Black and White Adults' Racial and Gender Stereotypes of Psychopathology Symptoms in Black and White Children.

Adults' judgments of children's behaviors play a critical role in assessment and treatment of childhood psychopathology. Judgments of children's psychiatric symptoms are likely influenced by racial biases, but little is known about the specific racial biases adults hold about children's psychiatric symptoms, which could play a critical role in childhood mental health disparities. This study examined one form of such biases, racial stereotypes, to determine if White and Black adults hold implicit and explicit racial stereotypes about common childhood psychopathology symptoms, and if these stereotypes vary by child gender and disorder type. Participants included 82 self-identified Black men, 84 Black woman, 1 Black transgender individual, 1 Black genderfluid individual, 81 White men, and 85 White women. Analyses of implicit stereotypes revealed that White adults associated psychopathology symptoms more strongly with Black children than did Black adults (p < .001). All adults held stronger implicit racial stereotypes for oppositional defiant disorder, anxiety, and depression than for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (p < .001). For explicit stereotypes, White adults generally associated psychopathology symptoms more with Black children than did Black adults but effects varied across child gender and disorder type. As the first study to examine racial and gender stereotypes across common childhood psychopathology symptoms, these findings point to a need for further investigation of the presence and impact of racial biases in the mental healthcare system for Black youth and to identify interventions to mitigate the impacts of racial biases to inform racial equity in mental healthcare in the United States.

Racial and Ethnic Differences in the Relation Between Parenting and Preschoolers' Externalizing Behaviors.

This study examined racial/ethnic differences in the relations between three dimensions of parenting practices (harsh, lax, and warm parenting) and children's externalizing behaviors across European American, African American, and Latinx families. Participants included 221 mothers who identified as African American (n = 32), Latina (n = 46), or European American (n = 143). Mothers' self-rated and observer-coded harshness, laxness, and warmth, and their ratings of their 3-year-old children's externalizing behaviors (hyperactivity, aggression) were analyzed. Multiple regression analyses indicated some racial/ethnic differences in the relations between harsh and warm parenting, and children's externalizing behaviors. The slopes of the relation between greater harshness and greater aggression and hyperactivity were more positive for European American families than for African American or Latinx families. The slopes of the relation between greater warmth and less aggression were more negative for European American and Latinx families than for African American families. Results indicated no racial/ethnic differences in the relation between laxness and externalizing behaviors. These findings suggest racial/ethnic differences in the relation between some parenting practices and externalizing behaviors, which has important implications in culturally sensitive clinical practice for different racial/ethnic groups. More research is necessary to replicate these findings, and to identify other parenting practices that may be more important in racial/ethnic minority families.

Mediators and moderator of the effects of early exposure to intimate partner violence on children's mental health.

Childhood intimate partner violence (IPV) exposure increases the likelihood of internalizing and externalizing problems. There is substantial variability in children's outcomes following IPV exposure, but the reasons behind this are unclear, particularly among preschool-age children. The current study aimed to examine the direct and indirect effects of IPV on preschoolers' mental health through parent factors (parenting and parental depression), exploring child temperament as a potential moderator of the relation between IPV and child outcomes. Participants were 186 children (85 girls) and their parents living in the United States. Data were initially collected when children were age three, with follow-up at ages four and six. Both parents' baseline IPV perpetration had adverse effects on child outcomes. Mothers' IPV was associated with greater paternal depression, paternal overractivity, and maternal laxness, whereas fathers' IPV was associated with more paternal overreactivity. Only paternal depression mediated the effect of mothers' IPV on child outcomes. Parenting did not mediate nor did child temperament moderate the relation between IPV and child outcomes. Results shed insight into the need to address parental mental health in families experiencing IPV and underline the need for a further exploration of individual- and family-level mechanisms of adjustment following IPV exposure.

Stigmatizing attitudes toward Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder (DMDD) in parents vs. non-parents: Effects of medication and genetic etiology.

Stigmatizing attitudes toward children with psychopathology represent a barrier to treatment and well-being, yet almost no research has investigated what contributes to these attitudes. This study examines the effects of medication treatment and genetic etiology on stigmatizing attitudes toward a relatively new and controversial disorder-Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder (DMDD). Participants (159 parents, 225 non-parents) completed a vignette study on Amazon's Mechanical Turk (MTurk) in which a child displayed behaviors consistent with DMDD. The child was described as either taking psychiatric medication or not, and the vignette described the child's condition as either genetic or did not mention etiology. Participants who were parents reported greater stigma when the etiology (genetic prime vs. no prime) matched the perceived appropriate treatment (medication vs. no medication). Among parents, a child treated with medication who had a genetic disorder, and a child who was not treated with medication and for whom genetic etiology was not primed, were most stigmatized. No differences emerged among non-parents. These findings highlight the importance of considering multiple factors (parental status, congruence between treatment and perceived disorder etiology) when investigating mental health stigma and underscore the need to further investigate such nuances to inform anti-stigma interventions.

Early Development of Comorbidity Between Symptoms of ADHD and Anxiety.

Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a common neurodevelopmental disorder that shares a high comorbidity with anxiety disorders. However, the early development of comorbid ADHD and anxiety symptoms is not well-understood. In this study, the bidirectional relation between ADHD and anxiety symptoms was examined by testing two models of the development of ADHD and anxiety comorbidity: an anxiety effects model, which posits that anxiety symptoms contribute to the development of ADHD symptoms, and an ADHD effects model, which posits that ADHD symptoms contribute to the development of anxiety symptoms. Within the ADHD effects model, parenting practices were tested as mediators of this relation. Participants included children who were 3 years old at baseline (n = 258) and their caregivers who reported on their children's ADHD and anxiety symptoms annually for 3 years. The bidirectional relation of parent-reported anxiety and ADHD symptoms was tested using a series of cross-lagged models. Results indicated that ADHD symptoms predicted later anxiety symptoms, but anxiety symptoms did not predict later ADHD symptoms. Parenting practices did not mediate the relation between ADHD and anxiety symptoms within the ADHD effects model. These findings suggest that ADHD-anxiety comorbidity may develop in part because early symptoms of ADHD contribute to the development of anxiety symptoms; future research should be conducted to elucidate the mechanisms of this relation.

Racial Differences Between Black Parents' and White Teachers' Perceptions of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Behavior.

Previous research suggests there may be racial differences in how adults rate children's ADHD behavior. Differences in perceptions of Black parents and White teachers could have implications for ADHD diagnosis of Black children. This study compared ADHD ratings of Black parents to White teachers, and examined factors that may explain racial differences. Participants included 71 Black parents (65 women, 6 men; Mage = 33.92) and 60 White teachers (41 women, 19 men; Mage = 33.60), as well as a comparison group of 65 White parents (49 women, 16 men; Mage = 36.83). Participants watched video clips of children in classrooms and rated ADHD behaviors and ADHD likelihood. They then completed questionnaires regarding beliefs about ADHD stigma, verve (movement expressiveness), experiences with racial discrimination, and racial attitudes. White teachers rated Black boys' ADHD behaviors and their likelihood of having ADHD higher than Black parents. White teachers with more negative racial attitudes toward African Americans gave higher ADHD behavior and likelihood ratings to Black boys than did teachers with less negative racial attitudes. Across all participants, ADHD stigma beliefs and verve were not related to ratings of Black boys. Black parents with more experiences with racial discrimination gave higher ratings to Black boys' ADHD behaviors. Research is necessary to further explain the mechanisms by which discrepancies in ratings of Black boys' ADHD behaviors exist between Black and White adults to inform culturally sensitive assessment and diagnosis of ADHD in Black children.

Positive Stereotype Validation: The Bolstering Effects of Activating Positive Stereotypes After Intellectual Performance.

Past research has found that members of stigmatized groups may feel more certain of poor performance when negative stereotypes are made accessible after finishing a task (i.e., stereotype validation). However, no research to date has identified the potential effects of activating positive stereotypes after performance. Based on past research and theory, we hypothesized that such positive stereotype validation may serve to bolster-rather than hinder-important beliefs related to one's abilities and future task performance. Across three studies, the accessibility of positive group stereotypes was manipulated after participants completed an initial test on a topic. Consistent with predictions, the activation of positive, self-relevant stereotypes after the initial test was found to increase how certain participants were that they performed well on it. Furthermore, these increases in evaluative certainty predicted more positive ability beliefs, higher expectations for future performance, and better performance on a follow-up test that participants completed.