Family material hardship and chinese adolescents' problem behaviors: a moderated mediation analysis

The importance of familial risk factors in children with ADHD: direct and indirect effects of family adversity, parental psychopathology and parenting practices on externalizing symptoms

BACKGROUND

Children experiencing unfavorable family circumstances have an increased risk of developing externalizing symptoms. The present study examines the direct, indirect and total effects of family adversity, parental psychopathology, and positive and negative parenting practices on symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) in children with ADHD.

METHODS

Data from 555 children (M = 8.9 years old, 80.5% boys) who participated in a multicenter study on the treatment of ADHD (ESCAschool) were analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM).

RESULTS

The SEM analyses revealed that (a) family adversity and parental psychopathology are associated with both child ADHD and ODD symptoms while negative parenting practices are only related to child ODD symptoms; (b) family adversity is only indirectly associated with child ADHD and ODD symptoms, via parental psychopathology and negative parenting practices; (c) the detrimental effect of negative parenting practices on child ADHD and ODD symptoms is stronger in girls than in boys (multi-sample SEM); (d) there are no significant associations between positive parenting practices and child ADHD or ODD symptoms.

CONCLUSIONS

Family adversity, parental psychopathology, and negative parenting practices should be routinely assessed by clinicians and considered in treatment planning. Trial registration (18th December 2015): German Clinical Trials Register (DRKS) DRKS00008973.

Examining family processes linked to adolescent problem behaviors in single-mother families: The moderating role of school connectedness

Objective

Previous research has shown that adolescents in single-mother households are at heightened risk for adjustment problems. However, limited studies have investigated the mechanisms leading to adolescent problem behaviors in single-mother households. To address this research gap, this study applied the Family Stress Model to examine how single mothers’ material hardship is linked to adolescent problem behaviors, focusing on the mediating roles of mothers’ depression and mother-adolescent closeness. The moderating role of adolescent school connectedness in the relationships between mother-adolescent closeness and school connectedness and between mothers’ depression and school connectedness was also investigated.

Materials and methods

The study analyzed data from 1,384 adolescents and their single mothers who participated in the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study at Wave 6. The associations between study variables were analyzed using structural equation modeling by decomposing the direct, indirect, and total effects of material hardship on adolescent problem behaviors. School connectedness’s interactions with mother-adolescent closeness and mothers’ depression were also examined.

Results

Results showed a significant indirect relationship between material hardship and adolescent problem behaviors through sequential mediation of mothers’ depression and mother-adolescent closeness. Mothers’ depression also significantly mediated the relationship between material hardship and problem behaviors. Lastly, school connectedness moderated the relationship between mother-adolescent closeness and adolescents’ internalizing behaviors. The association between mother-adolescent closeness and adolescents’ internalizing behavior was weaker for adolescents with higher levels of school connectedness.

Conclusion

The results indicate the important indirect effect of economic strain on adolescents’ problems behaviors in single-mother households, which has been less emphasized compared to the effects in earlier childhood. High rates of material hardship and adolescent problem behaviors in single-mother families call for multifaceted interventions focusing on family processes and protective factors, including school environment.

Management of Aggression in Young Male Adults Using the Virtual Reality-Based Communication Modification Program

High aggression is common and costly for mental health problems in young adults. Because communication is a universal part of social relationships, including conflicts with others, it could be a possible target for mediating aggression. This study aimed to evaluate whether the virtual reality (VR)-based communication modification program can be utilized for aggression management. Fifty-eight individuals with high aggression (n = 30) and with low aggression (n = 28) completed psychological assessments associated with aggression and functional communication, and they participated in the program, consisting of the three tasks: exploring the communication style, practicing functional communication, and expressing empathy. The participants’ selections and their visual analog scale scores, in response to questions in the tasks, were collected as behavioral data. Results indicated that the high aggression group selected blaming dysfunctional communication style more frequently than the low aggression group. VR-based parameters, expected to reflect dysfunctional communication-related characteristics, showed significantly different correlations with aggression-related traits between the two groups. These findings show that our program may accurately represent an individual’s aggressive traits and elicit the appropriate reaction.

Material hardship, perceived stress, and health in early adulthood

Purpose

We examined the associations between material hardship and health outcomes in early adulthood and the extent to which these associations are mediated by perceived stress.

Methods

We used wave I and IV of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, a nationally representative survey of young adults aged 18–34 years old (n = 13,313). Multivariate logistic regression and decomposition methods were used to evaluate the associations between types and depth of material hardship (food, bill-paying, and health resource hardship), health outcomes (self-rated health, depression, sleep problems, and suicidal thoughts) in early adulthood, and the extent to which these associations were mediated by perceived stress.

Results

The adjusted odds of fair or poor health status, depression, sleep problems, and suicidal thoughts were higher among individuals with material hardship than counterparts without. A considerable proportion of the association between material hardship and health outcomes was attributable to perceived stress.

Conclusions

Material hardship is associated with adverse health outcomes in early adulthood, and these relationships are robust after accounting for various sociodemographic characteristics and family background. Perceived stress accounted for a sizable portion of the effects of material hardship on health.

Public Health Implications

Efforts to promote health equity in young adults should focus on material hardship and associated stressful conditions.

Material hardship, prefrontal cortex-amygdala structure, and internalizing symptoms in children

Material hardship, or difficulty affording basic resources such as food, housing, utilities, and health care, increases children's risk for internalizing problems. The uncinate fasciculus (UNC) and two of the gray matter regions it connects-the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) and amygdala-may play important roles in the neural mechanisms underlying these associations. We investigated associations among material hardship, UNC microstructure, OFC and amygdala structure, and internalizing symptoms in children. Participants were 5-9-year-old children (N = 94, 61% female) from socioeconomically diverse families. Parents completed questionnaires assessing material hardship and children's internalizing symptoms. High-resolution, T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (n = 51), and diffusion tensor imaging (n = 58) data were acquired. UNC fractional anisotropy (FA), medial OFC surface area, and amygdala gray matter volume were extracted. Greater material hardship was significantly associated with lower UNC FA, smaller amygdala volume, and higher internalizing symptoms in children, after controlling for age, sex, and family income-to-needs ratio. Lower UNC FA significantly mediated the association between material hardship and internalizing symptoms in girls but not boys. These findings are consistent with the notion that material hardship may lead to altered white matter microstructure and gray matter structure in neural networks critical to emotion processing and regulation.

Feasibility of a virtual reality-based interactive feedback program for modifying dysfunctional communication: a preliminary study

Background

Functional communication is vital in many areas of daily life, and modifying dysfunctional communication has been emphasized in various social areas, including family and school. The present preliminary study addressed the feasibility of a virtual reality (VR)-based interactive feedback program for the modification of dysfunctional communication.

Methods

Thirty-seven healthy young males completed psychological assessments associated with functional communication and participated in the VR-based program, consisting of the three tasks of ‘exploring the communication style,’ ‘practicing functional communication,’ and ‘expressing empathy.’ Behavioral parameters were recorded based on the participants’ choices among available options and the visual analog scale scores that resulted in responses to questions in the tasks.

Results

Participants completed the program without dropping-out and reported 10.76 (SD, 9.66) in the Simulator Sickness Questionnaire and 106.97 (SD, 16.66) in the Presence Questionnaire. In exploring the communication style, there was no difference between the dysfunction level-with family and dysfunction level-with a friend, but only the dysfunction level-with family showed significant correlations with the level of communication with parents. In practicing functional communication, the communication scores with the placating, blaming, and computing styles significantly increased according to the repetition of trials. In expressing empathy, the empathetic feeling score was negatively correlated with the perspective-taking score, whereas the emotional intensity score was positively correlated with the level of differentiation of the self.

Conclusion

These results suggest that the program may have a tolerable level of cybersickness, an adequate level of presence, an improvement in the behavioral parameters that may reflect the important aspects of communication, and a proper reflection of psychological states or interpersonal characteristics. The use of this program can be an important starting point for the development of a more convenient method for delivering VR programs designed to modify dysfunctional communication, which can further increase computerized dissemination.

The well-being of China's rural to urban migrant children: Dual impact of discriminatory abuse and poverty

BACKGROUND

Post-migration experiences of discriminatory abuse and poverty have been recognized as key risk factors for psychopathology and health problems among children. However, little research has explored these associations among children participating in the internal migration process. Building on the stress and coping framework (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984), this study investigated the influence of discriminatory abuse and poverty on depressive symptoms and health problems in a group of Chinese migrant children. It also examined how a culturally based meaning-focused coping, as measured by Chinese beliefs about adversity scale, moderates the stress-distress associations.

PARTICIPANTS

A cross-sectional study was conducted among 1714 migrant youth (Mean Age = 13; Range = 10-16; 45.6 % Female).

METHODS

The latent variable interaction structural equation modeling was conducted to explore the main and interaction effects among studied variables.

RESULTS

High prevalence of depressive symptoms (49.6 %) was found for this sample. More than 90% of respondents reported on an average of 0-2 days as being sick over the past 30 days. Migrant youth were found to experience moderate levels of discriminatory abuse (M = 1.29, SD = 0.51; Range = 1-4) and economic stress (M = 1.38, SD = 1.25; Range = 1-4). The findings further revealed that discriminatory abuse and economic stress possessed severe consequences on their mental and physical health. The meaning-focused coping strategy weakened the relationship between discriminatory abuse and depressive symptoms (β=-0.07, p<.001). Among migrant youth who encountered discriminatory abuse those who adhered more to meaning-focused coping reported less depressive symptoms.

CONCLUSION

Findings shed light on the protective role of cultural factors in stress management for young people from migrant backgrounds.

Economic Deprivation and Its Effects on Childhood Conduct Problems: The Mediating Role of Family Stress and Investment Factors

This study investigated the mechanisms by which experiences of poverty influence the trajectory of conduct problems among preschool children. Drawing on two theoretical perspectives, we focused on family stress (stress and harsh discipline) and investment variables (educational investment, nutrition, and cognitive ability) as key mediators. Structural equation modeling techniques with prospective longitudinal data from the Growing Up in Scotland survey (N = 3,375) were used. Economic deprivation measured around the first birthday of the sample children had both direct and indirect effects on conduct problems across time (ages 4, 5, and 6). In line with the family stress hypothesis, higher levels of childhood poverty predicted conduct problems across time through increased parental stress and punitive discipline. Consistent with the investment model, childhood deprivation was associated with higher levels of conduct problems via educational investment and cognitive ability. The study extends previous knowledge on the mechanisms of this effect by demonstrating that cognitive ability is a key mediator between poverty and the trajectory of childhood conduct problems. This suggests that interventions aimed at reducing child conduct problems should be expanded to include factors that compromise parenting as well as improve child cognitive ability.