Perceived ecological congruence across family/school environments: Impact on the consistency of behavioral patterns and adaptation among children and youth

This research investigated the relationship of congruence between classroom and family environments as experienced by children and consistency of behavioral adaptation across these settings as reported by teachers and parents. Assessments of perceived family and classroom environments, self-reported psychological distress, and parent and teacher behavior ratings of a community sample of first-to sixth-grade youth (N = 297) were obtained. Factor analysis of children's ratings of perceived classroom climate yielded three underlying dimensions: cohesion, achievement emphasis, and organization. Similarly, analyses of children's ratings of perceived family climate yielded cohesion, achievement emphasis, and control factors. As expected, greater incongruity in children's reports of cohesion and in levels of achievement emphasis across settings was associated with greater divergence between parental and teacher ratings of behavioral adaptation. In addition, there was less agreement in parent and teacher reports of children's behavior when child reports of classroom cohesion and all three family dimensions diverged. Similarly, greater perceived divergence in family achievement emphasis and all three classroom dimensions yielded higher levels of disagreement in behavior ratings across settings. Psychological distress was generally not associated with greater environmental incongruence. Thus, experiences of differential climate across settings appeared to be linked with patterns of situationally specific behavioral adaptation, rather than more global distress. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

The Silent Children: A Parent' Guide to the Prevention of Child Abuse (Book)

Reports the development of the Child Self-Control Rating Scale (CSCRS), a measure intended to supplement traditional teacher and/or parent perspectives on children's self-control. This 33-item scale was modeled after the teacher and parent Self-Control Rating Scale (SCRS; Kendall &; Wilcox, 1979). It shows high internal consistency and test-retest reliability. In a validation study of 103 normal thirdand fifth-grade students, the CSCRS correlated significantly with teacher ratings on the SCRS and child ratings on the Nowicki-Strickland Internal-External Locus of Control Scale for Children. The CSCRS appears to be a reliable and valid self-report measure of self-control; suggestions are made for its use in future self-control research with children.     

Maternal Facilitation of Children's Problem Solving: Relation to Disruptive Child Behavior and Maternal Characteristics

Examined the relation between mother-child interaction behaviors, disruptive child behavior, and maternal characteristics within the context of maternal facilitation of children's problem solving. In a group comparison analysis, mothers of disruptive children took over the task more and provided fewer closed-ended questions than mothers of nondisruptive children. Subsequent regression analyses found higher levels of mothers' taking-over behavior predicted children's off-task behavior in the analogue tasks; lower frequency of mothers' closed-ended question behavior predicted higher teacher and parent ratings of disruptive behavior at school and home; and higher materal depression predicted fewer mothers' closed-ended questions during the analogue.     

Structured leisure activities in middle childhood: Links to well‐being

Associations between children's (N = 147) participation in structured leisure activities and their adjustment were examined. Caregivers provided lists of extracurricular activities (clubs, sports, and church activities) in which children participated. Children and caregivers participated in interviews and completed questionnaires designed to measure children's adjustment in four domains (academic competence, psychosocial development, externalizing behavior, and internalizing behavior). Classroom teachers completed additional measures of children's academic and social competence. Greater participation in club activities was linked with higher academic grades and more positive teacher ratings of academic competence. Greater participation in sports was associated with higher levels of psychosocial maturity and more positive teacher ratings of social competence. There were no associations between involvement in church activities and any indicators of adjustment. Activity involvement was unassociated with externalizing or internalizing behavior. Findings are discussed in terms of both selection into different types of extracurricular activities and the skills emphasized in the pursuit of such activities. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Comm Psychol 31: 641–659, 2003.     

An experimental evaluation of a school-based program for children at risk: Wisconsin early intervention

This article describes the nature and effectiveness of Wisconsin Early Intervention (WEI), a social development program for rural elementary school children. Incorporating a social learning formulation of child and family dysfunction, program services included social skill groups and parent/teacher consultation for referred kindergarten through 4th-grade students at two schools. Services were evaluated experimentally with random assignment of 78 children from School A to Full Service (parent/teacher consultation, social skills groups) or Partial Service (parent/teacher consultation) and 49 children from School B to Partial Service or No Service conditions. Full services resulted in decreased depression relative to partial services, based on standardized interview data. However, multidimensional ratings obtained from parents, teachers, and WEI staff consistently indicated that children's competencies and behavior, regardless of service group, improved during the course of the program. Explanations for these results and the importance of experimentally evaluating community-level interventions are discussed.     

Relation Between Children's Perceptions of Maternal Mental Illness and Children's Psychological Adjustment

Evaluates how a child's subjective perceptions of a mentally ill parent's psychiatric symptoms and parenting skills relate to the child's psychological adjustment. In this study, 57 children and their mothers, half of whom were mothers with a severe and chronic mental illness, participated in a research protocol that included a directed observation of mother-child dyads and measures of parenting style, parent psychopathology, child behavior, and child's self-perceptions. The results indicated that children's subjective perceptions of parents' behavior are important variables in a child's adjustment.     

Psychological adjustment of visually handicapped children and youth

Recent evidence has suggested that visually handicapped children and adolescents experience difficulties in psychological functioning. This review examines the psychological, psychiatric, and vision literatures in four areas of adjustment in this population: intellectual functioning, personality characteristics, social development, and psychopathology. Although prevalence of maladjustment has been documented, a number of mediating variables appear to influence development in the visually impaired, including etiology of vision loss, extent of impairment, and residential setting. The paucity of controlled research makes it difficult to draw firm conclusions from the data at this time. However, preliminary formulations suggest that although visual impairment places children and adolescents at high risk of psychological dysfunction, it does not, by itself necessarily cause maladjustment. It is suggested that future research emphasize (a) increased use of more precise diagnostic assessment tools, (b) further delineation of subject characteristics, and (c) a multidisciplinary approach to psychological adjustment in this population.     

Social Skills Self-Appraisal of Children With Specific Arithmetic Disabilities

Previous research in subtype analysis identified a group of children with specific arithmetic disabilities (AD) who demonstrated social skills deficits in the context of a particular pattern of neuropsychological strengths and weaknesses. In this study, the social skills of 14 children with AD were measured by parent, teacher, and self-report on the Social Skills Rating System (Gresham & Elliott, 1990) to assess for evidence of social skills deficits and to compare the children's self-appraisals with the adults' ratings. Comparisons with 13 same-age classmates revealed deficits according to parents' and teachers' ratings, but the AD participants failed to report their deficits. Discrepancies in the ratings were positively related to visual-spatial dysfunction but were not related to left-side sensory-perceptual dysfunction. Additional studies are needed to examine the determinants of inaccurate self-appraisal of social skills among children with AD.     

Prediction of adolescent aggression by childhood personality measures: A comparison of projective procedures,self-report tests,and behavior ratings

Projective procedures, self-report measures, and teacher behavior ratings were compared as to which type of assessment best predicted adolescent aggressive behavior 6 years after they were administered. A questionnaire that assesses aggressive behavior was given to 125 adolescents in grades seven through twelve who had been administered a variety of projective, self-report, and teacher ratings of aggression 5 years earlier. Their parents were given the same questionnaire. Controlling for sex, age, and academic ability, the results indicated that children's scores on the projective measures predicted aggressive behaviors 5 years later. In addition, projective procedures were at least as valid as the other types of assessments in predicting aggressive behaviors. Results suggest that criticisms of projective procedures may be addressed with continued efforts to evaluate their validity. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

A Path Analysis of Factors Predicting Children's Divorce Adjustment

Eighty-two mother-child pairs from divorced homes completed measures assessing life change events, marital hostility, parenting skills, parent adjustment, child behavior adjustment, and children's self-concept. A path model was constructed to describe direct and indirect effects of causally ordered prior variables on positive and negative child outcomes. Path coefficients suggested the operation of both direct and mediated effects of background factors, postdivorce adjustment of the custodial parent, and current child-rearing environments on adaptive and maladaptive child outcome variables. The impact of age on children's postdivorce adjustment was found to be mediated by the number of major life events they reported. One "causal path" was found to be significant for several child outcomes: Mothers with more children reported better postdivorce adjustment in themselves, which in turn predicted better self-reported parental functioning. More effective parenting was positively associated with better social skills, more involvement in prosocial activities, and less internalized psychopathology in children.     

Etiology of Stability and Growth of Internalizing and Externalizing Behavior Problems Across Childhood and Adolescence

Internalizing and externalizing behaviors are heritable, and show genetic stability during childhood and adolescence. Less work has explored how genes influence individual differences in developmental trajectories. We estimated ACE biometrical latent growth curve models for the Teacher Report Form (TRF) and parent Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) internalizing and externalizing scales from ages 7 to 16 years in 408 twin pairs from the Colorado Longitudinal Twin Study. We found that Intercept factors were highly heritable for both internalizing and externalizing behaviors (a2 = .61–.92), with small and nonsignificant environmental influences for teacher-rated data but significant nonshared environmental influences for parent-rated data. There was some evidence of heritability of decline in internalizing behavior (Slopes for teacher and parent ratings), but the Slope genetic variance was almost entirely shared with that for the Intercept when different than zero. These results suggest that genetic effects on these developmental trajectories operate primarily on initial levels and stability, with no significant unique genetic influences for change. Finally, cross-rater analyses of the growth factor scores revealed moderate to large genetic and environmental associations between growth factors derived from parents' and teachers' ratings, particularly the Intercepts.     

Emotional and behavioral adjustment in children born prematurely

Assessed the emotional and behavioral adjustment of13- to 14-year-old children born prematurely, as compared with children full term, using children's self-report questionnaires of anxiety, depression, aggression, and self-concept, as well as mothers' and teachers' reports of behavioral disturbances. On all measures, premature children had lower scores on adjustment. Birth weight and psychosocial-environmental variables assessed when the children were 6 or 7 years old were significant in predicting later emotional adjustment. Differential effects of the environment on premature versus full-term children were suggested     

Interpersonal Problem Solving in Preschool and First Grade: Developmental Change and Ecological Validity

Examined problem-solving strategies, their correlation with multiple-informant ratings of behavior problems and social competence, and developmental change over a 2-year period. Shure's (1999) model targets children's production of alternative solutions to interpersonal problems. Others have found that solution quality correlates more highly with adjustment. Children (N = 208, M age = 60 months) completed the Preschool Interpersonal Problem Solving (PIPS) task in Head Start and again 2 years later. Many children achieved substantial gains in problem-solving skill as measured by PIPS. The prosocial or forceful quality of children's responses correlated with observational, caregiver, and teacher ratings of behavior problems and social competence. Quality of response appeared more important than solution quantity in predicting ecologically valid behaviors, implying that interventions should concentrate on response content more than quantity.     

Homelessness and child functioning in the context of risk and protective factors moderating child outcomes

Assessed long-term effects of assisted reproduction technologies of in-vitro fertilization (IVF) and related techniques of embryo transfer (ET) on children's adjustment. 51 school-age Israeli children conceived by IVF'ET were compared with 51 control- matched children conceived spontaneously. The assessment includeda comprehensive medical evaluation, a psychological examination, teachers' reports, parents' reports, and children's self-reports. As compared with controls, NF/ET children did not reveal significant differences in physical and neurological status or on cognitive measures of IQ, visual-motor coordination, visual memory, and verbal comprehension. Nevertheless, the IVFET children were scored lower by teachers on measures of socioemotional adjustment in school and on self-report measures of anxiety, aggression, and depression. Among NFET children, the tendency to be at a greater risk for emotional disturbances was exacerbated among boys and among children whose parents were older.     

Empirically Based Assessment of Child and Adolescent Psychopathology,Practical Applications (Book)

Extended prior research on relations between marital adjustment and behavior problems in children by examining how effectively mother and father pairs helped their child on a problem-solving task in a nonclinic sample. Results indicated that parental report of marital adjustment, especially as reported by fathers, was related to child behavior problems assessed by parents and teachers, and also to an index of joint parental support, which was defined as the degree to which family performance on a building-block task exceeded or fell short of what would be predicted based on the child's individual ability on a similar block task. Joint parental support also was related significantly to parental and teacher reports of child behavior problems. Discussion focuses on the implications of the findings as preliminary support for a model according to which triadic mother-father-child processes mediate associations between marital adjustment and children's functioning, and on the importance of augmenting data collection procedures to include information from multiple perspectives, especially from fathers.     

The veridicality of children's reports of parenting: A review of factors contributing to parent–child discrepancies

Child informants routinely participate in forensic and social service investigations and are often a critical source of information. However, across research domains high levels of discrepancy between parents' reports and children's reports have been documented, which has led researchers to question children's abilities to provide accurate information about others' behavior. To date research examining parent–child discrepancies has focused on discrepancies in reports of child behavior. The aim of the present review is to examine children's abilities to provide veridical accounts of parental behaviors, drawing on developmental and clinical research to delineate factors likely to enhance or impede accuracy. Among the factors examined, age appears to have the strongest influence on the accuracy of children's reports in general. A clear distinction also emerged in the literature between children's abilities to report objective data versus information regarding abstract concepts. Although available evidence provides mixed support for the veridicality of children's reports of parenting, factors that influence children's accuracy have generally been overlooked. Namely, researchers have largely failed to discriminate between assessment of child-rearing behaviors and children's perceptions of those behaviors. The present review proposes that such failure likely accounts for a notable portion of parent–child discrepancies in reports of parenting.     

How do adolescents adjust to their parent's multiple sclerosis?: An interview study

Objectives. The aim of this study was to explore how adolescents with a parent with multiple sclerosis (MS) adjust to their parents' illness. Design. We used an inductive qualitative approach with open ended questions as this was appropriate to facilitate the development of a broad and child‐centred understanding of how adolescents adjust and which resources they use to cope with the challenges that are associated with parental MS. Methods. Fifteen semi‐structured face‐to‐face interviews were conducted. Interviews were audiotaped, transcribed, and analysed using inductive thematic analysis. Results. Adolescents described both positive and negative experiences related to having a parent with MS. Benefits to having a parent with MS included reports of feeling more empathetic to others and more grown‐up. Negative impacts included family tension, less time to spend with friends, and worries about the future. The support from the well parent, siblings, and friends were found to facilitate adolescents' adjustment. Adolescents assuming a parenting role and illness characteristics, such as illness deterioration, relapses and fatigue, challenged adolescents' adjustment to having a parent with MS. Conclusions. Some adolescents described adjusting well to having a parent with MS, while others appeared to have more difficulty. Whilst the severity of the parent's deterioration and symptoms appeared to play a role in adjustment, other potentially modifiable factors such as the lack of well parent's support, adolescents' increased parenting responsibilities, and family tension also posed barriers to adolescents' adjustment. Support interventions may be helpful for vulnerable adolescents, which consider both family and individual factors.     

Sleep quality,cortisol levels,and behavioral regulation in toddlers

This study examines the association between nighttime sleep characteristics and cortisol levels and how these variables relate to aspects of children's temperament and behavior. Twenty‐seven healthy children, aged 12–36 months, attending group childcare settings, participated in the study. Each child's sleep was measured at home with actigraphy over three nights. Saliva samples were collected by the mothers at bedtime and within 30 min of awakening. In addition, both the mother and the daycare teacher rated the child's behavioral difficulties and negative emotionality. It was found that children with more fragmented sleep displayed higher awakening cortisol levels compared to children with more efficient sleep. Moreover, elevated awakening cortisol levels were correlated with teachers' ratings of internalizing behavior and negative emotionality. These preliminary findings suggest that awakening cortisol may serve as a useful index of adrenocortical reactivity in young children, signaling a disturbance in physiological regulation, and underscore the need for more research pertaining to the dynamic associations between sleep and HPA‐axis across the 24‐hr period. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Dev Psychobiol 52: 44–53, 2010     

Improving middle school climate through teacher‐centered change

A collaborative school‐based intervention aimed at modifying relationships among administrators and teachers was implemented in three middle and junior high schools. Across the intervention schools, teachers were active collaborators in identifying problems and then articulating and implementing customized interventions to redress those problems. Analyses of both teacher (N=180) and student (N=2,631) data provide support for positive outcomes. Teachers' perceptions of school climate improved, and longitudinal models suggested that these improvements mediated the impact of treatment on teacher reports of affiliation and academic focus. In addition, the treatment had a positive impact on teachers' perceptions of principal support, which led to improvements in teacher attitudes. Furthermore, students in the intervention schools reported improvements in school climate relative to students in the comparison schools. Taken together, these results suggest that a strategy of encouraging and supporting teacher‐led interventions, customized to the needs and circumstances of each particular school, can successfully revitalize school settings, leading to improvements not only in school's climate, but also in the quality of interactions within the settings. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Daily mood and sleep: reciprocal relations and links with adjustment problems

Children's sleep problems are common and associated with increased risk for adjustment problems. We examined daily links between children's sleep and mood, using a daily diary method and actigraphy. We also tested children's daily mood as a mediator of relations among sleep and children's broader internalizing and externalizing symptoms. A community sample of 142 children (mean age = 10.69 years; 57% girls; 69% European American, 31% African American) and their parents participated. For 1 week, children wore actigraphs and parents completed a daily telephone interview about their child's mood. Following the week of actigraphy, mothers and fathers reported on their child's adjustment. Multi‐level models indicated within‐person relations between children's mood and subsequent sleep fragmentation (indicated by increased activity) and sleep latency, and between‐person relations between sleep latency and subsequent mood on the next day. Significant indirect effects were found such that a more negative daily mood (aggregated across diary days) mediated relations between poor sleep efficiency and longer sleep latency and parent‐reported internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Findings extend previous research by highlighting disruptions to children's daily mood as a potential mechanism linking sleep problems to children's mental health.