Developmental Psychopathology Quiz Sept 22, 2008

Front 1

What did Schermerhorn (Children's influence on the marital relationship) investigate?

Back 1

the authors tested hypotheses regarding children’s influence
on the marital relationship, examining relations between interparental discord and children’s
negative emotional reactivity, agentic behavior, dysregulated behavior, and psychosocial
adjustment.

Front 2

Schermerhorn discovered the following:
Consistent with theory, interparental discord
related to _______________, which in turn related to ___________.

Back 2

Consistent with theory, interparental discord
related to children’s negative emotional reactivity, which in turn related to children’s agentic
and dysregulated behavior.

Front 3

Schermerhorn discovered the following:
Agentic behavior related to _____ in interparental discord,
whereas dysregulated behavior related to _____ in discord and _____ in children’s
adjustment problems.

Back 3

Agentic behavior related to decreases in interparental discord,
whereas dysregulated behavior related to increases in discord and elevations in children’s
adjustment problems.

Front 4

Schermerhorn discovered the following:
Agentic behavior related to decreases in interparental discord,
whereas dysregulated behavior related to increases in discord and elevations in children’s
adjustment problems.

Back 4

_________ behavior related to decreases in interparental discord,
whereas ______ behavior related to increases in discord and elevations in children’s
adjustment problems.

Front 5

Schermerhorn discovered the following:
Person-oriented analyses of agentic and dysregulated responses indicated
_________.

Back 5

distinct clusters of children linked with meaningful individual differences in marital and
psychosocial functioning

Front 6

In Schermerhorn study,
Results are discussed in terms of ________, such as increased parental awareness of children’s distress potentially leading to
reduced marital conflict.

Back 6

Results are discussed in terms of possible mechanisms of child
effects, such as increased parental awareness of children’s distress potentially leading to
reduced marital conflict.

Front 7

The following keywords are associated with the Schermerhorn study. Describe how each key word is associated with the study.
child agency, marital conflict, bidirectionality, psychosocial adjustment,
reciprocal relations

Back 7

CHILD AGENCY (which I think is associated with agentic behavior) One such class of behavioral responses is children’s
mediation in interparental disputes, or agentic behavior. We
define agency as children’s behaviors that are designed to
influence family members (Cummings & Schermerhorn,
2003). Agentic behavior in the context of marital conflict is
active helping behavior intended to diminish conflict. Agentic
effects are more than bidirectional effects, requiring
intentionality in the child’s behavior.

MARITAL CONFLICT

BIDIRECTIONALITY = Agentic
effects are more than bidirectional effects, requiring
intentionality in the child’s behavior.

PSYCHOSOCIAL ADJUSTMENT:
-The third aim of this study is to examine relations between
children’s behavioral responses to marital discord
and their adjustment
-Effects on Psychosocial Adjustment
Longitudinal analyses indicated that behavioral dysregulation
was associated with increases in internalizing and
externalizing problems, even controlling for initial levels of
those variables, but adjustment did not predict subsequent
behavioral dysregulation. These results support the interpretation
that behavioral dysregulation in the context of marital
discord may be a mechanism contributing to the development
of behavior problems and is not simply a correlate of
behavior problems. The fact that behavioral dysregulation
predicted both types of problem behaviors suggests that a
common process model may hold (e.g., EST), as opposed to
distinct explanations accounting for internalizing and externalizing
problems, respectively.

RECIPROCAL RELATIONS:
-Family systems theory provides a theoretical basis for the
examination of reciprocal relations within families (Cox &
Paley, 1997). Key principles of family systems theory (Cox
& Paley, 1997; Minuchin, 1985) include the notion of the
family system as an organized whole, with the parts of the
system being interdependent. Systems consist of subsystems,
and interactions within systems are characterized
by a continuous cycle of action and reaction feeding back to
produce further reaction. Family systems are characterized
by both self-regulation, which enables them to stabilize
interaction patterns, and self-reorganization, which enables
them to adapt to the environment. Research suggests that
children are not passive recipients of parenting, but rather,
active participants in family relationships (Maccoby, 1984)
-Reciprocal Effects Between Children and Marriage
Emotional security theory (EST; Davies & Cummings,
1994) posits that exposure to marital discord increases children’s
negative emotionality, reflecting emotional insecurity.
Emotional insecurity, in turn, motivates children’s impulses
to mediate, avoid, or in other ways reduce exposure
to marital discord. Attempts to reduce exposure to discord
indicate that the goal of preserving emotional security is
activated, serving as a mechanism by which children maintain
or achieve emotional security. The first two aims of the
present article are to investigate reciprocity between the
child and the marital system, including examination of both
the influence of marital conflict on the child and child
behavioral responses that influence marital functioning.
One such class of behavioral responses is children’s
mediation in interparental disputes, or agentic behavior. We
define agency as children’s behaviors that are designed to
influence family members (Cummings & Schermerhorn,
2003). Agentic behavior in the context of marital conflict is
active helping behavior intended to diminish conflict. Agentic
effects are more than bidirectional effects, requiring
intentionality in the child’s behavior. Surprisingly few studies
have examined children’s agency in the marital relationship.
Schermerhorn, Cummings, and Davies (2005) examined
perceived agency in the context of marital conflict,
which reflects impulses to influence outcomes in the family.
Marital discord predicted concurrent negative emotional
reactivity, which in turn predicted concurrent perceived
agency. Controlling for initial marital discord, perceived
agency predicted reduced marital discord 1 year later.
However, this study left unanswered the question of how
children affect marital discord as a function of perceived
agency. Agentic behavior provides more compelling bases
to account for how children may influence marital conflict
than the construct of perceived agency. Extending Schermerhorn
et al.’s (2005) study of perceived agency, this report
describes the first empirical study of children’s agentic
behavior in the marital subsystem. Although it is sometimes
suggested that children’s agentic behaviors are inevitably
ineffectual at best, and at worst contribute to the intensity of
marital disputes (Emery, 1989), EST suggests that children
engage in these behaviors because they may serve by some
means to reduce conflict between the parents, reducing
children’s exposure to family threats.
Another class of behavioral responses in the context of
marital discord is children’s behavioral dysregulation (i.e.,
acts of verbal or physical aggression, misbehavior, or hurting
oneself). The clinical literature has long indicated that
marital discord relates to children’s behavior problems,
including aggressive behavioral dysregulation (Emery,
Weintraub, & Neale, 1982). Some have contended that
behavioral dysregulation may also reflect a form of agentic
behavior (i.e., “taking on the symptom,” Emery, 1982, p.
323) intended to distract parents from marital difficulties.
Thus, children’s behavioral dysregulation may serve by
some means to reduce marital discord over time. Alternatively,
children’s dysregulation in the context of interparental
hostility may escalate coercive family processes (Patterson,
1982), thereby promoting increased marital discord

Front 8

What is behavior dysregulation? (Schermerhorn)

Back 8

behavioral dysregulation (i.e.,
acts of verbal or physical aggression, misbehavior, or hurting
oneself). The clinical literature has long indicated that
marital discord relates to children’s behavior problems,
including aggressive behavioral dysregulation (Emery,
Weintraub, & Neale, 1982). Some have contended that
behavioral dysregulation may also reflect a form of agentic
behavior (i.e., “taking on the symptom,” Emery, 1982, p.
323) intended to distract parents from marital difficulties.
Thus, children’s behavioral dysregulation may serve by
some means to reduce marital discord over time. Alternatively,
children’s dysregulation in the context of interparental
hostility may escalate coercive family processes (Patterson,
1982), thereby promoting increased marital discord

Front 9

What were the four goals of the Schermerhorn study?

Back 9

In examining
children’s influence on marital functioning, the current
study has several interrelated aims, the first of which is to
test interparental discord as a predictor of children’s negative
emotional reactivity and behavioral responses. Second,
we examine links between children’s behavioral responses
to marital conflict and later marital conflict. A third aim is
to advance understanding of relations between children’s
behavioral responses to marital conflict and their adjustment.
Fourth, reflecting person-oriented analyses, we investigate
individual differences in responding to marital discord
(agentic behavior, dysregulated behavior), including
implications for marital discord and child adjustment. Reflecting
transactional processes in the family, child responses
to marital discord may feed back to influence marital
processes and ultimately affect the child.

Front 10

Briefly summarize the findings of the Schermerhorn study.

Back 10

As hypothesized, we found that exposure to destructive
marital conflict was linked with children’s negative emotional
reactivity, which was further linked with high levels
of both agentic behavior and behavioral dysregulation.
Agentic behavior and behavioral dysregulation had opposing
associations with later marital discord, as agentic behavior
related to low levels of subsequent discord and
behavioral dysregulation related to high levels of subsequent
discord. Whereas agentic behavior was not related to
adjustment problems, behavioral dysregulation was related
to increases in internalizing and externalizing problems over
time. Distinct groups of low behavioral, agentic, and high
behavioral children were identified and were associated
with differences in negative emotional reactivity, adjustment,
and subsequent marital conflict.

Front 11

In the Connell study:

In light of the selective focus on maternal (vs. paternal) psychopathology as a risk factor for child
development, this meta-analysis examines the relative strength of the association between psychopathology
in ____ versus ___ and the presence of ____ and ______ in children.

Back 11

In light of the selective focus on maternal (vs. paternal) psychopathology as a risk factor for child
development, this meta-analysis examines the relative strength of the association between psychopathology
in mothers versus fathers and the presence of internalizing and externalizing disorders in children.

Front 12

In the Connell meta-analysis,
Associations were stronger between ____ than ___ psychopathology and the presence of
____ (but not ____) problems in children, with all average effect sizes being small in
magnitude.

Back 12

Associations were stronger between maternal than paternal psychopathology and the presence of
internalizing (but not externalizing) problems in children, with all average effect sizes being small in
magnitude.

Front 13

Relations were moderated by variables that highlight _____
between psychopathology in mothers versus fathers (e.g., age of children studied, type of parental
psychopathology) and by variables related to ______ differences across studies (e.g., method of
assessing psychopathology in parents and children, type of sample recruited, familial composition).

Back 13

Relations were moderated by variables that highlight theoretically relevant differences
between psychopathology in mothers versus fathers (e.g., age of children studied, type of parental
psychopathology) and by variables related to methodological differences across studies (e.g., method of
assessing psychopathology in parents and children, type of sample recruited, familial composition).

Front 14

In the connell article:
Though the principal goal of the present review is not to examine
the __________ parental psychopathology
might be associated with the presence of internalizing and externalizing
problems in children, a consideration of ________ helps to form specific hypotheses about
whether certain forms of psychopathology may be more or less
strongly associated with child disturbance depending on the gender
of the affected parent.

Back 14

Though the principal goal of the present review is not to examine
the mechanisms through which parental psychopathology
might be associated with the presence of internalizing and externalizing
problems in children, a consideration of the potential
mechanisms of risk helps to form specific hypotheses about
whether certain forms of psychopathology may be more or less
strongly associated with child disturbance depending on the gender
of the affected parent.

Front 15

In the connell article, 4 mechanisms for transmission of psychopathology are discussed. What are they?

Back 15

Goodman and Gotlib (1999) proposed four
mechanisms through which maternal depression may be associated
with maladaptive developmental outcomes for children, including
(a) genetic transmission, (b) the development of dysfunctional
neuroregulatory mechanisms (especially resulting from prenatal
experiences associated with maternal psychopathology), (c) exposure
to the mother’s maladaptive affect, behavior, and cognitions,
and (d) contextual stressors associated with depression in mothers

Front 16

The Connell study was a meta-analysis. What does this mean?

Back 16

Meta-analytic procedures allow researchers to estimate the population
effect size of the association between two variables and to search for
theoretically or methodologically relevant variables that may moderate the
strength of that effect.

Front 17

Summarize the findings associated with the Connell study.

Back 17

The results of the study-level analyses indicate that externalizing
problems in children were equally related to the presence of
psychopathology in mothers and fathers, whereas children’s internalizing
problems were more closely related to the presence of
psychopathology in mothers than in fathers. However, the magnitude
of this difference was small. Furthermore, all of the population
effect sizes were of small magnitude, although substantial
variability in effect sizes was found in all of these analyses.
In light of this variability in effect sizes, results from the
moderator analyses qualify these overall conclusions in several
important ways. Results of the construct-level moderator analyses
indicate that some of the variability in the magnitude of results
across studies is related to theoretically relevant differences between
the manner in which maternal versus paternal psychopathology
is related to the presence of internalizing and externalizing
disorders in children. Theoretically relevant moderators include
the mean age of children studied and the type of mental health
problem in parents. Although theoretically based predictions regarding
children’s gender and the year of study publication were
posited, they were not supported and therefore are not discussed
further. In addition to theoretically relevant differences between
mothers and fathers, results of the moderator analyses also indicate
that much of the difference in the magnitude of effect sizes across
studies appears to be related to methodological differences across
studies (rather than to differences between the effects of psychopathology
in mothers vs. fathers per se), including the method of
assessing mental health problems in parents and children, the type
of sample recruited, and family composition. Although a methodologically
based prediction regarding the influence of the biological
status of parents was posited, it was not generally supported and is not discussed further.

Front 18

In the Connell study, the mean
age of children studied was found to be related to the magnitude of
the association between psychopathology in mothers and fathers
and the presence of internalizing and externalizing disorders in
children. Discuss what this means.

Back 18

Foremost among the theoretically relevant findings, the mean
age of children studied was found to be related to the magnitude of
the association between psychopathology in mothers and fathers
and the presence of internalizing and externalizing disorders in
children. It is notable that a striking difference in the direction of
age effects was found for mothers and fathers, with paternal
psychopathology (particularly alcoholism and depression) more
closely related to emotional and behavior problems in samples
examining older children, whereas maternal psychopathology (particularly
depression) was more closely related to emotional and
behavioral problems in samples examining younger children. Differences
between the direction of age effects for mothers and
fathers remained significant with the effects of potentially confounding
moderator variables controlled. This pattern of results is
generally consistent with our prediction stemming from findings
that fathers are more involved in caring for older versus younger
children (Bailey, 1994) and may indicate that psychopathology in
fathers becomes more salient for children later in development. It
may be that mothers are more exclusively important to children
during early development because of their role as primary caretaker.
Conversely, as caretaking is less often performed by fathers
during this early period of development, paternal psychopathology
may not have as much of an impact on young children’s social and
emotional development but may become increasingly important as
children mature and fathers become increasingly salient agents of
socialization (Lamb, 1997).5
It is also important to consider the direction of influence in the
associations between parental psychopathology and children’s behavior
problems in relation to the contrasting pattern of age effects
for mothers and fathers. Rather than simply reflecting the causal
influence of parental psychopathology on the development of
internalizing and externalizing disorders in children, it is likely that
the association is bidirectional, as the presence of emotional and
behavior problems in children may be a stressor for mothers and
fathers, which may affect parents’ mental health.
-A qualifier is that this pattern of age effects did not hold for the
relation between maternal alcoholism and substance abuse and
children’s externalizing problems, for which larger effects were
found in samples of older children and adolescents. For this
disorder, cumulative exposure may be a critical factor in explaining
the larger effects for both maternal and paternal substance
abuse and children’s externalizing (and for fathers, internalizing)
behavior problems

Front 19

The connell study discovered that differences
in the strength of the association between fathers’ versus mothers’
psychopathology and internalizing or externalizing problems in
children were found for two disorders in parents: depression and alcoholism/substance abuse. Discuss specifically what was discovered.

Back 19

A second finding related to theoretically relevant differences
between maternal and paternal psychopathology is that differences
in the strength of the association between fathers’ versus mothers’
psychopathology and internalizing or externalizing problems in
children were found for two disorders in parents. First, depression
in mothers was found to be more closely related to children’s
internalizing (but not externalizing) problems than depression in
fathers. Such a difference is consistent with several mechanisms of
transmission, including depression-related disruptions to the intrauterine
environment during pregnancy and the greater effect of
depression on maternal versus paternal parenting (e.g., Field et al.,
1999). Second, alcoholism and substance abuse disorders in mothers
were more closely related to externalizing (but not internalizing)
problems in children than were such disorders in fathers.
Although this finding is contrary to the prediction based on a
genetic mechanism of transmission, which posited that paternal
alcoholism would be more strongly linked to children’s (especially
boys’) behavior problems, it is consistent with the adverse influence
of maternal substance use during pregnancy on prenatal
development. For both depression and substance abuse findings,
however, the possible role of prenatal influences relating to maternal
versus paternal effects remains tentative because most studies
did not assess the presence of such disorders during pregnancy.
This lack of information highlights the need for researchers to
carefully assess parents mental health histories in order to understand
the full picture of developmental influences on children.
Furthermore, caution is warranted in interpreting the differences
between maternal and paternal depression and substance use disorders
because the magnitude of the differences were small and
because differences for both parental disorders were not found for
both internalizing and externalizing disorders in children

Front 20

The Connell study discovered 2 theoretically relevant finidngs. What were they?

Back 20

1. the mean
age of children studied was found to be related to the magnitude of
the association between psychopathology in mothers and fathers
and the presence of internalizing and externalizing disorders in
children.
2. A second finding related to theoretically relevant differences
between maternal and paternal psychopathology is that differences
in the strength of the association between fathers’ versus mothers’
psychopathology and internalizing or externalizing problems in
children were found for two disorders in parents

Front 21

In the Connell study:
Other than these two sets of findings bearing on theoretically
important differences between maternal and paternal psychopathology,
most of the significant differences across groups of effects
were related to methodological differences across studies, including
the method of assessing mental health problems in parents and
children, the type of sample recruited, and familial composition.
Give some examples of the influence of these methodological factors.

Back 21

-At the broadest level, studies
relying on symptom ratings for parent or child mental health
problems tended to find larger effects than studies relying on a
diagnostically based categorical approach to assessment of parents
or children.

-Results tentatively suggest that research relying solely on
spousal reports for diagnostic information on fathers may lead to
diminished effects relative to studies using other assessment methods.

-For studies that used symptom ratings to assess internalizing or
externalizing problems in children, those that relied on parental
reports tended to yield the largest effects

-For externalizing disorders, studies relying
directly on children’s reports yielded the largest effects. For internalizing
diagnoses, similarly, studies collecting diagnostic information
directly from children yielded larger effects than studies
relying on parent report or medical records, although such effects
were not larger than those from studies combining information
from multiple informants

-Another methodological factor related to differences in the
magnitude of effects across studies was the type of sample used by
researchers. For externalizing problems (but not for internalizing
problems), the difference between parent clinical and child clinical
samples was significant when the effects of other moderators was
controlled.

Front 22

It is noteworthy that the pattern of
results for the source of diagnostic information on children differed
somewhat from the pattern of results found for the source of
symptom ratings for children in what way?

Back 22

studies collecting diagnostic
information directly from children yielded results that were among
the largest, whereas studies relying on children’s self-reports on
symptom-based questionnaires yielded effects that were among the
smallest. It may be that children are able to provide more complete
and reliable information about their problems in the context of a
sensitive, probing interview than they are able to provide in response
to questionnaires. As for symptom-based studies, however,
differences in the magnitude of effects across each informant for
children’s diagnoses highlight the need to collect information from
multiple informants to provide a more complete assessment of
children’s functioning.

Front 23

What did Connell discover about the effects of family composition?

Back 23

Although
we had predicted that the effects of family composition on
the magnitude of effects would differ for mothers and fathers, this
PATERNAL VERSUS MATERNAL PSYCHOPATHOLOGY 763
hypothesis was not supported. Rather, results for mothers and
fathers generally indicate that samples composed mostly of singleparent
families yielded effects that were not significantly different
from those samples composed entirely of intact families, and both
yielded effects that were larger than samples in the middle range of
family composition, although analyses for fathers were limited by
the small number of studies using predominantly single-parent
families.

Front 24

In Kane:
Research on parental depression is beginning to recognize the importance of studying fathers in relation to
maladaptive outcomes in their offspring. Paternal depression is hypothesized to_________ AND to ______.

Back 24

Research on parental depression is beginning to recognize the importance of studying fathers in relation to
maladaptive outcomes in their offspring. Paternal depression is hypothesized to correlate with internalizing and
externalizing psychopathology in children and adolescents and to compromise adaptive parent–child relationships
(e.g., increased conflict).

Front 25

In Kane:
In the present paper, meta-analytic procedures were applied to this literature to address what?

Back 25

1.the magnitude and direction of covariation between paternal depression and children’s functioning.
2.In addition, we
tested whether variation in findings could be accounted for by study characteristics.

Front 26

In KANE:
What did results indicate?

Back 26

Results indicated that paternal
depression was significantly related to offspring internalizing and externalizing psychopathology and father–child
conflict. Larger effects for internalizing symptoms were associated with the use of community samples and
symptom rating scales of internalizing problems

Front 27

Briefly summarize the findings associated with the KANE study

Back 27

In summary, the significant effect sizes found in the present review are particularly compelling given
the lack of research on samples of depressed fathers. The majority of studies were not designed to assess
paternal depression and its correlates, but instead were developed to measure correlates of maternal
depression or child psychopathology in community and clinical samples. Additional research on clinical
samples of depressed fathers may further document parent and child functioning at clinically significant
levels.

Front 28

MIGHT WANT TO REVIEW THE KANE, KITZMAN, AND PILOWSKY ARTICLES MORE CLOSELY FOR EXTRA DETAILS.

Back 28

MIGHT WANT TO REVIEW THE KANE, KITZMAN, AND PILOWSKY ARTICLES MORE CLOSELY FOR EXTRA DETAILS.

Front 29

In Kitzman:
In the current meta-analysis, two pieces of evidence suggest that
the effects of witnessing interparental violence may be even
greater than the effects of witnessing other forms of destructive
conflict. What are these two pieces of evidence?

Back 29

First, studies comparing children witnesses and nonwitnesses
produced a larger average study-level effect size, d


–0.40, than those reported by Buehler et al. (1997) and Reid and
Crisafulli (1990). However, average study-level effect sizes were
calculated differently in these three meta-analyses and so cannot
be directly compared. Therefore the second piece of evidence may
be more relevant. Our meta-analysis included a small number of
studies that directly compared children who witnessed interparental
violence and children who witnessed only parents’ verbal
aggression. Effect sizes from these studies suggest that children
who witness interparental violence show significantly worse outcomes
than those who witness interparental violence show significantly worse outcomes
than those who witness other forms of destructive interparental
conflict, d

–0.28.

Front 30

Briefly describe the Kitzman study.

Back 30

This meta-analysis examined 118 studies of the psychosocial outcomes of children exposed to interparental
violence. Correlational studies showed a significant association between exposure and child
problems (d

0.29). Group comparison studies showed that witnesses had significantly worse
outcomes relative to nonwitnesses (d

0.40) and children from verbally aggressive homes (d


0.28), but witnesses’ outcomes were not significantly different from those of physically abused
children (d

0.15) or physically abused witnesses (d

0.13). Several methodological variables
moderated these results. Similar effects were found across a range of outcomes, with slight evidence for
greater risk among preschoolers.

Front 31

What was the objective of the pilowsky study?

Back 31

To determine the independent effects of parental depression and family discord on offspring psychopathology among children at high and low risk of depression

Front 32

What was the method of the Pilowsky study

Back 32

Family discord factors were assessed when subjects were 17 yrs old, and offspring diagnoses were assessed about 20 yrs later (by interviewer blind to cond't). The following dimensions of family discord were assessed: poor marital adjustment, parent child discord, low family cohesion, affectionless control (low care-high protection), and parental divorce.

Front 33

What were the results associated with the Pilowsky study?

Back 33

Most family discord factors were associated with parental depression. Among children of depressed parents, none of the measures of famil discord had a statistically significant association with offspring major depressive disorder or anxiety disorders. Among children of nondepressed parents, parental affectionless control was associated with an almost fivefold increased risk of major depressive disorder and with more than a 14 fold increased risk of substance use disorders.

Front 34

What were the conclusions associated with the Pilowsky study?

Back 34

Parental depression is associated with family discord and is a consistent risk factor for offspring major depressive disorder and anxiety disorders, as shown over a 20 yr follow up of offspring of depressed and nondepressed parents. Family discord factors may be a risk factor for major depressive disorder and substance use disorders in offspring of nondepressed parents.