Research to date indicates that parental and cognitive variables play a role in stress responses and health outcomes. Although researchers are beginning to focus on developmental processes in stress/health outcomes, there is little research examining which parental behaviors are most predictive of stress/health and whether cognitive variables mediate this relationship. As a result, the current study examines the self-reports of 160 late adolescents regarding parental behaviors, cognitive variables, and stress/health outcomes. In addition, blood pressure reactivity to a stressful situation was collected as a physiological measure of stress. The results suggest that, among the parental behaviors that are examined, parental overprotection and poor monitoring are the most predictive variables of adolescents' stress/health. The results indicate that adolescents' cognitions also are significant predictors of their self-reported stress/health. Further, adolescents' cognitions fully mediate the relationship between paternal behaviors and stress/health outcomes and partially mediate the relationship between maternal behaviors and stress/health outcomes. Finally, measures of blood pressure reactivity are not significantly related to study variables or were related in unpredicted directions. Possible explanations for these results are discussed. Overall, future research should examine parental overprotection and poor monitoring as important distal variables in adolescents' stress/health but should examine adolescents' cognitions as a more salient and immediate predictor of adolescents' stress/health.

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The present study was designed to investigate the development of infants' recognition of their fathers, specifically examining the role of multisensory information (visual and auditory cues). All infants were 4-months-old and were tested in a visual-fixation preference procedure. The two measures of interest were attention and affective responsiveness. Preference was measured by the amount of time the infants watched a visual stimulus. In Experiments 1 and 2 this stimulus was the paternal face. In Experiment 2 the paternal face was also accompanied by the paternal voice. In Experiment 3, the stimulus was the maternal face plus voice. Affective responsiveness was coded for hedonic tone, interest and excitement. It was found that infants showed more positive affect towards their fathers' faces (Experiment 1) and faces plus voices (Experiment 2), p < .05. In Experiment 3, results showed that infants preferred their mothers' faces plus voices over an unfamiliar female face plus voice when the first trial was excluded from the analysis, p < .05. These findings not only support the literature on infants' recognition of their mothers, but they also contribute to the increasing body of information on infants and their fathers. The findings are interpreted as supporting the hypothesis that the developmental pattern of father recognition is qualitatively and quantitatively different from that of mother recognition. / Ph. D.

Both parents and close friends are central figures in adolescents' emotional and psychological adjustment. However, little is known about how close friends socialize adolescents' emotions or how friends' socialization messages compare to those from parents in adolescence. The present study will explore how parents and friends discuss negative emotions with adolescents in relation to adolescents' emotion regulation and internalizing symptoms. Participants were 30 parent-adolescent-friend triads from a community sample. Parent and friend emotion socialization was observed during two discourse tasks (one with the parent, one with the friend) regarding a past negative event. Adolescents also reported parent and friend emotion socialization responses. Adolescents' emotion regulation was measured via heart rate variability during a baseline task (i.e., watching an animal and nature video) and via a parent-report questionnaire. Lastly, adolescents reported their internalizing symptoms on a standard questionnaire. Correlations showed that the two methods for emotion socialization (observations, questionnaires) were largely not concordant, and the different measurements of emotion regulation were also not concordant. Repeated measures MANOVAs showed that parents and friends differed in their use of various emotion socialization responses, as parents were observed to be higher in emotion coaching and co-rumination. Adolescents reported that parents were higher in emotion coaching and emotion dismissing, and friends were higher in co-rumination. These differences were not moderated by adolescent sex. Contrary to hypotheses, adolescent emotion regulation was not correlated with adolescent internalizing symptoms and did not mediate the association of parents' and friends' socialization of negative emotions with adolescent internalizing symptoms. This study unites the parent and friend literatures on emotion socialization and indicates that parents and friends are distinct socialization agents during adolescence. This study also offers insight into methodological approaches for measuring emotion socialization and emotion regulation, particularly that emotion socialization measurements need to be sensitive to the structural differences of family relationships and friendships. Future directions include exploring a wider range of socialization agents and how they may interact to influence adolescent development, amongst other topics. / Ph. D.

Increased stress levels due to parenting have been shown to correlate to harsher parenting responses towards children (Belsky, 1984). Mindfulness, however, suggests the ability to focus on the present moment in a nonjudgmental and nonreactive manner. Similarly, parents with increased mindfulness have reported more open dialogue and warmth with their child (Williams & Wahler, 2010). Few studies have examined an ecologically valid test measuring the constructs of stress reactivity together with parent and child observed interaction. This study examined the moderating role of mindfulness and its effect on the relationship between parenting stress reactivity and parent response to child. Thirty-nine mother and child dyads participated in a validated activity-based parent-child interaction task designed to measure the level of maternal criticism directed toward child via behavioral coding. Mother's heart rate (HR) was monitored to determine the physiological measure of stress reactivity. Mothers also completed self-report forms to indicate levels of mindfulness, perceived stress-reactivity and parenting feelings. Results demonstrated significant main effects for parent self-reported levels of stress reactivity to social challenges and mindful non-reactivity on self-reported parent negative feelings; however, these main effects were better accounted by mother depression, stress, and child age. Mindfulness significantly predicted in-lab levels of mother critical response to child. Additionally, results indicated a significant interaction between mindfulness and perceived stress reactivity, such that mindfulness predicted less criticism toward the child in parents who reported low stress reactivity. Given the low sample size and subsequent low power, results should be viewed with caution. / Master of Science

Using the perspectives of social capital theory (Coleman, 1988) and life course theory (Elder et al., 2003), this study examined how economic capital and particular dimensions of the parent-adolescent relationship predicted educational outcomes. The economic capital variables were family income, parent education, and parent occupational prestige. Relationship capital variables included: closeness to parents, expectations for schooling, parental values, and parent trust. The three economic capital variables, expectations for schooling, and parent trust all significantly predicted final GPA and educational attainment. However, parent-adolescent closeness and parental values did not predict educational outcomes in the overall model. This study extended research in the field by examining both final GPA and educational attainment as educational outcomes. By using a nationally representative sample and four time points of data collection, this research was able to explore how various forms of capital predict early adulthood educational outcomes. / Master of Science

This paper examines the role of attachment beliefs and parenting behaviors on the association between maternal and child anxiety in a community sample of mothers and their children aged 6-17 (N = 89). Maternal anxiety was assessed through the SCL-90 & STAI-T. Child anxiety was assessed through the RCMAS-C, STAIC-T, RCMAS-P, & CBCL. Attachment beliefs were assessed through the Experiences in Close Relationships (maternal) and the Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment (child). Parenting behaviors were assessed through the Alabama Parenting Questionnaire and the Children's Report of Parent Behavior Inventory. Significant associations were found between maternal and child anxiety, attachment beliefs, and parenting. Multiple regression analysis indicated that Anxious Attachment Beliefs and Parental Involvement appeared to mediate the association between maternal and child anxiety. Findings are discussed in terms of elucidating the role of attachment beliefs and parenting behaviors on the association between maternal and child anxiety.

Parent-offspring conflict theory (POCT) has been underutilized by researchers interested in family relationships. The goal of these three manuscripts is to help remedy this problem.Manuscript one presents POCT in its original formulation and more recent developments. The theory is described and explained and four topical areas of human development are discussed in terms of how POCT has been applied and how the theory can help inform future research.Manuscript two tests hypotheses derived from POCT about mother-adolescent conflict. This study showed that coresidence with a younger half sibling significantly incremented conflict between mothers and their children. This effect was not explained by SES, maternal depression, number of children in the household, or stepfather presence. In addition, children in younger half sibling households demonstrate elevated levels of conflict compared to families with a younger full sibling indicating that this effect is not an artifact of coresidence with a younger sibling. Presence of a younger half sibling also partially mediated the relationship between biological parental disruption and mother-child conflict.Manuscript three sought to extend on the findings from manuscript two by examining how different family contexts affect trajectories of mother-child conflict across adolescence. A piecewise growth model was implemented to estimate linear conflict trajectories from early to mid and from mid to late adolescence. Results indicated that conflict tends to increase from early to mid adolescence but remain constant from mid to late adolescence, that biological parental disruption did not differentiate trajectories of conflict, nor did living with a stepfather. In addition, despite a large difference in regression coefficients between families with and without a younger half sibling, younger half sibling status did not differentiate conflict trajectories from early to mid adolescence. Families did differ in their trajectories from mid to late adolescence with younger half sibling families showing a reduction in conflict over this time period. Inclusion of family level covariates effectively nullified all significant results. Results are discussed in the context of parent-offspring conflict theory. It is concluded that a larger sample with more diverse family types is needed to achieve sufficient power for additional analyses and future research.

The current study examined the role of self-reported and child-reported maternal lack of acceptance in increasing the likelihood of developing internalizing and externalizing symptoms among children with ADHD symptomatology. The effects of a social desirability bias on mother’s self-reports of rejection were controlled for. Mother-child agreement about parenting behaviors like warmth/affection, hostility/aggression and indifference/neglect was also investigated. In addition, variables with the potential to affect agreement (i.e., parents’ social desirability bias, child age, child sex) were examined. Participants included 120 boys and 90 girls, 6 to 11 years old (M = 8.25, SD = 1.18) with and without ADHD and their primary parent/guardian (N = 209). Parent and child participants completed self-report instruments separately. Results indicate that the relationship between mother-and-child-reported ADHD symptoms and internalizing symptoms is strongest when mothers exhibit low levels of rejection. Among the ADHD subsample, maternal lack of acceptance acts as a risk factor by strengthening the relationship between hyperactive/impulsive symptoms and externalizing symptoms. In addition, mothers and their children report significantly different levels of parenting behaviors. Child age and child sex were significant predictors of parent-child disagreement.