Associations Between Marital Conflict and Adolescent Conflict Appraisals, Stress Physiology, and Mental Health

Long-term effects of a preventive intervention on multiple components of adolescents' emotional insecurity

A gap in research on family interventions is the understanding of long-term effects on hypothesized mechanisms of effect regarding children's processes of responding to family stressors. This study assessed the long-term effects of an intervention designed to improve interparental and family conflict resolution on adolescents' emotional insecurity about interparental conflict. Emotional insecurity about interparental conflict has long been linked with adolescents' risk for adjustment problems. These findings have motivated the development of several family-based preventive interventions, one of which is the focus of this study. A community sample of 225 adolescents and their parents participated in an RCT-based study of an intervention designed to reduce adolescent's emotional insecurity about interparental conflict. The intervention's effect on patterns of change in adolescents', mothers', and fathers' reports of the three components of adolescents' emotional insecurity (emotional reactivity, behavioral dysregulation, and cognitive representations) from posttest through the 3-year follow-up were examined using multilevel modeling. Results suggested that the intervention predicted immediate (pre to posttest) and long-term linear decreases in emotional reactivity, as well as long-term quadratic change in behavioral dysregulation. These findings support the beneficial effects of a brief intervention on multiple components of emotional security. The results also underscore the importance of considering the potential of long-term (including nonlinear) patterns of change that may occur as a function of family-based interventions, as well as that the impact of family-based interventions may vary as a function of reporter and component of emotional insecurity.

Evolution of anhedonia in adolescent depression: An interpretative phenomenological analysis study

INTRODUCTION

Anhedonia is a symptom complex currently linked to dysfunctional reward processing. Phenomenological studies capture anhedonia as a loss of hedonic and eudemonic pleasure. However, there is a lack of integration between neurobiological understanding and clinical phenomenology. This study used a qualitative method to explore the interplay of sociocultural contexts and individual factors associated with the evolution of dysfunctional reward processing in adolescents with depression and anhedonia.

METHODS

Ten female adolescents with a current or prior diagnosis of major depressive disorder were recruited from a public tertiary care child and adolescent psychiatry service. In-depth interviews were conducted, voice recorded, and transcribed verbatim. The transcripts were analyzed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA).

FINDINGS

The adolescents hailed from urban families. Educational stress and relational difficulties figured prominently. Amotivation was the most important subdomain of anhedonia affected. An integrated framework for understanding the evolution of anhedonia is presented. Five main patterns of dysfunctional reward processing emerged in our study: an overworked system, erroneous reward valuation, reward-effort imbalance, and diversion of the reward processing system for self-preservation.

CONCLUSION

There is a necessity to build robust theoretical models of the evolution of anhedonia, hence finding homogenous sub-groups, paving the way for person-centric interventions for anhedonia.

Unraveling the Links among Witnessing Interparental Conflict, Hopelessness, Psychological Dating Violence Victimization, and Adult Depressive Symptoms

Witnessing interparental conflict in childhood predicts psychological dating violence victimization (PDVV) in adulthood. As found in previous studies, PDVV and hopelessness are associated with depression. However, the associations among these four variables have not been explored in detail. The present study, therefore, examined the association between perceived interparental conflict and depression in adulthood and whether PDVV and hopelessness might operate as sequential mechanisms accounting for the association. Participants (N = 283; Mage = 23.37 years, SD = 4.04 years) in romantic relationships completed measures of perceived interparental conflict, PDVV, hopelessness, and depression. The perceived interparental conflict was related to PDVV and depression but not to hopelessness in adulthood. Moreover, the association between witnessing interparental conflict and depression was serially mediated via PDVV and hopelessness. The results are discussed in regard to previous research, and their implications for future research are presented.

Longitudinal Relationships Between Interparental Conflict and Adolescent Depression: Moderating Effects of School Connectedness

The present study examined the association between interparental conflict and adolescent depression, and explored the moderating role of school connectedness in this association, in a Chinese context. Data were analyzed from 867 Chinese adolescents who completed the survey at 2 time points. Cross-lagged analyses indicated that interparental conflict in 7th grade adolescents significantly predicted depression in 8th grade, but adolescent depression in 7th grade was not a significant predictor of interparental conflict in 8th grade. In addition, there was a significant negative moderating effect of school connectedness, as high levels of school connectedness reduced the negative effect of interparental conflict on adolescent depression. Thus, the association between interparental conflict and adolescent depression has a unidirectional prediction. School connectedness can relieve the adverse effects of interparental conflict on adolescent depression.

Evidence of a traumatic stress dimension of psychopathology among at-risk children living in Denmark

The Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology (HiTOP) is a quantitative model of psychopathology. HiTOP proposes that trauma-related distress is a facet of Internalizing psychopathology, but recent evidence with young people suggests that it may reflect a unique dimension of psychopathology. This study assessed the latent structure of child and adolescent psychopathology to determine whether there is evidence of a unique ‘Traumatic Stress’ dimension, and how dimensions of psychopathology are associated with specific types of childhood adversity and trauma, and suicidal ideation and self-injurious behavior. Participants were children and adolescents aged 1–17 years (N = 1,800) who were in contact with the Danish child protection system due to suspected child abuse. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to determine the optimal latent structure of psychopathology, and structural equation modelling was used to determine how the dimensions of psychopathology were associated with different forms of trauma and adversity and suicidality/self-harm. The best fitting model included three factors of Internalizing, Externalizing, and Traumatic Stress. The Traumatic Stress dimensions was associated with older age, living outside of the family home, parental mental illness, higher levels of parental conflict, and the presence of domestic violence in the child’s home. The Traumatic Stress dimension was not associated with suicidality/self-harm. This study provides additional evidence of a distinct dimension of Traumatic Stress among young people. Further studies are needed to determine if these findings are replicable, particularly in older participants.

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.

Parental support, marital conflict, and stress as predictors of depressive symptoms among African American adolescents

Given the increase of depressive symptoms among adolescents, it is essential to investigate familial and temperamental correlates of depressive symptoms such as parental support, marital conflict, and stress. Thus, using a cross-sectional design, the current study examined whether parental support, marital conflict, and stress predicted depressive symptoms. Then, using structural equation modeling, this study tested whether stress mediated the relationships among parental support, marital conflict, and depressive symptoms among African American adolescents while controlling for sex (N = 883). Results suggest that maternal support negatively related to depressive symptoms in contrast to stress and marital conflict. However, paternal support and sex were not statistically associated with depressive symptoms. Mediation results suggest that stress explained the relationships among parental support, marital conflict, and depressive symptoms. Family therapy and depression reduction implications are discussed.

Inadequate sleep moderates effects of interparental conflict appraisals on adolescent adjustment

OBJECTIVES

Previous research and theory suggest that interparental conflict that is perceived by youth as frequent/intense, threatening, and/or the responsibility of the youth is predictive of adjustment problems. In contrast, sleep, an important precursor to emotion regulation, is likely a protective factor for youth experiencing interparental conflict. The goal of the current study was to investigate the extent to which adolescents who maintain better and/or longer sleep are buffered from the adjustment problems associated with greater interparental conflict.

METHODS

One-hundred and fifty adolescents completed questionnaires assessing interparental conflict (frequency/intensity perceptions as well as threat and self-blame appraisals) as well as internalizing and externalizing behaviors. Participants also wore an actigraph over 1 week to objectively measure sleep quantity and quality; 123 participants had valid actigraphy data.

RESULTS

Results of structural equation modeling analyses revealed that greater sleep quality weakened the association between interparental conflict and adjustment problems, particularly internalizing behaviors. However, sleep quantity was not a moderator.

CONCLUSION

These results suggest that higher quality sleep may protect adolescents from the negative effects of interparental conflict.

Dispositional Mindfulness is Cross-Sectionally Predicted by Interactions between Interparental Conflict and Parent-Child Relationships

Theory emphasizes the importance of the family environment for the development of dispositional mindfulness, but past research has focused exclusively on parent-child attachment relationships as family-level predictors of mindfulness. Our goal was to examine unique and joint associations of both interparental conflict and parent-child relationship quality with dispositional mindfulness. Participants were 150 youth (14-21 yrs) who reported the warmth and support in their relationships with mothers and fathers separately, as well as their appraisals of the properties of their parents' conflict, how threatening that conflict is, and how responsible for it they feel, in addition to dispositional mindfulness. Results indicated consistent interactions between conflict properties and mother-child relationship quality in relation to dispositional mindfulness. Dispositional mindfulness was lowest for youth who reported low levels of frequent/intense interparental conflict and poor-quality relationships with mothers. In contrast, either self-blame/threat or poor-quality relationships with mothers predicted lower levels of dispositional mindfulness. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.

Does Dispositional Mindfulness Buffer the Links of Stressful Life Experiences with Adolescent Adjustment and Sleep?

According to the mindfulness stress buffering hypothesis, mindfulness protects individuals from negative effects of stress. Prior investigations focused on the potential of mindfulness for reducing internalizing symptoms for adults in the context of general stress. We provided the first test of the mindfulness stress buffering hypothesis in the context of both adolescent general stress and interparental conflict (IPC) in relation to internalizing and externalizing, as well as sleep. Participants were 150 adolescents who reported dispositional mindfulness, perceived stress, IPC, internalizing, and externalizing. Participants wore an actigraph which objectively measured sleep for a week. Results suggested a stress buffering effect of mindfulness for the effects of general stress on internalizing symptoms at trend levels. Mindfulness stress buffering was not evident in relation to externalizing or sleep, or for the effect of IPC appraisals on adjustment or sleep. Greater IPC appraisals were associated with greater sleep onset latency, but mindfulness was not associated with objective measures of sleep quality or quantity. This study indicates that mindfulness may protect adolescents from the internalizing problems that often result from general stress, but that these stress buffering effects of mindfulness may not generalize to all types of stressors or adjustment/health outcomes.

Mindfulness Interventions to Reduce Impact of Interparental Conflict on Adolescents

Exposure to frequent, intense, and poorly resolved interparental conflict puts adolescents at risk for problems in many domains, including internalizing and externalizing problems, and stress physiological dysfunction. Existing intervention strategies to target these adolescents focus almost solely on improving marital dynamics, for example, through relationship education or couples therapy. However, interventions that aim to enhance marital communication require high levels of parental commitment and motivation for change, and may be expensive and time-consuming. In the current paper, we argue that it is essential to also apply intervention strategies that directly promote the regulatory capabilities of adolescents to improve outcomes for youth from high-conflict homes. Mindfulness, or present-moment, nonjudgemental awareness, is associated with myriad positive outcomes in adults (e.g., lower levels of depression and anxiety, and greater emotion regulation). We propose that mindfulness interventions are an ideal intervention strategy for adolescents from high conflict homes. Mindfulness interventions may target the mechanisms whereby destructive marital interaction impacts youth, by providing distance between experiences and evaluations, training regulation of attention, and enhancing self-compassion and nonjudgement, as well as by enhancing relationships. We also provide an example of a specific intervention model designed to increase mindfulness in youth, Learning to Breathe (L2B).

Individual differences in glucocorticoid regulation: Does it relate to disease risk and resilience?

Glucocorticoid (GC) signaling varies among individuals, and this variation may relate to individual differences in health outcomes. To determine if and which aspects of signaling (basal, circadian, integrative, or reactivity) are associated with specific health outcomes, we reviewed recent studies that relate GCs to health outcomes. We identified papers through PubMed and reviewed 100 original research articles related to mental health, cardiovascular health, cancer, diabetes, obesity, pulmonary health, sleep, and fitness. Many studies reported elevated GC secretion associated with worse health, but this was only particularly true for integrative GC measures. On the other hand, accentuated cortisol awakening response and a steeper circadian rhythm were both associated with positive health outcomes. Overall, relationships between GC secretion and health outcomes were relatively weak. This systematic review of relationships between GC metrics and health outcomes highlights the importance of careful consideration when selecting methods to measure GC regulation in health research.

Moving 2 Mindful (M2M) study protocol: testing a mindfulness group plus ecological momentary intervention to decrease stress and anxiety in adolescents from high-conflict homes with a mixed-method longitudinal design

INTRODUCTION

Interparental conflict exposure places adolescents at risk for problems with stress and anxiety; existing prevention/intervention strategies focus on reducing interparental conflict. Mindfulness-based programmes may be a promising treatment strategy for this population, but studies have not yet tested whether they are effective in this high-conflict context. In addition, evidence suggests that extensions to traditional treatments, such as delivering components in daily life that are tailored to moments of need, can increase treatment efficacy, particularly when combined with in-person treatments and particularly for adolescents. However, there are no such extensions to mindfulness interventions available. The Moving 2 Mindful study aims to (1) develop an ecological momentary intervention (EMI) supplement to Learning to BREATHE (L2B), an evidence-based mindfulness intervention for adolescents; (2) refine the EMI programme and determine the best delivery plan; (3) examine the feasibility and acceptability of L2B Plus (L2B plus the developed supplement) and (4) examine the potential for L2B Plus to reduce stress and anxiety for adolescents from high-conflict homes.

METHODS AND ANALYSIS

The Moving 2 Mindful study proposes a mixed-methods approach to developing and refining a multimethod adaptive supplement to L2B. Feasibility, acceptability and potential effectiveness will be tested in a sample of 38 families, who will be randomly assigned to receive L2B Plus or an active health and wellness control condition and followed until 3 months postintervention. A range of psychosocial and physiological factors will be assessed at multiple time points. This study is registered with clinicaltrials.gov (ID NCT03869749; pre-results).

ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION

The Institutional Review Board at Colorado State University has approved this study. Findings will be disseminated in scientific journals and conferences, whether they are positive, negative or inconclusive.

Overestimating Self-Blame for Stressful Life Events and Adolescents' Latent Trait Cortisol: The Moderating Role of Parental Warmth

Cognitive interpretations of stressful events impact their implications for physiological stress processes. However, whether such interpretations are related to trait cortisol-an indicator of individual differences in stress physiology-is unknown. In 112 early adolescent girls (M age = 12.39 years), this study examined the association between self-blame estimates for past year events and latent trait cortisol, and whether maternal warmth moderated effects. Overestimating self-blame (versus objective indices) for independent (uncontrollable) events was associated with lower latent trait cortisol, and maternal warmth moderated the effect of self-blame estimates on latent trait cortisol for each dependent (at least partially controllable) and interpersonal events. Implications for understanding the impact of cognitive and interpersonal factors on trait cortisol during early adolescence are discussed.

Is cortisol production in response to an acute stressor associated with diurnal cortisol production during adolescence?

The goal of the current study was to examine the extent to which cortisol responding to an acute stressor is related to diurnal cortisol patterns during adolescence. Participants were 105 adolescents (10-17 years of age) who experienced a robust social-evaluative stressor and provided saliva samples (before and immediately after, as well as 10, 20, and 30 min after the stressor) to assess both cortisol reactivity and recovery and also provided saliva samples (at wake-up, 30 min after wake-up, 4 pm, and at bedtime) on two consecutive days to measure diurnal cortisol production. Dual process latent growth curve models, one for cortisol reactivity and one for diurnal cortisol, indicated that dampened cortisol reactivity and prolonged cortisol recovery (i.e., less cortisol produced during reactivity but more cortisol produced during recovery) were associated with dampened decreases in cortisol production across the day, suggesting that adolescents are likely to show attenuation in multiple components of HPA axis functioning.

Children's appraisals of interparental conflict predict event-related potential components

Interparental conflict and neural correlates of children's emotion processing were examined. Event-related potential (ERP) data were collected from 87 children (9-11 years old) with stimuli depicting interpersonal anger, happiness, and neutrality. Three ERP components were modulated by child-reported measures of conflict, reflecting a progression from early sensory attention to cognitive control to stimulus categorization. Negative conflict predicted larger N1 and N2 amplitudes on happy than on angry trials. Greater self-blame for conflict predicted larger N2 amplitudes across emotions and larger P3 amplitudes on angry than on neutral or happy trials. Results suggest conflict-related experiences shape processing of interpersonal emotion.

Adolescent Conflict Appraisals Moderate the Link Between Marital Conflict and Physiological Stress Reactivity

The goal of this study was to advance understanding of how adolescent conflict appraisals contribute uniquely, and in combination with interparental conflict behavior, to individual differences in adolescent physiological reactivity. Saliva samples were collected from 153 adolescents (52% female; ages 10-17 years) before and after the Trier Social Stress Test. Saliva was assayed for cortisol and alpha-amylase. Results revealed interactive effects between marital conflict and conflict appraisals. For youth who appraised parental conflict negatively (particularly as threatening), negative marital conflict predicted dampened reactivity; for youth who appraised parental conflict less negatively, negative marital conflict predicted heightened reactivity. These findings support the notion that the family context and youth appraisals of family relationships are linked with individual differences in biological sensitivity to context.

Family conflict and lower morning cortisol in adolescents and adults: modulation of puberty

We aimed to explore the association between family conflict and HPA axis activity, especially with respect to the potential modulating effect of puberty. A total of 205 adolescents and 244 adult parents were recruited. Family conflict was assessed by the family conflict subscale of the Family Environmental Scale and serial salivary cortisol was measured in all participants. A marginally lower AUCg at 30 minutes after wake up in the morning and a significant lower AUCg at 60 minutes and 90 minutes in adult parents with high family conflict was found when compared to those with low family conflict. In adolescents, there were significant interaction effects between pubertal status and family conflict on AUCg (interaction p values <0.05). Among the adolescents with low family conflict, those at late/post pubertal status had higher AUCg than their pre/early pubertal counterparts but this difference was not observed in the adolescents with high family conflict. Adverse family environment is associated with HPA axis dysfunction in adults and late/post pubertal adolescents and pubertal maturation plays a critical role in modulating the association between family environment and HPA axis function.