Coping responses moderate prospective associations between marital conflict and youth adjustment

Coping Responses in the Context of Family Stress Moderate the Association Between Childhood Anxiety and Adolescent Depressive Symptoms

Anxiety and depressive symptoms are common and highly interrelated. A relatively consistent temporal pattern of anxious and depressive symptoms has emerged from previous studies, such that the development of anxiety tends to precede and predict the development of depression rather than the other way around. Whether high levels of childhood anxiety predict depressive symptoms in late adolescence may depend, in part, on the ways in which children cope with stressful events. Accordingly, the present study used latent intercept models to examine involuntary and voluntary coping responses to familial stress as potential moderators of the association between childhood anxiety and adolescent depressive symptoms. Two hundred twenty-seven participants completed questionnaires measuring demographic variables as well as anxiety, depressive symptoms, and coping responses at a minimum of one time point over four waves of data collection (T1 Mage = 10.26 years, T2 Mage = 15.77 years, T3 Mage = 16.75 years, T4 Mage = 17.68 years). We found that childhood anxiety was positively associated with adolescent depressive symptoms when children reported higher levels of involuntary responses to family stress (e.g., rumination or physiological arousal) in conjunction with either lower levels of voluntary engaged responses (e.g., problem solving or emotion regulation) or higher levels of voluntary disengaged responses (e.g., avoidance or denial). These results shed light on the conditions under which childhood anxiety is associated with adolescent depressive symptoms and underscore the need for continued longitudinal and developmental research on this topic.

Preventing Mental Health Problems in Children After High Conflict Parental Separation/Divorce Study: An Optimization Randomized Controlled Trial Protocol

Parental divorce is a childhood stressor that affects approximately 1.1 million children in the U.S. annually. The children at greatest risk for deleterious mental health consequences are those exposed to high interparental conflict (IPC) following the separation/divorce. Research shows that children's emotional security and coping efficacy mediate the impact of IPC on their mental health. Interventions targeting their adaptive coping in response to IPC events may bolster their emotional security and coping efficacy. However, existing coping interventions have not been tested with children exposed to high post-separation/divorce IPC, nor has any study assessed the effects of individual intervention components on children's coping with IPC and their mental health. This intensive longitudinal intervention study examines the mechanisms through which coping intervention components impact children's responses to interactions in interparental relationships. A 23 factorial experiment will assess whether, and to what extent, three candidate intervention components demonstrate main and interactive effects on children's coping and mental health. Children aged 9-12 (target N = 144) will be randomly assigned to one of eight combinations of three components with two levels each: (1) reappraisal (present vs. absent), (2) distraction (present vs. absent), (3) relaxation (present vs. absent). The primary outcomes are child-report emotional security and coping efficacy at one-month post-intervention. Secondary outcomes include internalizing and externalizing problems at the three-month follow-up. Based on data from this optimization phase RCT, intervention components will be selected to comprise a multi-component intervention and assessed for effectiveness in a subsequent evaluation phase RCT.

Mediating role of relational aggression in the association between infertility stigma and marital relationship distress in infertile women

Infertility is a multifaceted problem that can cause significant impairments with emotional, social, and psychological consequences, including problems in the marital relationship. This study aimed to mediate the role of relational aggression in the association between infertility stigma and marital relationship distress in infertile women. The research method was descriptive and path analysis. The statistical population of the study consisted of all infertile women who were referred to infertility centers and obstetrics and gynecology medical centers in Tehran in 2021 (July to October), and due to lack of full access to them, 300 people were selected by available sampling method who participated in the research through an online questionnaire. Data were collected using the Marital Self-Reporting Questionnaire, Infertility Stigma, and Relational Aggression Questionnaire. Data analysis was performed using structural equation modeling. The results showed that the causal model of the relationship between infertility stigma, relational aggression, and marital relationship distress in infertile women was confirmed based on different fitting indices. Infertility stigma and associated aggression directly affect the marital turmoil of infertile women. On the other hand, infertility stigma indirectly affects infertile women's marital distress through relational aggression (P < .05). Therefore, the infertility stigma and relational aggression play an important role in marital distress in infertile women, and targeting these two components in psychological therapies can effectively reduce marital chaos.

Child externalising and internalising behaviour and parental wellbeing during the Covid-19 pandemic

In this study we surveyed families' experiences with parental depression, stress, relationship conflict and child behavioural issues during 6 months of the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic through the Covid-19: Global Social Trust and Mental Health Study. The current analyses used data collected from online surveys completed by adults in 66 countries from 17 April 2020 to 13 July 2020 (Wave I), followed by surveys 6 months later at Wave II (17 October 2020-31 January 2021). Analyses were limited to 175 adult parents who reported living with at least one child under 18 years old at Wave I. Parents reported on children's level of externalising and internalising behaviour at Wave I. At Wave II, parents completed self-reported measures of stress, depression and inter-partner conflict. Child externalising behaviour at Wave I significantly predicted higher levels of parental stress at Wave II, controlling for covariates. Child internalising behaviour at Wave I did not predict parental stress or depression, controlling for covariates. Neither child externalising nor internalising behaviour predicted parental relationship conflict. The overall findings demonstrate that child behaviour likely influenced parental stress during the Covid-19 pandemic. Findings suggest that mental health interventions for children and parents may improve the family system during times of disaster.

Factors Associated With Depression and Anxiety in Korean Adolescents During the COVID-19 Pandemic

OBJECTIVE

This study was performed to identify factors associated with depression and anxiety among Korean adolescents during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

METHODS

We conducted a cross-sectional study of 1,898 Korean adolescents (55.2% male, 44.8% female) ranging in age from 12 to 17 years (mean±standard deviaion age, 15.4±2.6 years). Depression and anxiety were defined as a Patient Health Questionnaire-9 score ≥10 and Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 score ≥10, respectively. Other questionnaires included sociodemographic data, psychosocial stresses, and experiences in association with COVID-19. Psychiatric scales included Gratitude Questionnaire-6, Perceived Stress Scale-10, and UCLA Loneliness Scale-3.

RESULTS

The prevalence rates of depressive and anxiety symptoms among participants were 13.8% and 21.0%, respectively. Multivariable logistic regression analysis revealed that female sex, fear of COVID-19 infection, low gratitude were risk factors for depression. Fear of COVID-19 infection, increased TV watching time, and academic-related stress were risk factors for anxiety.

CONCLUSION

Depression and anxiety were prevalent during the pandemic in Korean adolescents, and were associated with fear of COVID-19 infection. Providing appropriate information on COVID-19, helping adolescents manage academic-related stress and maintain daily life patterns, and implementing interventions to foster gratitude are important for preventing depression and anxiety in Korean adolescents.

The Development of Cognitive Reappraisal From Early Childhood Through Adolescence: A Systematic Review and Methodological Recommendations

Cognitive reappraisal is an important emotion regulation strategy that shows considerable developmental change in its use and effectiveness. This paper presents a systematic review of the evidence base regarding the development of cognitive reappraisal from early childhood through adolescence and provides methodological recommendations for future research. We searched Scopus, PsycINFO, and ERIC for empirical papers measuring cognitive reappraisal in normative samples of children and youth between the ages of 3 and 18 years published in peer-reviewed journals through August 9th, 2018. We identified 118 studies that met our inclusion criteria. We first present a quantitative review of the methodologies used to investigate cognitive reappraisal in children and adolescents, with attention to variations in methodologies by the sample age range. We then present a qualitative review of findings with attention to: (1) the age at which children begin to effectively use cognitive reappraisal to regulate their emotions, and (2) developmental changes in cognitive reappraisal from early childhood through adolescence. We consider how methodological differences may contribute to inconsistencies in findings, highlight gaps in the literature that remain to be addressed, and make recommendations for future directions.

Association between Parents’ Relationship, Emotion-Regulation Strategies, and Psychotic-like Experiences in Adolescents

This study aimed to examine the association between the psychotic-like experiences (PLEs) and emotion-regulation (ER) strategies of adolescents and their parents’ relationship, and we hypothesized that the parents’ relationship moderates the link between ER strategies and PLEs. We recruited a total of 2708 first-year college students (1659 males and 1049 females) aged 15–20 years (mean = 17.9). Participants completed assessments of PLEs, their use of ER strategies, and reported their parents’ relationship as harmonious, conflicting, or divorced. Regression analyses indicated that the lower the use of the emotion-reappraisal strategy, the greater the use of the emotion-suppression strategy and that parental conflict or divorce predicted the number of PLEs endorsed and the level of distress from the PLEs. The parents’ relationship moderated the association between ER strategies and distress from PLEs. Among those who reported parental conflict or divorce, their lower use of the reappraisal strategy predicted their experiencing higher levels of distress from their PLEs. This study suggested the direct and interactive influence of the parents’ relationship and ER strategies on the presence of PLEs and PLE-related distress levels among adolescents, which may represent potential intervention targets.

Inhibitory control, working memory and coping with stress: Associations with symptoms of anxiety and depression in adults with Huntington's disease

OBJECTIVE

Huntington's disease (HD) is an autosomal dominant neurodegenerative disease characterized by neuropsychiatric symptoms (e.g., anxiety and depression), where individuals suffer high levels of stress from the social, physical, and cognitive burden of the disease. The present study examined two factors associated with increased risk for symptoms of anxiety and depression: executive function skills (inhibitory control/attention and working memory) and skills to cope with stress.

METHOD

Adults with HD completed the NIH Toolbox measures of inhibitory control/attention and working memory, as well as self-report measures of coping with HD-related stress and symptoms of anxiety and depression. Path analyses were used to test direct and indirect associations among the subtypes of executive functioning, coping, and symptoms.

RESULTS

No significant associations were found in the full sample (n = 47), due to a significant portion of the sample with very low executive function abilities. Additional analyses were conducted on a subset of the sample (participants in the top three quartiles on both measures of executive functioning, n = 32). Significant indirect associations emerged among inhibitory control/attention skills, secondary control coping (e.g., acceptance and reappraisal), and symptoms of anxiety and depression in the subsample. Higher inhibitory control/attention skills were associated with greater use of secondary control coping, and greater use of these coping skills was related to lower symptoms of anxiety and depression. No direct or indirect associations were found among working memory skills, coping, and symptoms of anxiety and depression.

CONCLUSIONS

Implications for interventions to enhance executive function and coping skills in adults with HD are highlighted. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Coping with Relationship Stress in Adolescence: A Decade in Review

At a moment in history when stress levels among adolescents are high and coping capacities are taxed, it seems timely and important to review a decade's accomplishments in elucidating how, and with what effects, adolescents cope with relationship stress. We provide an update on research about coping with parent, peer, and romantic stress and discuss the effectiveness of coping strategies across cultures, developmental periods, and levels of social stress. We explore relations between coping and other automatic and reflective responses to stress and highlight innovations in lab-based and ambulatory assessments. We recommend studies of variability in the success of coping at different intensities of relationship stress and research with real-time and repeated assessments to capture the process of coping.

Coping with COVID-19 stress: Associations with depression and anxiety in a diverse sample of U.S. adults

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought unprecedented levels of stress to individuals in the U.S. and throughout the world. These high stress levels place individuals at risk for symptoms of anxiety, depression, and other psychiatric disorders. The current study applies a control-based model of coping to contribute to the development of evidence-based interventions to promote resilience. Data were collected online from April 22 through July 12, 2020. Data from two samples of U. S. community adults who completed an online battery of standardized questionnaires were combined (N = 709). More than a quarter reported moderate to severe levels of depression symptoms, and more than one-fifth reported moderate to severe levels of anxiety symptoms; symptom levels were higher among adults who reported more COVID-19-related stress. As hypothesized, multiple regression analyses indicated that greater use of primary and secondary control coping was associated with lower symptom levels, whereas greater use of disengagement coping was associated with higher symptom levels, above and beyond the association of stress with symptoms. Race and ethnicity emerged as important moderators of these associations, indicating that what constitutes adaptive coping varies according to characteristics of the individual. Implications for public health policy and clinical practice are discussed.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12144-021-02444-6.

Relationship Between Parental Marital Conflict and Social Anxiety Symptoms of Chinese College Students: Mediation Effect of Attachment

Social anxiety has been a common problem among college students and has an adverse impact on their adaptation outcomes. Among influential factors, parental marital conflict and attachment (parental and peer attachment) have been found to be related to social anxiety symptoms of college students; however, little is known how parental marital conflict and attachment jointly contribute to social anxiety symptoms of college students. The current study explored this issue. Self-reported questionnaires of perception of children of interparental conflict scale, inventory of parent and peer attachment, and the social interaction anxiety scale were administered to 707 undergraduate students (Mean age = 19.27, SD = 0.97). Results indicated that perceived parental marital conflict was positively correlated with social anxiety symptoms and was negatively associated with parental and peer attachment. Parental and peer attachments were negatively correlated with social anxiety symptoms. Mediation analyses indicated that perceived parental marital conflict exerted its indirect effect on social anxiety symptoms through a serial multiple mediation role of parental and peer attachment. The present findings highlight the serial multiple mediation role of parental and peer attachment in the relationship between perceived parental marital conflict and social anxiety symptoms of college students.

Parental Marital Conflict and Growth in Adolescents’ Externalizing Problems: the Role of Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia

Previous studies have examined the moderating effect of respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) on the association between marital conflict and externalizing problems, however the findings were inconsistent. One possible reason is that the covariation of internalizing problems in externalizing problems. Therefore, the present study aimed to examine this issue. Participants were 332 Chinese adolescents (54.5% boys) age from 13 to 15 years old. At T1, electrocardiogram monitoring was performed on adolescents during the resting state and stressor tasks (a speech task and a mental arithmetic task) to obtain RSA data. The Chinese version of the Achenbach Youth Self-Report-2001 (YSR-2001) and the Chinese version of the Children’s Perception of Interparental Conflict scale were used to assess adolescents’ externalizing and internalizing problems and their perception of marital conflict, respectively. Adolescents’ problem behaviors were assessed again in the second and third waves of data collection, with a 1-year lag among each wave. The results revealed that the 3- interactions of marital conflict × RSA reactivity in speech task × sex significantly predicted the trajectory of externalizing problems when controlling for internalizing problems from externalizing problems. Specifically, girls with greater RSA suppression to the speech task reported low and stable externalizing problems, however, boys with the same pattern were associated with slightly increased levels of externalizing problems. While, RSA augmentation to the speech task predicted the increase in externalizing problems among both girls and boys in high marital conflict families over time. However, this interaction effects were not significant when not partial out internalizing problems from externalizing problems. The findings highlight the importance of controlling for the covariation of internalizing problems when examining the interaction effects of person and environment on the development of adolescents’ externalizing problems.

Intraindividual reaction time variability as an index of attentional control acts as a moderator of the longitudinal relationships between marital quality and children's externalizing problems

The current study investigated whether trial-to-trial intraindividual reaction time variability (IIRTV), which serves as an index of attentional control fluctuations, moderates the effect of marital quality at 7 years of age on the development of children's externalizing problems from 7 to 9 years of age (N = 197). At the first assessment (T1), a flanker task was administered to children for assessing their IIRTV. The Chinese version of a marital quality questionnaire (Evaluating and Nurturing Relationship Issues, Communication, and Happiness [ENRICH]) and the Chinese version of the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) were completed by children's mothers to assess marital quality and children's externalizing problems. At the second and third assessments (T2 and T3), children's externalizing problems were reassessed by their mothers. Growth curve analyses showed that boys' externalizing problems were relatively high and significantly decreased over time, whereas girls' externalizing problems were relatively low and stable. Importantly, the results indicated that boys' IIRTV (but not girls' IIRTV) and parental marital quality interactively predict the concurrent and developmental trajectories of externalizing problems. Specifically, boys with greater IIRTV were found to exhibit a relatively persistent high level of externalizing problems in the context of poor parental marital quality, whereas boys with lower IIRTV were found to exhibit a relatively low level of externalizing problems over time regardless of their parental marital quality. The findings suggest that poorer attentional control indexed by greater IIRTV is a robust predictor of boys' externalizing problems and that better attentional control indexed by lower IIRTV may buffer the negative impact of adverse family environment on the development of boys' externalizing problems.

Coping in context: The effects of long-term relations between interparental conflict and coping on the development of child psychopathology following parental divorce

Exposure to high levels of postdivorce interparental conflict is a well-documented risk factor for the development of psychopathology, and there is strong evidence of a subpopulation of families for which conflict persists for many years after divorce. However, existing studies have not elucidated differential trajectories of conflict within families over time, nor have they assessed the risk posed by conflict trajectories for development of psychopathology or evaluated potential protective effects of children's coping to mitigate such risk. We used growth mixture modeling to identify longitudinal trajectories of child-reported conflict over a period of six to eight years following divorce in a sample of 240 children. We related the trajectories to children's mental health problems, substance use, and risky sexual behaviors and assessed how children's coping prospectively predicted psychopathology in the different conflict trajectories. We identified three distinct trajectories of conflict; youth in two high-conflict trajectories showed deleterious effects on measures of psychopathology at baseline and the six-year follow-up. We found both main effects of coping and coping by conflict trajectory interaction effects in predicting problem outcomes at the six-year follow-up. The study supports the notion that improving youth's general capacity to cope adaptively is a potentially modifiable protective factor for all children facing parental divorce and that children in families with high levels of postdivorce conflict are a particularly appropriate group to target for coping-focused preventive interventions.

Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia Acts as a Moderator of the Relationship Between Parental Marital Conflict and Adolescents' Internalizing Problems

The present study examined the potential moderating role respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) plays in the relationship between parental marital conflict and adolescents' internalizing problems. To examine this issue, data were collected from 330 adolescents (13-14 years, 182 boys). The Chinese version of the Achenbach Youth Self-Report-2001 and the Chinese version of the Children's Perception of Interparental Conflict were used to assess the adolescents' internalizing problems and their perceptions of parental marital conflict. To obtain RSA data, electrocardiogram monitoring was performed on the adolescents at baseline and during a series of stress tasks (watching a film clip depicting marital conflict, a mental arithmetic task, and a speech task). The results indicated that baseline RSA and RSA reactivity to the film clip moderated the relationship between parental marital conflict and internalizing problems in early adolescents. The moderating effect of baseline RSA supported the BSCT hypothesis. Specifically, adolescents with low baseline RSA have both the highest and lowest levels of internalizing problems, depending on the level of marital conflict. In contrast, adolescents with high levels of baseline RSA have moderate levels in internalizing problems, regardless of the level of marital conflict they experience. Similarly, high marital conflict was related to internalizing problems for adolescents with less RSA suppression or RSA augmentation but not for those with greater RSA suppression. This effect was specific to stress related to marital conflict, as RSA reactivity to the mental arithmetic task and speech task did not moderate the relationship between marital conflict and internalizing problems. These findings suggest that certain profile of parasympathetic nervous activity is a risk factor for internalizing problems particularly for those who experience high-conflict environments.

The Role of Cognitive Emotion Regulation Strategies in Problem Gaming Among Adolescents: A Nationally Representative Survey Study

Explanatory theoretical models have proposed an association between problematic online gaming and abilities or strategies in alleviating distress or negative emotions in times of stress as proximal non-gaming-related personality factors. However, there is little research that has targeted how emotion regulation relates to problematic online gaming-especially during adolescence when gaming behavior is most prevalent. In emotion regulation research, there has been a particular emphasis on rumination because it is strongly associated with overall psychopathology. However, it is unknown whether this putatively maladaptive strategy relates to problematic online gaming and whether it is a gender-dependent association. Consequently, the present study examined how emotion regulation strategies, and particularly rumination, related to problem gaming and tested whether gender moderated this relationship in adolescents. In a national representative adolescent sample, 46.9% of the participants (N = 1,646) reported online gaming in the past 12 months and provided information on problematic gaming, and it was these data that were used for further analysis. Their data concerning problematic online gaming and emotion regulation strategies were analyzed, including rumination along with other putatively maladaptive (e.g., catastrophizing) and adaptive (e.g., positive reappraisal) strategies, while controlling for age, gender, and game genre preference. Results of linear regression analyses showed that all the putatively maladaptive emotion regulation strategies (including self-blame, other blame, catastrophizing, and rumination) were positively related to problematic online gaming. Positive reappraisal proved to be a protective factor; it was inversely related to problematic online gaming. In addition, the relationship between rumination and online gaming was moderated by gender (i.e., the relationship was stronger among boys). Based on the results, it is argued that emotion regulation is a useful framework to study problematic online gaming. The present study highlighted that the relative predictive value of rumination for problematic online gaming varied for boys and girls, suggesting that trait rumination might be a gender-specific vulnerability factor for problematic online gaming, but this requires further investigation and replication.