Journal of Family Psychology最新文献

Existing research has found that home visiting programs for families with young children can improve children's development and strengthen caregiver and family well-being. However, the pandemic created numerous challenges for home visiting programs, forcing them to deliver services online or in a hybrid format to respond to pandemic-related challenges. Questions remain about the impacts of these programs when delivered at-scale via a hybrid model, especially during this uniquely challenging time. The present study reports 12-month impacts from a randomized controlled trial of Child First-an evidence-based home visiting program that provides psychotherapeutic, parent-child intervention (children ages 0-5) embedded in a coordinated system of care-when implemented as a hybrid service. This study estimates impacts within four domains: families' receipt of services, caregiver psychological well-being and parenting, child behavior, and family economic well-being. After randomly assigning families (N = 224) to receive Child First or typical community services, the research team surveyed caregivers (N = 182) about a year after study enrollment. Results from regression models with site fixed effects revealed suggestive evidence that Child First reduced caregivers' job loss and self-reported substance abuse, and increased receipt of virtual services during the pandemic. There were null impacts on caregivers' psychological well-being, families' involvement with the child welfare system, children's behaviors, and other indicators of economic well-being. Implications for future research and policy are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

This report leveraged the subsample of romantically involved participants in the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development at the most recent assessment of the cohort (n = 505; M_age = 28.6 years; 58.1% female; 81.7% White/non-Hispanic) to study the role of three theoretically salient childhood interpersonal experiences as potential antecedents of self-reported romantic relationship adjustment in early adulthood. Predictors were measured multiple times prospectively in childhood through adolescence and included (a) direct observations of maternal sensitivity in dyadic interactions with participants from age 1 month through 15 years, (b) participants' reports of the quality of their best friendships from Grade 3 to age 15 years, and (c) participants' primary caregivers' reports about the quality of their own romantic relationships when target participants were being reared. Composite assessments of these three childhood interpersonal exposures were each uniquely predictive of participants' romantic relationship adjustment in young adulthood after accounting for demographic covariates, though the overall effect size was modest (ΔR² = .05). (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

The family stress model (FSM) posits that socioeconomic status affects child developmental outcomes through parental mental health and parenting practices. Although the FSM has been validated in various contexts, there is limited research on its applicability across diverse family structures in the United States. This study uses multigroup structural equation modeling to test the FSM across three family types: biologically connected/adopted two-parent families (T-B/A), stepfamilies (ST), and single-parent families (SP) among a representative sample of children in the United States (N = 28,234; Mage = 12.5 years; 13,671 females and 14,563 males). The results show that family structure moderates three of the nine pathways in the FSM. Specifically, the association between socioeconomic status and parental mental health and the association between parental aggravation and children's grades are stronger in T-B/A families than in ST and SP families. The association between parental aggravation and children's mental health is similar between T-B/A families and ST but weaker for SP families. The remaining associations in the FSM are consistent across the three family structures. Overall, these findings confirm the theoretical utility of the FSM across common family structures and also highlight the need to incorporate family structure-related variables, such as stressors unique to ST and SP families. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

Bidirectional links between mental health and substance use and romantic relationship dynamics are well-established, though most of this research has focused on different-gender (presumed heterosexual) couples in established, committed relationships or marriages. Given the high prevalence of mental health and substance use disparities among sexual minority adults, more research is needed on how these factors might influence them and not just in committed relationships, but early romantic relationship development, a time that can be especially turbulent for all couples. The present study used qualitative data from 60 cisgender, same-gender couples (50% female) collected during a semistructured conversation couples had regarding their relationship formation and early history. Applied content analysis was used to explore the role of mental health and substance use on couples' relationship formation and early functioning. Primary themes included the role of alcohol and substance use in accelerating relationship development, perception of partners as a mental health support promoting relationship formation, and associations between partner's psychological distress and early relationship distress and instability. More female couples than male couples described their poor mental health at relationship initiation as both promoting relationship involvement and exacerbating conflict. These findings highlight the relevance of mental health and substance use problems for same-gender couples' early romantic relationship development given the mental health disparities they face. Future research will be needed to explore if findings generalize to other types of sexual and gender minority couples and heterosexual couples. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

A newborn in the family results in several life changes, including the emergence and stress of conflicts between family roles and other roles. However, family interference with leisure has not been addressed in the scientific literature yet. The aim of this study was to develop and analyze the psychometric properties of the Family Interference with Leisure Scale (FILS) in a sample of parents of children between 0 and 6 years old. One hundred sixty-four parents of at least one child between 0 and 6 years old participated in this study. Participants completed a self-assessment protocol, which included the FILS, along with measures of parental stress, frequency of leisure activities, and depressive and anxiety symptoms. Exploratory factor analyses were conducted for the FILS, along with correlational and hierarchical regression analyses between FILS scores and the other variables of the study. The results suggest a unidimensional structure of the FILS, explaining 74% of the variance of family interference with leisure. Good reliability was found (Cronbach's α = .88). Additionally, results show that higher scores on FILS were associated with higher levels of parental stress, more depressive and anxiety symptoms, and a lower frequency of leisure activities. These findings suggest good psychometric properties of the FILS, endorsing its use for measuring family interference with leisure in parents. In addition, the results suggest that the role conflict between family and leisure activities may play a key role in the understanding of parental stress and parents' psychological distress. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

A growing number of studies recognize the importance of emotion knowledge for later child social and academic adaptation, but most studies have not considered the various components of emotion knowledge (i.e., receptive, expressive, stereotypical, and nonstereotypical emotion konwledge). This study was to better understand the role of both family interactions and cognitive flexibility on the different components of emotion knowledge in preschoolers in the context of financial insecurity. Family interactions of 85 families with children aged 3-5 were filmed during a home visit. During the same visit, emotion knowledge was measured using a puppet task, and cognitive flexibility was assessed using a standardized task. Results showed that the quality of family interactions significantly contributed to all components of emotion knowledge. Child cognitive flexibility only significantly contributed to the expressive and nonstereotyped components of emotion knowledge. No significant associations were found between household income and the different components of emotion knowledge. These results highlight the importance of considering the family environment and the interactions between all family members, as well as cognitive flexibility on preschoolers' emotion knowledge skills in the context of financial insecurity. These results offer new avenues for interventions aimed at supporting the development of these skills among low-income families. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

Parental marital quality significantly influences parent-child attachment security. Previous empirical studies have produced inconsistent conclusions regarding whether this relation is positive, as indicated by the spillover hypothesis and emotional security theory, or negative, as suggested by the compensation hypothesis. In response, this study further clarified the magnitude of the relation between parental marital quality and parent-child attachment security utilizing a three-level meta-analysis. A systematic literature search identified 69 studies involving 21,346 participants and 366 effect sizes. The analysis revealed a significant positive relation between parental marital quality and parent-child attachment security (r = 0.251, p < .001). Moreover, the present meta-analysis observed significant moderating effects concerning children's age, culture, research design, and measures of parent-child attachment security, as well as dimensions, informants, and measures of parental marital quality. These findings offer valuable insights for interventions aimed at improving parent-child attachment within the context of family dynamics. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

Many studies have documented increases in child mental health problems during the COVID-19 pandemic, compared to prepandemic estimates. However, less is known about the long-term trajectories of mental health during the pandemic, and how shared (e.g., family-average parenting) and nonshared (e.g., differential parenting) environments are associated with these trajectories. The aim of the present study was to explore longitudinal patterns of parent-reported child anger, anxiety, depressive symptoms, and sleep problems during the pandemic, and to examine associations with the parenting environment. Data came from a longitudinal study that followed caregivers (n = 549) and two of their children (n = 1,098; aged 5-19 years) across seven waves between May 2020 and September 2022. Three-level multilevel models investigated the trajectories of child mental health symptoms, and the variance in outcomes attributed to between-family, within-family, and within-individual differences. Significant proportions of variance in child mental health were attributed to family differences, individual differences, and change over time. On average, child mental health improved over time, although these trajectories were nonlinear. Higher family-level positive parenting practices and lower family-level negative parenting practices were associated with lower child mental health problems for both siblings. Children who were disfavored (received more negativity/less positivity compared to their sibling) had higher levels of mental health problems. Both family-wide and individual-level factors play a role in child mental health during periods of stress, emphasizing the importance of considering parenting and mental health across layers of family organization. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

Complex emotions may be aroused by the enormous compassion involved in infant care, expressed in the mother's constant exposure to the infant's distress and her prodigious investment in efforts to alleviate it. The present two studies aimed to design and examine the construct validity of the Maternal Compassion Preoccupation Questionnaire to assess the multifaceted experience of the compassion inherent in infant care as reflected in the concepts of compassion fatigue, compassion satisfaction, and self-compassion. Study 1 describes the initial development and validation of the questionnaire, and Study 2 presents further examination of its convergent and discriminant validity. Two convenience samples were recruited through social media. Participants in Study 1 consisted of 455 women aged 21-47 (M = 32.12, SD = .01) whose babies were 1-12 months old. Participants in Study 2 consisted of 453 women aged 21-47 (M = 31.34, SD = 4.34) whose babies were up to 10 months old. The final scale contains 29 items that tap the three dimensions matching the theoretical concepts on which it is based and displays good psychometric properties. In addition, compassion fatigue was positively associated with postpartum depression and negatively associated with role satisfaction and mindfulness; compassion satisfaction and self-compassion were both negatively associated with postpartum depression and positively associated with role satisfaction and mindfulness. The Maternal Compassion Preoccupation Questionnaire is a reliable and valid measure that can facilitate understanding of the complex and multifaceted experience of mothers caring for young infants. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

Bisexual fathers have rarely been visible within psychological research, and the perspectives of their partners have not been studied. Exploring partners' perspectives brings into focus how fathers' bisexuality is experienced on a family level, incorporating a family systems lens alongside minority stress and resilience theories. This article draws from a larger multimethod, multi-informant study of bisexual father families. It reports on how partners of bisexual fathers feel about fathers' bisexuality, including how they respond to disclosure and how they experience family life. Qualitative, semistructured interviews with 10 partners of bisexual fathers, which focused on being a parent, family roles, well-being, social experiences, and fathers' bisexual identity, were conducted. Data were analyzed using qualitative content analysis and reflexive thematic analysis. Qualitative content analysis identified that partners' feelings varied at the time fathers disclosed their bisexuality, and the majority felt positive about this at the time of interview. Reflexive thematic analysis identified three themes in partners' experiences of family life: Family life was "privately nonnormative" and moved between being "publicly normative" and "publicly nonnormative," depending on personal and contextual factors. Findings illustrate that while disclosure of fathers' bisexuality may be initially challenging, partners tended to feel more positive over time and incorporate fathers' bisexuality into their overall sense of family identity, engaging in what can be conceptualized as family identity management. This study highlights the need to further understand the impact of a parent's queer identity on other family members' experiences. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).