Journal of Family Psychology最新文献

Decades of disaster research support the influence parents have on their children's adaptation. Recently, research has shifted to focus on disasters as a whole family experience. Using the actor-partner interdependence model, this study examines maladaptive cognitive emotion regulation strategies in parents and children and how these strategies influence their own and one another's posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS). The present study includes 485 parent-child dyads who experienced the 2015-2016 Texas floods. The majority of parents identified as mothers (66.3%), with a male child (52.8%) whose average age was 13.75 years. Mplus was used to identify the models and evaluate differences between each cognitive emotion regulation strategy across parent-child dyads in the high disaster exposure group compared to all other levels of exposure (other-exposure). Odds ratios examined differences not captured by the actor-partner interdependence model. Support for interdependence was found for the other-exposure group, suggesting parents and children mutually influence each other's PTSS by their own cognitive emotion regulation. No interdependence was found in the high-exposure group. However, high-exposure child actor effects were found for self-blame and other-blame, and child partner effects were only found for self-blame. Parent actor effects were only significant for catastrophizing and parent partner effects for catastrophizing and rumination. Odds ratios for the high-exposure group found that only child self-blame influenced parent PTSS, and only parent rumination and catastrophizing influenced child PTSS. Implications for supporting families after disasters are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

This study aimed to identify profiles of young children's early home environment and explore their association with development in motor, inhibitory control, language, and emotional competence skills. The sample included 2,158 children (51.4% male), 35.47 months old on average. Four home environment profiles emerged: high support and high discipline (HS-HD), high support and low discipline (HS-LD), average support and average discipline (AS-AD), and low support and low discipline (LS-LD). Notably, children from higher socioeconomic status (SES) families were more likely to be associated with HS-HD and HS-LD profiles. Girls exhibited a higher likelihood of belonging to the HS-LD profile. Utilizing regression analyses, children showed the highest motor, inhibitory control, language, and emotional competence development when they were in the HS-LD home environment profile. A concerning finding is that high discipline from parents was negatively associated with children's development, despite providing a high-quality physical environment. The text highlights the positive implications of providing a high-quality home learning environment and offers constructive recommendations for improving practice and future research. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Although exposure to interparental conflict (IPC) in late childhood and adolescence appears to be a robust risk factor for the development of child psychopathology, less work has examined how very early exposure to IPC poses risk for the development of psychopathology in the first 2 years of life. Further, it is unclear whether IPC is uniquely related to child psychopathology relative to other critical dimensions of the interparental relationship. This study aimed to investigate the unique effects of IPC and low levels of emotional intimacy in the interparental relationship during pregnancy and infancy on toddler psychopathology and whether children with higher negative emotionality during infancy were most vulnerable to these conditions. One hundred fifty-one cohabitating couples completed semistructured interviews and questionnaires once during pregnancy and three times postpartum. Results demonstrated that consistent and sustained interparental emotional intimacy, first observed during pregnancy and persisting throughout infancy, was a unique predictor of toddler psychopathology, controlling for sustained and persistent exposure to IPC. The negative association between emotional intimacy and toddler general psychopathology was stronger at higher levels of infant negative emotionality. Results highlight the importance of early exposure to a warm, affectionate interparental relationship for healthy child socioemotional development. These findings have potential for informing early prevention and intervention efforts, including prenatal programs, aimed at reducing psychopathology across the lifespan. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Perspective taking is theorized to help sustain satisfying social relationships by promoting prorelationship responses that reduce harmful negative behaviors in relationship interactions. The present studies provide the first tests of whether perspective taking predicts less negative behavior within couples' daily and lab-based conflict interactions. In Study 1, individuals (N = 77) rated their perspective taking and their own and partner's hurtful, critical, and distancing behavior each day for 14 days. In Study 2, couples (N = 78 dyads) completed the same daily measures for 21 days. In Study 3, couples (N = 143 dyads) engaged in a lab-based video-recorded discussion of their most serious conflict. Each dyad member reported on the degree to which they engaged in perspective taking, and their own and their partner's negative behavior, during the discussion. Objective coders also rated the degree to which both partners exhibited negative behavior during the discussion. Actors' perspective taking was associated with actors' lower negative behavior as reported by actors (Studies 1-3) and partners (Study 2) and as rated by observers (Study 3). Significant interaction effects also suggested that actors' perspective taking attenuated how much actors behaved more negatively as their partners behaved more negatively, although the moderating pattern was weaker within daily reports (Studies 1 and 2) compared to couple's observed conflict interactions (Study 3). The attenuating effects of perspective taking were independent of commitment, satisfaction, self-esteem, and attachment insecurity. These studies provide new evidence that facilitating perspective taking may reduce common, destructive behaviors that can harm couple relationships. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Maternal ambivalence refers to the simultaneous experience of both negative and positive feelings about motherhood and the child. It has been suggested that maternal ambivalence exists on a continuum from manageable (healthy) to unmanageable (problematic) and can have wide-ranging psychological consequences. However, there are currently no empirically validated measures for examining manageable or unmanageable maternal ambivalence. In this article, we outline the development and initial validation of the Maternal Ambivalence Questionnaire (MAQ). An online study was conducted to evaluate the factor structure, construct validity, reliability, and relationships of the MAQ with demographic characteristics. The participants included a community sample of 502 mothers living in the United Kingdom with at least one child aged 0-11 years. Statistical analyses demonstrated a good fit for the 20-item measure and suggested five theoretically consistent factors. These factors are assessment of one's perception of self as a mother, awareness of conflicting feelings about motherhood, suppression of negative feelings about motherhood, internalization of negative feelings about motherhood, and externalization of negative feelings about motherhood. These factors were related in theoretically expected ways to parental reflective functioning capacity, parenting stress and guilt, and symptoms of depression. The study's findings indicate that the MAQ is a robust and reliable measure that contributes to a theoretical understanding and practical assessment of maternal ambivalence, facilitating insight into emotional challenges of motherhood. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

The transition to parenthood has long been viewed as a period of change in new parents' romantic relationships. However, this research has largely focused on changes in relationship quality, generally overlooking changes in relationship status (e.g., ending or entering a relationship during this period). To address this gap, we explored patterns and predictors of relationship dissolution and relationship formation during the early postpartum period among a sample of first-time Black mothers. A community sample of mothers living with low incomes (N = 212; 10% married; 85% enrolled in Medicaid) reported on their relationship status and other characteristics at 1, 8, and 16 weeks postpartum. Among mothers who were in a relationship at 1 week postpartum (N = 126), 20% of these relationships ended by Week 8 or 16. Mothers whose relationships ended reported lower relationship functioning at Week 1 than mothers whose relationships remained intact. Among mothers who were single at 1 week postpartum (N = 86), over 50% subsequently reported being in a relationship at Week 8 or 16. Mothers who started relationships reported lower overall social support at Week 1 relative to mothers who remained single. Together, these findings indicate that changes in relationship status during the early postpartum period were common and provide initial insights into factors characterizing mothers who experienced relationship transitions. Future work would benefit from considering changes in relationship status as well as other relational changes during the transition to parenthood to reflect a wider range of experiences among new parents. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

The extent to which mother and infant sleep predict maternal sensitivity as (a) main effects and (b) moderate the association between social cognition about infant crying (i.e., cry processing) and maternal sensitivity was examined in a sample of 299 mother-infant dyads (43% of mothers non-White; 50.5% of infants female). Infant- and mother-oriented cry processing were assessed prenatally using a video recall procedure and mothers self-reported demographics and characteristics reflecting emotional risk. When infants were 2 months old, mothers reported their depressive symptoms and mother and infant sleep. Maternal sensitivity and infant negative mood were observed during free play and the still face. There were no main effects of mother or infant sleep on maternal sensitivity over and above covariates. However, infant total sleep duration across night and day and mother sleep disturbance moderated the effect of mother-oriented cry processing on sensitivity. Specifically, mother-oriented cry processing was associated with lower maternal sensitivity only among mothers whose infants had lower sleep duration and who reported more sleep disturbances. Moderating effects were not apparent for infant night wakings or time awake or mothers' total sleep problems. Constrained opportunities for sleep or respite across the entire day and the totality of mothers' nighttime sleep disturbances, not just those specific to infants' night wakings, undermine maternal sensitivity by exacerbating mothers' preexisting tendency to have self-focused and negative reactions to infant distress. The efficacy of interventions designed to facilitate maternal sensitivity and infant adjustment may be enhanced by adding targeted foci on maternal and infant sleep. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

The present study examined how father and mother harsh parenting as experienced in middle adolescence impacted individual behavior during late adolescence and subsequent harsh couple interaction with their romantic partner in adulthood using a prospective longitudinal design (n = 117 males, 239 females). Data were collected during home visits by a trained interviewer in which family members completed questionnaires and participated in videotaped structured interaction tasks that were coded by trained observers. We assessed the influence of harsh parenting in adolescence (ages 15 and 16, Time 1) on individual processes (e.g., academic difficulty, substance use, and low self-esteem; age 18, Time 2) and harsh couple interaction in adulthood (ages 29 and 31, Time 3; age 34, Time 4). Father harsh parenting was associated with low self-esteem for sons and daughters and substance use for sons. Mother harsh parenting was associated with academic difficulty for adolescents. Academic difficulty and low self-esteem for daughters were further associated with harsh couple interaction at Time 3, while substance use for adolescents was associated with harsh couple interaction at Time 3, which remained stable through established adulthood. We highlight the unique effects of father and mother harsh parenting on later romantic relationship quality through individual mechanisms in late adulthood, for daughters and sons, in the context of the family system. Understanding these nuances as adolescents approach adulthood have implications for programming and policy aimed at strengthening the parent-child relationship in adolescence to allow for the development of healthy romantic relationships later in life. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Research has established the impact of paternal depression on fathering behaviors and child outcomes. Despite this, less is known about the mechanisms linking paternal depressive symptomology to paternal warmth, particularly regarding the role of parenting stress and beliefs in the centrality of the paternal role. The aim of this study was to examine factors potentially associated with paternal warmth. Specifically, we explored the association between paternal depressive symptomology and paternal warmth, examining the mediating role of paternal parenting stress in this association. Moreover, we tested the moderated role of beliefs in the centrality of the paternal role in the association between paternal parenting stress and paternal warmth. We utilized a subsample of fathers (n = 756; M_age = 34.3) with young children from the Survey of Contemporary Fatherhood study. Moderated mediation analysis was performed to test the association between paternal depressive symptomology, parenting stress, paternal warmth, and beliefs in the centrality of the paternal role among fathers. Results indicate a significant association between higher paternal depressive symptomology and increased parenting stress, which, in turn, was associated with reduced paternal warmth. Furthermore, positive beliefs in the centrality of the paternal role buffered the association between parenting stress and paternal warmth. These findings underscore the importance of considering parenting stress and fathering beliefs in psychosocial intervention programs aimed at improving fathering behaviors. Targeting fathers with mental health problems and negative parenting beliefs in intervention approaches may yield the most significant benefits. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Prior research has established that parents who are in a relationship, yet unmarried at the time of their child's birth, are at an increased risk of relationship instability. However, the processes that may lead to the dissolution of these unmarried parents' couple relationships are less clear. Guided by the vulnerability-stress-adaptation model, the present study examined data from a sample of 1,575 mother and father dyads who participated in the Future of Families and Child Wellbeing Study over a 9-year period. A mixed effects Cox regression model was used to investigate how unmarried parents' reports of enduring vulnerability (depressive symptoms) over time influenced the onset of relationship dissolution between the time their focal child was 1- and 9-years old. Further, the potential mediating effect of mothers' and fathers' reports of stressful events (parenting stress) and adaptive processes (couple relationship interactions and coparenting behaviors) on the association between depressive symptoms and relationship dissolution by the 9-year follow-up were also examined. Results indicated that mothers' and fathers' reports of experiencing depressive symptoms over time were associated with relationship dissolution. Further, perceptions of couple interactions emerged as a significant mediator at the 3- (mothers) and 5- (mothers and fathers) year follow-up. Coparenting behaviors were a significant mediator for mothers and fathers at the 3- and 5-year follow-up. These results highlight how experiencing depressive symptoms over time, as well as perceptions of couple interactions and coparenting behaviors throughout the early years of parenting, are salient factors in the instability of unmarried parents' relationships. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).