Adolescents’ responses to parental regulation: The role of communication style and self-determination

This study examined whether adolescents’ perceptions and reactions to parental regulation were predicted by parents’ communication style and by adolescents’ self-determination. Adolescents (N = 294; Mage = 14.3) reported their self determination, and then read a hypothetical scenario of parental regulation of their academic behavior, whereby parents’ communication style was either autonomy-supportive or psychologically controlling. Following the scenario, adolescents reported their perceptions of the situation (i.e., autonomy satisfaction, autonomy frustration, legitimacy) and their anticipated responses (i.e., oppositional defiance, negotiation). In response to psychological control, adolescents reported less autonomy satisfaction, more autonomy frustration, less legitimacy, and more defiance. Further, adolescents higher in self-determination reported less autonomy frustration, more legitimacy, less defiance, and more negotiation. Finally, self-determination moderated two effects of communication style: adolescents low on self-determination reported less legitimacy and more defiance in response to the psychologically controlling (vs. autonomy-supportive) situation. For adolescents high on self determination, these between-vignette differences were not significant

Parental Support and Adolescents’ Coping with Academic Stressors: A Longitudinal Study of Parents’ Influence Beyond Academic Pressure and Achievement

Adolescents face many academic pressures that require good coping skills, but coping skills can also depend on social resources, such as parental support and fewer negative interactions. The aim of this study was to determine if parental support and parental negative interactions concurrently and longitudinally relate to adolescents’ ways of academic coping, above and beyond the impact of three types of academic stress, students’ achievement at school (i.e., grades in school), and age. Survey data were collected from 839 Australian students in grades 5 to 10 (Mage = 12.2, SD = 1.72; 50% girls). Students completed measures of support and negative interactions with parents; academic stress from workload, external pressure (teachers/parents) to achieve, and intrapsychic pressure for high achievement; and ways of academic coping that were grouped into two positive and two negative types. Hypothesized associations were tested concurrently and from one year to the next using path modeling. Beyond the numerous significant influences of academic stress and achievement on coping, and control for age and COVID-19 timing, adolescents with more parental support reported more use of engagement coping (e.g., strategizing) and comfort-seeking, whereas those who reported more negative interactions with parents reported more use of disengagement coping (e.g., concealment) and escape. In the longitudinal model, parental support predicted an increase in engagement and comfort-seeking and a decrease in disengagement coping, whereas negative interaction with parents predicted an increase in disengagement coping. Overall, the findings support the view that coping with academic stressors will continue to depend on parent-adolescent relationships even into the teen years

D-cycloserine-augmented one-session treatment of specific phobias in children and adolescents.

BACKGROUND: D-Cycloserine has potential to enhance exposure therapy outcomes. The current study presents a preliminary randomized, placebo-controlled double-blind pilot trial of DCS-augmented one-session treatment (OST) for youth (7-14 years) with specific phobia. A secondary aim of this pilot study was to explore the effects of youth age and within-session fear reduction as potential moderators of DCS outcomes in order to generate hypotheses for a larger trial. It was hypothesized that DCS would be associated with greater improvements than placebo, that children (7-10 years) would have greater benefits than adolescents (11-14 years), and that DCS effects would be stronger for participants with the greater within-session fear reduction during the OST. METHODS: Thirty-five children and adolescents were randomized to either OST combined with DCS (n = 17), or OST combined with placebo (PBO; n = 18) and assessed at 1 week, 1 month, and 3 month following treatment. RESULTS: There were no significant pre- to post-treatment or follow-up benefits of DCS relative to placebo. Secondary analyses of age indicated that relative to PBO, DCS was associated with greater improvements for children (but not adolescents) on measures of severity at 1-month follow-up. Children in the DCS condition also showed significantly greater improvement to 1 month on global functioning relative to other groups. Conversely, adolescents had significant post-treatment benefits in the PBO condition on symptom severity measures relative to DCS, and adolescents in the DCS condition had significantly poorer functioning at 3 months relative to all other groups. Finally, there was a trend for within-session fear reduction to be associated with moderating effects of DCS, whereby greater reduction in fear was associated with greater functioning at one-month follow-up for children who received DCS, relative to PBO. LIMITATIONS: The study sample was small and therefore conclusions are tentative and require replication. CONCLUSIONS: Age and within-session fear reduction may be important moderators of DCS-augmented one-session exposure therapy, which requires testing in a fully powered randomized controlled trial

Does General Parenting Context Modify Adolescents' Appraisals and Coping with a Situation of Parental Regulation? The Case of Autonomy-Supportive Parenting

Theory and research suggest that adolescents differ in their appraisals and coping reactions in response to parental regulation. Less is known, however, about factors that determine these differences in adolescents’ responses. In this study, we examined whether adolescents' appraisals and coping reactions depend upon parents’ situation-specific autonomy-supportive or controlling communication style (i.e., the situation) in interaction with adolescents’ past experiences with general autonomy-supportive parenting (i.e., the parenting context). Whereas in Study 1 (N = 176) adolescents’ perceived general autonomy-supportive parenting context was assessed at one point in time, in Study 2 (N = 126) it was assessed multiple times across a 6-year period, allowing for an estimation of trajectories of perceived autonomy-supportive parenting context. In each study, adolescents read a vignette-based scenario depicting a situation of maternal regulation (i.e., a request to study more), which was communicated in either an autonomy-supportive or a controlling way. Following this scenario, they reported upon their appraisals and their anticipated coping reactions. Results of each study indicated that both the autonomy-supportive (relative to the controlling) situation and the perceived autonomy-supportive parenting context generally related to more positive appraisals (i.e., more autonomy need satisfaction, less autonomy need frustration), as well as to more constructive coping responses (i.e., less oppositional defiance and submission, more negotiation and accommodation). In addition, situation × context interactions were found, whereby adolescents growing up in a more autonomy-supportive context seemed to derive greater benefits from the exposure to an autonomy-supportive situation and reacted more constructively to a controlling situation

Efficacy of D-cycloserine augmented brief intensive cognitive-behavioural therapy for paediatric obsessive-compulsive disorder: A randomised clinical trial

Objective: To examine the efficacy of weight-adjusted D-cycloserine (DCS) (35 or 70 mg) relative to placebo augmentation of intensive exposure therapy for youth with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) in a double-blind, randomised controlled trial, and examine whether antidepressant medication or patient age moderated outcomes. Methods: Youth (n = 100, 7–17 years) with OCD were randomised in a 1:1 ratio to either DCS + exposure (n = 49) or placebo + exposure (n = 51). Assessments occurred posttreatment, 1 month later, and at 3 and 6 months. Pills were ingested immediately before sessions. Results: Significant improvements on all outcomes were observed at posttreatment, and to 6-month follow-up. Treatment arms did not differ across time, with no significant time-by-medication interactions on symptom severity (T1 to T2 estimate: 9.3, 95% confidence interval [CI]: −11.2 to −7.4, and estimate −10.7, 95% CI: −12.6 to −8.7), diagnostic severity (T1 to T2 estimate: −2.0, 95% CI: −2.4 to −1.5 and estimate −2.5, 95% CI: −3.0 to −2.0) or global functioning (T1 to T2 estimate: 13.8, 95% CI: 10.6 to 17.0, and estimate 16.6, 95% CI: 13.2 to 19.9). Neither antidepressants at baseline nor age moderated primary outcomes. There were significantly fewer responders/remitters at 1- and 6-month follow-up among youth in the DCS condition stabilised on SSRIs, relative to youth not taking SSRIs. Conclusions: DCS augmented intensive exposure therapy did not result in overall additional benefits relative to placebo. Intensive exposure proved effective in reducing symptoms for the overall sample

The Role of Important Non-Parental Adults (VIPs) in the Lives of Older Adolescents: A Comparison of Three Ethnic Groups

Previous research has consistently documented the importance of VIPs (mentors or important non-parental adults) in the lives of adolescents. Little is known, however, about whether VIPs play the same important roles across ethnic groups and whether VIPs remain influential when adolescents are older and involved in romantic relationships. The present study compared VIPs of 355 Hispanic, Asian, and European American older adolescents (age range = 17–19 years; M = 18.7 years; 62% female). Results indicated that, despite ethnic differences in their social capital, VIPs’ psychological characteristics (e.g., warmth and acceptance, depressive symptoms, and problem behavior) were similar. VIPs were perceived to have more positive psychological profiles than parents and peers, and in some cases, romantic partners. Moreover, with a few exceptions, the associations between VIP characteristics and adolescent adjustment (e.g., self-esteem, depressive symptoms, and problem behavior) were largely similar across ethnic groups. Finally, VIPs made unique contributions to adolescents’ self-esteem and problem behaviors even after the effects of romantic partners were considered. Implications of the findings are discussed

Studying Children's Intrapersonal Emotion Regulation Strategies from the Process Model of Emotion Regulation

peerreview_statement: The publishing and review policy for this title is described in its Aims & Scope. aims_and_scope_url: http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?show=aimsScope&journalCode=vgnt2

Intimate Partner Violence and Health Care-Seeking Patterns Among Female Users of Urban Adolescent Clinics

To assess the prevalence of intimate partner violence (IPV) and associations with health care-seeking patterns among female patients of adolescent clinics, and to examine screening for IPV and IPV disclosure patterns within these clinics. A self-administered, anonymous, computerized survey was administered to female clients ages 14–20 years (N = 448) seeking care in five urban adolescent clinics, inquiring about IPV history, reasons for seeking care, and IPV screening by and IPV disclosure to providers. Two in five (40%) female urban adolescent clinic patients had experienced IPV, with 32% reporting physical and 21% reporting sexual victimization. Among IPV survivors, 45% reported abuse in their current or most recent relationship. IPV prevalence was equally high among those visiting clinics for reproductive health concerns as among those seeking care for other reasons. IPV victimization was associated with both poor current health status (AOR 1.57, 95% CI 1.03–2.40) and having foregone care in the past year (AOR 2.59, 95% CI 1.20–5.58). Recent IPV victimization was associated only with past 12 month foregone care (AOR 2.02, 95% CI 1.18–3.46). A minority (30%) reported ever being screened for IPV in a clinical setting. IPV victimization is pervasive among female adolescent clinic attendees regardless of visit type, yet IPV screening by providers appears low. Patients reporting poor health status and foregone care are more likely to have experienced IPV. IPV screening and interventions tailored for female patients of adolescent clinics are needed