Social withdrawal is often associated with a number of indices of adjustment and maladjustment, but little research exists that attempts to uncover potential protective factors. This study longitudinally examined the moderating role of parent extraversion and parent warmth on the association between two types of social withdrawal (shyness and unsociability) and later indices of adjustment and maladjustment. Participants were 463 families from the flourishing families project. Results showed no longitudinal associations between social withdrawal and later indices of adjustment or maladjustment. However, when parent extraversion was added as a moderator, shyness was positively associated with prosocial behavior for those with introverted parents, and positively associated with shame for those with highly extraverted parents. Implications are discussed.

Elevated social anxiety is a well-documented risk factor for developing problematic alcohol use behaviors. Adolescents with high social anxiety often report drinking for coping-related reasons, and drinking to cope has been linked to both acute and chronic alcohol use problems. Research further suggests that parenting is a primary socialization domain in terms of adolescent alcohol use onset and trajectory; however, no work has yet examined the role of parenting factors in the relation between social anxiety and coping motives for drinking. The current study investigated the role of two parenting dimensions, rejection/warmth and psychological control, on the link between social anxiety and problematic drinking motives. Drawing from an ongoing assessment of an inpatient program, the sample consisted of 94 girls and boys (ages 11-17 years). Regression analyses evaluated main effects of social anxiety, rejection, psychological control, the interactive effects of the parenting dimensions, and the three-way interaction of both parenting dimensions with social anxiety on coping motives for alcohol use. As expected, social anxiety was positively and statistically significantly related to coping motives when examined via raw scores, proportional values, and in the final model. Further, zero-order correlations indicated a positive, statistically significant relation between proportional coping motives and both rejection and psychological control; however, no other hypothesis was supported. Collectively, this body of work underscores the potential benefit of integrating social stress and anxiety management in problematic alcohol use intervention efforts, as well as drinking motive education in efforts targeting social anxiety.

In this thesis ethnotheories on the expression of emotional warmth towards babies were studied, considering socio-economic and cultural factors. It was proposed that the more relatedness is emphasized as a socialization goal the more emphasis is also put on the expression of emotional warmth. Furthermore, the modality, in which emotional warmth is perceived to be ideally expressed, was expected to be related to the extent the participants want to foster autonomy. Autonomy-fostering caregivers were expected to stress distal modes of expressing emotional warmth more, than less autonomy-fostering caregivers. These two hypotheses were tested with mothers (and grandmothers) of three-month-old children from Germany, USA, urban and rural India. The hypotheses were predominantly confirmed, though some methodological issues are reasons for concern. The applicability of the (Western) psychological theories on the expression of emotional warmth towards infants perceived by Indian caregivers was explored. The Indian caregivers ethnotheories matched the psychological theories fairly well. However, other concepts were also mentioned frequently. Therefore open-ended methods were used to study the indigenous concept of the Evil Eye . Some rural Indian mothers considered looking at the baby while breastfeeding, or praising the baby as a potential danger. Finally, the different caregivers roles as perceived by urban Indian mothers and rural Indian mothers and grandmothers were explored. The mother was seen as the most important caregiver for the expression of warmth towards an infant, though rural and urban caregivers disagreed about the reasons for her being special. Other (unspecified) family members were mentioned frequently. Fathers were perceived in different roles by urban and rural mothers, though they agreed on them being providers of vocal or verbal stimulation for the child. The mothers regarded the grandmothers as a source of advice and support in child-rearing matters.

Ångest är ett av de vanligaste psykiska besvären och uppskattningsvis var fjärde person kommer någon gång under livet drabbas av någon form av ångestsyndrom. Forskning har visat att det finns en genetisk och beteendemässig överföring av ångest från föräldrar till deras barn. Föräldrarskapsforskning har försökt förstå vilka föräldrabeteenden som är associerade med denna överföring. Två föräldrabeteenden som undersökts i detta fält är föräldrars värme och kritik mot deras barn. Forskningen kring föräldrabeteenden har dock gett tvetydiga resultat. Från studier som inkluderat multipla informanter indikerar resultaten att föräldrar med ångestbesvär uppfattar sig själva som mindre varma och mer kritiska mot sina barn jämfört med föräldrar utan ångestbesvär. Syftet med denna studie var därför att utforska om uppfattningen mellan föräldrar och dess närstående skiljer sig åt vad gäller föräldrarnas värme/kritik mot sina barn samt vilka variabler som är associerade med den eventuella skillnaden. Studien hade en tvärsnittsdesign med data från 199 föräldrar, insamlat av Karolinska Institutet under åren 2021 och 2022. Resultatet från denna studie visade att föräldrar med ångest i genomsnitt skattade sig själva som mindre varma och mer kritiska jämfört med deras närståendes skattningar av dem. Variabeln self-efficacy i föräldraskapet hade den starkaste signifikanta associationen till skillnaden. Varken föräldrarnas ångestnivå eller depressionsnivå var signifikant associerade med denna skillnad. Ett intressant fynd var att skillnaden i skattningarna var större för de kvinnliga föräldrarna än för de manliga, för värme men inte för kritik. Mer forskning behövs för att fastställa riktningen på associationen samt om det finns andra variabler som ytterligare kan förklara skillnaden i uppfattningen av värme/kritik. / Anxiety is one of the most common mental disorders and it’s estimated that one in four people will suffer from an anxiety disorder at some point in their lives. Research has shown that there are both genetic and behavioral components in transmission of anxiety from parents to their children. Parenting research has sought to understand which parenting behaviors are associated with this transmission. Two parenting behaviors that have been investigated in this field are parents' warmth and criticism towards their children. However, the research has produced ambiguous results. From studies that included multiple informants, results indicate that parents with anxiety perceive themselves as less warm and more critical towards their children compared to parents without anxiety. The purpose of this study was therefore to explore whether parents and someone close to them differ in terms of their perception of the parents' warmth/criticism towards their children and which variables are associated with the possible difference. The study had a cross-sectional design with data from 199 parents collected by Karolinska Institutet in the years 2021 and 2022. The results from this study showed that, on average, parents with anxiety rated themselves as less warm and more critical compared to ratings from someone close to them them. The variable parental self-efficacy had the strongest significant association with the difference in ratings. Neither the parents' anxiety- or depression level were significantly associated with the difference. An interesting find was that the difference in ratings for warmth, but not for criticism, were greater for female parents than for male parents. More research is needed to determine the direction of these associations as well as whether there are other variables that may further explain the difference in perceptions of warmth/criticism.

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This study examined how the longitudinal associations among children’s negative emotionality, mothers’ depressive symptoms, parental warmth, and children’s school readiness and whether the associations vary as a function of fathers’ positive involvement in low-income South Korean families. Participants were 399 families including mothers (Mage = 32.54 years at Time 1), fathers (Mage = 35.23 years at Time 1), and children (Mage = 38.92 months at Time 1; 50.5% boys) in the Panel Study on Korean Children. Results revealed that children’s negative emotionality was indirectly associated with their school readiness three years later, through its association with mothers’ depressive symptoms and warmth. Mothers’ warmth mediated the association between mothers’ depressive symptoms and children’s school readiness, and fathers’ warmth mediated the association between fathers’ positive involvement and children’s school readiness. Our findings revealed the family processes underlying children’s school readiness development in low-income Korean family contexts. Our findings also provide information useful for efforts to detect family risks and to establish family policies to promote low-income children’s school readiness.

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The purpose of this study is to examine parent-adolescent relationships as perceived by adolescents and its relationship with adolescents’ adjustment. In order to measure parent-adolescent relationships psychological control, involvement, parental warmth and communication have been used as variables. Furthermore, self-esteem, school adjustment, substance use and depression are used as measures of adolescents’ adjustment outcomes. The study’s cross sectional survey design utilized a stratified random sample with structured questionnaires for the collection of quantitative data involving multiple variables that are examined to detect patterns of association and prediction. The participants comprise 809 adolescents (Males = 427 and Females = 382) from four private and government high schools and the average age of participants is 16.8. The participants were randomly selected from Grade Level 9, 10, 11 and 12. Independent t-test, correlation, and regression analyses are used to analyse the data in this research. The results of the independent sample t-test on the perception of adolescents’ relationship with their parents showed that male adolescents perceive their mothers and fathers as more psychologically controlling than female adolescents. On the other hand, female adolescents perceive their mothers and fathers as warmer; more involved in their schooling; and engage in a more positive communication than do the male adolescents. In addition, the independent sample t-test also shows that male adolescents exhibit more adjustment problems than do female adolescents. Specifically, male adolescents seem to show more substance use behaviour, have lower self-esteem, more school adjustment problems and a higher depression level as compared to female adolescents. The correlation analysis reveals that there is a significant relationship among the four-parent-adolescent relationship and adolescent adjustment variables. The regression analysis also demonstrates that the four-parent-adolescent relation predictor variables account for adolescent adjustment though their contribution to the prediction was varied by the gender of the adolescents’ parents. This research; however, does not consider father-adolescent communication as a significant predictor to adolescent school adjustment and mother-adolescent communication as a significant predictor to adolescent depression. Theoretically, the present findings provide evidence that positive parent-adolescent relationships can be considered as a relevant protective factor for adolescents. For policy consideration, it is suggested that efforts be made to establish quality after school youth programs to engage adolescents in several mentoring activities, and family based coping programs should be established based on the centrality of the family for better family functioning. / Von Krosigk, Beate. / Psychology