Social support seeking and early adolescent depression and anxiety symptoms: The moderating role of rumination.

This study examined how social support seeking and rumination interacted to predict depression and anxiety symptoms six months later in early adolescents (N = 118; 11 - 14 yrs at baseline). We expected social support seeking would be more helpful for adolescents engaging in low rather than high levels of rumination. Adolescents self-reported on all measures at baseline, and on depression and anxiety symptoms six months later. Social support seeking predicted fewer symptoms of depression and anxiety at low rumination levels, but lost its adaptive effects as rumination increased. For depression symptoms, social support seeking led to more symptoms at high rumination levels. Results were stronger for emotion-focused than problem-focused support seeking, and for depression compared to anxiety symptoms. These findings suggest that cognitive risk factors like rumination may explain some inconsistencies in previous social support literature, and highlight the importance of a nuanced approach to studying social support seeking.

Children of divorce-coping with divorce: A randomized control trial of an online prevention program for youth experiencing parental divorce.

OBJECTIVE: Evaluate an online coping skills program to prevent mental health problems in children and adolescents from divorced or separated families. METHOD: Children ages 11-16 (N = 147) whose families had filed for divorce were recruited using public court records. Participants were blocked by risk-score and randomly assigned to either a control (Internet self-study condition, Best of the Net (BTN) or the experimental intervention, Children of Divorce-Coping With Divorce (CoD-CoD), a 5-module highly interactive online program to promote effective coping skills. Program effects were tested on measures of children's self-reported coping and parent and youth reports of children's mental health problems. RESULTS: Significant main effects indicated that youth in CoD-CoD improved more on self-reported emotional problems relative to BTN youth (d = .37) and had a lower rate of clinically significant self-reported mental health problems (OR = .58, p = .04). A significant Baseline × Treatment interaction indicated that the 55% of youth with highest baseline problems improved more than those in BTN on their self-report of total mental health problems. A significant interaction effect indicated that CoD-CoD improved youth coping efficacy for the 30% of those with the lowest baseline coping efficacy. For the 10% of youth with lowest parent-reported risk at baseline, those who received BTN had lower problems than CoD-CoD participants. CONCLUSIONS: CoD-CoD was effective in reducing youth-reported mental health problems and coping efficacy particularly for high risk youth. Parent-report indicated that, relative to BTN, CoD-CoD had a negative effect on mental health problems for a small group with the lowest risk.

Parent predictors of adolescents' explanatory style.

The current study tested the prospective relations (six month lag) between three aspects of the parent-child relationship at Time 1 (T1) and adolescents' explanatory styles at Time 2 (T2): caregiving behaviors, parents' explanatory style for their own negative events, and parents' explanatory style for their children's negative events. The sample included 129 adolescents aged 11 to 14 years at baseline and their parents. Adolescents reported on their own explanatory style and their parents' caregiving behaviors; parents self-reported on their caregiving behaviors and their explanatory style for their own and their children's events. Regression analyses identified maternal acceptance as a significant predictor of T2 adolescents' explanatory style. Marginal effects emerged for fathers' psychological control and fathers' explanatory style for their children's events. Findings suggest that the ways parents - especially mothers - interact with their children may play a role in adolescents' cognitive vulnerability to depression.

Fifteen-year follow-up of a randomized trial of a preventive intervention for divorced families: effects on mental health and substance use outcomes in young adulthood.

OBJECTIVE: This 15-year follow-up assessed the effects of a preventive intervention for divorced families, the New Beginnings Program (NBP), versus a literature control condition (LC). METHOD: Mothers and their 9- to 12-year-olds (N = 240 families) participated in the trial. Young adults (YAs) reported on their mental health and substance-related disorders, mental health and substance use problems, and substance use. Mothers reported on YA's mental health and substance use problems. Disorders were assessed over the past 9 years (since previous follow-up) and 15 years (since program entry). Alcohol and marijuana use, other substance use and polydrug use, and mental health problems and substance use problems were assessed over the past month, past year, and past 6 months, respectively. RESULTS: YAs in NBP had a lower incidence of internalizing disorders in the past 9 years (7.55% vs. 24.4%; odds ratio [OR] = .26) and 15 years (15.52% vs. 34.62%; OR = .34) and had a slower rate of onset of internalizing symptoms associated with disorder in the past 9 years (hazard ratio [HR] = .28) and 15 years (HR = .46). NBP males had a lower number of substance-related disorders in the past 9 years (d = 0.40), less polydrug (d = 0.55) and other drug use (d = 0.61) in the past year, and fewer substance use problems (d = 0.50) in the past 6 months than LC males. NBP females used more alcohol in the past month (d = 0.44) than LC females. CONCLUSIONS: NBP reduced the incidence of internalizing disorders for females and males and substance-related disorders and substance use for males.

Protecting children from the consequences of divorce: a longitudinal study of the effects of parenting on children's coping processes.

This study examines whether intervention-induced changes in mother-child relationship quality and discipline led to short-term (6 months) and long-term (6 years) changes in children's coping processes in a sample of 240 youth aged 9-12 years when assessed initially. Data were from a randomized, experimental trial of a parenting-focused preventive intervention designed to improve children's postdivorce adjustment. Three-wave prospective mediational analyses revealed that intervention-induced improvements in relationship quality led to increases in coping efficacy at 6 months and to increases in coping efficacy and active coping at 6 years. Tests of the mediated effects were significant for all 3 indirect paths. Results are discussed in terms of pathways to adaptive coping and implications for the implementation of preventive interventions targeting coping.