New Perspectives on Parenting: Implications for understanding adaptive and maladaptive family functioning

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Abstract

This set of presentations will offer new insights on links between parenting and children’s development. They explore multiple facets of the complex relationship between parents and children, including a novel way to conceptualize connectedness, the role of parenting in the adjustment of adolescents who were sexually abused, and moderators of the impact of adverse childhood experiences on caregivers’ capacity to respond sensitively to their own children. The first paper introduces the construct of fragile connectedness, which refers to instability in adolescents’ day-to-day feelings of closeness with their parents. Fragile connectedness is assessed using a 21-day diary procedure and its prospective associations with adolescent well-being and psychological problems one year later are evaluated. The second paper examines how multiple aspects of the relationship between victims of sexual abuse and their nonoffending parent shape their psychological health during adolescence. The authors leverage a large sample of predominantly Latina adolescents to test whether routine parent-child conflict contributes uniquely to their adjustment after accounting for general levels of parental support and abuse-specific unsupportive behavior. The third paper investigates whether parents’ capacity to reflect on others’ mental states attenuates associations between their experiences of abuse and invalidation in childhood and their responsivity to their preschoolers’ emotions. This study utilizes a primarily African-American sample and employs two innovative observational paradigms to assess parents’ responses to their children’s emotions in real time. Finally, the Discussant will draw on their extensive experience studying family processes and youth functioning to contextualize the contributions of the studies.

Sub Unit

• Parenting & Parent-Child Relationships

Chair

• John Grych, Marquette University

Discussant

• Sheila E Crowell, University of Utah

Individual Presentations

• Fragile Connectedness in Caregiver-Adolescent Relationships: Risk for Diminished Adolescent Well-Being - Presenting Author: Gregory M Fosco, Pennsylvania State University, University Park; John K. Coffey, Arizona State University

• Caregiver-Adolescent Conflict and Adolescent Mental Health among Adolescents who have been Sexually Abused - Presenting Author: Ernest N Jouriles, Southern Methodist University; Melissa Sitton; Mindy Jackson, Dallas Children's Advocacy Center; Renee McDonald, Southern Methodist University

• Reflective Functioning and Emotion Socialization Behaviors in Caregivers of Preschoolers - Presenting Author: Kristen Yule, CHOC - Children’s Health of Orange County; John Grych, Marquette University