Adolescents in High Risk Families: Are There Different Dynamics at Home That Affect Behavior

Problems?Karina R. Sokol, Priscila Diaz, William Fabricius, Melinda Baham

Arizona State University

Black, A.E. & Pedro-Carroll, J. (1993). Role of parent-child relationships in mediating the

effects of marital disruption. Journal of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry, 32,

1019-1027.

Davies, P.T. & Cummings, E.M. (1994). Marital conflict and child adjustment: an

emotional security hypothesis. Psychological Bulletin, 116, 387-411.

Dumka, L.E., Roosa, M.W., & Jackson K.M. (1997). Risk, conflict, mother’s parenting,

and children’s adjustment in low income, Mexican immigrant, and Mexican American

families. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 59, 309-323.

Gonzalez, N.A., Pitts, S.C., Hill, N.E., & Roosa, M.W. (2000). A mediational model of the

impact of interparental conflict on child adjustment in a multiethnic, low-income

sample. Journal of Family Psychology, 14, 365-379.

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from divorced and intact families. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 55, 221-228.

**Note: A complete list of references can be found on the PAYS website

Adolescents living in step-families are at risk for more internalizing and externalizing behavior problems than adolescents in intact families. Similarly, Mexican-American adolescents are at an increased risk for behavior problems compared to Euro-American adolescents. Thus, this study examines individuals in both of the aforementioned populations in order to assess what dynamics at home contribute to or buffer behavior problems.

Previous research has shown multiple family and parent influences can affect adolescent behavior problems. A substantial body of research supports an association between interparental conflict and adolescent adjustment problems. High levels of conflict between parents has been found to relate to more internalizing problems and externalizing problems (Cummings, Goeke- Morey, & Papp, 2004; Dumka, Roosa & Jackson, 1997; Fainsilber-Katz & Gottman, 1993; Fincham, 1994).

On the other hand, it seems that the parent-child relationship may mediate the relationship between interparental conflict and child outcomes (Gonzales, Pitts, Hill & Roosa, 2000). Drawing from the parent-as-a-mediator hypothesis, interparental conflict is assumed to affect child well-being by altering the parent-child relationship. The changes in the parent-child relationship, as an alternative to the conflict itself, ultimately lead to child problems (Black & Pedro-Carroll, 1993).

Recently, researchers have found that time spent with a parent relates to adolescent outcomes in divorced families independent of interparental conflict (Luecken & Fabricius, 2003). In intact families, children who spend more time with their fathers have better grades than children who spend less time with their fathers. Time with mothers does not significantly predict school grades on its own given its multicollinearity with time with fathers (Cooksey & Fondell, 1996). When a parent takes the time to spend a portion of his/her day with his/her child, the parent is conveying to the child that he is meaningful. The child realizes that the relationship between himself and his parent is important to the parent. Drawing from emotional security theory, the child may infer that the relationship between himself and his parent is emotionally secure regarding his parent’s love and the ability to care for him (Davies & Cummings, 1994).

Given that prior literature (Amato & Rezac, 1994) has suggested that the time a child spends with a parent might be harmful if the parents have high levels of conflict, the time by conflict interaction was included in this study.

In the current study, the model we tested specified that time spent with a parent and interparental conflict independently predict the parent-child relationship which, in turn, predicts adolescent internalizing and externalizing behaviors. Time spent with each parent, interparental conflict, and parent-child relationship have not been explored in any sample, regardless of a multiethnic, multi-family type sample. Additionally, specific analyses on high risk families will test if the hypothesized model differs by gender, family type, or ethnicity.

Given our statistical analyses, it seems that generally, both time with each parent and marital conflict independently predict the parent-child relationship, which in turn predicts adolescent behavior problems. The models fit well in both female and male adolescents. The model also fits well in step-families and EA families, but not in intact families and MA families. In the latter, it may be that the family acts as more of a unit and time with fathers is related to acceptance from mothers. In other words, spending time with fathers indicates that mother is more accepting. Time may spill over to affect the entire family dynamic relationship within these families.

Overall AnalysesStructural equations modeling with observed variables (Bollen,

1991), often referred to as path analysis, was used. It was hypothesized that the amount of marital conflict observed by the child and the amount of time the child spent with the parent would each independently influence the relationship the parent had with the child, and that relationship, in turn, would impact the child’s behavior. Finally, because it was of interest to examine the simultaneous impact of mother and father, the time spent with each parent and the relationship with each parent was tested in the same model, shown in Figures 1 (internalizing) and 2 (externalizing). Time and conflict variables were allowed to correlate with each other and the four relationship variables were allowed to correlate.

The results of the model for internalizing behavior problems indicate that the hypothesized model fits the data well, χ2(13) = 23.54, p = .04, with a CFI value of 0.98, an RMSEA value of 0.047, and an SRMR value of 0.03. The hypothesized model for externalizing behavior problems was also a good fit to the data, χ 2(13) = 23.14, p = .04, with a CFI value of 0.98, an RMSEA value of 0.046, and an SRMR value of 0.03.

Specific AnalysesGender. The model fit equally well in both males and females.

Family Type. First, the model was fit separately in intact families and step-families to ensure the appropriateness of a direct comparison. For internalizing behavior problems, the model did not fit in intact families but was a good fit in step-families. In intact families, the previously discussed model fit the data once a direct path from time spent with dad to acceptance from mom was added. A new significant path emerged between the interaction between time with dad and conflict and acceptance from dad in this model such that more time with dad was positively related to acceptance from dad, regardless of the level of conflict, but that the relationship between low amounts of time with dad and acceptance from dad depended on the level marital conflict.

For externalizing behavior problems, the model did not fit in intact families but was a good fit in step-families. In intact families, the previously discussed model fit the data once a direct path from time spent with dad to acceptance from mom was added. The original model fit the data well in step-families.

Ethnicity. The original model was fit separately in Euro-Americans (EA) and Mexican-Americans (MA). For internalizing behavior problems, the models fit similarly to those for intact and step-families with EAs similar to step-families and MAs similar to intact families. Specifically, the model fit for EAs but only fits for MAs when a path is added from time with dad to acceptance with mom.

Additionally, in EAs there were significant paths from the interaction terms between time with dad and conflict. The time by conflict interaction significantly predicted acceptance with dad such that high amounts time with dad was related to high levels of acceptance from dad, regardless of the level of conflict, but that the relationship between low amounts of time with dad and acceptance from dad depended on the level marital conflict. The interaction between time with dad and conflict for rejection from dad was such that high amounts time with dad was related to lower levels of rejection from dad, regardless of the level of conflict, but that the relationship between low amounts of time with dad and rejection from dad depended on the level marital conflict

For externalizing behavior problems, the original model fit EA families well, with similar significant path coefficients as the overall model. In MA families, the previously discussed model fit the data once a direct path from time spent with dad to acceptance from mom was added.

ParticipantsOur sample consisted of 367 families (105 Euro-American intact families, 83 Euro-American stepfather families, 102 Mexican-American intact families, and 77 Mexican-American stepfather families). The families were participants in the first wave of the Parents and Youth Study (PAYS). PAYS is a two-site, 5-year longitudinal project that examines how Mexican-American and Euro-American fathers and stepfathers influence adolescents’ mental health and behavioral outcomes. Adolescents (195 female, 172 male) were in the 7th grade for the results reported here and the age ranged from 11-13 years. The families were recruited in schools from both the Phoenix and the Riverside areas.

Data CollectionSimultaneous in-home interviews were conducted in different rooms for the three participating family members (mother, father, adolescent) by a team of three trained interviewers. The interviews lasted approximately two hours and were conducted in either Spanish or English, depending on the request of the participant. Adolescent’s teachers were also asked to complete a questionnaire regarding the adolescent’s behaviors at school.

MeasuresMarital Conflict A modified version of the Children’s Perception of Interparental Conflict (CPIC; Grych, Seid & Fincham, 1992) was administered to the adolescent, mother, and father/stepfather. Fifteen items were chosen from the original CPIC and one new item was added, for a total of 16 items with a response scale ranging from 1 to 3. All the items were summed within reporter and averaged across reporters. The alphas were .80 for father/stepfather report, .80 for mother report, and .82 for adolescent report.

Time Spent with ParentTime was measured by the 5-item Parent Child Interaction (PCI) Scale (Coltrane, Parke & Adams, 2004) with a response scale ranging from 1 to 5. Both the adolescent and the mother reported on the PCI for a global measure of time the adolescent and mother spent together (adolescent α= .68, mother α= .59). Similarly, both the adolescent and the father/stepfather reported on the PCI for time the adolescent spent with father (adolescent α= .68, father/stepfather α= .57). The items were summed within reporter and then averaged across reporters.

Parent-Child Relationship Shortened versions of the Child Report of Parent Behavior Inventory (CRPBI; Schaefer, 1965) scales of acceptance and rejection were used to assess parent-child relationship (10 items for each scale) on a 1 to 3 rating scale. To obtain a global measure of mother-child relationship for the acceptance scale, the adolescent and father/stepfather reports were summed for each reporter and averaged across the two reporters. The rejection scale was also summed for each reporter, and the adolescent and father/stepfather report were averaged. Similarly, for father-child relationship, the mother and adolescent reports were summed for each reporter and the two reporters were averaged (separately for acceptance and rejection). All scales had reliability levels above α = .70.

Internalizing and Externalizing behavior Measured by the teacher report of the Behavior Problems Index (BPI; National Longitudinal Study of Youth, 1979). This scale contains two subscales: internalizing behaviors (10 items) and externalizing behaviors (18 items), each rated on a 1 to 5 scale. Two teachers reported on each adolescent and the items were summed for each teacher. The reports of these teachers were averaged separately for internalizing and externalizing. If only one teacher report was obtained, that report was solely used. The alpha for internalizing was .89 and .96 for externalizing behavior.

Introduction Method Results

Conclusion

Representative References**

This research was supported in part by NIMH grant (1RO1MH064828-01).

Contact InformationFor more information please contact:

Karina R. SokolDepartment of PsychologyArizona State UniversityTempe, AZ 85287-1104(480) 727-7172 (office)karina.sokol@asu.edu

PAYS website: http://devpsych.sfsu.edu/PAYS/index.htm

Source: Sokol, K.R., Diaz, P., Fabricius, W. V., & Baham, M. (2006). Adolescents in High Risk Families: Are There Different Dynamics at Home That Affect Behavior Problems? Poster presented at 2006 Society for Prevention Research, San Antonio, TX.

FiguresFigure 1. Internalizing Behavior Problems

Internalizing

Time XConflict

Dad

TimeDad

TimeMom

Marital Conflict

Acceptance Mom

Acceptance Dad

Time X Conflict

Mom

Rejection Mom

RejectionDad

Figure 2. Externalizing Behavior Problems

Time X Conflict

Mom

Externalizing

RejectionDad

AcceptanceDad

Time X Conflict

Dad

Rejection Mom

AcceptanceMom

Time Dad

MaritalConflict

TimeMom

*Blue dotted lines indicate paths that were tested but were not significant

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