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Parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often report poor psychological well-being, including a high level of parenting stress and depressive symptoms. Little is known about the extent to which poor parent psychological well-being alters the emotional quality of the parent-child relationship in a context of child ASD. This study examined the association between actor (one's own) and partner (one's partner's) level of parenting stress and depressive symptoms and the emotional quality of the parent-child relationship using a Five Minute Speech Sample (FMSS) in 150 families of children with ASD, aged 5-12 years (85.7% male). Mothers and fathers were aged 38.69 (SD = 5.62) and 40.76 (SD = 6.19), respectively; 76% of mothers and 68% of fathers had a college degree. Structural equation modeling, using Analysis of Moment Structures software, was used to test Actor-Partner Interdependence Models. Results indicated that mother's level of parenting stress and depressive symptoms were associated with her own FMSS Warmth and Criticism toward the child with ASD 12 months later in negative and positive directions. Mother's level of parenting stress was also negatively associated with father's FMSS Warmth toward the child with ASD 12 months later. Finally, father's level of parenting stress was positively associated with his FMSS Criticism toward the child with ASD. Overall, findings indicate that the mother-child and father-child relationship are both impacted by parent psychological well-being in families of children with ASD; however, actor effects are stronger for mothers and partner effects were only found for fathers. Implications for interventions are discussed., (© 2019 Family Process Institute.)

This study examined the array of associations among the emotional valence and the coherence of mothers' representations of their relationship with their toddlers, mothers' reported parenting stress, and toddlers' internalizing and externalizing behaviors. To evaluate maternal representations, 55 mothers were interviewed using the Five Minute Speech Sample procedure (FMSS; Magaña et al., 1986), which was coded for criticism and positive comments (Magaňa-Amato, 1993), as well as coherence (Sher-Censor & Yates, 2015). Mothers also completed the Parenting Stress Index - Short Form (PSI; Abidin, 1997) to evaluate their parenting stress and the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL/1.5-5; Achenbach & Rescorla, 2000) to assess their toddlers' internalizing and externalizing behaviors. Results indicated that parenting stress was associated with maternal criticism and fewer positive comments in the FMSS, but not with the coherence of mothers' FMSS. Parenting stress, criticism, and lower coherence in the FMSS were associated with maternal reports of externalizing behaviors. Only parenting stress and lower coherence in the FMSS were related to mothers' reports of internalizing behaviors of the child. Thus, the emotional valence and the coherence of mothers' representations of their relationship with their child and parenting stress may each constitute a distinct aspect of parenting and contribute to the understanding of individual differences in toddlers' internalizing and externalizing behaviors. Implications for research and practice with families of toddlers are discussed., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

This study examined the family emotional climate as assessed by Five Minute Speech Samples and the relation with parenting stress and parenting behaviors among parents of children (6–17 years, 64.7% boys) with autism spectrum disorder, cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, and without any known disability (n = 447). The large majority of parents (79%) showed low levels of Expressed Emotion, an indicator of a positive family climate. In all groups, more Emotional Over-involvement, more Criticism and fewer expressions of Warmth were associated with higher levels of parenting stress. Across groups, Emotional Over-involvement was related to more autonomy-supportive parenting, Criticism to more psychologically controlling and overreactive parenting, and Warmth was associated with more responsive and less psychologically controlling and overreactive parenting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prior research on Expressed Emotion (EE) in parents' Five Minute Speech Samples (FMSS) suggests that parental attitudes that are overprotective or blur boundaries between the parent and child (i.e., the criteria for self-sacrifice/overprotection; SSOP) are related to increases in children's behavior problems. Some theorists contend that parents who demonstrate high levels of SSOP treat their children more insensitively, but others argue that SSOP does not result in insensitive parenting during the early childhood years. To date, there is no evidence that can be brought to bear upon this tension within the field regarding the developmental implications of SSOP in childhood. This longitudinal investigation of 223 child-mother dyads (47.9% female; Mage_W1 = 49.08 months; 56.5% Hispanic/Latina) evaluated whether maternal insensitivity at age 6 mediated the link between mothers' SSOP with respect to their 4-year-old children and children's behavior problems (i.e., internalizing, attention/hyperactivity) at age 8. A path analysis revealed significant indirect pathways from mothers' SSOP during the preschool period to children's increased internalizing and attention/hyperactivity problems at age 8 via elevated maternal insensitivity at age 6. These associations did not differ significantly across groups as a function of child gender, maternal race/ethnicity, single-mother status, or family poverty. FMSS evaluations of SSOP may offer a culturally valid and clinically valuable screening tool to detect parental attitudes that confer elevated risks for insensitive parenting practices and later child adjustment difficulties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Use of the Five Minute Speech Sample in parenting research has become increasingly widespread in recent years, raising important questions about how it maps onto other more established methods for assessing parent-child dynamics. Given the historical emphasis on direct observation as a gold standard in such assessment, our aim was to examine associations between the Five Minute Speech Sample and direct observational coding of parent-child interactions, and to evaluate the assumption that the Five Minute Speech Sample reflects moment-to-moment exchanges between parents and children. A systematic search of three databases conducted identified 25 relevant studies (total N = 2945 child participants). These studies focused largely on four distinct systems for coding the Five Minute Speech Sample, and reported on distinct developmental periods ranging from infancy (17 months) through to adolescence (17 years). In 20 of 25 studies, the Five Minute Speech Sample was significantly associated with observations of parent-child interactions. These associations were apparent in all age groups examined, yet findings for fathers were somewhat more mixed than mothers. Available evidence suggests that the Five Minute Speech Sample holds strong potential as a brief but richly informative tool for indexing parent-child dynamics-particularly affective dimensions of the parent-child relationship-in both research and clinical contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Consistent with models of environmental sensitivity (Pluess, 2015), research suggests that the effects of parents' behaviors on child adjustment are stronger among children who struggle to regulate their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors compared with children with better self-regulation. This study extended prior research by assessing maternal representations of the child, which presumably underlie mothers' parenting behaviors, to evaluate the moderating influence of preschoolers' self-regulation on relations between mothers' representations and changes in children's negative and positive developmental adjustment outcomes from preschool to first grade. Participants were 187 mothers and their preschoolers. Mothers' representations were assessed via the coherence of their verbal narratives regarding their preschooler and teachers reported on preschoolers' self-regulation. In preschool and first grade, examiners rated children's externalizing behavior problems and ego-resilience, and teachers rated children's externalizing behavior problems and peer acceptance. Consistent with the environmental sensitivity framework, the coherence of mothers' narratives predicted changes in adjustment among children with self-regulation difficulties, but not among children with better self-regulation. Preschoolers with self-regulation difficulties whose mothers produced incoherent narratives showed increased externalizing behavior problems, decreased ego-resilience, and lower peer acceptance across the transition to school. In contrast, preschoolers with better self-regulation did not evidence such effects when their mothers produced incoherent narratives. The implications of these findings for understanding and supporting children's adjustment during the early school years are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emotional overinvolvement (EOI) in parents’ Five Minute Speech Samples (FMSSs; Magaña-Amato, 1993) is thought to measure overconcern and enmeshment with one’s child. Although related to maladaptive outcomes in studies of adult children, FMSS EOI evidences varied relations with behavior problems in studies with young children. These mixed findings may indicate that certain FMSS EOI criteria reflect inappropriate and excessive involvement with adult children, but do not indicate maladaptive processes when parenting younger children. Thus, this study evaluated relations of each FMSS EOI criterion with changes in child behavior problems from preschool to first grade in a community sample of 223 child–mother dyads (47.98% female; Wave 1 M(age) 49.08 months; 56.50% Hispanic/Latina). Maternal FMSS EOI ratings were obtained at Wave 1, and independent examiners rated child externalizing and internalizing behavior problems at Wave 1 and again 2 years later. Path analyses indicated that both the self-sacrifice/overprotection (SSOP) and statements of attitude (SOAs) FMSS EOI criteria predicted increased externalizing problems. In contrast, excessive detail and exaggerated praise were not related to child externalizing behavior problems, and Emotional Display was not evident in this sample. None of the FMSS EOI criteria evidenced significant relations with internalizing behavior problems. Multigroup comparisons indicated that the effect of SOAs on externalizing behavior problems was significant for boys but not for girls, and there were no significant group differences by race/ethnicity. These findings point to the salience of SSOP and SOAs for understanding the developmental significance of EOI in early development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Narrative coherence reflects parents' ability to provide a believable, clear, relevant, and internally consistent story about their child. Parents demonstrating more narrative coherence have been theorized to show higher parental sensitivity, but this has not been examined in a normative sample, nor across the transition to parenthood, and only once in fathers. The aim of this study was to examine stability and change in narrative coherence across the transition to parenthood in mothers and fathers, as well as the relation between pre- and postnatal narrative coherence and postnatal parental sensitivity. The sample consisted of 105 primiparous expecting parents. Narrative coherence was measured at 36-weeks pregnancy and when the child was 4 months old, using the Five Minute Speech Sample procedure. Parental sensitivity was observed in three episodes. Results demonstrated that narrative coherence was moderately stable (correlations) across the transition to parenthood in fathers only. Both mothers' and fathers' narrative coherence improved over time. Furthermore, mothers and fathers were overall equally coherent, and maternal and paternal narrative coherence were positively interrelated during pregnancy only. Lastly, our findings showed weak evidence for the theorized link between narrative coherence and parental sensitivity: only postnatal narrative coherence predicted paternal sensitivity, only during free play. Our findings give new insight in the development of narrative coherence across the transition to parenthood, and how it relates to actual parenting. More research is needed to confirm our findings and further explore this topic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]