Journal of Family Psychology最新文献

The postpartum period can be challenging for relationships, yet it is also rife with opportunities for connection. One way of promoting connection within couples is through capitalization (disclosing a positive event to a partner). The effects of capitalization are shaped by partners' responses to the disclosure, with active and constructive responses being linked with better relationship outcomes relative to passive or destructive responses. Across 21 days of daily diaries completed between 3 and 4 months postpartum, we examined how new parents' (N = 240 couples) responses to capitalization of positive parenting events were associated with their own and their partners' daily sexual and relational well-being. On days when birthing parents and their partners perceived greater active-constructive responses than usual, they reported higher sexual desire and relationship satisfaction, and partners reported lower conflict and perceived their partners as being more responsive; when partners perceived greater active-constructive responses, birthing parents reported greater relationship satisfaction and perceived their partners as being more responsive. On days when birthing parents perceived more passive-constructive responses, partners perceived them as being less responsive, whereas when partners perceived more passive-constructive responses from birthing parents, they reported lower relationship satisfaction and perceived birthing parents as being less responsive, and both they and birthing parents reported greater sexual distress. These findings highlight the importance of emotionally engaged partner responsiveness in shaping relational and sexual well-being in postpartum couples. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

Coparenting is an essential skill, particularly during early childhood; however, increased parenting stress during the postpartum period may undermine parents' abilities to coparent effectively. Research examining protective factors that reduce parenting stress is critical for family well-being. The present study aimed to identify key intrapersonal and interpersonal resources during pregnancy, an ideal intervention period, that are associated with lower levels of postpartum parenting stress to promote adaptive coparenting. A total of 157 mixed-sex couples completed questionnaires and lab tasks during pregnancy and when their child was 1 and 2 years of age. A significant negative association was observed between prenatal parental psychological flexibility (i.e., the ability to accept distressing emotional experiences while maintaining present-moment engagement in behaviors that serve one's values) and postpartum parenting stress, regardless of parent gender. This association was (marginally) stronger to the extent that couples demonstrated high mutual cooperation, attunement, responsiveness, and warmth in their relationship (i.e., mutually responsive orientation [MRO]). Further, across all levels of interparental MRO, (lower) parenting stress at 1 year mediated the link between prenatal psychological flexibility and coparenting quality at 2 years. Psychological flexibility also demonstrated a direct effect on coparenting, independent from parenting stress, suggesting other unmodeled mechanisms, and MRO had a positive interaction with psychological flexibility, suggesting that psychological flexibility might compensate for a lack of MRO to directly promote adaptive coparenting. These findings have important theoretical and clinical implications, highlighting the importance of both intrapersonal (internal) and interpersonal (external) regulatory resources in reducing parenting stress and improving coparenting relationship quality. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

The present study examined the longitudinal, bidirectional associations between early adolescents' electronic media use and family conflict across 3 years using data from the ABCD study (T1; N = 11,787). Findings indicated that more overall electronic media use was related to later increases in family conflict, whereas the reverse association was not supported. Further analyses examined associations by unique types of electronic media. Social electronic media use at T1 in girls was related to less family conflict at T2, yet more family conflict at later timepoints. These findings suggest that more overall electronic media use promotes later conflict throughout early adolescence and that girls' use of social types of media may be especially disruptive in families as they progress through early adolescence. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

Parental history of a suicide attempt increases children's risk for suicidal behavior. This study examined parental perceptions of and willingness to engage in suicide prevention programs for children whose parents have a history of attempting suicide. Semistructured qualitative interviews were conducted with nine parents who had a history of suicide attempt. Parents described three key elements they perceived to be necessary for this type of suicide prevention program: (a) parental involvement and education, (b) child education and counseling, and (c) timeliness of intervention. Parents also identified three barriers that could hinder program participation: (a) fear, stigma, and embarrassment; (b) finances, insurance, time, and transportation; and (c) lack of education. Incorporating these key components within suicide prevention programs as well as addressing identified barriers may increase familial participation and help reduce suicide risk in youth with a parental history of suicide attempt. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

Maternal distress has been linked to increased screen media use for children, which is concerning because of the possible negative impact of screen media on the well-being and cognitive development of young children. This study explores the screen media use of children at 12, 18, 24, and 36 months old in relation to maternal depression/anxiety symptoms and stress from a longitudinal perspective. The final sample consisted of 720 mothers who completed an online questionnaire multiple times: in the last trimester of their pregnancy and then 3, 6, 9, 12, 18, 24, and 36 months after delivery. The results from previous studies are not consistent regarding the relation of maternal depression, anxiety, and stress to the screen media use by their children. Our study did not find a significant relationship between maternal depression/anxiety or stress and children's media use. Similarly, children's screen media use did not have a significant effect on maternal depression/anxiety or stress. These findings contribute to the existing literature by helping to clarify previously inconsistent results in this study area. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

This study aimed to examine the bidirectional effects of the discrepancies between parent and child perceptions of parental warmth and child internalizing problems over time, investigating how these links evolve throughout childhood and adolescence. Family systems and the evolving relationships within them significantly impact children's development. However, it remains unclear if parent-child discrepant perceptions evolve through multiple dimensions and how these affect each other and potentially represent dysfunctionality within families. Data were collected from 1,887 children (48.9% female, M_age T1 = 8.58, SD_age = 0.57) and their mothers (M_age T1 = 36.26, SD_age = 4.55) and fathers (M_age T1 = 40.23, SD_age = 5.26) over seven annual waves from the third to ninth grade. Random intercept cross-lagged panel models were employed to explore within-family cross-lagged effects. The results demonstrated only some temporal within-family cross-lagged effects, where parent-child discrepancies in parental warmth predicted discrepancies in child internalizing problems, particularly for students in Grades 6-9. Notably, the between-level effects were especially pronounced, as stable differences between families explained these linkages; families that experienced greater discrepancies in perceived child internalizing problems also exhibited larger discrepancies in parental warmth. The study underscores the importance of understanding both between-family characteristics and within-family dynamics. The findings suggest that discrepancies reveal a dysfunctionality more prominently at the between-family level rather than at the within-family level. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

Given that parents encounter considerable stress during the pregnancy-postpartum transition and early toddler years, the degree to which parents can draw upon regulatory resources to manage escalating parenting stress is likely to shape their ability to skillfully parent their children. Despite the interrelated nature of individuals within a family systems framework, there is limited research investigating if and how both intrapersonal and interpersonal forms of regulation contribute to parenting. In this study, we examined whether the interaction of intrapersonal (i.e., greater psychological flexibility) and interpersonal (i.e., a stronger secure base with partner) regulatory resources available to parents during pregnancy sets the stage for more mindful, attuned parenting of toddlers by fostering a strong bond with infants. Aims were pursued in a sample of 159 mixed-gender couples across four waves of data spanning pregnancy to 2 years postpartum. Data were analyzed within a dyadic framework, and findings suggest that prenatal psychological flexibility largely drives postpartum parenting for both mothers and fathers. Bonding impairments with infants emerged as a mechanism for mothers, but not fathers, through which prenatal flexibility impacts mindful parenting of toddlers. Further, an additive effect of flexibility and secure base emerged for fathers, such that high levels of both prenatal flexibility and secure base were needed to achieve the highest levels of present-centered attention when parenting. Thus, prenatal interventions aimed at promoting adaptive postpartum parenting should integrate efforts to bolster both flexibility and secure base between intimate partners to enhance parenting across early childhood. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

Interparental conflict (IPC) can be a stressful experience for children and adolescents and has been associated with poor mental health outcomes for young people later in life. There is considerable variability in experiences of IPC, ranging from sporadic conflict to chronic and severe conflict. Few longitudinal studies, however, have characterized trajectories of IPC from early childhood to adolescence and how different patterns of exposure to IPC may affect adolescent mental health. The present study aimed to identify different patterns of IPC from childhood to adolescence and their relationship to adolescent mental health outcomes using multi-informant methods. Growth mixture modeling using data from a nationally representative Australian population-based study (N = 8,641) across six timepoints from 4 to 15 years old revealed four trajectories of mother-reported IPC: consistently low (85.8%), increasing (2.7%), decreasing (2%), and persistently elevated (9.6%). Adolescents exposed to a pattern of high IPC in early childhood that decreased over time had low anxiety at 15 years, but higher antisocial behavior compared to adolescents in increasing and consistently low IPC trajectories. Adolescents exposed to persistently elevated IPC over time also had higher antisocial behavior than adolescents in increasing and consistently low IPC trajectories. There were no differences in adolescent depressive symptoms by IPC trajectory or sex differences in adolescent mental health outcomes. Theoretical and clinical implications of these findings, including the importance of early intervention in preventing and managing IPC, are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

Anxiety disorders are common in children and cause significant impairment. Family accommodation (FA), which refers to behavioral changes that family members make to temporarily alleviate a child's anxiety, has been linked to child anxiety symptom severity. Although emotional vulnerabilities for anxiety such as emotion dysregulation, anxiety sensitivity, and distress intolerance have been associated with family accommodation, research concerning the relationship between these constructs among anxious youth is limited. We hypothesized that these variables would be uniquely and positively associated with family accommodation and would moderate the relationship between anxiety symptom severity and family accommodation. Treatment-seeking child-parent dyads (N = 90; M_age = 10.17 years, SD = 2.71) completed measures assessing child emotion dysregulation, child anxiety sensitivity, child distress tolerance, and family accommodation; clinicians assessed child anxiety symptom severity. When controlling for child age, gender, and anxiety symptom severity in both models, emotion dysregulation was significantly and uniquely associated with parent-rated family accommodation. Distress tolerance significantly moderated the association between anxiety symptom severity and family accommodation, such that this association was stronger when distress tolerance was lower. Interventions targeting children's distress tolerance skills may help reduce family accommodation among families of children with high levels of anxiety. Additionally, targeting family accommodation in interventions for anxious children with low distress tolerance may help decrease child anxiety rates. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

Understanding the experiences of parents in public housing is crucial for supporting their well-being and their children's development. However, prior research on high-poverty neighborhoods, including public housing communities, has given limited attention to parents' experiences and perceptions and predominantly focused on neighborhood deficits rather than strengths. This qualitative study drew on in-depth interviews with 29 parents from a single public housing community in the United States. We used reflexive thematic analysis to understand perceptions of neighborhood child-friendliness, including both stressors and assets, and use of parenting strategies. Yosso's Community Cultural Wealth framework was applied to situate parenting strategies from a strengths-based perspective. We found that parents perceived child-unfriendly aspects of the neighborhood, including neighborhood chaos and safety concerns, leading them to use preventive parenting strategies to protect their children from risks. Parents also identified child-friendly aspects of the neighborhood, such as supportive social networks and neighborhood amenities, which prompted their use of promotive parenting strategies to support their children's positive development. Both parenting strategies reflected the activation of multiple domains of Community Cultural Wealth, including familial (valuing broader family and collective knowledge), social (social networks), navigational (skills to navigate external environment), aspirational (aspirations in the face of environmental challenges), and resistant (challenging deficit views and stereotypes) capital (U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research, n.d.). Our findings offer insights into creating child-friendly environments in high-poverty neighborhoods and designing programs for parents in these communities that leverage their existing strengths. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).