Associations of Mothers' Friendship Quality with Adolescents' Friendship Quality and Emotional Adjustment.

Little research has examined the association of parents' friendships with adolescent's well-being, perhaps because the association was considered too distal. However, developmental theories suggest that contexts in which parents, but not their children, are situated may be related to child development (Bronfenbrenner, 1979; 1986). The current work examined associations between the quality of mothers' own friendships and their adolescent children's friendship quality and emotional adjustment. Fifth-, eighth-, and eleventh-graders (N = 172) whose mothers' friendships were characterized by conflict and antagonism reported having friendships that were high in negative friendship qualities as well as elevated internalizing symptoms. These associations held after controlling for mother-child relationship quality, suggesting that mothers' friendships may have a unique association with adolescents' adjustment.

Brief report: adolescents' co-rumination with mothers, co-rumination with friends, and internalizing symptoms.

The current research examined co-rumination (extensively discussing, rehashing, and speculating about problems) with mothers and friends. Of interest was exploring whether adolescents who co-ruminate with mothers were especially likely to co-ruminate with friends as well as the interplay among co-rumination with mothers, co-rumination with friends, and anxious/depressed symptoms. Early- to mid-adolescents (N = 393) reported on co-rumination and normative self-disclosure with mothers and friends and on their internalizing symptoms in this cross-sectional study. Co-rumination with mothers (but not normative self-disclosure) was concurrently associated with adolescents' co-rumination with friends. In addition, the relation between co-rumination with mothers and adolescents' anxious/depressed symptoms reported previously (Waller & Rose, 2010) became non-significant when co-rumination with friends was statistically controlled. This suggests that the relation between friendship co-rumination and anxious/depressed symptoms may help explain the relation between mother-child co-rumination and anxious/depressed symptoms. Potential implications for promoting adolescents' well-being are discussed.

How girls and boys expect disclosure about problems will make them feel: implications for friendships.

Although girls disclose to friends about problems more than boys, little is known about processes underlying this sex difference. Four studies (Ns = 526, 567, 769, 154) tested whether middle childhood to mid-adolescent girls and boys (ranging from 8 to 17 years old) differ in how they expect that talking about problems would make them feel. Girls endorsed positive expectations (e.g., expecting to feel cared for, understood) more strongly than boys. Despite common perceptions, boys did not endorse negative expectations such as feeling embarrassed or worried about being made fun of more than girls. Instead, boys were more likely than girls to expect to feel "weird" and like they were wasting time. Sex differences in outcome expectations did help to account for girls' greater disclosure to friends.

Adjustment trade-offs of co-rumination in mother-adolescent relationships.

The current study examined co-rumination (i.e., extensively discussing, rehashing, and speculating about problems) in the context of mother-adolescent relationships. Fifth-, eighth-, and eleventh-graders (N=516) reported on co-rumination and more normative self-disclosure with mothers, their relationships with mothers, and their own internalizing symptoms. A subset of mothers (N=200) reported on mother-adolescent co-rumination and self-disclosure. Results from the adolescent-report data indicated greater mother-adolescent co-rumination with daughters than sons and also adjustment trade-offs of mother-adolescent co-rumination. Mother-adolescent co-rumination was related to positive relationship quality but also to enmeshment in the relationship. Whereas the relation with positive relationship quality appeared to be due in part to normative self-disclosure, the relation with enmeshment was unique to co-rumination. Mother-adolescent co-rumination also was related to youth anxiety/depression. The relations with enmeshment and internalizing symptoms were strongest when co-rumination focused on the mothers' problems. Implications of mother-adolescent co-rumination for promoting appropriate relationship boundaries and youth well-being are discussed.

Prospective associations of co-rumination with friendship and emotional adjustment: considering the socioemotional trade-offs of co-rumination.

Co-ruminating, or excessively discussing problems, with friends is proposed to have adjustment tradeoffs. Co-rumination is hypothesized to contribute both to positive friendship adjustment and to problematic emotional adjustment. Previous single-assessment research was consistent with this hypothesis, but whether co-rumination is an antecedent of adjustment changes was unknown. A 6-month longitudinal study with middle childhood to midadolescent youths examined whether co-rumination is simultaneously a risk factor (for depression and anxiety) and a protective factor (for friendship problems). For girls, a reciprocal relationship was found in which co-rumination predicted increased depressive and anxiety symptoms and increased positive friendship quality over time, which, in turn, contributed to greater co-rumination. For boys, having depressive and anxiety symptoms and high-quality friendships also predicted increased co-rumination. However, for boys, co-rumination predicted only increasing positive friendship quality and not increasing depression and anxiety. An implication of this research is that some girls at risk for developing internalizing problems may go undetected because they have seemingly supportive friendships.

Purpose and utility of child custody evaluations: the attorney's perspective.

This study attempts to fill a gap in the literature by assessing the perspectives of attorneys regarding child custody evaluations completed by mental health professionals. Fifty-nine attorneys completed an anonymous survey designed to ascertain their opinions about: (1) what factors prompt a custody evaluation, (2) expectations regarding evaluation procedures, (3) the utility of the resultant report, and (4) the impact of evaluations on litigation. Findings indicate that attorneys are most likely to seek child custody evaluations in the context of allegations regarding physical abuse, sexual abuse, or parental fitness. In addition, attorneys reported that they expect a very comprehensive evaluation procedure and find utility in an inclusive report. Finally, survey findings suggest that custody evaluations play a significant role in decisions to negotiate a settlement rather than proceed to trial. Limited available research and current practice related to these findings are reviewed.

Overt and relational aggression and perceived popularity: developmental differences in concurrent and prospective relations.

Relations of overt and relational aggression with perceived popularity among children and early adolescents were examined in 2 studies (Ns = 607 and 1,049). Among older youths, positive concurrent relations found between overt aggression and perceived popularity became nonsignificant when relational aggression was controlled, whereas positive associations found between relational aggression and perceived popularity held when overt aggression was controlled. Aggression and perceived popularity were not positively related for the younger participants. The 2nd study also examined the temporal ordering of these relations over 6 months. For older girls, positive relations between relational aggression and perceived popularity were bidirectional. For older boys, relational aggression did not predict increased perceived popularity, but perceived popularity predicted increased relational aggression. Implications for intervention are discussed.