A Within-Group Analysis of African American Mothers' Authoritarian Attitudes, Limit-Setting and Children's Self-Regulation

Intergenerational Continuity of Child Maltreatment, Parenting, and Racism: Commentary on Valentino et al., (2012)

Recent editorials published in Child Maltreatment bring much needed attention to racism in child maltreatment reporting and investigation. In this commentary, we extend these efforts by responding to Valentino et al., (2012) and addressing prior omissions in our race-related work by explicitly discussing the role of racism in our explanation of key study findings. Together with scholars with expertise in the impact of racism on children and families, this commentary (a) discusses theoretical models of child maltreatment and of the influence of racism on parenting and child development; (b) discusses parental responses to racism in relation to the Valentino et al., (2012) findings; and (c) highlights future research directions.

Racial/ethnic differences in parenting behaviors among depressed parents

Low parental warmth and high control are associated with parental depression and with the development of depression in children. The majority of this research, however, has focused on non-Hispanic White (NHW) parents. The present study tested whether parenting behaviors differed by race/ethnicity in a sample (N = 169) of parents with a history of depression. Participants were drawn from a randomized trial designed to prevent depression in at-risk adolescents (ages 9-15 years old). All participating parents had a current or past depressive episode within the youth's lifetime. Parents self-classified as 67.5% NHW, 17.2% Latinx (LA), and 15.4% Black (BL). Youths and parents completed standardized positive and negative interaction tasks; trained raters coded the videotaped interactions for parental warmth and control. Analyses examined the impact of race/ethnicity, current parent depression symptoms, context of the discussion (positive/negative task), and demographic covariates on observed parenting behaviors. Results revealed significant interactions among race/ethnicity, depression, and task type. Differences in warmth and control between racial/ethnic groups were more likely to be observed in negative interactions and when parents' depression symptoms were lower. In these circumstances, BL parents were rated as higher in control and lower in warmth than NHW parents. Results add to the literature on racial/ethnic differences in parenting among parents with a history of depression and highlight the importance of assessing parenting in context to capture more subtle patterns of interactions between parents and offspring. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Elucidating the Roles of Maternal Overcontrol and Warmth in the Development of Childhood Anxiety and Depression: A Moderated Mediation Framework

Studies have linked childhood anxiety and depression with parenting characterized by high control and low warmth. However, few studies have examined how control and warmth may work together to influence internalizing symptoms in children. Therefore, the goal of this study was to examine the moderating effect of warmth on the relationship between overcontrol and anxiety and depressive symptoms, as well as whether negative thoughts serve as a mediator of these pathways. A total of 182 fourth and fifth grade children completed measures of maternal parenting behavior, negative thoughts, and anxiety and depressive symptoms. Results showed an interaction between overcontrol and warmth for depressive but not anxiety symptoms. Furthermore, low warmth increased the strength of the mediating relationship between overcontrol and depression via thoughts of personal failure. Findings may signal a need for early interventions to address parenting behaviors, such as controlling behaviors, in parents of children at risk for internalizing difficulties.

Baseline Target Moderation and Baseline Target Moderation Mediation Approaches: Reflections on Cultural Adaptation and Social Justice

Baseline target moderation (BTM) and baseline target moderated mediation (BTMM) constitute critical methodological and analytical approaches for the future of prevention science. However, the continuing refinement and utilization of these approaches carry important challenges when considering equity challenges that remain present in the prevention science field. Accordingly, this commentary is focused on examining cultural and contextual considerations associated with the set of articles included in this study, as well as directions for enhancing future research by embracing a solid grounding on equity perspectives. For example, to which extent do BTM and BTMM approaches include variables of relevance such as perceived discrimination, economic adversity, and other cultural and contextual domains that impact the lives of underserved diverse populations? In addition to providing a review of the articles included in this issue, recommendations are included for informing future prevention research according to equity perspectives.

Racial disparities in EEG research and their implications for our understanding of the maternal brain

Racial disparities in maternal health are alarming and persistent. Use of electroencephalography (EEG) and event-related potentials (ERPs) to understand the maternal brain can improve our knowledge of maternal health by providing insight into mechanisms underlying maternal well-being, including implications for child development. However, systematic racial bias exists in EEG methodology-particularly for Black individuals-and in psychological and health research broadly. This paper discusses these biases in the context of EEG/ERP research on the maternal brain. First, we assess the racial/ethnic diversity of existing ERP studies of maternal neural responding to infant/child emotional expressions, using papers from a recent meta-analysis, finding that the majority of mothers represented in this research are of White/European ancestry and that the racially and ethnically diverse samples that are present are limited in terms of geography. Therefore, our current knowledge base in this area may be biased and not generalizable across racially diverse mothers. We outline factors underlying this problem, beginning with the racial bias in EEG equipment that systematically excludes individuals of African descent, and also considering factors specific to research with mothers. Finally, we highlight recent innovations to EEG hardware to better accommodate diverse hairstyles and textures, and other important steps to increase racial and ethnic representativeness in EEG/ERP research with mothers. We urge EEG/ERP researchers who study the maternal brain-including our own research group-to take action to increase racial diversity so that this research area can confidently inform understanding of maternal health and contribute to minimizing maternal health disparities.

Parent-Child Concordance and Discordance in Family Violence Reporting: A Descriptive Analysis from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study®

Childhood trauma exposure, including witnessing or experiencing family violence, is associated with a variety of poor outcomes such as increased likelihood of psychopathology and high-risk behaviors across the lifespan. Early treatment may help to buffer these effects, but parents and youth display only moderate levels of agreement in reporting family violence, making it more difficult to identify children who have been exposed. Additionally, most studies on family violence reporting have focused primarily on small samples in specific high-risk populations, and little is known about the generalizability of these findings. Thus, the present study assessed concordance in family violence reporting and its correlates using the population-based, demographically diverse sample from the U.S. Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD®) study. Participants were 10,532 children between 9 and 10 years old, and their parent or guardian, from 21 sites across the United States. Overall, 30% (N = 3119) of the sample reported family violence and most of those reports (N = 2629) had discordant violence reporting, meaning child- and parent-report did not correspond with each other. Multinomial logistic regression was used to assess the likelihood of participants belonging in one of the following groups: no violence reported, concordant violence reported, and discordant violence reported. Results indicated that Black or Non-Hispanic children, male children, and children with greater externalizing problems were more likely to report family violence, and parents with lower levels of education and income were more likely to report family violence. These findings likely reflect differences in distribution of risk factors among racial and ethnic minoritized individuals including increased parenting stress and decreased access to mental health treatment. Among those reporting violence, Hispanic children and children with less externalizing problems were more likely to be in the discordant group. Findings suggest that both parent and child reports are needed to assess violence and screen for appropriate services.

Asthma Knowledge, Self-Efficacy, and Self-Management Among Rural Adolescents with Poorly Controlled Asthma

Rural adolescents with asthma are a disparate group. Self-management is essential to asthma control. We describe asthma knowledge, self-efficacy, and self-management behaviors among 198 rural adolescents with poorly controlled asthma, exploring demographic differences; we also test the application of Social Cognitive Theory to asthma self-management examining if self-efficacy mediates associations between knowledge and self-management. Asthma knowledge and self-management were relatively poor in our sample, particularly among male and White adolescents; greater knowledge was significantly associated with better symptom prevention and management. Self-efficacy partially mediated the association between knowledge and symptom prevention, but not acute symptom management, suggesting that knowledge may not improve symptom prevention behaviors without confidence to implement such behaviors and that factors beyond knowledge and self-efficacy likely play a role in asthma self-management in this population. Addressing asthma knowledge and self-efficacy could improve self-management and, ultimately, enhance asthma control among rural adolescents with poorly controlled asthma.

African American mothers talk to their preadolescents about honesty and lying

Objectives: While existing work points to the ways parenting behaviors and specific value socialization approaches influence children's internalization of moral values (Baumrind, Child Development 43, 261-267, 1972; Hoffman, Empathy and moral development: Implications for caring and justice, 2001; Grusec & Davidov, Child Development, 81, 687-709, 2010), little work has considered the experiences of African American and lower-income families. The current study capitalized on the availability of 53 video-recorded mother-preadolescent conversations about their disagreements from the Early Head Start Research and Evaluation Project (Vogel et al., Early head start children in grade 5: Long-term follow-up of the early head start research and evaluation study sample. OPRE Report # 2011-8, 2010). Methods: Using inductive analysis, we assessed mothers' affective tone, communication styles, and message content during the discussion of problems involving honesty and lying. Results: Mothers tended to display warm yet firm affect, incorporate both autonomy-supportive and dominant-directive communication styles, assert that lying is never acceptable, and explain why lying is problematic. Conclusions: Mothers' affect, communication styles, and message content reflected a no-nonsense approach to transmitting values about honesty to their children. To our knowledge, the current study is the first qualitative observational investigation of low-income African American mothers' conversations regarding honesty with their children. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Self-Regulation in Pediatric Nursing Literature: An Evolutionary Concept Exploration

The concept of self-regulation appears frequently in nursing literature. Although the concept is well developed in nonnursing theories, its application in nursing has not been explored adequately. Most nursing authors address self-regulation in one of two ways. Some publish findings without a strong theoretical understanding of self-regulation. Others publish studies using a conglomeration of theorists' self-regulatory explanations without properly contextualizing the theoretical elements for nursing practice. For this concept exploration, the authors used Rodgers, B. L. (2005). Developing nursing knowledge: Philosophical traditions and influences Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins, evolutionary concept analysis method to determine the current use of self-regulation in pediatric nursing literature and trace the concept's recent development, changes, and expansion. This work provides a representation of self-regulation based on existing healthcare studies and suggests steps for concept clarification that could promote accurate use of the concept in future research.

Effects of Parenting and Perceived Stress on BMI in African American Adolescents

OBJECTIVE

This study set out to examine the role of parenting practices in protecting or exacerbating the negative effects of parent and adolescent stress on adolescent body mass index (BMI) over time. Separate longitudinal models were conducted to evaluate how parenting practices interacted with parental perceived stress and adolescent perceived stress in predicting adolescent BMI.

METHODS

Baseline data were collected from 148 African American adolescents (Mage = 12.93, SD = 1.75; Mz-BMI = 0.78, SD = 0.50; MBMI%-ile = 96.7, SD = 3.90) and their caregivers (Mage = 44.45, SD = 8.65; MBMI = 37.63, SD = 8.21) enrolled in the Families Improving Together for Weight Loss trial. Adolescents self-reported their perceptions of caregiver parenting style and feeding practices. Both caregivers and adolescents self-reported their perceptions of chronic stress. BMI for parents and adolescents was assessed objectively at baseline and 16 weeks post-intervention.

RESULTS

Hierarchical regression models predicting adolescent BMI z-score (z-BMI) indicated a significant interaction between parental perceived stress and parental pressure to eat. Simple slopes analyses demonstrated that for those parents that exhibit higher pressure to eat, parent stress was positively associated with adolescent z-BMI.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings provide preliminary support suggesting that certain parenting practices interact with chronic stress on adolescent weight-related outcomes and that future interventions may consider integrating these factors.

Associations of parenting factors and weight related outcomes in African American adolescents with overweight and obesity

This study evaluated the associations between parenting factors and adolescent weight related outcomes in African American adolescents with overweight and obesity. Baseline heights and weights were collected from 241 African American adolescents (11-16 years) with overweight and obesity. Self-reported adolescent perceptions of caregiver's parenting style (responsiveness, demandingness), parental feeding practices (monitoring, responsibility, weight related concerns, pressure-to-eat, and restriction), and their own dietary self-efficacy for healthy eating were assessed. Results demonstrated that greater parental responsiveness was significantly associated with lower adolescent body mass index (BMI) and higher adolescent dietary self-efficacy. In contrast, parental concern about adolescent weight was significantly associated with greater adolescent BMI, while greater parental responsibility for foods was associated with lower adolescent BMI. Although parental pressure-to-eat was significantly associated with higher dietary self-efficacy, greater parental restriction was associated with lower dietary self-efficacy. The results of this study highlight the importance of parental responsiveness and responsibility in understanding obesity related outcomes in African American adolescents with overweight and obesity.

Adaptive Parenting Among Low-Income Black Mothers and Toddlers' Regulation of Distress

Parenting differs in purpose and strategy according to cultural background (Brooks-Gunn & Markman, 2005; Iruka, LaForett, & Odom, 2012). The current study tests a unique latent factor score, Adaptive Parenting, that represents culturally-relevant, positive parenting behaviors: maternal coping with stress through reframing, maternal scaffolding of toddlers' learning during a low-stress task, and maternal commands during a high-stress task. Participants were Black mothers (N = 119; M_age  = 27.78) and their 24- to 30-month-old toddlers. Families were part of a broader study examining family resilience among urban, low-income young children and their families. Results demonstrate that the proposed variables align on a single factor and positively predict toddlers' emotion regulation. Findings are discussed in the context of Black culturally-specific parenting processes.