Parent-Child Autonomic Synchrony During Vicarious Extinction Learning in Pediatric PTSD

Children must learn basic functional processes directly from their caregivers and child psychopathology may disrupt this transmission. This transmission may be seen through biological measures like peripheral nervous system outputs like skin conductance (SCR). Fear learning deficits have been seen in affective disorders like PTSD and are useful for studying parent-child learning transmission. Our study uses a vicarious fear extinction paradigm to study if biological synchrony (SCR and heart rate variability (HRV)) are potential mechanisms in which children learn safety cues from their parents. There were 16 dyads (PTSD n=11, TD n=5) undergoing a vicarious fear extinction paradigm. We used cross-recurrence quantification analysis (CRQA) to assess SCR and HRV synchrony between parent-child dyads. We then used a linear model looking at group differences between PTSD dyads and typically developing (TD) dyads. For SCR, we saw a significant group difference (p=.037) indicating that TD dyads had higher SCR synchrony compared to PTSD dyads. For HRV, there were no group differences between PTSD and TD dyads (p=.325). These results suggest that SCR synchrony, but not HRV, may be a potential mechanism that allows for fear and safety learning in youth. While this is preliminary, it may give the first insights on how therapies such as Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy critically rely on parental coaching to model appropriate fear responses to help their child to recover from trauma.

Komunikasi Online Remaja dengan Orang Tuanya yang Bekerja Berperan dalam Meningkatkan Kepuasan Hidup

Abstrak. Salah satu faktor yang mempengaruhi kepuasan hidup remaja adalah komunikasi dengan orang tua. Tuntutan pekerjaan yang seringkali menyulitkan orang tua untuk berkomunikasi dengan remaja dapat diminimalisir dengan komunikasi online. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui pengaruh komunikasi online orang tua-anak terhadap kepuasan hidup remaja dengan kedua orang tua bekerja. Partisipan terdiri dari 106 remaja berusia 10-15 tahun dengan kedua orang tua bekerja. Komunikasi online orang tua-anak diukur menggunakan instrumen hasil modifikasi alat ukur Online Parent-Child, sedangkan Satisfaction with Life Scale Adapted for Children digunakan untuk mengukur kepuasan hidup. Hasil penelitian menemukan adanya pengaruh yang signifikan dari komunikasi online orang tua-anak terhadap kepuasan hidup remaja yang memiliki orang tua bekerja. Selain itu, hasil yang sama juga ditemukan pada remaja laki-laki dan perempuan yang memiliki kedua orang tua bekerja. Orang tua perlu memaksimalkan komunikasi online dengan remaja selama berada di tempat kerja karena komunikasi online memberikan kesan bahwa orang tua mendukung mereka, sehingga dapat meningkatkan kepuasan hidup remaja.

Early-life activities mediate the association between family socioeconomic status in early childhood and physical fitness in early adolescence

The graded association between family socioeconomic status (SES) and physical fitness is evident, but little is known about the mechanism underlying this association. This study investigated the role of early-life activities as mediators of the longitudinal relationship between early-life SES and health-related physical fitness in 168 adolescents (51.2% boys; final mean age: 12.4 years old). In Wave 1 (2011–12), their parents completed questionnaires about family socioeconomic status (SES), parent–child activities, and child screen time. In Wave 2 (2014–15), participants’ physical activity levels were assessed through parent proxy-reports. In Wave 3 (2018–19), a direct assessment of handgrip strength, standing long-jump, and 6-min walk test (6MWT) performance was conducted. After controlling for demographic factors, results of mediation analyses revealed that (a) Wave 1 SES predicted Wave 3 long-jump and 6MWT performance; (b) child physical activity level in Wave 2 mediated the relation between Wave 1 SES and standing long-jump performance in Wave 3; and (c) recreational parent–child activities and child screen time in wave 1 mediated the relation between Wave 1 SES and 6MWT performance in Wave 3. Our findings suggest that the type and frequency of early-life activities play a role in the graded association between childhood SES and physical fitness in adolescence.

The Feasibility and Challenges of Conducting Online Research to Examine Movement Behavior in Parents and Children During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The global pandemic of COVID-19 shifted the methodology of this research project. The purpose of this perspective article is to discuss the feasibility and challenges of converting an in-person mixed methods study that examined associations among and beliefs about physical activity, motor competence, and perceived competence to an online format with parents and children during the COVID-19 pandemic. Recruitment was conducted through a University research registry, social media, and public listservs. All correspondence with participants was through email and secure platforms. Physical activity was assessed with accelerometers mailed to participants. Motor competence was assessed through participant-filmed trials of motor skills. Perceived competence was assessed with the Self-Perception Profile for Adults and Children delivered on Qualtrics. Semi- structured interviews to examine beliefs were conducted over Zoom. Approximately 200 families expressed interest in the study, 76 parent-child dyads consented and assented, and 61 parent-child dyads completed at least one component of the study. It is feasible to conduct online research that contributes to scientific knowledge and has potential advantages. However, various challenges need to be considered regarding the application of online research. These challenges included recruitment, the data collection process, and data quality. Future research needs to address these challenges by utilizing wide-reaching and diverse recruitment methods, easing participants' burden with technology, and developing motor competence and perceived competence assessments that can be administered online. The way research was conducted changed due to COVID-19 and adapting to and/or integrating online methods is both necessary and feasible, but modifications must be taken into consideration.

THE FAMILIAL CONTEXT OF CHILDREN’S CREATIVITY: PARENTING STYLES AND THE CLIMATE FOR CREATIVITY IN PARENT–CHILD RELATIONSHIP

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between dimensions of a constructive parenting style, (i.e. parental acceptance and autonomy granting) factors of the climate for creativity in parent–child relationships (encouragement to experience novelty and variety, encouragement of nonconformism, support of perseverance in creative efforts, and encouragement to fantasize), and parents’ visual mental imagery. 313 parents of children between 6 and 12 years of age participated in the study. The results indicated that (a) a constructive parenting style was positively related to three of four factors of the climate for creativity in the parent–child relationships, i.e. encouragement to experience novelty and variety, support of perseverance in creative efforts, and encouragement to fantasize in the parent–child relationship; (b) parents’ level of vividness of mental imagery was positively related with both parental acceptance of child and autonomy support as well as components of climate for creativity in parent–child relationship; (c) mothers scored significantly higher than fathers in exhibiting acceptance of a child; (d) parents’ gender played an important role in the relations between dimensions of constructive parenting style and factors of climate for creativity in parent–child relationships. Findings were discussed in terms of the implications for further research and theory development in the area of family influences on the development of children’s creativity.

Parental Autonomy Support in the Context of Parent–Child Negotiation for Children’s Independent Mobility: ‘I Always Feel Safer With My Parents’ to ‘Boom! Bust Down Those Walls!’

Autonomy – acting volitionally with a sense of choice – is a crucial right for children. Given parents’ pivotal position in their child’s autonomy development, we examined how parental autonomy support and children’s need for autonomy were negotiated and manifested in the context of children’s independent mobility – children’s ability to play, walk or cycle unsupervised. We interviewed 105 Canadian children between 10 and 13-years-old and their parents ( n = 135) to examine child-parents’ negotiation patterns as to children’s independent mobility. Four patterns emerged, varying on parental autonomy support and children’s need/motivation for independent mobility: (1) child/parent dyad wants to increase independent mobility; (2) child only wants to increase independent mobility while parents do not; (3) child does not want to increase independent mobility while parents do; and (4) child/parent dyad does not want to increase independent mobility. Findings illuminate the importance of recognizing children as active and capable agents of change.