Journal of Child and Family Studies

The biobehavioral correlates of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) among Latinx youth have been strikingly understudied. The purpose of this study was to 1) examine the effects of T-ACEs (e.g., maltreatment, family dysfunction) and E-ACEs (e.g., family deportation, community violence) in alcohol use, 2) test whether social support moderated these associations and 3) explore whether ACEs and alcohol use were related via adrenocortical hormones (i.e., cortisol, dehydroepiandrosterone [DHEA]). A total of 100 Latinx youth, between the ages of 13 and 19, participated in this study (53% female)...

The current study analyzed adolescent, maternal, and family factors associated with mother-adolescent agreement on reports of verbal, relational, and physical forms of peer victimization. It also assessed the relationship between mother-adolescent agreement and adolescents' coping response to peer victimization. The sample consisted of 783 adolescents (337 male, 446 female) between the ages 13-15 and their mothers. Consistent with previous research, results showed mother-adolescent agreement to be low, with kappa coefficients ranging from ...

Social Anxiety Disorder is highly prevalent among children and leads to poor long-term outcomes if left untreated. Theoretical models of anxiety differ in whether children with Social Anxiety Disorder experience objective social skills deficits, negative self-interpretation biases, or some combination of the two. This pilot study evaluated evidence in support of the "deficit" and "bias" models. Approval was obtained from the ethics committee of a large private university in Cambridge, MA, USA, and data collection was completed in 2015...

Up to 50% of children and adolescents in the United States (U.S.) experience sleep problems. While existing research suggests that perceived stress in caregivers is associated with poorer sleep outcomes in children, research on this relationship is often limited to infant and early childhood populations; therefore, we investigated this association in school-age children and adolescents. We used cross-sectional caregiver-reported surveys and applied item response theory (IRT) followed by meta-analysis to assess the relationship between caregiver perceived stress and child sleep disturbance, and moderation of this relationship by child age and the presence of a child mental or physical health condition...

Peer victimization can be detrimental to youth. This study examines a particular type of peer victimization, relational peer victimization, and its effect on students' engagement in the classroom. We specifically investigate the longitudinal relationship between relational peer victimization and academic engagement in a sample of 204 Black 3rd through 5th grade elementary school students by utilizing multiple informants: students and their parents reported on relational peer victimization, and teachers reported on students' academic engagement...

This study examined the relationship between child emotional and behavioral difficulties, parenting stress and the mental health of caregivers of adolescents living with HIV. Caregiver data from a two-year pilot study for adolescents and their caregivers (N = 89 dyads) in Uganda, were analyzed. Ordinary Least Square regression models were conducted to examine the association between child difficulties reported by caregivers using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire on parenting stress (measured by Parenting Stress Index) and caregiver mental health (measured by the Brief Symptoms Inventory)...

Improving the process through which mental health professionals are trained in evidence-based practices (EBPs) represents an important opportunity for extending the implementation of EBPs in community settings. In this study, we used a qualitative approach to examine the specific training elements that were beneficial to clinicians' experiences learning an evidence-based intervention. Individual, semi-structured interviews were conducted with mental health professionals completing training in the GenerationPMTO parenting intervention...

Anxiety symptoms and disorders are prevalent and impairing in young children and these symptoms often persist and worsen over time, indicating the need for efficacious interventions for this age group. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of psychosocial interventions targeting anxiety in younger children and to assess the potential moderators of outcome. The effect sizes from 24 trials were assessed based on a random effect model. The mean weighted effect size was found to be significant and moderate in magnitude...

Opioid misuse (OM) is a priority public health concern, especially for those in correctional settings. Understanding the etiology of OM among justice-involved children (JIC) is key to resolving this crisis. On average, 12% of all children and up to 50% of JIC in the United States have experienced household substance misuse (HSM). Theory and empirical research suggest that HSM may increase risk for OM, but these relationships have not been examined among JIC. The objective of this study was to examine the effects of sibling and parent substance misuse on OM among JIC...

Historically, racial socialization (RS) literature has focused on the content and frequency of RS messages communicated between Black parents and youth. In an effort to examine the potential added benefit of receiving RS messages from non-parental agents, three hierarchical linear regressions were tested among a sample of Black youth (ages 14-21). Black youths' acquisition of protection and bicultural coping messages from parents were associated with their belief in racial protection messages along with select relevant covariates...

Few studies have examined protective maternal factors that may mitigate the intergenerational transmission of risk of maternal emotion regulation difficulties on child outcomes. The current study tested whether supportive maternal emotion socialization moderated the association between maternal emotion regulation difficulties and child emotion regulation behaviors. Participants were 68 mother-preschooler (aged 36-60 months) dyads that were oversampled for maternal symptoms of borderline personality disorder, in order to achieve greater variability in the range of maternal emotion regulation difficulties...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

Latinx families may be particularly vulnerable to emotional dysfunction, due to higher rates of economic hardship and complex social influences in this population. Little is known about the impact of environmental stressors such as unmet social needs and maternal stress on the emotional health of Latinx children from low-income families. We conducted secondary analyses using survey and biomarker data from 432 Latinx children and mothers collected in a separate study. We used binomial and multinomial logistic regression to test if household social needs, or maternal perceived stress or hair cortisol concentration (HCC), predicted child measures of emotional functioning or child HCC, independent of relevant sociodemographic factors...

Previous research suggests that family dysfunction may be related to lower health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in parent caregivers, but it is unknown if this association exists in the context of child mental illness. Therefore, the objectives of this study were to compare HRQoL between parent caregivers and Canadian population norms using the Short Form 36 Health Survey (SF-36); examine associations between family functioning and parental HRQoL; and investigate whether child and parental factors moderate associations between family functioning and parental HRQoL...

It is well established that parenting influences child behavior at home, but less is known about the associations between parenting and teacher reports of child behavior at school, an environment more distal from the home context. This study investigated the presence of authoritarian, authoritative, permissive, and uninvolved parenting styles (PS) in a community sample of 321 parents with kindergarteners (Mage = 5.45 years) in the Northwestern United States. This study analyzed (1) which PS were present, (2) if PS was associated with family characteristics, (3) if teacher reported behavior problems in spring of children's kindergarten year varied by PS, and (4) whether associations between PS and child behaviors were moderated by parenting stress...

Challenging parenting behaviour (CPB) refers to parental encouragement of behaviours where children push their own limits through engaging them engage in safe risks, such as rough-and-tumble play (Bögels & Phares, 2008). Preliminary evidence suggests that CPB reduces the risk of child anxiety however, little is known about the relationship between CPB and specific forms of anxiety disorders and the factors that influence this relationship. The present study aims to examine current maternal and paternal CPB in relation to symptoms of generalised anxiety disorder (GAD) and social anxiety disorder (SAD) in emerging adulthood, and to identify whether intolerance of uncertainty (IU) and cognitive avoidance (CA) sequentially mediate this relationship...

Studies of the impact of COVID-19 on mental health symptoms suggest that there may be a unique impact of COVID-19 on minoritized individuals, young children (children five and younger), and their caregivers. Longitudinal studies with representative samples including minoritized populations are needed to accurately reflect the experience of families during COVID-19. The current study used a longitudinal design to assess trajectories of mental health among Latinx female caregivers and their young children over time, beginning prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and over the course of 12 months...

Parenting programs are an important tool that can provide support for parents and families and improve family functioning. This concurrent nested QUANT + qual mixed methods study sought to better understand parenting education program participation and examine format, delivery, and content preferences for parenting programs among Latino parents in Nebraska. Results from a statewide survey ( N  = 173) indicated that 31.4% of parents in the sample had participated in a parenting program...

Adolescence is a critical developmental period in which substance use can have long-term adverse effects. Structural ecosystem theory (SET) argues that community contexts may support or undermine the family's ability to protect youth from substance use. Specific parenting attributes (e.g., providing structure, monitoring) have consistently been linked to youth substance use. However, less is known about how community factors may be influencing substance use through family and peer dynamics during adolescence...

The COVID-19 pandemic presents a significant challenge to the well-being of families with children. Although previous studies have documented COVID-related deterioration in parents' mental health, the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. It is also unclear how much of the deterioration is due to the pandemic itself, versus mandated lockdown measures. We conducted a cross-sectional study in Singapore to examine perceived changes in parents' lives and mental health related to the pandemic and lockdown measures...