Maria Concetta Miranda

Effects of Parental Monitoring and Exposure to Community Violence on Antisocial Behavior and Anxiety/Depression Among Adolescents

The aim of the research was to investigate the influence of gender, exposure to community violence, and parental monitoring upon antisocial behavior and anxiety/depression in adolescence. Involved in the study were 489 adolescents (290 males and 189 females) from 4 secondary schools in the city of Naples, Italy. The age of participants ranged from 16 to 19 (mean age = 17.53, standard deviation = 1.24). All were in the 3rd (11th grade) or 5th year (13th grade) of high school. Self-reported measures were used to assess antisocial behavior, symptoms of anxiety/depression, parental monitoring and exposure to community violence as a victim or as a witness. First of all we tested, through a hierarchical multiple regression, the independent contribution of gender, exposure to community violence and parental monitoring upon antisocial behavior and symptoms of anxiety/depression; then we tested the moderating role of gender and parental monitoring on the negative effects of exposure to violence. The results show that male gender, high level of exposure to community violence (both as a victim and a witness), and low level of parental monitoring predict a higher involvement in antisocial behavior. Female gender, being a victim and low level of parental monitoring predict symptoms of anxiety/depression. Furthermore, parental monitoring and gender play a moderating role, minimizing or amplifying the negative effects of exposure to community violence. The results of the research suggest that a similar pattern of risk and protective factors can give rise to multiple paths of adaptive or maladaptive development.

Neighborhood Danger, Parental Monitoring, Harsh Parenting, and Child Aggression in Nine Countries

Exposure to neighborhood danger during childhood has negative effects that permeate multiple dimensions of childhood. The current study examined whether mothers’, fathers’, and childrens perceptions of neighborhood danger are related to child aggression, whether parental monitoring moderates this relation, and whether harsh parenting mediates this relation. Interviews were conducted with a sample of 1,293 children (age M = 10.68, SD = .66; 51% girls) and their mothers (n = 1,282) and fathers (n = 1,075) in nine countries (China, Colombia, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, the Philippines, Sweden, Thailand, and the United States). Perceptions of greater neighborhood danger were associated with more child aggression in all nine countries according to mothers’ and fathers’ reports and in five of the nine countries according to childrens reports. Parental monitoring did not moderate the relation between perception of neighborhood danger and child aggression. The mediating role of harsh parenting was inconsistent across countries and reporters. Implications for further research are discussed, and include examination of more specific aspects of parental monitoring as well as more objective measures of neighborhood danger.

The contribution of school-related parental monitoring, self-determination, and self-efficacy to academic achievement

ABSTRACT The aim of this study was to examine the contribution of school-related parental monitoring (SR-PM), self-determined motivation, and academic self-efficacy to academic achievement across time. The authors hypothesized that SR-PM would affect academic achievement indirectly via its effects on self-determined motivation and academic self-efficacy beliefs. The participants were 501 adolescents (220 boys; 281 girls) in Grades 6 and 9 as well as their mothers and fathers. We carried out a 2-year, multi-informant study in which the authors assessed SR-PM (maternal and paternal reports), self-determined motivation and academic self-efficacy (self-report), and academic achievement (school records). The authors used structural equation model analysis to test the hypotheses. The analysis shows that SR-PM was positively associated with self-determined motivation and academic self-efficacy and that self-determined motivation and academic self-efficacy affected academic achievement. Furthermore, analyses of indirect effects showed that SR-PM influences academic achievement via its effects on self-determined motivation and academic self-efficacy.

The Adult Parental Acceptance–Rejection Questionnaire: A Cross-Cultural Comparison of Italian and American Short Forms

SYNOPSIS Objective. The aims of this article were to test the measurement invariance of the Italian and American versions of the Adult Parental Acceptance–Rejection Questionnaire and to compare adults’ remembrances of parental acceptance–rejection across the two nations. Design. The Adult Parental Acceptance–Rejection Questionnaire was administered to 564 Italian adults (M = 23.04 years) and 509 U.S. American adults (M = 22.09 years), matched by gender and age. The measurement invariance of the Parental Acceptance–Rejection Questionnaire was first established by means of multi-group confirmatory factor analyses. Results. The Parental Acceptance–Rejection Questionnaire is fully invariant across the two cultures, and adults organize their remembrances of mothers’ and fathers’ parenting around the same four classes of behavior in both nations. Italian and American adults tend to remember their parents as having been quite loving, with Italian parents being remembered as slightly less warm and more hostile than American parents. Conclusions. The full invariance of the Parental Acceptance–Rejection Questionnaire across the two populations represents additional strong evidence for the universality of interpersonal acceptance–rejection theory. Measurement invariance also confirmed that the Adult Parental Acceptance–Rejection Questionnaire (short form) can be used to measure adult remembrances of parental acceptance–rejection across these two populations.

Memories of parenting styles and communicative processes in adolescence

This study aims to (a) examine the links between adolescents’ memories of authoritative, authoritarian, and permissive parenting styles and parent–child communicative processes; (b) test adolescents’ and parents’ gender differences. Data were collected from 479 Italian adolescents (Mage = 16.62 years; SDage = 1.46) attending public high schools. Participants completed Parenting Styles and Dimensions Questionnaire and Parental Solicitation and Child Disclosure scales. Results indicated that memories of maternal authoritative style were significantly related to both parental solicitation and child disclosure, whereas memories of paternal authoritative style were significantly linked only with parental solicitation. No significant links involving neither authoritarian nor permissive styles were found and no differences between adolescent genders were identified. Present findings suggest that parent–child relationships featuring both warmth and control built through past interactions facilitate communicative processes during adolescence. Future research is needed to confirm the strong relationship between authoritative parenting style and communicative processes in adolescence.

How becoming a mother shapes implicit and explicit responses to infant cues

This study (a) investigates effects of the transition to motherhood on implicit and explicit responses to infant cues; (b) assesses influences of prior parenting and delivery experiences on implicit and explicit responses to infant cues; and (c) investigates relations between implicit and explicit responses to infant cues and parenting beliefs. A total of 45 pregnant women were followed from the sixth month of pregnancy to the third month after the childbirth and were administered a Single Category Implicit Association Test, a semantic differential scale, the Adult Parental Acceptance-Rejection scale, and the Parental Style Questionnaire. The transition to motherhood influenced explicit not implicit responses; only implicit responses were shaped by prior parenting experiences and mode of delivery; and parenting beliefs were related in independent and different ways to implicit and explicit evaluations. These findings indicate that implicit responses are valid and meaningful indices of maternal responsiveness to infants.

Esposizione alla violenza in contesti multipli e sintomi posttraumatici da stress : uno studio con adolescenti

Recenti ricerche hanno messo in evidenza la relazione tra esposizione alla violenza ambientale e sintomi post-traumatici da stress (PTS). Il presente studio si propone di approfondire la natura di tale relazione, indagando l’associazione tra i diversi contesti della violenza (casa, scuola, quartiere, mass-media) e lo status della violenza (vittima, testimone) e i sintomi PTS e gli effetti cumulativi dovuti alla simultanea esposizione alla violenza in contesti multipli. Lo studio ha coinvolto 725 adolescenti che frequentavano il primo anno di scuola superiore. I risultati hanno messo in evidenza che: i) a un incremento dell’esposizione alla violenza corrisponde un incremento di sintomi PTS; ii) tutti i contesti violenti indagati, a eccezione del contesto della violenza virtuale dei mass-media, sono significativamente associati all’incremento di sintomi PTS; iii) sia l’esperienza di vittima sia quella di testimone di violenza hanno un effetto sull’insorgenza di sintomi PTS; iv) vi e un effetto di risposta alla dose dell’esposizione alla violenza in contesti multipli sui sintomi PTS.