Economic pressure and depressive symptoms: Testing the family stress model from adolescence to adulthood.

The family stress model (FSM) was used to examine the effects of economic pressure on maternal depressive symptoms, couple conflict, and mother harsh parenting during adolescence on offspring depressive symptoms in adulthood. Prospective longitudinal data were analyzed across 3 developmental time points that included 451 mothers and their adolescents. Economic pressure and mother depressive symptoms were assessed during early adolescence, couple conflict and mother harsh parenting were assessed during middle to late adolescence, and offspring depressive symptoms were assessed in adulthood. Findings were in support of pathways in the FSM in that economic pressure was related to maternal depressive symptoms, which were associated with couple conflict, which in turn predicted mother harsh parenting during adolescence, and mother harsh parenting was associated with offspring depressive symptoms in adulthood. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Steps to Effective Problem-Solving in group homes.

Aggressive/challenging behaviors (A/CB) are a major public health problem for individuals with intellectual disabilities (ID). A leading reason for psychiatric hospitalizations and incarcerations, such behaviors are costly to the health care system, agencies, and families. Social problem-solving (SPS) training programs for individuals with ID have had positive behavioral results, but most were conducted in clinical or forensic settings. None was a community-based preventive intervention, none examined whether the behaviors decreased in residential and work settings, and none addressed cost-effectiveness. In preliminary work, we modified an effective SPS training program (ADAPT: Attitude, Define, Alternatives, Predict, and Try out), using input from individuals with ID and residential staff, as a community-based preventive intervention that we delivered in group homes (STEPS: Steps to Effective Problem-solving). Individuals with ID have high rates of obesity, and our attention-control condition is a nutrition intervention: Food for Life. We describe the protocol for a randomized clinical trial to: (1) test the efficacy of the STEPS intervention for improving SPS skills and reducing A/CB compared to an attention-control nutrition intervention in group homes; (2) assess the mediating effect of residential staff SPS skills, group-home level SPS skills, and group cohesiveness on the improvement of SPS skills and reductions in A/CB; and (3) evaluate the cost-effectiveness of STEPS. We expect to show that STEPS is a preventive strategy to reduce A/CBs among individuals with ID and improve the cost-effectiveness of their care.

Adolescent family experiences and educational attainment during early adulthood.

In this study, the authors investigated the degree to which a family investment model would help account for the association between family of origin socioeconomic characteristics and the later educational attainment of 451 young adults (age 26) from 2-parent families. Parents' educational level, occupational prestige, and family income in 1989 each had a statistically significant direct relationship with youths' educational attainment in 2002. Consistent with the theoretical model guiding the study, parents' educational level and family income also demonstrated statistically significant indirect effects on later educational attainment through their associations with growth trajectories for supportive parenting, sibling relations, and adolescent academic engagement. Supportive parenting and sibling relations were linked to later educational attainment through their association with adolescent academic engagement. Academic engagement during adolescence was associated with educational attainment in young adulthood. These basic processes operated similarly regardless of youths' gender, target youths' age relative to a near-age sibling, gender composition of the sibling dyad, or gender of parent.

Neighborhood Context and Financial Strain as Predictors of Marital Interaction and Marital Quality in African American Couples.

Demographic characteristics, family financial strain, neighborhood-level economic disadvantage, and state of residence were tested as predictors of observed warmth, hostility, and self-reported marital quality. Participants were 202 married African American couples who resided in a range of neighborhood contexts. Neighborhood-level economic disadvantage predicted lower warmth during marital interactions, as did residence in the rural south. Consistent with the family stress model (e.g., Conger & Elder, 1994), family financial strain predicted lower perceived marital quality. Unexpectedly, neighborhood-level economic disadvantage predicted higher marital quality. Social comparison processes and degree of exposure to racially based discrimination are considered as explanations for this unexpected result. The importance of context in relationship outcomes is highlighted.