Chrystyna D. Kouros

Marital Psychological and Physical Aggression and Children's Mental and Physical Health: Direct, Mediated, and Moderated Effects.

Relations between marital aggression (psychological and physical) and childrens health were examined. Childrens emotional insecurity was assessed as a mediator of these relations, with distinctions made between marital aggression against mothers and fathers and ethnicity (African American or European American), socioeconomic status, and child gender examined as moderators of effects. Participants were 251 community-recruited families, with multiple reporters of each construct. Aggression against either parent yielded similar effects for children. Childrens emotional insecurity mediated the relation between marital aggression and childrens internalizing, externalizing, and posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms. No differences were found in these pathways for African American and European American families or as a function of socioeconomic status or child gender.

Interrelations and moderators of longitudinal links between marital satisfaction and depressive symptoms among couples in established relationships.

Extending research based on newlywed couples, this study investigated longitudinal associations between marital satisfaction and depressive symptoms in a community sample of 296 couples in established relationships (M = 13.25 years, SD = 5.98) with children (M age = 11.05 years, SD = 2.31). Support was found for reciprocal relations between marital satisfaction and depressive symptoms in couples with established relationships. Further extending previous work, the study showed that relationship length and hostile marital conflict were significant moderators of these linkages. Husbands in longer term relationships were more vulnerable to depressive symptoms in the context of marital problems compared with husbands in shorter term relationships. At higher levels of marital conflict, the negative relationship between marital satisfaction and depressive symptoms was strengthened. Reflecting an unexpected finding, increased conflict buffered spouses from marital dissatisfaction in the context of depressive symptoms.

Early trajectories of interparental conflict and externalizing problems as predictors of social competence in preadolescence

Consistent with developmental cascade notions, the present study investigated (a) associations between trajectories of interparental conflict and early externalizing problems during childhood and (b) early trajectories of externalizing problems as a pathway by which interparental conflict impacts childrens social competence in preadolescence. Participants were 235 children and their parents and teachers. Children were assessed annually for 3 years, beginning when they were in kindergarten. Parents provided reports of interparental conflict and child externalizing problems. Childrens social competence (prosocial behavior, social problems) was assessed approximately 5 years later via parent and teacher reports. Results from parallel process models indicated that changes in interparental conflict were positively associated with changes in externalizing problems during childhood. Further, demonstrating pathways consistent with notions of developmental cascades, early trajectories of externalizing problems accounted for the longitudinal link between early trajectories of interparental conflict and childrens social problems in preadolescence.

Children and Violence: The Role of Children’s Regulation in the Marital Aggression–Child Adjustment Link

Exposure to marital psychological and physical abuse has been established as a risk factor for children’s socio-emotional, behavioral, and cognitive problems. Understanding the processes by which children develop symptoms of psychopathology and deficits in cognitive functioning in the context of marital aggression is imperative for developing efficient and effective treatment programs for children and families, and has far-reaching mental health implications. The present paper outlines our research program, Child Regulation and Exposure to Marital Aggression, which focuses on children’s emotional and physiological reactivity and regulation as pathways in the marital aggression–child development link. Findings from our research program, which highlight the importance of children’s regulatory processes for understanding children’s adjustment in contexts of intimate partner violence, are presented, and future directions in this line of inquiry are outlined.

Daily mood and sleep: reciprocal relations and links with adjustment problems.

Childrens sleep problems are common and associated with increased risk for adjustment problems. We examined daily links between childrens sleep and mood, using a daily diary method and actigraphy. We also tested childrens daily mood as a mediator of relations among sleep and childrens broader internalizing and externalizing symptoms. A community sample of 142 children (mean age = 10.69 years; 57% girls; 69% European American, 31% African American) and their parents participated. For 1 week, children wore actigraphs and parents completed a daily telephone interview about their childs mood. Following the week of actigraphy, mothers and fathers reported on their childs adjustment. Multi‐level models indicated within‐person relations between childrens mood and subsequent sleep fragmentation (indicated by increased activity) and sleep latency, and between‐person relations between sleep latency and subsequent mood on the next day. Significant indirect effects were found such that a more negative daily mood (aggregated across diary days) mediated relations between poor sleep efficiency and longer sleep latency and parent‐reported internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Findings extend previous research by highlighting disruptions to childrens daily mood as a potential mechanism linking sleep problems to childrens mental health.

Emotions in marital conflict interactions: Empathic accuracy, assumed similarity, and the moderating context of depressive symptoms

To examine affectivity in marital interaction, 267 couples participated in laboratory-based marital conflicts and afterward rated their own and their spouses’ emotions of positivity, anger, sadness, and fear. Actor—Partner Interdependence Models estimated empathic accuracy and assumed similarity effects, with symptoms of depression tested as a moderator. Depressive symptoms moderated spouses’ ratings of their partners’ negative emotions such that assumed similarity was higher and empathic accuracy was lower in the context of elevated depressive symptoms. The results suggest that depression may influence spouses’ judgments of how closely linked partner emotions are (i.e., assumed similarity) and spouses’ abilities to accurately perceive their partners’ negative emotions (i.e., empathic accuracy), potentially contributing to the established marital dysfunction—psychological distress cycle.

The Role of Trauma Symptoms in Nonsuicidal Self-Injury

Reports of traumatic events by individuals who engage in nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) are common; yet, evidence for the relation between traumatic events and NSSI is inconclusive. This review explores the thesis that trauma symptoms, rather than the experience of a traumatic event per se, underlie this relation, specifically suggesting that trauma symptoms might serve as a mediator. The literature indicates that self-injury plays an important functional role in coping with trauma symptoms such that self-injury can provide an escape from intrusive thoughts and aversive emotional states, as well as end dissociation and periods of numbness through the generation of feelings. Additionally, trauma symptoms have been shown to mediate the relation between the occurrence of traumatic events and NSSI. Taken together, trauma symptoms may play an important role in the development and maintenance of NSSI. The review concludes with treatment implications and future directions for research.

Concurrent and Short-Term Prospective Relations among Neurocognitive Functioning, Coping, and Depressive Symptoms in Youth

The present short-term longitudinal study examined the concurrent and prospective relations among executive functioning (i.e., working memory and cognitive flexibility), coping (primary and secondary control coping), and depressive symptoms in children. Participants were 192 children between 9 and 15 years old (M age = 12.36 years, SD = 1.77) recruited from the community. Youth were individually administered neuropsychological measures of executive functioning and intelligence and completed self-report measures of executive dysfunction, coping, and depressive symptoms in small groups; the latter two measures were completed again 4 months later (Time 2 [T2]). Linear regression analyses were used to examine direct associations among executive functions, coping, and depressive symptoms, and a bootstrapping procedure was used to test indirect effects of executive functioning on depressive symptoms through coping. Significant prospective relations were found between working memory measured at Time 1 (T1) and both primary and secondary control coping measured at T2, controlling for T1 coping. T1 cognitive flexibility significantly predicted T2 secondary control coping, controlling for T1 coping. Working memory deficits significantly predicted increases in depressive symptoms 4 months later, controlling for T1 depressive symptoms. Bootstrap analyses revealed that primary and secondary control coping each partially mediated the relation between working memory and depressive symptoms; secondary control coping partially mediated the relation between cognitive flexibility and depressive symptoms. Coping may be one pathway through which deficits in executive functioning contribute to childrens symptoms of depression.

Interactive models of depression vulnerability: the role of childhood trauma, dysfunctional attitudes, and coping.

OBJECTIVES This prospective study investigated whether within-individual relations between depression vulnerability factors (childhood trauma, dysfunctional attitudes, maladaptive coping) and depressive symptom trajectories varied as a function of the number of prior major depressive episodes (MDEs) experienced in their lifetime. DESIGN Participants were 68 young adults who varied with regard to their history of depression; 32 were remitted depressed and 36 were never depressed. METHODS Depressive symptoms and disorders were assessed using semi-structured psychiatric interviews conducted twice over a 6-month period; interviews yielded weekly ratings of depressive symptoms during the follow-up interval. Childhood trauma, dysfunctional attitudes and coping were assessed with self-report measures. Data analyses were conducted using time-lagged multilevel models. RESULTS Individuals with more previous MDEs who reported greater childhood trauma exposure, more dysfunctional attitudes, or greater use of maladaptive coping strategies experienced more rapid increases in depressive symptoms during the follow-up period. A significant interaction of coping, number of previous MDEs, and time was found indicating that among individuals with less adaptive coping (i.e., lower primary or lower secondary control coping scores), depressive symptoms rating (DSR) increased significantly in relation to number of prior depressive episodes; no change in DSR was observed for never-depressed individuals. Among individuals with higher primary control coping scores, significant increases in DSR scores were observed for individuals with ≥3 prior MDEs only. CONCLUSIONS Findings highlight the need for treatment and prevention programmes that target stress reactivity and coping strategies early in the course of depression.

Dynamic temporal relations between anxious and depressive symptoms across adolescence.

Symptoms of anxiety and depression are prevalent among adolescents and associated with impairment in multiple domains of functioning. Moreover, anxiety and depression frequently co-occur, with estimated comorbidity rates as high as 75%. Whereas previous research has shown that anxiety symptoms predict increased depressive symptoms over time, the relation between depressive symptoms and later anxiety symptoms has been inconsistent. The present study examined dynamic relations between anxiety and depressive symptoms across adolescence and explored whether these longitudinal relations were moderated by maternal history of anxiety, family relationship quality, or childrens attributional style. Participants included 240 children (M age = 11.86 years; 53.9% female) and their mothers, who were assessed annually for 6 years. Children reported on their depressive symptoms and mothers reported on their childs anxiety symptoms. Dynamic latent change score models indicated that anxiety symptoms predicted subsequent elevations in depressive symptoms over time. Depressive symptoms predicted subsequent elevations in anxiety symptoms among children who had mothers with a history of anxiety, reported low family relationship quality, or had high levels of negative attributions. Thus, whereas anxiety symptoms were a robust predictor of later depressive symptoms during adolescence, contextual and individual factors may be important to consider when examining relations between depressive symptoms and subsequent change in anxiety symptoms.