1-026 - Understanding the Impact of Adversity across Familial Contexts: Commonalities and Processes that Shape Preschooler Development

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Integrative Statement

Adversity during childhood has been defined as experiences associated with disruption, danger and stress (McLaughlin, 2016) that vary in severity, chronicity and manner. Bioecological models elucidate how familial stressors impact children’s biobehavioral development, and increasingly emphasize parenting as a modifiable transmitter of risk. This symposium offers a forum to synthesize findings across adverse developmental contexts, including child maltreatment, socioeconomic insufficiency and parent military-service. Each presentation considers factors related to familial risk and parenting in predicting facets of preschooler socio-emotional adjustment. By integrating data from three studies, this symposium will facilitate discussion of the commonalities and differences in familial stressors, parent psychopathology and parenting in shaping biobehavioral development.

In samples at risk for child maltreatment and socioeconomic stress, Paper 1 identifies the impact of risk in shaping children’s inhibitory and parasympathetic regulation. Further, observations of maternal warmth buffered exposure to socioeconomic insufficiency, underscoring the protective qualities of parenting. Paper 2 provided a robust test of Goodman and Gotlib's transmission of risk model, identifying the importance of socioeconomic disadvantage in predicting maternal depression and in turn negative parenting. Further, these bioecological processes negatively impacted the development of self-regulation in early childhood. Paper 3 extended our understanding of adverse contexts to include a sample of preschool-age children in military-connected families. The findings emphasize the importance of parental separations, parent anxiety and parenting stress related to preschooler adjustment.

Together these studies highlight the importance of parenting across adverse contexts. Implications for understanding responses to risk and the promotive qualities of parenting will be discussed.

Sub Unit

• Family Context & Processes

Chair

• Cara Kiff, UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience & Human Behavior

Discussant

• Sherryl H. Goodman, Emory University

Individual Presentations

• Socioeconomic Risk, Dyadic Interactive Coordination and Preschooler Self-Regulation in Child-Welfare Involved Families - Presenting Author: Elizabeth Skowron, University of Oregon; Caron Clark, University of Nebraska-Lincoln; Carolyn Lapsey, Department of Counseling Psychology & Human Services, University of Oregon

• Parenting and Child Effortful Control as Pathways from Risk and Maternal Depression to Adjustment in Preschool-age Children - Presenting Author: Stephanie Thompson, University of Washington; Melanie Klein, university of Washington; Liliana J Lengua, university of Washington

• Preschooler Adjustment in US Military Families: The Impact of Familial Adversity and Parenting Stress - Presenting Author: Cara Kiff, UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience & Human Behavior; Nastassia Josephine Hajal, UCLA; Hilary Aralis, UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience & Human Behavior; Wendy Barrera, UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience & Human Behavior; Li-Jung Liang, UCLA; Catherine Mogil, UCLA; Blair Paley, UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience & Human Behavior; Norweeta Milburn, UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience & Human Behavior; Patricia Lester, UCLA