ABSTRACT
Parents engage in a variety of behaviors that have important impacts on children's psychosocial functioning, including their ability to effectively regulate emotions. Parental support includes behaviors that convey warmth, love, and acceptance, whereas parental psychological control includes shaming, guilt induction, and love withdrawal. Although the unique effects of these parenting behaviors are most often examined in the literature, it is possible that they may interact with one another to influence child outcomes. The goal of the present study was to examine whether parental psychological control moderated the effect of parental support on children's emotion (dys)regulation over a 6-month period. Participants included 284 third- through fifth-grade students (51.8% boys; 51.1% Hispanic/Latinx) as well as their homeroom teachers. Children completed self-report measures of parental support, psychological control, and emotion (dys)regulation during the fall and spring semesters of an academic year. Teachers also completed measures of emotion (dys)regulation at each time point. Results indicated that parental psychological control moderated the association between parental support and self-reported emotion regulation over time. Specifically, parental support predicted increases in emotion regulation over time among youth reporting lower levels of psychological control; at higher levels, however, parental support was not associated with emotion regulation. Furthermore, psychological control uniquely predicted increases in child-reported emotion dysregulation, whereas parental support predicted decreases in teacher-reported emotion dysregulation. Findings from this study suggest that psychological control may serve as an important target for future parenting interventions. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).
ABSTRACT
The present cross-sectional study evaluated whether traditional and/or cyber peer victimization served as mechanisms linking ADHD symptoms to sleep disturbance and sleep impairment in a sample of 284 third- through fifth-grade students (51.9% boys; 50.4% Hispanic/Latine) from two elementary schools in the United States. ADHD symptoms were assessed using teacher ratings. Children provided reports of their traditional and cyber victimization as well as their sleep disturbance and impairment. Results from path analysis models revealed significant indirect effects of traditional victimization on the links from ADHD symptoms to sleep disturbance and impairment. There was also a significant indirect effect of cyber victimization on the link from ADHD symptoms to sleep impairment. These findings suggest that experiences of traditional and cyber peer victimization may need to be addressed among children exhibiting ADHD symptoms in order to mitigate their risk for sleep problems and downstream effects on other domains of psychosocial functioning.
ABSTRACT
Relatively little is known regarding factors that may mitigate the strength of the associations between forms of aggressive behavior and peer victimization. The goal of the current study was to investigate prosocial behavior as a moderator of these links over a 2-year period during middle childhood. Participants included 410 third-grade students (53% boys) and their homeroom teachers. Results indicated that prosocial behavior was associated with lower initial levels of victimization, whereas relational aggression was associated with higher initial levels of victimization. Physical aggression predicted more stable patterns of victimization over time, and prosocial behavior moderated the prospective link from relational aggression to peer victimization; specifically, relational aggression predicted decreases in victimization at higher levels of prosocial behavior and more stable patterns over time when levels of prosocial behavior were low. Further, gender differences were observed in the moderating effect of prosocial behavior on the prospective link from physical aggression to peer victimization, such that it served as a risk factor for boys and a protective factor for girls.
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: The links from youth sleep problems to emotional, behavioral, and academic functioning are well documented. Latent variable mixture modeling (LVMM) has been used to explore these relations; however, additional research is needed in diverse samples and with self-reports of sleep-related difficulties. The objectives of the current study were to identify profiles based on patterns of sleep disturbance and impairment and explore associations among profiles and functioning at baseline and over a subsequent 6-month period. METHODS: Participants were 278 third- through fifth-grade students (M age = 9.27; 51.8% male; 51.1% Hispanic/Latine) and homeroom teachers. Children completed measures of sleep disturbance and impairment, emotion (dys)regulation, and depressive, anxiety, and anger symptoms. Teachers completed measures of youth's emotional and conduct problems, emotion (dys)regulation, and academic performance. LVMM was conducted. RESULTS: Three profiles emerged: (1) "Average Sleep Disturbance and Impairment" (n = 148); (2) "Elevated Sleep Disturbance and Average Sleep Impairment" (n = 40); and (3) "Elevated Sleep Disturbance and Impairment" (n = 90). Overall, youth with above average sleep problems had worse functioning at baseline. Further, youth in Profile 3 exhibited increases in self-reported symptoms of depression, anxiety, and anger, as well as worsening teacher-reported academic performance and conduct problems. In contrast, youth in Profile 2 exhibited improvements in self-reported symptoms of depression, anxiety, and anger, as well as teacher-reported emotion regulation, conduct problems, and academic performance. CONCLUSIONS: Results highlight the importance of examining self-reports of sleep problems and the need for intervention among children exhibiting elevated sleep disturbance and impairment.
