Children's perceptions of marital conflict, parent -child relations and anxiety in children: A proposed systemic model

This study tested a systemic model in which internalizing behaviors in a clinically-referred sample of children are predicted by children's perceptions of marital conflict in the context of three additional, well-researched, familial variables: parent-child relations, mother's emotional functioning, and children's perception of social support. After finding preliminary support for the model, its generalizability was tested in a combined sample of the clinically-referred group and a community-based group of elementary school children. ^ The clinical group consisted of 31 participants from a specialty clinic for children's anxiety disorders: 15 boys and 16 girls, aged 6 to 16, from both intact and divorced homes. Children's reports and mothers' reports of children's internalizing behaviors were submitted to separate analyses. Mothers' reports of children's internalizing behaviors were predicted only by mothers' emotional functioning. As hypothesized by the model, children's own reports of their internalizing behaviors were predicted significantly by children's perceptions of marital conflict. Parent-child relations, children's perception of social support, and one interaction term, children's perception of marital conflict x children's perception of parental rejection, contributed to the regression solution, while mother's emotional functioning failed to meet entry criterion. ^ The combined sample added 37 community-based children, 18 boys and 19 girls, aged 6 to 11, creating a total of 68 subjects. The model was replicated on the combined sample. ^ Findings of the study suggest child perceptions of marital conflict have a strong direct effect on child internalizing behaviors, accounting for 28% of the variance between marital conflict and child outcome in the clinical sample and 42% in the combined sample. In the past only about 10% of the variance in children's internalizing behaviors was explained by marital conflict. Importance implications are made for optimal assessment and specific treatment strategies for children and families experiencing marital conflict, especially for those at risk for anxiety disorders. ^

Parental behaviors in child anxiety: An observational study

The increasing awareness of the prevalence, impairment, and long-term consequences of childhood anxiety disorders have led investigators to explore psychosocial factors in the etiology of these disorders. Recent investigations have begun to focus on family-level processes in the etiology and/or maintenance of childhood anxiety disorders, specifically patterns of parent-child interaction. The present study compared parent-child interactions across three problem-solving tasks of clinically anxious children and their mothers versus non-referred children and their mothers in terms of (1) direct observation measures, (2) children's, mothers', and independent observer's subjective ratings, (3) and children's evaluations using videotape-aided thought reconstruction. ^ Results suggested that the mothers of clinically anxious children engaged in fewer positive and more negative parenting strategies as compared to the mothers of non-referred children across three tasks. Although not significant, trends were evident among the subjective ratings reported by the clinically anxious children, mothers, and observer for the global perception indices. When videotape-aided thought reconstruction was used as a cue to elicit children's perceptions of the parent-child interactions, clinically anxious children reported less mother-referent positive statements and more mother-referent negative statements than non-referred children. ^

The Impact of Workshops on the Quality and Quantity of Parent-Child Booksharing Skills

A pilot study posits that conducting a number of literacy workshops with teenage mothers translated into a greater number of appropriate booksharing skills implemented while reading to the child. The results of one- and two-way ANOVAs and of a contingency table with crosstabs are included.

Evaluating the external validity of comorbid disorders in youth using rating scales and behavior observations

To evaluate the theoretical underpinnings of current categorical approaches to classify childhood psychopathological conditions, this dissertation examined whether children with a single diagnosis of an anxiety disorder (ANX only) and children with an anxiety diagnosis comorbid with other diagnoses (i.e., anxiety + anxiety disorder [ANX + ANX], anxiety + depressive disorder [ANX + DEP], and anxiety + disruptive disorder [ANX + EXT]) could be differentiated using external validation criteria of clinical phenomenology (i.e., levels of anxiety, depression, and internalizing, externalizing and total behavior problems). This study further examined whether the four groups could be differentiated in terms of their interaction patterns with their parents and peers, respectively. The sample consisted of 129 youth and their parents who presented to the Child Anxiety and Phobia Program (CAPP) housed within the Child and Family Psychosocial Research Center at Florida International University, Miami. Youth were between the ages of 8 and 14 years old. A battery of questionnaires was used to assess participants' clinical presentation in terms of levels of anxiety, depression, and internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Family and peer interaction were evaluated through rating scales and through behavior observation tasks. Statistics based on the parameter estimates of the structured equation models indicated that all the comorbid groups were significantly different from the pure anxiety disorder group when it came to depression indices of clinical phenomenology. Further, significant differences appeared mainly in terms of the ANX + DEP comorbid group relative to the other comorbid groups. In terms of Parent-child interaction the ANX + EXT and the ANX + DEP comorbid groups were differentiated from the pure anxiety disorder and ANX + ANX comorbid group when it came to the appraisal of the parent/child relationship by the parent, and the acceptance subscale according to the mother report. In terms of peer-child interaction the ANX + EXT and the ANX + DEP comorbid groups were statistically significantly different from the pure anxiety disorder only when it came to the positive interactions and the social skills as rated by mother. Limitations and future research recommendations are discussed.

An investigation of the effects of mothers' participation in adult literacy classes on interactive literacy activities (ILAs) at home

The National Center for Family Literacy (2003a) and the National Even Start Association (2005) have stated that the single most effective and influential factor in increasing student academic achievement is parental involvement. The purpose of this qualitative study was to determine how participation in adult literacy courses influences parent-child interaction in various educationally related activities known as Interactive Literacy Activities (ILAs). This study investigated ILAs from the mothers? perspective, and examines the changes that occur in parental involvement or ILAs when immigrant parents of a limited educational background participate in an adult education program. The principal method of data collection was key informant interviews (Gall, Borg, & Gall, 1996). Other methods of data collection included observations of parent-child interactions and field observations. Data analysis methods included Memo-ing (Miles & Huberman, 1994), within case analysis and cross-case analysis. ^ Findings demonstrate that changes occurred in the parent-child relationship when mothers of a limited educational background participated in an adult literacy course. When participating in ILAs or English literacy activities related to second language acquisition (including reading and speaking for comprehension and pronunciation), the children of these mothers took on the role of the adult. Participation in literacy activities was often initiated by the child and the children were frequently concerned with their mother's literacy acquisition. Mothers reported that their children were more confident, worked harder on school related activities and were more open to communication. ^ It can be concluded from this study that, in the case of these immigrant families, a mother's participation in adult literacy classes is influential in the relationship between mother and child. These children participated in ILAs for the benefit of their mothers and initiated literacy activities more frequently. The children responded better to their parents during literacy activities because there was a positive change in the relationship between mother and child. The relationship between mother and child appeared to be strengthened by greater trust, a sense of pride and more communication. ^

Two -way direction of influence in mother-infant interaction as denoted by concurrent reciprocal learning processes

This series of 5 single-subject studies used the operant conditioning paradigm to investigate, within the two-way influence process, how (a) contingent infant attention can reinforce maternal verbal behaviors during a period of mother-infant interaction and under subsequent experimental manipulation. Differential reinforcement was used to determine if it is possible that an infant attending to the mother (denoted by head-turns towards the image of the mother plus eye contact) increases (reinforces) the mother's verbal response (to a cue from the infant) upon which the infant behavior is contingent. There was also (b) an evaluation during the contrived parent-infant interaction for concurrent operant learning of infant vocal behavior via contingent verbal responding (reinforcement) implemented by the mother. Further, it was noted (c) whether or not the mother reported being aware that her responses were influenced by the infant's behavior. Findings showed: the operant conditioning of the maternal verbal behaviors were reinforced by contingent infant attention; and the operant conditioning of infant vocalizations was reinforced by contingent maternal verbal behaviors. No parent reported (1) being aware of the increase in their verbal response reinforced during operant conditioning of parental behavior nor a decrease in those responses during the DRA reversal phase, or (2) noticing a contingency between infant's and mother's response. By binomial 1-tail tests, the verbal-behavior patterns of the 5 mothers were conditioned by infant reinforcement (p < 0.02) and, concurrently, the vocal-response patterns of the 5 infants were conditioned by maternal reinforcement (p < 0.02). A program of systematic empirical research on the determinants of concurrent conditioning within mother-child interaction may provide a way to evaluate the differential effectiveness of interventions aimed at improving parent-child interactions. The work conducted in the present study is one step in this direction. ^

Parent's emotional expressiveness and child, parent, and family functioning

This study investigated associations between parents' expressed emotion during a series of play tasks with their child, and psychological assessments of parent, child, and family functioning. Parent and child dyads included 41 families with a child between ages 4 and 12 who sought a developmental assessment at the Youth and Family Development Program laboratory at Florida International University. Videotaped dyadic play tasks were rated, using an Emotional Expressiveness Rating Scale (EERS) developed for this study, for parents' communication of criticism, hostility, emotional over-involvement, indifference, and warmth toward their child. Associations between parent expressed emotion and parent, child, and family functioning were assessed. Negative expressed emotion in parents, particularly criticism, was correlated with externalizing child problems, high parental stress, and family conflict; parent warmth was correlated with parents' feeling rewarded by their child, and with family cohesion. The implications for mental health research and practice with parents and children are discussed.

An investigation of parents' and children's beliefs of early literacy acquisition from a cross -cultural perspective

It has been reported that the cultural-historical experiences of ethnic group members can play a role in the literacy beliefs of those members. Socioeconomic conditions can also influence the belief system of the groups' constituents. This study investigated parents' and children's beliefs pertaining to early literacy acquisition as related to the ethnicity and socioeconomic status (SES) of the participants. The objectives were to determine (a) the differential patterns regarding emergent literacy and traditional skills approaches as they interact with ethnicity and SES and (b) the correspondence between parents and children's beliefs about literacy acquisition. ^ The study was conducted with 152 parents (38 low-income Hispanic, 38 middle-income Hispanic, 38 low-income African-American, and 38 middle-income African-American) and 36 of their 3-, 4-, or 5-year-old children (18 male and 18 female). ^ The parents were asked to check those items with which they agreed on a survey that consisted of an equal number of items from the traditional skills-based and emergent literacy orientations. These responses were used to determine the differences and interaction by ethnicity and SES. The children responded to open-ended questions related to the instruction of reading and writing skills. The parents' responses and children's answers were compared to ascertain the matching parent-child dyads by ethnicity and SES. ^ An item analysis was conducted to strengthen the internal reliability consistency coefficient of the traditional skills-based and emergent literacy scales as measured by the Cronbach Alpha. ^ A two-way multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) revealed a significant difference in traditional skill-based beliefs for the low-income African-American and Hispanic parents. There were no significant findings for the parents' traditional skill based or emergent literacy beliefs based on ethnicity, for the interaction between ethnicity and SES, or for the relationship between parents' and children's literacy beliefs by ethnicity and SES. ^ It can be concluded that low-income African-American and Hispanic parents believe in the traditional skills approach, indicating that these parents find it necessary for children to have sufficient school readiness skills prior to learning to read or write. In addition, the parent and child dyads had a strong tendency toward emergent literacy beliefs. ^

Longitudinal effects of family factors on alcohol use and alcohol-related problems among males from pre-adolescence to adulthood

The goal of this study was to examine the longitudinal effects of five family factors on alcohol use among adolescent males. The family factors included familism (family pride, loyalty, and cohesion), parent derogation (being put down by parents), parent/child communication, family alcohol problems and family drug problems. The study focused on the effects of the family factors reported by a sample of 451 White-non-Hispanic and African American males during early and mid-adolescence on (1) the intensity of alcohol use in mid-adolescence, and (2) the number of problems associated with alcohol use during the transition to young adulthood. The study also explored racial differences in the effects of the family factors. The data for this study were derived from a two-phase longitudinal epidemiologic cohort study of male and female adolescents enrolled in middle schools in Miami, FL. Data were collected at four points between 1990 and 2001. Linear and logistical regressions were used to analyze the effects of the family variables on the dependent variables. ^ The results of the analyses indicated that all of the family variables except family drug problems were statistically significant predictors of the level of alcohol use and alcohol-related problems. Familism had a moderate influence on both of the dependent variables at all data points, while parent derogation, parent/child communication and family alcohol problems were weak predictors. While the family factors varied by race, their impact on the dependent variables did not vary substantially. ^ This study had methodological shortcomings related to measurement and design that may have contributed to the weak influence of the variables. Future studies should explore possible mediating effects of these variables, and should employ more sensitive measures that are culturally appropriate. The results suggest that, since early family factors have long-term effects on children's substance-using behaviors, the family environment should be addressed in prevention and intervention efforts. ^

Ethnic identity, self-esteem and academic factors in second -generation post-1970 Jamaican immigrants

Immigrants from Jamaica represent the largest number of migrants to the United States from the English speaking Caribbean. Research indicates that of all Caribbean immigrants they are most likely to retain the ethnic identity of their home country for the longest period of time. This dissertation explored the nature of ethnic identity and sought to determine its impact upon the additional variables of self-esteem and academic factors. A secondary analysis was carried out using data collected in the Spring of 1992 by Portes and Rumbaut on the children of immigrants attending the eighth and ninth grades in local schools in San Diego and southern Florida. A sample of 151 second-generation Jamaican immigrants was selected from the data set. ^ Six hypotheses yielded mixed results. Both parents who have a Jamaican ethnic identity present in the household are the best predictor Jamaican youth who retain a Jamaican ethnic identity. It was expected that ethnic identity would be a predictor of positive academic factors. The study showed that ethnic identity was not associated with one of the academic factors which were examined: help given with homework. ^ Neither family economic status nor parents' level of education played a significant role in the retention of Jamaican identity. Other findings were that there was no mean difference in the self-esteem scores of respondents who had similar ethnic identities to their parents and those who did not. There was also no difference found in the academic factors of either group. The study also showed that there was a small correlation between parent-child conflict and self-esteem. Specifically, the study found that the higher the conflict between youth and their parents, the lower the self-esteem of the youth. Finally it found that time lived in the U.S. was the best predictor of a higher GPA and it was also related to lower self-esteem. ^ Surprisingly, the study found that the relationship between ethnic identity and SES was the opposite of what was expected in that it found that SES was higher when there was no Jamaican identity. ^

Parent emotional functioning, parent responsiveness, and child adjustment

Over the past two decades, interest in the psychological development of children has steadily increased (Beg, Casey, & Saunders, 2007), presumably because statistics describing childhood psychological illness are alarming. Certain parent interaction styles or behaviors are known to influence child adjustment. According to attachment theory, the reason for these findings is that interaction with a caregiver informs an individual’s construction of an internal working model (IWM) of the self in relation to others in the environment. The purpose of this study was to gain a greater understanding of the factors contributing to child adjustment by examining the influence of parents’ emotional functioning and parent responsiveness to children’s bids for interaction. This dissertation tested a multivariate model of attachment-related processes and outcomes with an ethnically diverse sample. Results partially supported the model, in that parent emotional intelligence predicted some aspects of child adjustment. Overall, the study adds to knowledge about how parent characteristics influence child adjustment and provides support for conceptualizing emotional intelligence as a concrete and observable manifestation of the nonconscious attachment IWM.

Child parent dyadic treatment for anxiety disorders in youths

There is evidence for the efficacy of treatments for childhood anxiety disorders; however, less is known about whether including parents in the child's treatment enhances child treatment response. There also are few studies that have examined predictors of treatment completion/non-completion and success/failure. In this dissertation, a child focused individual treatment was compared to a dyadic child-parent treatment. In dyadic, parent anxiety symptoms and child-parent relationships were targeted. Based on the Transfer of Control Model proposed by Silverman and Kurtines (1996a, b, 2005), it was hypothesized that treatment changes in parent anxiety symptoms and child-parent relationships would be related to positive child treatment response. ^ Participants were 119 youths (ages 6 to 16 years, M = 9.93 SD = 2.75; 68 girls) and their parents. All youth were born in the U.S. but had various backgrounds; 40 were European American, 73 were Latinos/as, 6 were of other ethnic backgrounds or did not report their ethnicity. Participants signed informed consent (assent for youths) and completed a pretreatment assessment. Participants were randomized to a child individual treatment or dyadic treatment, were assessed immediately after treatment and one year post treatment. Findings showed that treated youths improved across all measures over time. Comparison of treatment conditions across all measures showed no statistically significant differences between the child individual and dyadic treatment. Reductions in parent anxiety symptoms and improvements in child-parent relationships were significantly related to child treatment change at posttreatment and at one year follow-up across treatments. No factors differentiated completers from non-completers and only parent reported child internalizing behavior problems were significantly negatively related to child treatment response. ^ The study findings support a premise of the Transfer of Control Model that changes in parent anxiety symptoms and child-parent relationships are related to child treatment response. The study findings show that children can be successfully treated when parents are included as co-clients in dyadic treatment, thereby supporting the utility of this approach in practice. ^

The influence of spirituality, race/ethnicity and religion on parent grief and mental health at one and three months after their infant's/child's death in the neonatal or pediatric intensive care unit

The death of an infant/child is one of the most devastating experiences for parents and immediately throws them into crisis. Spiritual and religious coping strategies may help parents with their loss. The purposes of this longitudinal study were to: (1) describe differences in bereaved parents' use of spiritual coping strategies across racial/ethnic and religious groups, mother/father dyads, and time—one (T1) and three (T2) months after the infant's/child's death in the neonatal (NICU) or pediatric intensive care unit (PICU), and (2) test the relationship between spiritual coping strategies and grief, mental health, and personal growth for mothers and fathers at T1 and T2. A sample of 126 Hispanic, Black/African American, and White parents of 119 deceased children completed the Spiritual Coping Strategies scale, Beck Depression Inventory-II, Impact of Events-Revised, Hogan Grief Reaction Checklist, and a demographic form at T1 and T2. Controlling for race and religion, spiritual coping was a strong predictor of lower grief, better mental health, and greater personal growth for mothers at T1 and T2 and lower grief for fathers at T1. The findings of this study will guide bereaved parents to effective strategies to help them cope with their early grief.

Individual child cognitive behavioral treatment versus child-parent cognitive behavioral treatments for anxiety disorders in children and adolescents: Comparative outcomes

Anxiety disorders; such as separation anxiety disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, social phobia and specific phobia, are widespread in children and adolescents. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) has been shown to be effective in reducing excessive fears and anxieties in children and adolescents. Research has produced equivocal findings that involving parents in treatment of child anxiety enhances effects over individual CBT (ICBT). The present dissertation study examined whether parental involvement can enhance individual treatment effect if the parent conditions are streamlined by targeting specific parental variables. The first parent condition, Parent Reinforcement Skills Training (RFST), involved increasing mothers' use of positive reinforcement and decreasing use of negative reinforcement. The second parent condition, Parent Relationship Skill Training (RLST), involved increasing maternal child acceptance and decreasing maternal control (or increasing autonomy granting). Results of the present dissertation findings support the use of all three treatment conditions (ICBT, RLST, RFST) for child anxiety; that is, significant reductions in anxiety were found in each of the three treatment conditions. No significant differences were found between treatment conditions with respect to diagnostic recovery rate, clinician rating, and parent rating of child anxiety. Significant differences between conditions were found on child self rating of anxiety, with some evidence to support the superiority of RLST and RFST to ICBT. These findings support the efficacy of individual, as well as parent involved CBT, and provide mixed evidence with respect to the superiority of parent involved CBT over ICBT. The conceptual, empirical, and clinical implications of the findings are discussed. ^

Individual Child Cognitive Behavioral Treatment versus Child-Parent Cognitive Behavioral Treatments for Anxiety Disorders in Children and Adolescents: Comparative Outcomes

Anxiety disorders; such as separation anxiety disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, social phobia and specific phobia, are widespread in children and adolescents. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) has been shown to be effective in reducing excessive fears and anxieties in children and adolescents. Research has produced equivocal findings that involving parents in treatment of child anxiety enhances effects over individual CBT (ICBT). The present dissertation study examined whether parental involvement can enhance individual treatment effect if the parent conditions are streamlined by targeting specific parental variables. The first parent condition, Parent Reinforcement Skills Training (RFST), involved increasing mothers’ use of positive reinforcement and decreasing use of negative reinforcement. The second parent condition, Parent Relationship Skill Training (RLST), involved increasing maternal child acceptance and decreasing maternal control (or increasing autonomy granting). Results of the present dissertation findings support the use of all three treatment conditions (ICBT, RLST, RFST) for child anxiety; that is, significant reductions in anxiety were found in each of the three treatment conditions. No significant differences were found between treatment conditions with respect to diagnostic recovery rate, clinician rating, and parent rating of child anxiety. Significant differences between conditions were found on child self rating of anxiety, with some evidence to support the superiority of RLST and RFST to ICBT. These findings support the efficacy of individual, as well as parent involved CBT, and provide mixed evidence with respect to the superiority of parent involved CBT over ICBT. The conceptual, empirical, and clinical implications of the findings are discussed.