Trajectories of Perceived Gratitude and Change Following Relationship Interventions: A Randomized Controlled Trial With Lower-Income, Help-Seeking Couples

The current study was designed to advance basic and applied research on perceived gratitude from one's partner in established couple relationships. From a three-arm randomized controlled trial involving 615 lower-income, help-seeking couples (N = 1,224 individuals), study analyses examined (a) the trajectory of perceived gratitude from one's partner among couples assigned to the wait-list condition (i.e., absent of any intervention), and (b) changes in perceived gratitude for individuals assigned to either the OurRelationship (OR) or ePREP relationship intervention condition. With respect to the first aim, levels of perceived gratitude among wait-listed couples demonstrated no significant mean increase over the 6-month period; this rate of change was significantly different from rates of change observed in other relationship constructs (e.g., satisfaction, communication, support) during the wait-list period. Being married, female, and having more children were all associated with lower initial levels of perceived gratitude. For the second aim, individuals assigned to either the OR or ePREP treatment condition demonstrated significant improvements in levels of perceived partner gratitude compared to wait-listed couples. The magnitude of program effect sizes for gratitude (d = 0.33), however, was 3%-48% smaller compared to the magnitude of program effects of other relationship constructs (0.34 < d < 0.64). Results indicated that perceived gratitude is a distinct component of couple relationships, generally lower in more established relationships, and can be improved by participating in OR or ePREP relationship interventions. Implications for research and practice related to gratitude in couple relationships are discussed.

Skin-deep Resilience and Early Adolescence: Neighborhood Disadvantage, Executive Functioning, and Pubertal Development in Minority Youth

Skin-deep resilience, in which youth overcome adversity and achieve success in psychological and academic domains but at a cost to their physiological well-being, has been documented in late adolescence and adulthood. However, its potential to emerge at earlier developmental stages is unknown. To address this gap, secondary data analyses were executed using waves 1 and 2 of the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development study (n = 7712; ages 9-10 years at baseline [mean: 9.92; SD = 0.63]; 47.1% female; 66.1% White, 13.4% Black, and 20.6% Hispanic). The results indicated high levels of executive functioning were associated with improved psychological and behavioral outcomes at one-year follow-up. However, for racial and ethnic minority (i.e., Black or Hispanic) youth from disadvantaged neighborhoods, high levels of executive functioning were also associated with accelerated pubertal development. No significant interaction was observed among White youth. The findings suggest the skin-deep resilience pattern may be evident in early adolescence.

Strengthening couple functioning promotes resilience to COVID-19-related stressors among Black Americans

The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in substantial hardship for Black Americans, leading to increased stress and mental health difficulties. We used longitudinal data from the Protecting Strong African American Families (ProSAAF) intervention study to test the hypothesis that improved couple functioning following ProSAAF participation would serve as a constructed resilience resource during the pandemic, buffering the impact of elevated pandemic-related stressors on change in depressive symptoms. We found that COVID-19-related stress predicted change in depressive symptoms from prepandemic to during the pandemic, that ProSAAF predicted improved couple functioning, and that positive change in couple functioning buffered the impact of pandemic stressors on change in depressive symptoms. These effects resulted in a significant indirect buffering effect of ProSAAF on the association between COVID-19-related stress and change in depressive symptoms through its effects on change in couple functioning. The results suggest that relationship intervention may increase resilience to unanticipated community-wide stress and promote mental health. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Changes in couple, parenting, and individual functioning following Family Expectations program participation

The current study investigated changes in couple, parenting, and individual functioning following participation in Family Expectations, a relationship and parenting education program for new or expectant parents. The sample comprised 339 couples who participated in most sessions of the Family Expectations program and completed assessments at three different time points over a 12-month period. Study analyses examined: (a) change shortly following completion of the program, (b) associations between short-term change and subsequent change in outcomes at 12-month follow-up, and (c) differences in short-term change between married and unmarried couples. Significant improvements were observed in all three domains at short-term follow-up. Short-term changes, particularly for psychological distress, were predictive of long-term change in multiple domains. Few moderation effects by marital status were evident; those that appeared suggested stronger effects for married participants compared to unmarried. Study findings inform ongoing discussions into the utility of federally-funded relationship and parenting programming.

African Americans' relationship quality and depressive symptoms: A longitudinal investigation of the Marital Discord Model

The present study was designed to examine the complex bidirectional associations between relationship quality and depressive symptoms among African American couples. Informed by the Marital Discord Model, particular attention was devoted to understanding the unique associations of positive and negative dimensions of relationship functioning with depressive symptoms over time, the time frames over which these effects occur, and the model's applicability for African American couples. One hundred seventy-four African American couples (N = 348 individuals) provided information on depressive symptoms, relationship satisfaction, ineffective arguing, and partner support four times over a 25-month period. Hypotheses were tested using Random-Intercept Cross-Lagged Panel Models to separate between- and within-person effects. Results indicated that between-person associations with depressive symptoms were significant for relationship satisfaction (negative association) and ineffective arguing (positive association), but not partner support. Within-person concurrent effects were also significant with depressive symptoms and each of the relationship processes under investigation. Within-person 8-month lagged effects were only significant for partner support and depressive symptoms (negative association); these effects were significant in both directions, but stronger from support to depressive symptoms than from depressive symptoms to support. Study findings provide increased conceptual and analytic precision for understanding the association between couples' relationship quality and African Americans' mental health, including malleable relationship factors that can be targeted in family-focused interventions to promote individual and couple well-being. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Childhood poverty, immune cell aging, and African Americans' insulin resistance: A prospective study

The present study investigated developmental pathways that can contribute to chronic disease among rural African Americans. With a sample of 342 African American youth (59% female) from the southeastern United States followed for nearly two decades (2001–2019), we examined the prospective association between family poverty during adolescence (ages 11–18) and insulin resistance (IR) in young adulthood (ages 25–29) as well as underlying biological and psychosocial mechanisms. Results indicated family poverty during adolescence forecast higher levels of IR in young adulthood, with accelerated immune cell aging at age 20 partially mediating this association. Serial mediational models confirmed the hypothesized pathway linking family poverty, perceived life chances, cellular aging, and IR. Findings provide empirical support for theorized developmental precursors of chronic disease.

Adolescent Substance Use and Individual Beliefs That Drug Use Is Wrong: A Statewide Epidemiological Study

OBJECTIVE

Informed by cognitive dissonance theory, the current study investigated the ability of youths' belief that drug use is wrong to predict likelihood of past year substance use abstinence as well as frequency of use at grades 8, 10, and 12.

METHOD

Study analyses were executed from a statewide epidemiological survey of more than 125,000 youth using multi-group Zero-Inflated Poisson regression modeling.

RESULTS

Personal belief that drug use is wrong demonstrated the largest magnitude of effect at each grade among the individual, family, and school-based factors under examination; this finding emerged with respect to predicting past year substance use abstinence as well as rates of substance use among individuals reporting past year use. Although differences across grades were evident for the magnitude of effect within various risk and protective factors, the rank ordering in magnitude of effect between factors was consistent across grades 8, 10, and 12.

CONCLUSION

Current results underscore the salience of youths' belief that drug use is wrong in explaining likelihood of past year substance use at multiple time points during adolescence.

Supplemental data for this article is available online at https://doi.org/10.1080/10826084.2022.2034877 .

Trajectories of relationship and individual functioning among waitlisted couples for an online relationship intervention

To inform research and practice with distressed couples, the current study was designed to examine patterns of change among distressed, help-seeking couples prior to receiving an intervention. Data from this study originate from 221 couples assigned to the waitlist control condition of a randomized controlled trial for couples seeking online help for their relationship. All couples self-selected into the online program and agreed to withhold seeking additional services for their relationship during the waitlist period. In contrast with prior findings, results from the current study indicated a general pattern of mean improvement in both self-reported relationship functioning (e.g., increased relationship satisfaction, partner emotional support) and self-reported individual functioning (i.e., decreased psychological distress, anger) over the six-month waitlist period. Nonetheless, the majority of couples continued to remain relationally distressed despite these improvements. Findings from the study indicate that distressed couples can, in fact, exhibit some degree of improvement absent of intervention. At the same time, overall levels of distress remained elevated, indicating that these improvements are not sufficient to result in high levels of functioning and suggesting that many distressed couples may benefit from empirically supported programs to realize greater gains. These results also highlight and underscore the importance of including control conditions in studies examining the efficacy of relationship interventions with distressed couples to ensure that any observed improvements in relationship functioning are attributable to the intervention rather than to naturally occurring changes.

Family-centered prevention buffers the effect of financial strain on parenting interactions, reducing youth conduct problems in African American families

OBJECTIVE

This study examined whether a family-focused prevention program for African American families could buffer the negative effect of perceived financial strain on protective parent-child interactions and thereby reduce the indirect effect of financial strain on youth conduct problems.

METHOD

Three hundred and forty-six African American couples with an early adolescent child (M age = 10.9 years at Wave 1 [W1]) participated. Families were randomly assigned to the Protecting Strong African American Families (ProSAAF) prevention program or to a no-treatment control condition and provided data prerandomization (W1) and postintervention, Wave 2 (W2), 9.4 months after W1. Youth and both parents reported family financial strain at W1 and protective parent-child interactions at W1 and W2. Youth reported their conduct problems at W1 and W2. Hypotheses were tested using moderated mediation analyses.

RESULTS

ProSAAF significantly moderated the negative effect of youth-reported financial strain on changes in protective parenting interactions such that financial strain was not significantly associated with changes in protective parenting among the intervention group, thus reducing the indirect effect of financial strain on increases in youth conduct problems among this group. Parent-reported financial strain was not significantly associated with changes in protective parenting in either condition, precluding the potential for stress buffering intervention effects.

CONCLUSIONS

The ProSAAF prevention program buffered the negative effect of youth-reported financial strain on protective parenting interactions and reduced its indirect effect on youth conduct problems. These findings suggest that family-focused prevention has the potential to promote resilience among African American youth perceiving family financial strain. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Family-Centered Prevention Effects on the Association Between Racial Discrimination and Mental Health in Black Adolescents: Secondary Analysis of 2 Randomized Clinical Trials

IMPORTANCE

Some Black adolescents who frequently experience racial discrimination develop mental health problems. Protective caregiving may buffer adolescents from the negative mental health outcomes associated with experiencing racial discrimination.

OBJECTIVE

To examine if participation in programs that enhance protective caregiving will attenuate the positive association between Black adolescents' encounters with discrimination and subsequent increases in mental health problems.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS

This secondary analysis used data from 2 randomized clinical trials testing family-centered prevention programs: the Strong African American Families-Teen (SAAF-T) program and the Adults in the Making (AIM) program. The programs were implemented in community locations convenient for participants in 12 rural Georgia counties. For the SAAF-T trial, Black adolescents and their primary caregivers were recruited from 2007 to 2008. In the AIM trial Black adolescents and their primary caregivers were recruited from 2006 to 2007. Data for this study were analyzed from June to August 2020.

EXPOSURES

Adolescents provided data at baseline on the frequency of their encounters with racial discrimination. Treatment group participants in each trial took part in a family-centered prevention program designed to prevent substance use and mental health problems. SAAF-T is a 5-session, 10-hour psychosocial intervention for families with a Black adolescent aged 14 to 16 years. AIM is a 6-session, 12-hour psychosocial intervention for families with a Black youth who is a high school senior.

MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES

The primary outcomes were mental health problems, including conduct problems and depression or anxiety symptoms.

RESULTS

The SAAF-T study included 502 Black adolescents (mean [SD] age, 16.0 [0.6] years; 281 [56.0%] girls), including 252 randomized to the intervention and 250 randomized to the control, and the AIM trial included 367 Black adolescents (mean [SD] age, 17.7 [0.8] years; 217 [59.1%] girls and women), including 187 randomized to the intervention and 180 randomized to the control. Adolescents assigned to the SAAF-T intervention group who frequently experienced discrimination at baseline evinced fewer subsequent increases in conduct problems (incident risk ratio, 0.530 [95% CI, 0.340 to 0.783]). Adolescents assigned to the AIM intervention group who frequently experienced discrimination at baseline evinced fewer subsequent increases in conduct problems (mean difference, -0.361 [95% CI, -0.577 to -0.144]) and fewer subsequent increases in depression or anxiety symptoms (mean difference, -0.220 [95% CI -0.402 to -0.038]). Moderated mediation analyses suggested that enhanced protective caregiving was partially responsible for all observed interaction effects (indirect effect: SAAF-T conduct problems, -0.063 [95% CI, -0.127 to -0.001]; AIM conduct problems, -0.048 [95% CI, -0.095 to -0.001]; AIM depression or anxious symptoms, -0.036 [95% CI, -0.074 to 0]).

CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE

This secondary analysis of 2 randomized clinical trials found that participation in family-centered preventive interventions attenuated the association between frequent exposure to discriminatory behaviors and subsequent mental health problems. Notably, all but 1 of the treatment and moderated-mediation findings were reproduced across the SAAF-T and AIM trials.

TRIAL REGISTRATIONS

ClinicalTrials.gov Identifiers: SAAF-T, NCT04501471; AIM, NCT04510116.

The complexities of family mealtimes in the 21st century: A latent profile analysis

The goal of the present study was to characterize more than 500 families regarding family mealtime organization patterns. Family profiles were developed based on patterns detected across a set of sociological and psychological variables. Latent profile analyses indicated three distinct subgroups of families: Food Secure and Organized (55% of the sample), Very Low Food Security and Disorganized (27%), and Low Food Security and Organized (18%). Examination of group membership correlates revealed significant differences related to family mealtime behaviors and food preparation strategies, but not food shopping location or areas of requested change around family mealtimes. Findings highlight homogenous subgroups of families on the basis of co-occurring psychological and sociological factors pertinent to family mealtimes, with those families possessing the highest levels of risk in multiple domains also reporting family mealtime organization patterns associated with less healthy eating. Findings provide a snapshot into the organization, and complexities, of family meals for the American family today, highlighting the need for researchers and practitioners interested in promoting healthy food intake within American families to consider both psychological and sociological factors that influence family mealtime organization.

Can Interventions that Strengthen Couples' Relationships Confer Additional Benefits for their Health? A Randomized Controlled Trial with African American Couples

This study examined the effects of the Protecting Strong African American Families (ProSAAF) prevention program on adults' self-reported health outcomes 25 months after enrollment. ProSAAF is a couple-focused prevention program specifically designed to meet the needs of African-American families residing in the rural South. African-American couples (N = 346) with an early adolescent child participated in a randomized controlled trial of the program. Dyadic data analyses indicated significant direct effects on changes in couple functioning post-intervention as well as significant indirect effects of ProSAAF on changes in health through post-intervention improvements in couple functioning. These benefits were documented for men's and women's general health, depressive symptoms, and problematic sleep. There were no significant direct effects of ProSAAF participation on changes in health. Findings provide tempered optimism regarding the potential benefits of couple-focused programming for adults' physical, mental, and behavioral health.

Direct and indirect effects of a couple-focused preventive intervention on children's outcomes: A randomized controlled trial with African American families

OBJECTIVE

This study examined the effects of the Protecting Strong African American Families (ProSAAF) prevention program on children's outcomes more than 2 years after enrollment, including direct effects of the intervention and indirect effects through couple functioning and parent-child relations.

METHOD

Three hundred forty-six African American couples with an early adolescent child participated; all families lived in rural, low-income communities in the southern United States. Families were randomly assigned to ProSAAF or control conditions and completed four waves of data collection. Couples reported couple functioning at baseline (Wave 1) and at 9-month follow-up (Wave 2), and parent-child relations at 17-month follow-up (Wave 3). Children reported their conduct problems, affiliation with deviant peers, substance use, sexual onset, depressive symptoms, and self-control at 25-month follow-up (Wave 4).

RESULTS

Path analyses indicated significant indirect effects of ProSAAF on children's outcomes through improvements in couple functioning and better parent-child relations. There were no significant direct effects of the intervention on children's outcomes or significant indirect effects through couple functioning alone.

CONCLUSIONS

This couple-focused prevention program has positive indirect effects on several child outcomes through the intervening processes of promoting improvements in couple functioning and better parent-child relations. These findings provide cautious optimism regarding the possible benefits of couple-focused programming on participants' children while suggesting ways in which future couple-focused interventions could yield stronger effects on these youth. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Why now? Examining antecedents for substance use initiation among African American adolescents

Current adolescent substance use risk models have inadequately predicted use for African Americans, offering limited knowledge about differential predictability as a function of developmental period. Among a sample of 500 African American youth (ages 11-21), four risk indices (i.e., social risk, attitudinal risk, intrapersonal risk, and racial discrimination risk) were examined in the prediction of alcohol, marijuana, and cigarette initiation during early (ages 11-13), mid (ages 16-18), and late (ages 19-21) adolescence. Results showed that when developmental periods were combined, racial discrimination was the only index that predicted initiation for all three substances. However, when risk models were stratified based on developmental period, variation was found within and across substance types. Results highlight the importance of racial discrimination in understanding substance use initiation among African American youth and the need for tailored interventions based on developmental stage.

"Will you complete this survey too?" Differences between individual versus dyadic samples in relationship research

This study examines the ways in which collecting data from individuals versus couples affects the characteristics of the resulting sample in basic research studies of romantic relationships. From a nationally representative sample of 1,294 individuals in a serious romantic relationship, approximately half of whom were randomly selected to invite their partner to participate in the study, we compare relationship, individual, and demographic characteristics among 3 groups: individuals randomized to invite their partner and whose partner participated in the study, individuals randomized to invite their partner but whose partner did not participate, and individuals who were not randomized to invite their partner. Results indicated that individuals whose partner participated reported the highest levels of relationship and individual well-being relative to comparison groups, as well as individuals who participated alone despite being asked to invite their partner, reported the lowest levels of relationship and individual well-being relative to comparison groups. Effect size magnitudes indicated the strongest group differences with respect to relationship variables, particularly cognitive appraisals of overall relationship stability and satisfaction. Implications for romantic relationship research and study design are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Trajectories of relationship confidence in intimate partnerships

The current study examined trajectories of relationship confidence, defined as the belief that oneself and the partner together have the skills needed to navigate conflict and maintain a partnership into the future. This study uses data from a sample of 1,294 partnered but unmarried young adults to examine trajectories of relationship confidence across 11 waves of assessment over more than 4 years and the between- and within-person predictors of those trajectories. On average, relationship confidence was high at the outset of the study and remained stable over time. Underlying the overall stability, however, men's and women's trajectories flowed in opposite directions. Women started with more confidence than men, and their confidence decreased over time while men's increased, although the analysis of individuals rather than couples must be considered when interpreting this finding. Individuals in longer partnerships, who were cohabiting at Wave 1, with lower levels of avoidant attachment, more frequent positive interactions and higher satisfaction at Wave 1, and those who married during the study, had higher initial relationship confidence. Having children with a prior partner predicted lower initial confidence and faster decreases over time only for women. At the within-person level, relationship confidence was higher than usual at waves when more positive interactions, less negative interactions, and higher relationship satisfaction were reported, particularly for women. Results highlight the substantial variability in trajectories of relationship confidence among individuals in unmarried relationships as well as an array of factors that influence its development. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Improving Couples' Relationship Functioning Leads to Improved Coparenting: A Randomized Controlled Trial With Rural African American Couples

Family-centered prevention programs for couples with children are being increasingly disseminated, with the hope that improving couples' romantic relationships will lead to other benefits for families. To date, however, it is unclear whether these interventions do in fact yield these benefits. The current study addressed this gap by examining whether postintervention improvements in couples' relationship functioning following family-centered prevention predicted longer-term change in coparenting, and whether postintervention improvements in coparenting predicted longer-term change in relationship functioning. We used four waves of data collected over 2 years from 346 rural African American couples with an early adolescent child who participated in a randomized controlled trial of the Protecting Strong African American Families (ProSAAF) program, an intervention designed to promote strong couple, coparenting, and parent-child relationships in two-parent African American families. Results indicated that ProSAAF had significant short-term positive effects on both romantic relationship functioning and coparenting and that these effects did not differ in magnitude. Over time, however, only romantic relationship functioning postintervention was positively associated with long-term changes in coparenting; coparenting postintervention was not associated with long-term changes in relationship functioning and this association was significantly weaker than the other pathway. These findings support a key premise underlying relationship enhancement programs for parents, indicating that improving couples' romantic relationship functioning can have longer-term benefits for the coparenting relationship as well. Further research examining long-term parent, child, and family outcomes following family-centered prevention for couples and the mechanisms of change underlying these outcomes is needed.

The Protecting Strong African American Families Program: a Randomized Controlled Trial with Rural African American Couples

This study presents results from a randomized controlled trial of the Protecting Strong African American Families (ProSAAF) program, a family-centered intervention designed to promote strong couple, coparenting, and parent-child relationships in two-parent African American families. A total of 346 African American couples with an early adolescent child participated; all families lived in rural, low-income communities in the southern USA. Intent-to-treat growth curve analyses involving three waves and spanning 17 months indicated that ProSAAF participants, compared with control participants, reported greater improvements in relationship communication, confidence, satisfaction, partner support, coparenting, and parenting. More than 80% of the couples attended all six of the in-home, facilitator-led sessions; costs to implement the program averaged $1739 per family. The findings inform the ongoing debate surrounding prevention programs for low-income and ethnic minority couples.

The Protective Effects of Supportive Parenting on the Relationship Between Adolescent Poverty and Resting-State Functional Brain Connectivity During Adulthood

Children growing up in poverty are vulnerable to negative changes in the developing brain; however, these outcomes vary widely. We tested the hypothesis that receipt of supportive parenting would offset the association between living in poverty during adolescence and the connectivity of neural networks that support cognition and emotion regulation during young adulthood. In a sample of African American youths (N = 119) living in the rural South, poverty status and receipt of supportive parenting were assessed when youths were 11 to 13 and 16 to 18 years old. At age 25, resting-state functional connectivity of the central-executive and emotion-regulation neural networks was assessed using functional MRI. The results revealed that more years spent living in poverty presaged less connectivity in both neural networks among young adults who received low levels of supportive parenting but not among those who received high levels of such parenting.

The Profundity of the Everyday: Family Routines in Adolescence Predict Development in Young Adulthood

PURPOSE

The current study was designed to investigate the unique, long-term effects of family routines during adolescence on multiple developmental domains in young adulthood for rural African-Americans.

METHODS

Prospective data were collected annually for 6 years from 504 rural African-American youth and their parents, beginning when the youth were 16 years of age.

RESULTS

Results indicated that youth whose primary caregivers reported more family routines during adolescence (e.g., regularly eating together as a family, consistent bedtime) reported less alcohol use, greater emotional self-regulation, lower epinephrine levels, and higher rates of college/university enrollment in young adulthood. These effects were evident for all outcomes controlling for socioeconomic risk, sex, and available baseline (age 16 years) measures; for a subset of outcomes, the effects of family routines persisted even after taking into account levels of supportive parenting, harsh parenting, and household chaos.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings substantiate the benefits of consistent, predictable family environments for healthy development and suggest that family routines constitute an important, yet understudied, factor for adolescents' long-term development.

Peer influence, Frontostriatal connectivity, and delay discounting in African American emerging adults

Prior research has demonstrated the importance of delay discounting in adverse health behaviors, such as addiction, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, risk taking, and obesity. Nevertheless, the functional connectivity of neural circuitry associated with delay discounting and the ways in which the social environment may influence frontostriatal connectivity remain largely unknown, particularly in African Americans. Building on recent literature implicating frontostriatal connectivity during active delay discounting decision making and at rest, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging to assess the association between delay discounting and frontostriatal resting state connectivity (rsFC). We also examined the capacity of social relationships with parents and peers to longitudinally predict frontostriatal rsFC. The study cohort was composed of 91 rural African American emerging adults followed over a 6-year period. Greater (i.e., more positive) frontostriatal rsFC was associated with decreased delay discounting (i.e., less impulsive decision making). In addition, peer relationships at ages 20 and 21 significantly predicted frontostriatal rsFC at age 25 above and beyond parental influence. A significant indirect effect of peer affiliation on delay discounting through frontostriatal rsFC also emerged. These results indicate a role of frontostriatal connectivity in delay discounting decision making and highlight peers' unique influence on decision making behaviors through frontostriatal rsFC during emerging adulthood.

A Family Focused Intervention Influences Hippocampal-Prefrontal Connectivity Through Gains in Self-Regulation

The stressors associated with poverty increase the risks for externalizing psychopathology; however, specific patterns of neurobiology and higher self‐regulation may buffer against these effects. This study leveraged a randomized control trial, aimed at increasing self‐regulation at ~11 years of age. As adults, these same individuals completed functional MRI scanning (M_age = 24.88 years; intervention n = 44; control n = 49). Functional connectivity between the hippocampus and ventromedial prefrontal cortex was examined in relation to the intervention, gains in self‐regulation, and present‐day externalizing symptoms. Increased connectivity between these brain areas was noted in the intervention group compared to controls. Furthermore, individual gains in self‐regulation, instilled by the intervention, statistically explained this brain difference. These results begin to connect neurobiological and psychosocial markers of risk and resiliency.

Racial discrimination and relationship functioning among African American couples

Racial discrimination is a common stressor for African Americans, with negative consequences for mental and physical well-being. It is likely that these effects extend into the family, but little research has examined the association between racial discrimination and couple functioning. This study used dyadic data from 344 rural, predominantly low-income heterosexual African American couples with an early adolescent child to examine associations between self-reported racial discrimination, psychological and physical aggression, and relationship satisfaction and instability. Experiences of discrimination were common among men and women and were negatively associated with relationship functioning. Specifically, men reported higher levels of psychological aggression and relationship instability if they experienced higher levels of racial discrimination, and women reported higher levels of physical aggression if they experienced higher levels of racial discrimination. All results replicated when controlling for financial hardship, indicating unique effects for discrimination. Findings suggest that racial discrimination may be negatively associated with relationship functioning among African Americans and call for further research on the processes underlying these associations and their long-term consequences. (PsycINFO Database Record

Trajectory classes of cannabis use and heavy drinking among rural African American adolescents: multi-level predictors of class membership

AIMS

To inform research on the etiology and prevention of substance use among rural African American youth by (a) identifying developmental trajectory classes of cannabis use and heavy drinking across adolescence and young adulthood and (b) examining associations between trajectory class membership and multi-level assessments of risk factors.

DESIGN

A prospective study spanning 9 years with assessments of cannabis use and heavy drinking, the catecholamines epinephrine and norepinephrine, perceived stress and psychosocial risk factors.

SETTING

Rural communities in the southeastern United States.

PARTICIPANTS

African American youth (n = 518).

MEASUREMENTS

Participants were assessed for cannabis use and heavy drinking at seven assessments beginning at 16 years of age and continuing to 25 years of age. At age 19, participants provided overnight urine voids that were assayed for catecholamines, a biological marker of life stress resulting from sympathetic nervous system activation. At ages 16 and 19, participants provided information on malleable psychosocial risk factors.

FINDINGS

Latent class growth models revealed three distinct trajectory classes for cannabis use and for heavy drinking. Higher levels of circulating stress hormones and perceived stress were associated with classes reporting greater substance use over time (all Ps < 0.05). A composite of selected risk factors discriminated class membership (all Ps < 0.05). Trajectory classes characterized by rapid usage increases in early adulthood exhibited the greatest increase in deviant peer affiliations between ages 16 and 19 years.

CONCLUSIONS

Rural African American youth's cannabis use and heavy drinking across adolescence and young adulthood demonstrate distinct developmental courses; a small number of risk factors and measures of biological and perceived stress differentiate class membership prognostically. Variability over time in these measures, specifically an increase in deviant peer affiliation, may help to account for steep increases in young adulthood.

Childhood poverty, catecholamines, and substance use among African American young adults: The protective effect of supportive parenting

From a sample of African American families living in the rural South, this study tested the hypothesis that growing up in poverty is associated with heightened biological stress levels in youth that, in turn, forecast elevations in drug use in young adulthood. Supportive parenting during adolescence was hypothesized to protect youth's biological stress levels from rising in the context of poverty. African American youth and their primary caregivers from 385 families participated in a 14-year prospective study that began when youth were 11 years of age. Data were collected from 2001 to 2016. All families lived in impoverished communities in the rural South. Linear regression models and conditional indirect effect analyses were executed in 2016 to test the study hypotheses. High number of years living in poverty across adolescence was associated with high catecholamine levels, but only among those youth who received low levels of supportive parenting. Youth catecholamine levels at age 19 forecast an increase in substance use from age 19 to age 25. Conditional indirect effects confirmed a developmental cascade linking family poverty, youth catecholamine levels, and increases in substance use for youth who did not receive high levels of supportive parenting. Current results suggest that, for some African American youth, substance use vulnerability may develop "under the skin" from stress-related biological weathering years before elevated drug use. Receipt of supportive parenting, however, can protect rural African American youth from biological weathering and its subsequent effects on increases in substance use during adulthood.

Stress spillover, African Americans' couple and health outcomes, and the stress-buffering effect of family-centered prevention

This study investigated (a) the stress spillover pathways linking contextual stressors, changes in couple relationship functioning and depressive symptoms, and changes in individuals' physical health, and (b) the stress-buffering effect of participation in an efficacious, family centered prevention program designed to protect couples from the deleterious effects of stressors. The sample consisted of 346 rural African American couples (63% married) who participated in a randomized controlled trial of the Protecting Strong African American Families (ProSAAF) program. Participants were assessed at three time points across 17 months. Results examining stress spillover within the control group indicated that elevated current, but not prior, financial hardship was associated with decreased effective communication, relationship satisfaction, and relationship confidence as well as increased depressive symptoms; current levels of racial discrimination also predicted greater depressive symptoms. Relationship confidence and relationship satisfaction, but not communication or depressive symptoms, in turn predicted declines in self-reported physical health. Results examining stress-buffering effects suggested that participation in ProSAAF protected individuals' relationship confidence from declines associated with elevated financial hardship. In addition, the indirect effect linking financial hardship to declines in physical health through relationship confidence that emerged among participants in the control group was no longer evident for ProSAAF couples. Results highlight the effect of contextual stressors on African Americans' couple and individual well-being and the potential for the ProSAAF program to provide a constructed resilience resource, protecting couple's confidence in their relationship from the negative effects of financial hardship and, consequently, promoting physical health. (PsycINFO Database Record

Is Communication a Mechanism of Relationship Education Effects among Rural African Americans?

Enhancing communication as a means of promoting relationship quality has been increasingly questioned, particularly for couples at elevated sociodemographic risk. In response, the current study investigated communication change as a mechanism accounting for changes in relationship satisfaction and confidence among 344 rural, predominantly low-income African American couples with an early adolescent child who participated in a randomized controlled trial of the Protecting Strong African American Families (ProSAAF) program. Approximately 9 months after baseline assessment, intent-to-treat analyses indicated ProSAAF couples demonstrated improved communication, satisfaction, and confidence compared with couples in the control condition. Improvements in communication mediated ProSAAF effects on relationship satisfaction and confidence; conversely, neither satisfaction nor confidence mediated intervention effects on changes in communication. These results underscore the short-term efficacy of a communication-focused, culturally sensitive prevention program and suggest that communication is a possible mechanism of change in relationship quality among low-income African American couples.

The Influence of Community Disadvantage and Masculinity Ideology on Number of Sexual Partners: A Prospective Analysis of Young Adult, Rural Black Men

Young, rural Black men are disproportionately affected by sexually transmitted infections (STIs), a consequence, in part, of multiple sexual partnerships. We conducted a prospective study that examined the influence of masculinity ideology on changes in numbers of sexual partners in this population. We focused on a set of high-risk attitudes termed reputational masculinity. Community disadvantage during young adulthood was examined as a risk factor for reputational masculinity ideology, and vocational commitment was examined as a potential protective factor. The sample included 505 African American men ages 19 to 22 from high-poverty rural communities. Men reported their numbers of sexual partners during the past three months, masculinity ideology, community disadvantage, and vocational commitment. Follow-up data were collected 18 months after baseline assessment. Negative binomial modeling was used to test study hypotheses. Results indicated that community disadvantage was associated with increases in reputational masculinity during early adulthood, which in turn were linked to increases in numbers of sexual partners. Vocational commitment interacted with reputational masculinity to forecast numbers of sexual partners, attenuating the influence of reputational masculinity. Reputational masculinity and promotion of engagement with the workplace may be important targets for interventions designed to reduce sexual risk behavior.

Protective Prevention Effects on the Association of Poverty With Brain Development

IMPORTANCE

This study was designed to determine whether a preventive intervention focused on enhancing supportive parenting could ameliorate the association between exposure to poverty and brain development in low socioeconomic status African American individuals from the rural South.

OBJECTIVE

To determine whether participation in an efficacious prevention program designed to enhance supportive parenting for rural African American children will ameliorate the association between living in poverty and reduced hippocampal and amygdalar volumes in adulthood.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS

In the rural southeastern United States, African American parents and their 11-year-old children were assigned randomly to the Strong African American Families randomized prevention trial or to a control condition. Parents provided data used to calculate income-to-needs ratios when children were aged 11 to 13 years and 16 to 18 years. When the participants were aged 25 years, hippocampal and amygdalar volumes were measured using magnetic resonance imaging.

EXPOSURES

Household poverty was measured by income-to-needs ratios.

MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES

Young adults' whole hippocampal, dentate gyrus, and CA3 hippocampal subfields as well as amygdalar volumes were assessed using magnetic resonance imaging.

RESULTS

Of the 667 participants in the Strong African American Families randomized prevention trial, 119 right-handed African American individuals aged 25 years living in rural areas were recruited. Years lived in poverty across ages 11 to 18 years forecasted diminished left dentate gyrus (simple slope, -14.20; standard error, 5.22; P = .008) and CA3 (simple slope, -6.42; standard error, 2.42; P = .009) hippocampal subfields and left amygdalar (simple slope, -34.62; standard error, 12.74; P = .008) volumes among young adults in the control condition (mean [SD] time, 2.04 [1.88] years) but not among those who participated in the Strong African American Families program (mean [SD] time, 2.61 [1.77] years).

CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE

In this study, we described how participation in a randomized clinical trial designed to enhance supportive parenting ameliorated the association of years lived in poverty with left dentate gyrus and CA3 hippocampal subfields and left amygdalar volumes. These findings are consistent with a possible role for supportive parenting and suggest a strategy for narrowing social disparities.

Parenting, Socioeconomic Status Risk, and Later Young Adult Health: Exploration of Opposing Indirect Effects via DNA Methylation

A sample of 398 African American youth, residing in rural counties with high poverty and unemployment, were followed from ages 11 to 19. Protective parenting was associated with better health, whereas elevated socioeconomic status (SES) risk was associated with poorer health at age 19. Genome-wide epigenetic variation assessed in young adulthood (age 19), was associated with both SES risk and protective parenting. Three categories of genes were identified whose methylation was associated with parenting, SES risk, and young adult health. Methylation was a significant mediator of the impact of parenting and SES risk on young adult health. Variation in mononuclear white blood cell types was also examined and controlled, showing that it did not account for observed effects of parenting and SES risk on health.

Financial strain, trajectories of marital processes, and African American newlyweds' marital instability

The present study examined the longitudinal associations among financial strain, trajectories of marital processes, and increases in marital instability concerns among a sample of 280 African American newlywed couples followed over the first 3 years of marriage. Results from dyadic structural equation modeling revealed that financial strain experienced during the early years of marriage was associated with increased marital instability concerns for both husbands and wives. Latent growth curves of marital processes revealed mean declines in appraisals of spousal warmth and increases in appraisals of spousal hostility, with variability between individuals in rates of decline in warmth; further, wives' appraisals of spousal warmth covaried with levels of financial strain, such that high levels of financial strain were associated with steeper declines in spousal warmth appraisals. For both husbands and wives, rates of change in spousal warmth appraisals had a greater influence on increases in marital instability concerns than either starting levels of spousal warmth appraisals or financial strain. Findings highlight the long-term associations between external stress and trajectories of marital appraisals as well as their relative effects on marital distress. (PsycINFO Database Record

Decreasing Substance use Risk among African American Youth: Parent-based Mechanisms of Change

African American couples (N = 139; 67.7 % married; with children between the ages of 9 and 14) were randomly assigned to (a) a culturally sensitive, couple- and parenting-focused program designed to prevent stress-spillover (n = 70) or (b) an information-only control condition in which couples received self-help materials (n = 69). Eight months after baseline, youth whose parents participated in the program, compared with control youth, reported increased parental monitoring, positive racial socialization, and positive self-concept, as well as decreased conduct problems and self-reported substance use. Changes in youth-reported parenting behavior partially mediated the effect of the intervention on conduct problems and fully mediated its impact on positive self-concept, but did not mediate effects on lifetime substance use initiation. Results suggest the potential for a culturally sensitive family-based intervention targeting adults' couple and parenting processes to enhance multiple parenting behaviors as well as decrease youths' substance use onset and vulnerability.

Determinants and Long-Term Effects of Attendance Levels in a Marital Enrichment Program for African American Couples

Although most efficacious marital enrichment programs are multisession, few studies have explored whether outcomes differ according to session attendance, particularly among minority groups with lower than average participation in prevention programs. This study therefore investigates attendance levels and long-term improvements in couple functioning among 164 couples participating in the Promoting Strong African American Families program. Structural equation models indicated session attendance predicted 2-year changes for men's reports of communication, commitment, and spousal support (marginally) but not for women's. Individual and couple characteristics that predicted attendance levels were also identified. Results highlight distinct gender differences in the effects of sustained attendance as well as characteristics that provide early identifiers for African American couples at increased risk of low program attendance.

Father Involvement and Young, Rural African American Men's Engagement in Substance Misuse and Multiple Sexual Partnerships

This study was designed to examine the associations of biological father and social father involvement during childhood with African American young men's development and engagement in risk behaviors. With a sample of 505 young men living in the rural South of the United States, a dual mediation model was tested in which retrospective reports of involvement from biological fathers and social fathers were linked to young men's substance misuse and multiple sexual partnerships through men's relational schemas and future expectations. Results from structural equation modeling indicated that levels of involvement from biological fathers and social fathers predicted young men's relational schemas; only biological fathers' involvement predicted future expectations. In turn, future expectations predicted levels of substance misuse, and negative relational schemas predicted multiple sexual partnerships. Biological fathers' involvement evinced significant indirect associations with young men's substance misuse and multiple sexual partnerships through both schemas and expectations; social fathers' involvement exhibited an indirect association with multiple sexual partnerships through relational schemas. Findings highlight the unique influences of biological fathers and social fathers on multiple domains of African American young men's psychosocial development that subsequently render young men more or less likely to engage in risk behaviors.

Prevention effects on trajectories of African American adolescents' exposure to interparental conflict and depressive symptoms

The present study investigates the trajectory of children's exposure to interparental conflict during adolescence, its effects on adolescents' psychological adjustment, as well as the ability of a family-centered prevention program to alter this trajectory. A total of 331 African American couples with an adolescent or preadolescent child participated in a randomized control trial of the Promoting Strong African American Families program, a newly developed program targeting couple and cocaregiving processes. Using a multi-informant, latent growth curve approach, child exposure to interparental conflict during adolescence was found to be stable over a period of 2 years among families in the control group, but significantly declined among families in the treatment condition. Rates of change were significantly different between intervention and control groups based on parents' report of youth exposure to interparental conflict, but not for child's report. Structural equation models found trajectory parameters of interparental conflict predicted changes in adolescent depressive symptoms, with increasing rates of changes in conflict associated with increases in adolescent internalizing symptoms over the 2-year duration of the study. Finally, a significant indirect effect was identified linking treatment, changes in parents' reports of child exposure to interparental conflict, and adolescent depressive symptoms. The implications for research and intervention are discussed.

With a little help from our friends: couple social integration in marriage

The benefits of social integration (i.e., structural or affective connectedness with others and with social institutions) have been frequently noted for individuals' personal well-being. In a similar fashion, recent marital research has highlighted how the social integration of a couple also appears to positively affect marital well-being. However, beyond main effects, little research to date has considered whether couples' social integration possesses moderating effects for spouses' marital quality as well. Among a sample of 492 married individuals, the present study explored whether spouses' reports of the social integration of their marriage moderated the associations between (a) financial distress and marital happiness, and (b) residing in more urban areas and marital happiness. Results from latent interaction structural equation modeling revealed a significant interaction between couple social integration and each contextual factor. Specifically, higher levels of couple social integration buffered marital happiness from lower levels associated with greater financial distress and with residing in more urban areas. These results, along with cultural shifts that have led to lower levels of communal ties and involvement throughout society, suggest couple social integration to be a pertinent construct for marital research and enrichment efforts.

The effect of communication change on long-term reductions in child exposure to conflict: impact of the promoting strong African American families (ProSAAF) program

African American couples (n = 331) with children, 89% of whom were married, were assigned to either (a) a culturally sensitive couple- and parenting-enhancement program (ProSAAF) or (b) an information-only control condition in which couples received self-help materials. Husbands averaged 41 years of age and wives averaged 39 years. We found significant effects of program participation in the short term on couple communication, which was targeted by the intervention, as well as over the long term, on self-reported arguing in front of children. Long-term parenting outcomes were fully mediated by changes in communication for wives, but not for husbands. For husbands, positive change depended on amount of wife reported change. We conclude that wives' changes in communication from baseline to posttest may be more pivotal for the couples' long-term experience of decreased arguing in front of children than are husbands' changes, with wives' changes leading to changes in both partners' reports of arguments in front of children.

Changes following premarital education for couples with differing degrees of future marital risk

The present study explored changes in individuals' relationship cognitions and behaviors following premarital education for couples with different risk profiles. The sample consisted of 63 couples who completed the PREPARE program and were classified for future marital risk based on dyadic information. A significant interaction effect was found between risk and time, with individuals in relationships classified as high risk exhibiting greater change at 4 weeks postprogram compared to low-risk individuals. Perceived helpfulness of topics also varied by couple type. Findings provide support for adapting premarital education programs for high-risk couples and offer clinicians and educators specific insights for areas of emphasis when working with different types of couples.