Explaining the "parenting - callous-unemotional traits - antisocial behavior" axis in early adolescence: The role of affiliative reward.

In explaining the "parenting - callous-unemotional traits - antisocial behavior" axis, recent theoretical advances postulate a critical role for affiliative reward. Existing empirical studies focus on early childhood and the appetitive phase of the reward process (i.e. affiliation-seeking behavior) rather than the consummatory phase (i.e. affective rewards). This study focuses on experienced affiliative reward (i.e. companionship, intimacy, affection, and worth) in relation to parents and best friends in early adolescence. The Alabama Parenting Questionnaire, Network of Relationships Inventory, Inventory of Callous and Unemotional Traits, and Youth Self Report were completed by 1132 12-year-olds and analyzed via structural equation models. In this cross-sectional sample, parent-related affiliative reward mediated the path from perceived parenting practices to callousness and further to aggression and rule-breaking. Parent-related affiliative reward was also related to uncaring traits and further to aggression and rule-breaking. In contrast, friend-related affiliative reward was not a mediator in this theoretical causal chain and largely not related to perceived parenting practices or CU traits. Low parent-related experienced affiliative reward is a mechanism through which corporal punishment, poor monitoring, and low involvement translate into callousness, and therefore to aggression and rule-breaking. Friend-related affiliative reward does not yet play a role in early adolescence.

Measurement Invariance of Alabama Parenting Questionnaire Across Age, Gender, Clinical Status, and Informant.

This study aimed to investigate the measurement invariance of the Alabama Parenting Questionnaire (for both long [APQ-lg] and short [APQ-9] forms) across age, gender, clinical status, and informant (i.e., parent vs. child reports). The sample was composed of adolescents (community sample: N = 1,746; clinical sample: N = 166) and parents (N = 149). The analyses were conducted in R. Measurement invariance was assessed via multi-group confirmatory factor analysis, equivalence test, and subsampling approach. The original model of APQ-lg (five factors) showed a significantly better fit than other concurrent models (five concurrent models were specified, based on prior literature). For APQ-lg, we found measurement invariance across gender and partial measurement invariance across age, clinical status, and informant. For APQ-9, we confirmed the measurement invariance across gender and clinical status, while across age and informant partial measurement invariance was attested. Overall, our study indicated that APQ-lg and APQ-9 are two valid tools for measuring parenting practices with some caveats.

Early adolescents' perceptions of parenting practices and mental health problems: A network approach.

This study aims to identify possible primary targets for the parenting programs designed to reduce (or prevent) the mental health problems of adolescents. We used network analysis to estimate networks for parenting practices and for the interplay between parenting practices and adolescents' mental health problems. A community sample of early adolescents (10-13 years old, N = 1,125) reported both parenting (Alabama Parenting Questionnaire, Child Global Report) and mental health outcomes (Youth Self-Report). The behavior "You stay out later than you are supposed to and your parents don't know it" was the most central in the parenting practices network. Poor monitoring and conduct problems were the main paths through which parenting practices and youths' mental health influenced each other. Regarding the interplay between parenting practices and adolescent mental health, the network for males had a significantly higher connectivity (p = .035) than that for females. Although in the early stages, the network approach promises to provide a better understanding of parenting practices and their interaction with the mental health problems of adolescents. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).