Pathways from harsh parenting to adolescent antisocial behavior: a multidomain test of gender moderation

The moderating role of parent-child interaction in the relationship between maltreatment and psychological well-being among preschool children

Objective

This study aimed to examine the relationship between maltreatment and psychological well-being among preschool children and explore parent-child interaction's moderating role on this association.

Methods

This study employed a cross-sectional design and multistage stratified cluster random sampling method. Between December 2022 and January 2023, 180 kindergartens in the Hainan province-encompassing 4,886 newly enrolled children as participants-were selected. All data were collected using an online platform, on which parents or caregivers reported their children's history of abuse and completed the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire and Chinese Parent-Child Interaction Scale.

Result

The reporting rate of child abuse in Hainan Province was 61.81%. Specifically, frequent physical abuse (odds ratio [OR] = 1.44, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.15-1.80), occasional physical neglect (OR = 1.75, 95% CI = 1.37-2.11), frequent physical neglect (OR = 1.57, 95% CI = 1.31-1.87), and frequent emotional abuse (OR = 1.57, 95% CI = 1.31-1.87) were associated with a higher overall rate of difficulties. Frequent physical abuse (OR = 1.33, 95% CI = 1.08-1.64) and frequent emotional abuse (OR = 1.36, 95% CI = 1.16-1.61) were correlated with a higher rate of prosocial problems. A significant interaction was observed between parent-child interaction and occasional physical neglect on psychological well-being (OR = 0.73, 95% CI = 0.54-0.98, p = 0.035).

Conclusion

Preschool children who experience maltreatment exhibit an increased risk of developing psychological health issues, indicating a cumulative effect. Our study indicates that positive parent-child interaction mitigates occasional physical neglect's negative impact on preschool children's psychological well-being but does not exhibit a moderating effect on frequent physical neglect or other forms of maltreatment.

Maternal Adverse Childhood Experiences and Young Adult Latino Children's Mental Health

INTRODUCTION

Maternal adverse childhood experiences have been linked to a variety of negative health outcomes in young children; however, young adults and, specifically, young adult Latinos have been vastly understudied. This study investigates the intergenerational pathway between maternal adverse childhood experiences and behavioral health outcomes of their young adult children, as mediated through young adults' own adverse childhood experiences and maternal depression.

METHODS

Structural equation modeling was used to analyze data (in 2023) from mothers and their young adult children (n=398 dyads) enrolled in the Center for the Health Assessment of Mothers and Children of Salinas cohort, a primarily Latino agricultural sample. Maternal and young adult adverse childhood experiences were self-reported retrospectively during a visit at the age of 18 years (2018-2020). Young adult- and maternal-reported internalizing and maternal-reported externalizing behaviors were assessed at the age of 18 years with the Behavior Assessment for Children, second edition. Maternal depression was assessed during a visit at the age of 9 years (2010-2012) using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale.

RESULTS

Maternal and young adult adverse childhood experiences were weakly but statistically significantly correlated (r=0.22). Maternal adverse childhood experiences were statistically significantly associated with maternal-reported youth internalizing symptoms (β=0.29; 95% CI=0.19, 0.38; p<0.001) and externalizing symptoms (β=0.24; 95% CI=0.14, 0.33; p<0.001) and marginally associated with youth-reported internalizing symptoms (β=0.08; 95% CI= -0.02, 0.18; p=0.13). Youth adverse childhood experiences and maternal depressive symptomatology mediated the associations between maternal adverse childhood experiences and young adult outcomes.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings demonstrate the potential impacts of adversity across generations in Latino immigrant families, an understudied population. Understanding the mechanisms and factors associated with these pathways may lead to strategies that prevent poor mental health outcomes in young adults.

Are Discrepancies Between Father and Adolescent Perceptions of Harsh Parenting and Conflict Associated with Adolescent Mental Health Symptoms?

Though differences in informant perceptions of family processes are associated with poorer health, few studies have examined discrepancies between father- and adolescent-report of family phenomena and their impact on adolescent mental health. This study examined how father and adolescent-reported parenting and the differences in their perceptions is related to adolescent mental health. Participants were 326 father-adolescent dyads (Fathers: Mage = 41.2; Adolescents: 7th grade students, Mage = 12.0, 48.5% female). Overall, analyses revealed significant main effects of father and/or adolescent report of father-adolescent conflict and harsh parenting on adolescent internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Analyses revealed two instances in which discrepancies between father- and adolescent-report of family phenomena was related to adolescent mental health. Given the mixed nature of the findings based on the outcome reporter, the current study discusses implications for discrepancy research and future directions to better understand discrepant perceptions as useful information on their own. The parent clinical trial is registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (Identifier: NCT03125291, Registration date: 4/13/2017).

Parental personality disorder symptoms and children's social skills: a prospective community study

Acquiring age-appropriate social skills, arguably a major prerequisite for favorable psychosocial development in children, is targeted in a range of interventions. Hence, identifying factors that limit this acquisition may inform preventative and treatment efforts. Personality disorders are characterized by pervasive and enduring dysfunctional interpersonal functioning, including parenting, and could thus entail risk for offspring in not developing adaptive interpersonal skills. However, no study has tested this possibility. A representative sample drawn from two birth cohorts of Norwegian 4-year-olds (n = 956) and their parents was followed up at ages 6, 8, and 10 years. Parents' personality disorder symptoms were measured dimensionally with the DSM-IV and ICD-10 Personality Questionnaire, and children's social skills were evaluated by the Social Skills Rating System. A difference-in-difference approach was applied to adjust for all unmeasured time-invariant confounders, and parental symptoms of depression and anxiety were entered as covariates. Increased Cluster B symptoms in parents of children aged 4 to 6 years predicted decreased social skill development in offspring (B = -0.97, 95% CI -1.58, -0.37, p = 0.002). On a more granular level, increased symptoms of borderline (B = -0.39, CI -0.65, -0.12, p = 0.004), histrionic (B = -0.55, CI -0.99, -0.11, p = 0.018), and avoidant (B = -0.46, CI-0.79, -0.13, p = 0.006) personality disorders in parents predicted decreased social skill development in offspring. Subclinical levels of borderline, histrionic and avoidant personality disorders in parents may impair the development of social skills in offspring. Successfully treating these personality problems or considering them when providing services to children may facilitate children's acquisition of social skills.

Adverse childhood experiences of emotional and physical abuse and emotional and behavioral problems: the mediating effects of family function and resilience

Adverse childhood experiences are a widespread phenomenon that can have a variety of negative effects on children. Emotional and behavioral problems (EBP) in children have been gaining interest in recent years. Therefore, this study aims to explore the association between emotional and physical abuse (EPA) and preschool children's EBP, as well as to assess the mediating effects of family function and resilience in this association. A cross-sectional study was conducted, and we recruited 3,636 participants from 26 kindergartens in three cities. Correlation analysis and regression analysis were used to test the relationships between EPA, mediators (family function and resilience), and EBP. Structural equation modeling was used to perform the mediation analyses. The results of this study showed that EPA predicted EBP in preschool children, family function, and resilience independently and in combination to mediate the relationship. Therefore, improving family function and increasing children's level of resilience are beneficial methods for the prevention and intervention of EBP in preschool children who experience EPA, but most fundamentally to avoid or reduce the occurrence of abuse. Further longitudinal studies are needed to confirm our findings and explore possible mediating mechanisms.

Parenting, emotion regulation, and externalizing symptomatology as adolescent antecedents to young adult health risk behaviors

This study used longitudinal data to elucidate how trajectories of negative parenting across adolescence are associated with young adult health risk behaviors (HRBs) by testing difficulties with emotion regulation and externalizing symptomatology as sequential underlying mediators. The sample included 167 adolescents (53% males, M_age  = 14 at Time 1 and M_age  = 18 at Time 5) who were assessed five times. Adolescents self-reported on negative parenting, emotion regulation, externalizing symptomatology, and engagement in HRBs. Results suggest that increasingly negative parenting across adolescence has adverse consequences for emotion regulation development and in turn, externalizing symptomatology, which confers risk for young adult HRBs. Results offer insights towards mechanisms for prevention and intervention and public health policy aimed at reducing the prevalence and consequences of engagement in HRBs.

Predictors and outcomes associated with the growth curves of self-efficacy beliefs in regard to anger and sadness regulation during adolescence: a longitudinal cross-cultural study

Introduction

This longitudinal study examined unique and joint effects of parenting and negative emotionality in predicting the growth curves of adolescents' self-efficacy beliefs about regulating two discrete negative emotions (anger and sadness) and the association of these growth curves with later maladjustment (i.e., internalizing and externalizing problems).

Methods

Participants were 285 children (T1: M age = 10.57, SD = 0.68; 53.3% girls) and their parents (mothers N = 286; fathers N = 276) from Colombia and Italy. Parental warmth, harsh parenting, and internalizing and externalizing problems were measured in late childhood at T1, whereas early adolescents' anger and sadness were measured at T2 (T2: M age = 12.10, SD = 1.09). Adolescent self-efficacy beliefs about anger and sadness regulation were measured at five time-points from T2 to T6 (T6: M age = 18.45, SD = 0.71), and internalizing and externalizing problems were measured again at T6.

Results

Multi-group latent growth curve models (with country as the grouping variable) demonstrated that in both countries there was on average a linear increase in self-efficacy about anger regulation and no change or variation in self-efficacy about sadness regulation. In both countries, for self-efficacy about anger regulation (a) T1 harsh parenting and T1 externalizing problems were negatively associated with the intercept, (b) T2 anger was negatively associated with the slope, and (c) the intercept and the slope were associated with lower T6 internalizing and externalizing problems, controlling for T1 problems. For self-efficacy about sadness regulation, (a) T1 internalizing problems were negatively associated with the intercept only in Italy, (b) T2 sadness was negatively associated with the intercept only in Colombia, and (c) the intercept negatively predicted T6 internalizing problems.

Discussion

This study advances knowledge of the normative development of self-efficacy beliefs about anger and sadness regulation during adolescence across two countries, highlighting the predictive value of pre-existing family and individual characteristics on this development and prediction by the development of self-efficacy beliefs on later adjustment.

Protective Factors Against Aggression and Antisocial Attitudes Among Probation Youth with Childhood Adversity Histories

Childhood adversity is linked to adolescent aggression and antisocial attitudes, which are common predictors of delinquency and violence. Early interruption of these negative trajectories is important for preventing serious criminality. Efforts to bolster protective factors such as social-emotional skills and positive relationships may attenuate this link, but research is needed to clarify salient factors for court-involved youth. Using risk assessment data for a diverse sample of youth on probation (N = 5378), this study investigated the role of adverse childhood experiences in increasing aggression and antisocial attitudes and the degree to which protective factors (self-regulation, future orientation, positive parenting, prosocial connections) mitigated those relationships. Multivariate models controlling for antisocial peers demonstrated that childhood maltreatment was the most salient form of adversity for increasing both aggression and antisocial attitudes. All protective factors were associated with reduced aggression and antisocial attitudes and, in moderation models, muted the impact of childhood adversity on both outcomes. These findings highlight the need for practice efforts geared toward bolstering protective factors for youth on probation, especially among those with child maltreatment histories.

Friend support buffers the relationship between maltreatment and nonsuicidal self-injury in adolescence

BACKGROUND

Prior studies have mostly focused on the risk factors for nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI), but only a few studies have emphasized the related protective factors. The present study examined whether maltreatment and behavioral problems were risk factors for NSSI. Moreover, we also sought to understand whether and how friend support provides a buffer against NSSI.

METHOD

A total of 436 adolescents completed self-report surveys that addressed maltreatment, behavioral problems, friend support, and NSSI at three different time points.

RESULTS

There were significant positive correlations between maltreatment and NSSI. In the mediation analyses, we found that maltreatment was indirectly associated with NSSI via behavioral problems. Friend support demonstrated a long-term buffering effect on NSSI. Specifically, friend support had a protective effect on NSSI not only under high maltreatment levels, but also under high behavioral problem levels.

CONCLUSION

These findings contribute to the understanding of the influences of both maltreatment, behavioral problems (risk factors), and friend support (protective factors) on NSSI. In the context of intervention and education, it is important to consider the value of friend support when discussing NSSI.

Maternal Functioning and Child's Externalizing Problems: Temperament and Sex-Based Driven Effects

This study examines how maternal adverse parenting (hostility, neglect, low warmth) and psychological distress explain the associations between child temperament factors and externalizing problems. It also examines if these associations differ according to the child's biological sex. The sample consists of 339 school-age children receiving in-school services for conduct problems. Data were collected through questionnaires completed by mothers at 3 time points, at one-year intervals. Results from path analyses revealed that maternal psychological distress partly explained the associations between each child temperamental factors (negative affectivity, surgency/extraversion, effortful control) and levels of externalizing problems. Specifically, the indirect effect of psychological distress between child negative affectivity and externalizing problems was only significant for boys, not girls. Maternal hostility, on the other hand, mediated the association between child surgency/extraversion and externalizing problems in both boys and girls. Interestingly, neglectful parenting and maternal warmth did not explain the association between child temperamental factors and externalizing problems. The findings suggest small but significant temperament child-driven effects on maternal psychological distress and hostility, in turn, translating into higher levels of externalizing problems. These findings support the relevance of temperament-based interventions for children with conduct problems and of increased mental health support for their mothers. By aiding mothers in developing a larger repertoire of parenting strategies, mothers may be better equipped to respond appropriately to their child's various temperamental characteristics, hence, reducing their psychological distress and hostile behaviors and limiting the development of child externalizing problems.

Development of Bullying and Victimization: An Examination of Risk and Protective Factors in a High-Risk Sample

This prospective longitudinal study from birth to late adolescence investigated how early risk predicted subsequent aggression in middle childhood and bullying perpetration, bullying victimization, and violence victimization in adolescence. In addition, the moderating role of protective factors (i.e., maternal sensitivity, positive peers, and school connectedness) on these associations were examined. Caregiver-infant dyads (N = 216; 72% Black/African American) were recruited as part of a longitudinal study on substance exposed youth. Data using multiple methods and informants (observations, interviews, caregiver, and child/youth self-reports) were collected from dyads in early childhood (EC, birth to 48 months), middle childhood (MC, i.e., 84 months), early adolescence (EA, M = 13.26 years, SD = .83) and later adolescence (LA, M = 15.08 years, SD = .83). A developmental cascading path model was tested. There were direct associations between EC maternal harsh parenting and aggression in MC. In turn, MC aggression was associated with higher violence victimization and bullying in EA. Finally, EA violence victimization was then associated with higher levels of bullying as well as victimization from bullying in LA. Consistent with predictions, there was also evidence that protective factors (i.e., maternal sensitivity and positive peers) moderated the impact of predictor variables on aggression and bullying outcomes. Specifically, maternal sensitivity moderated the link between EC and MC aggression, such that those with moderately high levels of maternal sensitivity showed a negative relation between EC and MC aggression, whereas those with low levels of maternal sensitivity showed continuity in aggression. Positive peer influence moderated the link between violence victimization in EA and bullying in LA, such that children high on both violence victimization and positive peers had the highest levels of bullying victimization.

Neural signatures of the development of antisocial behaviours and callous-unemotional traits among youth: The moderating role of parental support

Comorbidity of antisocial behaviours (AB) and callous-unemotional (CU) traits characterizes a subgroup of youth at risk for chronic and severe AB in adulthood. Although aberrant neural response to facial emotion confers heightened risk for AB and CU traits, the behavioural effect of this neural response varies by family context. The present study examines the effects of neural response to emotional faces, parental support and the interaction between the two as predictors of AB and CU traits in a longitudinal sample of preadolescents (Nbaseline  = 11,883; Mage  = 9.5; 47.8% female). Low CU youth who evinced attenuated response to fearful faces within the left superior temporal sulcus and fusiform gyrus showed smaller decreases of AB over time; these associations did not extend to high CU youth. Among high CU youth reporting low parental support, blunted response to fearful faces within the bilateral inferior parietal sulcus predicted smaller decreases of AB. Study findings highlight neurobehavioural differences between youth with high and low CU traits, as well as the interacting roles of negative face processing and parental support in the development of AB.

Social learning in the digital age: Associations between technoference, mother-child attachment, and child social skills

Technoference refers to incidents in which technology use interferes with interpersonal exchanges (e.g., conversations, playing). Although research on technoference is in its infancy, there is preliminary evidence that mothers believe technoference has a detrimental impact on the social-emotional functioning of their child. The current study investigated the degree to which technoference was associated with attachment between mothers and their elementary-aged children. A second aim was to determine if the relationship between technoference and children's social-emotional functioning may be moderated by mother-child attachment. Surveys were completed by a sample of 80 mothers and their elementary-aged children. This study is unique in asking elementary-aged children to report their perceptions of parental technoference and the impact it has on their relationship with their mother and their own social-emotional functioning. More frequent technoference was associated with less secure mother-child attachment as rated by children, but not as rated by mothers. That is, frequent technoference may not significantly influence a mother's attachment to their child, but it is associated with a child's attachment to their mother. More frequent technoference was associated with decreased ratings by mothers regarding their child's social-emotional functioning. Furthermore, maternal attachment moderated the relationship between technoference and child externalizing behaviors, such that a more secure attachment served as a protective factor against the negative impact of technoference on child externalizing behaviors. However, attachment did not moderate the relationship between technoference and most social skills assessed in our study. Implications from this study are discussed, including ways to increase awareness of technoference among school personnel, parents, and youth.

The Influence of Harsh Parenting and Parental Warmth During Childhood on Later Involvement in Prison Misconduct

Research has shown that childhood victimization is associated with later involvement in delinquency. Prevalence rates of childhood victimization also tend to be higher among prison inmates compared with the general population. However, it has rarely been examined if childhood experiences-both negative and positive-have an effect on prison misconduct. We analyzed self-report data from more than 4,800 male and female adult prisoners in Germany to examine if childhood experiences of harsh parenting and parental warmth are associated with physical inmate-on-inmate violence. We also assessed the inmates' attitude toward violence and examined if violence approval mediates the relationship between childhood experiences and violent misconduct. The results of the structural equation models show that both harsh parenting and positive, caring parental behavior have a small, but significant effect on violent prison misconduct, which is completely mediated by the inmates' attitude toward violence. Furthermore, the results suggest that the same model holds for both male and female inmates, indicating that childhood victimization is not a gender-responsive need. The strength of the direct association between violence approval and violent misconduct underscores the need to assess the inmates' attitude toward violence to identify those most at risk of engaging in violence during incarceration.

Incidence of Early Police Contact Among Children With Emerging Mental Health Problems in Australia

IMPORTANCE

In adulthood and adolescence, mental health vulnerability is known to be associated with risk of criminal justice system contact as both a perpetrator and survivor of crime, but whether this association is apparent early in child development is unknown. Prevention of poor outcomes, including repeated contact with the criminal justice system, relies on the identification of vulnerability early in life and at the start of such contact.

OBJECTIVE

To ascertain whether children with emotional or behavioral problems and general developmental vulnerabilities are at an increased risk of subsequent contact with police as a person of interest, a survivor of crime, or a witness.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS

This cohort study used routinely collected data from the New South Wales Child Development Study in Australia. The cohort was composed of children who entered full-time schooling in New South Wales in 2009, had complete data for the emotional maturity domain of the Australian Early Development Census, and had no police contact before January 1, 2009. The children in the cohort were followed up until the age of 13 years. Data were analyzed from October 17, 2019, to May 13, 2020.

EXPOSURES

Emotional or behavioral problems and developmental risk profiles derived from the teacher-rated Australian Early Development Census.

MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES

Incidence rates of police contact (as a person of interest, survivor of crime, or witness) were derived from the New South Wales Police Force Computerised Operational Policing System.

RESULTS

A total of 79 801 children (40 584 boys [50.9%]; 2009 mean [SD] age, 5.2 [0.37] years) were included. Children with teacher-identified emotional or behavioral problems at school entry had an incidence rate of police contact (for any reason) that was twice that of children without such problems (unadjusted hazard ratio [HR], 2.14; 95% CI, 1.94-2.37). Contact with police as a survivor of crime was most commonly recorded (7350 [9.2%]), but the strength of the association was greatest between emotional or behavioral problems and police contact as a person of interest (unadjusted HR, 4.75; 95% CI, 3.64-6.19). Incidence of police contact as a person of interest was high for children with a pervasive developmental risk profile (unadjusted HR, 13.80; 95% CI, 9.79-19.45).

CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE

This study found an association of emerging emotional or behavioral problems and developmental vulnerabilities with increased risk of police contact for any reason among young children, suggesting that this well-known association in adults and adolescents can be identified at an earlier developmental stage. These findings support primary and secondary interventions to prevent police contact early in life and to target the earliest contacts with the criminal justice and educational systems.

Delinquency as a consequence of parental warmth and self-efficacy: Total sample and individual male and female mediation analyses

INTRODUCTION

This study's purpose was to investigate the mediating effect of parental control self-efficacy on the parental warmth → child delinquency relationship in the mothers and fathers of early to mid-adolescent youth in a test of performance accomplishments as a prelude to parental self-efficacy.

METHODS

Parental warmth and control self-efficacy estimates, representing parental support and control, respectively, were provided by the mothers and fathers of 3934 (2010 boys, 1924 girls) youth from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC) and self-reported delinquency was obtained from the child.

RESULTS

As predicted, parental control self-efficacy mediated the relationship between parental warmth and child delinquency, whereas parental warmth did not mediate the relationship between parental self-efficacy and child delinquency. When analyses were performed separately for boys and girls, the father warmth → father self-efficacy → child delinquency pathway achieved the most consistent results in boys and the mother warmth → mother self-efficacy → child delinquency pathway achieved the only significant effect in girls.

CONCLUSIONS

These results suggest that performance accomplishments, as characterized by a warm parent-child relationship, led to enhanced parental control self-efficacy, which, in turn, served to inhibit future delinquency in the child, thereby lending credence to a social cognitive learning theory interpretation of the parental support-control interface.

The association between parenting and the error-related negativity across childhood and adolescence

Anxiety is the most common form of psychopathology, and it is often characterized by chronic impairment across the lifespan. Researchers have identified core neural markers that confer risk for anxious outcomes. An increased error-related negativity (ERN) in anxious individuals has been shown to prospectively predict onset of anxiety disorders across development. Hence, it is critical to examine environmental factors that may shape the ERN. In the current study, we use a large sample of 170 female adolescents aged 10-17 to investigate whether the ERN mediates the relationship between parenting style and anxiety diagnostic status. This study replicates previous findings, and it extends previous work by suggesting that this relationship is more robust in young children as compared to adolescents. Interventions targeting the ERN via parenting may be most effective during childhood.

Adolescent Mental Health Following Exposure to Positive and Harsh Parenting in Childhood

OBJECTIVES

The purpose of the present study was to assess longitudinal associations between positive and harsh parenting in childhood and adolescent mental and behavioral difficulties.

METHODS

Data were drawn from Canada's population-based National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (data collected from 1994 to 2009, analyzed 2018). The sample included 9,882 adolescents aged 12/13 years old. Parents self-reported positive and harsh parenting when children were 6/7, 8/9, and 10/11 years old. Symptoms of depression/anxiety, hyperactivity, physical aggression, social aggression, and suicidal ideation were self-reported by adolescents at age 12/13. Linear regression was used to examine the associations between parenting behaviors at each age and adolescent psychiatric symptoms, adjusted for children's baseline symptoms.

RESULTS

Harsh parenting at 10/11 was associated with elevated symptoms of early-adolescent physical aggression, social aggression, and suicidal ideation for boys only, and for all children at earlier ages. Beginning at age 8/9, harsh discipline was associated with elevated symptoms of depression/anxiety for boys only. Overall, positive parenting at age 6/7 was protective against depression/anxiety, physical aggression, and social aggression. Significant sex differences emerged beginning at age 8/9, with positive parenting associated with higher symptoms of depression/anxiety for boys only. Positive parenting at age 10/11 was associated with increased depression/anxiety, physical aggression, social aggression, and suicidal ideation among boys, but decreased symptoms of physical aggression, social aggression, and suicidal ideation among girls.

CONCLUSIONS

Results suggest that the impact of positive and harsh parenting may depend on age and sex, with harsh parenting being more detrimental to boys as they approach adolescence.

Testing gender-differentiated models of the mechanisms linking polyvictimization and youth offending: Numbing and callousness versus dissociation and borderline traits

The increasing prevalence of girls in the juvenile justice system suggests the importance of examining whether models of adolescent offending are differentiated by gender. Polyvictimization has emerged as a robust predictor of youth justice involvement, especially for girls, and research exploring mechanisms underlying the link between polyvictimization and offending suggests further gender differences in that callous-unemotional (CU) traits have been implicated in samples of boys whereas borderline personality (BP) traits have been implicated amongst girls. However, a limitation of these studies is that most have included all-male or all-female samples, thus not allowing for comparisons across gender. Further, few studies have used a trauma-informed lens to investigate posttraumatic symptoms, particularly dissociation and emotional numbing, that might account for these associations. To address this gap, this study investigated associations among polyvictimization, dissociation, numbing, CU, BP, and offending in a sample of 782 youth (579 boys and 203 girls) recruited from a detention center. As hypothesized, for both genders, polyvictimization was related to BP through the indirect effect of dissociation and to CU through the indirect effect of emotional numbing. Further, for both genders, path models indicated indirect effects on the association between polyvictimization and offending through dissociation and BP. These results suggest the value of using a trauma-informed approach to understanding youth justice involvement and continuing to fine-tune models of gender differences in traumatized girls' and boys' offending.

II. MORE THAN JUST CONVENIENT: THE SCIENTIFIC MERITS OF HOMOGENEOUS CONVENIENCE SAMPLES

Despite their disadvantaged generalizability relative to probability samples, nonprobability convenience samples are the standard within developmental science, and likely will remain so because probability samples are cost-prohibitive and most available probability samples are ill-suited to examine developmental questions. In lieu of focusing on how to eliminate or sharply reduce reliance on convenience samples within developmental science, here we propose how to augment their advantages when it comes to understanding population effects as well as subpopulation differences. Although all convenience samples have less clear generalizability than probability samples, we argue that homogeneous convenience samples have clearer generalizability relative to conventional convenience samples. Therefore, when researchers are limited to convenience samples, they should consider homogeneous convenience samples as a positive alternative to conventional (or heterogeneous) convenience samples. We discuss future directions as well as potential obstacles to expanding the use of homogeneous convenience samples in developmental science.

The interaction between monoamine oxidase A and punitive discipline in the development of antisocial behavior: Mediation by maladaptive social information processing

Previous studies demonstrate that boys' monoamine oxidase A (MAOA) genotype interacts with adverse rearing environments in early childhood, including punitive discipline, to predict later antisocial behavior. Yet the mechanisms by which MAOA and punitive parenting interact during childhood to amplify risk for antisocial behavior are not well understood. In the present study, hostile attributional bias and aggressive response generation during middle childhood, salient aspects of maladaptive social information processing, were tested as possible mediators of this relation in a sample of 187 low-income men followed prospectively from infancy into early adulthood. Given racial-ethnic variation in MAOA allele frequencies, analyses were conducted separately by race. In both African American and Caucasian men, those with the low-activity MAOA allele who experienced more punitive discipline at age 1.5 generated more aggressive responses to perceived threat at age 10 relative to men with the high-activity variant. In the African American subsample only, formal mediation analyses indicated a marginally significant indirect effect of maternal punitiveness on adult arrest records via aggressive response generation in middle childhood. The findings suggest that maladaptive social information processing may be an important mechanism underlying the association between MAOA × Parenting interactions and antisocial behavior in early adulthood. The present study extends previous work in the field by demonstrating that MAOA and harsh parenting assessed in early childhood interact to not only predict antisocial behavior in early adulthood, but also predict social information processing, a well-established social-cognitive correlate of antisocial behavior.

Externalizing and internalizing pathways to Mexican American adolescents' risk taking

This study used four waves of data from a longitudinal study of 749 Mexican origin youths to test a developmental cascades model linking contextual adversity in the family and peer domains in late childhood to a sequence of unfolding processes hypothesized to predict problem substance use and risky sexual activity (greater number of sex partners) in late adolescence. Externalizing and internalizing problems were tested as divergent pathways, with youth-reported and mother-reported symptoms examined in separate models. Youth gender, nativity, and cultural orientation were tested as moderators. Family risk, peer social rejection, and their interaction were prospectively related to externalizing symptoms and deviant peer involvement, although family risk showed stronger effects on parent-reported externalizing and peer social rejection showed stronger effects on youth-reported externalizing. Externalizing symptoms and deviant peers were related, in turn, to risk taking in late adolescence, including problem alcohol-substance use and number of sexual partners. Peer social rejection predicted youth-reported internalizing symptoms, and internalizing was related, in turn, to problem alcohol and substance use in late adolescence. Tests of moderation showed some of these developmental cascades were stronger for adolescents who were female, less oriented to mainstream cultural values, and more oriented to Mexican American cultural values.

Family Complexity, Siblings, and Children's Aggressive Behavior at School Entry

As family structure in the United States has become increasingly dynamic and complex, children have become more likely to reside with step- or half-siblings through a variety of pathways. When these pathways are accounted for, more than one in six U.S. children live with a step- or half-sibling at age 4. We use data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort (N ~ 6,550) to assess the independent and joint influences of residing with a single parent or stepparent and with step- or half-siblings on children's aggressive behavior at school entry. The influences of parents' union status and complex sibship status on aggressive behavior are independent. Family resources partially explain the association between residing with an unpartnered mother and aggressive behavior regardless of sibship status. However, the resource hypothesis does not explain the association of complex sibship with aggressive behavior.

Family-based Treatments for Adolescent Substance Use

Adolescent substance use is a major risk factor for negative outcomes, including substance dependence later in life, criminal behavior, school problems, mental health disorders, injury, and death. This article provides a user-friendly, clinically focused, and pragmatic review of current and evidence-based family treatments, including multisystemic therapy, multidimensional family therapy, functional family therapy, brief strategic family therapy, ecologically based family therapy, family behavior therapy, culturally informed flexible family treatment for adolescents, and strengths-oriented family therapy. Outcomes, treatment parameters, adolescent characteristics, and implementation factors are reviewed.

Harsh Parenting and Food Insecurity in Adolescence: The Association With Emerging Adult Obesity

PURPOSE

As the first study of its kind, the overall purpose of this article was to examine the relationships and interactions between harsh parenting (HP) and food insecurity (FI) in adolescence on the development of overweight/obesity (OW/OB) in emerging adulthood.

METHODS

Data came from the Iowa Youth and Families Project, a longitudinal study of 451 adolescent youth and their families that began in 1989 in the rural Midwest. Adolescents were aged 13 years at the initial assessment, and weight status in emerging adulthood was measured 10 years later at age 23.

RESULTS

Experiencing HP in adolescence predicted greater odds of OW/OB at 23 years old. Higher body mass indexes of the adolescent and his or her father in adolescence also increased the odds of being OW/OB at 23 years. Having parents with higher levels of education lowered the odds of being OW/OB in emerging adulthood. Finally, females who experienced high levels of FI and HP in adolescence had higher odds of OW/OB at 23 years in comparison to males.

CONCLUSIONS

HP, in combination with FI in adolescence, predicted OW/OB for females in emerging adulthood but not for males. This study contributes to an understanding of the interplay between multiple influences in adolescence: namely, parenting and economic influences. Assessing antecedents to OW/OB in emerging adulthood via multiple pathways provides a more complex understanding of how and why adolescents turn into OW/OB adults.

The interaction between temperament and the family environment in adolescent substance use and externalizing behaviors: Support for diathesis-stress or differential susceptibility?

Both individual and environmental factors predict externalizing behaviors and substance use (EB-SU); however, different patterns of interaction among these factors may have different implications. This review first examines how temperament and the family environment interact in the prediction of adolescent EB-SU. Second, studies are reviewed according to two theoretical models: (1) diathesis-stress, i.e., certain individual characteristics are linked to vulnerability and later problems in adverse environments; (2) differential susceptibility, i.e., these characteristics are linked to susceptibility, predicting problems in adverse environments, but also better than average outcomes in good environments. Fourteen studies focusing on the prediction of EB-SU at ages 12-18 were selected through a literature search. Results showed that certain temperament traits (high levels of impulsivity and disinhibition; low levels of effortful control, negative affect, fearfulness and shyness), hereby designated as "adventurous" disposition, were associated with higher levels of EB-SU in adverse family environments. Some studies also showed that children with "adventurous" temperament traits in positive environments had the lowest levels of EB-SU. This suggests that prevention of EB-SU might target family factors such as parenting and focus on children with "adventurous" temperament traits. Further, studies that supported the differential susceptibility model were those assessing temperament and the family environment in childhood and studies that supported the diathesis-stress model assessed these variables in adolescence. It is thus possible that some of these "adventurous" temperament traits, with regard to EB-SU, would be indicators of susceptibility to both enriched and adverse environments in childhood but no longer in adolescence, when they would only be indicators of vulnerability to adverse environments.

Longitudinal examination of peer and partner influences on gender-specific pathways from child abuse to adult crime

Research provides increasing evidence of the association of child abuse with adult antisocial behavior. However, less is known about the developmental pathways that underlie this association. Building on the life course model of antisocial behavior, the present study examined possible developmental pathways linking various forms of child abuse (physical, emotional, sexual) to adult antisocial behavior. These pathways include child and adolescent antisocial behavior, as well as adulthood measures of partner risk taking, warmth, and antisocial peer influences. Data are from the Lehigh Longitudinal Study, a prospective longitudinal study examining long-term developmental outcomes subsequent to child maltreatment. Participant families in the Lehigh Longitudinal Study were followed from preschool age into adulthood. Analyses of gender differences addressed the consistency of path coefficients across genders. Results for 297 adult participants followed from early childhood showed that, for both genders, physical and emotional child abuse predicted adult crime indirectly through child and adolescent antisocial behavior, as well as adult partner and antisocial peer influences. However, for females, having an antisocial partner predicted an affiliation with antisocial peers, and that in turn predicted adult crime. For males, having an antisocial partner was associated with less partner warmth, which in turn predicted an affiliation with antisocial peers, itself a proximal predictor of adult crime. Sexual abuse also predicted adolescent antisocial behavior, but only for males, supporting what some have called "a delayed-onset pathway" for females, whereby the exposure to early risks produce much later developmental outcomes.

Differential susceptibility to environmental influences: Interactions between child temperament and parenting in adolescent alcohol use

Temperament and parental practices (PP) are important predictors of adolescent alcohol use (AU); however, less is known about how they combine to increase or decrease risk of AU. This study examined whether age 6 temperament (i.e., impulsivity and inhibitory control) interacted with age 6 coercive PP and/or age 14 parental monitoring to predict AU at 15 years among 209 adolescents. Results showed that low parental monitoring was associated with more frequent AU and that coercive PP interacted with impulsivity to predict AU. This interaction was examined as a function of two models that were not studied before in the prediction of AU: the diathesis-stress model (i.e., impulsive children are more "vulnerable" to adverse PP than those with an easy temperament); and the differential susceptibility model (i.e., impulsive children are also more likely to benefit from good PP). Results supported the differential susceptibility model by showing that impulsive children were not only at higher risk for AU when combined with high coercive PP but also benefit from the absence of coercive PP. This supports the suggestion that the conception of certain temperament characteristics, or in this case impulsivity, as a "vulnerability" for adolescent AU, may need revision because it misrepresents the malleability it may imply.

Maternal borderline personality disorder symptoms and parenting of adolescent daughters

Maternal borderline personality disorder (BPD) symptoms are associated with poorer parenting. However, most studies conducted are with young children. In the current study, the authors examined associations between maternal BPD symptoms and parenting in an urban community sample of 15-to 17-year-old girls (n = 1,598) and their biological mothers. Additionally, the authors tested the impact of adolescent temperament on these associations. Mothers reported on their own psychopathology and their daughters' temperament. Adolescent girls reported on mothers' parenting methods in terms of psychological and behavioral control. Results demonstrated that maternal BPD symptoms were associated with aspects of psychological and behavioral control, even after controlling for maternal depression and alcohol use severity. After examining specific BPD components that may account for these associations, the authors found that affective/behavioral dysregulation, but not interpersonal dysregulation or identity disturbance, uniquely accounted for parenting. Adolescent temperament did not moderate these associations. BPD symptoms, particularly affective/behavioral dysregulation, are important targets when conducting parenting interventions.

[Female conduct disorders]

The last few years have seen much research on girls with conduct disorder (CD). This article summarizes the gender-specific data regarding prevalence, differences with respect to symptomatology (e.g., subtypes of aggression, callous-unemotional (cu)-traits), and it presents data on the autonomic and neuroendocrine stress system as well as genetic, neurocognitive, and neuroimaging data. Differences in the impact of environmental factors on boys and girls for the development of CD are discussed. Taken together, the data indicate that there is great overlap in symptomatology, personality traits, and neurobiological aberrations in girls and boys with CD. Since fewer girls than boys exhibit CD symptomatology, further investigations on CD in girls might help to identify resilience factors that could improve future therapeutic interventions.

Gender and the development of oppositional defiant disorder: contributions of physical abuse and early family environment

Research is needed to understand the role of gender in the stability, course and etiology of antisocial behavior. Family environment, given its proximal association with children's behavior, holds great promise in understanding risk for antisocial behavior. The present study examined the role of parental acceptance and emotional responsivity as assessed using the HOME, caregiver report of intimate partner violence (IPV), and levels of physical abuse as assessed using the Conflict Tactics Scales, on subsequent symptoms of Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD), a childhood disorder characterized by antisocial behavior. Data were drawn from Waves 1-3, cohorts 3 and 6 of the Project for Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods. Results suggest only minor gender differences in levels of ODD symptoms, with equal rates of stability from Wave 2 to 3 in symptom levels. For boys and girls, IPV was associated with an increased risk of ODD symptoms, and higher acceptance was associated with reduced risk of ODD symptoms. However, gender differences emerged in the impact of physical abuse and emotional responsiveness, in that the former was a significant predictor for girls only, and the latter was significant for boys only. Potential implications for these findings, including the role of gender socialization are discussed.

Correlates of bullying behaviors among a sample of North American Indigenous adolescents

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between familial, educational, and psychosocial factors and bullying among 702 North American Indigenous adolescents aged 11-14 years. The study used multinomial logistic regression models to differentiate correlates of bully perpetration and victimization versus being neither and between being a perpetrator versus being a victim. Analyses reveal that being a bully victim had different correlates than being a perpetrator. Perceived discrimination was associated with increased odds of being either a victim or a perpetrator, relative to being neither. Several factors differentiated being a bully perpetrator from being a bully victim: adolescent age, parental warmth and support, depressive symptoms, anger, and school adjustment. These findings expand upon the limited understanding of the factors associated with bullying among North American Indigenous youth. Bullying intervention and prevention programs that target Indigenous adolescents should be culturally grounded and begin early within the family.