Child Routines Moderate Daily Hassles and Children's Psychological Adjustment

Child routines moderate a brief behavioral intervention to enhance sleep in school-aged children

OBJECTIVE

To examine whether child routines (the consistency or variation in children's daily routines, household responsibilities, discipline routines, and homework routines) moderated the effectiveness of a brief behavioral intervention to enhance sleep in school-aged children.

METHODS

Secondary analysis was conducted with a subset of 66 families with short sleeping (≤9.5 hr/day) children, 8-11 years old (female = 68%; mean age = 9.76, SD = 1.02) who completed the Child Routines Inventory at baseline and were then randomized to receive a behavioral sleep intervention (n = 32) or to control (n = 34). Sleep period was objectively measured using wrist actigraphy at baseline and 2 months post-randomization. Moderation analysis was performed using ordinary least squares regression using the PROCESS macro for SPSS.

RESULTS

Controlling for sleep period at baseline, treatment condition was significantly related to the sleep period at 2 months post-randomization, with the intervention group achieving a longer sleep period compared to the usual sleep period group (control) (b = 46.30, p < .01). Intervention response was moderated by child routines (b = 1.43, p < .05). Specifically, the intervention produced the greatest change in sleep period for children who engaged in greater routine behaviors at baseline than those who engaged in fewer routine behaviors.

CONCLUSIONS

Families that engage in routine behaviors may be better equipped to adopt the behavioral modifications required to get a good night's sleep. The findings highlight the importance of working with families to establish routine behaviors to improve responses to behavioral sleep interventions.

Annual Research Review: The power of predictability - patterns of signals in early life shape neurodevelopment and mental health trajectories

The global burden of early life adversity (ELA) is profound. The World Health Organization has estimated that ELA accounts for almost 30% of all psychiatric cases. Yet, our ability to identify which individuals exposed to ELA will develop mental illness remains poor and there is a critical need to identify underlying pathways and mechanisms. This review proposes unpredictability as an understudied aspect of ELA that is tractable and presents a conceptual model that includes biologically plausible mechanistic pathways by which unpredictability impacts the developing brain. The model is supported by a synthesis of published and new data illustrating the significant impacts of patterns of signals on child development. We begin with an overview of the existing unpredictability literature, which has focused primarily on longer patterns of unpredictability (e.g. years, months, and days). We then describe our work testing the impact of patterns of parental signals on a moment-to-moment timescale, providing evidence that patterns of these signals during sensitive windows of development influence neurocircuit formation across species and thus may be an evolutionarily conserved process that shapes the developing brain. Next, attention is drawn to emerging themes which provide a framework for future directions of research including the evaluation of functions, such as effortful control, that may be particularly vulnerable to unpredictability, sensitive periods, sex differences, cross-cultural investigations, addressing causality, and unpredictability as a pathway by which other forms of ELA impact development. Finally, we provide suggestions for prevention and intervention, including the introduction of a screening instrument for the identification of children exposed to unpredictable experiences.

Childhood unpredictability research within the developmental psychopathology framework: Advances, implications, and future directions

Greater unpredictability in childhood from the level of the caregiver-child dyad to broader family, home, or environmental instability is consistently associated with disruptions in cognitive, socioemotional, behavioral, and biological development in humans. These findings are bolstered by experimental research in non-human animal models suggesting that early life unpredictability is an important environmental signal to the developing organism that shapes neurodevelopment and behavior. Research on childhood unpredictability has surged in the past several years, guided in part by theoretical grounding from the developmental psychopathology framework (shaped largely by Dr. Dante Cicchetti's innovative work). The current review focuses on future directions for unpredictability research, including probing intergenerational effects, the role of predictability in resilience, cultural and contextual considerations, and novel developmental outcomes that should be tested in relation to childhood unpredictability. We urge the integration of multidisciplinary perspectives and collaborations into future research on unpredictability. We also provide ideas for translating this research to real-world practice and policy and encourage high-quality research testing whether incorporating predictability into interventions and policy improves developmental outcomes, which would support further dissemination of these findings.

Children's Daily Living Routine Mediates the Relations Between Parent-Child Relationships and Child Adjustment Problems During School Suspension in Hong Kong

Young children's adjustment problems were found to be prevalent during the COVID-19 pandemic. Such adjustment problems may be dependent on children's relationships with their parents and children's daily living routine in the family during the pandemic-related school suspension period. This study examines how children's routine mediated the associations between parent-child relationships and child adjustment problems during the fifth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Hong Kong, when schools were suspended. The study collected data from 937 parents (87.8% mothers) of children aged 5-12 (M = 7.35 years, SD = 2.09; 50.5% girls). Parents reported on parent-child relationships, children's daily living routine, and child adjustment problems in an online survey. Our findings from structural equation modeling indicate that parent-child closeness was negatively related to child adjustment problems, whereas conflict was positively related to child adjustment problems. Children's routine mediated the associations between parent-child relationships (i.e., closeness and conflict) and child externalizing problems. However, children's routine did not mediate the associations between parent-child relationships (i.e., closeness and conflict) and child internalizing problems. The findings show that parents should be helped to establish routine, especially in difficult times when young children experience turbulence in their daily life, so as to reduce their adjustment problems, in particular of an externalizing nature.

Evaluation of the Effect of a Serious Game on the Performance of Daily Routines by Autistic and ADHD Children

Objectives

Learning and performing new routines are difficult for children with neurodevelopmental disorders. Studies have shown that consistency in child reinforcement and parental support are effective. For example, digital solutions such as serious games can be used to support parents and children in developing these life skills. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of a serious game on the performance of daily routines by autistic and ADHD children.

Methods

A total of 201 families (parents and children) participated in the study. The study used a combined 3 (intervention) × 3 (diagnosis) × 3 (time) research design with repeated measures. Participants were randomly assigned to three intervention groups (serious game, parental support, and a combination of serious game and parental support) based on their diagnosis (ASD, ADHD, neurotypical). Latent growth modeling and repeated ANOVAS were performed to analyze routine scores collected at three moments (baseline, midpoint, persistence) over an 8-week period.

Results

Results show a moderating effect of diagnosis on child routine trajectory. For ADHD participants, we observed a very important significant clinical effect for two interventions (parental support alone and combination of serious game and parental support) where for ASD children, this effect is observed for only one treatment (combination of serious game and parental support). For neurotypical children, results indicate a very important and significant clinical effect when they use the serious game alone.

Conclusions

Results show that the serious game can improve children's routines. However, for some neurodevelopmental profiles (ASD or ADHD), the addition of parental support produces greater clinical improvements.

School-Age Child Routines: Adaptation and Validation Studies of the Portuguese Version of the Child Routines Questionnaire

Child routines have been recognized as positive contributors to children's development. However, in Portugal there is still a lack of instruments available to assess school-age child routines. The purpose of this study was to present the translation, adaptation, and validation studies of the Portuguese version of the Child Routines Questionnaire (CRQ), a parent self-report measure developed to assess school-age child routines. A total of 460 parents of children aged between 6 and 12 years-old participated in the study. Two studies were conducted to define the CRQ-PT factor structure. In Study 1 (n = 204 children from 6 to 12 years-old), findings from the exploratory factor analysis provided evidence for a four-factor structure (for 32 items), which explained 43.53% of the total variance. In Study 2 (n = 256 children from 6 to 9 years-old), results from confirmatory factor analysis showed good model fit indices (CFI = 0.84, RMSEA = 0.06). The total scale of the CRQ-PT (α = 0.89) and its subscales showed good internal consistency. Further evidence of construct validity was shown by weak to moderate correlations with measures of parental sense of competence and family mealtime routines. Relevant contributions of the study are underscored, namely the availability and usefulness of a reliable and valid assessment tool to evaluate the routines of Portuguese school-age children for clinical practice and research purposes.

Relations between maternal panic over COVID-19 and children's depressive symptoms: the moderating role of children's daily routines

The sudden outbreak of COVID-19 and consequent quarantine policies have substantially altered family lives worldwide. Potential associations between parental negative emotional expressions towards the pandemic, family factors, and child psychological adjustment remain under-explored. Accordingly, the goal of the present study was to examine the relation between maternal panic over COVID-19 and children's depressive symptoms, with a focus on the potential moderating role of children's daily routines during a period of strict quarantine. Participants were N = 1,589 children (M age = 13.13 years, SD = 1.54; 50.7% girls) and their mothers, from Zhengzhou, Henan Province, in Mainland China. Data were collected in April of 2020, when school closure policies were in effect. Mothers reported their panic over COVID-19 and children reported their depressive symptoms and daily routines during the quarantine period. Overall, results indicated a significant positive association between maternal panic over COVID-19 and child depressive symptoms. However, maintaining regular daily routines was found to be a significant moderator of this association, with higher levels of daily routines attenuating the link between maternal panic reactions and child psychological distress (i.e., buffering effect). The results highlight the protective role of regular daily routines in promoting psychological adjustment among Chinese children during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12144-022-04129-0.

Developmental surveillance: a prospective observational study on integrating occupational therapy

The purpose of this study was to understand the interprofessional contributions of occupational therapy services within the pediatric primary care team during developmental surveillance for health promotion and prevention. A prospective observational study of 27 well-child visits was conducted. Well-child visits were conducted by a physician, physician assistant, or nursing practitioner. This research compared observed developmental surveillance from an occupational therapy perspective to identify opportunities for supporting daily childhood activity participation. Areas of occupational and developmental participation were generally well covered during developmental surveillance. While there were no observed differences in the scope of the well-child visit conducted by different primary care professionals, habits, routines, roles, rituals, and the environments and contexts that may be impacting participation for children and families were found to be an area of limited discussion during developmental surveillance. There is an opportunity for occupational therapy practitioners to be involved in developmental surveillance with an emphasis on occupational therapy's expertise in habits, routines, roles, and contextual considerations to participation and development.

Child-parent relationship during the Wuhan COVID-19 lockdown: Role of changes in preschool children's daily routines

Objective

We examined the impact of the strict lockdown on 130 preschool-age children's daily routines and how their routine changes from pre-lockdown were related to child-parent relationship quality during the lockdown.

Background

To contain the spread of the COVID-19, the city of Wuhan underwent a strict 76-day lockdown, during which children's routines were drastically altered, yet families did not have a frame of reference to use to determine how changes in children's routines would be related to their family dynamics.

Method

Parents provided survey data on the amount of time their children spent daily on learning, screen devices, play and exercise, and nighttime sleep before, during, and after the lockdown. The also described general family functioning, child-parent closeness, and child-parent conflict during the lockdown.

Results

The lockdown led to changes in all four routines, but all returned to pre-lockdown level after the lockdown was lifted. Regression analyses showed that decrease in play and exercise time was related to less child-parent closeness, and decrease in learning time and increase in nighttime sleep time were related to more child-parent conflict.

Conclusion

Findings suggested changes in the children's play and exercise time, learning time, and nighttime sleep time were related to negative child-parent relationship (i.e., less closeness or more conflict), but favorable general functioning was a protective factor.

Implications

Our study highlighted family resilience in restoring the children's routines after the lockdown, as well as family vulnerability during the lockdown, as changes in three of the four routines examined were linked to negative child-parent relationship.

Parenting beliefs about attunement and structure are related to observed parenting behaviours

We compared self-reported parenting beliefs about caring for infants with observed parenting behaviours during play interactions between 32 parents and their infants. We measured parenting beliefs about the value of attunement and structure in caring for infants using the Baby Care Questionnaire (BCQ) (Winstanley & Gattis, 2013; Winstanley, Sperotto, Putnick, Cherian, Bornstein & Gattis, 2014). We used a micro-coding approach to distinguish between responsive parenting behaviours (maintaining infant attention) and demanding parenting behaviours (introducing or redirecting infant attention) (Landry, Garner, Swank & Baldwin, 1996). Attunement beliefs were positively related to responsive parenting behaviours and negatively related to demanding parenting behaviours. Structure beliefs were weakly related to demanding parenting behaviours. These results are an important first step toward identifying relations between self-reported parenting beliefs about attunement and structure and observed parenting behaviours.

Double advantage of parental education for child educational achievement: the role of parenting and child intelligence

Background

Parental education is one of the best predictors of child school achievement. Higher parental education is not only associated with higher child intelligence, but children from highly educated parents also perform better in school due to other family related factors. This study evaluates the relation between parental education, child non-verbal intelligence and parenting practices with child school achievement.

Methods

Longitudinal data from a large population-based, multi-ethnic cohort of children in the Netherlands (63% Dutch origin) followed from birth to age 13 years (3547 children; 52.3% girls) were analyzed. School achievement was measured at the end of primary school (12 years of age) with a national Dutch academic test score. Parental education was assessed at age 3 years. The non-verbal intelligence of the child was measured at age 6 years and a full intelligence was measured at age 13 years. Maternal and paternal family routines, harsh parenting and corporal punishment were assessed in early and mid-childhood. Mediation analysis was performed with the G-formula and Structural Equation Models.

Results

Child intelligence partially mediated [B indirect effect =0.54 95% CI (0.46, 0.62) P < 0.001] the association between parental education and child school achievement. Independent of intelligence, family routines [B indirect effect =0.04 95% CI (0.01, 0.07) P < 0.01], but not harsh parenting mediated this association.

Conclusions

Higher parental education was associated with better school achievement through two independent mechanisms, through higher intelligence of the child and parenting practices.

Ontario COVID-19 and Kids Mental Health Study: a study protocol for the longitudinal prospective evaluation of the impact of emergency measures on child and adolescent mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic

INTRODUCTION

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the mental health (MH) of children, adolescents and parents. Whereas youth with MH disorders and neurodevelopmental disorders (NDD) may be at higher risk for exacerbations in emotional and behavioural distress, children and adolescents without pre-existing MH disorders or NDD may also experience MH deterioration due to increases in stress, changes in health behaviours, loss of activities/school closures or loss of resources. Little is known about the impact of the COVID-19 emergency measures (EMs) on children's MH over the course of the pandemic.

METHODS AND ANALYSIS

Longitudinal study of four well-established, pre-existing cohorts in Ontario (two recruited in clinical settings, two recruited in community settings). Primary outcomes include the impact of EMs on six MH domains: depression, anxiety, irritability, inattention, hyperactivity and obsessive-compulsive behaviours. Risk and protective factors related to youth MH profiles and trajectories will be identified. In addition, the effects of school mitigation strategies, changes in MH services and family factors (ie, parental MH, economic deprivation and family functioning) on children's MH will be examined. Data will be collected via repeated online survey measures selected to ensure reliability and validity for the proposed populations and distributed through the pandemic periods.

ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION

The study was approved by institutional research ethics boards at participating research sites. Results will be disseminated through a robust knowledge translation partnership with key knowledge users. Materials to inform public awareness will be co-developed with educators, public health, and MH and health service providers. Connections with professional associations and MH advocacy groups will be leveraged to support youth MH policy in relation to EMs. Findings will further be shared through conference presentations, peer-reviewed journals and open-access publications.

Mostly worse, occasionally better: impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of Canadian children and adolescents

This large cross-sectional study examined the impact of COVID-19 emergency measures on child/adolescent mental health for children/adolescents with and without pre-existing psychiatric diagnoses. Using adapted measures from the CRISIS questionnaire, parents of children aged 6-18 (N = 1013; 56% male; 62% pre-existing psychiatric diagnosis) and self-reporting children/adolescents aged 10-18 (N = 385) indicated changes in mental health across six domains: depression, anxiety, irritability, attention, hyperactivity, and obsessions/compulsions. Changes in anxiety, irritability, and hyperactivity were calculated for children aged 2-5 years using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. COVID-19 exposure, compliance with emergency measures, COVID-19 economic concerns, and stress from social isolation were measured with the CRISIS questionnaire. Prevalence of change in mental health status was estimated for each domain; multinomial logistic regression was used to determine variables associated with mental health status change in each domain. Depending on the age group, 67-70% of children/adolescents experienced deterioration in at least one mental health domain; however, 19-31% of children/adolescents experienced improvement in at least one domain. Children/adolescents without and with psychiatric diagnoses tended to experience deterioration during the first wave of COVID-19. Rates of deterioration were higher in those with a pre-exiting diagnosis. The rate of deterioration was variable across different age groups and pre-existing psychiatric diagnostic groups: depression 37-56%, anxiety 31-50%, irritability 40-66%, attention 40-56%, hyperactivity 23-56%, obsessions/compulsions 13-30%. Greater stress from social isolation was associated with deterioration in all mental health domains (all ORs 11.12-55.24). The impact of pre-existing psychiatric diagnosis was heterogenous, associated with deterioration in depression, irritability, hyperactivity, obsession/compulsions for some children (ORs 1.96-2.23) but also with improvement in depression, anxiety, and irritability for other children (ORs 2.13-3.12). Economic concerns were associated with improvement in anxiety, attention, and obsessions/compulsions (ORs 3.97-5.57). Children/adolescents with and without pre-existing psychiatric diagnoses reported deterioration. Deterioration was associated with increased stress from social isolation. Enhancing social interactions for children/adolescents will be an important mitigation strategy for current and future COVID-19 waves.

Impact of Medication on Performance of Household Chores by Children with ADHD

OBJECTIVE

To investigate associations between ADHD medication and household chore performance by children with ADHD.

METHODS

A parent questionnaire collected information about the adequacy and quality of their child's performance of two self-care and six family-care chores. Parent perceptions of ADHD medication effect duration were used to identify children with after-school medication benefits (ASMB). Mann-Whitney U tests compared children with and without ASMB across measures of chore performance.

RESULTS

A total of 565 parents of children with ADHD that regularly take medication completed the questionnaire. Children with ASMB were more likely to meet parental expectations for five of eight household chores and were more likely to be able to independently complete both self-care and family-care chores than those without ASMB. No differences were noted regarding their need for reminders or assistance with chores.

CONCLUSION

Improvement in chore performance may be an additional consideration with respect to medication selection for children with ADHD.

Cortisol in early childhood moderates the association between family routines and observed affective balance in children from low-income backgrounds

The study of emotion regulation often addresses control of negative emotion. Researchers have proposed that affective balance is an indicator of emotion regulation that incorporates the role of positive emotion in the context of negative emotional experiences. Environmental and individual factors, such as family processes and biological stress regulation, are known to shape emotion regulation. The present study investigated whether child diurnal cortisol, an indicator of biological stress regulation, moderated the association between family routines and observed affective balance. Children (N = 222; M age = 4.70 years, SD = 0.60) from low-income households provided saliva samples to measure diurnal cortisol and completed a behavioral task designed to elicit negative emotions. Affective balance was defined as the difference score between the proportion of positive and negative emotional expressions displayed during the task. A higher affective balance score indicated greater positive compared with negative emotional displays. Simple slope analyses indicated that for children with a low morning cortisol intercept, more frequent family routines were associated with more affective balance. This pattern was not observed in children with average or high morning cortisol. Positive family routines may play an important role in shaping affective balance among children with disrupted cortisol levels from low-income backgrounds.

Substance-related coping behaviours among youth during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic

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12% of youth in our sample used substances to cope with COVID-19-related changes.

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Substance-related coping was more common among females than males in our sample.

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Greater depression was associated with using substances to cope with COVID-19.

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For females, psychosocial wellbeing may be protective of substance-related coping.

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Secondary impacts of COVID-19 pandemic on youth substance use and mental health.

Objective

As impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic continue to unfold, research is needed to understand how school-aged youth are coping with COVID-19-related changes and disruptions to daily life. Among a sample of Canadian youth, our objective was to examine the mental health factors associated with using substances to cope with COVID-19-related changes, taking account of expected sex differences.

Methods

We used online data collected from 7150 students in the COMPASS study, during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic (May–July 2020) in British Columbia, Ontario, and Quebec, Canada. We specified a sex-stratified, generalized linear mixed model to estimate the likelihood of engagement in substance-related coping behaviours, while testing for the effects of students’ mental health, individual characteristics, and school neighborhood characteristics.

Results

Twelve percent of students (13.4% of females, 9.9% of males) in our sample reported using cannabis, alcohol, cigarettes, and/or vaping to help cope with COVID-19-related changes. Regardless of sex, students with greater depressive symptoms were more likely to engage in substance-related coping (aOR_Female = 1.04, 95 %CI[1.01–1.07]; aOR_Male = 1.06, 95 %CI[1.013–1.11]). Among females, better psychosocial wellbeing was protective against engagement in substance related-coping (aOR = 0.96, 95 %CI[0.94–0.98]), controlling for current substance use.

Conclusions

Canadian school-aged youth with generally poor mental health may be more likely to have engaged in substance use to help cope with COVID-19-related changes during the first wave of the pandemic, and female youth may be at disproportionate risk of engaging in the behaviour. Ongoing evaluation of the impacts of COVID-19 on youth health is required.

Abuse, Mental State, and Health Factors Pre and during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Comparison among Clinically Referred Adolescents in Ontario, Canada

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, population surveys revealed increased levels of anxiety and depression, while findings from large-scale population data analyses have revealed mixed findings with respect to the mental health consequences for children and youth. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the well-being and health-compromising behaviors of adolescents (12-18 years) previously referred for mental health services. Data were collected (pre-pandemic n = 3712; pandemic n = 3197) from mental health agencies across Ontario, Canada using the interRAI Child and Youth Mental Health assessment. Our findings revealed no increased incidence of witnessing domestic violence nor experiencing physical, sexual, or emotional abuse. Further, there were no increases in the risk of self-harm and suicide, anxiety, or depression among our sample of clinically referred youth. Finally, results demonstrated no increase in problematic videogaming/internet use, disordered eating, or alcohol intoxication, and a decrease in cannabis use. Our findings add to the growing body of knowledge as to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on children and youth. Further, findings underscore the importance of understanding the nuanced impact of the pandemic on various subgroups of children, youth, and families and highlight the need for continued monitoring of outcomes for these children and youth.

It took a pandemic: Perspectives on impact, stress, and telehealth from caregivers of people with autism

Shelter in place mandates due to the COVID-19 pandemic left caregivers to determine how to best meet the therapeutic requirements of their children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Understanding the challenges faced by families, and their experiences using telehealth for the first time, may help make services sustainable in future public health emergencies. A sample of 70 caregivers of people with ASD from across the US completed an anonymous online survey. Results indicate that impaired emotion regulation was a primary contributor of parent-reported stress for persons with ASD during the pandemic, while loss of established structure and routine contributed to parental stress. Nearly half the sample reported using telehealth for the first time. Many caregivers were appreciative that telehealth permitted continuation of services, but expressed concerns about limited effectiveness due in part to their children's social communication problems.

Comorbid Internalizing and Externalizing Symptoms Among Children with ADHD: The Influence of Parental Distress, Parenting Practices, and Child Routines

Emotional/behavioral concerns are common among children with ADHD. Familial factors (e.g., parental adjustment, parenting behaviors) are linked to the presence of comorbid internalizing/externalizing symptoms among children with ADHD. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate a model that includes multiple familial variables and their direct and indirect effects on child emotional and behavioral problems among children with ADHD. Participants included parents of children (6-12 years of age; M = 8.87, SD = 1.92) with a diagnosis of ADHD (N = 300). Participants completed measures of child emotional/behavioral concerns, parental distress, routines, and parenting behaviors. Path analyses revealed direct effects for parental distress, parent behavior and routines on child adjustment, after controlling for the other variables. A significant indirect relation between parental distress, routines, and externalizing behavior was observed. These findings highlight one specific path through which parental distress appears to influence specific behavioral concerns that are commonly observed in children with ADHD.

Sluggish Cognitive Tempo and Behavioral Difficulties in Children with ADHD: Associations with Internalizing and Externalizing Symptoms

Sluggish cognitive tempo (SCT) appears to be distinct from attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and unique patterns of association between SCT and comorbid symptoms have been reported in the literature. The current study examined the relation between environmental supports and comorbid concerns among children with high SCT. Parents of children (ages 6-12) with a diagnosis of ADHD and clinically elevated SCT (N = 126) completed measures of emotional/behavioral functioning, child routines, and parental adjustment. Regression analyses revealed that after controlling for child age and parental adjustment, Household and Daily Living routines were associated with lower levels of externalizing symptoms while Discipline routines were associated with higher levels of these symptoms, accounting for nearly 20% of the variance in the equation. The findings suggest that for children with ADHD and high SCT routines may play an important role as an environmental support for externalizing symptoms.

Anger and Sadness Regulation in Refugee Children: The Roles of Pre- and Post-migratory Factors

Pre- and post-migratory factors have been implicated in refugee children's mental health. However, findings regarding their unique and joint roles are inconsistent or nonexistent. We examined the main and interactive relations of pre-migratory life stressors and post-migratory daily hassles and routines to emotion regulation-a key marker of mental health-in 5- to 13-year-old Syrian refugee children (N = 103) resettling in Canada. Mothers and children completed questionnaires assessing pre-migratory life stressors and post-migratory daily hassles. Mothers also reported their children's adherence to family routines and emotion regulation abilities (i.e., anger and sadness regulation) via questionnaire. Overall, children who more frequently engaged in family routines showed better anger regulation. Pre- and post-migratory factors also interacted, such that greater post-migratory daily hassles were associated with worse sadness regulation for children with lower levels of pre-migratory life stressors, but were unassociated with the sadness regulation of children who experienced higher levels of pre-migratory life stressors. Results suggest that pre- and post-migratory factors play unique and joint roles in refugee children's emotion regulation during resettlement.

Chinese preschoolers’ daily routine and its associations with parent-child relationships and child self-regulation

Popular parenting literature has often emphasized the importance of establishing predictable routines during early childhood. Using a sample of 688 Chinese preschool-aged children, the current study examined how child routines were related to parent-child relationships and self-regulation. This study first examined the psychometric properties of the Child Routines Questionnaire-Preschool among Chinese preschoolers. The instrument demonstrated sound reliability and validity. Furthermore, the findings showed that routines in children’s daily living, activities, and discipline were all positively related to parent-child closeness and negatively related to parent-child conflict, even after controlling for parenting styles. In addition, child routines were also associated with teacher-reported self-control and behavioral concerns. The current study provided initial evidence on the role of routines in promoting parent-child relationships and self-regulation among a Chinese sample of preschool-aged children.

Domain-Specific Daily Hassles, Anxiety, and Delinquent Behaviors among Low-Income, Urban Youth

We studied contributions of domain-specific daily hassles to anxiety and delinquency prior to and during the transition into middle (N = 186) or high school (N = 167) in a sample of low-income, urban adolescents (93% African American; 54% female) using a two-wave longitudinal design. Path models controlling for baseline maladjustment and sex examined how hassles from parents, peers, academics, and the neighborhood were associated with maladjustment once youth had made the transition into a new school. Hassles with friends both prior to and during the school transition mattered for older youth's maladjustment only, whereas hassles with parents mattered for both older and younger youth. Academic hassles only appeared to be problematic for younger youth. Neighborhood hassles were associated in opposite ways with younger and older youth's maladjustment. These findings suggest that both hassle type and the timing of the school transition matter for youth maladjustment.

Predicting Internalizing and Externalizing Symptoms in Children with ASD: Evaluation of a Contextual Model of Parental Factors

Parental adjustment, parenting behaviors, and child routines have been linked to internalizing and externalizing child behavior. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate a comprehensive model examining relations among these variables in children with ASD and their parents. Based on Sameroff's Transactional Model of Development (Sameroff in: The transactional model of development: How children and contexts shape each other, American Psychological Association, Washington, DC, 2009), researchers hypothesized that these factors would collectively predict child behavior. Parents (n = 67) completed measures of parental adjustment, parenting behaviors, child routines, and child behavior using the Hopkins Symptom Checklist, Alabama Parenting Questionnaire, Child Routines Inventory, and Child Behavior Checklist, respectively. Results indicated that parental adjustment predicted harsh/disengaged parenting (B = 0.17, p < .01) and internalizing behavior (B = 0.32, p < .01). Harsh/disengaged parenting and warm/supportive parenting predicted externalizing behavior (B = 0.59, p < .01) and internalizing behavior (B = - 0.49 p < .01), respectively.

Parenting practices in middle childhood mediate the relation between growing up with a parent having bipolar disorder and offspring psychopathology from childhood into early adulthood

The offspring of parents with bipolar disorder (OBD) are at high risk for developing mental disorders. In addition to genetic factors, environmental risk is purported to be associated with these negative outcomes. However, few studies have examined this relation. Using concurrent and longitudinal data, we examined if support, structure, and control provided by parents in middle childhood mediated the relation between having a parent with or without bipolar disorder, and offspring mental health. The sample included 145 offspring (77 OBD, 68 controls) aged 4 to 14 years and their parents. Parent and teacher ratings of child behavior were collected, and diagnostic assessments were conducted in offspring 12 years later (n = 101). Bootstrapping analyses showed that low levels of structure mediated the relation between having a parent with bipolar disorder and elevated internalizing and externalizing difficulties during middle childhood. For the longitudinal outcomes, parental control emerged as the strongest mediator of the relation between parents’ bipolar disorder and offspring psychopathology. Suboptimal childrearing may have different immediate and enduring consequences on mental health outcomes in the OBD. Parental structure has robust effects on emotional and behavioral problems in middle childhood, while levels of control promote psychological adjustment in the OBD as they mature.

Child cortisol moderates the association between family routines and emotion regulation in low-income children

Biological and social influences both shape emotion regulation. In 380 low-income children, we tested whether biological stress profile (cortisol) moderated the association among positive and negative home environment factors (routines; chaos) and emotion regulation (negative lability; positive regulation). Children (M age = 50.6, SD = 6.4 months) provided saliva samples to assess diurnal cortisol parameters across 3 days. Parents reported on home environment and child emotion regulation. Structural equation modeling was used to test whether cortisol parameters moderated associations between home environment and child emotion regulation. Results showed that home chaos was negatively associated with emotion regulation outcomes; cortisol did not moderate the association. Child cortisol level moderated the routines-emotion regulation association such that lack of routine was most strongly associated with poor emotion regulation among children with lower cortisol output. Findings suggest that underlying child stress biology may shape response to environmental influences.