Child behavior and sibling relationship quality: a cross-lagged analysis

Bidirectional associations between sibling relationships and children’s problem behaviors are robust, and links with prosocial behavior have also been reported. Using cross-lagged models, we were able to conservatively test temporal directions of links between positive and negative aspects of sibling relationships and children’s prosocial behavior and conduct problems across a 3-year time span in middle childhood. The Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC; http://www.bristol.ac.uk/alspac/researchers/data-access/data-dictionary/) is an ongoing population-based study designed to investigate the effects of a wide range of factors on children’s health and development. For the purposes of the current analyses, we included 2,043 ALSPAC families who had just 1 older sibling as well as the target child, with an age gap of no more than 5 years. Mothers reported about the quality of the sibling relationship and both children’s prosocial behavior and conduct problems when the target child was 4 years of age and again when the target child was 7 years old. Confirming our hypothesis, individual child behavior was predictive of sibling relationship quality, and sibling relationship quality was predictive of later child behavior, providing robust evidence of bidirectionality for both prosocial behavior and conduct problems. It would be consistent to expect that an improvement in either sibling relationship quality or individual children’s behavior could have a positive spill over effect. We also found evidence of older sibling dominance in the domain of prosocial behavior and the positive aspects of sibling interaction

Mother-child positivity and negativity: family-wide and child-specific main effects and interactions predict child adjustment

Links between positive and negative aspects of the parent-child relationship and child adjustment are undisputed. Scholars recognize the importance of parental differential treatment (PDT) of siblings, yet, less is known about PDT in the context of the shared (family-wide) parent-child relationship climate, or about the extent to which positivity may buffer children’s adjustment from negativity. Controlling for behavioral stability, we examined the potential for positive and negative parent-child processes to interact across and between child-specific and family-wide levels in the prediction of children’s adjustment. Specifically, in a sample of 2,039 United Kingdom families, we used multilevel models to examine child-specific and family-wide mother-child relationships (at 4 years)—including interactive processes—in the prediction of prosocial behavior and conduct problems (at 7 years). The majority of variance in children’s adjustment resided within-families: siblings were strikingly different. Accounting for behavioral stability, family-wide negativity and negative PDT associated with both prosociality and conduct problems. More important, we demonstrated interactions between, (a) family-wide negativity and negative PDT for conduct problems, as well as, (b) positive and negative PDT in the prediction of both prosocial behavior and conduct problems. Results suggest negative PDT associates with increased conduct problems over time, even when the overall family climate is low in negativity. They also indicate a buffering role of positive PDT on the deleterious effects of negative PDT for children’s adjustment. Implications for both research and practice are discussed, including the importance of information gained by considering more than one child in the family

Maternal psychological distress and children's adjustment problems: Mediation by household chaos

Research over many decades has considered the crucial role of maternal psychological distress (e.g., depression, anxiety) for children's psychological adjustment (externalizing and internalizing problems), suggesting bidirectional influences over time. However, little is known about the extent to which household chaos (e.g., noise, disorganization, lack of calm) may mediate this mutual association, despite an understanding that chaos is a powerful stressor in the home. Conducting secondary data analysis in a large scale, prospective longitudinal study of families with children-the U.K.'s Millennium Cohort Study-we accounted for stability in both maternal psychological distress and children's internalizing and externalizing problems and examined the extent to which household chaos mediated the mutual association between maternal psychological distress and children's behaviors. Using what we term a mutual-mediation model, we found that both maternal psychological distress and children's adjustment problems predicted household chaos at Age 5, and in turn, that chaos predicted maternal psychological distress and child adjustment problems at Age 7. We found a dominance of children's externalizing problems in the prediction of household chaos, and all pathways were strongest for maternal psychological distress and externalizing problems compared to child internalizing problems. Our findings suggest that research would be well-minded to consider both child and parent effects on household chaos, as well as its mediation potential. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Family research just got harder… and more important

Bonamy Oliver and Alison Pike on the need for study, how pandemic measures have affected it, and a possible solution

Maternal mental-health treatment moderates the association between psychological distress and harsh parenting: A prospective cohort study

OBJECTIVE: Parental psychological distress (depression, anxiety) is detrimental to child mental health. A key reason for this is that depressed and anxious parents are at risk of engaging in more negative, reactive and harsh parenting. While treatment for psychological distress has a long history of success in adults, less is known about how treatment for parental psychological distress may positively influence parenting behaviours, particularly in the general population. We examined the moderating role of mothers receiving treatment for depression or anxiety on the longitudinal relationship between maternal psychological distress and the development of harsh parenting (smacking and shouting) across early childhood (ages 3 to 7). METHOD: Using prospective data from 16,131 families participating in the UK’s Millennium Cohort Study, we conducted moderator analysis within a multilevel repeated measures model to test whether receiving treatment for mental health problems could protect mothers with high psychological distress from engaging in harsh parenting. RESULTS: In each wave, about 7% of mothers reported undergoing treatment for depression or anxiety at that time. Maternal psychological distress was associated with increased use of harsh parenting and that, adjusting for psychological distress, receiving psychological treatment was related to decreased use of harsh parenting. Importantly, receiving psychological treatment buffered the negative effect of psychological distress on harsh parenting. CONCLUSION: In early-to-middle childhood, mental health treatment may help mothers with depression or anxiety to be less harsh toward their children, thereby benefiting their child’s psychological adjustment

Determinants of mindful parenting: a cross-cultural examination of parent and child reports

Based on Belsky’s process of parenting model and its recent update, the present study aims to explore multiple determinants of mindful parenting (i.e., parents’ psychological distress, child negative emotionality, and parental social support) across the UK and Türkiye using a multi-informant approach and multiple-group path analysis. We considered both parents’ and children’s perceptions of mindful parenting to obtain a complete picture of the mindful parenting process within families. Parents and their children aged 11–16 years were recruited in the UK (N = 101, Mchild age = 13.06 years, SDchild age = 1.64 years) and Türkiye (N = 162, Mchild age = 13.28 years, SDchild age = 1.65 years). Multiple-group path analysis revealed that both parent and child perspectives of mindful parenting are multiply determined. Parental psychological distress mediated the associations of child negative emotionality and social support with mindful parenting in both cultures. However, child negative emotionality was a direct determinant of mindful parenting in the UK only. Overall, our study shed light on both individual and cultural differences in the mindful parenting process. Limitations of the current research and recommendations and implications for future mindful parenting research and practices were discussed

Perspectives of maternal mindful parenting: development and initial validation of the Mindful Parenting Inventories for Parents (MPIP) and Children (MPIC)

Objectives: Mindful parenting and its association with children’s socio-emotional development has garnered increasing research interest in recent years, but child perspectives are little understood. Here, we introduce the development and initial validation of parallel parent- and child-reported inventories—the Mindful Parenting Inventories for Parents (MPIP) and Children (MPIC)—that aim to measure parent and child perspectives of mindful parenting, respectively. Method: The inventories consist of 18 items comprising 4 mindful parenting subscales (Self-Regulation in Parenting, Acceptance and Compassion towards Child, Being in the Moment with Child, Awareness of Child). Following initial feasibility work, 135 mothers (Mage = 44.50 years, SDage = 5.49 years) and 90 typically developing children (Mage = 13.09 years, SDage = 1.66 years) formed a validation sample in the UK. Partial measurement invariance was supported across reporters. Results: There were medium-to-large correlations between MPIP and MPIC total scores and subscales, and both demonstrated excellent convergent validity (associations with mothers’ dispositional mindfulness and “traditional” parenting constructs) and concurrent validity (associations with children’s internalising, externalising and prosocial behaviours and mothers’ psychological distress). Furthermore, incremental validity—predictions from MPIP/MPIC to children’s behaviours over and above maternal dispositional mindfulness and traditional parenting—was apparent. Conclusions: The parallel MPIP and MPIC show promise for assessing mindful parenting from both parent and child perspectives. Preregistration: This study was not preregistered

Unpacking externalising problems: negative parenting associations for conduct problems and irritability

Background Reciprocal associations between negative parenting and child externalising problems are well documented, but measures commonly include child irritability, masking potential distinct associations for irritability and conduct problems. Aims To illuminate links between negative parenting, child conduct problems and irritability over time. Method A cross-lagged monozygotic (MZ) twin differences design was used in a UK sample (3154 twin pairs) at 4, 7 and 9 years. Results Within-pair MZ differences in negative parenting were found to relate longitudinally to differences in conduct problems and irritability. Of note, negative parenting at age 7 was found to relate particularly to increased irritability at 9 years. Conclusions Once genetics are taken into account, irritability in middle childhood may be particularly vulnerable to negative parenting, suggesting support for its malleability to parent-based intervention

Children’s resilience to sibling victimization: The role of family, peer, school, and neighborhood factors

Although common, little is known about the potential impacts of sibling victimization, and how best to ameliorate these. We explored longitudinal associations between sibling victimization and mental health and wellbeing outcomes, and promotive and risk factors that predicted better or worse outcomes following victimization. Data were from >12,000 participants in the Millennium Cohort Study, a longitudinal UK birth cohort, who reported on sibling victimization at age 11 and/or 14 years. We identified potential risk and promotive factors at family, peer, school, and neighborhood levels from age 14 data. Mental health and wellbeing outcomes (internalizing and externalizing problems, mental wellbeing, self-harm) were collected at age 17. Results suggested that over and above pre-existing individual and family level vulnerabilities, experiencing sibling victimization was associated with significantly worse mental health and wellbeing. Having no close friends was a risk factor for worse-than-expected outcomes following victimization. Higher levels of school motivation and engagement was a promotive factor for better-than-expected outcomes. This indicates that aspects of the school environment may offer both risk and promotive factors for children experiencing sibling victimization at home. We argue that effective sibling victimization interventions should be extended to include a focus on factors at the school level