, parental attachment (T2) was a significant mediator between behavior problems (T1) and risky sexual behaviors (T3), but only for younger adolescents.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings suggest that in addition to behavior problems in adolescence, the quality of parental attachment relationships may help in understanding risky sexual behaviors in adolescence.

The Effects of Adolescent Cannabis Use on Psychosocial Functioning: A Critical Review of the Evidence

Although observational studies have shown that adolescent cannabis use is associated with impairments in important psychosocial domains, including peer, romantic, and parent-child relationships, educational outcomes, adult socioeconomic status, and legal consequences, mechanisms underlying these associations remain largely unclear. Cannabis use may have a deleterious causal effect on functioning, but it is also possible the association may be due to reverse causation or confounding by shared vulnerability factors that account for both cannabis use in adolescence and concurrent and subsequent psychosocial impairment. Causally informative studies that delineate these possibilities, including research using epidemiologic samples and quasi-experimental designs, are critical to move the field forward.

The Effects of Adolescent Cannabis Use on Psychosocial Functioning: A Critical Review of the Evidence

Although observational studies have shown that adolescent cannabis use is associated with impairments in important psychosocial domains, including peer, romantic, and parent-child relationships, educational outcomes, adult socioeconomic status, and legal consequences, mechanisms underlying these associations remain largely unclear. Cannabis use may have a deleterious causal effect on functioning, but it is also possible the association may be due to reverse causation or confounding by shared vulnerability factors that account for both cannabis use in adolescence and concurrent and subsequent psychosocial impairment. Causally informative studies that delineate these possibilities, including research using epidemiologic samples and quasi-experimental designs, are critical to move the field forward.

A Prospective Longitudinal Study of Mother-Child Attachment and Externalizing Trajectories in Boys and Girls

In clinically referred children, boys and those with disorganized mother-child attachments tend to show the most maladaptive externalizing trajectories; however, additional research is necessary to test whether these findings hold in a community sample. Therefore, 235 community children (106 boys) were followed from ages 6 to 15 years across six time points. Multiple-group linear growth curves with mother-child attachment as a time-invariant covariate were fit to the data to explore externalizing trajectories for boys and girls. Results showed that boys had higher initial externalizing levels than girls, and children generally experienced a decline in symptoms over time. No significant trajectory differences were found for girls, and boys with different attachment classifications did not differ on their initial externalizing levels; however, boys with avoidant attachments (with resistant attachments trending) experienced a steeper decline in externalizing symptoms longitudinally. Implications for intervention and prevention are discussed.

The mediating role of internalizing and externalizing symptoms in the relationship between childhood trauma and suicidality among adolescents: a structural equation model

BACKGROUND

The objective of this study is to investigate the direct and indirect effects of childhood trauma, internalizing symptoms, and externalizing symptoms on suicidality among adolescents, thereby establishing a structural equation model.

METHODS

The present study uses a cross-sectional descriptive design. Among 147 adolescents aged 12-17, 93 outpatients diagnosed with major depressive disorder and 54 controls were included in the study. They completed the Early Trauma Inventory Self-Report (Short Form) and Columbia Suicidality Severity Rating Scale. Their parents completed the Child Behavior Checklist. Analyses were performed using Pearson's correlation and structural equation modelling.

RESULTS

Childhood trauma had both direct and indirect effects, via internalizing symptoms and externalizing symptoms, on suicidality. Internalizing symptoms had a direct effect on suicidality. Meanwhile, externalizing symptoms were not directly associated with suicidality, but indirectly associated via internalizing symptoms.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings provide in-depth understanding of the mediating role of internalizing symptoms and externalizing symptoms in the relationship between childhood trauma and suicidality, suggesting that the therapeutic interventions for both internalizing symptoms and externalizing symptoms may be important to prevent suicide in adolescents with childhood trauma.

Moderating Factors Associated With Interrupting the Transmission of Domestic Violence Among Adolescents

Exposure to child maltreatment in the family-of-origin has consistently been linked to intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetration in adulthood. Although the concept of a cycle of violence presumes that the transmission of violence is expressed directly across generations, some protective factors such as social support, self-esteem, and relationship quality with parents may ultimately be influential in nonviolent behavior in adult relationships. Using the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health data set, we tested protective factors to see if and to what extent they disrupted the association from early childhood maltreatment to experiencing violence later on in adult relationships. We found that there was a positive association between adolescence exposure to maltreatment and adult perpetration and victimization of IPV. Also, social support in adolescence was identified as a predictor of lower levels of violence in adult relationship. Clinical implications were discussed to help therapists intervene with adolescents in the hopes of reducing their propensity toward violent relationships in adulthood.

Adolescent risk and protective factors predicting triple trajectories of substance use from adolescence into adulthood

OBJECTIVES

Since the number of individuals who use substances in the United States has markedly increased every year, substance use is a significant public health concern. The current study examines the possible risk and protective factors associated with triple comorbid trajectories of longitudinal alcohol, tobacco, and cannabis use from age 14 to 36.

METHODS

A community sample of 674 participants (53% African Americans and 47% Puerto Ricans; 60% females) were recruited from the Harlem Longitudinal Development Study. Multinomial logistic regression analyses were conducted to examine the associations between the risk (low self-control, peer drug use) and protective (parent-child attachment, family church attendance) factors at age 14 and membership in the triple trajectory groups derived from a multivariate growth mixture model.

RESULTS

Low self-control and peer drug use were associated with an increased likelihood of being a member in the triple comorbid trajectory groups compared to the reference group (i.e., low alcohol, no tobacco, and no cannabis use). On the other hand, parent-child attachment and family church attendance were associated with a decreased likelihood of being a member in the triple comorbid trajectory groups compared to the reference group.

CONCLUSIONS

Treatment programs for adolescents who use substances may be more helpful if their parents and/or friends could also participate together with the adolescent, rather than only the adolescent participates in the treatment programs. Further research is needed to gain a greater understanding of the conceptual nature of the relationship between earlier risk and protective factors and later substance use patterns.

Antisocial Behavior in Juvenile Offenders: A Development Bioecological Approach

This review analyzes the bioecological model of human development as a comprehensive framework of adolescent antisocial behavior. Variables such as family and peers with antisocial backgrounds, antisocial peer attitudes, alcohol consumption, offensive behavior, education level, perception of safety in the community, and attention deficit hyperactive disorder, are discussed. This review supports the bioecological model as a plausible framework for understanding antisocial behavior during adolescence.

Internalizing and Externalizing Behaviors among Ukrainian Children: The Role of Family Communication and Maternal Coping

OBJECTIVES

This study aims to explore the relationship of mother's ways of coping with stress and family communication with the child internalizing and externalizing behaviors in Ukraine.

METHODS

In a cross-sectional sample of 294 mother-and-child (9-16 years of age) Ukrainian dyads, mothers answered questions from the revised Ways of Coping Checklist, FACES Family Communication scale, Child Behavior Checklist, and questions about their sociodemographic characteristics.

RESULTS

Robust regression results suggest increased internalizing behaviors were statistically associated with poor family communication (b = -.19, 95% CI [-.30, -.08], p<.01), maternal coping by accepting responsibility (b = 2.14, 95% CI [.44, 3.84], p<0.05), escape-avoidance (b = 3.79, 95% CI [1.00, 6.58], p<0.01), planful problem solving (b=2.80, 95% CI [.61, 4.99], p<0.05), child female gender (b = -2.53, 95% CI [-4.22, -.83], p<.01) and lower family income (b = -.003, 95% CI [-.006, -.0001], p<.01). Increased child externalizing behaviors were statistically associated with maternal seeking social support (b = 3.25, 95% CI [1.06, 5.43], p<.01), decreased positive reappraisal (b = -1.52, 95% CI [-2.91, -.12], p <.05), maternal unemployment (b = -2.80, 95% CI [-5.30, -.30], p<.05), poor family communication (b = .46, 95% CI [-.59, -.34], p<.001), and child male gender (b = 3.48, 95%CI [1.53, 5.44], p<.01). Poor family communication was linked with significantly higher increase in internalizing behaviors for girls compared to boys (b = .17, 95% CI [.03, .32], p<.05).

CONCLUSIONS

When examining child internalizing and externalizing behaviors it is important to consider the role of family communication and maternal coping.

Maternal sensitivity during the first 3½ years of life predicts electrophysiological responding to and cognitive appraisals of infant crying at midlife

This study examined the predictive significance of maternal sensitivity in early childhood for electrophysiological responding to and cognitive appraisals of infant crying at midlife in a sample of 73 adults (age = 39 years; 43 females; 58 parents) from the Minnesota Longitudinal Study of Risk and Adaptation. When listening to an infant crying, both parents and nonparents who had experienced higher levels of maternal sensitivity in early childhood (between 3 and 42 months of age) exhibited larger changes from rest toward greater relative left (vs. right) frontal EEG activation, reflecting an approach-oriented response to distress. Parents who had experienced greater maternal sensitivity in early childhood also made fewer negative causal attributions about the infant's crying; the association between sensitivity and attributions for infant crying was nonsignificant for nonparents. The current findings demonstrate that experiencing maternal sensitivity during the first 3½ years of life has long-term predictive significance for adults' processing of infant distress signals more than three decades later. (PsycINFO Database Record

A meta-analysis of longitudinal associations between substance use and interpersonal attachment security

Substance use has long been associated with close relationship distress. Although the direction of influence for this association has not been established, it has often been assumed that substance use is the causal agent and that close relationship distress is the effect. But research seeking to establish temporal precedence in this link has produced mixed findings. Further, theoretical models of substance use and close relationship processes present the plausibility of the inverse pathway-that insecure close relationships may serve as a vulnerability factor for the development of later substance problems. The current review applies an attachment-theoretical framework to the association between close social bonds and substance use and substance-related problems. Targeting longitudinal studies of attachment and substance use, we examined 665 effect sizes drawn from 34 samples (total N = 56,721) spanning time frames ranging from 1 month to 20 years (M = 3.8 years). Results revealed a significant prospective correlation between earlier attachment and later substance use (r = -.11, 95% CI [-.14, -0.08]). Further, cross-lagged coefficients were calculated which parsed auto-regressive effects, indicating that lower attachment security temporally preceded increases in substance use (r = -.05, 95% CI [-.06, -.04]). Analyses further indicated that the pathway from earlier attachment to later substance use was significantly stronger than that from earlier substance use to later attachment. Results also revealed several moderators of the attachment-substance use link. These findings suggest that insecure attachment may be a vulnerability factor for substance use, and indicate close relationship quality as a promising line of inquiry in research on substance use disorder risk. (PsycINFO Database Record

Impact of Physical Abuse on Internalizing Behavior Across Generations

This study investigated the multigenerational impact of mothers' own exposure to physical maltreatment on internalizing symptoms in her child after accounting for her parenting practices, depression, and the child's own exposure to stressful life events. Children (n = 101, ages 5-16), predominantly African American, were recruited into this cross sectional study using ethnographic mapping and targeted sampling for high-risk neighborhoods. Mothers reported retrospectively on their own exposure to physical maltreatment in childhood, their parenting practices, as well as current depressive symptoms. Maternal report of her child's exposure to stressful life events and child behavior was also collected. Maternal childhood exposure to physical maltreatment was significantly associated with her child's internalizing symptoms (p = .004); this effect remained after accounting for child sex, maternal depressive symptoms, harsh parenting practices, and the child's own exposure to stressful life events. Formal tests of mediation through these pathways were non-significant. Findings suggest mothers' experience of childhood maltreatment contributes uniquely to children's internalizing symptoms, potentially through previously uncharacterized pathways. Examination of additional behavioral, psychosocial and biological pathways may help better describe the multi-generational effects of child maltreatment.

Adolescent predictors of alcohol use in adulthood: A 22-year longitudinal study

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

The excessive consumption of alcohol is a major issue in the United States and elsewhere. It is associated with a number of adverse health consequences, as well as difficulty in relationships and employment. Therefore, the present longitudinal study investigates the direct and indirect adolescent predictors of alcohol use in adulthood.

METHODS

Among the 674 participants (53% African Americans, 47% Puerto Ricans), 60% were females (n = 405). Mplus software was used to perform structural equation modeling.

RESULTS

Parental problems with alcohol use in the participants' late adolescence were related to low parent-child attachment in late adolescence, which in turn, was related to self delinquency in late adolescence. This was related to peer delinquency in emerging adulthood, which in turn, was associated with alcohol use in emerging adulthood and in adulthood. Low parent-child attachment in late adolescence was also related to low satisfaction with school in late adolescence, which in turn, was related to self delinquency in late adolescence. This was associated with alcohol use in emerging adulthood, which in turn, was associated with alcohol use in adulthood.

CONCLUSIONS AND SCIENTIFIC SIGNIFICANCE

One of the key implications of this study is that an impaired low parent-child attachment relationship is a determinant of children's engagement in delinquent behavior and ultimately the use of alcohol in adult life. Implications for social interventions from the findings of the current study were also discussed. (Am J Addict 2016;25:549-556).

An Adverse Family Environment During Adolescence Predicts Marijuana Use and Antisocial Personality Disorder in Adulthood

Adult maladaptive behaviors including antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) and marijuana use are major public health concerns. At the present time, there is a dearth of research showing the interrelationships among the possible predictors of adult maladaptive behaviors (i.e., ASPD and marijuana use). Therefore, the current study examines the pathways from adverse family environments in late adolescence to these maladaptive behaviors in adulthood. There were 674 participants (52 % African Americans, 48 % Puerto Ricans). Sixty percent of the sample was female. Structural equation modeling in the current study included 4 waves of data collection (mean ages 19, 24, 29, and 36). An adverse family environment in late adolescence was related to greater externalizing personality in late adolescence, which in turn, was related to greater marijuana use in emerging adulthood. This in turn was positively associated with partner marijuana use in young adulthood, which in turn, was ultimately related to maladaptive behaviors in adulthood. An adverse family environment in late adolescence was also related to greater marijuana use in emerging adulthood, which in turn, was associated with an adverse relationship with one's partner in young adulthood. Such a negative partner relationship was related to maladaptive behaviors in adulthood. The findings suggest that family-focused interventions (Kumpfer and Alvarado in Am Psychol 58(6-7): 457-465, 2003) for dysfunctional families may be most helpful when they include the entire family.

Intergenerational Transmission of Externalizing Behavior

This prospective longitudinal investigation examined the predictors of generation 2 (G2) parental substance use as related to their generation 3 (G3) offspring's externalizing behavior. The sample comprised 281 mother- or father- child (G2/G3) pairs. The results indicated that the G1/G2 (generations 1 and 2) parent-child relationship during G2's adolescence predicted externalizing behavior in the G2 young adults which correlated with G2 parental substance use. G2 parental substance use was related to subsequent G2 substance use disorders (SUDS), and to the G2/G3 parent-child relationship. The G2/G3 parent-child relationship and G2's SUDS each predicted G3 externalizing behavior. The results highlight the significance of breaking the chain of transmission of externalizing behavior across generations. Implications for policy and programs addressing the etiology of externalizing behavior in the offspring are discussed within a developmental framework.

Intergenerational continuity in high-conflict family environments

In the current study, we examined continuity in conflict across generations and explored potential mediators and moderators that could explain this continuity. We followed 246 targets from adolescence to adulthood and examined family conflict as reported by multiple reporters in targets' family of origin and current families. Results showed that conflict in the current family was strongly correlated with that of the family of origin in women but not in men. Continuity in family conflict across generations was mediated by patterns of elevated adolescent externalizing behavior in members of the second generation (G2). In addition, analyses revealed an interaction between both G2 partners' externalizing behavior such that if one partner in the G2 family demonstrated high levels of externalizing behavior, elevated levels of family conflict resulted. Potential explanations and implications of these findings are considered.

The interpersonal antecedents of supportive parenting: a prospective, longitudinal study from infancy to adulthood

This study drew on prospective, longitudinal data to test the hypothesis that the intergenerational transmission of positive parenting is mediated by competence in subsequent relationships with peers and romantic partners. Interview-based ratings of supportive parenting were completed with a sample of 113 individuals (46% male) followed from birth to age 32. Results indicated that supportive parenting during adulthood was predicted by observed maternal sensitivity during the first 3 years of life, even after controlling for adults' age at first childbirth and adults' socioeconomic status and educational attainment at the time of the second generation parenting assessments. Moreover, the intergenerational association in parenting was mediated by later competence in relationships with peers and romantic partners. In particular, sensitive caregiving in infancy and early childhood predicted teachers' rankings of children's social competence with peers during childhood and adolescence, which in turn forecasted later interview ratings of romantic relationship competence during young adulthood, which in turn predicted supportive parenting in adulthood. Findings are discussed with respect to current theory and research on the intergenerational transmission of parenting.

Adult work commitment, financial stability, and social environment as related to trajectories of marijuana use beginning in adolescence

BACKGROUND

The objective of this study is to examine trajectories of marijuana use among African Americans and Puerto Ricans from adolescence to adulthood, with attention paid to work commitment, financial stability, drug use, and violence.

METHODS

Participants (N = 816) completed in-class questionnaires as students in the East Harlem area of New York City at the first wave and provided follow-up data at 4 additional points in time (mean ages = 14, 19, 24, 29, and 32 years). Among 816 participants, there were 60% females, 52% African American, and 48% Puerto Ricans.

RESULTS

The chronic marijuana user trajectory group compared with the none or low, increasing, and/or moderate marijuana user trajectory group was associated with negative aspects of work commitment, financial stability, and the social environment. The chronic marijuana user group was similar to the increasing marijuana user group on work commitment and financial stability.

CONCLUSIONS

These results suggest that treating marijuana use in late adolescence may reduce difficulty in the assumption of adult roles. Because chronic marijuana users experienced the most adverse effects in each of the domains, they require more intense clinical intervention than moderate marijuana users.

Determinants of obesity: results from a longitudinal study of adolescents and adults living in an urban area

This study examined the relation of cigarette smoking, psychological symptoms (e.g., depressive symptoms, anxiety), physical activity, and body mass index (BMI) separately by sex. The sample consisted of 815 African Americans and Puerto Ricans (324 males, 491 females). The participants were originally 14 years of age, and were followed to 32 years of age, and gave information on smoking, depressive symptoms, anxiety, physical activity, and BMI. Structural equation modeling showed that for males cigarette smoking in mid/late adolescence was related to cigarette smoking in emerging adulthood and early adulthood. Finally, cigarette smoking in early adulthood was negatively related to BMI in adulthood only for male participants. For female participants, cigarette smoking in adolescence was related to psychological symptoms (e.g., depressive symptoms, anxiety) in emerging adulthood and early adulthood. Psychological symptoms in early adulthood predicted less physical activity in adulthood, which in turn, was related to BMI. With one exception, all of the standardized coefficients were statistically significant. Implications for preventive interventions are discussed.

Longitudinal determinants of substance use disorders

Substance use and substance use disorders (SUDs) have been linked with marital discord. Relatively little is known, however, about the antecedents of SUDs, the mediators of these factors over time, or their associations with the spousal/partner relationship among urban adults. A better understanding of the longitudinal pathways to marital conflict and to SUDs should help prevention and intervention programs target their precursors within the developmental period in which they occur. The present study, therefore, examined the longitudinal predictors of an unsupportive spousal/partner relationship and SUDs among a community sample of urban African American and Puerto Rican adults from East Harlem, NY. Participants (N = 816) completed structured questionnaires at five time waves, from adolescence to adulthood (mean ages = 14, 19, 24, 29, and 32 years). Structural equation modeling examined the effects of earlier environmental and social stressors and intrapersonal and interpersonal factors on later SUDs in adulthood. There was a good fit of the structural equation model (CFI = 0.91; RMSEA = 0.06; and SRMR = 0.06), which revealed three main pathways from adolescence to the spousal/partner relationship and SUDs in adulthood. One pathway linked a weak parent-adolescent attachment relationship with the participant's psychological symptoms in emerging adulthood (p < 0.01), which in turn were related to affiliation with deviant and drug-using peers, also in emerging adulthood (p < 0.001). Peer deviance and drug use were associated with the participant's substance use in young adulthood (p < 0.001), which predicted both an unsupportive spousal/partner relationship (p < 0.05) and SUDs (p < 0.001) later in adulthood. Other pathways highlighted the continuity of psychological symptoms as related to both substance use in young adulthood (p < 0.001) and an unsupportive spousal/partner relationship in adulthood (p < 0.001). Findings showed that the associations of both distal stressors and the parent-adolescent relationship with more proximal intra- and interpersonal problems predicted unsupportive spousal/partner relationships and SUDs among urban adults. Several aspects of the individual's life, at different developmental stages, provide opportunities for interventions to prevent or reduce unsupportive spousal/partner relationships and SUDs.