The indirect impact of infant negative emotionality on interparental conflict via perceptions of coparenting challenges: What prenatal resources mitigate this risk?

Research clearly demonstrates that conflictual interparental relationship dynamics can create a family context that contributes to child emotional insecurity and psychopathology. Significantly less research has examined familial factors that contribute to maladaptive conflict between parents. Scholars have alluded to the disruptive impacts of parenting a child with certain temperamental characteristics (e.g., negative emotionality). Yet, there is a lack of empirical research examining if and how child temperament contributes to later interparental conflict. Using an established multi-informant, multi-method sample of 150 families first assessed during pregnancy, and again when the child was 1, 2, and 3.5 years of age, the present study aimed to test an integrated conceptual model examining whether infants' negative emotionality assessed at age 1 predicts interparental conflict at age 3.5, as mediated through destructive coparenting dynamics in toddlerhood, and identifying prenatal protective factors mitigating this maladaptive pathway. Findings suggest that greater infant negative emotionality predicts worse interparental conflict management during preschool age by undermining the mother's (but not the father's) report of coparenting relationship quality during toddlerhood. However, these results were significant only to the extent that parents were lacking certain prenatal regulatory resources (i.e., low paternal self-compassion; less secure relationship between parents). Importantly, results point to the need for intervention and prevention efforts during pregnancy that might disrupt the deleterious impacts of parenting a child who is more reactive and prone to expressing negative emotions.

Worsening Symptoms of Anxiety, Depression, and Sleep Problems in Caregivers Following Youth's Suicide-Related Emergency Department Visit.

OBJECTIVE: Although families assume considerable responsibility in caring for their child after a suicidal crisis, little is known about caregiver well-being following a suicide-related pediatric Emergency Department (ED) visit. This study aimed to (1) describe the course of caregiver distress symptoms (e.g., anxiety, depression, and negative affect) and sleep problems following their child's suicide-related ED visit and to (2) identify factors (e.g., parents' mental health history, youth suicide risk chronicity, and perception of feeling supported by the mental health system) hypothesized to be related to caregiver distress symptoms and sleep problems at follow-up using a diathesis-stress model framework. METHOD: Participants included 118 caregiver/youth (ages 11-17) dyads presenting to a psychiatric ED due to youths' suicide-related concerns. Caregivers and youth were assessed during index ED visit and 2-weeks following discharge. RESULTS: Caregivers' anxiety and depressive symptoms and sleep problems increased significantly from the time of the ED visit to 2-week follow-up. There was no significant change in caregiver negative affect. Caregivers with their own history of mental illness and those whose children had a previous ED visit due to a psychiatric concern, suggestive of chronic suicide risk, reported higher anxiety and depressive symptoms at follow-up. CONCLUSION: In the 2 weeks following an ED visit for their child's suicidal crisis, caregivers reported significant increases in anxiety and depressive symptoms and sleep problems. Findings highlight the need to consider the mental health of caregivers whose children are at elevated risk for suicide.HighlightsCaregivers report increases in distress symptoms following youth's suicidal crisis.Caregiver mental health history and youth suicide chronicity impacted distress.Caregiver mental health should be considered when planning youth interventions.

Changes in Gatekeeper Beliefs Following ASIST and Relation to Subsequent Gatekeeper Suicide Prevention Behaviors.

This study examines relations between suicide prevention gatekeeper beliefs and actual helping behaviors following participation in Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST). Participants (n = 434) completed measures examining suicide-related beliefs and behaviors using a naturalistic pre-post design. All beliefs demonstrated significant change from pre- to posttest. Regression analyses indicate that beliefs about perceived barriers to action and the controllability of suicide predicted identification of high-risk youth; perceived barriers to action were also negatively related to helping responses and referrals 6-9 months post training. Self-efficacy was not related to suicide prevention behaviors at follow-up. The importance of anchoring training curriculums and measurement to health behavior change theories is discussed.

Enhancing child mental health in school and community settings: A pilot study of the kids' empowerment program.

Many children experience serious mental health problems that, if left untreated, have long-term consequences for their optimal development. Many more have symptoms that fall below clinical thresholds and remain untreated. Yet there are substantial barriers to receiving help. A newly developed preventive intervention program focused on promoting emotional well-being was provided to children in school and community settings and evaluated to assess its effects on mental health outcomes of children's anxiety and depression. Participants in both intervention and control groups completed standardized measures of mental health in interviews (children) and online (parents) at baseline and approximately 12 weeks later. Intent to treat analyses showed a significant interaction effect for program children high in anxiety at baseline using child report. Similar results were found when using per protocol data (number of sessions attended). No effects were found for the outcome of depression with the intent to treat analyses using either child or parent report. However, children who attended more sessions experienced greater change in parent-rated depression and the interaction of sessions attended and baseline depression significantly predicted change in depression when using both child and parent report. Thus, children with greater internalizing problems appeared to benefit most from the program. These preliminary results suggest that it may be possible to address children's mental health challenges in community and school settings. Implications for future study and program enhancements are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).