Clarifying the Links between Perceived Stress and Depressiveness: a Longitudinal Study of COVID-19's Effects on Adolescents in Germany.

Young people are navigating an increasingly uncertain and unstable social and economic environment, further complicated by COVID-19. Individual resources and vulnerabilities, such as mental health and sensitivity to stress, play a significant role in how well youth adapt to the career paths and living conditions altered by the pandemic, a dynamic that is not yet well understood. This study examined the role of COVID-19 on the intertwined relation between perceived stress and depressiveness (negative and positive affect) in adolescents, focusing on gender differences. Longitudinal data from 673 German adolescents (Mage = 16.8 years, SDage = 0.91; female = 59%) were collected in three waves, before (T1) and during the pandemic (T2, T3). Using Latent Change Score models, the bidirectional relation between perceived stress and depressiveness was analyzed, considering gender as a moderator. The results showed that adolescents who found their situation stressful were at risk of developing depressiveness at the outbreak of the pandemic and throughout its progression. As the pandemic progressed, an increase in positive affect was linked to heightened perceived stress. Gender-specific differences were particularly evident in the levels of perceived stress and depressiveness, with women being more vulnerable. This study highlights how vulnerabilities in stress perception affect adolescents' mental health, with gender-specific differences underscoring the need for tailored mental health measures.

From Maltreatment to Psychiatric Disorders in Childhood and Adolescence: The Relevance of Emotional Maltreatment.

Different forms of maltreatment are thought to incur a cumulative and non-specific toll on mental health. However, few large-scale studies draw on psychiatric diagnoses manifesting in early childhood and adolescence to identify sequelae of differential maltreatment exposures, and emotional maltreatment, in particular. Fine-grained multi-source dimensional maltreatment assessments and validated age-appropriate clinical interviews were conducted in a sample of N = 778 3 to 16-year-olds. We aimed to (a) substantiate known patterns of clinical outcomes following maltreatment and (b) analyse relative effects of emotional maltreatment, abuse (physical and sexual), and neglect (physical, supervisory, and moral-legal/educational) using structural equation modeling. Besides confirming known relationships between maltreatment exposures and psychiatric disorders, emotional maltreatment exerted particularly strong effects on internalizing disorders in older youth and externalizing disorders in younger children, accounting for variance over and above abuse and neglect exposures. Our data highlight the toxicity of pathogenic relational experiences from early childhood onwards, urging researchers and practitioners alike to prioritize future work on emotional maltreatment.

Adolescent Loneliness and Negative Affect during the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Role of Extraversion and Neuroticism.

The COVID-19 pandemic had varied but significant effects on the lives of adolescents. This study aimed to examine the effects of extraversion and neuroticism on changes in loneliness and negative affect among adolescents during the pandemic. Longitudinal data were collected in three waves from 673 German adolescents and young adults (Mage = 16.8 years, SDage = 0.91; female = 59%), affected by local lockdowns. The data collection was one time before (T1) and two times during the pandemic (T2, T3). Change score models were used to assess the relationship between loneliness and negative affect with consideration of extraversion and neuroticism. Results showed that pre-pandemic loneliness was predictive of changes in negative affect during the pandemic, with higher loneliness predicting increases in negative affect. Negative affect did not predict later loneliness. Extraverts showed an increase in negative affect over time, particularly between pre-pandemic measurement and the first phase of the pandemic. Higher neuroticism appeared to have increased vulnerability for negative affect during the pandemic, as a rise in negative affect were found among these adolescents throughout the course of the pandemic. In conclusion, the study highlights the significant impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of adolescents and suggests that managing the pandemic during this specific developmental period is a challenge.

Adolescents' psychological adjustment during challenging times: The role of mothers', fathers', and adolescents' ratings of parental warmth.

Parent-adolescent interactions can be very loving, although both parties might not always agree. The level of and discrepancy between ratings on parenting style are indicators for functioning within the family, affecting adolescents' psychological adjustment. This 4-year multiinformant study focuses on emotional warmth in parenting as a precursor for changes in adolescents' psychological adjustment. Altogether, 1,817 German adolescents and their parents report on the quality of their parental warmth, and the former additionally rates their emotional and social problems. Combining the latent true intraindividual change (TIC) and latent congruence (LCM) models, the results indicated that a higher level of jointly perceived parental warmth is linked to more positive adjustment for adolescents, whereas a discrepant rating in terms of a parental overreporting is associated with a lower adjustment. The meaning of shared and discrepant mother-adolescent and father-adolescent ratings for adolescents' psychological adjustment during late childhood and early adolescence is discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Linking mothers' well-being to a subsequent birth: The mediating role of coparenting and personal income.

This study examines whether a birth of higher parity affects mothers' well-being. Literature documents that well-being is linked to a subsequent birth but differs in its conclusions about how and why. In particular, the underlying processes are not yet understood. There is some evidence that a subsequent birth impairs coparenting, the way parents work together, because parents have to adapt to and reorganize this new-person-in-context constellation. Also, the financial costs of children and the pressure this might put on the family system have to be considered. Applying the framework of the Family Stress Model, we examine the process of how a subsequent birth affects mothers' well-being by considering both factors as mediators in a structural equation model. Using German two-wave panel data (AID:A 2009 and 2014; German Youth Institute, 2019) on 3,738 nuclear families, our findings suggest that, after a subsequent birth, if mothers perceive a deterioration in coparenting and their personal income increases at a lower rate, then these factors mediate the association between a higher parity parenthood and decrease mothers' well-being. The findings are important for prevention and intervention because they suggest that a subsequent birth can negatively affect familial resources, such as the quality of coparenting, with risks for partnership stability as well as child development. The findings are also important for family policy because they indicate that a worsened personal financial situation after a subsequent birth affects mothers' individual well-being negatively and might thus be relevant for further fertility intentions. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

[Psychosocial Risk Factors and Negative Emotionality in Early Childhood: Mothers' Perspective]. / Psychosoziale Belastungsfaktoren und negative Emotionalität in der frühen Kindheit: die Perspektive der Mütter.

Psychosocial Risk Factors and Negative Emotionality in Early Childhood: Mothers' Perspective Based on a nationally representative study of parents, this study examines risk factors for mothers' perceptions of young children's negative emotionality, focusing the role of mothers' educational resources and related psychosocial risk factors. Participants were 7,311 mothers with children below age 48 month. Mothers' perception of child emotionality was assessed through two factors, irritability and defiance. Findings from regression analyses showed a stable negative relationship between maternal education and perceived defiance of the child. Although this effect was partly mediated by further psychosocial risk factors, lower education was consistently related with higher perceived defiance. Perceived irritability, in contrast, was not affected by mother's education. Further analyses showed age-specific effects (stronger effects for younger children) as well as a predictive value of mothers' perceptions regarding the occurrence of child abuse or neglect. The results are discussed in the context of early prevention programs in Germany, emphasizing the relevance of identifying risk-groups and offering early and multidimensional prevention.

Benefits of maternal education for mental health trajectories across childhood and adolescence.

RATIONALE: Mental health problems in children and adolescents are widespread and are a primary public health concern worldwide. During childhood and adolescence different challenges must be met. Whether the corresponding developmental tasks can be mastered successfully and in a psychologically healthy manner depends on the availability of resources. OBJECTIVE: The aim of the current study was to examine the benefits of maternal education on the development of mental health in children and adolescents. METHOD: Data from 2810 participants (48.7% female, 7- to 19-years old) of the longitudinal BELLA study (mental health module of the representative German KiGGS study) were analyzed from up to four measurement points (2003-2012). Individual growth modeling was employed to estimate the benefits of maternal education (Comparative Analysis of Social Mobility in Industrial Nations, CASMIN) for the trajectories of mental health problems (parent-reported Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, SDQ) in children and adolescents. RESULTS: Children of mothers with low education had significantly more mental health problems compared to children of mothers with high education. This difference due to maternal education applied for girls as well as boys and especially for participants who did not live with both biological parents. Further, the difference in mental health problems due to varying maternal education decreased with increasing age of the participants. CONCLUSION: Prevention programs should focus on children of mothers with lower education who additionally live in single- or step-parent families as a high-risk group. Knowledge of the underlying mechanism between education and mental health is highly important.