Relations Among Father's Presence, Family Conflict, and Adolescent Adjustment in Northern Ireland

Luningham, Justin M.; Merrilees, Christine E.; Taylor, Laura K.; Goeke‐Morey, Marcie C.; Shirlow, Peter; Wentz, Bethany; Cummings, E. Mark

doi:10.1111/cdev.13446

Cited by 7 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 49 publications

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“…Finally, this study considers only the relations between mothers and adolescents and did not survey fathers. The role of fathers' impact on adolescent adjustment in Northern Ireland is discussed elsewhere (Luningham et al., 2020 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bidirectional effects between maternal mental health and adolescent internalizing problems across six years in Northern Ireland

et al. 2022

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Background: Emerging evidence indicates the existence of bidirectional relations between mothers' mental health and adolescent adjustment, but few studies have examined these relations in contexts of high environmental adversity, including economic deprivation and political violence. Given other empirical connections between political violence and adolescent adjustment problems, the impact of child adjustment problems on maternal mental health may be exacerbated in contexts of sectarian violence.Methods: Addressing this gap, latent change score modeling was used to examine interrelations between trajectories of maternal mental health and adolescent internalizing symptoms over time in communities afflicted by political conflict. Over six years, 999 adolescent-mother dyads participated in a longitudinal study in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Six-hundred ninety-five families were originally recruited in year 1, with 304 recruited to supplement the sample in year 3; the largest available sample for a given year was 760 dyads. Models including maternal mental health, adolescent internalizing symptomatology, and political violence (i.e., sectarian antisocial behavior) as a time-varying covariate were tested.Results: Results demonstrated that for both mothers and adolescents in a dyadic pairing, higher rates of symptomology in one member of the dyad were related to symptoms observed in the other member. Results also suggest that political violence and factors related to social deprivation increased symptoms across the dyad. Conclusion:This study advances understanding of the bidirectional impact between

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bidirectional effects between maternal mental health and adolescent internalizing problems across six years in Northern Ireland

et al. 2022

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“…Although exposure to sectarian violence predicted more aggression, adolescents with a cohesive family environment were comparatively less aggressive and participated less in sectarian acts (Taylor et al, 2016). Father presence in the family was linked with reduced internalizing symptoms (Luningham et al, 2020), and mothers' use of social coping helped to buffer the negative impact of community violence on their mental health (Taylor et al, 2013).…”

Section: History Of the Projectmentioning

confidence: 99%

Youth in Northern Ireland: Linking Violence Exposure, Emotional Insecurity, and the Political Macrosystem

Townsend

Taylor

Merrilees

et al. 2020

Monographs Society Res Child

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Growing up in the aftermath of armed conflict puts youth at a higher risk for psychopathology-particularly in societies like Northern Ireland which continue to be characterized by intergroup tension and cyclical violence. This risk may be heightened during adolescence, when youth are beginning to explore their identities and are becoming more aware of intergroup dynamics in both their immediate communities and the broader society. It is also during this stage when youth increasingly witness or engage in antisocial behavior and sectarian activities. A series of studies in Belfast conducted by Cummings et al. (2014, Child Dev Perspect, 12(1), 16-38; 2019, J Clin Child Adolesc Psychol, 48(2), 296-305) showed that adolescents' exposure to sectarian violence resulted in heightened emotional insecurity about the community and subsequent adjustment problems. Though the impact of direct exposure to violence is well documented, few studies have accounted for the influence of sectarianism that occurs outside of one's immediate environment. These influences may include the general climate surrounding events that are not experienced firsthand but are nonetheless salient, such as the overarching levels of tension between groups or societal discourse that is threatening to one's identity. These higher-level influences, often referred to collectively as the macrosystem, are a necessary component to consider for adequately assessing one's socio-developmental environment. Yet,

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“…These are toxic situations that inhibit high-quality family interactions within the interactive systems which foster healthy psychological development. Recent studies show that the relationship between exposure to family conflict and the presence of adverse experiences is related to the presence of emotional and behavioral problems in children and adolescents [59,60]. Finally, in subscale 5 called Parental Profile Fostering Child Development, the factor structure proposed was not confirmed by the factor analysis.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

Family Context Assessment in Middle Childhood: A Tool Supporting Social, Educational, and Public Health Interventions

Barreto-Zarza

Miguél

Ibarluzea

et al. 2021

IJERPH

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Quality of the family context has an important role in the physical and mental health of children; that is why it is important to have reliable and updated tools. This study aims to design and validate a new tool, the Haezi Etxadi Family Assessment Scale 7–11 (HEFAS 7–11), to assess family context quality in middle childhood. A sample of two cohorts of 772 Spanish families with children aged between 7 and 11 (M = 9.39 years; SD = 1.57; 51.2% girls), participated in the study. Results showed good psychometric properties for the instrument and the confirmatory factor analysis showed a five individual subscales structure: 1. Promotion of Cognitive and Linguistic Development (α = 0.79); 2. Promotion of Socio Emotional Development (α = 0.83); 3. Organization of Physical Environment and Social Context (α = 0.73); 4. Parental Stress & Conflict (α = 0.75); and 5. Parental Profile Fostering Child Development (α = 0.80). The association between HEFAS 7–11 and Trial Making Test was also analyzed to determine the concurrent validity of the instrument. The new scale shows its potential in the fields of research, social and educational, to know those variables that need to be promoted under the approach of positive parenting from a public health perspective.

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Relations Among Father's Presence, Family Conflict, and Adolescent Adjustment in Northern Ireland

Cited by 7 publications

References 49 publications

Bidirectional effects between maternal mental health and adolescent internalizing problems across six years in Northern Ireland

Bidirectional effects between maternal mental health and adolescent internalizing problems across six years in Northern Ireland

Youth in Northern Ireland: Linking Violence Exposure, Emotional Insecurity, and the Political Macrosystem

Family Context Assessment in Middle Childhood: A Tool Supporting Social, Educational, and Public Health Interventions

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