Patricia Garrett-Peters

Bidirectional genetic and environmental influences on mother and child behavior: The family system as the unit of analyses

Family systems theory proposes that an individuals functioning depends on interactive processes within the self and within the context of dyadic family subsystems. Previous research on these processes has focused largely on behavioral, cognitive, and psychophysiological properties of the individual and the dyad. The goals of this study were to explore genetic and environmental interactions within the family system by examining how the dopamine receptor D2 gene (DRD2) A1+ polymorphism in mothers and children relates to maternal sensitivity, how maternal and child characteristics might mediate those effects, and whether maternal sensitivity moderates the association between DRD2 A1+ and child affective problems. Evidence is found for an evocative effect of child polymorphism on parenting behavior, and for a moderating effect of child polymorphism on the association between maternal sensitivity and later child affective problems. Findings are discussed from a family systems perspective, highlighting the role of the family as a context for gene expression in both mothers and children.

Father Contributions to Cortisol Responses in Infancy and Toddlerhood

The current study is one of the first prospective examinations of longitudinal associations between observed father caregiving behaviors and child cortisol reactivity and regulation in response to emotional arousal. Observations of father and mother caregiving behaviors and child cortisol levels in response to challenges at 7 months and 24 months of child age were collected. Analyses were based on a subsample of children from the Family Life Project who lived with both their biological mothers and fathers and for whom there was at least partial cortisol data (7 months: n = 717; 24 months: n = 579). At the challenge conducted at 7 months of child age, 49.0% of the sample were girls; racial composition of the sample was 25.8% African American and 74.2% European American. At the challenge conducted at 24 months of child age 49.9% of the sample were girls; racial composition was 24.7% African American and 75.3% European American. We conducted analyses across assessment points simultaneously using mixed linear modeling for repeated measures data to test for differential effects of fathering across infancy and toddlerhood. Concurrent measures of father negativity were positively associated with greater increases in child cortisol levels in response to emotion challenge at 7 months (p = .01) and with higher overall levels of cortisol at 24 months (p < .001). However, there was no evidence that father caregiving during infancy independently predicted later cortisol activity during toddlerhood.

Cross-cultural differences in children's emotional reactions to a disappointing situation

Cross-cultural differences in emotional expressions following disappointment were examined in 59 Chinese American (CA) and 58 European American (EA) children. Children aged four or seven participated in a disappointing gift situation. Dimensions of expressive behaviors following disappointment were coded and included positive, negative, social monitoring, and tension behaviors. Significant main effects emerged for ethnicity and age, with EA children and older children demonstrating more positive behaviors than CA children and younger children, respectively. Younger children also demonstrated significantly more negative behaviors than older children. This main effect was qualified by a nearly significant age by ethnicity interaction, indicating developmental differences in the negative expressions for the EA group, but not for the CA group. Among the CA group, child adaptation of Western values was inversely associated with negative expressions, and a positive trend was found for positive expressions. Statistical trends were also found in which boys demonstrated more negative behaviors than girls and in which EA children demonstrated more total expressive behaviors than CA children. Implications of these findings are discussed with regard to cultural and familial processes, as well as cultural variation in childrens cognitions about emotions.

Predictors of Behavioral Regulation in Kindergarten: Household Chaos, Parenting, and Early Executive Functions.

Behavioral regulation is an important school readiness skill that has been linked to early executive function (EF) and later success in learning and school achievement. Although poverty and related risks, as well as negative parenting, have been associated with poorer EF and behavioral regulation, chaotic home environments may also play a role in understanding both early EF and later behavioral regulation at school age. To explore these relationships, a unique longitudinal and representative sample was used of 1,292 children born to mothers who lived in low-wealth rural America who were followed from birth into early elementary school. This study examined whether household chaos, which was measured across the first 3 years of life, predicted behavioral regulation in kindergarten above and beyond poverty-related variables. In addition, this study tested whether parent responsivity and acceptance behaviors, measured during the first 3 years of life, as well as EF skills, which were measured when children were 3 to 5 years of age, mediated the relationship between early household chaos and kindergarten behavioral regulation. Results suggested that household chaos disorganization indirectly predicted kindergarten behavioral regulation through intermediate impacts on parenting behaviors and childrens early EF skills. These findings suggest the importance of early household chaos disorganization, the parenting environment, and early EF skills in understanding behavioral regulation above and beyond poverty-related risks.

Child Care and Cortisol across Early Childhood: Context Matters.

A considerable body of literature suggests that childrens child-care experiences may impact adrenocortical functioning in early childhood. Yet emerging findings also suggest that the magnitude and sometimes the direction of child-care effects on development may be markedly different for children from higher risk contexts. Using data from a large population-based sample of families from predominantly low-income backgrounds in rural communities, we tested the degree to which links between childrens child-care experiences (at 7-36 months) and their subsequent cortisol levels (at 48 months) were moderated by their level of cumulative environmental risk. Our results provided evidence of a crossover interaction between cumulative risk and child-care quantity. For children from low-risk contexts, greater weekly hours in child care were predictive of higher cortisol levels. In contrast, for children facing several cumulative risk factors, greater hours in child care per week were predictive of lower cortisol levels. These effects were robust after adjusting for several controls, including childrens cortisol levels in early infancy. Child-care quality and type were not predictive of childrens cortisol levels, and neither mitigated the conditional effect of child-care quantity on cortisol. These findings suggest that links between child care and childrens development may differ as a function of childrens broader ecologies.

The interplay among socioeconomic status, household chaos, and parenting in the prediction of child conduct problems and callous-unemotional behaviors.

Child conduct problems (CP) reflect a heterogeneous collection of oppositional, aggressive, norm-violating, and sometimes violent behaviors, whereas child callous-unemotional (CU) behaviors reflect interpersonal styles of interactions reflecting a lack of guilt and empathy as well as uncaring and shallow emotional responses to others. Taken together, high levels of child CP and CU behaviors are thought to identify a relatively homogenous group of children at elevated risk for persistent and more severe problem behaviors across childhood and into adulthood. Although a large body of research has examined the developmental etiology of CP behaviors, only recently has a developmental psychopathology approach been applied to early CU behaviors. The current study examines multiple levels of contextual influences during the first years of life, including family socioeconomic status, household chaos, and parenting behaviors, on CP and CU behaviors assessed during the first-grade year. Whereas previous studies found associations between parenting behaviors and child problem behaviors moderated by household chaos, the current study found no evidence of moderation. However, path analyses suggest that the associations between child CP and CU behaviors and the contextual variables of socioeconomic status (family income and parental education) and household chaos (disorganization and instability) were mediated by maternal sensitive and harsh-intrusive parenting behavior. Analyses are presented, interpreted, and discussed with respect to both bioecological and family stress models of development.

Racial Discrimination as a Correlate of African American Mothers’ Emotion Talk to Young Children

The current study was designed to test hypotheses derived from an ecological framework regarding the association between perceived racial discrimination and maternal emotion talk among a sample of 415 African American mothers living in the rural South. Mothers reported on experiences with racial discrimination when her child was 24 months old. Additionally, maternal emotion awareness was assessed by mothers’ use of emotion words during an emotion-laden picture book interaction with her young child. Hierarchical regression analysis revealed that mothers’ perception of racism was a significant positive predictor of mothers’ emotion words, even after controlling for a variety of distal demographics and maternal and child characteristics. However, this main effect was qualified by significant interactions. Specifically, the strength of the association between perceived discrimination and mothers’ emotion words was reduced in the presence of maternal psychological supports, including greater life satisfaction and knowledge of child development.

Household chaos and children's cognitive and socio-emotional development in early childhood: Does childcare play a buffering role?:

Evidence suggests that household chaos is associated with less optimal child outcomes. Yet, there is an increasing indication that childrens experiences in childcare may buffer them against the detrimental effects of such environments. Our study aims were to test: (1) whether childrens experiences in childcare mitigated relations between household chaos and childrens cognitive and social development, and (2) whether these (conditional) chaos effects were mediated by links between chaos and executive functioning. Using data from The Family Life Project (n = 1,235)-a population-based sample of families from low-income, rural contexts-our findings indicated that household disorganization in early childhood was predictive of worse cognitive and social outcomes at approximately age five. However, these relations were substantially attenuated for children attending greater childcare hours. Subsequent models indicated that the conditional associations between household disorganization and less optimal outcomes at age five were mediated by conditional links between disorganization and less optimal executive functioning.

The mediating role of parenting in the associations between household chaos and children’s representations of family dysfunction

Children’s drawings are thought to reflect their mental representations of self and their interpersonal relations within families. Household chaos is believed to disrupt key proximal processes related to optimal development. The present study examines the mediating role of parenting behaviors in the relations between two measures of household chaos, instability and disorganization, and how they may be evidenced in children’s representations of family dysfunction as derived from their drawings. The sample (N = 962) is from a longitudinal study of rural poverty exploring the ways in which child, family, and contextual factors shape development over time. Findings reveal that, after controlling for numerous factors including child and primary caregiver covariates, there were significant indirect effects from cumulative family disorganization, but not cumulative family instability, on children’s representation of family dysfunction through parenting behaviors. Results suggest that the proximal effects of daily disorganization outweigh the effects of periodic instability overtime.

Bidirectional Linkages Between Emotion Recognition and Problem Behaviors in Elementary School Children

Cross-sectional studies support negative associations between children’s skills in recognizing emotional expressions and their problem behaviors. Few studies have examined these associations over time, however, precluding our understanding of the direction of effects. Emotion recognition difficulties may contribute to the development of problem behaviors; additionally, problem behaviors may constrain the development of emotion recognition skill. The present study tested the bidirectional linkages between children’s emotion recognition and teacher-reported problem behaviors in 1st and 3rd grade. Specifically, emotion recognition, hyperactivity, internalizing behaviors, and externalizing behaviors were assessed in 117 children in 1st grade and in 3rd grade. Results from fully cross-lagged path models revealed divergent developmental patterns: Controlling for concurrent levels of problem behaviors and first-grade receptive language skills, lower emotion recognition in 1st grade significantly predicted greater internalizing behaviors, but not hyperactivity or externalizing behaviors, in 3rd grade. Moreover, greater hyperactivity in 1st grade marginally predicted lower emotion recognition in 3rd grade, but internalizing and externalizing behaviors were not predictive of emotion recognition over time. Together, these findings extend previous research to identify specific developmental pathways, whereby emotion recognition difficulties contribute to the development of internalizing behaviors, and early hyperactivity may contribute to the development of emotion recognition difficulties, thus highlighting the importance of examining these processes and their mutual development over time.