Reciprocal relations between parenting and adjustment in a sample of juvenile offenders

Maternal, Paternal, and Peer Relationships Differentially Predict Adolescent Behavioral Problems

The current study investigated how maternal, paternal, and peer social relationships predict adolescent behavioral problems using secondary data analyses of the Longitudinal Studies of Child Abuse and Neglect (LONGSCAN). We aimed to examine differences between maternal and paternal relationships in predicting adolescent behavioral problems, and we hypothesized that parental relationships would more strongly predict adolescent behavioral problems than peer relationship in mid-adolescence. Participants were 929 adolescents at their 14-year-old visit. Hierarchical multiple regressions and multiple regression models revealed the following: Maternal relationship quality predicted fewer adolescent externalizing and total behavioral problems; paternal relationship quality predicted fewer internalizing problems; and peer popularity predicted fewer externalizing and total behavioral problems. In conclusion, mother-adolescent relationship may be more important for externalizing behavioral problems and father-adolescent relationship may be more important for internalizing behavioral problems. In middle adolescence, parental relationships are still more important than peer relationship in predicting adolescent behavioral problems. Study limitations and implications for research, policy, and practice were discussed.

The Role of Negative Parental Influences and Criminal Thinking in Juvenile Offending Behaviors

Previous research has established that juveniles who experience negative parental influence are more likely to engage in problem and offending behavior. Less attention has been given to the possibility that criminal thinking styles might partially explain this relationship. This study examined the negative parental influences and criminal thinking styles of 1,354 juvenile offenders to establish that both negative parental influences and criminal thinking are significantly associated with juvenile problem and offending behavior. Further, the analysis showed that juvenile criminal thinking (proactive, reactive, and general) might mediate the relationship between negative parental influences and problem behavior. Implications for such findings are discussed.

A longitudinal test of acculturative family distancing theory explaining latino/a/x adolescents' adjustment

According to acculturative family distancing theory, adolescents' perceptions of cultural incongruencies with parents can diminish the quality of parent-adolescent relationships and, as a result, harm adolescent adjustment. Using four time points of data for a sample of 547 diverse Latino/a/x adolescents, this study examined how parent-adolescent relationship quality and acculturative family distancing were associated with changes in adolescent school performance and internalizing symptoms. At baseline, the school-based sample ranged from 11- to 14-years-old (M = 12.78) and included slightly more females (55%) than males (45%). Cross-lagged structural equation model results indicated that adolescent reports of greater acculturative family distancing were associated with adolescent perceived increases in parent-adolescent conflict and decreases in parental support. Conflict mediated associations between acculturative family distancing and decreased school performance. Associations between parent-child relationship qualities and Latino/a/x adolescent adjustment were bidirectional.

Dealing With Dependent Effect Sizes in MASEM

Abstract. The objective of the present study was to examine whether different methods for dealing with dependency in meta-analytic structural equation modeling (MASEM) lead to different results. Four different methods for dealing with dependent effect sizes in MASEM were applied to empirical data, including: (1) ignoring dependency; (2) aggregation; (3) elimination; and (4) a multilevel approach. Random-effects two-stage structural equation modeling was conducted for each method separately, and potential moderators were examined using subgroup analysis. Results demonstrated that the different methods of dealing with dependency in MASEM lead to different results. Thus, the decision on which approach should be used in MASEM-analysis should be carefully considered. Given that the multilevel approach is the only approach that includes all available information while explicitly modeling dependency, it is currently the theoretically preferred approach for dealing with dependency in MASEM. Future research should evaluate the multilevel approach with simulated data.

The influence of youth and parent reports of parental knowledge and monitoring and reporting discrepancy on high risk youth offending

INTRODUCTION

Positive parenting practices are known to be related to lower levels of youth offending. Questions remain as to the overlap between youth and parent perceptions of parenting practices, and the relationship of perception discrepancies with youth offending. This study examines the concordance of parenting behaviors reports, the relationship between parent and youth perceptions of parenting measures with youth offending, and whether discordant youth and parent reports are related to heterogeneity in youth offending.

METHODS

Survey data from 818 high risk U.S. youth averaging 16 years old who participated in the Pathways to Desistance study and his or her parent form the basis of this analysis.

RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS

Results demonstrate youth and parent reports of parental knowledge and parental monitoring are correlated, yet independent predictors of youth offending variety scores. Youth and parent reports about parenting measures demonstrate youth offending is highest when youth perceive parents as uninvolved, and lowest when youth estimates of parental knowledge and monitoring are higher than parent estimates. Parenting matters for high-risk youth, especially in reducing the likelihood of property offending. Using multiple perspectives to assess parenting practices is important in studying these dyadic relationships.

Maternal caregiver's typologies and internalized behaviors in African American adolescents living in urban public housing

AIMS

This study explores how variations in maternal caregiver types may be associated with adolescents' internalized behaviors (i.e., depressive symptoms) and resources (i.e., attitudes toward delinquent behaviors and efficacious beliefs).

METHOD

Using a sample of 375 African American youth from public housing in three large US cities, we used Latent Profile Analysis to identify various maternal caregiver classes. Multinomial logistic regression analyses were conducted to assess whether youth can be correctly classified into maternal caregiver classes based on their internalized behaviors.

RESULTS

Three maternal caregiver classes were identified. Results suggest youth living with high encouragement and high (supervision) maternal caregivers were associated with more conventional attitudes, higher self-efficacy, and lower depressive symptoms.

CONCLUSION

Findings highlight how maternal caregivers can influence the internalizing behaviors of African American youth in US public housing. Individual, community, and system-level interventions can be leveraged to support the impact of these maternal caregivers.

Exploring Processes in Day-to-Day Parent-Adolescent Conflict and Angry Mood: Evidence for Circular Causality

Parent-adolescent conflict has been studied both as a precursor of long-term macrolevel developmental risks and as an outcome of microlevel, moment-to-moment interaction patterns. However, the family-level processes underlying the maintenance or regulation of conflict in daily life are largely overlooked. A meso-level understanding of parent-adolescent conflict offers important practical insights that have direct implications for interventions. The present study explores day-to-day reciprocal processes and carryover in parents' and adolescents' experiences of anger and conflict. Daily diary data provided by parent-adolescent dyads (N = 151) from two-caregiver households (adolescents: 61.59% female, mean age = 14.60 years) over 21 days were examined using a multivariate Poisson multilevel model to evaluate the circular causality principle in parents' and adolescents' daily conflict and anger. Findings offer empirical support for the theory, suggesting that parents' and adolescents' anger and conflict exist together in a feedback loop wherein conflict is both a consequence of past anger and also an antecedent of future anger, both within and across persons. Increased understanding of the daily interaction patterns and maintenance of parent-adolescent conflict can guide more informed, targeted, and well-timed interventions intended to ameliorate the consequences of problematic parent-adolescent conflict sequences.

Examining effects of mother and father warmth and control on child externalizing and internalizing problems from age 8 to 13 in nine countries

This study used data from 12 cultural groups in 9 countries (China, Colombia, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, Philippines, Sweden, Thailand, and United States; N = 1,315) to investigate bidirectional associations between parental warmth and control, and child externalizing and internalizing behaviors. In addition, the extent to which these associations held across mothers and fathers and across cultures with differing normative levels of parent warmth and control were examined. Mothers, fathers, and children completed measures when children were ages 8 to 13. Multiple-group autoregressive cross-lagged structural equation models revealed that evocative child-driven effects of externalizing and internalizing behavior on warmth and control are ubiquitous across development, cultures, mothers, and fathers. Results also reveal that parenting effects on child externalizing and internalizing behaviors, though rarer than child effects, extend into adolescence when examined separately in mothers and fathers. Father-based parent effects were more frequent than mother effects. Most parent- and child-driven effects appear to emerge consistently across cultures. The rare culture-specific parenting effects suggested that occasionally the effects of parenting behaviors that run counter to cultural norms may be delayed in rendering their protective effect against deleterious child outcomes.

Bidirectional Relations Between Parenting Practices and Child Externalizing Behaviors in Formerly Homeless Families: A Random-Intercept Cross-Lagged Panel Analysis

OBJECTIVE

This study examined the bidirectional relation between effective parenting practices and externalizing problems in children in homeless families.

DESIGN

The sample comprised 223 children (M = 8.12 years) in 137 families living in temporary supportive housing, who participated in the Early Risers conduct problems prevention program lasting 2 years. Video-recorded observations of parent-child interactions were collected and rated by trained observers to assess effective parenting practices. Child externalizing problems were reported by their school teachers. Both variables were assessed at baseline prior to intervention and at 1- and 2-year post-baseline.

RESULTS

Child externalizing problems at baseline were negatively associated with effective parenting from baseline to year 1 as well as from year 1 to year 2. Observed effective parenting practices at year 1 were negatively associated with child externalizing problems from year 1 to year 2.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings underscore the presence of bidirectional influence processes between parents and children in high-risk families. Implications for intervention programs for high-risk families are discussed.

Child Effects on Lability in Parental Warmth and Hostility: Moderation by Parents' Internalizing Problems

Research documents that lability in parent-child relationships-fluctuations up and down in parent-child relationships-is normative during adolescence and is associated with increased risk for negative outcomes for youth. Yet little is known about factors that predict lability in parenting. This study evaluated whether children's behaviors predicted lability in parent-child relationships. Specifically this study tested whether youth maladjustment (delinquency, substance use, internalizing problems) in Grade 6 was associated with greater lability (e.g., more fluctuations) in parents' warmth and hostility towards their children across Grades 6-8. The study also tested whether the associations between youth maladjustment and lability in parents' warmth and hostility were moderated by parents' internalizing problems. The sample included youth and their parents in two parent families who resided in rural communities and small towns (N = 618; 52% girls, 90% Caucasian). Findings suggest that parents' internalizing problems moderated the associations between child maladjustment and parenting lability. Among parents with high levels of internalizing problems, higher levels of youth maladjustment were associated with greater lability in parents' warmth. Among parents with low in internalizing problems, higher levels of youth maladjustment were associated with less lability in parents' warmth. The discussion focuses on how and why parent internalizing problems may affect parental reactivity to youth problem behavior and intervention implications.

The Relation Between Callous-Unemotional Traits, Psychosocial Maturity, and Delinquent Behavior Among Justice-Involved Youth

Callous-unemotional (CU) traits are a risk factor for severe and persistent patterns of juvenile delinquency. Given the influence of CU trait assessments in justice-system settings, it is important to determine whether the predictive utility of CU traits is conditional on the absence of protective psychosocial factors. Employing a sample of justice-involved male youth (N = 1,216, M_age  = 15.29), this study examined whether psychosocial maturity (PSM) outweighs or attenuates the effect of CU traits on delinquency. Results indicated that youth with high CU traits or low PSM offended more during the year following their first arrest. Additionally, PSM moderated the relation between CU traits and offending, such that higher PSM was associated with less offending but only among low CU youth.

Bidirectional Relations Between Parenting and Behavior Problems From Age 8 to 13 in Nine Countries

This study used data from 12 cultural groups in nine countries (China, Colombia, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, Philippines, Sweden, Thailand, and the United States; N = 1,298) to understand the cross-cultural generalizability of how parental warmth and control are bidirectionally related to externalizing and internalizing behaviors from childhood to early adolescence. Mothers, fathers, and children completed measures when children were ages 8-13. Multiple-group autoregressive, cross-lagged structural equation models revealed that child effects rather than parent effects may better characterize how warmth and control are related to child externalizing and internalizing behaviors over time, and that parent effects may be more characteristic of relations between parental warmth and control and child externalizing and internalizing behavior during childhood than early adolescence.

Effects of Physical and Emotional Maternal Hostility on Adolescents' Depression and Reoffending

This study examines whether (1) mothers vary in the way they express hostility toward their delinquent adolescent offspring, (2) different types of maternal hostility differentially affect adolescents' depression and recidivism, and (3) adolescent depression serves as a mechanism through which maternal hostility predicts later reoffending. The sample consists of 1,216 male first-time offenders, aged 13-17 years (M = 15.80, SD = 1.29). Confirmatory factor analysis supported the premise that maternal hostility could be distinguished into two subtypes: emotional and physical hostility. Adolescent offenders who experienced emotional or physical hostility by their mothers reported greater depressive symptoms and reoffending 6 months later. Further, the relation between maternal hostility (of each type) and adolescent reoffending was partially explained by depressive symptomology.

Developmental Psychopathology in a Racial/Ethnic Minority Group: Are Cultural Risks Relevant?

OBJECTIVE

The current study examined (a) the mediating role of parenting behaviors in the relationship between parental risks and youth antisocial behaviors (YASB), and (b) the role of youth cultural stress in a racial/ethnic minority group (i.e., Puerto Rican [PR] youth).

METHOD

This longitudinal study consisted of 3 annual interviews of PR youth (N = 1,150; aged 10-14 years at wave 1) and their caretakers from the South Bronx (SB) in New York City and from San Juan, Puerto Rico. Parents reported on parental risks, parenting behaviors, and YASB. Youth also self-reported on YASB and youth cultural stress. A lagged structural equation model examined the relationship between these variables across 3 yearly waves, with youth cultural stress as a moderator of the association between effective parenting behaviors and YASB.

RESULTS

Findings supported the positive influence of effective parenting on YASB, independently of past parental risks and past YASB: higher effective parenting significantly predicted lower YASB at the following wave. Parenting also accounted for (mediated) the association between the composite of parental risks and YASB. Youth cultural stress at wave 1 was cross-sectionally associated with higher YASB and moderated the prospective associations between effective parenting and YASB, such that for youth who perceived higher cultural stress, the positive effect of effective parenting on YASB was weakened compared to those with lower/average cultural stress.

CONCLUSION

Among PR families, both parental and cultural risk factors influence YASB. Such findings should be considered when treating racial/ethnic minority youth for whom cultural factors may be a relevant influence on determining behaviors.

The Longitudinal Association of Relationship Quality and Reoffending Among First-Time Juvenile Offenders and Their Mothers

To understand how youth desist from crime after their first arrest, it is necessary to investigate their primary support system: their parents. As such, this study examined the reciprocal effects of justice system contact on the mother-child dyad. Interviews with 317 mothers and their sons from Orange County, CA, Jefferson Parish, LA, and Philadelphia, PA were conducted semiannually over two and a half years. At the beginning of the study, the sons were first-time offenders aged 13-17 and mostly non-White (i.e., 19.2 White, 56.5 Latino, 21.5 Black, and 2.8% another race/ethnicity). The results revealed that a high quality initial mother-son relationship reduces youths' re-offending over time. Furthermore, as mothers perceived that their sons were offending more, they reported less warmth in their relationships with their sons two and a half years later. Interestingly, youth's age emerged as a moderator. First, older youth were less likely to engage in reoffending if they had a warm maternal relationship. Second, decreases in relationship warmth associated with re-offending were steeper for younger youth. The findings have implications for juvenile justice policy in terms of improving probationary outcomes for youth offenders, and alleviating the financial and emotional burden on justice system-involved families.

Bidirectional Relationships Between Parenting Processes and Deviance in a Sample of Inner-City African American Youth

The current study assessed for bidirectional relationships among supportive parenting (knowledge), negative parenting (permissiveness), and deviance in a sample (N = 5,325) of poor, inner-city African American youth from the Mobile Youth Survey (MYS) over 4 years. Cross-lagged path analysis provided evidence of significant bidirectional paths among parenting processes (knowledge and permissiveness) and deviance over time. Follow-up multigroup tests provided only modest evidence of dissimilar relationships by sex and by developmental periods. The findings improve our understanding of developmental changes between parenting behaviors and deviance during adolescence and extended current research of the bidirectionality of parent and child relationships among inner-city African American youth.

The moderating role of parenting on the relationship between psychopathy and antisocial behavior in adolescence

We aimed to analyze the impact of several parenting factors on the relationship between psychopathy and antisocial behavior. Nine hundred youths and their mothers reported on parent-youth interactions, and youth self-report measures of psychopathy, delinquency and violent behavior were taken. Multiple regression was used to test for the significance of interactions between parenting and psychopathy scores. In terms of delinquency, linear interactions between psychopathy and the level of conflict with parents and parents' knowledge of their youths' whereabouts/youths' willingness to disclose information were found based on the data reported by the youths. Data reported by mothers indicated a linear interaction between psychopathy and parents' knowledge/youth disclosure, and a quadratic interaction of conflict with parents. For violence, we used logistic regression models to analyze moderation. No interaction effects between psychopahy scores and parenting factors were found. Youths' reports of high conflict with parents and parents' knowledge/youth disclosure showed to have an impact on violence regardless of the level of psychopathic traits. Implications for the prevention and treatment are discussed.

Longitudinal relations between parental media monitoring and adolescent aggression, prosocial behavior, and externalizing problems

The current study examined longitudinal relations between parental media monitoring and adolescent behavior, and explored indirect effects via sympathy and self-regulation. A sample of adolescents and their mothers from Northwestern and Mountain West cities in the USA participated in a study at three time points, approximately one year apart (N = 681; M age of child at Time 3 = 13.33, SD = 1.06; 51% female; 73% European American, 9% African American, 17% Multi-ethnic). Though findings varied by reporter, results suggested that restrictive and active media monitoring were indirectly associated with adolescents' prosocial behavior, aggression, and externalizing behavior, with restrictive monitoring being somewhat maladaptive and active monitoring adaptive. The discussion focuses on the need to examine multiple aspects of media monitoring, and highlights implications of findings for parents.

Risks, Outcomes, and Evidence-Based Interventions for Girls in the US Juvenile Justice System

The proportion of the juvenile justice population that comprises females is increasing, yet few evidence-based models have been evaluated and implemented with girls in the juvenile justice system. Although much is known about the risk and protective factors for girls who participate in serious delinquency, significant gaps in the research base hamper the development and implementation of theoretically based intervention approaches. In this review, we first summarize the extant empirical work about the predictors and sequelae of juvenile justice involvement for girls. Identified risk and protective factors that correspond to girls' involvement in the juvenile justice system have been shown to largely parallel those of boys, although exposure rates and magnitudes of association sometimes differ by sex. Second, we summarize findings from empirically validated, evidence-based interventions for juvenile justice-involved youths that have been tested with girls. The interventions include Functional Family Therapy, Multisystemic Therapy, Multidimensional Family Therapy, and Treatment Foster Care Oregon (formerly known as Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care). We conclude that existing evidence-based practices appear to be effective for girls. However, few studies have been sufficiently designed to permit conclusions about whether sex-specific interventions would yield any better outcomes for girls than would interventions that already exist for both sexes and that have a strong base of evidence to support them. Third, we propose recommendations for feasible, cost-efficient next steps to advance the research and intervention agendas for this under-researched and underserved population of highly vulnerable youths.

Are parental attitudes related to adolescent juvenile offenders' readiness to change?

Contemporary research suggests that many factors contribute to adolescent problematic and delinquent behaviors; however, there is little discussion in the literature related to factors that contribute to an adolescent's willingness to change these maladaptive behaviors. The current study examines the role parental attitudes play in the adolescent juvenile offender's readiness to change. Ninety-five adjudicated adolescents and their parent or legal guardian completed the University of Rhode Island Change Assessment (URICA) and the Juvenile Offender Parent Questionnaire (JOPQ), respectively. Participants fell into one of two URICA groups: Precontemplative or Contemplative. Parental attitudes (JOPQ) of Exasperation in Regard to the Child and Fear of the Child significantly predicted membership in two of the URICA stages of change groups (Precontemplative and Contemplative) when gender was included in the model. This study has important implications for practitioners developing effective treatments for adjudicated adolescents.

Economic Hardship, Parent Positive Communication and Mental Health in Urban Adolescents Seeking Outpatient Psychiatric Care

Economic hardship and poor parenting behaviors are associated with increased risk for mental health problems in community adolescents. However, less is known about the impact of socioeconomic status (SES) and parenting behaviors on youth at elevated risk for mental health problems, such as teens seeking outpatient psychiatric care. This study examined whether family SES and parent positive communication were directly and indirectly associated with mental health symptoms six months later in urban teens seeking outpatient treatment, after accounting for baseline levels of symptoms. At baseline, adolescent participants (N = 346; 42% female; 61% African-American) ages 12 to 19 years old (M = 14.9; SD = 1.8) and their primary caregivers reported on SES and teen internalizing and externalizing symptoms and engaged in a videotaped discussion of a real-life conflict to assess parent positive communication. At 6-month follow-up, 81% (N = 279) of families were retained and teens and caregivers again reported internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was used to test the hypothesized models with a sample of 338, using the full information likelihood method to adjust for missing data. For parent-reported externalizing symptoms, SEM revealed support for the indirect association of SES with follow-up externalizing symptoms via parent positive communication and externalizing symptoms at baseline. For parent reported internalizing symptoms, there was a direct association between SES and follow-up internalizing symptoms, but not an indirect effect via parent positive communication. Youth-reported symptoms were not associated with SES nor with parent positive communication. Current findings extend prior research on adolescent mental health in a diverse sample of urban youth seeking outpatient psychiatric care. These families may benefit from interventions that directly target SES-related difficulties and parent positive communication.

Externalizing symptoms moderate associations among interpersonal skills, parenting, and depressive symptoms in adolescents seeking mental health treatment

Adolescents' interpersonal skills are associated with fewer teen depressive symptoms and more positive parenting, but little is known about how teens' externalizing problems moderate these relationships. This study examines links among teens' interpersonal skills, parenting, and withdrawn-depressed symptoms in adolescents seeking outpatient psychiatric treatment with elevated or non-elevated externalizing problems. Adolescents (N = 346; 42 % female; 61 % African-American) ages 12-19 years old (M = 14.9; SD = 1.8) and parents completed assessments at baseline and 6 months. At baseline parents and teens reported on teen withdrawn-depressed and externalizing symptoms, and were observed interacting to assess teen interpersonal skills. At 6 months adolescents reported on parenting, and parents and teens reported on teen withdrawn-depressed symptoms. Structural equation modeling tested two models (one with teen reported symptoms and one with parent reported symptoms). Model fit was better for youth with elevated externalizing problems regardless of reporter. For youth with elevated externalizing problems, baseline teen positive interpersonal skills were not directly associated with 6-month withdrawn-depressed symptoms, but more positive parenting was associated with fewer withdrawn-depressed symptoms. In the teen report model, more positive teen interpersonal skills were associated with more positive parenting, and there was a trend for parenting to indirectly account for the relationship between interpersonal skills and withdrawn-depressed symptoms. The findings extend research on the role of externalizing problems in teens' depression risk. Interventions for depression that target interpersonal skills may be particularly effective in youth with elevated externalizing problems.

The Attachment and Clinical Issues Questionnaire: a new methodology for science and practice in criminology and forensics

Most modern theories suggest that interpersonal relationships are of central importance in the development of criminal behavior. We tested the parent attachment scales of a new research and clinical measure, the Attachment and Clinical Issues Questionnaire (ACIQ). It is a 29-scale battery assessing attachments to mother, father, partner, and peers, which also includes several related clinical scales. Sixty-one (18-20 years of age) male offenders from a maximum security detention center and 131 contrasts completed the ACIQ. ANOVA demonstrated that mother and father attachments displayed different patterns. The attachment scales also predicted the numbers of crimes within the population of juvenile offenders. Thus, the parent attachment scales of the ACIQ showed promise as an instrument to test dynamic systems approaches to developmental models of criminal behavior.

Reciprocal influences between maternal parenting and child adjustment in a high-risk population: a 5-year cross-lagged analysis of bidirectional effects

This study examines longitudinally the bidirectional influences between maternal parenting (behaviors and parenting stress) and mothers' perceptions of their children's adjustment, in a multivariate approach. Data was gathered from 361 low-income mothers (many with psychiatric diagnoses) reporting on their parenting behavior, parenting stress, and their child's adjustment, in a 2-wave longitudinal study over 5 years. Measurement models were developed to derive 4 broad parenting constructs (involvement, control, rejection, and stress) and 3 child adjustment constructs (internalizing problems, externalizing problems, and social competence). After measurement invariance of these constructs was confirmed across relevant groups and over time, both measurement models were integrated in a single crossed-lagged regression analysis of latent constructs. Multiple reciprocal influences were observed between parenting and perceived child adjustment over time: Externalizing and internalizing problems in children were predicted by baseline maternal parenting behaviors, and child social competence was found to reduce parental stress and increase parental involvement and appropriate monitoring. These findings on the motherhood experience are discussed in light of recent research efforts to understand mother-child bidirectional influences and their potential for practical applications.

Family environment, coping, and mental health in adolescents attending therapeutic day schools

OBJECTIVE

This study examined associations among family environment, coping, and emotional and conduct problems in adolescents attending therapeutic day schools due to mental health problems.

METHODS

Adolescents (N = 417; 30.2% female) ages 13-20 (M = 15.25) reported on their family environment (affective involvement and functioning), coping (emotion-focused support-seeking, cognitive restructuring, avoidant actions), and emotional and conduct problems.

RESULTS

Poorer family environment was associated with less emotion-focused support-seeking and cognitive restructuring, and more emotional and conduct problems. Emotional problems were negatively associated with cognitive restructuring, and conduct problems were negatively associated with all coping strategies. Cognitive restructuring accounted for the relationship between family environment and emotional problems. Cognitive restructuring and emotion-focused support-seeking each partially accounted for the relationship between family functioning and conduct problems, but not the relationship between family affective involvement and conduct problems.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings implicate the role of coping in the relationship between family environment and adolescent mental health.

Familias: Preparando la Nueva Generación: A Randomized Control Trial Testing the Effects on Positive Parenting Practices

OBJECTIVES

This article reports the effects of a culturally grounded parenting intervention to strengthen positive parenting practices.

METHOD

The intervention was designed and tested with primarily Mexican origin parents in a large urban setting of the southwestern United States using an ecodevelopmental approach. Parents (N = 393) were randomly assigned three treatment conditions: (1) a parenting and youth intervention, (2) a youth only intervention, or (3) a control group. A measurement model for positive parenting was first evaluated using confirmatory factor analysis, followed by structural equation modeling to estimate the effects of the intervention on positive parenting (i.e., baseline to follow-up).

RESULTS

As hypothesized, parents in the intervention group reported higher rates of positive parenting compared to parents in youth-only condition.

CONCLUSION

The results are promising and add to growing evidence that interventions tailored to the cultural characteristics and environments of parents and their children can strengthen positive parenting.

From parent to child to parent…: paths in and out of problem behavior

This study used data from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development to examine relations between parenting, self-control and externalizing behavior from early childhood to mid-adolescence (N = 956; 49.9 % male). Results indicated that maternal sensitivity, parental harshness and productive activity are related to externalizing problems but that patterns of relations change from early childhood to middle childhood to adolescence, with evidence suggesting that externalizing behavior influences parenting more than the reverse from middle childhood onward. Self-control measured during early adolescence partially mediated relations between maternal sensitivity and adolescent-reported externalizing behavior. Parental monitoring during adolescence was also related to externalizing behavior at age 15. Monitoring partially mediated the relation between externalizing behavior in early adolescence and externalizing at age 15.

Parent-child relationships, parental psychological control, and aggression: maternal and paternal relationships

Few studies have examined both maternal and paternal parenting practices in the prediction of child outcomes despite evidence that underscores the salience of fathers throughout their children's development. This study examined the role of the quality of mother-child and father-child relationships in buffering the influence of ineffective parenting practices on subsequent adolescent aggression. Measures of parental psychological control, the quality of the parent-child relationship, and youth aggressive behavior were completed by 163 (49 % female) mostly White and Asian adolescents and their parents during the eighth and ninth grades. Paternal psychological control predicted aggression when adolescents perceived low-quality relationships with their mothers. Similarly, maternal psychological control predicted aggression when adolescents perceived low-quality relationships with their fathers. Maternal psychological control was also associated with lower levels of aggression among adolescent males who reported a high-quality relationship with their father. These findings indicate that, when one parent exerts psychological control, the low-quality relationship the adolescent shares with the opposite gender parent increases risk for adolescent aggression. The findings also suggest that, as mothers exert psychological control, the high-quality parent-child relationship a son shares with his father decreases risk for adolescent aggression.

[Development of the Parenting in Adolescence Scale (PAS)]

The present study developed the Parenting in Adolescence Scale (PAS) based on the three-factor model of parenting by Schaefer (1965), and examined its psychometric properties. Adolescents (n = 103 junior high, 273 high school and 667 university students) completed a questionnaire. Exploratory factor analysis identified three distinct factors labeled "Acceptance" (6 items), "Psychological control" (6 items) and "Parental monitoring" (3 items). Confirmatory factor analysis demonstrated the stability of the factor structure with adequate goodness of fit indices. The three subscales of PAS had adequate internal consistency and satisfactory test-retest reliability. The three scales also correlated significantly with measures of adolescent conduct problems, peer problems, risk-taking experience, prosocial behavior, self-esteem, and another parenting scale, which indicated construct and concurrent validity. The practical use of the PAS was discussed.

Reciprocal pathways between American and Chinese early adolescents' sense of responsibility and disclosure to parents

This research examined the reciprocal pathways between youth's sense of responsibility to parents and disclosure to them during early adolescence in the United States and China. Four times over the seventh and eighth grades, 825 American and Chinese youth (M(age) = 12.73 years) reported on their sense of responsibility to parents and disclosure of everyday activities to them. Autoregressive latent trajectory models revealed that the more youth felt responsible to parents, the more they subsequently disclosed to them in both the United States and China. The reverse was also true: The more youth disclosed to parents, the more responsible they felt to them over time. The strength of these reciprocal pathways increased as youth progressed through early adolescence.

Efficacy of a Culturally Based Parenting Intervention: Strengthening Open Communication Between Mexican-Heritage Parents and Adolescent Children

This article presents the results of an initial efficacy trial of a parenting intervention, Familias: Preparando la Nueva Generación (FPNG), used to strengthen parenting practices, specifically, open family communication. Using community-based participatory research, including stakeholder involvement, the FPNG curriculum was developed, evaluated for feasibility, and revised to complement the classroom-based keepin' itREAL youth substance-use prevention program. FPNG focuses on family influences that characterize Mexican-heritage youth and families, including the impact of acculturation. The 9 middle schools were block-randomized into 3 groups: parents and youth (PY), youth only (Y), and control (C) conditions. Parents of 7th grade youth (N = 393, 82.8% mothers) completed self-report surveys at baseline and immediately following the intervention. Structural equation model analyses confirmed that PY parents reported significantly greater levels of open family communication at the follow-up compared with Y parents; C parents were not significantly different from Y parents at follow-up. The inclusion of parents in adolescent-focused preventive interventions might increase the effect size of an original and efficacious youth prevention intervention.

The younger siblings of childbearing adolescents: parenting influences on their academic and social-emotional adjustment

The younger siblings of childbearing adolescents have poorer school outcomes and exhibit more internalizing and externalizing problems compared to their peers without a childbearing sister. We test a model where living with an adolescent childbearing sister constitutes a major family stressor that disrupts mothers' parenting and well-being, and through which, adversely affect youths' adjustment. Data came from 243 Latino younger siblings (62% female, M age 13.7 years) and their mothers, 121 of whom lived with a childbearing adolescent sister and 122 of whom did not. Individual fixed-effects models controlled for earlier measures of each respective model construct, thereby reducing omitted variable bias from pre-existing group differences. Results show that, for boys, the relationship between living with a childbearing adolescent sister and youth outcomes was sequentially mediated through mothers' stress and parenting (i.e., monitoring and nurturance). For girls, however, the relationship was mediated through mothers' monitoring only. Findings elucidate the within-family processes that contribute to the problematic outcomes of youth living with childbearing adolescent older sisters.