Parent Grandiose Narcissism and Child Socio-Emotional Well Being: The Role of Parenting

Previous research has highlighted how parent narcissism relates to parenting broadly. However, research has not examined how facets of grandiose narcissism are associated with parenting tactics, nor how these facets may indirectly affect child development. The current study assesses parenting tactics as intervening variables in associations between facets of grandiose narcissism and child internalizing/externalizing. Participants were 457 parents of a child between six and 18. Parents completed a survey assessing grandiose narcissism, positive and negative parenting tactics, and reported on child internalizing/externalizing behaviors. Higher parent grandiosity and entitlement/exploitation were associated with more negative parenting tactics and less positive parenting tactics. Negative parenting tactics intervened in relations between these facets of grandiose narcissism and child internalizing and externalizing. Conversely, higher levels of leadership/authority were related to more positive parenting tactics. Results suggest that deficits in parenting may be a mechanism for how parent grandiose narcissism relates to child mental health.

Child emotion lability is associated with within-task changes of autonomic activity during a mirror-tracing task

Adaptive biological and emotional stress responding are both critical for healthy human development. However, the complex associations between the two are not fully understood. The current study addresses this gap in research by studying associations of child emotion regulation and lability with within-task changes in the biological stress response during a mirror-tracing task. Participants were 59 families including two parents and a child between 5 and 12 years old (52.2% female). Parents reported on family demographics and completed the Emotion Regulation Checklist. Child skin conductance level (SCL) and respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) were recorded during a baseline task and during a 3-minute mirror-tracing task. Within-task patterns of SCL and RSA during the task were estimated with multilevel modeling (measures within persons). The emotion regulation subscale was unrelated to any facet of SCL/RSA time courses. However, lower emotion lability was related to SCL patterns that changed less during the task and were overall lower. For RSA, lower emotion lability was related to higher initial RSA that significantly decreased during the task. These findings suggest that higher child emotion lability may promote increased physiological arousal of target organs during challenging activities.

Parental drinking and observations of parent-child problem-solving discussions: Do drinking motives matter?

Alcohol is often used for emotion-regulation purposes, yet there has been little research on how emotion-regulation drinking motives relate to parenting. The present study addresses this gap by investigating possible interactions between parent drinking and drinking motives in the prediction of parenting and child affectivity during a problem-solving interaction. Participants included 199 two-parent families with a child between the ages of 6 and 12 years. Mothers and fathers self-reported their drinking and drinking motivations, and each parent separately took part in a 5-min parent-child problem-solving discussion about a topic that the parent identified as a frequent source of conflict. These discussions were later coded for parent rejection and coercion and child positive and negative affectivity. Father enhancement motives were independently related to father harsh parenting and indirectly related to lower child positive affect and greater child negative affect. Mother drinking to regulate positive and negative emotions interacted with mother drinking in association with mother harsh parenting, father harsh parenting, and child positive and negative affect during father-child interactions. Although the pattern of these interactions differed, the combination of mother greater drinking and coping or enhancement motives tended to have higher harsh parenting, child positive affect, and child negative affect. These findings indicate that parents' emotion-regulation motives for drinking warrant greater attention from researchers to understand the impact of parent drinking on parenting and emotional development of children. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Parental Problem Drinking and Maladaptive Personality Features in Children: The Role of Marital Conflict

The personality characteristics of children of exposed to parental problem drinking have been of interest to clinicians and researchers for several decades, but personality research on this population often focuses on identifying a unique cluster of adult personality traits. The current study adopts a cutting-edge dimensional approach to understanding personality pathology as extreme variants of the five factor model, and examines pathways of risk to personality pathology through marital conflict and emotional insecurity. Participants were 199 two-parent families with a child between the ages of 6 and 12 years. Parents completed questionnaire measures of their problem drinking, marital conflict, child emotional insecurity (i.e., emotional reactivity to conflict), and child maladaptive personality traits. Structural equation models found an indirect pathway from mother and father problem drinking to pathological child disagreeableness, introversion, emotional instability, and compulsivity via greater mother destructive marital conflict behavior and child emotional reactivity to conflict. There was also some evidence that this pathway of effects was stronger for girls than for boys. Findings support the use of a dimensional approach to understanding maladaptive personality among individuals exposed to parental problem drinking.

Attachment and prosocial behavior in middle childhood: The role of emotion regulation

There is a lack of research on the development of prosocial behavior in middle childhood. The current study addressed this gap through the application of attachment theory; attachment security has been shown to promote prosocial behavior in early childhood, and emotion regulation may be an important intervening variable in this association. A sample of 199 children (aged 6-12 years) reported on their attachment internal working models for the mother-child and father-child relationships, parents reported on child emotion regulation and emotional lability/dysregulation, and children completed a sticker donation task to assess their prosocial behavior. Child emotional lability/dysregulation served as an intervening variable in the association between father-child attachment security (communication and trust) and greater sticker donation. Mother-child and father-child attachment security was also associated with child emotion regulation, but emotion regulation was not associated with sticker donation. Findings suggest that secure attachment may foster prosocial behavior toward peers in middle childhood primarily by reducing dysregulated responses to the distress of others.

Bidirectional associations between nightly sleep and daily happiness and negative mood in adolescents

This study examined bidirectional associations between daily happiness and negative mood and subjective and objective sleep measures. Participants were 311 adolescents (M_age = 17.37 years; 51.8% female; 59.2% White/European American, 38.6% Black/African American, 1% Hispanic/Latinx American, 1.4% multi‐racial; 19.3% below poverty line) observed over a 7‐day period (2017–2018) using sleep diaries and actigraphy. Daily negative mood was related to greater subjective sleep/wake problems, and happiness was related to lower subjective sleep/wake problems. Conversely, shorter self‐reported sleep duration was related to higher negative mood the next day. For actigraphy measures, daily negative mood was related to greater sleep duration and efficiency, whereas happiness was related to lower sleep efficiency. Differences in associations based on subjective versus objective sleep measures are discussed.

Habitual use of psychological coping strategies is associated with physiological stress responding during negative memory recollection in humans

Research has identified a variety of strategies people use to cope with stress and that the adaptiveness of various strategies depends on the context in which they are used. However, important questions remain about the role of physiological stress response systems in supporting, influencing, or changing from coping strategies. This study works toward addressing this gap by examining associations between skin conductance level (SCL) and habitual use of coping strategies. It was hypothesized that more use of problem-focused strategies would be associated with SCL trajectories that were more stable and decreased less steeply, with the opposite trend hypothesized for more use of emotion-focused strategies. Participants were 188 college students (78% female) who reported their use of 14 coping strategies. SCL was recorded during recall of a negative family memory from childhood for five minutes. Trajectories of SCL during the recall were estimated with multilevel modeling. Greater self-distraction, planning, active coping, use of emotional support, and coping flexibility were related to trajectories of SCL that decreased less steeply and were more stable. Problem-focused coping and coping flexibility are, therefore, related to reduced SCL reactivity and promoting these skills may benefit mental health.

Exposure to intimate partner aggression during childhood is associated with blunted skin conductance recovery following stress in early adulthood

This study examines skin conductance level (SCL) trajectories and childhood exposure to intimate partner aggression (IPA) committed between parents in a sample of college students. Although IPA among parents does not directly involve children, children frequently see or are exposed to IPA first-hand when it occurs. This exposure to IPA increases risks for psychopathology and emotional or behavioral difficulties for children or adolescents later in life. However, research has not yet examined the stress response patterns of individuals exposed to IPA, nor how reactivity to stress may be altered based on this exposure. Participants included 161 college students who completed questionnaires assessing demographics, mental health, and exposure to IPA, and also reported on family functioning and parental drinking habits. Additionally, participants completed a three-minute mirror tracing task followed by a three-minute recovery period while SCL was monitored. Multilevel modeling was used to assess whether frequency or level of exposure to IPA was related to trajectories of SCL. Neither variable was related to SCL trajectories during the mirror-tracing task. However, both frequency and level of exposure were related to SCL trajectories during the recovery period, such that for participants reporting higher levels of either IPA exposure variable, SCL trajectories during recovery declined less rapidly and did not decline to as low of a level compared to participants reporting lower levels of IPA exposure. This blunted SCL recovery may be due to wear and tear from repeated innervation, or a calibrating of the SCL response to adapt to a volatile home environment.

Parental Empathy, Aggressive Parenting, and Child Adjustment in a Noncustodial High-Risk Sample

This study examined the relations between parental empathy, parenting physical aggression, parental psychological control, and child adjustment in a sample of parents who had their children removed from their custody because of child abuse or neglect. Twenty parents between 24 and 40 years of age (M = 31.15, SD = 4.85; 85% female) with a child aged between 1.5 and 16 years (M = 6.5, SD = 3.88; 70% boys) participated in the study. Our sample was comprised of relatively racially diverse and low-income parents, with 40% from racial minority groups and 70% below the poverty line. Parents were recruited from a local nonprofit organization providing court-mandated parenting classes. Parents reported on their dispositional empathy, physical aggression toward children, psychological control and child internalizing and externalizing symptoms in an interview format. Parents also reported on empathy for their children through a semistructured interview; their empathy was later coded by trained research assistants. Bivariate correlation analyses revealed that parental empathy in the parent-child relationship negatively correlated with parental psychological control. Greater parental psychological control significantly correlated with greater approval of corporal punishment. Moreover, in the subsample of older children (6 years old and above), greater parental dispositional empathy was associated with greater child externalizing symptoms. Further exploratory analyses showed that associations between parental empathy, psychological control, and spanking attitudes differed across parents of boys and of girls. This study highlights the importance of examining empathy specific to the parent-child relationship in addition to dispositional empathy to predict parenting aggression. More importantly, studies should focus on a more covert form of parenting aggression, parental psychological control, in addition to physical aggression.

Escalation and reinstatement of fentanyl self-administration in male and female rats

RATIONALE

Escalation of drug intake and craving are two DSM-5 hallmark symptoms of opioid use disorder (OUD).

OBJECTIVES

This study determined if escalation of intake as modeled by long access (LgA) self-administration (SA) and craving measured by reinstatement are related.

METHODS

Adult male and female Sprague-Dawley rats were trained to self-administer fentanyl across 7 daily 1-h short access (ShA) sessions, followed by 21 SA sessions of either 1- or 6-h duration (ShA or LgA). Following 14 1-h extinction sessions, Experiment 1 assessed reinstatement induced by either fentanyl (10 or 30 µg/kg) or yohimbine (1 or 2 mg/kg), and Experiment 2 assessed reinstatement induced by a drug-associated cue light.

RESULTS

Females acquired fentanyl SA faster than males. When shifted to LgA sessions, LgA rats escalated fentanyl intake, but ShA rats did not; no reliable sex difference in the rate of escalation was observed. In extinction, compared to ShA rats, LgA rats initially responded less and showed less decay of responding across sessions. A priming injection of fentanyl induced reinstatement, with LgA rats reinstating more than ShA rats at the 30 µg/kg dose. Yohimbine (1 mg/kg) also induced reinstatement, but there was no effect of access group or sex. With cue-induced reinstatement, LgA females reinstated less than LgA males and ShA females.

CONCLUSION

Among the different reinstatement tests assessed, escalation of fentanyl SA increased only drug-primed reinstatement, suggesting a limited relationship between escalation of drug intake and craving (reinstatement) for OUD.

Salivary Markers of Stress in Grandparents Rearing Grandchildren in Rural Appalachia: The Role of Mental Health, Religiosity, and Social Support

This study examines changes in salivary cortisol and alpha-amylase among grandparents rearing grandchildren in rural Appalachia. Grandparent-caregivers experience greater stress than non-grandparent-caregivers. Participants included 20 grandparent-caregivers and a child for which they cared, who completed questionnaires assessing family functioning and mental health via interview. Grandparent-caregivers provided morning saliva samples once a year for two years. For grandparent-caregivers low in social support and religiosity, grandparent-caregiver depressive symptoms, child depressive symptoms, and child stress were associated with increased grandparent-caregiver salivary alpha-amylase. For grandparent-caregivers high in social support and religiosity, child depressive symptoms, child stress, and child aggression were associated with increased grandparent-caregiver cortisol.

Global CO2 emissions from dry inland waters share common drivers across ecosystems

Many inland waters exhibit complete or partial desiccation, or have vanished due to global change, exposing sediments to the atmosphere. Yet, data on carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from these sediments are too scarce to upscale emissions for global estimates or to understand their fundamental drivers. Here, we present the results of a global survey covering 196 dry inland waters across diverse ecosystem types and climate zones. We show that their CO2 emissions share fundamental drivers and constitute a substantial fraction of the carbon cycled by inland waters. CO2 emissions were consistent across ecosystem types and climate zones, with local characteristics explaining much of the variability. Accounting for such emissions increases global estimates of carbon emissions from inland waters by 6% (~0.12 Pg C y-1). Our results indicate that emissions from dry inland waters represent a significant and likely increasing component of the inland waters carbon cycle.

Children being Reared by their Grandparents in Rural Appalachia: A Pilot Study of Relations Between Psychosocial Stress and Changes in Salivary Markers of Inflammation Over Time

Grandparents in rural Appalachia with primary caregiving responsibilities for their grandchildren often struggle with high levels of stress, inadequate resources, and poor physical and mental health. However, implications for children of being raised by grandparents rarely have been examined, particularly in terms of stress biomarkers. The present study investigated salivary C-reactive protein, interleukin-6, and tumor necrosis factor alpha in a small sample of children (N = 20) aged 5 to 18 years being reared by grandparents in two rural counties in Kentucky, a region well known for its resource scarcity. Saliva samples were collected from children 30 min after waking at two time points spaced one year apart. Grandparents and children completed a series of questionnaires via interview. Children's internalizing symptoms were related to greater markers of inflammation over time. Grandparent stress and poor mental health were also related to greater inflammation, while grandparent positive parenting and religiosity were associated with lower inflammation.

The role of couple sleep concordance in sleep quality: Attachment as a moderator of associations

Despite most American adults sharing a bed with a romantic partner, sleep research has examined sleep primarily as an individual behaviour. A growing body of research indicates that couple bed sharing may have an impact on sleep quality, but the current study is the first to examine whether such associations may differ based on attachment security. A sample of 179 cohabiting heterosexual couples completed daily sleep diaries and surveys of their attachment security, avoidance and anxiety. Data were analysed using multilevel modelling. Greater attachment security and lower attachment avoidance were associated with greater subjective sleep quality. Greater sleep concordance (time in bed with partners) was associated with better subjective sleep quality for women with lower attachment security and higher attachment avoidance. Findings suggest that couple bed sharing may benefit the subjective sleep quality of women who have lower attachment security.

Father attachment, father emotion expression, and children's attachment to fathers: The role of marital conflict

The current study examined relations between father attachment to spouses and child attachment to fathers in middle childhood, focusing on father emotion expressions in father-child interactions as mediators and marital conflict as a moderator of relations. Participants were 199 children between 6 and 12 years of age and their fathers. Fathers completed questionnaires about their attachment to their spouses, and both fathers and mothers reported on their marital conflict. Fathers also discussed a difficult topic with their children for 5 min, and fathers' positive and negative emotion expression during the discussions were coded. Children completed questionnaires through an interview about their attachment to their father. Father insecure attachment interacted with marital conflict in predicting more negative emotions and less positive emotions during father-child interactions. Specifically, in the context of higher marital conflict in this community sample, fathers who reported greater preoccupied attachment to their spouses exhibited more negative emotions and less positive emotions when interacting with their children. In turn, more father negative emotions and less positive emotions were associated with children's less secure attachment to fathers. In contrast, father fearful attachment interacted with marital conflict to predict less negative emotion and more positive emotion during interactions with children. (PsycINFO Database Record

Poor Sleep Is Associated With Greater Marital Aggression: The Role of Self Control

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVE

Although sleep problems are linked to relationship difficulties, the mechanisms involved have not been empirically demonstrated. The present study considers self-control as such a mechanism.

PARTICIPANTS

Data were collected from 342 predominantly white, middle-class, married adults.

METHOD

Participants completed online questionnaires about sleep, marital aggression, and self-control, and a virtual voodoo doll task.

RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS

Sleep problems were associated with higher levels of aggression on all measures, and lower self-control mediated these associations. Associations did not depend on participant gender, presence of children in the home, income, or length of marriage.

Longitudinal relations between maternal depressive symptoms and child sleep problems: the role of parasympathetic nervous system reactivity

BACKGROUND

We examined maternal depressive symptoms (MDS) as longitudinal predictors of actigraphy-measured sleep; children's respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) was tested as a moderator of these relations.

METHOD

A total of 271 children (145 boys and 126 girls) participated in a three-wave study (M age at T1 = 9.38 years), with a 1-year lag between waves. Children wore actigraphs to derive sleep parameters. RSA reactivity was assessed during a social stress test.

RESULTS

Contrary to hypotheses, MDS were related to less sleep over time for children exhibiting greater RSA withdrawal. Consistent with hypotheses, MDS were related longitudinally to decreased sleep activity for children exhibiting less RSA withdrawal.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings illustrate the importance of maternal influences and physiological regulation as predictors of children's sleep.

When a son steals money from his mother: courtroom perceptions of elder financial exploitation

The perception of elder financial exploitation was investigated using community members (N = 104) and undergraduates (N = 143). Participants read an exploitation trial summary; an 85-year-old victim accused her son of stealing her money. Primary results indicated that alleged victims described as healthy rendered more guilty verdicts than those described as having a cognitive deficit; pro-victim judgments were higher for women than men; and younger and older community members' rendered more guilty verdicts than middle-aged mock jurors. The results are discussed in terms of the factors that impact the perception of exploitation in court.

Curiosity protects against interpersonal aggression: cross-sectional, daily process, and behavioral evidence

OBJECTIVE

Curiosity is the propensity to recognize and seek out new information and experience, including an intrinsic interest in learning and developing one's knowledge. With few exceptions, researchers have often ignored the social consequences of being curious.

METHOD

In four studies using cross-sectional (N = 64), daily diary (Ns = 150 and 110, respectively), and behavioral experimental (N= 132) designs, we tested the hypothesis that individual differences in curiosity are linked to less aggression, even when people are provoked.

RESULTS

We showed that both trait and daily curiosity were linked to less aggressive responses toward romantic relationship partners and people who caused psychological hurt. In time-lagged analyses, daily curiosity predicted less aggression from one day to the next, with no evidence for the reverse direction. Studies 3 and 4 showed that the inverse association between curiosity and aggression was strongest in close relationships and in fledgling (as opposed to long-lasting) romantic relationships. That is, highly curious people showed evidence of greater context sensitivity. Intensity of hurt feelings and other personality and relationship variables failed to account for these effects.

CONCLUSIONS

Curiosity is a neglected mechanism of resilience in understanding aggression.

Parental problem drinking, marital aggression, and child emotional insecurity: a longitudinal investigation

OBJECTIVE

Marital aggression plays an important role in relations between parental problem drinking and child maladjustment. The purpose of the current study was to apply emotional security theory as a framework for understanding the role of marital aggression.

METHOD

A community sample of 235 children in kindergarten participated once a year for 3 years. Parents completed measures of parental problem drinking and marital aggression, and children were interviewed about their emotional security reactions to marital conflict vignettes.

RESULTS

Greater parental problem drinking was directly associated with children's more negative emotional reactions to conflict. Maternal problem drinking predicted increased sad reactions and negative expectations for the future. Paternal problem drinking predicted increases in child anger reactions and negative expectations for the future. Parental problem drinking was also indirectly associated with child reactions via marital aggression.

CONCLUSIONS

Results confirmed hypotheses that parental problem drinking would be related to child emotional insecurity and that associations would be indirect via greater marital conflict. Findings are interpreted in terms of emotional security theory as a framework for understanding the effects of parental problem drinking on marital aggression and child development.

Interactions between salivary cortisol and alpha-amylase as predictors of children's cognitive functioning and academic performance

We examined relations between salivary cortisol, alpha-amylase (sAA), and children's cognitive and academic functioning. Of interest were curvilinear and interactive effects of these salivary measures on cognitive and academic performance. Data were based on a sample of 28 boys and 36 girls (ages 8 and 9) in the Southeastern U.S.A. Children provided resting afternoon saliva samples. Children completed standardized tests of Intellectual Ability and schools provided academic achievement information. Regression analyses demonstrated significant curvilinear relations and interactions between cortisol and sAA in the prediction of child functioning. Contrary to current models of interactions among biological systems, findings indicated some of the highest and lowest scores were predicted at moderate levels of physiological arousal. For example, children with moderate sAA and either higher or lower cortisol had low predicted scores for Reading Ability. Children with moderate cortisol and lower sAA had the highest predicted scores for Intellectual Ability. Findings suggest that the study of interactions between biological stress response systems should not be based on models of rectilinear interactions.

Latent change score modeling of psychophysiological data: an empirical instantiation using electrodermal responding

We examined latent change score (LCS) modeling as an approach to the analysis of children's skin conductance level (SCL) throughout a stressful task-a simulated interadult argument-as it relates to externalizing and internalizing symptoms. LCS is an extension of traditional multilevel modeling (MLM), which allows estimation of proportional growth terms. Children (age 6-12 years; N=150) were from two-parent families. Mothers reported on children's internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Results indicated that the LCS models outperformed the traditional MLM. The use of LCS yielded important novel information regarding profile and pattern of responding for various children and is likely to advance understanding of relations between children's physiological responses and psychopathology symptoms.

Concurrent and longitudinal relations between children's sleep and cognitive functioning: the moderating role of parent education

Relations between children's sleep and cognitive functioning were examined over 2 years, and race and socioeconomic status were assessed as moderators of effects. Third-grade African American and European American children (N = 166; M = 8.72 years) participated at Time 1 and again 2 years later (N = 132). At both Time 1 and Time 2, sleep was examined via self-report and actigraphy. Children were administered selected tests from the Woodcock-Johnson III Tests of Cognitive Abilities, and Stanford Achievement Test scores were obtained from schools. Children's sleep was related to intellectual ability and academic achievement. Results build substantially on an emerging literature supportive of the importance of sleep in children.

Marital Conflict in the Context of Parental Depressive Symptoms: Implications for the Development of Children's Adjustment Problems

Relations among parental depressive symptoms, overt and covert marital conflict, and child internalizing and externalizing symptoms were examined in a community sample of 235 couples and their children. Families were assessed once yearly for three years, starting when children were in kindergarten. Parents completed measures of depressive symptoms and children's internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Behavioral observations of marital conflict behaviors (insult, threat, pursuit, and defensiveness) and self-report of covert negativity (feeling worry, sorry, worthless, and helpless) were assessed based on problem solving interactions. Results indicated that fathers' greater covert negativity and mothers' overt destructive conflict behaviors served as intervening variables in the link between fathers' depressive symptoms and child internalizing symptoms, with modest support for the pathway through fathers' covert negativity found even after controlling for earlier levels of constructs. These findings support the role of marital conflict in the impact of fathers' depressive symptoms on child internalizing symptoms.

Effects of physical and verbal aggression, depression, and anxiety on drinking behavior of married partners: a prospective and retrospective longitudinal examination

In an ethnically diverse sample of 195 married couples, we conducted a latent factor growth analysis to investigate the longitudinal link (4 time points over 4 1/2 years) between marital aggression (physical and verbal aggression self- and partner-reports) and individual internalizing symptoms (depression and anxiety) as they relate to trajectories of alcohol use among husbands and wives. Alcohol use was operationalized as a latent factor with self- and partner reports of problem drinking as measured by the Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test and the Alcohol Dependence Scale. Verbal aggression by husbands or wives, by itself, has no effect on their alcohol use over time. In conjunction with depression, however, verbally aggressive husbands do have elevated drinking levels. The effects of husbands' and wives' physical aggression on their own and their partners' drinking behavior were also significant. This study is one of the first to examine the change over time in alcohol use for marital partners as related to marital aggression and internalizing symptoms. Our results shed light on areas of marital functioning (aggression, internalizing, alcohol use) that have not been investigated in conjunction with each other in a longitudinal design.

Longitudinal relations between marital aggression and alcohol problems

Relations between couples' (N = 158) marital aggression and alcohol problems were examined across a two-year period. Alcohol problems and aggression were assessed via self-report and partner-reports. Results support bidirectional relations between marital aggression and problem drinking. T1 wife problem drinking was associated with decreased T2 verbal aggression; T1 husband problem drinking was associated with increased T2 physical aggression. T1 physical aggression predicted increased T2 wife problem drinking; it predicted increased T2 husband problem drinking only when wife problem drinking was low. T1 verbal marital aggression predicted increased T2 husband problem drinking only when husbands engaged in greater problem drinking at T1. Results suggest that problem drinking may prevent couples from adequately handling marital disagreements, and that marital problems may lead to drinking as a form of coping with stress; couples in which the husband engages in greater problem drinking than the wife may be at increased risk. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2009 APA, all rights reserved).

Salivary alpha-amylase as a longitudinal predictor of children's externalizing symptoms: respiratory sinus arrhythmia as a moderator of effects

Salivary alpha-amylase (sAA) was examined as a predictor of children's externalizing symptoms cross-sectionally when children were in the 3rd grade (T1; N=64) and again in the 5th grade (T2; N=54) and longitudinally over two years. Parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) activity, indexed by respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), was examined as a moderator of the sAA and child externalizing link. Participants were healthy, typically developing children, 34% of whom were African American and the rest European American. At each time point, saliva samples were collected during afternoon laboratory visits and assayed for sAA. Children's RSA was measured during baseline conditions and in response to an inter-adult argument and a star-tracing task. Cross-sectional associations between sAA and externalizing symptoms at T1 and T2 were moderated by PNS functioning. Longitudinally, sAA was directly associated with changes in externalizing symptoms in a non-linear fashion. Specifically, lower externalizing symptoms were predicted for children with moderate levels of sAA, but higher externalizing was predicted for children with higher or lower levels of sAA. Findings highlight the importance of the contemporaneous assessment of SNS and PNS functioning in the prediction of child psychopathology, and the need to examine curvilinear relations between ANS functioning and behavior.

Children's sleep and adjustment: the moderating role of vagal regulation

Children's vagal tone and vagal suppression were examined as moderators of associations between children's sleep disruptions and adjustment problems. A relatively large sample (n = 167) of boys and girls who ranged in age between 8 and 9 years participated with their parents. Sleep was examined via actigraphy in the child's home for seven consecutive days. Children's vagal tone was examined during baseline conditions, and their vagal suppression was assessed in response to an inter-adult argument. In comparison with children exhibiting higher levels of vagal tone, those with lower vagal tone were at increased risk of externalizing problems, depression symptoms and higher body mass index associated with increased sleep disruptions (i.e. lower Sleep Efficiency, increased Wake Minutes and fewer Sleep Minutes). Thus, lower vagal tone functioned as a vulnerability factor for adjustment problems in the context of sleep problems. A higher level of vagal suppression to the inter-adult argument functioned as a protective factor against externalizing behaviors otherwise associated with increased Wake Minutes and reduced Sleep Efficiency. Findings demonstrating the moderating role of vagal functioning in the context of sleep disruptions are novel, and highlight the importance of individual differences in children's physiological regulation for sleep and adjustment.

Marital conflict and risk for child maladjustment over time: skin conductance level reactivity as a vulnerability factor

Skin conductance level reactivity (SCLR) was examined as a longitudinal mediator and moderator of relations between parental marital conflict and psychopathology among children and young adolescents. Participants were 157 boys and girls (M age at T1 = 9.31 years; SD = 1.97); there was a 2-year lag between T1 and T2 assessments. At T1, participants' SCLR was assessed in response to lab challenges. Parents completed measures of aggressive marital conflict and child adjustment at T1 and T2. Supportive of moderation effects, T1 marital conflict interacted with T1 SCLR and gender in the prediction of changes in maladjustment. The link between marital conflict and increased internalizing and externalizing symptoms was stronger for girls with higher SCLR than girls with lower SCLR. Marital conflict predicted increased externalizing behaviors for boys with lower SCLR but not higher SCLR, although levels of externalizing behaviors were similar among boys with lower and higher SCLR especially at higher levels of marital conflict. Findings build on the literature by illustrating the importance of examinations of both family risk and youth biological vulnerability for the prediction of psychopathology.

Children's skin conductance reactivity as a mechanism of risk in the context of parental depressive symptoms

BACKGROUND

Children's physiological reactivity was examined as a moderator of relations between parental dysphoria and child adjustment problems, addressing gaps in the study of child characteristics as risk processes.

METHOD

One hundred fifty-seven children (86 boys, 71 girls) were assessed twice over a two-year interval. Skin conductance level reactivity (SCLR) to inter-adult argument and problem-solving tasks was observed.

RESULTS

SCLR moderated longitudinal predictions of children's internalizing, externalizing and social adjustment problems, especially for paternal rather than maternal dysphoria. Higher SCLR predicted greater vulnerability to parental depressive symptomatology.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings highlight that individual differences in children's physiological reactivity may relate to risk for adjustment problems in the context of parental depressive symptoms.

Child emotional insecurity and academic achievement: the role of sleep disruptions

The authors examined children's sleep as an intervening variable in the connection between emotional insecurity in the family and academic achievement. The role of ethnicity (African American and European American) and socioeconomic status (SES) in moderating the examined relations was assessed. One hundred sixty-six children (8- and 9-year-olds) reported their emotional insecurity, and the quantity and quality of children's sleep were examined through actigraphy and self-report. Decreased amount and quality of sleep were intervening variables in the relations between insecurity in the marital relationship and children's achievement. The effects of disrupted sleep on achievement were more pronounced for both African American children and children of lower SES. Results highlight the importance of the contemporaneous examinations of family and sleep functioning in the prediction of child outcomes.

The role of marital discord and parenting in relations between parental problem drinking and child adjustment

BACKGROUND

Research suggests that children exposed to parental drinking problems are at risk for maladjustment. However, the potential impact of drinking problems in a community sample and the processes involved in the relationship between parental drinking and child outcomes have rarely been examined.

METHOD

A community sample of 235 mothers and fathers of kindergarten children completed measures of problem drinking symptoms, family functioning and child adjustment.

RESULTS

Model tests indicate that problem drinking was associated with greater marital conflict, and that marital conflict was related to ineffective parenting which was in turn related to poorer child adjustment.

CONCLUSIONS

Even in a community sample, parental problem drinking behaviors are associated with reduced family functioning that relates to child outcomes.

Towards a family process model of maternal and paternal depressive symptoms: exploring multiple relations with child and family functioning

BACKGROUND

Research has focused on maternal dysphoria and child adjustment. However, family process models indicate gaps in the study of paternal dysphoria, broader family functioning, and diverse child outcomes.

METHOD

A community sample of 235 mothers and fathers of kindergarten children completed measures of depressive symptoms, family functioning and child adjustment. Teachers also provided measures of child adjustment.

RESULTS

Supportive of pervasive effects even in a community sample, increased parental depressive symptomatology was related to increased marital conflict, insecure marital attachment, less parental warmth, more psychological control in parenting, and multiple child problems. Child gender moderated child outcomes differently for paternal and maternal dysphoria. Marital relations, but not parenting, mediated child outcomes.

CONCLUSIONS

Marital problems may be especially reactive to parental depressive symptomatology, so that mediational processes affecting child functioning become evident even in family contexts of relatively low risk.