Childhood maltreatment predicts mental health problems and stress responses. To design better intervention/prevention programs, it is important to explore mechanisms that may mediate those relationships. Some evidence indicates that emotion regulation strategies (suppression and reappraisal) may play this role. Using self-report, observational, and biological measures and stress manipulation in female and male college students (Study 1: N=267; Study 2: U.S.= 264; Korean=211; Study 3: N=211), I tested the following hypotheses: Study (1) habitual suppression and reappraisal strategies will mediate the relation between childhood maltreatment and perceived stress; Study (2) parental emotional neglect will be positively associated with habitual suppression and internalizing problems, and negatively associated with habitual reappraisal, in both U.S. and Korean participants; Study (3) childhood maltreatment will be associated with heightened physio-emotional responses to the Trier Social Stress Test, mediated by spontaneous suppression and reappraisal. In Study 1, partially supporting my hypotheses, habitual suppression and reappraisal mediated the relationship between self-reported maternal/paternal emotional neglect and perceived stress, though in females only; habitual suppression also mediated the relationship between maternal psychological maltreatment and perceived stress in females. In Study 2, structural equation modeling revealed that, as hypothesized, in both countries parental emotional neglect was positively associated with internalizing problems and negatively associated with habitual reappraisal; habitual reappraisal was negatively associated and habitual suppression was positively associated with internalizing problems. The positive association between parental emotional neglect and suppression was significant only in U.S. participants. In Study 3, partially supporting hypotheses, childhood maltreatment was associated with lower spontaneous reappraisal, higher negative affect at stress-test baseline, and higher behavioral expression during recovery; spontaneous suppression and reappraisal were associated with reduced emotional responsivity. Contrary to hypothesis, no mediating roles for spontaneous suppression and reappraisal were found. Together, results showed that habitual use of some emotion regulation strategies can mediate the relation between childhood maltreatment and later perceived stress (at least in females) and internalizing problems; habitual suppression mediates the association between parental emotional neglect and internalizing problems in U.S. young adults; and childhood maltreatment is related to emotional and behavioral responses to stress and effectiveness of spontaneous reappraisal strategy use during stress. / 2022-02-28T00:00:00Z

The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of cohabitation on children in kindergarten and how this varies by race. Many researchers have shown that children being raised in cohabiting families do not perform as well as children being raised in married parent families (Manning and Seltzer 2009; Artis 2007; Raley et al 2005). Furthermore, demographic trends show that cohabitation among Latinos is very similar to marriage, whereas among whites they are two very different things (Choi and Seltzer 2009). My research combines these two ideas to investigate how cohabitation may affect Latino children differently than it affects white children in terms of internalizing and externalizing behavior problems. I hypothesize that though whites will be negatively affected by cohabitation, Latinos will not have this negative effect. Evidence supports hypotheses and suggests that, indeed, Latino children are not as negatively affected by cohabitation as Whites.

Social media engagement has become a critical part of adolescent social interactions, making it important to examine individual differences in motivations for social media engagement as well as associated adjustment outcomes. Additionally, much of the extant research focuses on how much time adolescents spend on social media; researchers have only recently begun to differentiate specific social media behaviors and their varied role in adolescent development (e.g., Valkenberg & Peter, 2011). Based on recent research, I investigated four social media behaviors: self-disclosure, self-presentation, lurking, and social monitoring, along with social media engagement in terms of time and frequency. Based on hormonal activation theory (Forbes & Dahl, 2010), I focused on pubertal and social goal correlates of individual differences in social media engagement among adolescents. I also examined positive (prosocial support) and negative (peer victimization, internalizing problems) adjustment associated with social media engagement. Participants were 426 public school students (54.2% female, 73.6% Caucasian, mean age = 12.91, SD = .92) from sixth (N = 152), seventh (N = 142), and eighth (N = 132) grades who completed self-reported survey measures during their Health classes. Adolescents used more passive (lurking, social monitoring) than active social media (self-disclosure, self-presentation) behaviors. Girls reported more social media engagement than boys, and older adolescents reported more social media engagement than younger adolescents. Pubertal timing was not associated with social media engagement; instead, social goals (i.e., popularity goals and preference goals) were strongly associated with adolescents’ social media use. Social media engagement was reliably associated with adolescent adjustment. Self-presentation may function as a double-edged sword, promoting peer prosocial support but also increasing the risk for peer victimization and internalizing problems. Self-disclosure was uniquely associated with an increased risk of peer victimization, and lurking was uniquely associated with internalizing problems. Social monitoring was not uniquely associated with any of the adjustment outcomes. Contrary to previous literature (e.g., Kross et al., 2013), the amount of time spent on social media was not uniquely associated with any adjustment outcomes after social media behaviors were controlled, suggesting the importance of examining what adolescents are doing with that time. Unexpectedly, the frequency of social media use (a measure less often considered in the literature) appeared to be uniquely associated with more adaptive adjustment. The association between social media engagement and adjustment was stronger for girls than for boys (particularly for peer victimization). Findings extend previous research demonstrating the importance of considering specific social media behaviors in adolescent development. Future research should longitudinally examine the role of social media engagement on adolescent adjustment. Additionally, multi-method approaches (e.g., observational data collection, peer nominations) should be utilized to better understand the role of social media engagement on adolescent development. Finally, future research should examine different social media platforms (e.g., Twitter, Fortnite, Snapchat) and adolescent adjustment. / Psychology

This study examined whether the quality of the sibling relationship can alter the negative impact of stress on child well being. Participants were of 311 families (236 two parent families and 75 single parent families) with an adolescent child (M age of child at Time 1 = 11.25, SD = .99, 51% female) who took part in the Flourishing Families Project. Data were assessed using both a multiple time point cross-section and a two wave longitudinal design. Hierarchal linear regression suggested that when assessing the direct effects of sibling on well being, sibling affection is a better predictor of well being, but when assessing indirect effects, sibling conflict is a better predictor. Little evidence was found to support the idea that siblings moderate the impact of stress by buffering or decreasing the negative impact of stress. Results did indicate that sibling conflict was a salient moderator of stress in that conflict exacerbates the already negative impact of stress. Results from this study also suggest that when assessing the buffering or exacerbating impact of siblings, cross-sectional data produces better explanatory power than when these constructs are assessed longitudinally. However a single time point, cross-sectional design does not account for dynamic changes over time in either the sibling relationship, the level of stress or well being. Research designs such as multiple time, point cross-sectional studies or growth curve analyses are recommended.