Journal of Child and Family Studies最新文献

Despite high prevalence of emotional and behavioral difficulties (EBDs) among adolescents living with HIV (ALHIV), there are limited randomized trials assessing the impact of interventions on these outcomes. We assessed the impact of two evidence-based interventions in a three-arm cluster randomized controlled trial (RCT) where nine clinics were randomized to one of three study arms: (1) Usual Care; (2) Group-Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (G-CBT) + Usual Care; and (3) Multiple Family groups (MFG) + Usual Care. We utilized mixed effects models to assess the effect of the intervention on EBDs. While the main effect of the intervention was not significant, χ2(2) = 0.43, p = 0.806, the main effects for time χ2(2) = 32.47, p < 0.001, and intervention-time interaction, χ2 (2) = 59.59, p < 0.001, were statistically significant, suggesting reduction in the EBDs across the groups overtime. Pairwise comparisons showed that in the G-CBT group, EBDs reduced at three months [contrast = -7.59 (CI: -8.20 - -6.99), <0.001] and 6-months [contrast = -8.11 (CI: -12.64 - -3.57), <0.001] compared to baseline. No statistically significant pairwise comparisons across time were observed in the control group, which confirmed that the significant group-by-time interactions were driven by our intervention effects. Findings that G-CBT improved EBDs in this pilot trial highlight the potential efficacy of this intervention in addressing EBDs among ALHIV. However, further studies are warranted to investigate prolonged exposure to MFG as well as combination of MFG and G-CBT to understand the nuances that will ultimately inform the development of tailored effective interventions for addressing EBDs in this vulnerable population.

Offspring of parents who have experienced interpersonal trauma are at increased risk of mental health problems. Because children learn to identify, express, and regulate their emotions through their parents' emotion socialization practices, these parenting behaviors may be an important, modifiable target in the prevention of the intergenerational transmission of mental health risks within trauma-affected families. However, little is known about influences on parents' socialization. The current study examines maternal and youth mental health as correlates and predictors of mothers' supportive and unsupportive responses to their children's negative emotional displays within a heterogenous community sample of 44 victims of interpersonal trauma and their 9-12-year-old children (M = 10.7 SD =1.1). Mothers and youth reported on their mental health symptoms, emotion regulation, coping, and mothers' responses to youth displays of negative affect. At baseline, all but one of the maternal and youth mental health characteristics examined were identified as significant correlates of mothers' unsupportive responses. None of the characteristics were related to mothers' supportive responses. Predictors of changes in maternal responses were examined in a longitudinal subsample (n = 30). Youth's depressive, posttraumatic stress, and externalizing symptoms were associated with increases in mothers' unsupportive responses. Youth adaptive emotion coping skills were associated with decreases in maternal unsupportive responses. Maternal self-efficacy was associated with increases in maternal supportive responses. The current study suggests that both increases in parent and youth adaptive functioning as well as reductions in maternal and youth symptoms are associated with more optimal maternal responses to youth affective displays.

This qualitative study aimed to establish aspects of humanistic therapy that young people (13-16 years old) perceived as helpful and hindering, and to test a novel method for identifying perceived processes of change. A "medium q" thematic analysis was conducted followed by a coding-based "process of change analysis." Participants were 50 young people in London schools who experienced moderate or severe emotional symptoms and had participated in up to 10 sessions of a school-based humanistic intervention. Participants were predominantly female and ethnically heterogeneous. Therapist qualities most often perceived as helpful were affiliative in nature. Unhelpful therapist activities were silences and a lack of input. Young people described feeling free to talk and open up. Helpful outcomes included feeling unburdened, gaining insight, and improving relationships. "Getting things off their chest," "Advice and guidance," "Modeling relationships," and "insights to behavior change" were identified as specific processes of change in over 50% of young people. Approximately one-third felt hindered by a lack of therapist input, silences, or not feeling able to open up or trust. These findings indicate the potential value of an active, "process guiding" stance in humanistic therapy. Our process of change analysis has potential for identifying perceived change mechanisms in therapy. This work was supported by the Economic and Social Research Council [grant reference ES/M011933/1]. Anonymized qualitative interview transcripts are available on request to the First Author/Chief Investigator. Quantitative, participant-level data for the ETHOS study (with data dictionary), and related documents (e.g., parental consent form), are available via the ReShare UK Data Service (reshare.ukdataservice.ac.uk/853764/). Access requires ReShare registration.

Parental communication about body weight and shape is associated with offspring's eating behaviors and body image. However, predictors of parental weight/shape communication are less known. The present study explored whether direct (i.e., comments to the child about their weight and encouragement to diet) and indirect (i.e., modeling of the importance of body weight/shape via parent's own dieting and comments about their own weight) communication about weight, shape, and eating from parents in childhood predicted women's direct and indirect communication about weight/shape to their own child in adulthood. Participants were 634 adult mothers who provided retrospective reports of their parents' direct and indirect weight/shape-related communication during childhood. Participants then self-reported their own current direct and indirect weight/shape communication towards their own child. Multiple linear regression explored whether childhood direct and indirect communication predicts maternal weight/shape communication towards participants' own child in adulthood. Childhood direct weight/shape communication was a salient predictor of both current direct and indirect weight/shape communication. Childhood indirect weight/shape communication did not predict current direct communication when modeled with childhood direct communication, however, it was predictive of current indirect communication. Findings may highlight a need for parental psychoeducation on the lasting influence of familial weight/shape communication.

Parenting can be challenging, and military parents face additional family stressors related to relocations and deployments. ADAPT4U is an evidence-based preventive parenting program specifically designed for military parents of school-aged children. This study examines the feasibility and acceptability of in-person group and telehealth versions of the program. We used quantitative and qualitative data in a concurrent embedded design. Quantitative data were analyzed using SPSS with regressions and ANOVAs. Qualitative data were thematically coded by multiple authors and then a consensus process was undertaken. Both conditions were highly satisfactory for participants, with in-person group rated slightly higher. Families were more likely to attend telehealth than group, both at all and for at least 50% of sessions. Telehealth participants rated more highly: helpfulness, the facilitator was understanding and responsive, and they would participate in a future parenting program based on their experience. Qualitative results reflected positive experiences both with the content and facilitators, and concerns or recommendations that often were directly addressed by the other format (e.g., suggestions by in-person group participants for a telehealth format). Consistent themes across formats included wanting children to be involved in the program and more follow-up after the end of the program. The ADAPT4U program is highly acceptable to participants, and providing multiple format options (in-person group and individual telehealth) will likely make it more feasible for parents to participate in a way that works best for them.

The present study examined the dual moderating effects of parenting stress and negative COVID-19 pandemic impacts on the link between parental harsh discipline and child behavior problems. Mothers and children aged 2-6 years (M = 49.68 months, 51.03% female; N = 339) in the United States participated online via Amazon Mechanical Turk during the COVID-19 pandemic (Summer or Winter 2020). Mothers reported on harsh discipline, parenting stress, negative COVID-19 impacts, and children's internalizing and externalizing problems. As hypothesized, results showed a significant three-way interaction effect such that parenting stress and negative COVID-19 impacts exacerbated the positive relation between harsh discipline and child behavior problems, however, only for internalizing problems. Children had the highest levels of internalizing problems when harsh discipline, parenting stress, and negative COVID-19 impacts were higher; additionally, parenting stress still exacerbated the positive relation between harsh discipline and internalizing when pandemic impacts were lower. For externalizing problems, two-way interaction results revealed that positive relations between harsh discipline and externalizing were weaker when pandemic impacts were higher, suggesting that pandemic stressors altered these well-established effects. Findings suggested that proximal familial risks and broader environmental risks interact in complex ways to influence children's mental health difficulties, and that interventions to reduce parenting stress may ameliorate children's internalizing problems, especially when additional environmental stressors are present.

The Multidimensional Assessment of Parenting Scale (MAPS) was developed to assess a wide range of behaviors across positive and negative domains of parenting. This study aims to expand the utility of the MAPS by evaluating a youth-report version which provides an additional perspective on parenting practices. The study evaluated the youth-report form of the MAPS (MAPS-Y) in a large clinical population (N = 628) ranging from middle childhood (8-12) to adolescence (13-17) who were admitted to partial and inpatient psychiatric units. Youth and their caregivers completed the parent and youth versions of the MAPS questionnaire, and measures of child and adolescent psychopathology, emotion regulation, family context, and adversity. Analyses of factor structure, reliability, agreement, and validity were performed. The study also examined a short form of the MAPS-Y for reliability and validity. CFA and model fit indices indicated that all items loaded as expected onto subscales and with good fit. Analyses support strong reliability. The factor structure of the youth-report form was invariant across developmental stages, included both positive and negative domains, and demonstrated strong psychometric properties. The MAPS-Y short form demonstrated strong validity and reliability. The youth-report form of the MAPS and its short form are appropriate for use among children and adolescents experiencing acute clinical symptoms. The MAPS youth-report form will allow for nuanced, in-depth assessment of the parenting behaviors beyond parent-report that are critical to treatment outcomes in youth.

Black children are at significant risk for anxiety through heightened exposure to poverty, trauma, and racial discrimination, and females are at higher risk for childhood onset than males. One potentially relevant factor is difficulties with worry regulation. This study seeks to understand how difficulties with worry regulation and sex differences may affect risk for anxiety in Black children. The present study examined relations between difficulties with worry regulation and anxiety symptoms by sex in a sample of 98 Black children (M_age = 10.08, SD_age = 1.48). Caregivers reported on child worry dysregulation (i.e exaggerated displays of worry), worry inhibition (i.e suppression of worry), and anxiety. Positive associations were found between caregiver-reported child worry dysregulation and anxiety symptoms (r = 0.41, p < 0.01) but not worry inhibition (r = 0.11, p = 0.37). The association between higher child worry dysregulation and higher child anxiety symptoms was moderated by child sex, (B = 5.00, p = 0.01), such that it was significant in girls but not in boys, independent of child trauma exposure and pubertal acceleration. Higher worry dysregulation was related to higher anxiety in girls but not boys. Trauma exposure also predicted higher child anxiety symptoms (p < 0.01). Worry dysregulation may be a helpful target for identifying girls at risk for anxiety disorders. Future research should examine additional factors that may relate to anxiety symptoms in Black male children, including other facets of emotion dysregulation, to further disentangle sex specific pathways of risk.

School-based mindfulness programmes (SBMPs) are becoming widely used in primary schools, however findings regarding their effectiveness are controversial. Understanding how children describe and interpret the experience of taking part in these programmes may hold the key for improving their effectiveness. In this study we sought to gather children's views about a 12-lesson SBMP called Paws b. A week after the completion of the SBMP in five classes of two primary schools, during Personal Social and Health Education (PSHE) lessons, we conducted four focus groups with 8- and 9-year-olds. We randomly selected two girls and two boys from each class to form each focus group. The discussion was led by a different researcher that had not been associated with the delivery of the lessons. A reflexive thematic analysis was conducted on the transcribed data. We identified three major themes in children's discussions: (1) Mindfulness as instrumental for self-regulation, (2) Continued practice can lead to positive changes, and (3) Embedded memories from Paws b. The themes indicate that children remembered key practices and information, and used them in daily life. They enjoyed the training although not always from the beginning, observed changes in themselves and in their classmates and understood mechanisms through which mindfulness training can have positive effects. Implications of these findings are discussed in relation to both the content of this specific SBPM and the way in which the course was delivered.

Parenting in infancy is immensely important for children's development and therefore, contributors to varying quality of early parenting have been extensively studied. Among those, parents' personality and its links with parenting have attracted intense interest, but factors that may affect those associations, including characteristics of the child, particularly in father-infant relationships, remain poorly understood (Taraban & Shaw, 2018). We present a study of 200 families, including infants, mothers, and fathers (Children and Parents Study). Parents reported their Big Five traits and distress/psychopathology. We observed their parenting (a composite of responsiveness, positive affect, and reversed negative affect, defined as positive responsiveness) toward the infant in home interactions. The infants' anger proneness, most often considered a characteristic that poses parenting challenges, was observed in standard temperament episodes, and modeled as a moderator of personality - parenting relations. Mothers showed more responsiveness, more positive affect, and less negative affect than fathers. Fathers' higher Agreeableness, Openness, and Extraversion were associated with more responsiveness. The effect of Agreeableness was further qualified by its interaction with child anger proneness: More agreeable fathers were more responsive toward infants high or average in anger proneness, and highly disagreeable fathers were less responsive toward those infants. Mothers' personality traits, alone or in interaction with infants' anger proneness, were unrelated to their parenting; however, mothers who were higher in distress/psychopathology were less responsive toward their infants, especially when the infants were high or average in anger proneness.