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Background The present study examines discrepancies between self- and adult-perceptions of social competence in children with attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and possible co-morbid disruptive behaviour disorders (DBD). Method Self-reported questionnaires were collected from multiple informants at the baseline of a multi-systemic family intervention programme for children (aged 5–12) with ADHD, ASD and possible co-morbid DBD. In total, out of the 154 families eligible for the study, information was received concerning children from 124 families (children n = 121; mothers n = 117; fathers n = 86; teachers n = 97). In addition to this, a comparison community sample of 318 school-aged children (approximately 10 years old) was utilized to examine the perceptions of children's social competence across intervention and population groups in more detail. Results Children's self-perceptions in the prosocial dimension of social competence (i.e. cooperating skills, empathy) did not differ between the intervention and comparison groups. Interestingly, the children in the intervention sample expressed more impulsivity and disruptiveness – the antisocial dimension of social competence – when compared with the children in the comparison sample. Adult ratings demonstrated that mothers, fathers and teachers reported decreased prosocial behaviour and increased antisocial behaviour across overall dimensions and sub-dimensions when compared with adults' ratings of elementary school children. Informant discrepancies between self-ratings and adult ratings across intervention groups yielded significant effect sizes (eta-squared) across all domains of social competence ranging from .09 to .25. Conclusion Children's positive self-ratings of social competence relative to adult ratings increased within intervention sample when compared with population sample. The intervention sample children appeared to acknowledge their social competence deficits, yet self-perceptions were inflated relative to adult ratings when focusing on peer relationship difficulties, particularly, aggression to peers.

Marital distress, parental depression, and weak quality of parental representations are all known risk factors for parent-child relationships. However, the relation between marital distress, depressive symptoms, and parents' prenatal representation is uncertain, especially regarding fathers. The present study aimed to explore how mothers' and fathers' prenatal experience of marital distress and depressive symptoms affects the organization of their prenatal representations in late pregnancy. Participants were 153 pregnant couples from a Finnish follow-up study called "Steps to the Healthy Development and Well-being of Children" (H. Lagstrom et al., ). Marital distress (Revised Dyadic Adjustment Scale; D.M. Busby, C. Christensen, D. Crane, & J. Larson, 1995) and depressive symptoms (Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale) were assessed at 20 gestational weeks, and prenatal representations (Working Model of the Child Interview; D. Benoit, K.C.H. Parker, & C.H. Zeanah, 1997; C.H. Zeanah, D. Benoit, M. Barton, & L. Hirshberg, 1996) were assessed between 29 and 32 gestational weeks. The mothers' risks of distorted representations increased significantly when they had at least minor depressive symptoms. Marital distress was associated with the fathers' prenatal representations, although the association was weak; fathers within the marital distress group had less balanced representations. Coexisting marital distress and depressive symptoms were only associated with the mothers' representations; lack of marital distress and depressive symptoms increased the likelihood for mothers to have balanced representations. The results imply that marital distress and depressive symptoms are differently related to the organizations of mothers' and fathers' prenatal representations.

Parental (or parenting) self-efficacy (PSE) has been described as parents' self-referent estimations of their competence in the parental role and as parents' perceptions of their ability to positively influence the behaviors and development of their children (Coleman & Karraker, 1998; Junttila, 2010; Teti & Gelfand, 1991). The expectations of the role of parenting are assumed to be strongly linked with the cultural and family contexts and may therefore be difficult or even impossible to study using measurements developed among other cultural contexts. In this study, we aimed to frame issues related to the measurement of PSE, the developmental pathways of PSE, and individual as well as interparental variables related to PSE. In sum, we focused on measurement validity and reliability, long-term stability, interparental differences, and psychosocial problems related to the PSE of Finnish mothers' and fathers' of toddlers.As Ardelt and Eccles (2001) noted, PSE involves the beliefs parents embrace to influence their children's behaviors and the environment to support their children's development. During toddlerhood and early childhood, these beliefs may include, for example, the parents' sense of competence in supporting the child's emotional needs, promoting structure and discipline through daily routines, and providing opportunities to learn new things. Based on de Montigny and Lacharite's (2005) content analysis of research on perceived parental efficacy, there are four contributors to this phenomenon: "positive enactive mastery experiences, vicarious experiences, verbal persuasion, and an appropriate physiological and affective state" (p. 387). They defined perceived parental efficacy as the "beliefs or judgments a parent holds of their capabilities to organize and execute a set of tasks related to parenting a child" (de Montigny & Lacharite, 2005, p. 387).Research has shown that PSE is a major determinant of competent and influential parenting behaviors and therefore an important element in children's well-being and healthy development (e.g., Sevigny & Loutzenhiser, 2009). Based on a number of previous studies, PSE has an important mediational role in linking distinct parental personal factors, as well as behavioral, coparental, child, and situational factors (Biehle & Mickelson, 2011; Teti & Gelfand, 1991); for example, Junttila, Vauras, and Laakkonen (2007) found PSE to be a mediator between parents' loneliness and their child's social and academic competence in the school environment. Parents with higher PSE are more likely to use adequate parenting strategies, which in turn increase the likelihood that their children will succeed in social, academic, and interpersonal domains (Junttila et al., 2007). Associations between higher levels of PSE and better adjustment and compliance, greater enthusiasm, and low avoidance and negativity among toddlers have also been reported (Coleman & Karraker, 2003).Studies have shown that low PSE seems to be correlated with parental depression, anxiety, defensive and controlling parental strategies, high levels of parental stress, passive coping and feelings of helplessness in the parenting role, and the use of punitive disciplinary techniques (Jones & Prinz, 2005; Salonen et al., 2009; Wernand, Kunseler, Oosterman, Beekman, & Schuengel, 2014). Most of these results were derived from cross-sectional studies. Among studies that have adapted longitudinal data, Wernand et al. (2014) found that during the course of pregnancy, depression, anxiety, and PSE were strongly linked, but only anxiety symptoms predicted later PSE. Jones and Prinz (2005) stated that it was unclear whether PSE functioned consistently as an antecedent or contributor to parental depression, as a consequence of parental depression, or in a transactional relationship with parental depression.Biehle and Michelson (2011) reported an interesting coparent effect of PSE and depression. …

The aim of the study was to assess whether a parent's psychological well-being and/or self-efficacy relate to interaction within the family. This study is part of a Finnish follow-up study called Steps to the Healthy Development and Well-Being of Children (STEPS;). The study group included 120 families. Mother's and father's social anxiety and depression were assessed during pregnancy and at 18 months of the child's age using self-report questionnaires; the mother's and father's self-efficacy were assessed at 18 months using a parental self-efficacy scale validated within the STEPS study. Mother-father-child triadic interaction was studied at 18 months within a Lausanne Triadic Play setting. Results showed that maternal symptoms of depression during pregnancy and maternal social anxiety at 18 months were related to triadic interaction within the family. There was no relation between father's psychological well-being and triadic interaction within the family. Father's self-efficacy in teaching tasks and the Mother's self-efficacy in emotional support were associated with family interaction. The findings suggest that maternal psychological well-being and self-efficacy in emotional support may be important components of family triadic interaction whereas paternal self-efficacy in teaching tasks seems to support family coordination in triadic interaction.

Background The interrelation between mothers' parental self-efficacy (PSE) and their school-aged children's well-being has been repeatedly proved. The lack of research in this area situates mainly on the absence of fathers, non-existent family-level studies, the paucity of independent evaluators, and the use of global PSE estimates. Aims We aimed to qualitatively identify different subgroups of mothers, fathers, and couples based on their PSE factors. Furthermore, we aimed to study the interrelations between these PSE subgroups and children's school-related social competence evaluated by the children themselves as well as by their peers, teachers, and parents. Sample Sample (n = 981; girls n = 467; boys n = 514) consisted of fourth-grade (mean age, 10 years old) children, their teachers, peers, and parents (mothers n = 876; fathers n = 696). Methods Latent profile analysis was used to identify parents with similar patterns of PSE. The data of mothers and fathers were modelled separately and as a family-level combination. Interrelations between PSE subgroups and children's multisource-evaluated social competence were analysed with group comparisons. Results Separate subgroups of mothers, fathers, and couples were identified and labelled based on their PSE profiles. Subgroups were found to differ among mothers' age and education and children's academic skills. Most of the interrelations between PSE subgroups and children's social competence were statistically significant in a sense that children of parents with strong PSE were evaluated as more prosocial and less antisocial than others. Conclusion Despite new perspectives on parents' PSE estimates and use of behaviour evaluators outside the family system, the interrelation between positive PSE and children's social competence and learning remains strong.

The aim of this study was to examine the existence of the intergenerational transmission of loneliness between parents and children, including an examination of its stability and of gender differences. The study consisted of an evaluation of loneliness in mothers (n= 834), fathers (n= 661) and their 10-year-old children (n= 981). Parent's self-reported loneliness was measured once, and their children's social and emotional loneliness were assessed at three time-points. The stability analysis indicated average stability in children's loneliness, especially their social loneliness. Boys were found to experience more emotional loneliness than girls. Structural equation modeling indicated no direct relationship between mothers'/fathers' loneliness and their children's loneliness. However, mothers' and fathers' loneliness reduced their daughters' peer-evaluated cooperating skills, which consequently predicted higher levels of both social and emotional loneliness.