The effect of maternal psychopathology on parent–child agreement of child anxiety symptoms: A hierarchical linear modeling approach

The current study examined the effects of maternal anxiety, worry, depression, child age and gender on mother and child reports of child anxiety using hierarchical linear modeling. Participants were 73 mother–child dyads with children between the ages of 7 and 10 years. Reports of child anxiety symptoms, including symptoms of specific disorders (e.g., social phobia) were obtained using concordant versions of the Screen for Anxiety and Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED). Children reported significantly higher levels of anxiety symptoms relative to their mothers. Maternal worry and depression predicted for significantly lower levels of maternal-reported child anxiety and increasing discrepant reports. Maternal anxiety predicted for higher levels of maternal-reported child anxiety and decreasing discrepant reports. Maternal depression was associated with increased child-reported child anxiety symptoms. No significant effect of child age or gender was observed. Findings may inform inconsistencies in previous studies on reporter discrepancies. Implications and future directions are discussed.     

Aggression as a mediator of genetic contributions to the association between negative parent–child relationships and adolescent antisocial behavior

Previous research suggests that the association between conflictual parent–child relationships and maladjustment among adolescents is influenced by genetic effects emanating from the adolescents. In this study, we examined whether these effects are mediated by childhood aggression. The data come from the Twin study of CHild and Adolescent Development (TCHAD), a Swedish longitudinal study including 1,314 twin pairs followed from age 13–14 to 16–17. Early adolescent aggression, parental criticism, and delinquency in later adolescence were rated by parents and children at different time points. Multivariate genetic structural equation models were used to estimate genetic and environmental influences on these constructs and on their covariation. The results showed that approximately half of the genetic contribution to the association between parental criticism and delinquency was explained by early adolescent aggression. It suggests that aggression in children evokes negative parenting, which in turn influences adolescent antisocial behavior. The mechanism proposed by these findings is consistent with evocative gene–environment correlation.     

The effects of parent–child relationships on later life mental health status in two national birth cohorts

Purpose

Abusive and neglectful parenting is an established determinant of adult mental illness, but longitudinal studies of the impact of less severe problems with parenting have yielded inconsistent findings. In the face of growing interest in mental health promotion, it is important to establish the impact of this potentially remediable risk factor.

Methods

Participants: 8,405 participants in the 1958 UK birth cohort study, and 5,058 in the 1970 birth cohort study Exposures: questionnaires relating to the quality of relationships with parents completed at age 16?years. Outcomes: 12-item General Health Questionnaire and the Malaise Inventory collected at age 42?years (1958 cohort) and 30?years (1970 cohort). Statistical methodology: logistic regression analyses adjusting for sex, social class and teenage mental health problems.

Results

1958 cohort: relationships with both mother and father predicted mental health problems in adulthood; increasingly poor relationships were associated with increasing mental health problems at age 42?years. 1970 cohort: positive items derived from the Parental Bonding Instrument predicted reduced risk of mental health problems; negative aspects predicted increased risk at age 30?years. Odds of mental health problems were increased between 20 and 80% in fully adjusted models.

Conclusions

Results support the hypothesis that problems with parent–child relationships that fall short of abuse and neglect play a part in determining adult mental health and suggest that interventions to support parenting now being implemented in many parts of the Western world may reduce the prevalence of mental illness in adulthood.     

Family-based risk factors for non-suicidal self-injury: Considering influences of maltreatment,adverse family-life experiences,and parent–child relational risk

The current investigation addressed the potential for unique influences of perceived childhood maltreatment, adverse family-life events, and parent-child relational trauma on the lifetime occurrence and addictive features of non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI). Participants included 957 undergraduate students (747 females; M = 20.14 years, SD = 3.88) who completed online questionnaires regarding the key variables under study. Although self-injuring youth reported more experiences with each family-based risk factor, different patterns of association were found when lifetime engagement in NSSI or its addictive features were under study. Perceived parent-child relational trauma was uniquely linked with NSSI behavior after accounting for perceived childhood maltreatment; adverse family-life events had an additional unique association. In contrast, perceived paternal maltreatment was uniquely related with NSSI's addictive features. Findings underline the importance of studying inter-related family-based risk factors of NSSI simultaneously for a comprehensive understanding of familial correlates of NSSI behavior and its underlying features.     

Sleep problems in preschool-onset major depressive disorder: the effect of treatment with parent–child interaction therapy-emotion development

European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry - In school-aged children, adolescents, and adults, more than 72% of individuals diagnosed with major depression report co-occurring sleep problems, but...     

A longitudinal investigation of sleep and technology use in early adolescence: does parental control of technology use protect adolescent sleep?

ObjectiveA bi-directional relationship between technology use and adolescent sleep is likely, yet findings are mixed, and it is not known whether parental control of technology use can protect sleep. The current study examined bi-directionality between technology use on school nights and morning/eveningness, sleep duration and daytime sleepiness in early adolescents. We also examined whether time spent using technology mediated the relationship between parental control of technology and adolescent sleep.MethodsAdolescents and their primary caregiver (96% mothers) completed questionnaire measures of sleep, technology use and parental control across three, annual waves: Wave 1 (N = 528, M_age = 11.18, SD = 0.56, range = 10–12, 51% male), Wave 2 (N = 502, M_age = 12.19, SD = 0.53, 52% male) and Wave 3 (N = 478, M_age = 13.19, SD = 0.53, 52% male).ResultsWhen examining the direct relationship between sleep and technology use, cross-lagged panel models showed that time spent using technology predicted shorter sleep duration and greater daytime sleepiness in adolescence, and evening diurnal preference and shorter sleep duration contributed to increased technology use over time. The relationship between technology use and sleep duration was bi-directional. Time spent using technology and adolescent sleep predicted, yet were not predicted by, parental control of technology use.ConclusionsWhile normative changes in sleep (eg, increased eveningness) may promote increased technology use, technology use may further impinge upon sleep. Results suggest it may be pertinent to instead find creative ways in which adolescents themselves can mitigate their risk of inadequate sleep.     

Genetic risk,parent–child relations,and antisocial phenotypes in a sample of African-American males

Gene × environment interactions have been found to be associated with the development of antisocial behaviors. The extant gene × environment research, however, has failed to measure directly the ways in which global measures of genetic risk may interact with a putative environmental risk factor. The current study addresses this gap in the literature and examines the interrelationships among a global measure of genetic risk based on five genetic polymorphisms, a measure of parent–child relations, and eight antisocial phenotypes. Analysis of African-American males (N = 145 to 159) drawn from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) revealed two broad findings. First, the genetic risk and parent–child relations scales were inconsistently related to the outcome variables. Second, genetic risk and parent–child relations interacted to predict variation in all of the eight antisocial phenotype measures. These findings point to the possibility that measures of genetic risk that are based on multiple polymorphisms can be employed to examine the gene × environmental basis to antisocial behavioral phenotypes.     

Associations among parent–child relationships and cognitive and language outcomes in a clinical sample of preschool children

Abstract

Objective: To examine associations among parent–child relationship characteristics and child cognitive and language outcomes. Methods: Preschool children (n = 72) with early neurological insult completed assessments of cognitive and language functioning and participated in a parent–child semi-structured interaction. Results: Quality of the parent–child relationship accounted for a significant amount of unique variance (12%) in predicting children’s overall cognitive and language functioning. Impact of neurological insult was a significant predictor. Conclusions: Caregiver–child interactions that are harmonious and reciprocal as evidenced by affective and/or verbal exchanges support children’s cognitive and language development. Observations of interactions can guide providers in facilitating child- and family-centered interventions.     

Parent–child hostility and child and adolescent depression symptoms: the direction of effects,role of genetic factors and gender

Identifying environmental risk factors in the pathway to depression is an important research goal. To extend prior research, designs that rule out alternative explanatory factors; genetic effects and reverse causation, and permit tests of both parent and child gender are required. The present study used two different samples to address these issues. A longitudinal community sample of 316 families (157 boys, 159 girls) aged 11–12 years (mean 11.7) at Time 1 and 12–13 years at Time 2 (mean 12.7) was used to test the direction of effects between parent hostility and child and adolescent depression symptoms. A genetically sensitive sample of 1,075 twin pairs; 653 dizygotic (135 male, 183 female, 335 opposite sex) and 422 monozygotic (180 male and 242 female) aged 12–20 years (mean 16.12) was used to test whether parent hostility had environmental effects. Analyses were conducted separately by parent and child gender. Using cross-lagged panel analyses, the association between mother–daughter hostility and depression symptoms was found to be longitudinal and bidirectional with reciprocal effects between mothers and daughters. Behavioural genetic analyses in the twin sample revealed a significant environmental link between mother hostility and symptoms of daughter depression independent of genetic factors. A significant pathway was found between daughter depressive symptoms and father hostility but not vice versa. This association was accounted for by genetic factors in behavioural genetic analyses. Findings provide evidence of an environmental risk pathway to depression symptoms and identify patterns of variation according to parent and child gender. Results are discussed in relation to underlying explanatory processes and clinical implications.     

Does social support modify the effect of disability acquisition on mental health? A longitudinal study of Australian adults

Purpose

Disability acquisition in adulthood is associated with deterioration in mental health. Social support may act as a “buffer” against poor mental health following disability acquisition. We tested the hypothesis that women and men with low social support experienced larger declines in mental health on acquisition of a disability compared to women and men with high social support.

Methods

We assessed whether social support, measured both prior and subsequent to disability acquisition, modified the association between disability acquisition and mental health using 14 annual waves of data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia Survey. Participants reported at least two consecutive waves of disability preceded by at least two consecutive waves without disability (2200 participants, 15,724 observations). Fixed-effects linear regression models were used to estimate average differences in mental health between waves with and without disability, for women and men separately. We tested for effect measure modification of the association by social support, including a three-way interaction between disability and social support prior and subsequent to disability acquisition.

Results

Though the effects of disability acquisition on mental health were much larger for women, for both women and men there was a consistent pattern of association with social support. There was evidence that social support modified the association between disability acquisition and mental health, with the largest effects for those experiencing a change from high to low social support subsequent to disability and for people with consistently low social support.

Conclusions

These findings highlight the importance of developing new policy and practice strategies to improve the mental health of people with disabilities, including interventions to promote social support at the time of disability acquisition.

     

Photochromic properties of a dithienylethene–indolinooxazolidine switch: A theoretical investigation

Using ab initio spectroscopic tools, we have studied the structural and electronic properties of an hybrid dithienylethene–indolinooxazolidine switch synthesized by Pozzo and coworkers [Photochem. Photobiol. Sci. 9 (2010) 131]. To simulate the electronic absorption spectra of this mixed photochrome, we relied on a PCM-TD-DFT approach. Several functionals have been considered, namely the PBE0 global hybrid as well as four range-separated hybrids (CAM-B3LYP, LC-ωPBE, ωB97X and ωB97XD). On average, considering all four closed/open structures, ωB97XD provides the best compromise for estimating the transition wavelengths. It is shown that the TD-DFT procedure combined with an analysis of the molecular orbitals implied in the absorption bands provide insights into the observed photochromic pathways.     

Can parent training for parents with high levels of expressed emotion have a positive effect on their child's social anxiety improvement?

The role that parents’ involvement may play in improving their child's social anxiety is still under debate. This paper aimed to investigate whether training parents with high expressed emotion (EE) could improve outcomes for adolescent social anxiety intervention. Fifty-two socially anxious adolescents (aged 13–18 years), whose parents exhibited high levels of expressed emotion, were assigned to either (a) a school-based intervention with an added parent training component, or (b) a school-based program focused solely on intervening with the adolescent (no parental involvement). Post-treatment and 12-month follow-up findings showed that school-based intervention with parent training was superior to the adolescent-specific program, yielding significant reductions in diagnosis remission, social and depressive symptomatology, particularly when the EE status of parents changed. Overall, the findings suggest that high-EE parents of children with social anxiety need to be involved in their child's therapy.     

The development of psychoanalytic parent–infant/child psychotherapy in South Africa: Adaptive responses to contextual challenges

South African authored writings on psychoanalytically-informed parent–infant/child psychotherapy are rare, but this dearth does not accurately reflect the extent of practice in the country at the community, public and private levels. Interviews with a sample of key stakeholders and practitioners provided information on different services currently offered in the South African parent–infant/child psychotherapy field. Three major themes were identified during an analysis of interview material: the role of language and culture; the issue of training; and the challenge of working outside of a national health system. Interviewees also described adaptive responses to these contextual challenges. These responses are discussed as evidence of the usefulness of theoretical and technical eclecticism, when applied with psychoanalytic mindfulness, in developing the South African parent–infant/child psychotherapy field.     

Prevalence and trajectory of psychopathology among child and adolescent survivors of disasters: a systematic review of epidemiological studies across 1987–2011

Aims

The goal of this paper was to systematically review evidence on (1) the potential magnitude of the psychopathological impacts of community-wide disasters on child and adolescent survivors, and (2) the long-term course or trajectory of disaster-induced psychopathology among children and adolescents.

Methods

The PubMed/MEDLINE and PsycINFO databases were searched from their respective inception through December 2011. All of the resulting epidemiological studies of child and adolescent survivors following community-wide disasters were examined.

Results

Sixty cross-sectional studies and 25 longitudinal or long-term follow-up studies were identified. The estimated rates of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression among child and adolescent survivors varied greatly across the included studies, ranging from 1.0 to 95 % and 1.6 to 81 %, respectively, while the reported rates of diagnosable PTSD according to the DSM-IV criteria and diagnosable depression ranged from 1.0 to 60 % and 1.6 to 33 %, respectively. The long-term courses of psychopathology among youthful survivors were summarized. Methodological issues with those studies were discussed.

Conclusions

The empirical findings summarized in this review highlight the importance of psychosocial intervention at early postdisaster stages for child and adolescent survivors. The methodological flaws revealed by this review indicate the need for continued attempts to better understand the epidemiology and trajectory of psychopathological problems among youthful survivors.     

A longitudinal community study: do psychosocial risk factors and child behavior checklist scores at 5 years of age predict psychiatric diagnoses at a later age?

OBJECTIVE: To examine the extent to which certain risk factors in 5- to 6-year-old children predict later psychopathology in a population-based sample of children from the province of Limburg in the south of the Netherlands. METHOD: Of the 2,290 children of interest, 1,317 children were screened with the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) and psychosocial risk factors for these children were collected. On the basis of the CBCL ratings, 403 children participated in the second stage in which, 1.5 years later, standardized child psychiatric information was obtained. Weighted logistic regression analyses were used to investigate predictors of psychopathology. RESULTS: In separate analyses of specific types of child psychopathology, different risk factors emerged as significant. Low-level parental occupation and having foreign-born parents were predictive of conduct disorders, and living in a single-parent family and a having a life event were the most important predictors of mood and anxiety disorders. Furthermore, CBCL-based ratings at 5 to 6 years of age corresponded well with interview-defined diagnoses 1.5 years later. CONCLUSIONS: Investigation of psychosocial risk factors and CBCL scores at the age of 5 to 6 years could be helpful in predicting child psychopathology and could help identify children at risk, in order to provide them with timely attention.     

Remission of positive symptoms according to the “remission in Schizophrenia Working Group” criteria: A longitudinal study of cognitive functioning

Schizophrenia patients in positive symptomatic remission (PSR; n = 39) were assessed using a longitudinal research design. The patients were found to exhibit widespread cognitive impairments that were stable over the three-year follow-up period. The findings support a generalized and stable cognitive impairment profile among schizophrenia patients in partial symptomatic remission.     

Predicting the psychosocial outcome of epilepsy surgery: A longitudinal perspective on the ‘burden of normality’

Good seizure outcomes and good psychosocial outcomes following epilepsy surgery do not necessarily follow one from the other. This study explored the relationship between several presurgical psychosocial characteristics and postsurgical quality-of-life outcomes. The study aimed to develop the concept of ‘the burden of normality’ and identify risk factors for a poor psychosocial outcome that could be targeted with ameliorative presurgery cognitive behavioral techniques. Data were collected from 77 epilepsy surgery patients from three UK epilepsy centers and presurgery and postsurgery follow-up data were obtained from 30–34 patients, depending on the measure. Measures were self-report. Postsurgery intervals were determined by the epilepsy surgery care pathway at individual centers. Presurgery poor levels of mental health, poor social functioning, increased belief in illness chronicity, and associating epilepsy with social role limitations were all associated with poor postsurgical quality of life. Adopting an accepting coping strategy presurgery was associated with good postoperative quality of life. Regression analysis showed that a good postsurgical quality of life was positively predicted by a presurgical coping style of being able to make the best of a situation and see challenges in a positive light (i.e., positive reinterpretation and growth from the COPE scale) and negatively predicted by presurgical levels of anxiety. These data are presented as an important step in identifying psychological red flags for an adverse psychosocial outcome to epilepsy surgery, as exemplified by the concept of the ‘burden of normality’ and specifying targets for preoperative ameliorative psychological advice.