M. Christine Lovejoy

Maternal depression and parenting behavior: A meta-analytic review

The results of 46 observational studies were analyzed to assess the strength of the association between depression and parenting behavior and to identify variables that moderated the effects. The association between depression and parenting was manifest most strongly for negative maternal behavior and was evident to a somewhat lesser degree in disengagement from the child. The association between depression and positive maternal behavior was relatively weak, albeit significant. Effects for negative maternal behavior were moderated by timing of the depression: Current depression was associated with the largest effects. However, residual effects of prior depression were apparent for all behaviors. Socioeconomic status, child age, and methodological variables moderated the effects for positive behavior: Effects were strongest for studies of disadvantaged women and mothers of infants. Studies using diagnostic interviews and self-report measures yielded similar effects, suggesting that deficits are not specific to depressive disorder. Research is needed to identify factors that affect the magnitude of parenting deficits among women who are experiencing depression and other psychological difficulties.

A Meta-Analysis of Father Involvement in Parent Training

Objective: Investigate (a) whether including fathers in parent training enhances outcomes and (b) whether mothers and fathers benefit equally from parent training. Method: Using traditional meta-analysis methodology, 26 studies that could answer the research questions were identified and meta-analyzed. Results: Studies that included fathers, compared with those that did not, reported significantly more positive changes in childrens behavior and desirable parenting practices, but not in perceptions toward parenting. Compared with mothers, fathers reported fewer desirable gains from parent training. Conclusions: Fathers should not be excluded from parent training and should be encouraged to attend. Further research should seek to understand how parent-training programs might better meet the needs of fathers.

Development and initial validation of the Parent Behavior Inventory

The Parent Behavior Inventory (PBI) is a brief measure of parenting behavior for use with the parents of preschool-age and young school-age children. It may be used as a parent self-report measure, a report measure for others familiar with the parent, or as an observational rating scale. Its parallel forms offer clinicians and researchers a single measure capable of multimethod, multi-informant, and multisetting assessment. The PBIs two independent scales, Supportive/Engaged and Hostile/Coercive, have sufficient content validity, show adequate internal consistency and test-retest reliability, and relate to measures of parental affect, parental stress, and child behavior problems. Evidence for its usefulness as a rating scale is presented. The results provide support for the reliability and construct validity of the PBI and demonstrate its versatility as a measure of parenting behavior.

Interpretations of child compliance in individuals at high- and low-risk for child physical abuse

OBJECTIVE Our studies compared individuals at high- and low-risk for child physical abuse on measures of social information processing. METHOD Two studies were conducted using similar methods. Twenty-eight childless women in Study 1 and 36 mothers in Study 2 read vignettes of parent-child interactions in which the childs level of compliance was difficult to interpret. Participants were asked a series of questions about the childs behavior and their own reactions. RESULTS Accuracy and bias in identifying compliant behavior were assessed using a signal detection paradigm. In both samples, high- and low-risk participants did not differ in their overall accuracy in identifying childrens behaviors. However, they used different evaluation standards such that high-risk participants were biased toward seeing more noncompliance and low-risk participants were biased toward seeing more compliance. High- and low-risk participants also made different types of errors in interpreting childrens behavior. Low-risk participants were more likely to misinterpret noncompliant behavior as compliant, and there was a trend for high-risk participants to not perceive compliant behavior when it occurred. There were no differences in reported disciplinary responses in either study and the results for affective reactions were mixed. CONCLUSIONS Specific differences in social information processing between high- and low-risk individuals replicated across samples, suggesting a reliable association between evaluation standards and risk of child physical abuse. However, the absence of differences in reported discipline and inconsistent findings on affective reactions indicate the need to identify the mechanism through which cognition influences parenting behavior.

Subsyndromal unipolar and bipolar disorders. II: Comparisons on daily stress levels

We examined the stress patterns of individuals with cyclothymia, intermittent depression, and no affective disorder in a nonclinical sample. In a conceptual replication and extension of Goplerud and Depue (1985), participants completed a standardized measure of hassles and ratings of their most pleasant and unpleasant experiences each day for 28 days. Individuals with cyclothymia reported a higher number of daily stressors than either normal controls or individuals with intermittent depression. Individuals in both affective groups rated daily hassles as more stressful than controls. They also rated their most unpleasant daily experiences more negatively; however, objective ratings of unpleasant experiences did not corroborate these subjective impressions. The results are discussed in terms of possible cognitive diatheses and stress-generation mechanisms that may contribute to the chronicity of subsyndromal disorders and the development of major affective disorders.

Evaluating the Structural Validity of Measures of Hierarchical Models: An Illustrative Example Using the Social Problem-Solving Inventory

The usefulness of examining the structural validity of scores on multidimensional measures using nested hierarchical model comparisons was evaluated in two studies using the Social Problem-Solving Inventory (SPSI). In Study 1, the authors systematically explored the factor structure of the measure using hierarchical confirmatory factor analysis, contrasting the results with past research using more traditional approaches. In Study 2, the authors developed and validated a shorter version of the SPSI based on the most promising items identified in the first study. Results from Study 2, using an independent sample, confirmed the stability of the structure and offered construct-related validity evidence for the new scales. Taken together, the results suggest that the modest fit of the SPSI measurement model reported in past research is principally the result of the inclusion of psychometrically poor items rather than a problem with the conceptual model itself. Implications are discussed as related to the organization of social problem-solving dimensions and strategies for evaluating structural validity.

When do self-discrepancies predict negative emotions? Exploring formal operational thought and abstract reasoning skills as moderators

Individual differences in higher-order cognitive abilities may be an important piece to understanding how and when self-discrepancies lead to negative emotions. In the current study, three measures of reasoning abilities were considered as potential moderators of the relationship between self-discrepancies and depression and anxiety symptoms. Participants (N = 162) completed measures assessing self-discrepancies, depression and anxiety symptoms, and were administered measures examining formal operational thought, and verbal and non-verbal abstract reasoning skills. Both formal operational thought and verbal abstract reasoning were significant moderators of the relationship between actual:ideal discrepancies and depressive symptoms. Discrepancies predicted depressive symptoms for individuals with higher levels of formal operational thought and verbal abstract reasoning skills, but not for those with lower levels. The discussion focuses on the need to consider advanced reasoning skills when examining self-discrepancies.

Understanding the relationship between actual:ideal discrepancies and depressive symptoms: A developmental examination

Self-discrepancy theory (SDT) is one framework for understanding how goal failure is associated with depressive symptoms. The present studies sought to examine the variance in depressive symptoms explained by actual:ideal discrepancies, beyond what is accounted for by actual-self ratings. Additionally, gender and grade were examined as potential moderators in the relationship. In Study 1 (N = 228), discrepancies accounted for additional variance in the level of depressive symptoms beyond what was explained by actual-self ratings in a college sample. In Study 2 (N = 192), while similar global patterns were found, gender and grade differences emerged. For boys, the relationship between actual:ideal discrepancies and depressive symptoms was due to actual-self ratings. For girls, a developmental pattern suggested that actual:ideal discrepancies become more important to the prediction of depressive symptoms among older girls. Implications for the emergence of the discrepancy-depression association are discussed.

Loss and the Organization of Affect

The present studies evaluated the association between positive affect (PA) and negative affect (NA) following romantic relationship loss experiences, as well as following less stressful romantic relationship situations, given theoretical evidence that the structure of affect may differ following a relationship loss. Across two studies, evidence suggested that the association between NA and PA was more strongly inverse following romantic relationship loss experiences when compared to less stressful relationship experiences. Such findings provide important implications for the study of romantic relationship loss, as well as the treatment of psychopathology following romantic relationship loss.