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Sensory Processing Sensitivity (SPS) is theorized to be a fundamental trait capturing children’s general sensitivity to the environment. Yet, scientific knowledge of SPS is mostly based on findings from Western cultures and few translated measures exist to assess children’s SPS outside of Western countries. Therefore, we developed the Chinese Highly Sensitive Child (HSC) scale. In Study 1, we investigated the scale’s psychometric properties for both self-reports (N = 2925, Mage = 11.74 years, 43.3% girls) and caregiver reports (n = 460, Mchild age = 9.02 years, 44.0% girls). Findings replicated most psychometric properties found in international studies including: (a) a bifactor structure with one general sensitivity component and three specific components, (b) acceptable internal consistency of the total scale (although not for self-report of elementary school children, and not for the subscales), and (c) at least partial invariance across age groups, gender, and informants. In Study 2, we investigated convergent validity with related temperament and personality measures using self-reports from both elementary school children (n = 845, Mage = 9.71 years, 41.9% girls) and middle school children (n = 563, Mage = 13.17 years, 43.2% girls). Findings replicated bivariate associations found in Western studies: Ease of Excitation (EOE) was associated with more positive traits, whereas Aesthetic Sensitivity (AES) was associated with more negative traits, suggesting that EOE and AES may capture the “dark” and “bright side” of sensitivity, respectively. We hope that our studies help spur research on SPS across western and Chinese cultures.

Purpose Home visitation program effects are generally small, which may be caused by flexible intervention content leading to inconsistent outcomes. In this study we therefore examined whether the effectiveness of a Dutch home visitation program (i.e., Supportive Parenting) can be improved by adding structured intervention components targeting key risk factors for child maltreatment: parental sense of competence, perceived stress, parental anger, and PTSD symptoms. Method Participants were randomly assigned to an experimental group (n = 74) that received four additional intervention components in two home visits, or a control group (n = 60) that received regular Supportive Parenting. Outcomes were assessed before (T1) and after (T2) the first, and before (T3) and after (T4) the second home visit. Effects were examined using ANCOVA for primary outcomes: parental sense of competence, perceived stress, parental anger, and PTSD symptoms, and secondary outcomes: risk of child maltreatment, parental warmth, and negative parenting. Moderation effects were examined for T1 scores, child temperament and life events. Results Mothers who received the intervention components showed less stress compared to the control group at T3 and T4. There were no differences between groups on other outcomes and no moderation effects, although parental sense of competence reduced and anger increased within the experimental group specifically. Conclusion The structured components may enhance the effectiveness of Supportive Parenting to reduce parenting stress. Future research into how other outcomes can be improved is needed.

Conflicts may drift from one family dyad to another. Short-term spillover and long-term transmission processes suggest that interparental conflict will cause parent-adolescent conflict, and vice versa, as well as that negative mood of parents and adolescents may be one of the transferring mechanisms. This multi-informant daily diary study is among the first to test the day-to-day and year-to-year cross-lagged effects between interparental conflict and later parent-child conflict at the level of individual families (as compared to between-family studies). Also, this study investigated the mediating role of negative mood. Data came from 443 Dutch adolescents (M = 13.02, 44.5% girls) and their mothers. A total of 75 daily diaries regarding conflict and negative mood were completed across 15 weeks spread over 5 years. Random-intercept cross-lagged panel models were applied to investigate long-term year-to-year transmission, and Dynamic Structural Equation Modeling was used to investigate short-term day-to-day spillover. Overall, we found neither short-term spillover, nor long-term transmission, as the reciprocal cross-lagged effects between interparental conflict and adolescent-mother conflict were nonsignificant. Even though we found direct and reciprocal cross-lagged effects between negative mood and both interparental and adolescent-mother conflict on both the day-to-day and year-to-year timescales, both the direct and the indirect effects between interparental and adolescent-mother conflict were nonsignificant. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Although the research interest in parenting behaviors of Chinese parents has increased during the past two decades, there remains a lack of an adequate and comprehensive Chinese assessment tool for these parenting behaviors in early childhood. Drawn from two samples of Chinese mothers with young children (i.e., 1- to 4-year-olds), this research addressed this gap by examining the factor structure, reliability, and validity of a Chinese version of the Comprehensive Early Childhood Parenting Questionnaire (CECPAQ-CV). Confirmatory factor analyses showed that a 5-factor model, consisting of 13 micro-dimensions of parenting behaviors, best fitted the data for Sample 1 (N1 = 2179) compared with 1-factor, 2-factor, and 4-factor models. This 5-factor model was further validated with the data for Sample 2 (N2 = 160). Reliability was good. The criterion validity of the CECPAQ-CV was supported by expected relations with maternal parenting stress and child externalizing and internalizing behaviors. The convergent and discriminant validity of the CECPAQ-CV was established with the Parent-Child Conflict Tactics Scale. The results indicate that the CECPAC-CV holds promise as a reliable and valid tool to measure important dimensions of early parenting in China.

BACKGROUND Talking about experiences of sexual abuse in therapy is difficult for children and adolescents. Possible reasons for this difficulty are a lack of vocabulary to describe the situation or feelings of shame, fear, and self-blame associated with sexual abuse. The serious game Vil Du?! was developed to help children open up about their sexual abuse experiences. Vil Du?! is a nonverbal communication game that resembles a dress-up game in which children can show the therapist what happened to them. OBJECTIVE This exploratory evaluation study examines which working elements of the game could be identified in therapy with victims of sexual abuse (aim 1). In addition, this study examines how therapists evaluate the acceptability of the game (aim 2). METHODS The therapists completed 23 web-based surveys on the use of Vil Du?! In addition, semistructured interviews were conducted with 10 therapists. The data were analyzed in NVivo following previously reported stepwise guidelines. RESULTS Regarding aim 1, therapists mentioned various working elements of Vil Du?!; for instance, Vil Du?! puts the child in control of the situation. In addition, Vil Du?! reduces barriers to disclosure because there is no need to talk or have eye contact with the therapist. Regarding aim 2, Vil Du?! was generally evaluated more positively than negatively by the therapists. For instance, therapists indicated that using Vil Du?! is time efficient and might make the treatment process less confronting and difficult for the client. According to therapists, most clients indeed experienced less tension and more positive (or neutral) emotions than negative emotions when using Vil Du?! CONCLUSIONS The most important working elements of Vil Du?!, according to therapists, are that it enables children to regain control over their sexual abuse experiences and reduces barriers to disclosing sexual abuse experiences. The more positive evaluation of Vil Du?! indicates the acceptability of the game for therapists as well as their clients.

Various studies have reported that parental self-regulation is inversely related to negative parenting practices, especially in relatively calm households. These studies have focused on general tendencies of parents over longer periods of time. In the current time-series study, we extended previous work by focusing on the moment-to-moment processes in parent-child interactions that may explain associations between parental self-regulation, household chaos, and negative parenting practices. In a sample of 62 parent-toddler dyads (83.87% mothers), we tested whether observed contingent negative responses to child noncompliance (i.e., reactive negative parenting) could be predicted by the interaction between parental self-regulation and household chaos. Additionally, we examined whether two indicators of parental self-regulation, self-reported effortful control and task-based executive functioning, had similar associations with reactive negative parenting. Reactive negative parenting was assessed during clean up and was calculated as parents' propensity to show negative parenting practices immediately after their child showed noncompliance. We found that lower parental self-regulation predicted more reactive negative parenting practices in moderately chaotic households. Associations were similar regardless of whether self-regulation was operationalized as effortful control or executive functioning. The findings demonstrate that less regulated parents may benefit from a home situation that is tidy, calm, and characterized by routine in order to remain neutral in situations in which their toddler is noncompliant. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Face-to-face interaction is a primary mode of human social behavior which includes verbal and non-verbal expressions, e.g. speech, gazing, eye contact, facial displays, and gestures (Holler & Levinson, 2019). In this study, we investigated the relation between speech and gaze behavior during 'face-to-face' dialogues between parents and their preadolescent children (9-11 years). 79 child-parent dyads engaged in two semi-structured conversations about family-related topics. We used a state-of-the-art dual-eye tracking setup (Hessels et al. 2019) that is capable of concurrently recording eye movements, frontal video recordings, and audio from two conversational partners. Crucially, the setup is designed in such a way that eye contact can be maintained using half-silvered mirrors, as opposed to e.g. Skype where the camera is located above the screen. Parents and children conversed about two different topics for five minutes each, one 'conflict' (e.g. bedtime, homework) and one 'cooperation' (e.g. organize a party) topic. Preliminary analyses of speech behavior (Figure 1) show that children talked more in the cooperative task and talked less when discussing a topic of disagreement with their parents. Conversely, parents talked more during the conflict-task and less during the cooperative-task. The next step is to combine measures of speech and gaze to investigate the interplay and temporal characteristics of verbal and non-verbal behavior during face-to-face interactions.

The aim of the present study was to determine whether Big Five personality traits moderated intervention effects through differential susceptibility for environmental factors. We conducted a randomized controlled trial in which adolescents received either Rock & Water (a universal school based intervention aiming to enhance youth's psychosocial development) or care as usual. Adolescents (N = 1299, Mage = 12.38) reported on the outcomes (i.e., psychological wellbeing, resilience, aggression, and bullying) at four different time points during two years. Parents reported on adolescents' personality at baseline. Adolescents with high levels of Neuroticism and Extraversion, and low levels of Conscientiousness, Openness to experiences, and Agreeableness benefitted most from the intervention. As high levels of Neuroticism, and low levels of Conscientiousness and Openness to experiences are seen as markers of environmental susceptibility, the moderation pattern supported the pathway of differential susceptibility. Particularly adolescents susceptible to environmental factors appear to be able to benefit from an intervention. Knowledge about how less susceptible adolescents can be successfully targeted is eminent to optimize interventions for this group of adolescents.

Objective This study examined long-term developmental changes in mother-rated lower-order facets of children's Big Five dimensions. Method Two independent community samples covering early childhood (2–4.5 years; N = 365, 39% girls) and middle childhood to the end of middle adolescence (6–17 years; N = 579, 50% girls) were used. All children had the Belgian nationality. Developmental changes were examined using cohort-sequential latent growth modeling on the 18 facets of the Hierarchical Personality Inventory for Children. Results In early childhood, changes were mostly similar across child gender. Between 2 and 4.5 years, several facets showed mean-level stability; others changed in the direction of less Extraversion and Emotional Stability, and more Benevolence and Imagination. The lower-order facets of Conscientiousness showed opposite changes. Gender differences became more apparent from middle childhood onward for facets of all dimensions except Imagination, for which no gender differences were found. Between 6 and 17 years, same-dimension facets showed different shapes of growth. Facets that changed linearly changed mostly in the direction of less Extraversion, Benevolence, Conscientiousness, Emotional Stability, and Imagination. Changes in facets for which nonlinear growth was found generally moved in direction or magnitude during developmental transitions. Conclusion This study provides comprehensive, fine-grained knowledge about personality development during the first two decades of life.

The present study examined indirect over-time relations between parenting and adolescent sexuality through global self-esteem. Three waves of online questionnaire data were collected among a community sample of 1,116 Dutch adolescents (M = 13.9 years at baseline). Participants rated the quality of their relationship with parents, their global self-esteem, and their experience with various sexual behaviors. Sexually experienced adolescents (n = 168) evaluated their sexual experiences using six emotions. Path model results showed that a higher-quality relationship with parents at T1 predicted higher levels of self-esteem at T2, which in turn predicted less experience with sexual behaviors and more positive sexual emotions at T3. The indirect over-time path from relationship quality through self-esteem to adolescents' sexual emotions was significant; the indirect path to adolescents' experience with sexual behaviors was not significant at the .05 level. No significant age or gender differences were found in the path models. The findings indicate that self-esteem plays an important role in adolescent sexuality and that parents can contribute to positive sexual experiences of adolescents indirectly--through the enhancement of self-esteem--by fostering a high-quality relationship with their children. Implications for theory, future research, and strategies to promote healthy and positive youth sexuality are discussed.

Self-control is a crucial psychological function and plays a significant role in positive youth development. While numerous self-control challenges occur during adolescence, some adolescents better control themselves than others. Parenting is considered a critical factordistinguishing adolescents with good and poor self-control, but existing findings are inconsistent. The meta-analysis summarized the overall relationship between parenting and self-control among adolescents aged 10 to 22. One hundred and ninety-one articles reporting 1,540 effect sizes (N=164,459) were included in the analysis. The results showed that parenting is associated with adolescents’ self-control both concurrently (r=.204, p

The aim of the present meta-analysis was to investigate the associations between three types of peer norms—descriptive norms (peer sexual behaviors), injunctive norms (peer sexual attitudes), and peer pressure to have sex—and two adolescent sexual behavior outcomes (sexual activity and sexual risk behavior). Adolescent sexual activity was more strongly associated with descriptive norms ( ESrfixed = .40) than with injunctive norms ( ESrfixed = .22) or peer pressure ( ESrfixed = .10). Compared with the sexual activity outcome, the effect size for descriptive norms (peer sexual risk behavior) for sexual risk behavior was smaller ( ESrfixed = .11). Age, gender, peer type, and socio-cultural context significantly moderated these associations. Additional analyses of longitudinal studies suggested that selection effects were stronger than socialization effects. These findings offer empirical support for the conceptual distinction between three types of peer norms and hold important implications for theory, research, and intervention strategies.

In the social sciences and related disciples such as psychiatry, different concepts have been used to refer to the same, similar, or overlapping behaviors. Criminologists study crime or juvenile delinquency, which is usually defined as breaking the criminal law. For adults a similar concept to crime is antisocial personality disorder. The co-occurrence of many types of risky behavior with criminal behavior raises fundamental questions about the nature of the outcome variables that are being studied in the field of crime and delinquency, similarly to the issue of co-morbidity in the study of psychopathology. Passivity does not seem to fit with individuals whose main way to crime and accidents is risk-taking. The chapter focuses on the co-occurrence of delinquent behavior with health- endangering behaviors and problem behaviors with adverse economic consequences, such as truancy and dropping out from school. It describes on a literature review that investigated whether delinquent behavior is associated with health-endangering behaviors and problem behaviors.

In this longitudinal multiinformant study negative emotionality and sensory processing sensitivity were compared as susceptibility markers among kindergartners. Participating children (N = 264, 52.9% boys) were Dutch kindergartners (Mage = 4.77, SD = 0.60), followed across three waves, spaced seven months apart. Results show that associations between parenting and child behavior did not depend on children's negative emotionality. Sensory processing sensitivity, however, interacted with both (changes in) negative and (changes in) positive parenting in predicting externalizing, but not prosocial, behavior. Depending on the interaction, vantage sensitivity and differential susceptibility models were supported. The findings suggest that sensory processing sensitivity may be a more proximal correlate of individual differences in susceptibility, compared with negative emotionality. (PsycINFO Database Record

In the current study, we examined longitudinally whether boys and girls differed in pathways from parenting to delinquency. Longitudinal mediational models were tested for boys and girls separately in which three parenting dimensions (i.e., monitoring, limit setting, and the quality of the parent-adolescent relationship) were hypothesized to influence adolescents’ level of self-control, delinquent attitudes, peer delinquency, and time spent in criminogenic settings, which in turn, were hypothesized to affect delinquency. Using data of 603 adolescents (11–17 years of age at T1) we found mean level differences between boys and girls in parental monitoring, parental limit-setting, self-control, delinquent attitudes, and peer delinquency. The results suggest furthermore that the model linking parenting to delinquency is similar for boys and girls. We found, however, that the indirect effect from the quality of the parent-adolescent relationship through self-control is stronger for girls than for boys.

Contains fulltext : 176803.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Closed access) In this study we investigated longitudinal associations among parenting, children's temperamental negative affectivity, and internalizing and externalizing behavior. Second, we tested whether findings confirmed the diathesis-stress model or differential susceptibility theory when conducting stringent interaction tests. The sample included 129 children and their families. Parenting quality (age 5) was measured by parent-child interaction observations. Parents evaluated child negative affectivity (age 7) and teachers reported on problem behavior (age 12). Multiple regression analyses revealed an interaction effect of negative affectivity and parenting on externalizing behavior. Visual inspection suggested 'for better and for worse' effects of parenting for children with negative affectivity. However, more stringent tests failed to show convincing evidence for differential susceptibility theory. For internalizing behavior, negative affectivity may render children vulnerable regardless of parenting. Our results point at the importance of further testing interaction effects to distinguish between differential susceptibility theory and the diathesis-stress model. 14 p.

In this study, we examined whether parents are differentially susceptible to support from their spouse and adolescent child depending on their personality traits, and whether differences in susceptibility to support among parents, in turn, are linked to the quality of support parents give to their children. Participants in this three-wave longitudinal study were 288 two-parent Dutch families with an adolescent child. Fathers were on average 43.9 years old (SD = 3.7 years), mothers were 41.7 years old (SD = 3.3 years), and adolescents (50% girls) were 14.5 years old (SD = 0.8 years). We found that the association between support from children toward their parents and subsequent support from parents toward their children was more pronounced for parents high on Openness, for better and for worse. Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, and Emotional Stability did not emerge as markers of differences in susceptibility. Also, parents did not differ in their susceptibility to support from their spouse, nor were differences in susceptibility found a year later when using data from a third wave. We found very modest support for differential susceptibility, only for Openness, and depending on the source of perceived support and on the timing of measurement.

In deze studie werden etnische verschillen onderzocht in de prevalentie en het belang van risicofactoren voor recidive. De onderzoeksgroep bestond uit Nederlandse (n = 542), Marokkaanse (n = 292), Surinaamse (n = 133), Turkse (n = 97) en Antilliaanse jongeren (n = 72) die een strafbaar feit hadden gepleegd. Chikwadraattoetsen, correlaties en logistische regressieanalyses werden uitgevoerd. Verschillen tussen de etnische groepen werden gevonden in zowel de prevalentie als de impact van risicofactoren. Bij Nederlandse jongeren bleken veruit de meeste risicofactoren significant samen te hangen met recidive (thuissituatie, vrijetijdsbesteding, school, vrienden en mentale gezondheid), terwijl bij etnische minderheidsgroepen slechts enkele risicofactoren samenhingen met recidive. Als gevolg van de gevonden verschillen zijn gedragsinterventies gericht op deze risicofactoren mogelijk minder effectief in het voorkomen van recidive bij jongeren uit etnische minderheidsgroepen.

In this study, we investigated mean-level personality development in children from 6 to 20 years of age. Additionally, we investigated longitudinal, bidirectional associations between child personality and maternal overreactive and warm parenting. In this 5-wave study, mothers reported on their child's personality from Time 1 (T1) through Time 4 (T4), and children provided self-reports from Time 2 (T2) through Time 5 (T5). Mothers reported on their levels of overreactive and warm parenting from T2 through T4. Using cohort-sequential latent growth curve modeling, we investigated mother reported child personality from 6 to 17 years of age and child reported personality from 9 to 20 years of age. Extraversion decreased linearly across the entire study. Benevolence and conscientiousness increased from middle to late childhood, temporarily declined from late childhood to mid-adolescence, and increased again thereafter. Imagination decreased from middle childhood to mid-adolescence and also increased thereafter. Mothers reported a temporary decline in emotional stability with an increase thereafter, whereas children did not. Boys and girls differed in mean-levels of the personality dimensions and, to a lesser extent, in the degree and direction of changes. Latent difference score modeling showed that child personality predicted changes in parenting and that, to a lesser extent, parenting predicted changes in child traits. Additionally, changes in child personality were associated with changes in maternal parenting. Results of the present study show that personality change is not directed at increasing maturity from childhood to mid-adolescence and that it elicits and is shaped by both positive and negative parenting.

Purpose: From the overprotection literature, the predictive and interactional (moderation) effects of controlling and indulgent parenting on restrictions in children with epilepsy were examined.Methods: Parents of 73 children with epilepsy completed questionnaires on parenting, restrictions, and functional status. Predictive and moderation effects were tested using multiple regression analysis. Moderation was tested with interactive computational methods.Results: Restrictions were significantly (R2 = .38, FΔ = 6.59***, p < .001) predicted from seizure frequency (β = .24*, p < .05), functional status (β = − .42***, p < .001), and interaction between controlling and indulgent parenting (β = .28**, p < .01). Moderation occurred predominantly for high values of control: controlling parents who were not indulgent imposed fewer restrictions. In contrast, controlling parents who were indulgent imposed more restrictions.Conclusion: Parents who were controlling and more indulgent imposed more restrictions. Clinicians should ask parents about parenting and restrictions. Future research should examine whether the current study's findings can be replicated.

In this study, we investigate whether changes in child social cognitive functioning and parenting are the mechanisms through which an individually delivered real-world child intervention, Stay Cool Kids, aimed at preventing externalizing problem behavior in high-risk elementary school children, induces changes in child behavior. Moreover, we tested whether mediation was moderated by child characteristics (gender and personality). The sample consisted of 264 fourth-grade children displaying externalizing behavior (TRFt-score > 60). Forty-eight schools were randomly assigned to the intervention or no-intervention control condition. The results of mediation analyses provided evidence for child positive self-perception and maternal involvement as working mechanisms of the intervention. Child personality factor extraversion moderated the mediating effect of involvement whereas no moderated mediation was found for gender. Working mechanisms of the intervention differ for children with different personality characteristiscs.

The current study examined the explanatory role of satisfaction of parental psychological needs in effects of childhood aggression on various adolescent-perceived parenting behaviors in middle adolescence. Research questions were examined in a large multi-informant, prospective community study of ethnic majority Belgian families (N = 609, 49.7% girls). Aggression was rated by parents when children were in middle childhood (M age = 7.5 years) using the Child Behavior Checklist. Parents reported on satisfaction of their needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness when children were in preadolescence (M age = 10.5 years) and early adolescence (M age = 13.5 years) using the Parenting Stress Index. Parenting behaviors were rated by adolescents in early adolescence (M age = 13.5 years) and in middle adolescence (M age = 15.5 years), using the Parenting Scale (overreactive discipline), the Psychological Control Scale, Youth Self-Report (psychological control), and the Parenting Practices Questionnaire (warmth). Mediation of associations from aggression to parenting by parents' psychological needs was examined using multiple mediation structural equation modeling analyses. Childhood aggression was related to decreased satisfaction of parents' needs for competence, relatedness, and autonomy in early adolescence. Satisfaction of parents' needs for relatedness and, to a lesser extent, competence affected later parenting, and satisfaction of all three needs affected changes in parenting. Relations were specific for the different parenting constructs but similar across parental gender. Targeting parents' psychological needs may aid effectiveness of interventions that are aimed at decreasing (psychologically, overreactive) controlling parenting and at increasing supportive parenting.

To date, there is surprisingly little research on differences in the prevalence and impact of risk factors for general recidivism between juveniles who have committed sexual offenses (JSO) and juveniles who have committed nonsexual offenses (NSO). Therefore, we examined differences in the prevalence and impact of dynamic risk factors for general delinquency between youth with nonsexual offenses (NSO, n = 504), youth with misdemeanor sexual offenders (MSO, n = 136), youth with felony sexual offenders (FSO, n = 116) and youth with offenses against much younger children (CSO, n = 373). The sample consisted of boys with a mean age of 15.3 years ( SD = 1.5). The prevalence of dynamic risk factors for general delinquency was significantly lower in JSOs than in NSOs. More serious sexual offenses were associated with a lower prevalence of dynamic risk factors. In contrast, the impact of most dynamic risk factors on general recidivism proved to be significantly larger among JSOs compared to NSOs. The relative importance of the dynamic risk factors varied for each type of JSO, resulting in differences in the dynamic risk profiles of the various types of JSOs.

This study evaluated a group-based training program in social skills targeting reduction of problem behaviors in N = 161 children between 7 and 13 years of age. The effects of the intervention were tested in a quasi-experimental study, with a follow-up assessment 12 months after an optional continuation camp. At the post-test, both the experimental and control group showed less social problems and internalizing problems, whereas only the experimental group showed a small and positive change in social anxiety. After a 12 month follow-up, a subsample of the experimental group (children who followed a continuation camp) showed large positive changes for all outcome measures, except for externalizing problems, showing a small effect.

Background The intervention Home-Start is a wide spread program in a number of countries, among which the Netherlands. In Home-Start, trained volunteers visit families with young children in need of support once or twice a week to help them to deal with problems in family life and parenting. Little is known, however, about the effects of Home-Start. This study describes short-term and long term changes in families that participated in Home-Start. Methods Three groups of families with young children (at the start mean age 1 1/2 years) were followed over a period of four years. One of the groups of families participated in the Home-Start family support program in the first 6.6 months of this period. The two other groups were (1) a randomly selected community sample and (2) a group of families with elevated parenting stress and a need for support. Data were collected at the beginning of the study, (after median 1.4 months), directly after the intervention (median 6.6 months) and at two follow-up occasions (respectively, median 12.5 and 49.2 months after the first measurement). At the last measurement, data were available for 33, 45 and 34 families respectively. Results Multilevel analysis showed more positive changes in parental wellbeing, competence and behavior (more consistent behavior and less rejection) during the intervention period in the Home-Start group than in the two other groups. At the three year follow up, the Home-Start group showed, compared to the other groups, more improvements in parenting (more responsiveness), but also diminished child externalizing and internalizing behavior problems (less oppositional defiant behavior, affective problems and anxiety problems). Conclusions Home-Start seems a promising family support intervention that deserves to be studied more extensively.

This study investigated the development of personality extremity (deviation of an average midpoint of all 5 personality dimensions together) across childhood and adolescence, as well as relations between personality extremity and adjustment problems. For 598 children (mean age at Time 1 = 7.5 years), mothers and fathers reported the Big Five personality dimensions 4 times across 8 years. Children's vector length in a 5-dimensional configuration of the Big Five dimensions represented personality extremity. Mothers, fathers, and teachers reported children's internalizing and externalizing problems at the 1st and final measurement. In a cohort-sequential design, we modeled personality extremity in children and adolescents from ages 6 to 17 years. Growth mixture modeling revealed a similar solution for both mother and father reports: a large group with relatively short vectors that were stable over time (mother reports: 80.3%; father reports: 84.7%) and 2 smaller groups with relatively long vectors (i.e., extreme personality configuration). One group started out relatively extreme and decreased over time (mother reports: 13.2%; father reports: 10.4%), whereas the other group started out only slightly higher than the short vector group but increased across time (mother reports: 6.5%; father reports: 4.9%). Children who belonged to the increasingly extreme class experienced more internalizing and externalizing problems in late adolescence, controlling for previous levels of adjustment problems and the Big Five personality dimensions. Personality extremity may be important to consider when identifying children at risk for adjustment problems.

In the current meta-analysis, we investigated the link between child and adolescent sibling relationship quality (warmth, conflict and differential treatment) and internalizing and externalizing problems, and potential moderators of these associations. From 34 studies, we obtained 85 effect sizes, based on 12,257 children and adolescents. Results showed that more sibling warmth, less sibling conflict and less differential treatment were all significantly associated with less internalizing and externalizing problems. Effect sizes for sibling conflict were stronger than for sibling warmth and differential treatment, and associations for internalizing and externalizing problems were similar in strength. Effect sizes were moderated by sibling gender combination (stronger effects for higher percentage brother pairs), age difference between siblings (stronger effects for smaller age differences), and developmental period (stronger effect sizes for children than for adolescents). These results indicate that the sibling context is important when considering psychopathology. In addition to the overwhelming evidence of the impact of parent-child and marital relationships on child and adolescent development, the present meta-analysis is a reminder that the sibling relationship warrants more attention in research as well as in clinical settings.

Several models of individual differences in environmental sensitivity postulate increased sensitivity of some individuals to either stressful (diathesis-stress), supportive (vantage sensitivity), or both environments (differential susceptibility). In this meta-analysis we examine whether children vary in sensitivity to parenting depending on their temperament, and if so, which model can best be used to describe this sensitivity pattern. We tested whether associations between negative parenting and negative or positive child adjustment as well as between positive parenting and positive or negative child adjustment would be stronger among children higher on putative sensitivity markers (difficult temperament, negative emotionality, surgency, and effortful control). Longitudinal studies with children up to 18 years (k = 105 samples from 84 studies, Nmean = 6,153) that reported on a parenting-by-temperament interaction predicting child adjustment were included. We found 235 independent effect sizes for associations between parenting and child adjustment. Results showed that children with a more difficult temperament (compared with those with a more easy temperament) were more vulnerable to negative parenting, but also profited more from positive parenting, supporting the differential susceptibility model. Differences in susceptibility were expressed in externalizing and internalizing problems and in social and cognitive competence. Support for differential susceptibility for negative emotionality was, however, only present when this trait was assessed during infancy. Surgency and effortful control did not consistently moderate associations between parenting and child adjustment, providing little support for differential susceptibility, diathesis-stress, or vantage sensitivity models. Finally, parenting-by-temperament interactions were more pronounced when parenting was assessed using observations compared to questionnaires. (PsycINFO Database Record

This study examined long-term developmental changes in mother-rated lower-order facets of children's Big Five dimensions.Two independent community samples covering early childhood (2-4.5 years; N = 365, 39% girls) and middle childhood to the end of middle adolescence (6-17 years; N = 579, 50% girls) were used. All children had the Belgian nationality. Developmental changes were examined using cohort-sequential latent growth modeling on the 18 facets of the Hierarchical Personality Inventory for Children.In early childhood, changes were mostly similar across child gender. Between 2 and 4.5 years, several facets showed mean-level stability; others changed in the direction of less Extraversion and Emotional Stability, and more Benevolence and Imagination. The lower-order facets of Conscientiousness showed opposite changes. Gender differences became more apparent from middle childhood onward for facets of all dimensions except Imagination, for which no gender differences were found. Between 6 and 17 years, same-dimension facets showed different shapes of growth. Facets that changed linearly changed mostly in the direction of less Extraversion, Benevolence, Conscientiousness, Emotional Stability, and Imagination. Changes in facets for which nonlinear growth was found generally moved in direction or magnitude during developmental transitions.This study provides comprehensive, fine-grained knowledge about personality development during the first two decades of life.

Het leren omgaan met seksualiteit, lichamelijkheid, en intimiteit hoort bij een gezonde ontwikkeling. Intieme relaties en seksualiteit zijn voor jongeren zelf een belangrijk thema. De ervaringen die ze opdoen op dit gebied leggen een belangrijke basis voor latere intieme contacten en relaties. Ondanks dit is seksualiteit bij kinderen en adolescenten vaak een ‘vergeten’ onderwerp aan Nederlandse en Vlaamse universiteiten. Zowel in het onderzoek naar de ontwikkeling van jongeren als in de opleidingen voor ontwikkelingspsychologen, pedagogen en kinderpsychiaters wordt er relatief weinig aandacht aan besteed. Het onderzoek dat wordt verricht op dit gebied vindt meestal plaats bij buitenuniversitaire instellingen gespecialiseerd in (volwassen) seksualiteit en is vaak beschrijvend en cross-sectioneel van aard, met minder aandacht voor ontwikkelingsaspecten. Daarnaast zijn deze studies vaak gericht op seksualiteit per se, en minder op de relationele context waarbinnen seksualiteit plaatsvindt. In dit themanummer presenteren we de resultaten van enkele studies die een uitgebreider licht werpen op ‘het liefdesleven’ van Nederlandse en Vlaamse jongeren. Kenmerkend voor deze studies is dat ze, in tegenstelling tot veel onderzoek tot nog toe, seksualiteit breed definieren. Terwijl in het verleden de focus vooral lag op (de timing van) geslachtsgemeenschap en op seksueel risicogedrag, wordt seksualiteit nu gezien als een onderdeel van normale psychosociale ontwikkeling, met verschillende gedragingen, en ook met bijhorende emoties en cognities. Naast de beschrijving van verschillende trajecten waarlangs seksualiteit bij jongeren zich kan ontwikkelen, wordt in de studies in dit themanummer ook aandacht besteed aan de theorievorming en de verklaringen voor deze verschillende ontwikkelingstrajecten. De studies maken gebruik van verschillende onderzoeksmethodes (cross-sectioneel en longitudinaal kwantitatief onderzoek, kwalitatief onderzoek, experimenten) en zijn uitgevoerd bij verschillende groepen jongeren (naast ‘gewone’ Nederlandse en Vlaamse jongeren, ook jongeren die afkomstig zijn uit etnische en seksuele minderheden en jongeren uit klinische populaties). Hierdoor wordt een veelomvattend beeld geschetst van de relationele en seksuele ontwikkeling van de hedendaagse jeugd. Het themanummer begint met een beschrijving van de seksuele carriere die Nederlandse en Vlaamse jongeren tegenwoordig doorlopen (De Graaf, Beyers en Van Acker). Het begrip ‘seksuele carriere’ verwijst naar de volgorde en timing van de verschillende stappen die jongeren zetten wanneer ze zich ontwikkelen van relatief onervaren naar relatief ervaren op seksueel gebied: zoenen, voelen en strelen, elkaars geslachtsdelen met de hand stimuleren en ten slotte geslachtsgemeenschap. Door gebruik te maken kind en adolescent | jaargang 33 (2012), nr. 4, p. 175–178 | www.kindenadolescent.nl

Deficits in executive functions (EF) have been found in school-age children and adolescents with externalizing behavior disorders. Present meta-analysis was carried out to determine whether these EF impairments can also be found in preschool children with externalizing behavior problems. Twenty-two studies were included with a total of 4021 children. Four separate meta-analyses were conducted, concerning overall EF, working memory, inhibition and cognitive flexibility. A medium correlation effect size was obtained for overall EF (ESzr = 0.22) and for inhibition (0.24), whereas a small effect size was found for working memory (0.17) and for cognitive flexibility (0.13). Moderator analyses revealed a stronger effect for older preschoolers compared to younger preschoolers, and for children from referred samples compared to community samples. These results show that EF, especially inhibition, is related to externalizing behavior problems already in preschool years.

Objective: The present study tested the hypothesis that improvements in parental sense of competence during multisystemic therapy (MST) lead to positive changes in parenting, which in turn lead to a decrease of adolescent externalizing problems. Mediational models were tested separately for 3 dimensions of parenting (positive discipline, inept discipline, and relationship quality) that are targeted in MST. Each model included "3-path mediation," in which 2 mediators (i.e., changes in parental sense of competence and parenting dimension) intervene sequentially between the independent (i.e., intervention status) and dependent variable (i.e., change in externalizing problems). Method: Participants in this randomized controlled trial were 256 adolescents and their families who received either MST (n = 147) or treatment as usual (n = 109). In addition to pre- and postintervention assessments, 5 monthly within-intervention assessments took place. Results: Both preintervention-postintervention comparison, through analysis of covariance, and comparison of trajectories during intervention, through latent growth modeling, showed that MST enhanced growth in parental sense of competence and positive discipline, led to no deterioration in relationship quality, and resulted in a decrease in adolescent externalizing problems. The results supported a sequential pattern of change for positive discipline: Changes in parental sense of competence predicted changes in positive discipline, which in turn predicted decrease in adolescent externalizing problems. No support was found for mediated effects of inept discipline and relationship quality. Conclusions: The results affirm the importance of directly targeting parental sense of competence and positive discipline in future interventions aimed at decreasing adolescent problem behavior.

The aims of the study were: (1) to examine whether adolescents’ attachment and the perceived quality of the communication with their parents relate to effective resolution of parent–child conflicts and (2) to determine whether the pattern of associations changes with adolescents’ gender and age. The sample consisted of 295 adolescents who filled the questionnaires. Structural Equations Models showed that secure attachment predicted a positive communicative climate, which in turn, predicted a more frequent use of negotiation. Secure attachment was related to the use of withdrawal strategies. Anxious attachment was related to high levels of criticism and disputes with parents, which, in turn, predicted the use of all conflict resolution styles. Avoidant attachment was not related to any of the conflict resolution styles. No differences were found in the pattern of associations by gender and age. The relevance of the findings for the social relational perspective to conflict resolution is discussed.

We investigated fathers' personality and its interaction with children's personality as predictors of adolescent perceived parenting behavior. Data were used from the Flemish Study on Parenting, Personality and Development including 353 children. At Time 1 fathers rated their personality whereas teachers rated the child's personality. Six years later, adolescents rated their fathers' parenting. Higher levels of paternal Emotional Stability were associated with less perceived overreactive and more positive parenting behaviors only when children were high on Extraversion, Benevolence, Conscientiousness, Emotional Stability and Imagination. This study is of theoretical interest because the results demonstrate that different forms of parenting are associated with goodness-of-fit relations between parent and child personality and that these relations are different for negative and positive parenting. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Samenvatting Deze studie onderzocht hoe agressief/regeloverschrijdend gedrag en overreactief/ warm opvoedgedrag zich gezamenlijk ontwikkelen van de kindertijd tot in de adolescentie (9-17 jaar). Externaliserend gedrag is gemeten met moeder-/vaderrapportages van de Child Behavior Checklist (N=516). Overreactieve discipline is gemeten met zelfrapportages van de Parenting Scale, warmte met zelfrapportages van de Parenting Practices Questionnaire. Alle instrumenten zijn drie keer in zes jaar tijd afgenomen. De ontwikkelingstrajecten zijn bestudeerd door middel van versneld longitudinale latente groeimodellen. Resultaten suggereren dat, hoewel jongens op negenjarige leeftijd meer externaliserend gedrag vertoonden dan meisjes, jongens en meisjes evenveel stegen in regeloverschrijdend gedrag en daalden in agressief gedrag. Moeders en vaders toonden enigszins ander opvoedgedrag bij jongens dan bij meisjes. Associaties waren specifiek voor de typen externaliserend gedrag en opvoedgedrag, maar niet voor meisjes en jongens, of moeders en vaders. Beginniveaus van agressie waren gerelateerd aan veranderingen in opvoedgedrag, en vice-versa. Veranderingen in externaliserend gedrag waren geassocieerd met veranderingen in opvoedgedrag. De resultaten duiden op wederkerige effecten tussen de ontwikkeling van externaliserend gedrag en opvoedgedrag.

Obviously, evaluations of parenting programmes are important for improving clinical practice. Such evaluation studies can show us whether a parenting programme works and for whom and under which circumstances the programme has the best effects. An additional, often neglected, role of evaluation studies is to provide a test of the theory on which the programme is based. In the present paper, we discuss the ways in which evaluation studies can be used to test and refine theories pertaining to parenting behaviour and child development. Several examples of such studies are presented and both conceptual (specifying the theory-based expectations regarding working mechanisms) and methodological issues (quality criteria for real-life evaluation studies of parenting programmes) involved in evaluation research are addressed.

In dit onderzoek is het (relatieve) belang van dynamische risicofactoren voor recidive op verschillende leeftijden tijdens de adolescentie onderzocht. Secundaire analyses zijn uitgevoerd op de gegevens van 1.396 Nederlandse en 13.613 Amerikaanse jongeren in de leeftijd van 12 tot 18 jaar. Bij deze jongeren werd de Washington State Juvenile Court Assessment ingevuld, waarmee risicofactoren uit verschillende domeinen zijn gemeten. De resultaten laten zien dat de impact van vrijwel alle risicofactoren op recidive sterk afneemt naarmate de leeftijd toeneemt. Zowel bij de Nederlandse als bij de Amerikaanse jongeren heeft op 12-jarige leeftijd het domein gezin de grootste impact, op 13-jarige leeftijd het domein vrienden en vanaf 14-jarige leeftijd de domeinen vrienden en school. De implicaties van deze resultaten voor de bestrijding van jeugdcriminaliteit worden bediscussieerd.