The mediating roles of cortisol reactivity and executive functioning difficulties in the pathways between childhood histories of emotional insecurity and adolescent school problems

Destructive interparental conflict affects Chinese children’s emotional and behavioral problems: Indirect pathways via parent–child attachment and emotional insecurity

Background

Previous studies have demonstrated that destructive interparental conflict (IPC) is closely related to the emergence of emotional and behavioral problems in adolescents. In addition, in the family system, such conflict also affects the patent–child attachment relationship and emotional insecurity of adolescents.

Objectives

This study mainly explores the relationship between destructive interparental conflict and adolescents’ emotional and behavioral problems, focuses on the role of parent–child attachment and emotional insecurity, and analyzes whether this relationality plays multiple mediating roles in the influence of destructive interparental conflict on emotional and behavioral problems.

Methods

Data for the study were obtained through a questionnaire survey conducted on 524 Chinese adolescents from primary and junior high school.

Results

Structural equation modeling was conducted to test direct and indirect pathways between destructive interparental conflict and Chinese adolescents’ emotional and behavioral problems. Destructive IPC negatively predicted parent–child attachment and parent–child attachment negatively predicted emotional and behavioral problems. Destructive Interparental conflict positively predicted emotional insecurity and emotional insecurity positively predicted emotional and behavioral problems.

Discussion

The results show that: (1) Parent–child attachment negatively predicted emotional and behavioral problems, and emotional insecurity positively predicted the same. (2) Parent–child attachment and emotional insecurity act in a multiple mediating role between destructive IPC and adolescents’ emotional and behavioral problems. (3) Parent–child attachment and emotional insecurity constitute two indirect pathways between destructive IPC and adolescents’ emotional and behavioral problems, respectively.

Conclusion

Destructive IPC can adversely affect emotional and behavioral problems among adolescents; destructive IPC plays a damaging role in their emotional security and parent–child attachment, consequently effecting emotional and behavioral problems.

Interparental Conflict and Korean Children's Inhibitory Control: Testing Emotional Insecurity as a Mediator

This study examined the association between interparental conflict and inhibitory control of Korean children, and it investigated whether this relationship is mediated by the single latent variable of emotional insecurity or by three dimensions of emotional insecurity (i.e., involvement, emotional reactivity, and avoidance). A total of 166 mother–father dyads with Korean children aged 3–5 years participated in a short-term longitudinal survey at two-time points. Both parents completed measures of interparental conflict and emotional insecurity, and, 6 months later, they completed a measure of the inhibitory control of children. The structural equation modeling results suggested that interparental conflict was related to poor inhibitory control in Korean children. Emotional insecurity did not mediate the association between interparental conflict and inhibitory control. Of the three emotional insecurity dimensions, the involvement partially mediated the relationship. Interestingly, although interparental conflict predicted poor inhibitory control, the involvement of children in the conflict, which was associated with a greater interparental conflict, predicted a subsequent increase in inhibitory control 6 months later. These findings were interpreted in terms of sensory processing patterns, the reformulation of emotional security theory, and the influence of Confucianism on Korean culture.

Spatial working memory in young adolescents with different childhood trajectories of internalizing, conduct and hyperactivity/inattention problems

BACKGROUND

In children, internalizing and externalizing problems impact on learning. However, there is limited research on the specific impact of such problems on spatial working memory (SWM), strongly related to cognitive ability and children's learning.

AIMS

We explored distinct trajectories of internalizing problems and externalizing problems (conduct problems and hyperactivity/inattention) in a large general-population sample of children followed from age 3 to age 11 years. We then assessed their role in SWM performance at age 11 years.

SAMPLE

Data were drawn from the UK's Millennium Cohort Study. Our analytic sample was children with data on SWM at age 11 years (N = 12,589).

METHODS

There were two stages of data analysis. Trajectory group membership was firstly estimated by group-based trajectory modelling for internalizing problems, conduct problems, and hyperactivity/inattention at ages 3-11 years. Multiple regression then assessed the relationship between SWM at age 11 years and trajectory group membership after accounting for confounders.

RESULTS

Trajectories of internalizing, conduct, and hyperactivity/inattention symptoms across ages 3 to 11 years were related to SWM at age 11 years, even after controlling for confounding variables. For each of the three symptom domains, poor SWM was most consistently found in children with chronically high levels of symptoms.

CONCLUSIONS

In general, atypical patterns of internalizing problems, conduct problems, and hyperactivity/inattention in childhood were related to poorer SWM in early adolescence.

Interparental conflict as a curvilinear risk factor of youth emotional and cortisol reactivity

This study examined interparental conflict as a linear and curvilinear predictor of subsequent changes in adolescents' negative emotional reactivity and cortisol functioning during family conflict and, in turn, their psychological difficulties. In addition, adolescents' negative emotional reactivity and cortisol functioning during family conflict were examined as subsequent predictors of their psychological difficulties. Participants included 258 adolescents (52% girls) and their parents and teachers who participated in 3 annual measurement occasions. Adolescents were 13 years old on average (standard deviation [SD] = .57) at the first measurement occasion, were generally from middle- and working-class backgrounds, and identified mostly as White (e.g., 74%). The results of latent-difference score analyses indicated that a multimethod and multiinformant assessment of interparental conflict linearly predicted subsequent changes in observational ratings of adolescent emotional reactivity and their overall cortisol output in response to family conflict over a 1-year period. These changes, in turn, predicted increases in multiinformant reports of adolescent psychological problems over a 2-year period. However, the linear association in the first link in the cascade was qualified by the quadratic effects of interparental conflict as a predictor. Consistent with risk-saturation models, the relatively strong associations among interparental conflict and youth emotional reactivity and cortisol output at mild and moderate exposure to conflict weakened as exposure to conflict reached higher levels. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Intimate partner violence and maltreated preschoolers' internal representations of conflict

Family violence, including intimate partner violence (IPV) and child maltreatment, has detrimental consequences across the life span. Robust evidence from families experiencing relatively normative conflict demonstrates the central role of children's internal representations, or beliefs and expectations of relationships, on children's adjustment. The current investigation examines children's implicit internal representations of interadult conflict among families experiencing IPV and child maltreatment. Maltreated (n = 132) and nonmaltreated (n = 82) preschoolers (M_age = 4.93 years, SD = 1.11) completed a narrative story-stem completion task in which they were asked to generate narrative endings to interadult conflicts. Narratives were coded for constructive conflict resolutions, dysregulated destructive behaviors, and the proliferation of interadult aggression toward the child. Mothers reported the frequency of IPV and constructive conflict between themselves and their partners within the past year. The potential additive and interactive effects of IPV, constructive conflict, and child maltreatment on children's internal representations of conflict behaviors were examined. The narratives of maltreated children depicted more constructively resolved conflict as interadult constructive conflict tactics increased. Maltreated and nonmaltreated children did not differ in their representations of conflict resolution at high levels of constructive conflict tactics. Maltreatment was positively associated with representations of dysregulated destructive behaviors and conflict spread to the parent-child relationship. IPV was positively associated with representations of conflict spread. Constructive conflict, in turn, was negatively associated with conflict spread. The findings highlight the importance of the multiple expressions of family conflict and violence on children's implicit internal representations of conflict. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Pathways from early adversity to later adjustment: Tests of the additive and bidirectional effects of executive control and diurnal cortisol in early childhood

Additive and bidirectional effects of executive control and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis regulation on children's adjustment were examined, along with the effects of low income and cumulative risk on executive control and the HPA axis. The study utilized longitudinal data from a community sample of preschool age children (N = 306, 36-39 months at Time 1) whose families were recruited to overrepresent low-income contexts. We tested the effects of low income and cumulative risk on levels and growth of executive control and HPA axis regulation (diurnal cortisol level), the bidirectional effects of executive control and the HPA axis on each other, and their additive effects on children's adjustment problems, social competence and academic readiness. Low income predicted lower Time 4 executive control, and cumulative risk predicted lower Time 4 diurnal cortisol level. There was little evidence of bidirectional effects of executive control and diurnal cortisol. However, both executive control and diurnal cortisol predicted Time 4 adjustment, suggesting additive effects. There were indirect effects of income on all three adjustment outcomes through executive control, and of cumulative risk on adjustment problems and social competence through diurnal cortisol. The results provide evidence that executive control and diurnal cortisol additively predict children's adjustment and partially account for the effects of income and cumulative risk on adjustment.

A biopsychosocial approach to processes and pathways in the development of overweight and obesity in childhood: Insights from developmental theory and research

Childhood obesity has reached alarming proportions in many countries. There is consensus that both biological (especially genetic) and environmental (including psychosocial) factors contribute to weight gain and obesity in childhood. Research has identified extensive risk or predictive factors for childhood obesity from both of these domains. There is less consensus about the developmental processes or pathways showing how these risk factors lead to overweigh/obesity (OW/OB) in childhood. We outline a biopsychosocial process model of the development of OW/OB in childhood. The model and associated scholarship from developmental theory and research guide an analysis of research on OW/OB in childhood. The model incorporates biological factors such as genetic predispositions or susceptibility genes, temperament, and homeostatic and allostatic processes with the psychosocial and behavioral factors of parenting, parental feeding practices, child appetitive traits, food liking, food intakes, and energy expenditure. There is an emphasis on bidirectional and transactional processes linking child biology and behavior with psychosocial processes and environment. Insights from developmental theory and research include implications for conceptualization, measurement, research design, and possible multiple pathways to OW/OB. Understanding the developmental processes and pathways involved in childhood OW/OB should contribute to more targeted prevention and intervention strategies in childhood.

Contributions of mothers' and fathers' parenting to children's self-regulation: Evidence from an adoption study

The origins of top-down self-regulation are attributed to genetic and socialization factors as evidenced by high heritability estimates from twin studies and the influential role of parenting. However, recent evidence suggests that parenting behavior itself is affected by parents' own top-down self-regulation. Because children's top-down self-regulation is influenced by genetic factors and parenting is influenced by top-down self-regulation, the effects of parenting on children's top-down self-regulation identified in prior studies may partially reflect passive gene-environment correlation. The goal of this study was to examine parenting influences on children's top-down self-regulation using a longitudinal, adoption-at-birth design, a method of identifying parenting influences that are independent of the role of shared genetic influences on children's characteristics because adoptive parents are genetically unrelated to their adopted child. Participants (N = 361) included adoptive families and biological mothers of adopted children. Adoptive mothers' and fathers' harsh/negative parenting were assessed when children were 27 months of age and biological mothers' top-down self-regulation was assessed when children were 54 months of age. Adopted children's top-down self-regulation was assessed when they were 54 and 72 months of age. Results, accounting for child gender, biological mother top-down self-regulation, and the potential evocative effects of adopted child anger, provide evidence that inherited influences and socialization processes uniquely contribute to children's top-down self-regulation. Furthermore, findings demonstrate the importance of both mother's and father's parenting behavior as an influence on young children's top-down self-regulation. The implications of these findings for understanding the complex mechanisms that influence children's top-down self-regulation are discussed.

Biological and Psychosocial Processes in the Development of Children's Appetitive Traits: Insights from Developmental Theory and Research

There has been increasing concern expressed about children's food intakes and dietary patterns. These are closely linked to children's appetitive traits (such as disinhibited eating and food fussiness/neophobia). Research has examined both biological and psychosocial correlates or predictors of these traits. There has been less focus on possible processes or mechanisms associated with children's development of these traits and research that links biological and psychosocial factors. There is an absence of research that links biological and psychosocial factors. In the present article, we outline a model intended to facilitate theory and research on the development of appetitive traits. It is based on scholarship from developmental theory and research and incorporates biological factors such as genetic predispositions and temperament as well as psychosocial factors in terms of parent cognitions, feeding styles and feeding practices. Particular attention is directed to aspects such as emotional eating and feeding, self-regulation of energy intake, and non-shared family environments. We highlight the opportunity for longitudinal research that examines bidirectional, transactional and cascade processes and uses a developmental framework. The model provides a basis for connecting the biological foundations of appetitive traits to system-level analysis in the family. Knowledge generated through the application of the model should lead to more effective prevention and intervention initiatives.