Profiles of Low-Income Help-Seeking Couples and Implications for Intervention Gains: A Couple-Centered Approach.

Using a couple-centered approach, the current study seeks to understand (a) the specific ways in which help-seeking couples vary in how their relationship satisfaction changes over time, (b) whether there are important differences in relationship characteristics at the beginning of the interventions, and (c) whether couples with distinct relationship characteristics benefit equally from effective online relationship programs. Mixed-gender low-income couples (Ncouple = 659) seeking help for their relationship were randomly assigned to one of two online relationship programs (n = 432) or the wait-list control group (n = 227). Latent profile analyses were conducted to identify (a) trajectory profiles with both partners' relationship satisfaction assessed at baseline, during, and postprogram, and at 2- and 4-month follow-ups; and (b) baseline couple profiles with indicators of baseline communication, commitment, emotional support, and sexual satisfaction reported by both partners. Four unique satisfaction trajectories were identified: women-small-men-medium improvement (39%), men-only decline (25%), large improvement (19%), and women-only improvement (17%). Five unique baseline couple profiles were identified: conflictual passionate (30%), companionate (22%), men-committed languishing (22%), satisfied (16%), and languishing (10%). Compared to control couples, intervention couples' odds of following the large improvement trajectory increased and their odds of following the men-only decline trajectory decreased; the odds of following the other two intermediate trajectories did not differ by intervention status. Moreover, couples with more distressed baseline profiles were more likely to follow trajectories characterized by greater satisfaction gains regardless of their intervention status. However, program effects did not differ based on baseline couple profiles, suggesting that a universal approach may be sufficient for delivering online relationship programs to improve relationship satisfaction in this population.

Daily dynamics of feeling loved by parents and their prospective implications for adolescent flourishing.

Feeling loved by one's caregiver is essential for individual flourishing (i.e., high levels of psychological well-being in multiple dimensions). Although similar constructs are found to benefit adolescent well-being, research that directly tests parental love as a feeling from the recipient's perspective is rare. Historically, parental love has been measured using single-assessment methods and assumed to be a stable, trait-like characteristic; yet, like any feeling, it may fluctuate in meaningful ways on a day-to-day basis-the implications of which are unknown. Using a sample of 150 adolescents (59.3% female; ages 14-16), this study estimated level (person's mean level across days) and instability (fluctuations across days) of feeling loved by a caregiver across 21 days for each adolescent, and then examined their prospective effects on adolescent flourishing 1 year later. After controlling for demographics (adolescent age, gender, family income, and parent's sex) and variable baseline levels, feeling more loved by one's caregiver in daily life significantly predicted higher levels of flourishing in two global measures 1 year later. Moreover, level and instability of feeling loved by one's caregiver played different roles for different dimensions of flourishing: higher levels significantly predicted higher levels of autonomy, purpose in life, and personal growth, whereas higher instability significantly predicted lower levels of positive relations with others and environmental mastery. Findings emphasized the importance of considering daily dynamics of feeling loved by one's caregiver and demonstrated that level (of feeling loved) is particularly important for intrapersonal aspects while instability is particularly important for interpersonal aspects of flourishing. RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS: Adolescents feeling more loved by their caregiver in daily life had higher levels of overall flourishing 1 year later. Level (of feeling loved) is particularly important for intrapersonal aspects of adolescent flourishing, including autonomy, purpose in life, and personal growth. Stability (of feeling loved) is particularly important for interpersonal aspects of adolescent flourishing, including positive relations with others and environmental mastery.

Romantic Love is Not Only "Romantic": A Grounded Theory Study on Love in Romantic Relationships.

With romantic love having long been studied with a focus on the romantic component and how it is expressed, little is known about what love is as a feeling in romantic relationships from the recipient's perspective. This study aimed to understand love as a feeling in romantic relationships by analyzing open-ended responses about what makes people feel loved by their romantic partner in a college sample of 462 undergraduates (age: M = 18.93, SD = 2.86; 77.92% female) and a community sample of 75 adults (age: M = 32.36, SD = 16.53; 93.18% female) using grounded theory methodology. Findings indicated that Positive responsiveness (to needs), Authentic connection, and A sense of stability were three core elements of love in romantic relationships. By comparing these three core categories (and their underlying categories and concepts) across both samples and demographic characteristics (i.e., gender, race, and household income), this study also provided preliminary evidence on the generalizability of this three-component framework: (1) all (core) categories were overlapping across two samples, and all concepts generated in the small community sample were a subset of those generated in the large college sample; (2) all categories and core categories were overlapping across gender, race, and household income, with "positive responsiveness" being the most common component across demographics consistently. This three-component framework of romantic love is consistent with love's multifaceted nature, serves as an initial step toward integrating existing theoretical frameworks about love, and, if replicated, would inform relationship-focused interventions.

Affiliative Parent-Adolescent Bedtime and Waketime Interactions are Associated with Adolescent Sleep.

OBJECTIVES: The current study examined whether evening and morning affiliation (i.e., warmth) and autonomy (i.e., more or less in charge) around sleep routines predicted adolescent sleep on weekdays. METHOD: Participants were 28 parent (Mage = 43.19; 85.17% mothers) and adolescent (Mage = 12.34 years) dyads who completed the same electronic diaries morning and evening for 10 days, with a total number of 221 nights observed across dyads. Sleep duration and sleep quality were assessed via the Pittsburgh Sleep Diary; degree of affiliation and autonomy around bedtime and waketime routines were assessed with single items on a visual analog scale. Multilevel modeling was utilized to evaluate the effects of more or less affiliation or autonomy on sleep outcomes (i.e., duration and quality) between and within dyads. RESULTS: Across all participants, adolescents who reported more affiliative interactions with their parent around bedtime and waketime slept longer and had better sleep quality at night. Further, when adolescents experienced greater than average affiliative interactions with their parent than was typical for them, they had better sleep quality that night. Adolescent sleep quality and duration were not impacted by whether or not adolescents were in charge of their bedtime and waketime routines. CONCLUSIONS: Findings support parents' role in social and emotional security and highlight the importance of affiliative parent interactions around the sleep period for optimal sleep for young adolescents.

Mastery Approach Goals Mediate the Relationship Between Authenticity and Academic Cheating: Evidence from Cross-Sectional and Two-Wave Longitudinal Studies.

Purpose: Prior studies revealed several beneficial aspects of being authentic, such as higher subjective well-being, more harmonious interpersonal relationships, and better workplace performance. However, how authenticity relates to unethical cheating behaviors in the academic context remains to be seen. Based on the literature review, the present study hypothesized that authenticity may be negatively linked to academic cheating through the mediating path of mastery approach goals. Methods: In Study 1, 250 college students self-reported their demographics and academic performance, and completed the scales of authenticity, academic cheating, mastery approach goals, and social desirability. In Study 2, 111 college students completed the same measures as in Study 1 at two different time points (5 months in between). Results: In Study 1, the results indicated that authenticity was positively associated with mastery approach goals, and both were negatively associated with academic cheating. After controlling for the confounding effect of gender, age, academic performance, and social desirability, mastery approach goals were identified as a mediator in the authenticity-academic cheating relationship. In Study 2, the correlation result confirmed the association patterns found in Study 1. Moreover, cross-lagged analysis supported the directionality proposed in the mediation model. Conclusion: The findings identified the mediating role of mastery approach goals in the link between authenticity and academic cheating, supporting the motivated cognition perspective of personality, the motivational model of academic cheating, and the self-determination theory. Implications, limitations, and directions for future research were provided.

'Prosociality' in Daily School Life and Early Adolescents' Peer Aggression: A Multilevel Latent Profile Analysis Approach.

We aimed to typify prosocial characteristics of aggressive youth. We classified early adolescents based on daily configurations of prosocial behavior and autonomous prosocial motivations (performing prosocial behavior for identified and intrinsic reasons) and controlled prosocial motivations (performing prosocial behavior for external and introjected reasons) and explored the links between the obtained sub-groups and peer aggression. The sample included 242 Israeli six-graders [Mage = 11.96 (SD = 0.18), 50% girls] and their teachers. At the daily level, adolescents self-reported on prosocial behaviors and their autonomous and controlled prosocial motivations for ten consecutive days. At the trait level, adolescents reported on global, reactive, and proactive peer aggression. Teachers reported on adolescents' global peer aggression. Using multilevel latent profile analysis, we identified four day-level profiles of prosociality: 'high prosocial autonomous' (39% of days), 'low prosocial' (35%), 'average prosocial controlled' (14%), and 'high prosocial bi-motivation' (13%). At the adolescent level, we identified four sub-groups, each characterized by one dominant daily profile: 'stable high autonomy' (33% of adolescents); 'stable high bi-motivation' (12%); 'often average controlled' (16%); 'often low' (39%). Higher self-reported aggressive adolescents, particularly proactive aggressive, had the least chance of being in the 'stable high autonomy' sub-group of all sub-groups. Teacher-reported aggressive adolescents had the least likelihood of being in the 'stable high autonomy' sub-group and the most likelihood of being in the 'often low' sub-group. In sum, peer aggression is a function of the configured phenomenology of prosocial behavior and motivations, with high prosocial autonomously motivated youth being the least aggressive.

What makes people feel loved? An exploratory study on core elements of love across family, romantic, and friend relationships.

With research long focusing on distinct characteristics of different love types, little is known about love as a general feeling across relationship contexts. To explore the core elements of love as perceived by laypeople and whether these elements weigh differently in different relationships, grounded theory was used to analyze open-ended responses from 468 individuals about their feeling loved in family, romantic, and friend relationships. Results indicated that the feeling of love is an interpersonal process in which one receives positive responsiveness from the other and experiences an authentic connection with the other, consistently across conditions and time (i.e., in a sense of stability); three core elements were shared across family, romantic, and friend relationships. Chi-square independence tests revealed differentiated weights for love elements in three relationships, which corresponded to the prototypical love definition in family, romantic, and friend relationships. Findings suggested an integrated theoretical conceptualization of love as a shared feeling and asset across relationships, which provided important insights on love conceptualization, assessment, and study design, as well as implications for the treatment of dysfunctional relationships, best practices in daily interpersonal interactions, and improvement in intervention and therapy.

Different families, diverse strengths: Long-term implications of early childhood family processes on adolescent positive functioning.

With studies primarily focusing on family risk factors on adolescent maladjustment, less is known about positive family processes that facilitate adolescent positive development. This study aimed to identify different configurations of parental involvement and interparental affection during early childhood from a person-centered approach and examine their long-term implications on adolescent positive functioning at age 15. In a sample of 495 2-parent families (53.3% boys; mothers: 42.0% White, 24.7% Black, 27.4% Hispanic, 5.9% other; family income: Median = $42,500), both parents reported interparental affection and their involvement with the child at the child's age 1 and 5, respectively. Adolescents reported their engagement, perseverance, optimism, connectedness, and happiness at age 15. Six profiles of early family processes were identified via the latent profile analysis, including Child-Centered (13.3%; average to high parental involvement and low interparental affection), Distressed Mother (14.5%; low mother involvement and mothers perceiving less affection from fathers), Collaborative (9.9%; relatively more mother involvement with the child and relatively more fathers' affection toward mothers), Cohesive (36.0%; high parental involvement and high interparental affection), Couple-Centered (19.6%; low parental involvement and high interparental affection), and Disengaged (6.7%; low parental involvement and low interparental affection) families. At age 15 (after controlling for family demographics), adolescents in Child-Centered families reported more engagement, adolescents in Cohesive families reported more happiness, adolescents in Cohesive and Collaborative families reported more perseverance and connectedness, and adolescents in Disengaged families reported the lowest optimism. Results highlight that different family configurations during early childhood have differentiated implications on adolescent positive functioning. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Academic performance under COVID-19: The role of online learning readiness and emotional competence.

The COVID-19 pandemic caused school closures and social isolation, which created both learning and emotional challenges for adolescents. Schools worked hard to move classes online, but less attention was paid to whether students were cognitively and emotionally ready to learn effectively in a virtual environment. This study focused on online learning readiness and emotional competence as key constructs to investigate their implications for students' academic performance during the COVID-19 period. Two groups of students participated in this study, with 1,316 high school students (Mean age = 16.32, SD = 0.63) representing adolescents and 668 college students (Mean age = 20.20, SD = 1.43) representing young adults. Structural equation modeling was conducted to explore the associations among online learning readiness, emotional competence, and online academic performance during COVID-19 after controlling for pre-COVID-19 academic performance. The results showed that, for high school students, both online learning readiness and emotional competence were positively associated with online academic performance during COVID-19. However, for college students, only online learning readiness showed a significant positive relationship with online academic performance during COVID-19. These results demonstrated that being ready to study online and having high emotional competence could make adolescents more resilient toward COVID-19-related challenges and help them learn more effectively online. This study also highlighted different patterns of associations among cognitive factors, emotional factors, and online academic performance during COVID-19 in adolescence and young adulthood. Developmental implications were also discussed.

When do adolescents feel loved? A daily within-person study of parent-adolescent relations.

Feeling loved has many benefits, but research is limited on how daily behaviors of one person in a relationship shape why someone else feels more or less loved from day to day. The parent-adolescent relationship is a primary source of love. We expected parent-reported warmth and conflict would explain daily fluctuations in how loved adolescents reported feeling. In a sample of 151 families (adolescent MAge = 14.60; 61.6% female) over a 21-day period, we used multilevel models to disentangle within-family (daily variability) and between-family (average levels) parent-reported daily warmth and conflict in relation to adolescents' daily reports about how loved they were feeling. Findings indicated adolescents in families with higher parent-reported warmth across days and higher adolescent-reported closeness with parents felt more loved by their parents, on average. At a within-person level, we found considerable day-to-day variability in how loved adolescents reported feeling that was partially explained by meaningful variability in both parent-reported warmth and conflict across days. On days when parents reported more warmth than usual and less conflict than usual, adolescents reported feeling more loved. Further, a significant within-day interaction indicated that the importance of days' parent warmth was greater on high conflict days, but when parents directed more warmth toward their adolescents, the difference between high- and low-conflict days was negligible. Theoretical implications for studying daily emotional love in parent-youth relationships and suggestions for parenting interventions that focus on daily practices of parent warmth are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Triadic family structures and their day-to-day dynamics from an adolescent perspective: A multilevel latent profile analysis.

Relationship structure (patterns of relative closeness among multiple family members) and dynamics (changes in relationship structures overtime) are two main aspects of family system functioning, yet empirical tests of these concepts lag behind theory. Recent growth in advanced methods for complex data structures makes it possible to empirically capture structures and dynamics within multiple family relationships overtime. To answer how relationship structure may fluctuate from day to day, this study used multilevel latent profile analysis (MLPA) as an innovative and feasible method to capture mother-father-adolescent (MFA) relationship structures and dynamics on a daily basis. Using daily adolescent reports of mother-father (MF), mother-adolescent (MA), and father-adolescent (FA) closeness from 144 two-parent families for up to 21 days, we identified six day-level MFA structures: Cohesive (33% of days; three close dyads), Mother-Centered (9%; closer MF, average MA, less close FA), Adolescent-Centered (4%; less close MF, closer MA and FA), MA-Coalition (3%; closer MA, less close MF and FA), Disengaged (23%; three less close dyads), and Average (28%; three approximately average dyads). We identified five types of MFA dynamics at the family level: Stable Cohesive (35% of families; exhibited Cohesive structure most days), Stable Disengaged (20%; Disengaged structure most days), Stable MA-Coalition (3%; MA-Coalition structure most days), Stable Average (24%; Average structure most days), and Variable (17%; varied among multiple structures). Methodologically, daily diary designs and MLPA can be useful tools to empirically examine concrete hypotheses of complex, non-linear processes in family systems. Substantive and methodological implications are discussed.

La estructura de las relaciones (los patrones de cercanía relativa entre varios miembros de la familia) y su dinámica (los cambios en las estructuras de las relaciones con el tiempo) son dos aspectos principales del funcionamiento familia-sistema, sin embargo, las pruebas empíricas de estos conceptos se retrasan en relación con la teoría. El crecimiento reciente en los métodos avanzados de estructuras de datos complejos hace posible captar empíricamente las estructuras y la dinámica dentro de las relaciones de varias familias con el tiempo. Para responder cómo la estructura de las relaciones puede variar día a día, se utilizó en este estudio un análisis de perfiles latentes multinivel como método innovador y viable para captar las estructuras y la dinámica de las relaciones madre-padre-adolescente (MPA) diariamente. Utilizando informes diarios de los adolescentes sobre la cercanía madre-padre (MP), madre-adolescente (MA) y padre-adolescente (PA) de 144 familias de dos padres durante un máximo de 21 días, identificamos seis estructuras MPA de nivel diario: cohesiva (el 33 % de los días; tres díadas cercanas), centrada en la madre (el 9 %; más cercanía MP, MA promedio, menos cercanía PA), centrada en el adolescente (el 4 %; menos cercanía MP, más cercanía MA y PA), alianza MA (el 3 %; mas cercanía MA, menos cercanía MP y PA), indiferente (el 23 %; tres díadas menos cercanas), y promedio (el 28 %; tres díadas aproximadamente promedio). Identificamos tres tipos de dinámica MPA al nivel de la familia: cohesiva estable (el 35 % de las familias demostró una estructura cohesiva la mayoría de los días), indiferente estable (el 20 %; estructura indiferente la mayoría de los días), alianza MA estable (el 3 %; estructura de alianza MA la mayoría de los días), promedio estable (el 24 %; estructura promedio la mayoría de los días), y variable (el 17 %; varió entre numerosas estructuras). Metodológicamente, los diseños de registro diario y el análisis de perfiles latentes multinivel pueden ser herramientas útiles para analizar empíricamente hipótesis concretas de los procesos complejos y no lineales de los sistemas familiares. Se debaten las consecuencias sustanciales y metodológicas.

Family socioeconomic status and Chinese high school students' test anxiety: Serial mediating role of parental psychological control, learning resources, and student academic self-efficacy.

It is widely documented that students with lower family socioeconomic status (SES) tend to have higher test anxiety than their peers from higher SES families. However, few studies have empirically examined the underlying mechanism whereby family SES shapes students' test anxiety. To bridge this gap, the present study proposed and tested a serial mediation model in which family SES is associated with students' test anxiety through the indirect effect of parental psychological control, access to learning resources, and academic self-efficacy. The sample comprised 354 Chinese high school students (134 boys; mean age = 16.15 years old). The results were as follows: (1) higher family SES was associated with increased access to learning resources, higher academic self-efficacy, lower parental psychological control, and lower test anxiety. In contrast, test anxiety was associated with decreased access to learning resources, lower academic self-efficacy, and higher parental psychological control; and (2) the mediation model indicated parental psychological control, learning resources, and academic self-efficacy functioned as serial mediators in the relationship between family SES and students' test anxiety (i.e., family SES → psychological control and learning resources → academic self-efficacy → test anxiety). The findings are discussed in the framework of the family stress/investment models and social cognitive theory. Concrete suggestions for how low SES parents can help decrease their children's test anxiety are provided.

Prospective Associations of Parenting and Childhood Maltreatment with Personality in Adolescent Males.

This longitudinal study examines whether early experiences with caregivers between the ages of 10 and 12 are associated with later adolescent personality at age 16 using both parent and child reports. Lower positive parenting was prospectively associated with higher neuroticism and lower extraversion and conscientiousness for both parent and self-reports of personality, as well as lower openness and agreeableness by parent report. Substantiated maltreatment was prospectively associated with greater neuroticism and lower agreeableness and conscientiousness assessed by parent report. Prospective associations were similar across Black and White participants. Positive parenting and, to a lesser extent, a lack of maltreatment were associated with adaptive personality profiles in adolescents, and associations were stronger for parent reports of personality.

Same family, divergent realities: How triangulation preserves parents' illusory harmony while adolescents navigate interparental conflicts.

Triangulation is a process in which a child is drawn into conflict between two parents, and is linked to adolescent psychological maladjustment. Although harmful, families may engage in triangulation due to its promotion of diverging realities in which youth become more attuned to interparental conflict (IPC), yet parents are distracted from tension within their interparental relationship. Although central to theoretical depictions of triangulation and carrying robust implications for family science and prevention, the phenomenon of diverging realities in triangulating families has received inadequate empirical evaluation. This study utilized data collected from 150 families in which 1 parent and 1 adolescent completed baseline surveys and 21 daily diary questionnaires on triangulation, IPC, and family cohesion. Multilevel models were applied, nesting days within families, to evaluate within-family associations between triangulation and divergent perspectives of family functioning. Results from multilevel models indicated that on days when adolescents experienced elevated triangulation, discrepancies between adolescent and parent reports of IPC and family cohesion increased, with adolescents reporting significantly higher levels of IPC and lower levels of family cohesion relative to their parents. Further probing of the trends driving these discrepancies yielded a distinct pattern of results for IPC and family cohesion. Adolescent involvement in IPC is associated with more negative perspectives of family functioning relative to parents. These findings imply a mechanism through which triangulation confers risk to adolescents, and highlight that divergence in parent and adolescent perspectives of family functioning fluctuates depending on daily processes. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Race, gender, and scholarly impact: Disparities for women and faculty of color in clinical psychology.

OBJECTIVE: We sought to determine if gender and race are associated with scientific impact, scholarly productivity, career advancement, and prestige. METHODS: Publicly available data on publications, h-index, advancement, and prestige were assessed across core faculty in all American Psychological Association-accredited clinical psychology programs at R1 institutions in the United States (87 programs, 918 scientists). RESULTS: There were significant effects of both gender and race on productivity and impact, which were most apparent among the most senior faculty. Men and white faculty in associate and full professor ranks had higher scholarly productivity and impact. Among associate professors, men were more likely to get tenure earlier, even when controlling for scientific impact (h-index). Neither gender nor race was associated with prestige among full professors. CONCLUSION: These findings, along with under-representation of non-White faculty across levels (11.2%) and women at the full professor level (42.8%), suggest disparities in academic clinical psychology that must be addressed.

Exploring Triadic Family Relationship Profiles and Their Implications for Adolescents' Early Substance Initiation.

This study examined combinations of warmth and hostility in mother-father-adolescent triadic relationships when adolescents were in 6th grade and associations with adolescent middle school substance initiation. We conducted a latent profile analysis with a sample of 687 two-parent families (52.4% of adolescents were female, mean age = 11.27 at 6th grade). These analyses revealed five profiles of triadic relationships, labeled as: cohesive families (46%, high warmth and low hostility in all three dyads), compensatory families (24%, low interparental warmth but high parent-adolescent warmth), disengaged families (13%, average to low warmth and hostility in three dyads), distressed families (9%, high hostility and low warmth in all three dyads), and conflictual families (8%, high hostility and average warmth in all three dyads). There were significant differences across triadic relationship profiles in rate of alcohol initiation during middle school. Specifically, adolescents in distressed families and conflictual families initiated alcohol at higher rates than adolescents in other types of families. Cohesive families and compensatory families initiated alcohol at the lowest rates among all five types of families. Similar patterns appeared for drunkenness and cigarettes. Implications for family-based interventions to decrease adolescent substance use and future research directions are discussed.

A Developmental Perspective on Young Adult Romantic Relationships: Examining Family and Individual Factors in Adolescence.

The ability to develop and maintain healthy romantic relationships is a key developmental task in young adulthood. The present study investigated how adolescent interpersonal skills (assertiveness, positive engagement) and family processes (family climate, parenting practices) influence the development of young adult romantic relationship functioning. We evaluated cross-lag structural equation models with a sample of 974 early adolescents living in rural and semi-rural communities in Pennsylvania and Iowa, starting in sixth grade (mean age = 12.4, 62.1% female) and followed into young adulthood (mean age = 19.5). Findings revealed that adolescents who had experienced a more positive family climate and more competent parenting reported more effective problem-solving skills and less violent behavior in their young adult romantic relationships. Adolescent assertiveness was consistently positively associated with relationship problem-solving skills, and adolescents' positive engagement with their family was associated with feeling more love in young adult romantic relationships. In addition, family functioning and adolescent interpersonal skills exhibited some reciprocal relations over the adolescent years. In summary, family processes and interpersonal skills are mutually influenced by each other across adolescence, and both have unique predictive implications to specific facets of young adult romantic relationship functioning.

Dynamical Systems Modeling of Couple Interaction: a New Method for Assessing Intervention Impact Across the Transition to Parenthood.

This study explored the use of dynamical systems modeling techniques to evaluate self- and co-regulation of affect in couples' interactions before and after the transition to parenthood, and the impact of the Family Foundations program on these processes. Thirty-four heterosexual couples, randomized to intervention and control conditions, participated in videotaped dyadic interaction tasks at pretest (during pregnancy) and posttest (1 year after birth). Husbands' and wives' positivity and negativity were micro-coded throughout interactions. Individual negativity set-points, self-regulation, and partner co-regulatory processes during interactions were examined using a coupled oscillators model. Regarding self-regulatory processes, men exhibited amplification of negativity at the prenatal assessment that did not change at the postnatal assessment; women demonstrated no significant damping or amplification at pretest and a marginally significant change towards greater amplification at the postnatal assessment. In terms of partner-influenced regulatory dynamics, men's positive behaviors changed from damping to amplifying women's negative behaviors in the control group following the transition to parenthood, but exerted an even stronger damping effect on women's negative behaviors in the intervention group. The study highlights the advantages of dynamic modeling approaches in testing specific hypotheses in the study of self- and co-regulatory couple dynamics and demonstrates the potential of studying dynamic processes to further understanding of developmental and intervention-related change mechanisms.

Trajectories of adolescent hostile-aggressive behavior and family climate: Longitudinal implications for young adult romantic relationship competence.

The formation and maintenance of young adult romantic relationships that are free from violence and are characterized by love, connection, and effective problem-solving have important implications for later well-being and family functioning. In this study, we examined adolescent hostile-aggressive behavior (HAB) and family relationship quality as key individual and family level factors that may forecast later romantic relationship functioning. Guided by a family systems framework, we evaluated the reciprocal influences of adolescent hostility and family climate, to provide a more comprehensive picture of the etiology of romantic relationship functioning. We drew on a large sample (N = 974) of young adults (mean age = 19.5) that were followed starting in the fall of 6th grade, and subsequently in spring of 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th grades prior to the young adult assessment. Using a latent difference score cross-lag model (McArdle, 2009), our results indicated that a more positive family climate was associated with decreases in HAB, but HAB was not associated with changes in family climate. Further, the influence of the family climate on HAB was consistent across all time points. HAB and family climate had different predictions for young adult romantic relationships: Increasing HAB over adolescence predicted relationship violence, while maintenance in family climate was a key predictor of relationship problem-solving skills. The only predictor of love and connection in relationships was early family functioning. Implications for developmental theory and prevention science are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record

Examining reciprocal influences among family climate, school attachment, and academic self-regulation: Implications for school success.

Guided by family systems and ecological theories, this study examined the multicontextual implications of family, school, and individual domains for adolescents' school success. The first goal of this study was to examine reciprocal influences among family climate, school attachment, and academic self-regulation (ASR) during the middle school years. The second goal was to test the relative impact of each of these domains on adolescents' school adjustment and academic achievement after the transition to high school. We applied a cross-lag structural equation modeling approach to longitudinal data from 979 students in the 6th grade and their families, followed over 5 measurement occasions, from 6th through 9th grade. Controlling for family income, parent education, and adolescent gender, the results revealed reciprocal relationships between the family climate and school attachment over time; both of these factors were related to increases in ASR over time. In turn, ASR was a robust predictor of academic success, with unique associations with school adjustment and academic achievement. Family climate and school adjustment had modest to marginal associations with school adjustment, and no association with academic achievement. Applications of these findings for family school interventions are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record