Links between shared and unique perspectives of parental psychological control and adolescent emotional problems: A dyadic daily diary study

Parent-Child Discrepancies in Perceived Parental Control and Their Associations with Children's Prosocial Behaviors in Early Adolescence within Chinese Families

How parent-child discrepancies in perceived parental control associate with children's prosocial behaviors remains unknown. This study examined this issue in 578 Chinese children (297 girls, Mage = 10.85, SDage = 0.72) and their mothers and fathers. Parents and children reported parental psychological and behavioral control, and children reported their prosocial behaviors. The latent difference scores modeling showed that compared to parents' perceptions, children's higher perceptions of guilt induction were related to more public prosocial behaviors; higher perceptions of love withdrawal were linked to fewer altruistic, compliant, emotional, and dire prosocial behaviors; and higher reporting of solicitation was associated with more general prosocial behaviors. The findings revealed the association between parent-child discrepancies and early adolescents' prosocial behaviors, supporting both the discrepancy-maladaptive hypotheses and the discrepancy-adaptive hypotheses within Chinese families.

From cross-lagged effects to feedback effects: Further insights into the estimation and interpretation of bidirectional relations

Bidirectional relations have long been of interest in psychology and other social behavioral sciences. In recent years, the widespread use of intensive longitudinal data has provided new opportunities to examine dynamic bidirectional relations between variables. However, most previous studies have focused on the effect of one variable on the other (i.e., cross-lagged effects) rather than the overall effect representing the dynamic interplay between two variables (i.e., feedback effects), which we believe may be due to a lack of relevant methodological guidance. To quantify bidirectional relations as a whole, this study attempted to provide guidance for the estimation and interpretation of feedback effects based on dynamic structural equation models. First, we illustrated the estimation procedure for the average and person-specific feedback effects. Then, to facilitate the interpretation of feedback effects, we established an empirical benchmark by quantitatively synthesizing the results of relevant empirical studies. Finally, we used a set of empirical data to demonstrate how feedback effects can help (a) test theories based on bidirectional relations and (b) reveal correlates of individual differences in bidirectional relations. We also discussed the broad application prospects of feedback effects from a dynamic systems perspective. This study provides guidance for applied researchers interested in further examining feedback effects in bidirectional relations, and the shift from focusing on cross-lagged effects only to a comprehensive consideration of feedback effects may provide new insights into the study of bidirectional relations.

Dynamic bidirectional relation between state mindfulness and suicidal ideation among female college students: The moderating effect of trait mindfulness

Research has indicated that mindfulness is a protective factor against suicidal ideation. However, the dynamic reciprocal relation between them has been understudied. In this study, 110 female college students with suicidal ideation completed a measure of trait mindfulness and a 28-day diary of suicidal ideation and three-dimensional state mindfulness, including acting with awareness, present-moment attention, and nonjudgmental acceptance. Dynamic structural equation modeling was used to examine the dynamic and bidirectional effects between dimensions of state mindfulness and suicidal ideation and the moderating effect of trait mindfulness. Results showed that suicidal ideation predicted lower levels of present-moment attention the next day. More importantly, there was a dynamic and bidirectional relation between nonjudgmental acceptance and suicidal ideation for people with trait mindfulness higher than the average level (i.e., M + 0.15SD). Our findings suggested that studies and interventions on suicide should pay more attention to specific dimensions of state mindfulness and trait mindfulness.

Callous-Unemotional Traits in Adolescents' Daily Life: Associations with Affect and Emotional and Conduct Problems

Intensive longitudinal methods (e.g., daily diary) inform understanding of dynamic processes by parsing within-person state-like fluctuations from stable between-person trait-like differences. In this exploratory study, we investigated whether self-reported callous-unemotional (CU) traits (callousness, uncaring) demonstrated daily fluctuations, as well as whether daily CU traits were associated with multiple forms of daily emotional and behavioral functioning. A sample of 99 adolescents (55.8% female; Mage = 14.60 years) provided baseline information and completed a naturalistic 30-day diary reporting on CU traits, positive and negative affect, and emotional and conduct problems in their daily lives. Dynamic structural equation modeling revealed that many CU traits items showed within-person autoregressive and cross-lagged links; however, there was substantial between-person variation in within-person fluctuations across items. At the subscale level, cross-day associations were observed between callousness and uncaring, conduct problems and uncaring, positive affect and callousness, negative affect and emotional problems, and emotional problems and negative affect. By harnessing intensive longitudinal data, our findings provide preliminary state-level evidence of CU traits, as well as functional information with regards to CU traits and emotional and behavioral problems in daily life. We consider the implications of our findings in terms of informing future CU traits intensive longitudinal evaluations.

Within-Family Associations Between Parental Psychological Control and Externalizing Problems Among Chinese Children: Links to Between-Family Mindful Parenting

Previous longitudinal studies have documented bidirectional associations between parental psychological control and children's externalizing problems over months or years. However, most studies have only examined these associations at the between-family level, and there is a lack of intensive longitudinal data (ILD) on psychological control and children's externalizing problems. Thus, this daily diary study examined the bidirectional associations between parental psychological control and externalizing problems among Chinese children. Further, we explored whether between-family mindful parenting linked to the mean levels and daily fluctuations of parental psychological control and children's externalizing problems. The sample included 71 parents of children between 7 to 13 years old (50.7% male; Mage = 9.92, SD = 1.46). Our findings indicate that at the within-family level, higher parental psychological control than usual predicted increases in externalizing problems among children reported by parents the next day, but not vice versa. Furthermore, between-family mindful parenting was negatively associated with the mean levels of psychological control and children's externalizing problems, as well as with fewer fluctuations of parental psychological control. This study contributes to the understanding of the within-family associations between parental psychological control and children's externalizing problems on a daily basis. Finally, we discuss implications for prevention and intervention programs targeting negative parenting and child externalizing problems.

A Dynamical Systems Investigation of the Co-regulation between Perceived Daily Parental Warmth and Adolescent Attention-deficit/hyperactivity Disorder Symptoms

Longitudinal research demonstrates that child ADHD symptoms and behaviors exhibit reciprocal associations with parenting behaviors over time. However, minimal research has investigated these associations and their dynamic links at the daily level. Intensive longitudinal data can disentangle stable between-person differences from within-person fluctuations and reveal nuanced short-term family dynamics on a micro timescale. Using 30-day daily diary data from a community sample of 86 adolescents (Mage = 14.5, 55% female, 56% White, 22% Asian) and latent differential equation modeling, this study examined the links between perceived daily parental warmth and ADHD symptoms as coupled dynamical systems. The results show that the magnitude of fluctuations in perceived daily parental warmth generally remains stable, while elevated ADHD symptoms return to their normal level over time. Perceived parental warmth is sensitive to change in ADHD symptoms such that adolescents feel that their parents will fine-tune their warmth with gradual changes when adolescents demonstrate heightened symptoms. There are substantial between-family differences in these regulating system dynamics. Among families with more baseline parental non-harsh discipline, both perceived parental warmth and ADHD symptoms tend to be more stable and fluctuate less often. Intensive longitudinal data and dynamical systems approaches offer a new lens to uncover short-term family dynamics and adolescent adjustment at a refined micro level. Future research should explore antecedents and consequences of between-family differences in these short-term family dynamics on multiple timescales.

Adolescent-Mother Agreements and Discrepancies in Reports of Helicopter Parenting: Associations with Perceived Conflict and Support

Adolescents' and parents' similar and/or divergent perceptions of parental behaviors may be associated with youth-parent relationship quality. This study examined adolescents' and mothers' perceptions of helicopter parenting, and whether (dis)agreements between these views were associated with perceived conflict and support. Participants were 349 late adolescents (MT1age = 18.20; 39.8% male) and their mothers (MT1age = 49.10) in Hong Kong who completed four assessments over one year. Results suggested that youth-mother agreements regarding helicopter parenting were positively associated with both conflict and support. Additionally, discrepancies between their reports were positively related to adolescent-reported conflict. These findings highlight the importance of examining multiple perspectives when studying helicopter parenting dynamics, and suggest both positive and negative aspects of these practices in Chinese families.

A moment of autonomy support brightens adolescents' mood: Autonomy support, psychological control and adolescent affect in everyday life

This experience sampling study examined whether autonomy-supportive and psychologically controlling interactions with parents are intertwined with adolescents' momentary affect. For 7 days (in 2020), 143 adolescents (Mage  = 15.82; SDage  = 1.75; 64% girls; 95% European, 1% African, 3% unknown) reported 5 or 6 times a day how they felt and how interactions with parents were experienced. Preregistered dynamic structural equation models on 1439 (including 532 adjacent) parent-adolescent interactions revealed significant within-family associations: Adolescents experienced more positive affect during and following autonomy-supportive interactions, and vice versa. Adolescents felt more negative affect during and 3 h before psychologically controlling interactions. Between-family associations showed significant linkages between parenting and affect. These findings show that a moment of autonomy support can alter adolescents' everyday well-being.