Are They Listening? Parental Social Coaching and Parenting Emotional Climate Predict Adolescent Receptivity

Associations linking parenting emotional climate and quality of parental social coaching with young adolescents' receptivity to parental social coaching were examined (N = 80). Parenting emotional climate was assessed with adolescent‐reported parental warmth and hostility. Quality of parental social coaching (i.e., prosocial advice, benign framing) was assessed via parent‐report and behavioral observations during a parent–adolescent discussion about negative peer evaluation. An adolescent receptivity latent variable score was derived from observations of adolescents’ behavior during the discussion, change in adolescents’ peer response plan following the discussion, and adolescent‐reported tendency to seek social advice from the parent. Parenting climate moderated associations between coaching and receptivity: Higher quality coaching was associated with greater receptivity in the context of a more positive climate. Analyses suggested a stronger association between coaching and receptivity among younger compared to older adolescents.     

Communicatively Managing Religious Identity Difference in Parent-Child Relationships: The Role of Accommodative and Nonaccommodative Communication

Guided by Communication Accommodation Theory, we examine the communicative management of religious difference in parent-child relationships. Using survey data from emerging adults (N = 409), we found that religious difference is associated with decreases in relational satisfaction and shared family identity. Further, parents’ religious communication has the potential to promote relational well-being. Accommodative communication (religious-specific supportive communication and respecting divergent values) was associated with increases in relational satisfaction and shared family identity. Two forms of nonaccommodative communication (inappropriate self-disclosure and emphasizing divergent values) were associated with decreases with relational satisfaction and shared family identity; giving unwanted advice was associated with decreases in relational satisfaction but not shared family identity. Giving unwanted advice moderated the relationship between religious difference and relational satisfaction. Differences were also discovered between families with inter- and intrafaith parental dyads. Findings suggest theoretical and methodological contributions to family communication, religious, and intergroup research.     

The role of parental emotional validation and invalidation on children’s clinical symptoms: A study with children exposed to intimate partner violence

Abstract

Parental emotional validation has been proposed of as a major explanatory mechanism of the association between intimate partner violence (IPV) and children’s psychological problems. The present study examined the effect of parental emotional validation and invalidation on the relationship between exposure to IPV, and both post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression symptoms. Sample was composed of Portuguese children exposed to IPV and an age- and gender-matched control group. Structural equation modeling was conducted. Children who were exposed to IPV presented higher scores on PTSD (p?<?.001, d?=?.99) and depression symptoms (p?<?.01, d?=?.63), and paternal (p?<?.05, d?=?.67) and maternal (p?<?.01, d?=?.81) emotional invalidation. Children who were exposed to IPV presented lower scores on paternal emotional validation (p?<?.001, d?=?1.23). Exposure to IPV directly predicts both PTSD and depression symptoms but the indirect effect was stronger. Paternal emotional validation moderated the impact of exposure to IPV on clinical symptoms; the relationship between exposure to IPV and both PTSD and depression symptoms was mediated by maternal emotional invalidation. Findings suggest the potential usefulness of parental emotional validation and invalidation as treatment goals in clinical intervention with this population. Interventions to improve the therapist-patient alliance recommend that therapists use emotional validation. Training of emotional validation skills in parenting training may prevent the deleterious effects of exposure to IPV.     

Explicating crisis coping in crisis communication

This study explores coping, a core construct in the cognitive appraisal theory of crisis communication, from the public's perspective. The study proposed and tested the hierarchical framework of publics’ crisis coping that examined the relationship among four types of publics’ crisis coping strategies (i.e., relational thinking, emotional venting, instrumental support, and action). For this purpose, a survey was conducted among 168 individuals from a randomly sampled general public population. The proposed model of crisis coping illustrates tenable data-model fits. Key findings of this study include direct effects of rational thinking on action as well as indirect effects of emotional venting on action through instrumental support. The results shed light on the essential coping facilitator role organizations could play in terms of providing publics with instrumental support in times of crisis and facilitate more constructive public responses in the organizational crisis-handling process.     

Gambling and the family: From the stress‐coping‐support Perspective 1

Abstract

Aims: To apply the stress‐coping‐support perspective to the study of the effects of problem gambling in the family. Specifically, to examine the ways in which family members cope and the nature and sources of support they receive. To compare coping strategies of family members of gamblers with those of individuals living with other addictive behaviour in the family. Design: Cross‐sectional interview and questionnaire study of close relatives of problem gamblers. Participants: Sixteen close family members of gamblers from separate families, mainly parents and partners. Data: Semi‐structured interview; adapted version of the Coping Questionnaire (CQ). Findings: Data from the CQ and qualitative analysis of interview data suggested considerable use of ‘engaged’ (specifically controlling) ways of attempting to cope with such problems, comparable to the use of such strategies by relatives of people with alcohol or drug problems, but little use of ‘tolerant‐accepting’ and ‘withdrawal’ ways. Interview data on the support received (or not) by family members confirmed previous research showing that relatives of people with addiction problems often feel unsupported, but particularly appreciate positive emotional and practical support for themselves and their problem gambling relatives. Conclusions: The stress‐coping‐support perspective, previously applied to families with alcohol and drug problems, also offers an appropriate framework for understanding problem gambling and the family.     

Moderating the Effects of Childhood Exposure to Intimate Partner Violence: The Roles of Parenting Characteristics and Adolescent Peer Support

We investigate parenting characteristics and adolescent peer support as potential moderators of the effects of childhood exposure to intimate partner violence (IPV) on adolescent outcomes. Lehigh Longitudinal Study (N=416) data include parent and adolescent reports of childhood IPV exposure. Exposure to IPV predicted nearly all adverse outcomes examined; however, after accounting for co‐occurring child abuse and early child behavior problems, IPV predicted only 1 outcome. Several moderator effects were identified. Parental “acceptance” of the child moderated the effects of IPV exposure on the likelihood of teenage pregnancy and running away from home. Both peer communication and peer trust moderated the relationship between exposure to IPV and depression and running from home. Peer communication also moderated the effects of IPV exposure on high school dropout. Interventions that influence parenting practices and strengthen peer support for youth exposed to IPV may increase protection and decrease risk of several tested outcomes.     

Adaptive and Maladaptive Coping Strategies in Adult Pathological Gamblers and Their Mediating Role with Anxious-Depressive Symptomatology

Coping plays a central role in the appearance and persistence of pathological gambling. Anxious and depressive symptomatology also influence pathological gambling and are related to coping. This study aimed to analyze pathological gamblers’ coping strategies and styles, as well as associated anxious and depressive symptomatology. The study sample included 167 male pathological gamblers (mean age = 39.29 years) and 107 non-gamblers (mean age = 33.43 years). Measures of gambling, coping, and anxious and depressive symptomatology were used. Results showed that pathological gamblers’ scored higher in all the maladaptive coping strategies, problem- and emotion-focused disengagement, and disengagement subscales. These subscales also correlated with pathological gambling, and anxious and depressive symptomatology. Pathological gamblers also scored higher in emotional expression and emotion-focused engagement, with no differences in the rest of the adaptive coping strategies. Coping was also found to predict pathological gambling and anxious and depressive symptomatology. It was found that coping mediated the relationship between pathological gambling and anxious symptomatology when controlling for the effect of age. Specifically, social withdrawal and disengagement stood out as mediators. These results provide practical information for use in clinical settings with people diagnosed with pathological gambling.     

Functional and emotional traits of corporate social media message strategies: Behavioral insights from S&P 500 Facebook data

Drawing from literature regarding public engagement, the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM), computer-mediated communication research, and emotion psychology, this study examines the effects of companies’ social media communication strategies on public engagement behaviors as indexed by post likes, shares, and comments. Specifically, it investigates how corporate Facebook posts’ functional traits (functional interactivity and vividness) and emotional traits (emotion presence, valence, and strength) impact public engagement online. Through data mining and computer-assisted sentiment analysis of 33,379 posts from 106 Standard & Poor 500 companies’ Facebook accounts, this study finds a negative effect of functional interactivity but a positive effect of vividness on engagement. It also shows that emotional traits overall yield stronger public engagement outcomes. Two-way interactions between emotional and functional features are also detected. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

Gender discrimination and career decision-making difficulties among female Chinese college students: The buffering role of coping styles

The current study examined the relationship between gender discrimination and a form of career decision-making difficulties: emotional and personality-related career decision-making difficulties among female Chinese college students. It further examined the buffering effect of coping styles on the above relationship. A series of hierarchical regression analyses were conducted on a sample of 1427 female Chinese college students from 19 universities located in different regions in China. Results indicated that only suppressive style of coping served as a buffer on the relationship between gender discrimination and career decision-making difficulties. Also, gender discrimination, reflective style of coping, and reactive style of coping were positively associated with career decision-making difficulties. These results supported the need to develop career interventions focusing on discussion of gender discrimination, its impact on one's career decisions, as well as teaching distraction coping strategies in reducing the negative impact of gender discrimination on career decision-making difficulties among female Chinese college students.     

The Constitutive Relationship of Listening to Hope,Emotional Intelligence,Stress, and Life Satisfaction

Communication scholars conceptualize communication as constitutive of meaning, arguing that we must place communication first as a primary, fundamental explanation, not as a secondary phenomenon to be explained by psychological antecedents (Cooren, 2012; Craig, 1999; Hecht, 1993; Luhmann, 1992; Manning, 2014). The present study uses a constitutive communication approach to model the relationship of listening to the cognitive states of hope, emotional intelligence, stress, and life satisfaction. A path analysis model lends support to the constitutive communication perspective, indicating that listening styles are predictive of hope, emotional intelligence, stress, and life satisfaction.     

The contribution of social support to the material well‐being of low‐income families

We hypothesize that the social support available from low‐income networks serves primarily a coping function, rather than a leverage function. Social support and its relationship to material well‐being is assessed in a sample of 632 former and current welfare recipients. Respondents report higher levels of perceived emotional, instrumental, and informational support than perceived financial support, and received financial aid is particularly uncommon. Multivariate findings demonstrate that perceived support is unrelated to employment quality, but it reduces the likelihood of living in poverty and is associated with three different measures of coping. These findings generally support the contention that informal aid is important for the everyday survival of low‐income families, but is less able to assist with economic mobility.     

Sequences of toddler negative emotion and parent–toddler verbal communication during a waking day

Although the second year of life is characterized by dramatic changes in expressive language and by increases in negative emotion expression, verbal communication and emotional communication are often studied separately. With a sample of twenty‐five one‐year‐olds (12–23 months), we used Language Environment Analysis (LENA; Xu, Yapanel, & Gray, 2009, Reliability of the LENA? language environment analysis system in young children’s natural home environment. LENA Foundation) to audio‐record and quantify parent–toddler communication, including toddlers’ vocal negative emotion expressions, across a full waking day. Using a multilevel extension of lag‐sequential analysis, we investigated whether parents are differentially responsive to toddlers’ negative emotion expressions compared to their verbal or preverbal vocalizations, and we examined the effects of parents’ verbal responses on toddlers’ subsequent communicative behavior. Toddlers’ negative emotions were less likely than their vocalizations to be followed by parent speech. However, when negative emotions were followed by parent speech, toddlers were most likely to vocalize next. Post hoc analyses suggest that older toddlers and toddlers with higher language abilities were more likely to shift from negative emotion to verbal or preverbal vocalization following parent response. Implications of the results for understanding the parent–toddler communication processes that support both emotional development and verbal development are discussed.     

Examining Publics' Crisis Responses According to Different Shades of Anger and Sympathy

Integrating the discrete emotions and emotional dimensionality theories in crisis communication research, a 2 (emotional type: anger vs. sympathy) × 2 (emotional intensity: high vs. low) between-subjects experiment using a random general public sample was designed to examine the variance in publics' crisis coping strategies and their acceptance of different organizational crisis responses, as a function of crisis-induced anger and sympathy of different intensity. Differential influences of emotional type and intensity on coping and crisis response preferences were found. Interaction effects revealed: (a) more intense sympathetic feelings lead to higher likelihood of conative coping preference; (b) more sympathy at low intensity contributes to more preference of active cognitive coping and acceptance of accommodative organizational responses; and (c) more intense anger is related to acceptance of more defensive crisis response such as scapegoating.     

Coping With Overload and Stress: Men and Women in Dual‐Earner Families

This study tested gender differences in a model positing relationships between work and family demands, overload, 4 coping mechanisms, and stress. The coping mechanisms were hypothesized to moderate the relationship between overload and stress. The sample consisted of 1,404 men and 1,623 women in dual‐earner families. Respondents relied on 2 coping strategies: scaling back and restructuring family roles. Men were more likely than women to respond to overload by scaling back and less likely to respond by work‐role restructuring. Coping by family‐role restructuring moderated the relationship between role overload and stress for both groups; however, the gender difference was not significant. Coping by work‐role restructuring moderated the relationship between overload and stress only for men.     

A Cross-Cultural Examination of Family Communication Patterns,Parent-Child Closeness,and Conflict Styles in the United States,China, and Saudi Arabia

The current study was designed to examine the impacts of family communication patterns (FCP), relational closeness, and culture on adult children’s conflict styles with their parents. Participants (N = 594) from the United States, China, and Saudi Arabia completed self-report questionnaires that included questions about their family’s conversation and conformity orientations, relational closeness, and their conflict styles with their parents. The results show that conversation orientation is a positive predictor of collaboration and compromise, conformity orientation is a positive predictor of accommodation and avoidance, and relational closeness is a negative predictor of dominance across cultures. Relational closeness also interacts with conversation orientation to influence dominance. The cross-cultural invariance provides empirical evidence of the universal application of FCP in family conflict communication. More importantly, significant interactions between culture and conformity orientation and closeness show that culture’s influence on family communication is better understood through indirect rather than direct roles.     

Kinship Support,Family Relations,and Psychological Adjustment Among Low‐Income African American Mothers and Adolescents

The association of kin social support with mothers' adjustment and family relations was assessed among 204 African American mothers and adolescents who were on average 14.45 years of age. Also examined was the association of mothers' adjustment with family relations and adolescents' adjustment. Findings revealed that kin social and emotional support was positively associated with mothers' optimism. Poor relations with kin were positively associated with mothers' depression. Kin advice and counseling and kin social and emotional support were positively linked to family routine. Poor relations with kin were positively associated with parent/adolescent communication problems. Mothers' optimism was positively associated with family routine and mediated the association of kin social and emotional support with family routine. Parent/adolescent communication problems were positively associated with adolescents' depression. The findings were discussed in light of their support for theoretical and empirical work on family processes among poor African American families.     

A Qualitative Analysis of Stepfamilies

Abstract

Twelve stepparents of adolescents were asked in a semi-structured interview to describe (a) their life before joining the family; (b) ‘getting to know’ the family during dating; and (c) being a part of the stepfamily. Qualitative analysis revealed four major themes: (1) Legitimate power, or questions of trust, credibility, financial responsibilities, and discipline; (2) Expectationsabout appropriate adolescent behavior, appropriate role models, the right to be nurturing, and the time to become part of a family; (3) Belonging, unity, and cohesion, or feeling excluded, friction with one child, joining with spouse, forming ‘united fronts,’ triangulation, traditions, and communication; and (4) Stepparent roles, including ambiguity and loss of personal time. Stepparent narratives support the conclusion that an over-arching issue is that of joining. In addition to supporting prior research, the present results highlighted the common coping strategy that “they will grow up and move out someday,” the fact that much of the friction in joining is typically with just one child, the importance of the parents forming a united front, and the importance of loss of ‘personal’ time for stepparents.     

“Positive Feelings”: Group Support for Children of HIV-Infected Mothers

This paper describes a support group for children, ages 9–13, whose mothers are living with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). Beginning with identification of the need for, and purpose of the group, the paper describes the group recruitment, screening and intake process; group composition; group content and process; barriers to service and issues specific to facilitation of the group. The group provided support to children by increasing knowledge of HIV and Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) issues, providing a forum for expression of feelings and concerns regarding their parent's HIV status, improving communication skills, identifying and expanding coping strategies, and facilitating peer support for normalization and validation of fears and concerns.     

Marital Conflict and Emotional Insecurity Among Chinese Adolescents: Cultural Value Moderation

Emotional security theory has received substantial empirical support in the literature. However, the applicability of this theory in diverse cultures is still unclear. This study examined emotional insecurity among Chinese adolescents (N = 315) and how social harmony values moderated the association between parental conflict tactics (233 mothers; 224 fathers) and adolescents' emotional insecurity. Results showed that emotional insecurity could be reliably measured among Chinese adolescents. Furthermore, a significant moderation showed that paternal conflict tactics were associated with adolescents' emotional insecurity only when they endorsed higher social harmony. In the maternal model, an overall association between maternal conflict tactics and adolescents' emotional insecurity was observed. The current findings enrich the literature on emotional security in diverse ecological contexts.     

The Role of Humor Styles and Shared Laughter in the Postdivorce Recovery Process

ABSTRACT

Humorous communication has the potential to bolster resilient outcomes in individuals, and this could be especially true postdivorce. Framed by the resilience model and the stress buffering hypothesis, this study examined humor styles and shared laughter as coping mechanisms following divorce. Results indicate that participants (N = 89) who used self-defeating humor experienced physical stress, the time since the divorce was finalized influenced stress and rumination, and physical stress symptoms are suppressed by shared laughter with a source of social support. The implications of humor as an individual resource and shared laughter as a social resource in postdivorce resiliency are discussed.