Childhood close family relationships and health.

Chen, Eric; Brody, Gene H.; Miller, Gregory E.

doi:10.1037/amp0000067

Cited by 125 publications

(134 citation statements)

References 89 publications

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“…Instead, frequent demands from others may predict higher levels of LPS-stimulated cytokine production among adolescents with close family relationships because such closeness creates an especially strong sense of obligation to meet the demands. Although adolescents who are close to their families may derive some benefit from feeling understood and supported, the sense of obligation that stems from closeness could make frequent demands especially physiologically detrimental (Chen, Brody, & Miller, under review). Adolescents who are close to their parents may be especially attuned to their parents’ needs or aware of the potential importance of their contributions to the family.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Moderators of the relationship between frequent family demands and inflammation among adolescents.

Levine¹,

Hoffer²,

Chen³

2017

Health Psychology

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Objective Frequent demands from others in relationships are associated with worse physiological and health outcomes. The present research investigated two potential moderators of the relationship between frequency of demands from one’s family and inflammatory profiles among adolescents: (1) closeness of adolescents’ relationships with their families and (2) the frequency with which adolescents provided help to their families. Methods 234 adolescents ages 13–16 (Mage = 14.53; 47.83% male) completed a daily dairy in which they reported on the frequency of demands made by family members. They were also interviewed about the closeness of their family relationships and reported in the daily diary on how frequently they provided help to their families. Adolescents also underwent a blood draw to assess low-grade inflammation and pro-inflammatory cytokine production in response to bacterial stimulation. Results More frequent demands from family predicted higher levels of low-grade inflammation and cytokine production in response to bacterial stimulation in adolescents. Family closeness moderated the relationship between frequent demands and stimulated cytokine production such that more frequent demands predicted higher cytokine production among adolescents who were closer to their families. Furthermore, frequency of providing help moderated the relationship between frequent demands and both low-grade inflammation and stimulated cytokine production, such that more frequent demands predicted worse inflammatory profiles among adolescents who provided more help to their families. Conclusions These findings build on previous work on family demands and health to show under what circumstances family demands might have a physiological cost.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Moderators of the relationship between frequent family demands and inflammation among adolescents.

Levine¹,

Hoffer²,

Chen³

2017

Health Psychology

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“…Psychologically, the mediation analyses suggested that more warm and nurturant parents may be better able to establish rules and routines that help their children learn emotion regulation strategies for coping with daily life stressors, which in turn may reduce the physiological effects of stress 6 , 46 , 47 . Nurturant parents may also be more involved and provide emotional and instrumental social support to youth that mitigate the effects of life stressors on their physiological systems 10 , 48 . If these adaptive psychological strategies and supports are maintained over the long term (as suggested by the long-term follow-up measures of the targets of the parenting intervention), this may lead to impacts over time such as the prevention of obesity and other related diseases that are at least in part behaviorally determined.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Unsupportive parenting moderates the effects of family psychosocial intervention on metabolic syndrome in African American youth

Chen

Miller

et al. 2017

Int J Obes

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Background/ObjectiveFamily relationships have been linked to obesity and related disorders in youth, but few studies have provided causal evidence of this association. This study tested the impact of a family psychosocial intervention on components of metabolic syndrome – a condition driven largely by abdominal obesity - in African American youth. In particular, the study tested whether effects were strongest among those who started at highest risk, that is, with high levels of unsupportive parenting at baseline.Subjects/MethodsRandomized clinical trial of a community sample of 391 African American youth (mean age=11.2 years) conducted in 2001–2002, with follow-up metabolic syndrome assessment in 2014–2015. Participants were assigned either to receive a weekly family intervention or to a control group. The primary study outcome was the number of components of metabolic syndrome that were clinically elevated at age 25, including central adiposity, blood pressure, triglycerides, glucose, and low high-density lipoproteins. Unsupportive parenting was measured by questionnaires at baseline.ResultsSignificant interaction effects were found between group assignment and baseline unsupportive parenting on counts of metabolic syndrome components in youth (beta=−.17, p=.03). Among those who started with higher levels of unsupportive parenting at age 11, participation in the family intervention reduced the number of clinically elevated components of the metabolic syndrome at age 25 relative to the control group. No such effect was seen among those who started with good parenting. Mediation analyses suggested that changes in the psychosocial targets of the parenting intervention partially accounted for the effects amongst those high in unsupportive parenting at baseline (effect size=−.350, se=.178).ConclusionsThese findings suggest that efforts to improve family relationships may be able to ameliorate the detrimental effects that harsh and unsupportive parenting have on obesity-related outcomes such as metabolic syndrome in youth.

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“…In what ways can secure attachment serve as a buffer from exposure to adverse environmental or contextual exposures? We (Ehrlich et al, 2016) and others (Chen, Brody, & Miller, 2017) have previously suggested that attachment security may play a stressbuffering role for children who are experiencing other forms of stress; it may be that the protective role of attachment security is more easily identified under conditions of high but not low stress.…”

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confidence: 82%

Attachment and physical health: introduction to the special issue

Ehrlich

Cassidy

2018

Attachment & Human Development

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Over the last 40 years, researchers have made considerable progress identifying the ways in which attachment security shapes individuals' social and emotional functioning. In recent years, new investigations have shed light on connections between attachment and physiological systems in the body. The goal of this special issue is to focus attention on how attachment may be related to biological markers that relate to physical health, including inflammation, cortisol, and cardiometabolic risk. The papers in this special issue, highlighted in this introduction, demonstrate that these links may exist across the lifespan. We conclude with several examples of extensions of this work might emerge in the years to come.

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Childhood close family relationships and health.

Cited by 125 publications

References 89 publications

Moderators of the relationship between frequent family demands and inflammation among adolescents.

Moderators of the relationship between frequent family demands and inflammation among adolescents.

Unsupportive parenting moderates the effects of family psychosocial intervention on metabolic syndrome in African American youth

Attachment and physical health: introduction to the special issue

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