Parenting behavior and child ADHD

Objective: Parenting behavior is a well-established correlate of offspring ADHD. Yet, little is known about how parenting exerts its effects on offspring ADHD. We examined whether prospective associations between positive and negative parenting behaviors and child ADHD symptoms are mediated by deficits in child executive function (EF) and reward responsivity (RR). Method: A total of 135 children, with and without ADHD were assessed at mean ages 6 and 8. Children completed tasks on EF, and parents completed questionnaires about their parenting, and their children’s RR and children’s ADHD symptoms. Results: Negative parenting (but not positive parenting) was indirectly associated with offspring ADHD subtypes via the effects of Wave 1 EF and RR at Wave 2. Conclusion: Individual differences in EF and RR during the early childhood years may constitute a potential pathway by which negative parenting behaviors exerts its effects on subsequent offspring ADHD. Treatment implications are discussed.

Introducing Parenting Support in Primary Care: Professionals’ Perspectives on the Implementation of a Positive Parenting Program

While positive parenting programs are an initiative aligned with the Family-Centered Care model and the Council of Europe’s Recommendation on Positive Parenting, implementation in healthcare centers remains a challenge. The aims of this study were to (1) investigate how the hybrid version (online course plus face-to-face activities) of the program “Gain Health & Wellbeing From 0 to 3” was implemented in Spain from professionals’ perspective, and (2) explore the perceived impact of this hybrid version of the program on the implementers’ professional development. We used a qualitative mixed-methods design that included focus groups and surveys. Fifty professionals from 17 centers completed the survey on professional development. Thirty-one of these also participated in the focus groups to address the first aim. The key themes identified from the focus group were professional training, parent recruitment, program features, organizational issues, parental responses, and program sustainability. Survey results related to positive professional impact fit nicely with subthemes concerning collaboration with parents, parental needs, center coordination, and future expectations. The perceived relevance of the parenting program and its positive impact on the implementers’ professional development were potential predictors for the adoption and sustainability of the program in the public health system.

On the Relationship Between Mothers’ and Fathers’ Parenting Behaviors and Children’s Explicit and Implicit Self-Esteem

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to clarify and elaborate the concept of implicit self-esteem by identifying parenting domains that are related to implicit self-esteem as well as by comparing the correlation between parenting behaviors and children’s explicit and implicit self-esteem (ESE & ISE). Furthermore, based on previous studies’ emphasis on the functions of self-esteem discrepancies, 4 groups of self-esteem types were included in the analysis: secure self-esteem, defensive self-esteem, damaged self-esteem and congruent low self-esteem.Methods: Participants were 279 Korean middle school students (114 boys and 165 girls). Children’s ESE and ISE were measured using the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES) and the Name-Letter Task (NLT), respectively, and the parenting behavior measure consisted of 8 domains: monitoring, reasoning, inconsistency, over-involvement, over-expectation, neglect, physical abuse, and affection. Considering the effect of gender on the parent-child relationship, analysis was conducted according to gender.Results: Comparison between the correlations revealed that among 32 factors, differences in ESE and ISE were significant in 13 factors and not significant in 19 factors. Further, most of the parenting domains were significantly related to both daughters’ and sons’ ESE, while only a few of father and mother’s parenting domains were related to ISE. Boys’ ISE was negatively related to fathers’ over-involvement and mothers’ reasoning, while girls’ ISE was positively related to both parents’ monitoring and negatively related to neglect. Additionally, the group with secure self-esteem (characterized by high ESE and high ISE) mostly reported high levels of positive parenting behaviors and low levels of negative parenting behaviors, while the group with congruent low self-esteem (characterized by low ESE and low ISE) mostly reported low levels of positive parenting behaviors and high levels of negative parenting behaviors.Conclusion: This study contributes significant findings to the understanding of ISE. Based on the current study’s results, it is plausible to conclude that ISE performs a similar function to ESE, yet weaker. Moreover, the importance of measuring mothers’ and fathers’ parenting behaviors separately could be more emphasized. Further discussions are suggested regarding areas of contention over the formation and the concept of ISE.

Mediating Effects of Online-Based Leisure Between Parenting Attitudes and Children’s Smartphone Dependency

Objectives: This study investigated the impact of positive and negative parenting attitudes on smartphone dependency in children to examine the mediating effects of online-based leisure such as computer usage, game, and smartphone usage.Methods: Data of 714 children scoring above the top 30% of smartphone dependency among the children in 5th grade in elementary school were collected through the 2nd wave of the Korean Children and Youth Panel Survey (KCYPS 2018). Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was applied to analyze the mediating effects with the Bootstrapping method by SPSS 21.0 and AMOS 20.0.Results: In the model, online-based leisure significantly mediated the relationship between positive parenting attitudes such as warmth, autonomy support and structure provision, and smartphone dependency showing complete mediation. Also, negative parenting attitudes such as rejection, coercion, and chaos directly negatively affected smartphone dependency, not showing a mediating effect. Results indicate that increased positive parenting attitudes lead to reduced smartphone dependency through decreasing online-based leisure, while negative parenting attitudes lead to increase dependence on the smartphone.Conclusion: While positive parenting attitudes do not directly affect smartphone dependency, they lead to a decrease in online-based leisure. Consequently, as online-based leisure lessens, smartphone dependency subsequently may also be diminished. In addition, although negative parenting attitudes have no mediating effect, they directly influence the growing smartphone dependency. Results confirm that positive parenting mediate the effects of online-based activities in relation to smartphone dependency when parents provide the most structure, autonomy support, and warmth to their children. Practical implications are discussed, and relevant interventions offered for children and parents.

The Effects of Parent’s Smartphone Dependency on Child’s Smartphone Dependency: Serial Mediating Effects of Parenting, Child’s Depression and Aggression

Objectives: This study examined the two-way effect of a parent’s smartphone dependency on child’s smartphone dependency focusing on the serial mediating effects of positive/negative parenting, and child’s depression/aggression.Methods: The sample comprised 2,290 fifth-grade elementary school students and their parents (father or mother). The results of descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation were calculated using SPSS 25 and the mediation model was analyzed using AMOS 25.0. The comparison among the serial mediation models was analyzed using AMOS 25.0 syntax.Results: A parent’s smartphone dependency had a significant direct effect on child’s smartphone dependency. The mediating effects of both positive/negative parenting and child’s depression/agression on the relationship between parent’s and child’s smartphone dependency were significant, supporting the serial mediation model. As a parent’s smartphone dependency increased, negative parenting increased while the positive parenting decreased. As negative parenting increased, a child’s depression and aggression did as well, finally leading to higher levels of smartphone dependency in the child. In contrast, as positive parenting increased, the child’s depression and aggression decreased leading to lower levels of smartphone dependency in the child. The path from parent’s to child’s smartphone dependency through negative parenting and aggression had the highest mediation effect.Conclusion: This study showed that the child’s smartphone dependency is affected by not only by childrelated factors (depression and aggression) but also parent-related factors (smartphone dependency and parenting). Additionally, comparing mediational effects, interventions focusing on negative parenting and child’s aggression might be more effective to reduce levels of child smartphone dependency.

PARENTS’ SELF-COMPASSION AND THEIR PERCEPTIONS OF CHILD REARING PRACTICES

The issue of parents’ psychological well-being, parents’ ability to recognize their physical and emotional resources, ability to avoid exhaustion of those resources has become increasingly important. In this context parents’ self-compassion could be psychological resource for parents to implement positive parenting approaches and encourage positive contact with the child. The aim of this research was to examine whether there is an association between parents’ self-compassion and their perceptions of child rearing practices. Data were collected from 203 respondents in 2019. The results showed a statistically significant positive correlation (rs= .268 p < .01) between self-compassion and the Positive parenting indicators; statistically significant negative correlation (rs= -.214 p < .01) between self-compassion and Psychological control; statistically significant negative correlation (rs= -.192, p < .01) between self-compassion and Physical control. Keywords: psychological well-being, self-compassion, perceptions of child rearing

The Enduring Importance of Parenting: Caregiving Quality and Fear-Potentiated Startle in Emerging Adults With a Child Maltreatment History

Background: The transition to adulthood is a period of increased risk for emergent psychopathology; emerging adults with a childhood maltreatment history are at risk for poor outcomes. Method: Using a multi-measure, transdisciplinary, cross-sectional design, this study tested whether participant-reported positive parenting, a potential resilience-promoting factor, moderated the association between clinician-rated PTSD symptom severity and a transdiagnostic maladjustment biomarker, fear-potentiated startle (FPS), in a sample of 66 emerging adults ( M years = 18.83, SD = 0.89) with a maltreatment history. We hypothesized that characteristics of effective parenting would moderate the relation between PTSD symptoms and FPS. Results: Results indicated that elevated PTSD, as measured by the CAPS, was associated with a more severe startle reaction. The magnitude of the increase in startle reactivity was moderated by parenting such that those with more positive parenting (Accepting [relative to rejecting]: b = −0.42, p < .001; Psychologically-controlling [relative to autonomy-promoting]: b = 2.96, p = .004) had significantly less reactivity across the task at higher levels of PTSD symptoms. Conclusions: Emerging adults with childhood maltreatment histories, high levels of PTSD symptoms, and who perceive present-day high-quality caregiver support may cope better with novel stressors relative to youth lacking that support, potentially translating to better psychological outcomes.