Harsh Parenting and Trajectories of Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties in Autistic Children

Autistic children show higher rates of co-occurring emotional and behavioural difficulties compared to other children in the general population. However, the environmental factors which contribute to the development of emotional (internalising) and behavioural (externalising) difficulties in autistic individuals are poorly understood. This study sought to investigate the association between harsh parenting (smacking, shouting, telling off) and the trajectories of emotional and behavioural difficulties in autistic children from ages 3 to 7. A sample comprising of 349 autistic children participated from the UK’s Millennium Cohort Study. Associations between harsh parenting and child emotional and behavioural difficulties were modelled using multilevel growth curve models. In autistic children, harsh parenting was associated with total emotional and behavioural difficulties and behavioural (but not emotional) problems concurrently. Moreover, harsh parenting was not associated with changes in emotional and behavioural difficulties over time. Harsh parenting may have an important role in externalising problems in young autistic children indicating the need for public health strategies which educate parents on its effects

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)

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

Types of greenspace and adolescent mental health and well-being in metropolitan London

The evidence suggests a link between greenspace and adolescent mental health. One limitation is the typically crude measure of greenspace quantity or greenness. We explored the roles of different types of greenspace in the mental health of 10- to 15-year-old adolescents living in London, using data from Understanding Society, a UK household longitudinal study. We used data on 1,879 adolescents from waves 1-8 (2009-2018). As some adolescents had observations at multiple waves, 4,217 observations were included. Mental health and well-being measures were Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire scores, self-esteem, and happiness. Proportions of green land cover, parks & gardens, natural & semi-natural urban greenspaces, outdoor sports facilities, and total green land use were measured in 500 m around postcodes. We ran linear regressions, stratified by age, adjusted for confounders, and accounting for Understanding Society’s complex sampling design. We did not find consistent results across analyses, but we identified patterns worth exploring further: older adolescents (13-15 years) seemed to ‘benefit’ more from greenspace than younger adolescents (10-12 years); and parks & gardens and outdoor sports facilities seemed to be most ‘beneficial’. Overall, however, no clear conclusions can be drawn, and findings need to be confirmed in future studies

Mental health and social difficulties of late-diagnosed autistic children, across childhood and adolescence

BACKGROUND: Autism can be diagnosed from 2 years of age, although most autistic people receive their diagnosis later than this after they have started education. Research is required to understand why some autistic children are diagnosed late, and the level and nature of unmet need prior to diagnosis for late-diagnosed children. METHODS: We examined trajectories of emotional, behavioural and social difficulties (EBSDs) across childhood and adolescence, comparing 'earlier-diagnosed' (diagnosed 7 years or younger) with 'late-diagnosed' (diagnosed between 8 and 14 years) autistic children. Data were from the Millennium Cohort Study, a population-based UK birth cohort. EBSDs were measured using the parent-report Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, at 3, 5, 7, 11 and 14 years. We used Growth Curve Modelling to investigate levels and rates of change in these difficulties, and to compare earlier- (n = 146) and late-diagnosed (n = 284) autistic children. RESULTS: Aged 5, earlier-diagnosed autistic children had more emotional (i.e., internalising), conduct, hyperactivity and social difficulties; although clinical difficulties in these areas were nevertheless common in late-diagnosed children. There was a faster annual increase in scores for all domains for late-diagnosed children, and by age 14 years, they had higher levels of EBSDs. These results persisted when we ran adjusted models, to account for the late-diagnosed group having higher rates of late-diagnosed attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, higher IQ, a higher proportion of females and older and more educated mothers. CONCLUSIONS: Emotional, behavioural and social difficulties are associated with, and may influence, the timing of autism diagnosis. Late-diagnosed autistic children often have high levels of mental health and social difficulties prior to their autism diagnosis, and tend to develop even more severe problems as they enter adolescence

Internalising symptoms mediate the longitudinal association between childhood inflammation and psychotic-like experiences in adulthood

Psychotic-like experiences (PLEs) are part of a continuum of psychosis. Previous longitudinal studies highlighted a relationship between peripheral inflammation during childhood and onset of PLEs in adulthood. In this study, we tested if this association is mediated by internalising and externalising symptoms experienced during childhood and adolescence. To test this hypothesis, we used data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC). We investigated a subsample of 4525 individuals from this cohort with data on interleukin 6 (IL-6) and C-reactive protein (CRP) in childhood (age 9 years). We measured PLEs at age 18 years, and we used latent growth curve modelling to estimate longitudinal trajectories of internalising and externalising symptoms from ages 9 to 16 years. The individual predicted values of the intercept (set at baseline, 9 years) and the slope (rate of annual change) were then used in the mediation analysis. There was evidence for full mediation by the intercept of internalising symptoms. Our findings suggest that inflammation during childhood may be relevant for the future onset of PLEs via its association with a high level of internalising symptoms. These findings, although obtained from a non-clinical population, provide an additional step in advancing knowledge on the relationship between inflammation and symptoms of the psychosis continuum

The effects of cumulative stressful educational events on the mental health of doctoral students during the Covid-19 pandemic

High rates of psychological distress including anxiety and depression are common in the doctoral community and the learning environment has a role to play. With the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic taking a toll on mental health it is necessary to explore the risk and protective factors for this population. Using data from the Covid-19: Global Study of Social Trust and Mental Health, the present study examined the relationship between Covid-19-related stressful educational experiences and doctoral students' mental health problems. Moreover, it assessed the role of attentional ability and coping skills in promoting good mental health. One hundred and fifty-five doctoral students completed an online survey where micro-, meso- and macro-level educational stressors were measured. The Patient Health Questionnaire and the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Questionnaire were used to measure depression and anxiety symptoms, respectively. We also measured coping skills using a 13-item scale and attentional ability using a questionnaire. The results of multiple linear regression analyses showed that specific stressful educational experiences were unrelated but cumulative stressful educational experiences were related to increased depression symptoms (but not anxiety symptoms) in fully adjusted models. Additionally, higher coping skills and attentional ability were related to fewer depression and anxiety symptoms. Finally, no associations between demographics and other covariates and mental health problems were found. The experience of multiple educational stressful events in their learning environment due to Covid-19 is a key risk factor for increased mental illness in the doctoral community. This could be explained by the uncertainty that the Covid-19 pandemic has caused to the students