The Role of Religion in Parenting Satisfaction and Parenting Stress Among Young Parents

Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health, we examine how religious characteristics affect parenting satisfaction and stress among young parents, and how these relationships vary by gender and relationship status. Results indicate that religiosity is associated with higher parenting satisfaction, and differences across religious traditions are observed for parenting stress. These relationships are generally not moderated by gender or relationship status, suggesting religion influences parenting satisfaction and stress similarly across these contexts. Religion has a generally positive influence on parenting attitudes among young parents—both mothers and fathers—in diverse family structures.     

African American Children's Adjustment: The Roles of Maternal and Teacher Depressive Symptoms

This study examined the unique and interactive roles of mother and teacher depressive symptoms in child adjustment in 277 African American single mother‐headed families, as well as whether the associations differed depending on the age and gender of the child. Findings revealed a significant association between maternal depressive symptoms and child depressive symptoms in girls, but not boys. Moreover, the combination of higher levels of both mother and teacher depressive symptoms was associated with the highest level of child depressive symptoms and, for younger children, externalizing symptoms. The importance of considering the multiple social contexts in which children interact is discussed.     

Parenting Style and Adolescent Externalizing Behaviors: The Moderating Role of Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia

This longitudinal study was conducted with 262 adolescents (M age = 15.3) and their parents to examine adolescent respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA; baseline and reactivity) as a moderator of the relationship between parenting style and adolescent externalizing behaviors. This was conceptualized within the differential susceptibility to the environment framework, which proposes that children with greater sensitivity to environmental influences benefit more from supportive environments but are at greater risk in averse environments. In this study, low RSA baseline was associated with greater susceptibility. In confirmation of hypotheses, males with low RSA baseline had the most externalizing behaviors when mother or father authoritative parenting was low or when mother authoritarian parenting was high. Contrary to hypotheses, females with greater RSA reactivity (high susceptibility) did more poorly when authoritarian parenting was low or authoritative parenting was high. Differential gender socialization and the task used to elicit RSA reactivity are suggested reasons for gender differences.     

The Role of Parental Indulgence and Economic Stress in Life Satisfaction: Differential Perceptions of Parents and Adolescents

The purpose of this study was to determine if there were differences between adolescents and parents in their perceptions of parental indulgence, stress (economic and life), and life satisfaction. In addition, using the conceptual frameworks of family ecosystems and developmental theory, the relationships between the three types of parental indulgence (soft structure, overnurturance, and giving too much), economic stress, life stress, and life satisfaction were examined for parents and adolescent children. Findings indicated that adolescents perceived higher levels of stress and soft structure as compared to their parents, whereas parents perceived higher levels of economic stress. Additionally, each type of parental indulgence affected parent and adolescent life stress and life satisfaction differently. Implications for research and practice are discussed.     

The Association of Maternal Depressive Symptoms with Child Externalizing Problems: The Role of Maternal Support Following Child Sexual Abuse

This study examines the role of abuse-specific maternal support in the association between parent depressive symptoms and child externalizing problems in a sample of children with a history of sexual abuse. In total, 106 mother–child dyads were studied. The association between maternal depressive symptoms and child delinquency behaviors was found to partially operate through abuse-specific maternal support, which was assessed via parent report. Implications of the findings for parenting programs are discussed, and future research directions are considered.     

The Voice of the Child in Parenting Coordination: Views of Children,Parents, and Parenting Coordinators

This article examines the views of children, parents, and parenting coordinators (PCs) on child inclusion in the parenting coordination process. Participants in a parenting coordination pilot project in Montréal, Quebec—10 children (ranging in age from 8–17 years old), 14 parents, and 2 PCs—were interviewed at the end of the project. The goal was to understand their perceptions of child participation in parenting coordination interventions. Overall, a vast majority of children and parents agreed that children should be given a forum in parenting coordination and their voices heard. Feedback from PCs on their child inclusion experience also provided rare insight into this practice. Results confirm the importance for children of being heard in postseparation interventions, even when parental conflict is high. These findings add to the growing literature on the participation of children in postseparation interventions.     

The Intensity Effect in Adolescent Close Friendships: Implications for Aggressive and Depressive Symptomatology

This study examined the effect of close friendship intensity as a potential amplifier of an adolescent's preexisting tendencies toward depressive and aggressive symptoms. A diverse community sample of 170 adolescents and their closest friends was assessed via multiple methods, and adolescents were followed from age 16 to 17. Results supported the hypothesized effect, with more intense close friendships interacting with higher baseline levels of behavioral symptoms to predict greater relative increases in symptoms over time. Effects were observed for both depressive and aggressive symptoms, and appeared with respect to multiple observational measures of friendship intensity. Findings are interpreted as suggesting that seemingly disparate phenomena (e.g., co‐rumination for depression and deviancy‐training for aggression) may both be dependent upon the intensity of the adolescent's social connections.     

Role of Marital Quality in Explaining Depressive Symptoms After Marital Termination Among Older Adults

This study assesses whether prior marital quality moderates the impact of divorce or widowhood on subsequent depression. Poor marital quality may buffer depression associated with divorce/widowhood; conversely, the effect of divorce/widowhood on depression could be exacerbated by previous marital quality. Three waves from the National Survey of Families and Households based on respondents, ages 50 and older, (N?=?2,570) included eight marital quality measures. We find limited evidence suggesting higher marital quality elevates, while lower marital quality decreases, depression after divorce. No moderating effects were found for widowhood. Additionally, health condition is more important than current marital status for elders’ well-being after divorce or widowhood. Heterogeneity in the context of the marriage before divorce should be considered when examining marital termination effects on elders’ depression.     

Parenting Styles: The Impact on Student Achievement

ABSTRACT

Parenting style and its impact on student achievement in a multidimensional society continues to pose significant challenges to clinicians, researchers, educators, and parents alike. This literature review summarizes the research surrounding five domains: (1) parental control; (2) gender and parenting style; (3) parental education; (4) perceptual differences between parents and their children; and (5) ethnicity and diversity. Behavioral control and psychological control were found to be two inherent features of parental style that have a direct affect on student achievement. Adolescents' perceived level of independence when interacting with their parents also seemed to have a direct relationship on their academic achievement. Research concerning children's progress in mathematics as related to parenting style and gender stereotype was also uncovered. Evidence was found to support the notion that parental education can have an indirect impact on children's academic achievement in various cultures. Implications for future research are identified including the need for applied research in learning communities factoring in variables for family structure, expectations, ethnicity, communication, and involvement.     

Parenting Style,Child Emotion Regulation and Behavioral Problems: The Moderating Role of Cultural Values in Australia and Indonesia

Abstract

Research has shown that the congruence of parenting styles with cultural values, rather than parenting styles alone, impacts child adjustment. This study examined if parents’ cultural values moderate the relationships between parenting styles and child outcomes across both an individualist culture (Australia) and a collectivist culture (Indonesia). Three hundred and eighty-seven parents of 2–10-year-old children from both countries reported their parenting styles, the importance of the collectivistic values (security, conformity, and tradition), and their child's emotion regulation and behavioral problems. In both countries, authoritative parenting was associated with higher child emotion regulation and lower levels of behavioral problems, and authoritarian parenting was associated with lower child emotion regulation and higher levels of behavioral problems. Although cultural values did not moderate the relationship between authoritarian parenting and child adjustment, in both countries greater importance placed on tradition attenuated the positive effect of authoritative parenting on child outcomes.     

Parental Support in Adolescents' Career Development: Parents' and Children's Perceptions

Using social cognitive career theory (Lent, Brown, & Hackett, 2000 ), this study examined the role of parents' and children's perceptions of parental support in adolescents' career choices. A total of 94 Italian adolescents (30 boys, 64 girls) and both of their parents (N = 188) participated in the study. The authors tested a fully mediated model between mothers' and fathers' perceptions of support and career choice through the indirect effect of adolescents' perceptions of parental support and career self‐efficacy. Results provided support for the model. Specifically, both mothers' and fathers' perceptions of support predicted their adolescents' career choice through the mediating effect of the youths' perceptions of parental support and career self‐efficacy. These results have important implications for practice and underscore that parents need to be involved very early on in their children's vocational development.     

Depressive Symptoms and Academic Achievement: The Role of Adolescents’ Perceptions of Teachers’ and Peers’ Behaviors

This present study, using a longitudinal design, investigated how depressive symptoms are related to academic achievement and whether the perceptions of teachers’ and peers’ behaviors moderated this relation. A sample of 302 adolescents (60.10% girls, M_age = 17.35) completed scales measuring the depressive symptoms and perception of their teachers’ support/equity and peers’ cooperation/cohesiveness behaviors at Time 1. The adolescents’ average grades were also collected. The adolescents’ depressive symptoms and average grades were measured again at Time 2. The results showed that depressive symptoms measured at Time 1 were negatively associated with academic achievement measured at Time 2. The adolescents’ perception of their peers’ cooperation/cohesiveness moderated the relation between depressive symptoms and academic achievement. The results’ implications for educational practice are discussed.     

Mothers of Children With Physical Disabilities: Influence of Family Processes on Mothers' Depressive Symptomatology

This study examines how family processes, or specific behaviors and relationships within the family, influence the risk of depression in mothers of children with disabilities. Specifically, the collective influence of children's maladaptive behavior problems, father involvement, and coparental conflict on the risk of depression among 60 married mothers of children with physical disabilities is examined. Based on data from the National Survey of Families and Households, findings showed that these mothers perceived the child's behavioral problems as less influential when they were more satisfied with the father's parenting. Furthermore, coparental conflict appeared to mediate the influence of the child's behavior and her satisfaction with the father's involvement on the mother's risk of depression.     

Understanding Acculturation,Depressive Symptoms,and the Protective Role of Family Involvement Among Latino(a) Immigrant Families

Although the relationship between varying levels of acculturation and depressive symptoms has been established among Latino(a) youth, the positive role of family involvement in relation to depressive symptoms among immigrant Latino(a) families has been studied less. This study draws on a sample of first-generation Latino(a) youth from the Longitudinal Immigrant Student Adaptation Study and explores the relationship between acculturation levels and depressive symptoms, as well as the protective role of family involvement. Although results do not support a relationship between acculturation and depressive symptoms, family involvement was significantly associated with lower depressive symptoms while taking important sociodemographic variables into consideration. Research and practice implications with Latino(a) immigrant families are discussed.     

Single Custodial Fathers' Involvement and Parenting: Implications for Outcomes in Emerging Adulthood

Using a sample of 3,977 youths from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY97), this study examines the unique characteristics of single‐custodial‐father families with adolescents and the effects of single fathers' involvement and parenting on outcomes in emerging adulthood. Findings suggest that single‐custodial‐father families are distinct from single‐mother and 2‐biological‐parent families in terms of sociodemographic characteristics, parenting styles, and involvement. Parenting styles and involvement mediate the differences between single‐father families and 2‐parent families in terms of high school completion and disconnectedness and partially mediate differences for single‐custodial‐father families with a partner. Family and sociodemographic characteristics are also associated with being disconnected for adolescents residing with a cohabiting custodial father.     

Familism, Interparental Conflict, and Parenting in Mexican-Origin Families: A Cultural-Contextual Framework

The present investigation examined the relations between the cultural belief of familism and various aspects of family functioning and child adjustment, including interparental conflict, parenting, and children's attachment to school, in a sample of 549 two-parent Mexican-origin families. The results indicated that parents' familistic values were negatively associated with interparental conflict for both mothers and fathers. Parents' familistic values were also indirectly associated with parenting through the marital relationship. Interparental conflict was negatively associated with nurturant-involved parenting for both parents, but particularly for fathers. Interparental conflict had an indirect negative effect on children's attachment to school via mothers' and fathers' nurturant-involved parenting. Both paternal and maternal nurturant-involved parenting behaviors were positively associated with children's attachment to school across two time points. Child gender differences are also discussed.     

Parenting Style and Dimensions Questionnaire: A Review of Reliability and Validity

Increasing interest in measuring parenting styles, especially with the Parenting Style and Dimensions Questionnaire, has emerged in the last 17 years. However, a critical review of studies using this instrument to assess parenting styles has not been done. The present article proposes an extensive review of studies that applied the instrument, focusing in particular on the different uses of the scale, its psychometric properties, and its association with other constructs. A discussion about the applicability, measurement reliability and validity of the instrument is provided.     

Parenting Practices of Resident Fathers: The Role of Marital and Biological Ties

This paper uses data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (N = 2,098) to examine differences in the parenting practices of four types of resident fathers, defined by their biological relationship to a focal child and their marital status with regard to the focal child's mother. Regression results suggest that biological and social (i.e., stepfathers or mothers' cohabiting partners) fathers differ significantly, and in some unexpected ways, on most measures of parenting. However, a considerable portion of these differences can be explained by variation in the background characteristics of the individuals and families in each group. Additionally, difference-in-difference analyses reveal a stronger link between marriage and higher quality parenting practices among social fathers than among biological fathers.