Romantic Relationship Commitment and Its Linkages with Commitment to Parents and Friends during Adolescence

This five‐wave longitudinal study examines linkages between adolescents' perceptions of romantic relationship commitment and the development of adolescents' perceptions of commitment to parents and friends. A total of 218 early‐to‐middle adolescents (39.0 percent boys) and 185 middle‐to‐late adolescents (30.8 percent boys) participated. Multivariate growth curves showed that higher base levels of commitment and a stronger positive development of commitment to parents and friends were associated with higher levels of later commitment to romantic partners. The effects were equally strong in early‐to‐middle adolescence and middle‐to‐late adolescence. Also, commitment to parents and commitment to friends were associated equally strong to romantic relationship commitment. No gender differences were found regarding these linkages. Overall, this study shows the importance of parents and friends for boys and girls regarding committed romantic relationships. The results support the idea of one stable and general working model used in different types of relationships.     

Perceived Maternal Autonomy Support and Early Adolescent Emotion Regulation: A Longitudinal Study

This study investigated longitudinal associations between perceived maternal autonomy‐supportive parenting and early adolescents' use of three emotion regulation (ER) styles: emotional integration, suppressive regulation, and dysregulation. We tested whether perceived maternal autonomy support predicted changes in ER and whether these ER styles, in turn, related to changes in adjustment (i.e., depressive symptoms, self‐esteem). Participants (N = 311, mean age at Time 1 = 12.04) reported on perceived maternal autonomy support, their ER styles, and adjustment at two moments in time, spanning a one‐year interval. Cross‐lagged analyses showed that perceived maternal autonomy support predicted increases in emotional integration and decreases in suppressive regulation. By contrast, emotional dysregulation predicted decreases in perceived autonomy‐supportive parenting. Further, increases in emotional integration were predictive of increases in self‐esteem, and decreases in suppressive regulation were predictive of decreases in depressive symptoms. Together, the results show that early adolescents' perception of their mothers as autonomy‐supportive is associated with increases in adaptive ER strategies and subsequent adjustment.     

Risk and Protective Factors for Depressive Symptoms Among Indigenous Older Adults: Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) and Social Support

Research on depression and intimate partner violence (IPV) experienced by Indigenous older adults is virtually nonexistent. Given the associations between IPV and depression and their disproportionately high rates among Indigenous peoples in a context of historical oppression, the purpose of this inquiry is to examine how IPV and social support are associated with depressive symptoms for Indigenous older adults. We expand the knowledge base on IPV in later life, which primarily focuses on female samples, by including older men. We predicted: (a) IPV will be positively associated with depressive symptoms and (b) levels of social support will be negatively associated with depressive symptoms. Hierarchical regression analyses of data from a sample of Indigenous older adults (N = 233) in the Upper Midwest indicated that physical aggression (but not psychological aggression, sexual coercion, injury, or negotiation) was positively associated with depressive symptoms, whereas social support was negatively associated with depressive symptoms.     

Emotion Socialization in the Context of Risk and Psychopathology: Mother and Father Socialization of Anger and Sadness in Adolescents with Depressive Disorder

This study examined parental emotion socialization processes associated with adolescent unipolar depressive disorder. Adolescent participants (N = 107; 42 boys) were selected either to meet criteria for current unipolar depressive disorder or to be psychologically healthy as defined by no lifetime history of psychopathology or mental health treatment and low levels of current depressive symptomatology. A multi‐source/method measurement strategy was used to assess mothers’ and fathers’ responses to adolescent sad and angry emotion. Each parent and adolescent completed questionnaire measures of parental emotion socialization behavior, and participated in meta‐emotion interviews and parent‐adolescent interactions. As hypothesized, parents of adolescents with depressive disorder engaged in fewer supportive responses and more unsupportive responses overall relative to parents of non‐depressed adolescents. Between group differences were more pronounced for families of boys, and for fathers relative to mothers. The findings indicate that parent emotion socialization is associated with adolescent depression and highlight the importance of including fathers in studies of emotion socialization, especially as it relates to depression.     

The Reciprocal Relationship between Depressive Symptoms and Alcohol Consumption: Group Comparison by Employment Status

As most previous studies have focused on a unidirectional relationship between depression and alcohol use using cross-sectional data, not much is known about the reciprocal relationship between them. Using two waves of longitudinal data, this study examines their reciprocal relationship and whether it varies by employment status, using structural equation modeling (SEM). A theory-based SEM was developed based on the tension reduction hypothesis and the intoxication hypothesis. The reciprocal relationship between alcohol consumption and depressive symptoms was found to be statistically significant. However, the relationship between the two varied by employment status. For the unemployed, the effect of depressive symptoms on alcohol consumption was significant whereas the effect of alcohol consumption on depressive symptoms was significant among the employed. These findings suggest that alcohol and mental health prevention programs should be tailored in terms of the users' employment status.     

Connecting with Parents: Mothers' Depressive Symptoms and Responsive Behaviors in the Regulation of Social Contact by One- and Young Two-year-olds

When children act to involve mothers in positive interaction, they influence the amount, timing, and content of parent–child exchanges. By assessing children's smiling and positive initiation, we examined child behaviors that function to create positive interaction. In a non-clinical North American sample of 103 mothers and their 14- to 27-month-olds, we observed that children attempted to connect positively with mothers (1) more with age, (2) more frequently and quickly immediately after mothers were responsive, (3) more with mothers who were generally supportive, and (4) more with mothers low in depressive symptoms. When mothers were high in depressive symptoms, age-related increases in smiling and positive initiation were absent. Findings demonstrate the importance of maternal depression and responsiveness to child behaviors that involve mothers in ongoing activity. They suggest that both immediate cues and children's stored knowledge related to how mothers will respond may regulate children's positive connecting behaviors.     

The Associations Between Socioeconomic Status,Caregivers' Depressive Symptoms,Children's Health‐Promoting Behavior,and Children's Physical Health: A Mediation Model

The aim of this study was to examine the mediating effects of children's health‐promoting behaviors on the association between socioeconomic status, caregivers' depressive symptoms, and children's physical health outcomes. We used the first wave of “Seoul Education and Health Welfare Panel.” Data were collected from 820 fourth‐grade elementary and first‐year middle school students and their caregivers using self‐administered surveys. Structural equation modeling was employed to analyze the mediating effects of health‐promoting behaviors. Bias‐corrected bootstrap confidence intervals were used to test the mediating effect. The results showed that both low socioeconomic status and caregivers' depressive symptoms were negatively associated with a child's health‐promoting behaviors. Children's health‐promoting behaviors were positively associated with physical health. However, children's physical health was not significantly associated with socioeconomic status but was marginally associated with caregivers' depressive symptoms. We found that children's health‐promoting behaviors significantly mediated associations between both socioeconomic status and children's physical health and between caregivers' depressive symptoms and children's physical health. Based on the findings, we suggest the development and implementation of school‐based, health‐enhancement programs as a means to improve the general health of all children and to reduce health inequalities.     

Contingent Self‐worth in Chinese Adolescents and Young Adults: Relations with Global Self‐Esteem and Depressive Symptoms

Contingent self‐worth (CSW) is the extent to which an individual's sense of self‐worth is dependent on performance in a particular domain. CSW has been linked to poorer psychological health (e.g., lower global self‐esteem, greater depression and anxiety). However, the majority of work on CSW has been conducted with US college students. Far less is known about the influence of CSW for younger individuals or for non‐Western populations. This study examined relations between CSW domains and two indicators of well‐being (depressive symptoms and global self‐esteem) with Chinese adolescents (ages 13–16) and young adults (ages 19‐22). Results indicated that CSW in the domains of academic performance and others’ approval were positively related to depressive symptoms, whereas CSW in the domain of family support was negatively related to depressive symptoms. Others’ approval CSW was negatively related to self‐esteem for both adolescents and young adults, whereas CSW in the domains of academic performance and family support were related to self‐esteem for adolescents but not young adults. This study indicates that CSW is a meaningful and predictive construct for Chinese youth, and that cultural, environmental, and developmental factors may impact the relations between CSW and psychological health.     

Perceived social support,perception of competence,and hope among Chinese children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in a Chinese context: Children's perspective

This paper reports on the results of a study (n = 113 children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) that examined the effects of the children's perception of the social support (PSS) they receive from their mothers, fathers, teachers, and friends on their sense of competence and hope. PSS explained 13% of the children's overall sense of competence and 4% of their sense of hope. In the perspective of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, the amount of maternal support, both in terms of importance and availability, was higher than that of their paternal support. However, the results of a multiple regression analysis have shown that paternal support accounted for 3% of the variance in the children's overall sense of competence and 5% in the variance of their physical competence. PSS from teachers had significantly explained 5%, 4%, and 4% of the variance in the children's overall, social, and physical competence, respectively. The PSS from friends significantly explained 7% of the variance in the children's cognitive competence and 4% of the variance in hope. Theoretical and clinical implications of the study are discussed.     

Social Support: An Important Factor for Treatment Adherence and Health-related Quality of Life of Patients with End-stage Renal Disease

ABSTRACT

End-stage Renal Disease (ESRD) or chronic kidney disease constitutes a serious public health problem in the United States. The purpose of this study is to examine the causal relationship of perceived social support with treatment adherence and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) of ESRD patients. The study utilized a non-experimental research design and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to analyze the data collected from a sample of 413 ESRD patients. The findings of the study supported a statistically significant relationship between perceived social support and HRQOL as well as between perceived social support and treatment adherence. Formulating appropriately targeted interventions to improve social support may help in enhancing the HRQOL and treatment adherence, where both those factors were empirically supported to be related to mortality and hospitalizations in ESRD patients. This study helps to enhance the body of knowledge relating to HRQOL of ESRD patients, and provided foundation for interventions in improving treatment adherence and the HRQOL. Future research may focus on the complexities associated with the HRQOL and treatment adherence in ESRD patients, with emphasis on demographic characteristics and its relationship with social support.     

“She was accused of colluding with the mother”; the training and support needs of parent‐and‐child foster carers: A qualitative study

Parent‐and‐child foster placements are used to accommodate parents with their children, either when the mother is a looked‐after child or as a setting for a parenting assessment. Despite this being a specialized role with significant potential for affecting outcomes for disadvantaged families, there is currently a lack of accessible learning opportunities for foster carers on the physical and mental well‐being of women with complex needs such as a history of domestic abuse, substance abuse, perinatal mental ill‐health, or having a learning disability. Parent‐and‐child carers experience some unique stresses and value the support of others with similar experiences; this kind of peer support is currently largely absent. This qualitative study has used ten focus groups with foster carers, eight interviews with mothers, and nine interviews with supervising social workers, to inform the development of an online learning resource and a social media‐based peer support network for parent‐and‐child foster carers.     

Critical Components in Implementing Evidence‐based Practice: A Multiple Case Study of Individual Placement and Support for People with Psychiatric Disabilities

When developing Community Mental Health Services to support people with psychiatric disabilities, European countries are advocating evidence ‐based practice (EBP ). Individual Placement and Support (IPS ) is an evidence ‐based model designed to support people in acquiring and maintaining competitive employment. Implementation science is a growing research field, with a focus on components that impact the process of implementing EBP programmes. In this multiple case study, we have followed three IPS demonstration sites for two years, in order to describe and analyze barriers and facilitators for implementation, according to constructs described in the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (Damschroder et al. 2009 ). The results highlight the importance of strategic networking, as well as the need for planning and preparations carried out before the start of an EBP programme, since deficiencies related to these constructs are difficult to compensate for.