Risk and Resilience Among Children with Incarcerated Parents: A Review and Critical Reframing.

Parental incarceration is a significant, inequitably distributed form of adversity that affects millions of US children and increases their risk for emotional and behavioral problems. An emerging body of research also indicates, however, that children exhibit resilience in the context of parental incarceration. In this article, we review evidence regarding the adverse implications of parental incarceration for children's adjustment and consider factors that account for these consequences with special attention to naturally occurring processes and interventions that may mitigate risk and contribute to positive youth development. We also offer a critical reframing of resilience research and argue that (a) scholars should adopt more contextualized approaches to the study of resilience that are sensitive to intersecting inequalities and (b) resilience research and practice should be conceptualized as important complements to, rather than substitutes for, social and institutional change. We conclude by offering social justice-informed recommendations for future research and practice.

Parenting Emerging Adults Who Game Excessively: Parents' Lived Experiences.

Excessive gaming among emerging adults is a growing concern, especially in cases where it interferes with key developmental milestones such as gaining an education or establishing a career. Although researchers have begun to understand the effects of excessive gaming on young people themselves, we know remarkably little about how emerging adults' gaming may affect family relationships. Utilizing phenomenological interviewing of parents of emerging adult sons who game excessively, this study presents a rich description of the experience of parenting a young adult who games excessively. In-depth interviews were conducted with two fathers and two mothers. Findings suggested that parents felt their sons were missing out on aspects of their life due to their gaming and were not meeting their full potential. They also felt their sons were different from other people their age and found it difficult to talk to them about their gaming. Finally, they believed their sons were addicted to gaming.

Parental incarceration and health risks in a population-based study of U.S. early adolescents: Results among racialized groups.

Parental incarceration is an adverse childhood experience that inequitably burdens families of color and affects millions of U.S. children and adolescents. Although racialized disparities in exposure to parental incarceration are often acknowledged, researchers have yet to examine whether manifestations of racism may affect the link between parental incarceration and youth outcomes. This study provides a first look at how parental incarceration relates to health vulnerabilities in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study, an ongoing, population-based study of U.S. children born between 2006 and 2008. We start by describing exposure to parental incarceration and then examine how parental incarceration, state-level racial prejudice, and discrimination relate to health risks among 9191 White (66%), Black (19%), or Hispanic (15%) youth. Consistent with what we know about pervasive racialized disparities in the U.S. criminal legal system, we find that 19.3% of Black children in our sample have experienced parental incarceration, followed by 7.8% of Hispanic children, and 4.8% of White children. Results of multilevel mixed models further indicate that parental incarceration was associated with increased health risks among White children whereas family economic hardship and discrimination experiences were more robustly associated with health vulnerabilities among Black and Hispanic children. Additional analyses explored whether parental incarceration was associated with other outcomes among Black and Hispanic children, revealing increased risk for behavior problems contingent upon parental incarceration and discrimination for Black children and Hispanic boys. Among Hispanic girls, parental incarceration was associated with increased risk of behavior problems in states with higher levels of racism. Results suggest that parental incarceration contributes to risk among early adolescents across racialized groups, but that the specific toll it takes depends on outcomes assessed and the context in which it occurs.

A family resilience agenda for understanding and responding to parental incarceration.

The majority of research on children with incarcerated parents has focused on documenting main effects and adjustment problems among children and families. Although the focus on problems has been crucial in mobilizing support for this population, the field is now at a critical turning point where researchers are calling for more attention to resilience. We argue here that a family resilience perspective is useful in considering child and family level processes that may mitigate the harmful impact of parental incarceration. In contributing to a family resilience agenda, we first review evidence that points to parental incarceration as a risk to children. We then examine research that highlights children's competence in the face of adversity as well as adaptive family processes, such as parenting and contact with the incarcerated parent, that contribute to children's well-being. We offer recommendations for methodological innovation aimed at assessing competence, evaluating interventions, and incorporating multimethod approaches that capture dynamic processes and developmental change. We conclude with practice and policy implications and emphasize how a family resilience agenda suggests the need to contextualize developmental and family strengths within broader systems of discrimination and oppression. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Parental Arrest and Child Behavior: Differential Role of Executive Functioning among Racial Subgroups.

This study examines relations among parental arrest, child executive functioning (EF), and problem behaviors among youth who participated in the baseline assessment of the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study (N = 11,875). Participants ranged in age from 9 to 10 (M = 9.91) years, and approximately half were girls (47.9%). Results of regression analyses that controlled for sociodemographic risk factors indicated that children who experienced parental arrest exhibited more internalizing and externalizing behaviors than comparison youth, particularly when their mother vs. father had been arrested. Results of analyses that were disaggregated by child race further revealed that EF appeared to play a differential role among White (n = 5851) and Black (n = 1451) children. Among White children, EF was associated with fewer internalizing and externalizing behaviors regardless of whether or not a parent had been arrested. Among Black children, low levels of EF were associated with more internalizing behaviors in the context of parental arrest vs. no arrest, but high levels of EF did not appear to confer benefits. EF was not significantly related to externalizing behaviors among Black children. Taken together, results suggest that parental arrests have adverse implications for child well-being that warrant continued theoretical and empirical attention. Findings also suggest that, although EF may be broadly beneficial among White children, there appear to be constraints on the extent to which high EF benefits Black children, a finding that is discussed through the lens of racial stratification and that has important implications for future theory, research, and practice.

Computerized ambulatory monitoring in psychiatry: a multi-site collaborative study of acceptability, compliance, and reactivity.

Computerized ambulatory monitoring overcomes a number of methodological and conceptual challenges to studying mental disorders, however concerns persist regarding the feasibility of this approach with severe psychiatric samples and the potential of intensive monitoring to influence data quality. This multi-site investigation evaluates these issues in four independent samples. Patients with schizophrenia (n = 56), substance dependence (n = 85), anxiety disorders (n = 45), and a non-clinical sample (n = 280) were contacted to participate in investigations using computerized ambulatory monitoring. Micro-computers were used to administer electronic interviews several times per day for a one-week period. Ninety-five percent of contacted individuals agreed to participate in the study, and minimum compliance was achieved by 96% of these participants. Seventy-eight percent of all programmed assessments were completed overall, and only 1% of micro-computers were not returned to investigators. There was no evidence that missing data or response time increased over the duration of the study, suggesting that fatigue effects were negligible. The majority of variables investigated did not change in frequency as a function of study duration, however some evidence was found that socially sensitive behaviors changed in a manner consistent with reactivity.

Estimating the "impact" of out-of-home placement on child well-being: approaching the problem of selection bias.

This study used data on 2,453 children aged 4-17 from the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being and 5 analytic methods that adjust for selection factors to estimate the impact of out-of-home placement on children's cognitive skills and behavior problems. Methods included ordinary least squares (OLS) regressions and residualized change, simple change, difference-in-difference, and fixed effects models. Models were estimated using the full sample and a matched sample generated by propensity scoring. Although results from the unmatched OLS and residualized change models suggested that out-of-home placement is associated with increased child behavior problems, estimates from models that more rigorously adjust for selection bias indicated that placement has little effect on children's cognitive skills or behavior problems.

The Sexual Possible Selves and Strategies of First-Semester College Students: What Do They Hope for and Fear and How Do They Plan to Get There?

The purpose of this study was to expand research on emerging adult sexuality by examining first-semester college students' (N = 282) possible selves and strategies related to sex, and by considering whether these varied by demographic characteristics. Students were first asked to describe what they expected and feared regarding sex and sexuality in the coming year and were then asked to articulate strategies for achieving goals and avoiding fears. Content analysis of participants' responses to open-ended questions revealed that expected possible selves commonly discussed included abstinence, interpersonal relationships, physical/sexual health, and exploration. Fears commonly discussed included reputation, risk-taking behaviors, and rape/assault. Categorical comparisons indicated abstinence and interpersonal relationships were the most prominent foci of expected sexual possible selves (SPS) and strategies, and physical/sexual health was the most prominent focus of feared SPS and strategies. Chi-square analyses indicated significant variations in SPS, feared selves, and strategies based on sex, intercourse experience, and relationship type. Binomial logistic regression analyses indicated religiosity differences in the SPS and strategies of abstinence, explore/experiment, physical/sexual health, interpersonal relationship, and risk-taking behaviors. Implications for research and sexual health education for college-based populations are discussed.

Commercial enzyme immunoassay adapted for the detection of antibodies to hepatitis C virus in dried blood spots.

BACKGROUND: Dried blood spots (DBS) provide a convenient method for blood sample collection in many settings where the prevalence of infection with hepatitis C virus (HCV) is increasing. Consequently, HCV assays are required that produce reliable results using samples derived from DBS. OBJECTIVES AND STUDY DESIGN: The optimum buffer for the elution of samples from DBS was selected and the performance of a commercial enzyme immunoassay (EIA) was evaluated using these DBS eluates and paired plasma samples. RESULTS: DBS with paired plasma samples were compared using this modified commercial EIA, which was found to have an estimated sensitivity and specificity of approximately 100% for detecting anti-HCV antibodies in DBS. CONCLUSION: A DBS-based assay for the detection of antibodies to HCV will prove valuable for collecting epidemiological data in the field or in under resourced settings.

Incidence immunoassay for distinguishing recent from established HIV-1 infection in therapy-naive populations.

OBJECTIVE: To identify a specific marker of recent HIV-1 infection. DESIGN: The humoral immune response in individuals recently infected with HIV-1 was followed by analysing the antibody isotype-specific response generated to HIV-1 antigens in sequential samples collected during and following seroconversion. METHODS: Antibody isotype-specific HIV-1 Western blots were analysed to identify interactions indicative of recent HIV-1 infection. These responses were further quantified using an antibody isotype-specific enzyme-linked immunoabsorbent assay based on recombinant HIV-1 antigens. RESULTS: During maturation of the immune response to HIV-1 infection, a rapid and enduring IgG1 isotype response was seen to all the major proteins transcribed by env, gag and pol. An early transient peak of IgG3 reactivity to p24 was observed over an interval of approximately 1-4 months following HIV-1 infection. The presence of IgG3 reactivity to p24 permitted established infection to be distinguished from recently infected individuals during this time period. CONCLUSION: An assay for anti-p24 IgG3 reactivity would provide an estimate of the incidence of HIV infection that may be applicable for epidemiological surveys as well as for monitoring new infections during vaccine trials and for managing treatment programmes.

Mood and personality-based models of substance use.

Mood and personality-based vulnerabilities have been extensively examined in patients with substance use disorders, but their relevance as models of etiology remains to be fully investigated. The present investigation examined mood and personality-based models of substance use in a nonclinical sample of young adults. Two-hundred and twelve individuals were assessed for personality and clinical characteristics and participated in computerized ambulatory monitoring of mood states and substance use over a 1-week period. Personality factors were strong predictors of substance use frequency over the previous 30 days, as well as of substance use in daily life using ambulatory monitoring. A linear increase was also observed in the intensity of novelty seeking and antisocial personality traits as a function of the social deviance of substances used. However, mood disorder history was related only to the use of illicit drugs other than cannabis, and fluctuations in mood states did not prospectively predict daily use of substances in a manner consistent with self-medication. Moreover, there was little evidence that personality characteristics moderated relations between mood states and substance use in daily life. The relevance of results for mood and personality models of substance use etiology is discussed.

Feasibility and validity of computerized ambulatory monitoring in drug-dependent women.

AIM: To examine the feasibility and validity of computerized ambulatory monitoring in drug-dependent women. METHOD: 61 women recruited from public substance abuse treatment centers in Montreal, Canada participated in the current study, 84% of whom reported past 30-day polysubstance use. Mood states, craving, and drug use were assessed by standard clinical instruments and by electronic interviews during 7-days of computerized ambulatory monitoring. Feasibility was assessed by examining compliance with intensive monitoring and equipment loss. Concurrent validity was assessed by examining the degree of correspondence of ambulatory data on craving, mood, and substance use with clinic-based assessments of similar constructs. RESULT: Participants completed an average 80% of all electronic assessments and no data collection devices were lost or stolen. Relationships among mood, stress, consumption, and craving assessed in the electronic interviews conformed to well-established patterns, and evidence of concurrent validity were found between scores from standard clinical instruments and similar constructs in daily life. Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression Scale (CESD) scores were positively related to sad mood reported during the electronic interviews (p=0.001) and negatively related to happy mood states (p<0.001), explaining approximately 20% of the variance in each mood state. ASI drug use severity scores were positively associated with craving (p<0.001) and substance use (p<0.001), and explained 46% and 30% of these outcomes, respectively. CONCLUSION: Computerized ambulatory monitoring is a feasible and valid data collection strategy in drug-dependent individuals.