Search

This Dutch multi-informant study examined effects of the first COVID-19 lockdown (LD; e.g., school closure and social restrictions) on parent-adolescent relationships. Four biweekly measurements before and 4 biweekly measurements during the LD were collected among adolescents (N = 179, M[subscript age] = 14.26 years, 69% girls) and their parents (N = 144, M[subscript age] = 47.01 years, 81% female). Parents' educational level was relatively diverse: 12% low (high school or lower), 33% medium (vocational training), and 55% high (college or university). Adolescents and parents reported on parental support, parent-adolescent conflict, autonomy support, psychological control, behavioral control, and time spent on various activities. Adolescents spent more time with their parents during LD (before M = 8.6 hr, during M = 12.7 hr), but less time with friends (before M = 8.1 hr, during M = 2.1 hr), and reported on average 13 COVID-19-related rules. Preregistered piecewise growth models confirmed that autonomy support decreased immediately during the LD, but no mean level changes were observed in the other relationship dimensions. During the first 2 months of the LD, parents reported gradual increases in autonomy support and decreases in behavioral control. Moreover, significant differences between families were found in sudden and more gradual relationship changes, which correlated strongly with pre-LD characteristics of the relationship, and in some models with adolescent oppositional defiance and legitimacy beliefs. In sum, findings suggest resilience in most families, but also heterogeneity: Some families were negatively affected, and others were positively affected. A tailored approach is therefore needed to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on family functioning.

Empathy evokes support for the person in distress, and thus strengthening social cohesion. The question is to what extent empathic reactions can be observed in autistic adolescents and autistic girls in particular, since there is evidence that they have better social skills than boys, which might hinder their recognition as autistic. We examined 193 adolescents (autistic/non-autistic boys/girls) during an in vivo task in which the experimenter hurt herself. In line with our predictions, no group or gender differences appeared related to their attention for the event; yet autistic girls and boys showed less visible emotional arousal, indicative of less affective empathy. Autistic girls and boys reacted by comforting the experimenter equally often as their non-autistic peers, but autistic boys seemed to address the problem more often than any other group; while girls (autistic and non-autistic) more often addressed the emotion of the person in need. Our findings highlight that empathic behaviour -- to some extent -- seems similar between autistic and non-autistic boys and girls. However, differences exist, in terms of expressed emotional arousal and gender-specific comforting styles. Autistic girls' higher levels of emotion-focused comforting could be explained by well-developed social skills, camouflaging, or emotional investment in relationships with others.

Background. While there is ample theoretical and empirical interest in overparenting, little is known about how overparenting of adolescents operates in everyday family life. This study describes the development and validation of a novel instrument to assess overparenting with Experience Sampling Methods – The Momentary Overparenting (MOP) scale. Methods. Following 143 (Belgian and Dutch) adolescents for 7 subsequent days, we measured overparenting (i.e., worry, interference, and unnecessary help), autonomy support and psychological control 5 to 6 times per day. Using multilevel structural equation modeling on 1865 parent-adolescent interactions, we investigated the scale's psychometric properties: within-family and between-family reliability, convergent and divergent validity. Results. Overparenting was characterized by both stable differences between families (46%), as well as dynamic fluctuations within families over time (54% of the variance). The MOP could reliably assess such real-time dynamics in overparenting. Momentary assessments correlated meaningfully with established instruments for overparenting at the between-family level. Within families, adolescents experienced interactions with more overparenting as more psychologically controlling and less autonomy supportive. Between families, overparenting correlated negatively with mothers' autonomy support and positively with mothers' psychological control. Conclusion. Worry, interference, and unnecessary help may be important expressions of overparenting in everyday family life – which can now be reliably measured from moment-to-moment as a distinct parenting construct. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The risk of rectal cancer after colectomy and ileorectal anastomosis may be reduced in the last decades, as patients with severe polyposis now have an ileoanal pouch. We have reevaluated the risk of rectal cancer and proctectomy for all causes according to the year of operation. On the basis of the year of operation in 776 patients with ileorectal anastomosis and 471 pouch patients in Denmark, Finland, Holland, and Sweden, the “pouch period” was defined to start in 1990. Ileorectal anastomosis follow-up data was captured by May 31, 2006. The cumulative risk of rectal cancer and proctectomy was compared before and after 1990 by Kaplan-Meier analysis. In the prepouch period 56/576 patients (10 percent) developed rectal cancer, vs. 4/200 (2 percent) in the pouch period. Neither the cumulative risk of rectal cancer (p = 0.07) nor the cumulative risk of proctectomy (p = 0.17) changed. However, in females the cumulative risk of rectal cancer (p = 0.04) and of proctectomy (p = 0.03) were lower in the pouch period. Since the introduction of the ileoanal pouch rectal cancer has decreased after ileorectal anastomosis, but only statistically significant in females. This indicates that ileorectal anastomosis may still be justified in selected patients with mild adenomatosis, especially in young females. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The prevalence of duodenal carcinoma is much higher in familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP) than in the background population, and duodenal adenomatosis is found in most polyposis patients. Aims: To describe the long term natural history of duodenal adenomatosis in FAP and evaluate if cancer prophylactic surveillance of the duodenum is indicated. Methods: A prospective five nation study was carried out in the Nordic countries and the Netherlands. Patients: A total of 368 patients were examined by gastroduodenoscopy at two year intervals during the period 1990-2001. Results: At the first endoscopy, 238 (65%) patients had duodenal adenomas at a median age of 38 years. Median follow up was 7.6 years. The cumulative incidence of adenomatosis at age 70 years was 90% (95% confidence interval (CI) 79-100%), and of Spigelman stage IV 52% (95% CI 28-76%). The probability of an advanced Spigelman score increased during the study period (p<0.0001) due to an increasing number and size of adenomas. Two patients had asymptomatic duodenal carcinoma at their first endoscopy while four developed carcinoma during the study at a median age of 52 years (range 26- 58). The cumulative incidence rate of cancer was 4.5% at age 57 years (95% CI 0.1-8.9%) and the risk was higher in patients with Spigelman stage IV at their first endoscopy than in those with stages 0-III (p<0.01). Conclusions: The natural course of duodenal adenomatosis has now been described in detail. The high incidence and increasing severity of duodenal adenomatosis with age justifies prophylactic examination, and a programme is presented for upper gastrointestinal endoscopic surveillance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the first week after the first COVID-19 patient was reported in the Netherlands, we conducted a pre-registered momentary assessment study (7 surveys per day, 50 participants, 7 days) to study the dynamic relationship between individuals' occupation with and worries about COVID-19 in daily life, and the moderating role of neuroticism in this relationship. At the group level, higher scores on occupation and worry co-occurred, and occupation predicted worry 1 h later, but not vice versa. There were substantial individual differences in the magnitudes and directions of the effects. For instance, occupation with COVID-19 was related to increases in worry for some but decreases in worry for others. Neuroticism did not predict any of these individual differences in the links between worry and occupation. This study suggests that it is important to go beyond group-level analyses and to account for individual differences in responses to COVID-19. • Individuals differ substantially in size and direction of the relationship between worry about and occupation with COVID-19 • Neuroticism was not significantly related to individual differences in these relationships • Advice to limit news-intake surrounding COVID-19 when worried may thus not be applicable to everyone [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to environmental sensitivity models, children vary in responsivity to parenting. However, different models propose different patterns, with responsivity to primarily: (1) adverse parenting (adverse sensitive); or (2) supportive parenting (vantage sensitive); or (3) to both (differentially susceptible). This preregistered study tested whether these three responsivity patterns coexist. We used intensive longitudinal data of Dutch adolescents ( N = 256, M age = 14.8, 72% female) who bi-weekly reported on adverse and supportive parenting and their psychological functioning ( t mean = 17.7, t max = 26). Dynamic Structural Equation Models (DSEM) indeed revealed differential parenting effects. As hypothesized, we found that all three responsivity patterns coexisted in our sample: 5% were adverse sensitive, 3% vantage sensitive, and 26% differentially susceptible. No adolescent appeared unsusceptible, however. Instead, we labeled 28% as unperceptive, because they did not perceive any changes in parenting and scored lower on trait environmental sensitivity than others. Furthermore, unexpected patterns emerged, with 37% responding contrary to parenting theories (e.g., decreased psychological functioning after more parental support). Sensitivity analyses with concurrent effects and parent-reported parenting were performed. Overall, findings indicate that theorized responsivity-to-parenting patterns might coexist in the population, and that there are other, previously undetected patterns that go beyond environmental sensitivity models.

Person-environment interactions might ultimately drive longer term development. This experience sampling study (Data collection: 2019/20 the Netherlands) assessed short-term linkages between parent-adolescent interaction quality and affect during 2281 interactions of 124 adolescents (M age  = 15.80, SD age  = 1.69, 59% girls, 92% Dutch, Education: 25% low, 31% middle, 35% high, 9% other). Adolescents reported on parent-adolescent interaction quality (i.e., warmth and conflict) and momentary positive and negative affect five to six times a day, for 14 days. Preregistered dynamic structural equation models (DSEM) revealed within-family associations between parent-adolescent interaction quality and adolescent affect (concurrently: r = -.22 to .39; lagged effects: ß = -.17 to .15). These effects varied significantly between families. These findings stress the need for more person-specific research on parenting processes., (© 2022 The Authors. Child Development published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Society for Research in Child Development.)