Parental Rejection and School-aged Children's Externalizing Behavior Problems in China: The Roles of Executive Function and Callous-unemotional Traits

This study examined the mediating role of children's executive function (EF) in the relation between parental rejection and children's externalizing behavior problems and whether this mediation varies depending on their callous-unemotional (CU) trait levels. Two hundred and eighty-four Chinese school-aged children and their fathers and mothers participated. Both fathers and mothers reported on parental rejection, children's externalizing behavior problems, EF, and CU traits. The results showed that EF mediated the association between parental rejection and externalizing behavior problems. Moreover, the negative link between EF and externalizing behavior problems was moderated by CU traits; in particular, the combination of higher-level CU traits and lower-level EF predicted more externalizing behavior problems. Our findings point to the importance of considering family context and multiple personal factors simultaneously to decrease children's behavior problems.

Parent-child relationship, parenting behaviors, and adolescents' depressive symptoms after an earthquake: unraveling within-adolescent associations from between-adolescent differences

This study assessed temporal associations between parent-child relationship, parenting behaviors (i.e., warmth, rejection, and overprotection), and adolescents' depressive symptoms after trauma, using random-intercept cross-lagged panel models to distinguish between- and within-adolescent differences. We surveyed Chinese adolescents 12 (Aug 2018; T1), 21 (May 2019; T2), 27 (Nov 2019; T3) months after the Jiuzhaigou earthquake that occurred in August 2017. Of the 585 adolescents who participated in at least two waves of the study, mean age at T1 was 15.50 years old (SD = 1.58 years) and 57.8% were girls. Controlling adolescents' gender, age, ethnicity, trauma exposure at T1, and parents' marital status, between-adolescent results showed that parent-child relationship and parenting behaviors, parent-child relationship and depressive symptoms were correlated across models of parental warmth, rejection, and overprotection, whereas depressive symptoms were only correlated with parental rejection and overprotection. Within-adolescent results indicated that parent-child relationship and adolescents' depressive symptoms had bidirectional associations via the mediation of parental warmth from T1 to T3. Over the longer term following the earthquake, we found that parental rejection was bidirectionally associated with adolescents' depressive symptoms, whereas parental overprotection was unidirectionally influenced by adolescents' depressive symptoms from T2 to T3. In addition, more depressive symptoms in adolescents were associated with worsening parent-child relationship from T2 to T3. In conclusion, shortly after trauma, interventions should focus on improving parent-child relationship and relieving adolescents' depressive symptoms. Over the longer term after trauma, relieving adolescents' depressive symptoms should be prioritized to avoid its eroding effects on parent-child relationship and parenting behaviors, and to break the "vicious cycle".

Developmental Changes in the Relation between Youth Disclosure and Parenting Behavior: A Cohort-sequential Analysis

To address a gap in the literature regarding the development of youth disclosure across the transition to adolescence, the current research uses a cohort-sequential approach to study youth disclosure from middle childhood through adolescence. Longitudinal data from three cohorts of parents were utilized (N = 1359; children at T1 were in grades 2 [M = 8.00 years, SD = 0.57 years, 45% female], 4 [M = 10.12 years, SD = 0.60 years, 45% female], and 9 [M = 15.19 years, SD = 0.57 years, 48% female]). Parents were assessed annually over a 3-year time period. The focal analyses explored contemporaneous associations between characteristics of the parent-youth relationship (specifically, parental rejection and parental consistent discipline) and youth disclosure after accounting for person-specific trajectories of disclosure. Associations of gender, age, and socioeconomic status with disclosure were also assessed. Regarding trajectories of youth disclosure, results indicate that youth disclose less information to their parents about their daily lives as they get older; this trend was consistent across gender and socioeconomic status. In terms of associations with youth disclosure, when parents provided more consistent discipline or engaged in less rejection of their child, youth disclosure increased, even after accounting for their own trajectory of disclosure across time. In addition, the association of consistent discipline with youth disclosure became stronger with increased youth age. Results are discussed in terms of implications for understanding youth autonomy development, and the dyadic and developmental impact of parenting behaviors over time.

Temperament and adolescent suicide attempts: a case-control study with multi-ethnic Asian adolescents

BACKGROUND

Suicide is the leading cause of death for adolescents in several parts of Asia, including Singapore. This study examines the relationship between temperament and youth suicide attempts in a sample of multi-ethnic Singaporean adolescents.

METHODS

A case-control design compared 60 adolescents (Mage = 16.40, SDage = 2.00) with a recent suicide attempt (i.e., past 6 months) with 58 adolescents (Mage = 16.00, SDage = 1.68) without any history of suicide attempts. Presence of suicide attempts was established using the semi-structured interviewer-administered Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale. Participants also completed self-report measures on temperament traits, psychiatric diagnoses, stressful life events, and perceived parental rejection in an interview-based format.

RESULTS

Psychiatric comorbidity, recent stressful life events, perceived parental rejection, and all five "difficult temperament" traits, were significantly overrepresented among adolescent cases relative to healthy controls. Adjusted logistic regression models revealed significant associations between suicide attempt, MDD comorbidity (OR: 10.7, 95% Cl: (2.24-51.39)), "negative mood" trait (OR: 1.12-1.18, 95% Cl: (1.00-1.27)), and the interaction term of "positive mood" and "high adaptability" traits (OR: 0.943 - 0.955, 95% Cl: (0.900 - 0.986)). Specifically, "positive mood" predicted lower likelihood of a suicide attempt when "adaptability" was high (OR: 0.335 - 0.342, 95% Cl: (0.186 - 0.500)) but not low (OR: 0.968 - 0.993, 95% Cl: (0.797 - 1.31)).

CONCLUSION

Temperament screening may be important to identify adolescents at higher or lower risk of suicide at an early stage. More longitudinal and neurobiological research converging on these temperament findings will be helpful in ascertaining temperament screening as an effective suicide prevention methodology for adolescents.

Social rejection sensitivity and its role in adolescent emotional disorder symptomatology

BACKGROUND

Most emotional disorders first emerge during adolescence, a time characterized by heightened sensitivity to social information, especially social rejection. Social rejection sensitivity (SRS), then, may be a promising intervention target.

METHODS

To explore this, 357 participants (M (SD) age = 19.40 (4.18), 63% female) completed self-report measures of SRS, its proposed antecedent, perceived parenting style, its proposed behavioral correlate, negative interpretation bias, and its proposed  clinical correlate, emotional disorder symptoms. Participants additionally completed a single session of a social interpretation bias modification task, the ambiguous social scenarios task (ASST).

RESULTS

SRS was associated with perceived parental rejection, while controlling for other types of maladaptive parenting. SRS partially accounted for variance in the relationship between perceived parental rejection and emotional disorder symptomatology, as well as the relationship between negative interpretation bias and emotional disorder symptoms. Learning rates (i.e., change in reaction time across the task) on the ASST differed as a function of age and SRS, such that younger participants with higher SRS showed the slowest rate of learning. Moreover, individual differences in SRS accounted for the magnitude of change in negative interpretation bias before and after the ASST. Individuals with greater SRS showed less change in interpretation bias.

CONCLUSIONS

SRS appears strongly associated with emotional disorder symptoms in adolescents. Importantly, SRS was associated with the malleability of negative interpretation bias, which may help account for the mixed findings on the effectiveness of interpretation-bias-modification-paradigms in adolescents.

Experiences of family violence and parental unavailability in childhood in relation to parental socioeconomic position and psychological problems: a cohort study of young Swedish women 1990-2013

Background

Despite the high prevalence and severe consequences for health and wellbeing, epidemiological research of neglected emotional needs during childhood is scarce and little is known about its relation to parental socioeconomic position (SEP). This study investigates the prevalence of family violence and parental unavailability in childhood and its association with parental SEP and parental psychological problems in four strata of young Swedish women examined 1990, 1995, 2000, and 2013.

Method

The sample comprised 976 women (mean age 22, range 20–25) living in Sweden. Secular trends for family violence, parental rejection and unavailability were analyzed using logistic regression as a function of year of examination. The associations with parental SEP and parental psychological problems were assessed using logistic regression with results in terms of odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals.

Results

Gendered patterns were observed in the associations between parental psychological problems and family violence and parental unavailability. Maternal psychological problems were associated with maternal rejection OR 6.8 (3.5–13.0), maternal lack of time OR 2.4 (1.2–5.0), and paternal rejection OR 1.9 (1.1–3.5). Paternal psychological problems were associated with paternal rejection OR 4.0 (2.1–7.7), paternal lack of time OR 4.9 (2.3–10.6), and experiencing family violence OR 4.9 (2.1–11.6). Low and medium parental SEP were associated with experience of family violence in childhood OR 3.1 (CI 1.1–8.5) and OR 3.4 (1.7–6.9), respectively. No changes between 1990 and 2013 were observed for the prevalence of any of the outcomes.

Conclusions

A stable prevalence of family violence and parental unavailability was reported by young women examined between 1990 and 2013. Lower socioeconomic position was associated with family violence while the association with parental unavailability was non-significant. Gendered patterns were observed in the association between parental psychological problems and family violence, where paternal but not maternal psychological problems were associated with family violence. Further, maternal psychological problems were associated with paternal rejection while paternal psychological problems were not associated with maternal rejection. Gendered patterns of parental unavailability need further studies.

Parental phubbing accelerates depression in late childhood and adolescence:A two-path model

INTRODUCTION

Phubbing is a social exclusion behavior related to mobile phone use. It undermines interpersonal relationships and mental health. This study aimed to test the connections between parental phubbing and depression in late childhood and adolescence, as well as the mediating roles of parental warmth, parental rejection, and relatedness need satisfaction.

METHODS

We conducted two studies. Study 1 was a cross-sectional study of 530 Chinese students (268 boys and 262 girls, M_age = 13.15 ± 0.64 years) who completed self-report questionnaires. We conducted structural modeling to test the relationship between parental phubbing and depression. Study 2 used a short longitudinal design to validate the results of Study 1 and test the mediating roles of parental warmth, parental rejection, and relatedness need satisfaction. In Study 2, we recruited 293 Chinese students (151 boys, 141 girls, and one participant with no reported gender information, M_age = 12.87 ± 0.74 years) to complete the questionnaires and applied structural equation modeling to analyze the data.

RESULTS

Two sequential mediation effects were found. The first was parental phubbing → parental warmth → relatedness need satisfaction → depression (protection-reduced effect). The second was parental phubbing → parental rejection → relatedness need satisfaction → depression (risk-increased effect). Gender differences were non-significant.

CONCLUSIONS

The study revealed that parental phubbing was associated with students' depression in late childhood and adolescence through two paths. The present study highlights the need to establish family norms regulating mobile phone use to reduce phubbing.

The Role of Family for Youth Friendships: Examining a Social Anxiety Mechanism

The quality of family relationships and youth friendships are intricately linked. Previous studies have examined different mechanisms of family-peer linkage, but few have examined social anxiety. The present study examined whether parental rejection and family climate predicted changes in youth social anxiety, which in turn predicted changes in friendship quality and loneliness. Possible bidirectional associations also were examined. Data for mothers, fathers, and youth (M _age at Time 1 = 11.27; 52.3% were female) from 687 two-parent households over three time points are presented. Results from autoregressive, cross-lagged analyses revealed that father rejection (not mother rejection or family climate) at Time 1 (Fall of 6th Grade) predicted increased youth social anxiety at Time 2 (Spring of 7th Grade), which in turn, predicted increased loneliness at Time 3 (Spring of 8th Grade). The indirect effect of father rejection on loneliness was statistically significant. Mother rejection, father rejection, and a poor family climate were associated with decreased friendship quality and increased loneliness over time. Finally, there was some evidence of transactional associations between father rejection and youth social anxiety as well as between social anxiety and loneliness. This study's findings underscore the important role of fathers in youth social anxiety and subsequent social adjustment.

The effect of parental rejection on the emotional eating behaviour of youngsters: A laboratory-based study

Results from survey studies demonstrate a relationship between parental rejection and self-reported emotional eating of youngsters. The aim of the current study was to build on this research by examining the relationship between parental rejection and actual emotional eating, using an experimental laboratory paradigm. Participants were 46 youngsters between the ages of 10 and 17 years old. Participants first completed online questionnaires at home, measuring parental rejection and emotional eating style. At the laboratory, participants were randomly assigned to a neutral condition or negative mood condition, followed by a multi-item snack buffet. The interaction effect maternal rejection × condition on energy intake from savoury food was significant. More maternal rejection predicted more energy intake from savoury food in the negative mood condition, but not in the neutral condition. The results highlight the importance of assessing, and if mandatory, improving the emotional bond between parent and child in the prevention and intervention of emotional eating.

Early Adolescents' Unique Perspectives of Maternal and Paternal Rejection: Examining Their Across-Dyad Generalizability and Relations with Adjustment 1 Year Later

Parental rejection is linked to deep and enduring adjustment problems during adolescence. This study aims to further clarify this relation by demonstrating what has long been posited by parental acceptance/rejection theory but never validated empirically-namely that adolescents' unique or subjective experience of parental rejection independently informs their future adjustment. Among a longitudinal, multi-informant sample of 161 families (early adolescents were 47 % female and 40 % European American) this study utilized a multitrait-multimethod confirmatory factor analysis to isolate for each early adolescent-parent dyad, the adolescent's distinct view of parental rejection (i.e., the adolescent unique perspective) from the portion of his or her view that overlaps with his or her parent's view. The findings indicated that adolescents' unique perspectives of maternal rejection were not differentiated from their unique perspectives of paternal rejection. Also, consistent with parental acceptance-rejection theory, early adolescents' unique perspectives of parental rejection were associated with worse adjustment (internalizing and externalizing) 1 year later. This study further demonstrates the utility and validity of the multitrait-multimethod confirmatory factor analysis approach for identifying and examining adolescent unique perspectives. Both conceptually and analytically, this study also integrates research focused on unique perspectives with a distinct but related line of research focused on discrepancies in perspectives.

Disparities in Depressive Symptoms Between Heterosexual and Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Youth in a Dutch Cohort: The TRAILS Study

Lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) youth experience elevated levels of depressive symptoms compared to heterosexual youth. This study examined how differences in depressive symptoms between heterosexual and LGB youth developed from late childhood to early adulthood. The association between sexual orientation and depressive symptoms was estimated from age 11 to 22 using data from the TRacking Adolescents' Individual Lives Survey, a longitudinal Dutch cohort study. Of the 1738 respondents (54.8 % girls) that provided information on sexual orientation, 151 self-identified as LGB. In line with the Minority Stress Framework, it was tested whether self-reported peer victimization and parental rejection mediated the association between sexual orientation and depressive symptoms. Results indicated that LB girls and bisexuals were at increased risk of depressive symptoms already at age 11. The difference increased over time and was related to pubertal development in girls and bisexual individuals. Furthermore, self-reported peer victimization (for both boys and girls), as well as parental rejection (for girls/bisexuals), mediated the association between sexual orientation and depressive symptoms. The authors conclude that already in late childhood, associations between sexual orientation and depressive symptoms are found, partly due to minority stress mechanisms.