2-026 - Studying the Impact of the Family on Children’s Health Through Multiple Levels of Analysis

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Integrative Statement

Decades of research suggests the family environment has a lasting impact on the physical and mental health of a child. Studying the pathways by which the family influences children’s health may help identify entry points for intervention. Indeed, this research occurs at multiple levels of analysis across many sub-disciplines, from molecular to population levels. An important way to advance our understanding is by integrating cutting-edge findings across levels of analysis, methodologies, and disciplines. To demonstrate this priority, our symposium brings together three papers that examine the same fundamental question – how does the family shape the physical and mental health of a child – from three different levels of analysis: state-wide survey data, daily diaries, and implementation of immune markers. The first of the three studies offers a panoramic view, using adolescent data from a biannual state health survey and neighborhood air pollution monitors. The second study presents a close-up view of daily family life by capitalizing on self-reports of parent and child mood taken over 56-consecutive days to better clarify ways by which the family social environment shapes youth mental health. Finally, the third study provides a microscopic view, by examining family influences on children’s antibody production following vaccination. Together, the three studies highlight how vastly different approaches to studying the influence of family on children’s health, contribute to the same underlying research question. This symposium will stimulate discussion surrounding the importance of integrating findings across levels of analysis to extend our understanding of the impact of families on child health.

Sub Unit

• Parenting & Parent-Child Relationships

Chairs

• Sunhye Bai, The Pennsylvania State University

• Evelyn Mercado, University of Massachusetts Amherst

Individual Presentations

• Pollutant Exposure and Asthma Exacerbations in Adolescence: Moderation by Support from Adults in the Home? - Non-Presenting Author: Theodore F Robles, UCLA; Presenting Author: Sunhye Bai, The Pennsylvania State University; Non-Presenting Author: Ying-Ying Meng, UCLA

• Coregulation of Daily Mood and Children’s Internalizing Symptoms - Presenting Author: Evelyn Mercado, University of Massachusetts Amherst; Non-Presenting Author: Rena L. Repetti, University of California, Los Angeles; Non-Presenting Author: Theodore F Robles, UCLA

• Parental Hostility is Associated with Children’s Antibody Production Following Influenza Vaccination - Presenting Author: Katherine B Ehrlich, University of Georgia; Non-Presenting Author: Kelsey Corallo, University of Georgia; Non-Presenting Author: Sarah Lyle, University of Georgia