How Does Family Connectedness Contribute to Youths' Health? The Mediating Role of Coping Strategies

Relationships Between Family Connectedness and Stress-Triggering Problems Among Adolescents: Potential Mediating Role of Coping Strategies

The aim of this study was to provide a better understanding of the mechanisms underlying the relationships between family connectedness, coping strategies, and stress-triggering problems in adolescents. To this end, it longitudinally examined the relationships between these three phenomena in a sample of New Zealand adolescents. Data were the three waves of the Youth Connectedness Project, in which 1,774 adolescents aged 10-17 completed a self-report survey three times at one-year intervals. Using random intercept longitudinal mediation path models, we tested whether and to what extent different coping strategies at T2 functioned as mediators between family connectedness at T1 and stress-triggering problems at T3. As predicted, statistical analyses indicated that family connectedness negatively predicted stress-triggering problems over time, and we found that maladaptive coping, but not adaptive coping, significantly mediated this relationship. This result suggests that family connectedness predicted a reduction in maladaptive coping one year later, and this lower level of maladaptation predicted a reduction in stress-triggering problems a subsequent year later. These and other related findings are important as they highlight several mechanisms shaping unfolding problematic situations experienced by adolescents. Contributions of the results to the existing body of knowledge about adolescents' stress and coping strategies are discussed, as well as their clinical implications for the prevention or reduction of stress experienced by adolescents.

Maternal Childhood Maltreatment, Internal Working Models, and Perinatal Substance Use: Is There a Role for Hyperkatifeia? A Systematic Review

The parent-infant relationship is critical for socioemotional development and is adversely impacted by perinatal substance use. This systematic review posits that the mechanisms underlying these risks to mother-infant relationships center on 3 primary processes: (1) mothers' childhood maltreatment experiences; (2) attachment styles and consequent internal working models of interpersonal relationships; and (3) perinatal substance use. Further, the review considers the role of hyperkatifeia, or hypersensitivity to negative affect which occurs when people with substance use disorders are not using substances, and which drives the negative reinforcement in addiction. The authors performed a systematic review of articles (published 2000-2022) related to these constructs and their impact on mother-infant relationships and offspring outcomes, including original clinical research articles addressing relationships between these constructs, and excluding case studies, reviews, non-human animal studies, intervention studies, studies with fewer than 30% female-sex participants, clinical guidelines, studies limited to obstetric outcomes, mechanistic/biological studies, and studies with methodological issues precluding interpretation. Overall 1844 articles were screened, 377 were selected for full text review, and data were extracted from 157 articles. Results revealed strong relationships between mothers' childhood maltreatment experiences, less optimal internal working models, and increased risk for perinatal substance use, and importantly, all of these predictors interacted with hyperkatifeia and exerted a marked impact on mother-infant relationships with less data available on offspring outcomes. These data strongly support the need for future studies addressing the additive impact of maternal childhood maltreatment experiences, suboptimal internal working models, and perinatal substance use, with hyperkatifeia as a potential moderator, and their interacting effects on mother-infant socioemotional outcomes.

Social Connectedness and Smoking among Adolescents in Ireland: An Analysis of the Health Behaviour in Schoolchildren Study

Continuing progress with preventing smoking initiation is a key to the tobacco endgame. Home- and school-based social networks shape the health behaviour of children and adolescents. This study described the relationship between social connectedness and smoking behaviour in school-aged children in Ireland. The 2014 Irish Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) surveyed self-reported smoking status and measured perceptions of social connectedness and support with validated and reliable questions across a random stratified sample of 9623 schoolchildren (aged 10-19). Overall, 8% of school-aged children reported smoking, in the last 30 days 52% reported smoking daily, and prevalence increased with age (p < 0.001). Compared with schoolchildren who did not smoke, perceptions of social connectedness and perceptions of support at home, from peers, and at school were significantly poorer for schoolchildren who smoked across all measures examined (p < 0.001). The poorest rated measures were for school connectedness and teacher support for smokers. Policies and practices that build and support positive environments for schoolchildren must continue to be prioritised if progress on preventing smoking initiation is to be sustained.

Normative body image development: A longitudinal meta-analysis of mean-level change

This meta-analysis synthesized longitudinal data on mean-level change in body image, focusing on the constructs of body satisfaction and dissatisfaction, body esteem, perceived attractiveness, valuation, self-objectification, and body shame. We searched five databases and accessed unpublished data to identify studies that assessed body image at two or more time points over six months or longer. Analyses were based on data from 142 samples representing a total of 128,254 participants. The age associated with the midpoint of measurement intervals ranged from 6 to 54 years. Multilevel metaregression models examined standardized yearly mean change, and the potential moderators of body image construct, gender, birth cohort, attrition rate, age, and time lag. Boys and men showed fluctuations in overall body image with net-improvements between ages 10 and 24. Girls and women showed worsening body image between ages 10 and 16, but improvements between ages 16 and 24. Change was greatest between ages 10 and 14, and stabilized around age 24. We found no effect of construct, birth cohort, or attrition rate. Results suggest a need to revise understandings of normative body image development: sensitive periods may occur somewhat earlier than previously believed, and body image may show mean-level improvements during certain age ranges.

The impact of COVID-19 pandemic on emotional and behavioral problems of children with autism spectrum disorder and developmental delay aged 1-6 years in China

Introduction

The COVID-19 pandemic outbreak have caused increased levels of emotional and behavioral problems, particularly among people with pre-existing mental health conditions. Young individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and developmental delay (DD) are particularly at risk due to their vulnerability. The purpose of this study was to look into the different effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on 1-6-year-old children with ASD and DD.

Methods

Parents and guardians of children with ASD completed an online survey that included questions about their children's socio-demographics characteristics, the effects of the COVID-19 outbreak on their health, and what they needed in order to deal with the conditions of the pandemic.

Results

This study compared 4,138 children with ASD to 711 children with DD. Children with ASD had a higher risk of having more emotional and behavioral problems than children with DD (OR 1.38, 95% CI 1.12-1.70). Compared to parent-oriented rehabilitation at home, discontinuing rehabilitation had a higher likelihood of negative emotional and behavioral change (OR 1.67, 95% CI 1.41-1.98). Having teachers' online support had a higher likelihood of negative emotional and behavioral change for ASD children (OR 1.26, 95% CI 1.03-1.54).

Conclusions

This article provided evidence that children with developmental disabilities, particularly ASD, were at risk for a variety of challenges to their emotional functioning during the COVID-19 period, and that online support was not an ideal way for children with ASD to receive effective educational intervention in China.

Research on the Mechanism of Parent-Child Attachment to College Student Adversarial Growth

This study explores the impact of parent–child attachment mechanisms on adversarial growth among Chinese students. After Chinese college students start independent life away from their parents, they face adversity on their own. However, their original family always influences students’ methods for dealing with adversity and how they grow and mature. A survey of 364 college students found that parental trust and communication have positive impacts on adversarial growth through the improvement of self-identity, while parental alienation reduces self-identity and contributes negative effects on the adversarial growth of college students. Internal control personality has a negative moderating effect between parental trust, parental communication, and adversarial growth and a positive moderating effect between parental alienation and adversarial growth. Low internal control personality therefore has a positive influence on parental trust and communication on adversarial growth and decreases the negative influence of parental alienation. A substitution effect between internal control personality and parental attachment was also found. Different child personality requires different type of parent–child attachment relationship to maximize their ability to handle future adversity.

The impact of COVID-19 on U.S. adolescents: loss of basic needs and engagement in health risk behaviors

Across the United States, the COVID-19 pandemic created myriad challenges for youth and families, including losses of basic needs which may be associated with increased use of maladaptive coping behaviors. In a sample of 2491 U.S. youth (ages 13-16), demographic differences in loss of basic needs and maladaptive coping were assessed using regression models. More than 21% of adolescents endorsed losing one or more basic needs (e.g., loss of access to food or shelter) and 83% endorsed use of maladaptive coping strategies (e.g., using drugs or alcohol; self-harming behaviors) during the COVID-19 pandemic. Although adolescents with both majority and minority identities reported losing basic needs and engaging in maladaptive coping behaviors, minoritized youth reported more basic needs losses (ps < 0.05) and greater reliance on maladaptive coping strategies (ps < .05) than their non-minoritized peers. Furthermore, adolescents who endorsed losing basic needs were more likely to also endorse engaging in maladaptive coping behaviors (p < .05). Healthcare providers and teachers must consider basic need losses while structuring emotional and behavioral supports for youth during and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic.

Parental Response Style to Adolescent Self-Harm: Psychological, Social and Functional Impacts

Adolescent self-harm is a significant public health issue. We aimed to understand how parent stress response styles to their child's self-harm affects their wellbeing and functioning and the wider family. Thirty-seven participants in Australia (parents; 92% female) completed a mixed methods survey regarding their adolescent child's self-harm. We conducted Pearson zero-order correlations and independent t-tests to examine the impact of parent response style on their quality of life, health satisfaction, daily functioning, and mental health. We also used thematic analysis to identify patterns of meaning in the data. Two-thirds of participants reported mental ill health and reduced functional capacity due to their adolescent's self-harm. Parents with a more adaptive response style to stress had better mental health. Qualitative analyses revealed parents experienced sustained feelings of distress and fear, which resulted in behavioural reactions including hypervigilance and parental mental health symptoms. In the wider family there was a change in dynamics and parents reported both functional and social impacts. There is a need to develop psychological support for the adolescent affected and parents, to support more adaptive response styles, and decrease the negative effects and facilitate the wellbeing of the family unit.