The mutual influence of parent-child maladaptive emotion regulation on posttraumatic stress following flood exposure.

Decades of disaster research support the influence parents have on their children's adaptation. Recently, research has shifted to focus on disasters as a whole family experience. Using the actor-partner interdependence model, this study examines maladaptive cognitive emotion regulation strategies in parents and children and how these strategies influence their own and one another's posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS). The present study includes 485 parent-child dyads who experienced the 2015-2016 Texas floods. The majority of parents identified as mothers (66.3%), with a male child (52.8%) whose average age was 13.75 years. Mplus was used to identify the models and evaluate differences between each cognitive emotion regulation strategy across parent-child dyads in the high disaster exposure group compared to all other levels of exposure (other-exposure). Odds ratios examined differences not captured by the actor-partner interdependence model. Support for interdependence was found for the other-exposure group, suggesting parents and children mutually influence each other's PTSS by their own cognitive emotion regulation. No interdependence was found in the high-exposure group. However, high-exposure child actor effects were found for self-blame and other-blame, and child partner effects were only found for self-blame. Parent actor effects were only significant for catastrophizing and parent partner effects for catastrophizing and rumination. Odds ratios for the high-exposure group found that only child self-blame influenced parent PTSS, and only parent rumination and catastrophizing influenced child PTSS. Implications for supporting families after disasters are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Exploring parent-child agreement on reports of exposure to community violence: Utilizing a latent profile approach.

Exposure to community violence (ECV) has a number of implications for children including poor mental health functioning, impaired cognition, memory, learning, and school performance (Edlynn et al, 2008 Am. J. Orthopsychiat., 78, 249-258; Gardner et al., 1996, J. Consult. Clin. Psychol., 64, 602-609). Discrepancies in child and parent reports of the child's ECV may exacerbate these adverse effects (Hill & Jones, 1997 J. Natl Med. Assoc., 89, 270-276). This study aimed to categorize dyads based on the agreement in reports of ECV. Furthermore, this study aimed to identify ethnic differences within these groups in addition to mental health issues. Four profiles, based on average exposure to violence, emerged: Low exposure (LE), moderate exposure, high exposure, and severe exposure. Ethnic differences among these profiles indicate ethnic minorities are less likely to belong to the LE profile and more likely to represent the other profiles. There were differences among profiles based on mental health functioning.