Melissa W. George

Predictors of Group Leaders’ Perceptions of Parents’ Initial and Dynamic Engagement in a Family Preventive Intervention

Attendance and participant engagement are two consistent predictors of the efficacy of preventive interventions. Although both are typically measured and analyzed as static factors, evidence indicates patterns of attendance and participant engagement change over the course of intervention. Understanding parent characteristics that predict engagement may inform strategies to maximize parents’ involvement thereby increasing intervention uptake and improving effects. This study examined whether parents’ baseline characteristics predicted their engagement in a family-based intervention. The study was conducted with 515 caregivers participating in a randomized comparative trial testing the efficacy of The Mindfulness-Enhanced Strengthening Families Program 10-14 (MSFP 10-14) and The Strengthening Families Program: For Parents and Youth 10-14 (SFP 10-14). Facilitator ratings were used to measure parent engagement. Results indicated generally high levels of initial engagement with small, but a significant linear increase across the intervention. Parental education level and involvement with their youth predicted engagement in the first session, while parents’ marital/relationship status, avoidance of conflict with their youth, involvement with their youth, and perceived parent-youth relationship quality at baseline predicted change in engagement. Results highlight engagement as a dynamic construct that changes over time and indicates potential variables that may help identify parents that may need support engaging in this intervention.

Are there individual and sibling differences in appraisals of interparental conflict

Despite decades of empirical literature documenting the harmful effects of frequent, intense, violent, and unresolved interparental conflict on children’s adjustment, there is considerable variability in the extent to which marital conflict contributes to the development of children’s emotional and behavioral problems. Past research has documented links between properties of interparental conflict itself (e.g., intensity, frequency), children’s appraisals of conflict, and children’s outcomes, yet less is known about the role of individual and family characteristics in predicting children’s conflict appraisals. Sibling studies may be especially helpful in understanding these individual differences yet are notably lacking in marital conflict research. The current study examines individual- and family-characteristic predictors of adolescents’ appraisals of conflict in a study of 153 adolescents as well as sibling similarities in conflict appraisals in a subsample of 50 pairs of siblings. Controlling for parent reports of the frequency, intensity, and resolution of interparental conflict, parent–child relationship quality and stressful life events predicted conflict appraisals. In addition, there was nonindependence of sibling appraisals of conflict properties, but self-blame and threat appraisals appeared independent across siblings. Greater discrepancies in siblings’ conflict appraisals were related to more negative marital conflict and discrepancies in parent–child relationship quality, and were found in mixed-sex sibling dyads. Implications for future studies on factors that impact children’s appraisals of conflict and in particular making use of sibling studies to examine shared environmental and individual influences on appraisals is highlighted.

Trust: An innovative tool for investigating marital conflict in response to a novel stressor.

The goal of this study was to investigate an innovative approach to elicit marital conflict behaviors in response to a novel stressor. Past research has relied exclusively on assessments of marital conflict that measure reoccurring or past conflict. Couples engaged in 2 interactions: (a) a standardized conflict discussion and (b) the Timed Reconstruction of Unseen Structures Together (TRUST) task, in which couples worked together to solve an unfamiliar problem. Results indicated that the TRUST task was effective at eliciting both positive and negative conflict behaviors and explained unique variance in self-reports of marital conflict and resolution after controlling for behavior during the standardized conflict discussion. Couples on average displayed more positive and fewer negative conflict behaviors during the TRUST task relative to the conflict discussion task and also rated the novel task as more difficult and stressful. In bivariate analyses, negative behaviors during the TRUST task were related to self-reports of marital conflict and resolution in expected directions for both men and women. In contrast, men who displayed more positive behaviors during the TRUST task self-reported more frequent and intense marital conflict; positive behaviors during the TRUST task were unrelated to womens self-reports of marital conflict or resolution. Implications and directions for future research are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record

Mental Health Service Use Among Adolescents Experiencing Emotional/Behavioral Problems and School Impairment:

Mental health service utilization research is needed for students who are likely to receive school mental health services, yet little research exists for adolescents experiencing emotional/behavioral problems and school impairment. This study addressed this gap using secondary data analyses conducted on baseline data from a large trial testing school-based interventions for high school students (n = 647) experiencing emotional/behavioral problems and school impairment. Analyses examined the number and type (community-based or school-based psychosocial, inpatient, pharmacological treatment) of services used, and sociodemographics associated with services. Sixty-nine percent had received at least one service for their emotional/behavioral problems prior to the study, with nearly half of those having only received a single service. Community-based psychosocial and pharmacological treatments were most common. White adolescents and those in special education were more likely to have received services, particularly community-based and pharmacological treatment. On average, adolescents had not received any services until early adolescence. Findings add to increasing literature on the current status of service use among adolescents with emotional/behavioral problems and the potential for schools to increase access for those in need.

The Effects of Sample Size on the Estimation of Regression Mixture Models

Regression mixture models are a statistical approach used for estimating heterogeneity in effects. This study investigates the impact of sample size on regression mixture’s ability to produce “stable” results. Monte Carlo simulations and analysis of resamples from an application data set were used to illustrate the types of problems that may occur with small samples in real data sets. The results suggest that (a) when class separation is low, very large sample sizes may be needed to obtain stable results; (b) it may often be necessary to consider a preponderance of evidence in latent class enumeration; (c) regression mixtures with ordinal outcomes result in even more instability; and (d) with small samples, it is possible to obtain spurious results without any clear indication of there being a problem.