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Objective: The objective of this study was to examine the agreement between African American and Latinx parents and their school-age children regarding the amount of ethnic-racial socialization (ERS) parents provided and relations to youth ethnic-racial identity development., Method: The sample included 353 parents and their 10-11 year-old children (57% Latinx; 55% boys), who both completed surveys 1 year apart. Latent difference scores were used to quantify agreement between parents and youth and to examine the relation between agreement and family and child characteristics including youth ethnic-racial identity development., Results: Parents reported higher levels of ERS than children, and differences were greater for preparation for bias than cultural socialization. Higher levels of cultural socialization and greater discrepancies between parent and youth reports were associated with greater ethnic-racial identity development 1 year later. Greater discrepancies in report of bias preparation were associated with less ethnic-racial identity development, but this effect was not significant once the impact of parent-reported bias preparation was accounted for., Conclusion: Incorporating both parent and youth reports of ERS provides a more complete picture of these practices and associated outcomes. Implications for the study of ERS and clinical intervention are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Ethnic-racial socialization has primarily been examined as a unidirectional, caregiver-directed process. Instead, applying the Theory of Racial Socialization in Action (Smith-Bynum, 2023), the current study observed caregiver-youth conversations about a hypothetical discriminatory experience at school for patterns of dyadic ethnic-racial socialization. Participants were 353 Black (39.7%), Latinx (47.3%), and multiracial/ethnic (13%) pre-adolescents (M age  = 11.19, SD = 0.43; 45.3% female) and their caregivers (94% mothers) with low income from Dallas, Texas. Five subgroups of dyads were identified (High Dyadic Engagement, Parent-Led, Justice Salient Advocates, Child-Dominant and Low Dyadic Engagement) that differed by demographic characteristics of the dyads (e.g., race/ethnicity, caregiver education). Observing ethnic-racial socialization in action with dyads could improve the delivery of interventions to better meet the needs of families., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

Parenting behaviors are significantly linked to youths' behavioral adjustment, an association that is moderated by youths' and parents' self-regulation. The biological sensitivity to context theory suggests that respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) indexes youths' varying susceptibility to rearing contexts. However, self-regulation in the family context is increasingly viewed as a process of "coregulation" that is biologically embedded and involves dynamic Parent×Child interactions. No research thus far has examined physiological synchrony as a dyadic biological context that may moderate associations between parenting behaviors and preadolescent adjustment. Using a two-wave sample of 101 low-socioeconomic status (SES) families (children and caretakers; mean age 10.28 years), we employed multilevel modeling to examine dyadic coregulation during a conflict task, indicated by RSA synchrony, as a moderator of the linkages between observed parenting behaviors and preadolescents' internalizing and externalizing problems. Results showed that high dyadic RSA synchrony resulted in a multiplicative association between parenting and youth adjustment. High dyadic synchrony intensified the relations between parenting behaviors and youth behavior problems, such that in the context of high dyadic synchrony, positive and negative parenting behaviors were associated with decreased and increased behavioral problems, respectively. Parent-child dyadic RSA synchrony is discussed as a potential biomarker of biological sensitivity in youth.

Taking a person-centered approach, this study examined stability and change in profiles of parenting qualities observed at two times in early childhood in a sample of 146 mothers of African American children living in households experiencing poverty. Latent Profile Analysis (LPA) of six qualities of parenting rated from mother-child interactions at ages 2.5 and 3.6 years revealed four distinct parenting profiles characterized as Child-Oriented, Moderately Child-Oriented, Harsh-Intrusive, and Withdrawn at each age. Profile membership was fairly stable, with 41% classified similarly at both times. Moderately Child-Oriented was the least stable, with 24% of this group similarly classified at Time 2; 49-52% of each of the other three groups were classified similarly the second time, indicating their greater stability. Changes from Harsh-Intrusive to Withdrawn profiles or vice versa were rare ( n = 3). To further address profile stability, Time 2 profile posterior probabilities were predicted in multiple regression models from Time 1 parenting profiles, with the child-oriented profile as reference group, Time 2 child externalizing and internalizing behavior problems, and cumulative risk. Results indicated Time 2 Withdrawn and Harsh-Intrusive profiles were significantly associated with Time 1 membership in their analogous profile but not with other Time 1 profiles, providing further evidence for stability and distinctiveness of these profiles. Only the Moderately Child-Oriented profile was associated with greater cumulative risk at Time 2; it was not related to any of the other Time 1 profiles. In addition, Withdrawn profile membership at Time 2 was associated with greater child internalizing and fewer externalizing problems. The Time 2 Child-Oriented profile was associated with less probability of membership in withdrawn or harsh-intrusive profiles at Time 1.

Guided by the Theory of Racial Socialization in Action (TRSA; Smith-Bynum in press), this study examined observed caregiver-provided ethnic-racial socialization in response to a school-based discriminatory dilemma. Forty-five Black and 36 Latinx caregivers (88% mothers) with low-income and their children (M age  = 11.09, SD = 0.29; 46.3% female) participated in Dallas, Texas from 2018 to 2019. Dyads responded to a hypothetical scenario in which a school counselor makes a discriminatory comment to the child. Results of a factor mixture analysis suggested that caregivers engaged in the dialogue using one of four approaches: Low-engaged, Legacy, Racial Literacy, or High-engaged. Profiles were found to differ significantly by the race/ethnicity and language of caregivers and were associated with youth's concurrent behavioral engagement (R 2  = .04)., (© 2022 The Authors. Child Development published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Society for Research in Child Development.)

Objectives: This measurement validity study assesses the Hughes and Chen (1997) Multidimensional Scale of Race Socialization in an early childhood sample to examine when ethnic-racial socialization (ERS) strategies emerge and the degree to which they are employed with young children., Method: We administered the Multidimensional Scale among a sample of 407 African American and Latinx families. Data were collected across four waves (child ages 2.5-7.5 years). Longitudinal, multigroup confirmatory factor analyses were modeled to test (a) factorial validity of the extant measure in a novel group, (b) equivalence of measuring ERS across age, gender, and ethnicity, and (c) latent means across the sample., Results: The two-factor model was validated in this early childhood sample and measured invariantly across all waves and groups. Latent means of cultural socialization and preparation for bias steadily increased across early childhood with noteworthy differences in effect sizes (.58-.75, respectively) between the second and third assessments when the majority of children entered kindergarten. Latent means did not differ for caregivers on account of child gender. African American caregivers reported greater messaging of cultural socialization (ES range: .44-1.55) than Latinx caregivers, and also reported greater preparation for bias than their Latinx peers but only at school entry (ES = .66)., Conclusions: This study provides evidence that ERS strategies commonly used with older children emerge very early on in family experiences and supports the notion that the transition to kindergarten marks a notable ecological shift for ethnic minority children. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Despite strong evidence self-regulation skills are critical for school readiness, there remains a dearth of longitudinal studies that describe developmental trajectories of self-regulation, particularly among low-resource and underrepresented populations such as Spanish-English dual-language learners (DLLs). The present study examined individual differences in trajectories of self-regulation among 459 Spanish-English DLLs who were Hispanic from four different samples and three geographic locations in the U.S. Self-regulation was assessed in all samples using repeated administration of the Head-Toes-Knees-Shoulders (HTKS) task from early childhood through early elementary school. Results of latent growth curve analyses revealed that growth was best represented by quadratic trajectories. Latent class growth analyses captured significant individual differences in self-regulation trajectories. One group of children (41%) started with higher HTKS scores and displayed rapid early growth in performance. A similar percentage of children (41%) displayed intermediate growth in self-regulation, starting with lower HTKS scores but displaying rapid growth commencing arrange 4.5 years. Finally, about 18% of the sample did not display growth in HTKS performance until after entry to elementary school, around age 6 years. Girls were half as likely as boys to be in this later developing group. Likewise, children from families at the upper end of the socioeconomic distribution in this low-income sample were significantly less likely to be in the later developing group relative to children from families with lower SES. Study findings indicate the importance of monitoring growth rates in self-regulation as a means of identifying children at risk for entering school without the requisite self-regulation skills.

Introduction: Parents with childhood maltreatment histories are at risk for emotion regulation (ER) problems, which are associated with reduced self-regulation among their offspring. However, gaps remain in the literature regarding this indirect transmission pathway. First, ER consists of multiple dimensions and it is unclear which dimension is most affected by childhood maltreatment. Second, less is known regarding which parental ER dimension is linked to offspring self-regulation. Thus, the present study aimed to examine the direct and indirect associations between parental maltreatment histories and child self-regulatory capacity via dimensions of parental ER., Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 101 youth (75% African American/Black; 53% female; M age = 10.28; SD = 1.19) and their primary caregivers were recruited from a low-income community in the Southeastern United States. Structural equation modeling was used to model the effect of parents' self-reported childhood maltreatment on youth physiological self-regulation (measured by heart rate variability reactivity [HRV-R]), via parents' self-reported ER., Results: Parental maltreatment history was significantly associated with five of the six components of ER. Further, the indirect effect of parents' childhood maltreatment on child HRV-R was significant when parents reported more difficulty engaging goal-directed behaviors. Moderation analyses by sex showed that daughters had greater dysregulation regardless of parental maltreatment histories, while parents' ER was found to play a more significant role in the intergenerational transmission of dysregulation to sons., Conclusions: The current study extends the literature on self-regulation development in children of low-income, maltreatment-exposed parents. Our study may inform parent-child interventions for improving self-regulation.

Youth who are raised in emotionally abusive families are more likely to have poor mental health outcomes such as depression and anxiety. However, the mechanisms of this association are unclear. The present study utilized a longitudinal sample of low-SES youth (N = 101, M ageT1  = 10.24) to examine stress response reactivity (i.e. vagal withdrawal, sympathetic activation, and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal [HPA] axis activation) as mediators between emotional abuse and prospective youth internalizing symptoms. Results indicated that blunted HPA reactivity to a laboratory social stress task mediated the association between emotional abuse and youth internalizing symptoms. Emotional abuse was also associated with blunted parasympathetic nervous system activity (i.e. less vagal withdrawal than average). In sum, emotional abuse is a potent risk factor for youth internalizing symptoms, and this link may be mediated via dysregulation in physiological stress response systems. Primary prevention of childhood emotional abuse and secondary prevention programs that target self-regulation skills may reduce rates of youth internalizing symptoms and disorders.

Objectives: Exposure to racism experienced by caregivers poses a threat to child developmental outcomes. The current study examines the effects of caregiver-experienced racism on the development of internalizing behaviors for African American children during a sensitive period in their development of racial awareness. Two aspects of caregiver-provided ethnic racial socialization (ERS), cultural socialization and preparation for bias, were assessed as moderators. Supported by prior research, cultural socialization was hypothesized to be protective. Given that research on preparation for bias in early childhood is sparse or inconclusive, no directional hypothesis was formulated for the moderation effect of preparation for bias. Method: A community-recruited, low-income sample of 130 African American caregivers and their children (T3 M age = 6.20, T4 M age = 7.17) reported on past-year experiences with racism, ERS practices, and child internalizing behaviors. Path analyses were utilized to assess the influence of caregivers' racist experiences and ERS practices on children's first grade internalizing behaviors after controlling for kindergarten levels. Results: Cultural socialization was not a significant protective factor as hypothesized. However, caregivers' past-year experiences with racism predicted more anxious and sad behaviors in children when caregivers reported using more preparation for bias. Conclusions: The effects of caregivers' racism experiences on their 6-year-old children's internalizing behaviors were contingent on their use of preparation for bias socialization. This study adds to the literature on racism and further elucidates the role preparation for discrimination plays in developmental outcomes for young African American children. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

This longitudinal study documents the key role of early joint engagement in the language and early literacy development of Mexican-American children from low-income households. This rapidly growing population often faces challenges as sequential Spanish-English language learners. Videos of 121 mothers and their 2.5-year-old children interacting in Spanish for 15 min were recorded in 2009-2011 in the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area. Researchers reliably rated general dyadic features of joint engagement-symbol-infused joint engagement, shared routines and rituals, and fluency and connectedness-that have been found to facilitate language development in young English-speaking children. The construct respeto , a valued aspect of traditional Latino parenting, was also rated using two culturally specific items-the parent's calm authority and the child's affiliative obedience. In addition, three individual contributions-maternal sensitivity, quality of maternal language input, and quality of child language production-were assessed. General features of joint engagement at 2.5 years predicted expressive and receptive language at 3.6 years and receptive language and early literacy at 7.3 years, accounting for unique variance over and above individual contributions at 2.5 years, with some effects being stronger in girls than boys. The level of culturally specific joint engagement did not alter predictions made by general features of joint engagement. These findings highlight the importance of the quality of early communication for language and literacy success of Mexican-American children from low-income households and demonstrate that culturally specific aspects of early interactions can align well with general features of joint engagement.

The cultural value of respeto (respect) is central to Latine parenting. Yet, how respeto manifests in the interactions of Latine parents and their young children remains unexamined. Low-income Mexican immigrant Spanish-speaking mothers and their 2.5-year-old toddlers ( N = 128) were video-recorded during play ( M age = 30.2 months, SD = 0.52), and two culturally informed items of respeto were coded: parent calm authority and child affiliative obedience. Respeto related to standard ratings of mother and child interactions (e.g., maternal sensitivity and child engagement) but also captured unique features of parent-child interactions. Respeto related to mothers' and toddlers' language production and discourse during the interaction, and explained unique variance in language variables above standard ratings of mother-child interaction. This is the first effort to document a culturally salient aspect of dyadic interaction in Mexican immigrant mothers and young children and to show that respeto relates to language use during mother- child interactions.

The relative lack of attention to fathers' effects on children's achievement is even more apparent when examining fathering among low-income racial-ethnic minorities. We examined relations of fathering qualities when children were 2-3 years old with subsequent reading and mathematics achievement in kindergarten in a sample of low-income African American (n = 119) and primarily Mexican-origin Latino children (n = 193) from multiple neighborhood areas of a large city in the southwestern United States. Measures of parenting qualities were based on qualitative ratings of videotaped observations of father-child and mother-child interactions collected in the home during semistructured play activities. Mathematics and reading achievement scores were based on administration of the Woodcock-Johnson Revised (Woodcock & Muñoz-Sandoval, 1993) or the Batería Woodcock-Muñoz (Woodcock & Munoz-Sandoval, 1996), as appropriate depending upon the child's language. A structural equations model in which kindergarten mathematics and reading achievement were regressed on early childhood fathering displayed good model fit, χ2(72) = 131.30, p < .001, comparative fit index = .954, root mean square error of approximation = .051, standardized root mean square residual = .079. Results indicated that sensitive support from African American and Latino resident fathers was associated with their children's mathematics achievement even after controlling for mothers' sensitive support, but fathering quality was not associated with reading achievement. The implications of these findings for the study of fathering in racial-ethnic minority populations as well as for the development of early preventive interventions to support academic achievement are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

This examination of 237 African American and Hispanic mothers of young children explored the longitudinal linkages between romantic partner relationship quality and maternal depressive symptoms among low-income ethnic minority populations. Most studies to date have largely focused on majority non-Hispanic White populations, as well as married partner dyads, and few have utilized longitudinal designs. At 3 time points, participants completed a series of questionnaires including the Dyadic Adjustment Scale (DAS) for partner relationship quality and a revised version of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression (CESD-R) Scale for maternal depressive symptoms during home-visit interviews. Both concurrent and prospective correlations were significant and negative, indicating a higher level of relationship quality was associated with fewer depressive symptoms. After adjusting for potential confounders, partner relationship quality was prospectively associated with maternal depressive symptoms but not vice versa. This pattern did not differ by maternal ethnicity. The findings of this study support and contribute to the limited research conducted to date to uncover patterns and influences of associations between romantic partner relationship quality and depressive symptoms in representative samples of ethnic minority populations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Although qualities of mothering behavior have been consistently linked with children's academic outcomes, mothers from different ethnic groups may emphasize different dimensions with their children. The present investigation aims to evaluate and compare the dimensionality of mothering in low-income African American (n = 151) and Mexican American (n = 182) mothers during early childhood and its predictive utility for children's academic achievement. Video-recorded mother-child interactions with children at 2½ and 3½ years of age were rated using 6 mothering quality items from a widely used global rating system. A bifactor measurement model of these 6 items yielded a general sensitive support factor and a specific intrusive-insensitive factor. The bifactor model fit the data significantly better at both time points than either a single-factor or a 2-factor model. Invariance testing supported the stability of the measurement model across the 2 time points. Invariance testing by ethnicity indicated differences in factor loadings as well as mean levels of the specific factor of intrusive-insensitivity. The specific factor reflecting intrusive-insensitive mothering at age 2½ years was associated with poorer subsequent reading achievement for African American but not Mexican American children, suggesting the specific factor reflected qualitatively different parenting constructs for the 2 ethnic groups. Critical examination of what constitutes more optimal parenting yielded both similar and dissimilar characteristics and their relations across culturally different groups of families. Such knowledge should contribute to the development of more effective interventions for ethnically diverse families. (PsycINFO Database Record, ((c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).)

Purpose: Presence is the essence of professional nursing in the nurse-patient connection. Nursing students have little exposure to strategies fostering presence. This pilot study explored students' perceptions of strategies to encourage presence in the classroom., Design: A three-question survey was distributed to students in the last week of classes. Faculty not teaching that course administered the survey., Method: Four faculty used strategies aimed at encouraging presence. These strategies included starting class with a mindfulness minute, mindful movement, singing bowl, peace and power check in, and a discussion of a current event. Each class used only one strategy consistently through the semester. Participants were undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in one of seven classes taught by these faculty., Findings: Overall the students found strategies to be beneficial. In reflecting on the experience with the strategies, four themes emerged: calming/relaxing; focusing/centering; setting aside distractions; and feeling community and connection., Conclusion: These brief strategies were acceptable to most students and were helpful to the students in preparing for class. The response to mindfulness minute was most positive. Further research is needed on the introduction of strategies that help students in the classroom and may also increase presence at the bedside.

This is a report of an examination of gender differences in behavior problems and a prediction of their changes from 2.5 to 3.5 years from mothering qualities among 209 low-income Hispanic children. Externalizing behaviors declined over this time somewhat more for girls than for boys. Fewer externalizing behavior problems at age 3.5 were correlated with more supportive and less intrusive mothering at 2.5, but only for boys, and increases in externalizing behavior among boys were uniquely predicted by greater maternal intrusiveness. Implications for understanding parental control factors among Hispanic families are discussed., ((c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).)

Cultural socialization practices are common among ethnic minority parents and important for ethnic minority child development. However, little research has examined these practices among parents of very young children. In this study, we report on cultural socialization practices among a sample of parents of low income, African American (n = 179) and Latino (n = 220) preschool-age children in relation to children's school readiness. Cultural socialization was assessed when children were 2.5 years old, and child outcomes assessed 1 year later included pre-academic skills, receptive language, and child behavior. Children who experienced more frequent cultural socialization displayed greater pre-academic skills, better receptive language, and fewer behavior problems. This association did not differ by child gender or ethnicity. The implications of these findings for the development of parent interventions to support school readiness are discussed., ((c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).)

Research Findings: The roles of child lexical diversity and maternal sensitivity in the development of young children's inhibitory control were examined in 100 low-income Hispanic Spanish-speaking children. Child communication utterances at age 2½ years were transcribed from 10-min mother-child interactions to quantify lexical diversity. Maternal behavior was rated independently from the interactions. Inhibitory control was measured with a battery of tasks at ages 2½ and 3½. Greater maternal sensitivity was correlated with higher vocabulary at 2½. Greater vocabulary predicted positive growth in child inhibitory control skills from ages 2½ to 3½ in multivariable regression models that controlled for maternal education, family income, the home environment, and mothering quality., Practice or Policy: These findings suggest that supporting vocabulary development in low-income Spanish-speaking children is important for the development of inhibitory control skills, an important foundation for school readiness and academic success.

Objective: This article examines ethnic similarities and differences in profiles of mother-child interaction qualities for low-income African American and Latin American mothers and associations with preschoolers' emerging school readiness., Design: Videotaped mother-child interactions were collected at age 2.5 years from a sample of African American ( n = 192) and Latin American ( n = 210) families. Profiles of maternal behavior were identified in person-centered within-group analyses of five ratings of maternal behavior from the videotaped interactions. Mothering profile groups were examined for relations to child receptive language, behavior problems, and pre-academic school readiness measured at age 3.5 years., Results: Latent class analyses yielded three similar profiles in the two ethnicities identified as Child-Oriented, Directive, and Harsh-Intrusive mothering, and a fourth profile of Withdrawn mothering only among the African American mothers. For African American children, Child-Oriented and Directive mothering were each associated with higher pre-academic school readiness and language scores than Harsh-Intrusive or Withdrawn mothering. For Latin American children, Child-Oriented mothering was associated with fewer child behavior problems than Harsh-Intrusive mothering, and higher school readiness scores than Directive mothering., Conclusions: Both similarities and differences were found between African American and Latin American families in observation- based mothering profiles and their linkages with preschoolers' school readiness.

Emerging self-regulation skills were assessed in 407 low-income African American and Latino (primarily Mexican-origin) preschoolers. A battery of self-regulation tasks was administered when children were 2½ years old and again approximately 1 year later. Confirmatory factor analyses supported four components of self-regulation: inhibitory control, complex response inhibition, set shifting, and working memory. Complex response inhibition was too rare a skill in this sample to be detected reliably from measures collected at 2½ years of age, but it emerged from measures collected at 3½ years. In addition, significant ethnic differences were found in that African American children scored better on measures of complex response inhibition and set shifting, whereas Latino children scored better on measures of inhibitory control and working memory. Implications of study findings for measuring self-regulation in low-income ethnic diverse populations of young children, as well as for developing interventions to enhance self-regulation development, are discussed., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: The purpose of this study was to extend the analysis of neighborhood effects on child behavioral outcomes in two ways: (1) by examining the geographic extent of the relationship between child behavior and neighborhood physical conditions independent of standard administrative boundaries such as census tracts or block groups and (2) by examining the relationship and geographic extent of geographic peers' behavior and individual child behavior., Methods: The study neighborhood was a low income, ethnic minority neighborhood of approximately 20,000 residents in a large city in the southwestern United States. Observational data were collected for 11,552 parcels and 1,778 face blocks in the neighborhood over a five week period. Data on child behavior problems were collected from the parents of 261 school-age children (81% African American, 14% Latino) living in the neighborhood. Spatial analysis methods were used to examine the spatial dependence of child behavior problems in relation to physical conditions in the neighborhood for areas surrounding the child's home ranging from a radius of 50 meters to a radius of 1000 meters. Likewise, the spatial dependence of child behavior problems in relation to the behavior problems of neighborhood peers was examined for areas ranging from a radius 255 meters to a radius of 600 meters around the child's home. Finally, we examined the joint influence of neighborhood physical conditions and geographic peers., Results: Poor conditions of the physical environment of the neighborhood were related to more behavioral problems, and the geographic extent of the physical environment that mattered was an area with a radius between 400 and 800 meters surrounding the child's home. In addition, the average level of behavior problems of neighborhood peers within 255 meters of the child's home was also positively associated with child behavior problems. Furthermore, these effects were independent of one another., Conclusions: These findings demonstrate that using flexible geographies in the study of neighborhood effects can provide important insights into spatial influences on health outcomes. With regards to child behavioral outcomes, specifically, these findings support the importance of addressing the physical and social environment when planning community-level interventions to reduce child behavior problems.

Self regulation ability is an important component of school readiness and predictor of academic success, but few studies of self regulation examine contributions of fathering to the emergence of self regulation in low-income ethnic minority preschoolers. Associations were examined between parental child-oriented parenting support and preschoolers' emerging self regulation abilities in 224 low-income African American (n=86) and Latino (n=138) children observed at age 30 months in father-child and mother-child interactions to determine unique predictions from fathering qualities. Child-oriented mothering but not fathering predicted greater simple response inhibition for both African American and Latino children. Fathering but not mothering quality uniquely predicted greater complex response inhibition, but only for the African American children. The culture-specific fathering effects could not be explained by differences in father involvement.

Despite evidence that neighborhoods confer both risk and resilience for youth development, the existing neighborhood research has a number of methodological limitations including lack of diversity in neighborhoods sampled and neighborhood characteristics assessed. The purpose of this study was to address these methodological limitations of existing research and to examine the relationship of neighborhood structural and social characteristics to family-level social processes and teacher-reported social competence during early adolescence. The study sample of 3,624 fifth graders (51 % girls) was ethnically diverse, including roughly even proportions of non-Hispanic White, non-Hispanic Black, and Hispanic youth. Neighborhood measures included economic disadvantage derived from the U.S. Census, physical and social disorder obtained by direct observation, and social capital from parental reports. Family-level social processes included parent reported family cohesion and youth reported maternal and paternal nurturance. We found that neighborhood factors significantly associated with youth social aggression and social competence but not social withdrawal, after controlling for individual demographic characteristics and parenting factors. There was limited evidence of moderation of family influences by neighborhood characteristics as well as the moderation of neighborhood effects by children's gender. Neighborhood physical disorder was associated with increased social aggression among boys but with increased social withdrawal among girls. Implications of the study's findings for research on neighborhoods and adolescent development and the development of preventive interventions are discussed.

Self report and observational data on racial socialization practices in a sample of 218 African American parents of young children were used to determine whether or not parents could be characterized in terms of their pattern of racial socialization practices. Parents fell into four groups: silence about race, emphasis on cultural socialization, emphasis on cultural socialization and coping strategies, or a balanced approach. Silence about race was more common among parents of boys, whereas an emphasis on cultural socialization was more common among parents of girls. Silence about race was less common in neighborhoods with high levels of negative social climate, and a combination of cultural socialization with coping strategies for discrimination was more common in neighborhoods with high neighborhood potential for community involvement with children. The coping emphasis/cultural socialization approach was associated with significantly lower child problem behavior, although some gender differences were evident. A cultural socialization emphasis was associated with higher cognitive scores among girls, and a combination of cultural socialization, coping with discrimination, and promotion of mistrust was associated with higher cognitive scores among boys. Implications of this profile approach for the study of racial socialization practices in ethnic minority families are discussed.

There is a growing body of public health research documenting how characteristics of neighborhoods are associated with differences in the health status of residents. However, little is known about how the spatial resolution of neighborhood observational data or community audits affects the identification of neighborhood differences in health. We developed a systematic neighborhood observation instrument for collecting data at very high spatial resolution (we observe each parcel independently) and used it to collect data in a low-income minority neighborhood in Dallas, TX. In addition, we collected data on the health status of individuals residing in this neighborhood. We then assessed the inter-rater reliability of the instrument and compared the costs and benefits of using data at this high spatial resolution. Our instrument provides a reliable and cost-effect method for collecting neighborhood observational data at high spatial resolution, which then allows researchers to explore the impact of varying geographic aggregations. Furthermore, these data facilitate a demonstration of the predictive accuracy of self-reported health status. We find that ordered logit models of health status using observational data at different spatial resolution produce different results. This implies a need to analyze the variation in correlative relationships at different geographic resolutions when there is no solid theoretical rational for choosing a particular resolution. We argue that neighborhood data at high spatial resolution greatly facilitates the evaluation of alternative geographic specifications in studies of neighborhood and health.

Neighbourhood research has been growing steadily over the past two decades across the social sciences, and, in particular in the area of public health. Despite this increase, there is currently no consensus on which measure and data source researchers should use to assess neighbourhood attributes. In the past, researchers have relied on census data and household surveys to assess neighbourhood conditions, but in recent years, neighbourhood observations have become a popular alternative method for characterizing neighbourhood environments. Rooted in sociology of crime research, observations are conducted by trained observers who use a checklist to observe and rate neighbourhoods on a number of conditions such as physical (e.g., traffic volume, housing conditions) and social (e.g., presence of people, gang activity) attributes. While this methodology has been gaining momentum in recent years, notably absent from the literature is a review to examine this methodology in detail. The purpose of the present study was to examine research that has used neighbourhood observations as a method. We do so by critically reviewing 51 English language studies published from 1990 onward paying particular attention to the areas of (1) methodological rigor (i.e. how observations are carried out in the field and how data are analyzed), (2) geographical boundaries (i.e. how neighbourhoods and areas of observation are spatially defined), and (3) the relationship between neighbourhood observations and residents' health (i.e. how studies examine and analyze the link between observed neighbourhood attributes and health). We find that little attention is given to details of neighbourhood observations as a method. Further, there is wide variability in how observations are conducted and analyzed making it impossible to confidently compare findings across studies. We see this review as a first step in developing sound observational measures of neighbourhood factors and conclude by providing recommendations for researchers undertaking neighbourhood observations in the future., (Copyright 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Topic: Vulnerable child syndrome (VCS) refers to the combination of the parental view that their child is at increased risk for death despite the child's objective health and the resulting behavior problems in the child. Although risk factors for the development of the syndrome have been outlined, the variability in the development of VCS has not been explained., Purpose: A theoretical explanation for the variability in the development of VCS utilizing Susan Calkins' model is explored. By considering the development of VCS in light of Calkins' model, variability may be explained and preventative interventions may be instituted., Sources Used: Relevant literature pertaining to child development and VCS was reviewed., Conclusions: By recognizing the risk of the role that parenting sensitivity plays in the development of VCS, team-based interventions involving a developmental approach may be employed, and the long-term behavioral sequelae of the disorder may be prevented or alleviated.

This study examined the stability of maternal punitive/high-power discipline (PD) and inductive/authoritative discipline (ID) over the second and third years of life and the effect of maternal discipline on quality of mother-child interactions. Data from a longitudinal sample with 179 mother-toddler dyads were analyzed, and selected factors (i.e., child sex, temperament) that might moderate the association between maternal discipline and quality of mother-child interactions were also examined. Maternal discipline, quality of mother-child interactions, and temperamental moderators were measured at 16-18 months (Time 1) and 34-37 months (Time 2). Results showed that the stability of maternal use of discipline strategies over the toddler years was moderate. Lower maternal use of PD, higher maternal use of ID, and higher preference/reliance on ID (relative to PD) were associated with higher quality of mother-child interactions. Moderation effects of child temperament were also found. High ID and PD were associated with low quality of mother-child relationships in non-temperamentally difficult children but not in temperamentally difficult children.

Child behavior problems have been identified as being responsible for the greatest reduction in quality of life for children between ages 1 and 19. In this study, we examine whether neighborhood social processes are associated with differences in child behavior problems in an economically and racially diverse sample of 405 urban-dwelling first grade children and whether parenting behavior mediates and/or moderates the effects of neighborhoods. Furthermore, we examine whether neighborhood social processes play the same role with regards to child behavior problems at differing levels of neighborhood economic impoverishment. Results of multivariate multilevel regression analyses indicate that a high negative social climate is associated with greater internalizing problems. High potential for community involvement for children in the neighborhood was associated with fewer behavior problems, but only in economically impoverished neighborhoods. Differences in parenting behavior did not appear to mediate neighborhood effects on behavior problems, and parenting characterized by a high degree of positive involvement was associated with fewer behavior problems in all types of neighborhoods.

The purpose of this study was to examine whether incorporating information regarding neighborhoods which were more distal to the child's neighborhood added any explanatory power to models of child cognitive competence. Participants included a sample of young African-American children living in an urban setting in the northeast United States. Spatial geographic methods were used to estimate the concentration of economic disadvantage, population instability, and crime in the neighborhoods surrounding the child's residence, and multilevel modeling methods were used to estimate the contribution of these factors to between-neighborhood variance in child cognitive scores. Results indicated that the conditions of distal neighborhoods were related to cognitive scores among the preschooler-age children in this sample.

This article emphasizes the importance of holistic concepts in nursing and curriculum development. Grounded in the work of Florence Nightingale, nursing education prepares practitioners to meet the holistic needs of clients. The basic tenets offered by the American Holistic Certification Corporation and the American Holistic Nurses' Association are used to describe essential content in a nursing program emphasizing holism. Strategies for introducing holistic nursing into curriculum and overcoming barriers to including holistic nursing in nursing education are discussed. Examples are provided through the experiences of two schools of nursing that successfully incorporated holistic nursing concepts.

Differences in racial socialization practices and their effects were examined in a sample of 241 African American 1st graders (average age 6.59 years) living in an urban area. Child outcomes included cognitive development, receptive language skills, and child problem behavior. The cultural environment of the home was associated with higher cognitive scores for boys living in high negative social climate and low social capital neighborhoods and for girls living in high social capital neighborhoods. The positive association of promotion of mistrust and child behavior problems was magnified in neighborhoods that had low levels of social capital. A high negative social climate in the neighborhood attenuated the positive association between preparation for bias/promotion of mistrust and externalizing problems.

This descriptive essay summarizes the recommendations rendered by 40 holistic nurse educators attending the 22nd American Holistic Nurses' Association Annual Gathering of Holistic Nurses regarding perceived barriers to integrating concepts of holistic nursing into undergraduate nursing education programs. This paper also presents proposed strategies for promoting more positive attitudes and acceptance of holistic nursing in undergraduate nursing programs.

In this investigation, we examine the impact of the ecological context of the residential neighborhood on the cognitive development of children by considering social processes not only at the family-level but also at the neighborhood-level. In a socioeconomically diverse sample of 200 African American children living in 39 neighborhoods in Baltimore, we found that neighborhood poverty was associated with poorer problem-solving skills over and above the influence of family economic resources and level of positive parent involvement. Sampson has theorized that neighborhood poverty affects child well-being by altering levels of neighborhood social capital as well as family social capital. Although we found that indicators of neighborhood and family social capital were associated with cognitive skills, these factors did not explain the association between neighborhood poverty and problem-solving ability. Implications for future research in the area of neighborhoods and child development are discussed.

Objectives: We examined the relationship between parents' experiences of racism and children's well-being and the influence of the residential neighborhood characteristics on this relationship., Methods: African American families were recruited from Baltimore neighborhoods. Parental measures included racism experiences and coping. Neighborhood measures included demographic characteristics, social cohesion, and social climate. Children's mental health was assessed with the Child Behavior Checklist. Analysis was performed with multilevel modeling., Results: Parents who denied experiences of racism also reported higher rates of behavior problems among their preschool-aged children. For families living in neighborhoods characterized by fear of victimization, parents who actively coped with racism experiences by confronting the person involved or taking some sort of action in response to racism reported lower rates of anxiety and depression for their preschool-aged children., Conclusions: Experiences of and responses to racism among African American parents have important effects on the well-being of their young children.

Context: While it is known that more women than men use complementary and alternative therapies, it is important to look at women who are pregnant or possibly receiving hormonal therapy, as side effects and consequences of these therapies may have a significant effect on their health status., Objective: To assess women's knowledge, perceived effectiveness and use of 20 complementary and alternative therapies., Design: Descriptive four-page questionnaire to obtain data on the use, reason for use, knowledge, perceived effectiveness, and sources of information of twenty complementary and alternative therapies., Setting: Women's Health Center at a large Midwestern hospital., Participants: A convenience sample of 250 women waiting to be seen by either a nurse midwife or obstetrician/gynecologist at an outpatient clinic., Results: Sixty-nine percent of the participants used one or more complementary therapy. The most frequently used therapies included prayer, vitamins, massage, diet, and aromatherapy. The best predictor of use of each therapy was the participant's knowledge of the therapy. Participants generally rated the efficacy of the therapies higher than their knowledge level. Frequently cited sources of information were popular media and family. The least common information sources were nurse-midwives, drug stores, Internet, and other professional healthcare providers., Conclusions: Women in this setting use complementary therapies at a rate greater than the general population. The participants obtained a great deal of their information about the therapies from popular press, media, friends, and family members rather than from licensed healthcare providers.

Americans have overwhelmingly embraced complementary and alternative therapies. Although the primary purpose of this study was to refine a questionnaire on complementary and alternative therapy use by older adults, the findings of this pilot study identified knowledge and use of complementary and alternative therapies in a convenience sample of 60 older adults, 54 to 92 years of age from three ethnically diverse senior centers. Eighty percent of the participants used two or more therapies. There were no significant differences in therapy use by ethnicity. The most commonly used therapies were prayer, vitamins, diet, massage, and meditation. The participants rated the effectiveness of therapies higher than their knowledge of the therapies. Older adults need accurate information from health care providers to make safe decisions regarding the combination of complementary therapies and prescribed treatments to reduce the risk of interaction.

Public health researchers have provided a growing body of evidence on the salutary effects of social capital for individual well being. The importance of these findings for social epidemiology, however, may have precluded so far a full examination of the complex association between neighborhood social processes and the well being of individual residents, including the often acknowledged potential "downside" of social capital. In this study, we examine the association between attachment to community, an indicator of social capital, in a sample of African American parents, and the presence of behavior problems in their preschool children. Participants were recruited from a socioeconomically diverse set of neighborhoods. Attachment to community was assessed using a multi-item scale comprised of two subscales, general sense of community and how well one knew one's neighbors. Results indicated that the association between how well a parent knew her neighbors and the presence of child behavior problems differed depending on the degree of economic impoverishment of the neighborhood. In wealthy neighborhoods, children whose parent reported knowing few of the neighbors had higher levels of internalizing problems such as anxiety and depression compared to those who knew many of their neighbors. In contrast, in poor neighborhoods, children whose parent reported knowing few of the neighbors had lower levels of internalizing problems compared to those who knew many of their neighbors. These results are discussed in terms of furthering the study of the contextual nature of the social capital in explaining community inequalities in mental health among children.

The association between parent racial socialization and child competence was examined in a socioeconomically diverse sample of African American preschoolers living in an urban setting. Interviews were conducted in the homes of 200 families. Racial socialization was assessed by parent report as well as by observation of the sociocultural context of the home, and child outcomes were assessed using the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children and the Child Behavior Checklist. Results indicated that African American parents who provided homes that were rich in African American culture had preschool children who had greater amounts of factual knowledge and better developed problem-solving skills. African American parents who socialized their preschool children to be proud of their heritage reported fewer problem behaviors.