Parental and Child Psychopathology: Moderated Mediation by Gender and Parent–Child Relationship Quality

Previous literature has not examined the processes underlying the relations among parent–child relationship quality, parental psychopathology, and child psychopathology in the context of gender. Further, research examining these variables in emerging adulthood is lacking. The current study examined whether parent–child relationship quality would mediate the relation between parental and child psychopathology, and whether gender moderated these associations. Participants were emerging adults (N?=?665) who reported on perceptions of their parents’ and their own psychological problems as well as their parent–child relationship quality. Results indicated that the relation between parental internalizing problems and parent–child relationship quality was positive for males, and that mother–child relationship quality was related positively to psychological problems in males. This suggests that sons may grow closer to their parents (particularly their mother) who are exhibiting internalizing problems; in turn, this enmeshed relationship may facilitate transmission of psychopathology. Mediational paths were conditional upon gender, suggesting moderated mediation. Overall, the current study emphasizes that the complexities of parenting must be understood in the context of gender. Further, the mother–son dyad may particularly warrant further attention.     

Sibling Relationships: Parent–Child Agreement and Contributions of Siblings With and Without ASD

Research on the experiences of siblings of individuals with ASD and the quality of their sibling relationships has yielded mixed results. The present study examined the significance of parent- versus child-report of both positive and negative behaviors exhibited by siblings and their brothers and sisters with ASD within sibling dyads. Findings indicated that siblings were more positive in their assessment of the sibling relationship than were their parents. Siblings exhibited more positive behaviors within the sibling relationship than did their brothers and sisters with ASD, and were recipients of aggression. These findings are consistent with prior research suggesting that siblings tend to take on a caretaking role, and point to important targets for intervention.     

Visual search in ADHD,ASD and ASD + ADHD: overlapping or dissociating disorders?

Recent debates in the literature discuss commonalities between Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) at multiple levels of putative causal networks. This debate requires systematic comparisons between these disorders that have been studied in isolation in the past, employing potential markers of each disorder to be investigated in tandem. The present study, choose superior local processing, typical to ASD, and increased Intra-Subject Variability (ISV), typical to ADHD, for a head-to-head comparison of the two disorders, while also considering the comorbid cases. It directly examined groups of participants aged 10–13 years with ADHD, ASD with (ASD+) or without (ASD−) comorbid ADHD and a typically developing (TD) group (total N = 85). A visual search task consisting of an array of paired words was designed. The participants needed to find the specific pair of words, where the first word in the pair was the cue word. This visual search task was selected to compare these groups on overall search performance and trial-to-trial variability of search performance (i.e., ISV). Additionally, scanpath analysis was also carried out using Recurrence Quantification Analysis (RQA) and the Multi-Match Model. Results show that only the ASD− group exhibited superior search performance; whereas, only the groups with ADHD symptoms showed increased ISV. These findings point towards a double dissociation between ASD and ADHD, and argue against an overlap between ASD and ADHD.

     

Profiles and Correlates of Parent–Child Agreement on Social Anxiety Symptoms in Youth with Autism Spectrum Disorder

This study characterized patterns and correlates of parent–youth agreement on social anxiety in youth with and without autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Participants (279 verbally-fluent youth aged 8–16 years, N_ASD?=?144, N_TD?=?135) completed the SASC-R. Youth with ASD exhibited higher social anxiety across informants. While TD youth endorsed higher anxiety than did parents, self- and parent-reports did not differ in youth with ASD. For children with ASD, higher parent–youth agreement was associated with lower lifetime ASD symptoms and higher adaptive skills. For TD youth, agreement on high anxiety was associated with lowest adaptive skills. Demographic factors (age, verbal IQ, gender) did not relate to agreement for either group. In ASD, parent–child agreement on youth anxiety, either high or low, was associated with better outcomes.     

Autism Severity and Qualities of Parent–Child Relations

The aim of this study was to examine how severity of autism affects children’s interactions (relatedness) and relationships with their parents. Participants were 25 parent–child dyads that included offspring who were children with autism aged from 4 to 14 years. The severity of the children’s autism was assessed using the calibrated severity metric of the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (Gotham et al. in J Autism Dev Disord 39:693–705, 2009). Parent–child dyads were videotaped in 10-min semi-structured play interactions, and qualities of interpersonal relatedness were rated with the Dyadic Coding Scales (Humber and Moss in Am J Orthopsychiatr 75(1):128–141, 2005). Quality of relationships between parents and children were evaluated with a parent self-report measure, the Parent Child Relationship Inventory (Gerard in Parent–Child Relationship Inventory (PCRI) manual. WPS, Los Angeles, 1994). Multivariate regression analysis revealed that severity of autism was inversely related to patterns of parent–child interaction but not to reported quality of parent–child relationship. We consider the implications for thinking about relatedness and relationships among children with autism, and opportunities for intervention.     

ADHD, Temperament, and Parental Style as Predictors of the Child’s Attachment Patterns

This study investigates the impact of temperament and parenting styles on attachment patterns in children with ADHD. The study included 65 children aged 7–15 and their parents. Children diagnosed as Combined or Predominantly Hyperactive Impulsive Type had significantly higher scores than those diagnosed as Predominantly Inattentive Type in anxious and avoidant attachment, emotionality, and activity dimensions of temperament, and their parents reported higher levels of controlling styles. Hierarchic regressions indicated that parental promotion of autonomy with children with temperamental emotionality predicted anxious attachment, while parental restriction of autonomy with children with high levels of temperamental activity predicted avoidant attachment.     

The Effectiveness of Parent–Child Interaction Therapy for Families of Children on the Autism Spectrum

We report the results of a pilot trial of an evidence-based treatment—Parent–Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT; Eyberg et al. Psychopharmacology Bulletin, 31(1), 83–91, 1995) for boys aged 5–12 with high functioning autism spectrum disorders and clinically significant behavioral problems. The study also included an investigation of the role of shared positive affect during the course of therapy on child and parent outcomes. The intervention group showed reductions in parent perceptions of child problem behaviors and child atypicality, as well as an increase in child adaptability. Shared positive affect in parent child dyads and parent positive affect increased between the initial and final phases of the therapy. Parent positive affect after the first phase was related to perceptions of improvement in problem behaviors and adaptive functioning.     

Parent–Teacher Disagreement on Ratings of Behavior Problems in Children with ASD: Associations with Parental School Involvement Over Time

ASD symptomology and behavioral problems pose challenges for children with ASD in school. Disagreement between parents and teachers in ratings of children’s behavior problems may provide clinically relevant information. We examined parent–teacher disagreement on ratings of behavior problems among children with ASD during the fall and spring of the school year. When child, teacher, and class characteristics were considered simultaneously, only ASD symptom severity predicted informant disagreement on internalizing and externalizing behavior problems. We also examined associations between informant disagreement and parent school involvement. Cross-lagged panel analyses revealed that higher informant disagreement on children’s behavior problems in the fall predicted lower parent school involvement in the spring, suggesting that greater informant agreement may foster parental school involvement over time.

     

Negative Symptoms and Cognitive Deficits: What Is the Nature of Their Relationship?

Negative symptoms and cognitive deficits in schizophrenia share many features and are correlated in their severity on a cross-sectional basis. The question arises as to the nature of this relationship: are these symptoms the same, caused by the same factor (or factors); or is the nature of their relationship determined by other factors, such as definitional issues and common correlates? In this article we provide a conceptual overview for addressing this question and provide a selective review of the literature on the cross-sectional and longitudinal relationships between these two features of the illness. We describe 4 different models of the “true” relationship between these variables. Some data suggest that the relationship between these variables is determined by the definition of negative symptoms employed and that, in general, the correlation is moderate at the most. Further, path modeling suggests the possibility, to be addressed with later research, that correlations between negative and cognitive symptoms and everyday functional outcomes may influence the observed correlations between these variables. Thus, we conclude that negative and cognitive symptoms may be separable, if not conceptually independent, domains of the illness and that it might be possible to develop treatments that target negative symptoms and cognitive deficits independently.     

Parent–child interaction of mothers with depression and their children with ADHD

Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a developmental disorder that may have a chronic and pervasive impact on the child's function and cause long-term stress to parents. A higher rate of depression is associated with mothers of children with ADHD. This observational study aimed to investigate the effect of maternal depression and the child's ADHD on the quality of the parent–child interaction in children with ADHD and their mothers with depression. The study participants comprised 39 mother–son dyads including children with ADHD and mothers with depression, children with ADHD and mothers without depression, and children without ADHD and mothers without depression. The Specific Affect Coding System, 20-code version was used to code interactional affect, including positive engagement, negative engagement, negative disengagement, and neural affect. There were no statistically significant group-by-context interaction effects or group effects on all affective variables between the group of children with ADHD and mothers without depression and the group of children without ADHD and mothers without depression. Stimulant medication may account for these nonsignificant findings. No significant difference of positive affect between neutral and conflict-solving contexts was observed in depressed mothers whose children were diagnosed as ADHD. Children with ADHD whose mothers were depressed were less positive in their parent–child interaction compared with children in the other groups. Maternal depression may play an important role in the affective presentation of dyads of children with ADHD and mothers with depression. Implications for clinical practice and future research are provided.     

The Effectiveness of Parent–Child Interaction Therapy with Depressive Mothers: The Changing Relationship as the Agent of Individual Change

This study uses a multi-method approach to investigate the effectiveness of Parent–Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) in reducing children’s behavior problems when parents report clinical levels of depressive symptoms. Participants were 132 children, 2–7 years of age, and their biological mothers, who either reported low (N = 78) or clinical levels of depressive symptoms (N = 54). Results showed that depressive mothers were likely to report more severe child behavior problems than non-depressive mothers at the pre-treatment assessment, but that depressive mothers reported greater reductions in child behavior problems than non-depressive mothers from pre- to post-treatment. The two groups showed similar levels of observed interaction quality at the pre-treatment assessment (i.e., parent and child emotional availability and parent verbalization patterns) and similar improvements in interaction quality from pre- to post-treatment. The implications of the findings for clinical practice were discussed.     

The Prospective Links Between Hyperactive/Impulsive,Inattentive, and Oppositional-Defiant Behaviors in Childhood and Antisocial Behavior in Adolescence: The Moderating Influence of Gender and the Parent–Child Relationship Quality

We prospectively investigated the effect of child hyperactive/impulsive, inattentive, and oppositional/defiant behaviors on the development of youth antisocial behaviors, and the moderating influence of gender and the parent–child relationship quality in a normative sample. Participants (N = 673, 50 % girls) were assessed at 10 years of age (parent reports) and at age 15 (parent and adolescent reports). Using latent change models, we found that initial levels of, as well as increases in, hyperactivity/impulsivity and oppositional behaviors and initial levels of inattention behaviors predicted youth antisocial behaviors. The increase in oppositional behaviors was predictive of youth antisocial behaviors in girls only. Child hyperactive/impulsive behaviors predicted youth antisocial behaviors only in children for whom the quality of the parent–child relationship deteriorated from childhood to adolescence. Thus, both initial levels of and increases in disruptive behaviors as well as gender are important for understanding the development of antisocial behaviors in adolescence. We received partial support for the hypothesized, moderating role of a high-quality parent–child relationship.     

Mother–Child Attachment Patterns and Different Types of Anxiety Symptoms: Is There Specificity of Relations?

The purpose of this study was to test Manassis’ proposal (Child-parent relations: Attachment and anxiety disorders, 255–272, 2001) that attachment patterns (secure, ambivalent, avoidant, and disorganized) may relate to different types of anxiety symptoms, and that behavioral inhibition may moderate these relations. Using a story stem interview to assess attachment and children’s reports of anxiety symptoms, we found some support for these hypotheses in a sample of 10–12 years olds. Security was related to lower levels of all types of anxieties, except separation anxiety. Ambivalence was positively related to separation anxiety, although this relation was stronger for boys. Although avoidance was not related to anxiety, disorganization was positively related to somatic symptoms, social phobia, and school phobia. Behavioral inhibition moderated the relations of security with social phobia, and of disorganization with school phobia. The findings suggest that it is important to consider specificity between attachment patterns and various types of anxiety symptoms and to recognize that these relations may be altered by other risk factors.     

Additive Effects of Parent Adherence on Social and Behavioral Outcomes of a Collaborative School–Home Behavioral Intervention for ADHD

The present study evaluated the impact of the Collaborative Life Skills Program (CLS), a novel school–home psychosocial intervention, on social and behavioral impairments among children with attention and behavior problems. Fifty-seven ethnically/racially diverse children (70 % boys) with attention and/or behavior problems in the second through fifth grades participated in a pilot study. Ten school-based mental health professionals were trained and then implemented the intervention at their respective schools. Children significantly improved from pre- to post-treatment on parent, teacher, and report card ratings of children’s social and behavioral functioning. Treatment improvements were consistent for children with and without co-occurring disruptive behavior problems. The impact of the intervention was enhanced when parents used the intervention strategies more regularly, according to both clinicians’ and parents’ reports. Findings support the emphasis of CLS on coordinating intervention strategies across contexts to facilitate the generalization of treatment-related improvements in social and behavioral functioning.