Developmental trajectories of mother-adolescent agreement on maternal autonomy support and their contributions to adolescents' adjustment.

Based on a multi-informant, longitudinal perspective on parent-adolescent relationships, this study examined patterns of convergence and divergence on maternal autonomy support. It had two aims: First, it sought to identify developmental trajectories of maternal autonomy support across adolescence from the perspectives of both mothers and adolescents. A second was to evaluate the longitudinal relation between self-reported and perceived maternal autonomy support by combining informants' trajectories. Data come from two 5-year longitudinal multi-informant studies (NS1 = 687 mother-child dyads; NS2 = 745 mother-child dyads). Each year, mothers and adolescents completed a questionnaire assessing maternal autonomy support. In both the samples, results of growth mixture modeling showed from mothers' perspective the presence of two distinct trajectories: high (91% of the sample) and moderate and relatively stable (9%) trajectories. From the adolescents' perspective, three trajectories were identified: high and relatively stable (75.7%), high and decreasing (11.8%), and moderate and increasing (12.5%). The normative mother-adolescent convergence pattern was one in which both adolescents and their mother reporting high levels of autonomy support. It was generally associated with more positive indices of adjustment, although academic achievement was highest when adolescents reported comparatively more autonomy support than their mother. The worst mother-adolescent convergence pattern tended to be one in which both reported initially moderate levels of autonomy support that remained relatively stable for mothers and increased for youths. Implications for parenting research and interventions are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Systematic Integration of Multi-Informant Externalizing Ratings in Clinical Settings.

Best practice clinical assessment of externalizing problems often necessitates collection of information from parents, youth themselves, and teachers. The present study tested the predictive validity of a psychometrically-driven scoring procedure to integrate multi-informant, dimensional ratings of externalizing problems. Participants were 2264 clinic-referred youth ages 6-18. Parents, teachers, and youth completed questionnaire ratings of externalizing problems (hyperactivity-inattention, conduct problems, and oppositionality-defiance) prior to an initial clinical appointment. The predictive validity of simple (highest informant rating; and all informant ratings separately) and more complex (latent S-1 bifactor model with specific informant factors; and moderated nonlinear factor analysis accounting for child age and sex) methods of informant integration was tested in predicting impairment, comorbidity, and number of clinical encounters. A simple model, in which all informant ratings were included, showed the best predictive validity across outcomes, performing as well or better than the use of the highest informant ratings or more complex latent variable models. The addition of child age and sex as moderators in the factor model did not improve predictive validity. Each informant (parent, teacher, and youth) contributes important information to the prediction of clinically-relevant outcomes. There is insufficient evidence at present to suggest that complex latent variable models should be favored over simpler models that preserve each informant's ratings.

Association between maternal sensitivity and child receptive language development: Quasi-causal evidence using a sibling comparison design.

Observational studies have shown that caregiver sensitivity predicts child language skills. These studies, however, have entirely relied on between-family designs (single parent-child dyad per family), which cannot rule out the contribution of shared family confounds (e.g., genetics, books in home). The current study investigates whether observed caregiver sensitivity predicts changes in child receptive language using a sibling comparison design. Participants were 890 Canadian children (51.7% male; 52.4% White) nested within 447 families from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds with children between the ages of 2 and 3.5 years (Wave 1) and 3.5 and 5 years (Wave 2). Independent observers provided ratings of maternal sensitivity with each sibling using several coding protocols (i.e., Coding of Attachment-Related Parenting and the Parent-Child Interaction System). Child receptive language was assessed using the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test. Maternal sensitivity predicted within-person change in receptive language. That is, the sibling that receives comparatively more sensitivity from the caregiver showed more development in language over time when compared to their sibling. The obverse association, child language to later maternal sensitivity, was not observed, pointing to a unidirectional association of maternal sensitivity on child receptive language. Our sibling comparison design rules out the role of shared family confounders, which provides a strong test of causal processes within an observational design. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Changes and predictors of maternal depressive and anxiety symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Longitudinal changes in maternal depressive and anxiety symptoms and predictors of symptom variation among a group of middle-to-upper income Canadian women (n = 2152) were examined prior to the pandemic (2017-2019) and at three pandemic timepoints (May-July 2020, March-April 2021, November-December 2021). Mean maternal depression and anxiety scores were elevated throughout the pandemic. Pre-pandemic depressive symptoms were associated with greater increases in depressive symptoms. Coping and relationship quality were protective factors. Supporting the development of coping strategies may mitigate mental health concerns among mothers.

Changes in Children's Recreational Screen Time During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

This cohort study compared children's recreational screen time with screen time before the COVID-19 pandemic and during 3 pandemic waves to examine whether changes in screen time were greater than those associated with age.

Different ways to support and thwart autonomy: Parenting profiles and adolescents' career decision-making.

Grounded in self-determination theory, this study aimed to (a) identify profiles of parental autonomy support and control and (b) examine how these profiles predict indicators of adolescents' career development (i.e., autonomy and competence in career exploration and indecision). To this end, we used three annual waves of data covering the postsecondary transition: the last 2 years of secondary school (T1 and T2) and 1 year after graduation (T3). The sample included 637 French-Canadian adolescents (54% girls; Mage at T1 = 14). Latent profile analyses were conducted to identify parenting profiles at T1 and T2, which were then associated with the indicators of career development at T2 and T3, respectively, while controlling for their autoregressive effects and sociodemographic information. Four comparable profiles were identified at both waves (i.e., Autonomy Supported, Generally Controlled, Mixed, and Guilt Induced), with a fifth profile (i.e., High Expectations) emerging only at T2. As expected, Autonomy Supported adolescents reported the highest levels of autonomy and competence and the lowest levels of indecision at both T2 and T3. The expected maladaptive nature of the Generally Controlled profile, however, was found only at T3, when this profile of adolescents became clearly differentiated from the autonomy supported profile on their career development outcomes. Regardless of the saliency of one specific controlling strategy, parental control hampered adolescents' career development, undermining autonomy and competence in career decision-making. These findings reiterate the benefits of autonomy support and the costs of parental control in adolescents' career development particularly in the long run. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Biomechanical differences in experts' and novices' footstep patterns during a palletizing task.

Very few studies have examined differences between experts' and novices' foot positioning and movements during manual materials handling tasks. The impact of footstep patterns on low back loading needs to be better understood. The goals of this study were to characterize foot placement and movements in novices and experts and to assess their impact on back loading considering the height of grasp. The task consisted in transferring 24 15 kg boxes from a pallet to another. Foot placement and movements were classified with a recently developed taxonomy. Results show that experts' feet remained static more often than novices' feet during the lifting phase. Positioning the feet towards the deposit site during lifting increased asymmetrical moments, especially for novices. Positioning one foot forward increased asymmetrical moments for novices. Overall, footstep strategies are an effective indicator of low back exposure and should be considered in ergonomic studies.

Do siblings influence one another? Unpacking processes that occur during sibling conflict.

This study examined the extent to which 205 sibling dyads influenced each other during conflict. Data were collected between 2013 to 2015. The sample included 5.9% Black, 15.1% South Asian, 15.1% East Asian, and 63.8% White children. Older siblings were between 7-13 years old (Female = 109) and younger siblings were 5-9 years old (Female = 99). Siblings' conflict resolution was analyzed using dynamic structural equation modeling. Modeling fluctuations in moment-to-moment data (20-s intervals) allowed for a close approximation of causal influence. Older and younger siblings were found to influence one another. Younger sisters were more constructive than younger brothers, especially in sister-sister dyads. Sibling age gap predicted inertia in older siblings. Socialization processes within sibling relationships are discussed.

Structure of Psychopathology in Romanian Preschool-Aged Children in an Epidemiological and a High-Risk Sample.

Objective: Research on bifactor models of psychopathology in early childhood is limited to community samples with little longitudinal follow-up. We examined general and specific forms of psychopathology within 2 independent samples of preschool-aged Romanian children. Within a sample with children exposed to psychosocial deprivation, we also examined antecedents and longitudinal outcomes of the general factor. Method: One sample consisted of 350 Romanian children (mean age = 39.7 months, SD = 10.9) from an epidemiological study; the second sample consisted of 170 Romanian children (mean age = 55.6 months, SD = 1.9) exposed to severe early-life deprivation, as well as community comparison children, with longitudinal follow-up at 8 and 12 years. Psychopathology symptoms were assessed through caregiver-reported structured clinical interviews. Results: An SI-1 bifactor model of psychopathology was supported in both samples and included specific factors for externalizing, internalizing, and disturbed relatedness symptoms. In the second sample, longer duration of psychosocial deprivation and lower-quality caregiving were associated with higher scores on the general and all specific factors. Higher scores on the general factor were associated with later cognitive function, competence, and psychopathology symptoms. Considering all factors together, only the general factor explained variance in later childhood outcomes and was slightly stronger compared to a total symptom count for some, but not all, outcomes. Conclusion: General psychopathology in early childhood explains meaningful variance in child outcomes across multiple domains of functioning in later childhood. However, important questions remain regarding its clinical utility and usefulness, given complex measurement and limited explanatory power beyond the more accessible approach of a total symptom count. Clinical trial registration information: The Bucharest Early Intervention Project; https://clinicaltrials.gov/; NCT00747396.

Dynamics of daily positive and negative affect and relations to anxiety and depression symptoms in a transdiagnostic clinical sample.

BACKGROUND: Despite interest in transdiagnostic dimensional approaches to psychopathology, little is known about the dynamic interplay of affecting and internalizing symptoms that cut across diverse mental health disorders. We examined within-person reciprocal effects of negative and positive affect (NA, PA) and symptoms (depression and anxiety), and their between-person associations with affective dynamics (i.e., affect inertia). METHODS: Individuals currently receiving treatment for psychological disorders (N = 776) completed daily assessments of affect and symptoms across 14 treatment days (average). We used dynamic structural equation modeling to examine daily affect-symptom dynamics. RESULTS: Within-person results indicated NA-symptom reciprocal effects; PA only predicted subsequent depression symptoms. After accounting for changes in mean symptoms and affect over time, NA-anxiety and PA-depression relations remained particularly robust. Between-person correlations indicated NA inertia was positively associated with NA-symptom effects; PA inertia was negatively associated with PA-symptoms effects. CONCLUSIONS: Results suggest that transdiagnostic affective treatment approaches may be more useful for reducing internalizing symptoms by decreasing NA compared to increasing PA. Individual differences in resistance to shifting out of affective states (i.e., high NA vs. PA inertia) may be a useful marker for developing tailored interventions.

Inertial Motion Capture-Based Estimation of L5/S1 Moments during Manual Materials Handling.

Inertial motion capture (IMC) has gained popularity in conducting ergonomic studies in the workplace. Because of the need to measure contact forces, most of these in situ studies are limited to a kinematic analysis, such as posture or working technique analysis. This paper aims to develop and evaluate an IMC-based approach to estimate back loading during manual material handling (MMH) tasks. During various representative workplace MMH tasks performed by nine participants, this approach was evaluated by comparing the results with the ones computed from optical motion capture and a large force platform. Root mean square errors of 21 Nm and 15 Nm were obtained for flexion and asymmetric L5/S1 moments, respectively. Excellent correlations were found between both computations on indicators based on L5/S1 peak and cumulative flexion moments, while lower correlations were found on indicators based on asymmetric moments. Since no force measurement or load kinematics measurement is needed, this study shows the potential of using only the handler's kinematics measured by IMC to estimate kinetics variables. The assessment of workplace physical exposure, including L5/S1 moments, will allow more complete ergonomics evaluation and will improve the ecological validity compared to laboratory studies, where the situations are often simplified and standardized.

Testing Reciprocal Associations between Parenting and Youth's Motivational Resources of Career Decision-Making Agency during the Postsecondary Transition.

Parents are central figures in youth's career decision-making processes. One of their key roles is to foster youth's career decision-making agency by supporting their motivational resources-of autonomy and competence. While the findings on parent-driven effects (how parenting behaviors predict youth's agency) are well documented, little is known about the opposite direction-child-driven effects (how youth's agency predicts parenting behaviors)-and the bidirectionality, particularly during postsecondary transitions. To address this gap, the current study examined (1) reciprocal linkages between mothers' and fathers' parenting behaviors (i.e., need support and control) and youth's agency (i.e., autonomy and competence) and (2) whether such linkages are moderated by the parent's gender and timing. Participants were 642 French-Canadian youths (54% girls; Mage = 14.2) who annually reported on parenting behaviors and career decision-making agency for 5 years, from Secondary 3 to 2 years postsecondary. For analysis, random-intercept cross-lagged panel models were estimated to disentangle the between- and within-family processes. The results showed that youth's career decision-making competence develops in reciprocal transactions with parental need support in an upward spiral, while autonomy development is primarily driven by need support. Limited evidence was found for the moderating effects of parents' gender and youth's transition periods. Preregistration: the present study was preregistered (the study design, hypotheses, and target analyses). The preregistration can be found in https://osf.io/c5hak . Any deviations from the preregistration can be found in the Online Supplemental Materials.

Students' Inattention Symptoms and Psychological Need Satisfaction During the Secondary School Transition: The Protective Role of Teachers' Involvement.

OBJECTIVE: This study examined the prospective relationship from student inattention symptoms to changes in their psychological need satisfaction (PNS) during their transition to secondary school. In doing so, it has explored whether this temporal association was moderated by teachers' involvement (TI). METHOD: A sample of 688 students (46% male; Mage = 11.82) followed in Grade 6 and Secondary 1 was selected from a stratified random list. RESULTS: Inattention symptoms predicted a decrease in autonomy and competence need satisfaction, after adjusting for gender, anxiety, aggression, and PNS at baseline. In addition, TI in Secondary 1 attenuated the association between inattention and autonomy need satisfaction decline. TI also predicted a smaller decrease in competence need satisfaction, over and above the contribution of inattention. CONCLUSIONS: Results support the importance of TI in PNS of students who are struggling with inattention throughout a critical transition. Implications for educational practices and research are discussed.

Contribution of vascular risk factors to the relationship between ADHD symptoms and cognition in adults and seniors.

Symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in childhood have been found to be predictive of compromised cognitive function, and possibly even dementia, in later adulthood. This study aimed to test vascular risk as a hypothesized moderator or mediator of this association, because individuals with elevated ADHD symptoms frequently have comorbid vascular disease or risk factors which are recognized to contribute to later-life cognitive decline. Data from 1,092 adults aged 18-85 were drawn from the Enhanced Nathan Kline Institute Rockland Sample. Childhood ADHD symptoms (assessed using the Adult ADHD Clinical Diagnostic Scale) were assessed as predictors of cognitive functioning in adulthood (assessed using subtests from the University of Pennsylvania Computerized Neurocognitive Battery, the Delis-Kaplan Executive Functioning System, and the Wechsler Memory Scale). Vascular risk factors (including diabetes, tobacco use, obesity, hypertension, and hypercholesterolemia) were tested as both a moderator and mediator of this relationship. Childhood ADHD symptoms and vascular risk factors were both independently associated with later-life cognition, but vascular risk was not a significant moderator or mediator of relationships between ADHD symptoms and cognition in statistical models. Results from this large community sample suggest that the relationship between ADHD symptoms and cognition is not accounted for by vascular risk. This question should also be investigated in clinical samples.

A mediation meta-analysis of the role of maternal responsivity in the association between socioeconomic risk and children's language.

This meta-analysis tested maternal responsivity as a mediator of the association between socioeconomic risk and children's preschool language abilities. The search included studies up to 2017 and meta-analytic structural equation modeling, allowed us to examine the magnitude of the indirect effect across 17 studies (k = 19). The meta-analysis included 6433 predominantly White, English speaking children (Mage  = 36 months; 50% female) from Western, industrialized countries. All paths in the model were statistically significant, notably, the indirect effect was significant (b = -.052), showing that maternal responsivity may be a proximal intervening variable between socioeconomic risk and children's language development. Moderator analyses found that the indirect effect was stronger for sensitive parenting than warmth and when parenting was assessed in the family home.

Disentangling adversity timing and type: Contrasting theories in the context of maternal prenatal physical and mental health using latent formative models.

Research on the effects of adversity has led to mounting interest in examining the differential impact of adversity as a function of its timing and type. The current study examines whether the effects of different types (i.e., physical, sexual, and emotional abuse) and timing (i.e., early, middle childhood, adolescence, or adulthood) of adversity on maternal mental and physical health outcomes in pregnancy, are best accounted for by a cumulative model or independent effects model. Women from a prospective pregnancy cohort (N =3,362) reported retrospectively on their experiences of adversity (i.e., physical, sexual, and emotional abuse) in early childhood (0-5 years], middle childhood (6-12 years], adolescence (13-18 years], and adulthood (19+ years]. Measures of overall health, stress, anxiety, and depression were gathered in pregnancy. Results showed that a cumulative formative latent model was selected as more parsimonious than a direct effects model. Results also supported a model where the strength of the effect of adversity did not vary across abuse timing or type. Thus, cumulative adversity resulted in greater physical and mental health difficulties. In conclusion, cumulative adversity is a more parsimonious predictor of maternal physical and mental health outcomes than adversity at any one specific adversity timing or subtype.

Bidirectional associations between maternal depression, hostile parenting, and early child emotional problems: Findings from the all our families cohort.

BACKGROUND: An intergenerational association between maternal depression and child emotional problems is well established. However, the underlying processes underpinning this association are still unclear, with relatively little attention paid to potential child-driven effects. This study adds to existing research by examining the bidirectional processes between maternal depression, parenting, and child internalizing symptoms. METHODS: A large prospective pregnancy cohort was used (N = 1992). Mothers reported on their depressive symptoms, hostile parenting, child internalizing symptoms, and child effortful control. Data was collected during pregnancy, and at 4 months, 3 years, and 5 years postpartum. RESULTS: Using a cross-lag analytical approach, results revealed that prenatal and postpartum maternal depression predicted child internalizing problems through an increase in hostile parenting. Child internalizing symptoms predicted increases in subsequent hostile parenting, but not maternal depressive symptoms. Additional moderation analyses revealed that the indirect effect of maternal depression on child internalizing problems through hostile parenting was only significant for children low in effortful control. LIMITATIONS: The study relied on maternal reports of both mother and child symptomology and characteristics. The sample was predominantly white and middle- to high-income. CONCLUSIONS: Hostile parenting is a potential intermediary mechanism explaining the intergenerational transmission of maternal depression to child internalizing problems. Critically, this indirect effect was only significant for children low in effortful control. There was limited support for child evocative effects, with child internalizing symptoms predicting subsequent hostile parenting but not maternal depressive symptoms. Results highlight the need for considering both maternal and child characteristics when treating maternal depression.

New taxonomy for assessing manual material handlers' footstep patterns.

Current taxonomies for assessing foot strategies in manual material handling lack exhaustive classification of foot movements and foot positioning. They also fail to consider different instants of the task as checkpoints to relate foot strategies. The goal of the study was first to develop a new taxonomy to assess foot positions and motions considering those limitations. The second goal was to assess reliability and reproducibility using raw agreement percentages, Cohen's kappa, prevalence-adjusted, bias-adjusted kappa and Gwet's AC1. A filmed task consisted of transferring boxes from one pallet to another. Intra- and inter-rater reliability were assessed reviewing 23% and 10%, respectively, of video data. Reproducibility and reliability results are substantial and almost perfect on average. In comparison to similar studies, reproducibility and reliability were considered acceptable.