Papers by Laura Scaramella
Development and Psychopathology, 2013
To better understand mechanisms underlying the intergenerational transmission of social anxiety, ... more To better understand mechanisms underlying the intergenerational transmission of social anxiety, we used a prospective adoption design to examine the roles of genetic influences (inferred from birth mothers' social phobia) and rearing environment (adoptive mothers' and fathers' responsiveness) on the development of socially inhibited, anxious behaviors in children between 18 and 27 months of age. The sample consisted of 275 adoption-linked families, each including an adopted child, adoptive parents, and a birth mother. Results indicated that children whose birth mothers met criteria for the diagnosis of social phobia showed elevated levels of observed behavioral inhibition in a social situation at 27 months of age if their adoptive mothers provided less emotionally and verbally responsive rearing environments at 18 months of age. Conversely, in the context of higher levels of maternal responsiveness, children of birth mothers with a history of social phobia did not show elevated levels of behavioral inhibition. These findings on maternal responsiveness were replicated in a model predicting parent reports of child social anxiety. The findings are discussed in terms of genotype × environment interactions in the intergenerational transmission of social anxiety.
Archives of General Psychiatry, 1999
Growing evidence indicates that anxiety and depressive disorder onset may involve a prodromal bui... more Growing evidence indicates that anxiety and depressive disorder onset may involve a prodromal buildup of symptoms. Also, stressful life events may precipitate gradual symptom increase, leading to the development of full-blown disorders. This study used prospective longitudinal data to examine the theory that, over time, stressful events, such as parent-adolescent disagreements, influence the longitudinal course of adolescents' internalizing symptoms, which in turn predict first onset of a depressive or anxiety disorder. A community sample of 303 families with an adolescent aged 12 or 13 years in year 1 provided repeated measures of parent-adolescent disagreements and adolescents' internalizing symptoms over 3 and 4 years, respectively. At age 19 or 20 years, the adolescents were assessed for anxiety and depressive disorders using structured interviews based on DSM-III-R criteria. The hypothesized associations were estimated using latent growth curve modeling procedures. Year 1 parent-adolescent disagreements predicted year 1 adolescents' internalizing symptoms, and changes in disagreements from year 1 to year 3 predicted changes in internalizing symptoms from year 1 to year 4. Both the year 1 level and changes in symptoms predicted internalizing disorder onset in years 4 through 7, and both the year 1 level and changes in disagreements indirectly predicted disorder onset. Among adolescents, persistent or escalating stressful events, such as disagreements with parents, indirectly increase the risk for internalizing disorder onset through their direct association with high or increasing symptom levels. Chronically high or increasing symptom levels directly increase risk for internalizing disorder.
ABSTRACT The impact of an accumulation of sociocontextual stress on children's social ski... more ABSTRACT The impact of an accumulation of sociocontextual stress on children's social skill development was examined among 167 predominantly African American mothers and their 2-year-old children. Two theoretical models were considered. First, based on Rutter's (1979) cumulative risk approach, an accumulation of stress was hypothesized to moderate the impact of sensitive parenting on change in social skills such that the protective effects of sensitive parenting declined when cumulative stress reached a critical threshold. Second, based on a family stress model approach, an accumulation of stress was expected to indirectly affect social skills by way of sensitive parenting; that is, sensitive parenting was expected to explain or mediate any direct links between cumulative stress and children's social skills. Results were only consistent with the moderational hypothesis. Contrary to expectations, sensitive parenting predicted increases in social skills from age 2 to 4 only under conditions of the highest cumulative stress.
Journal of Family Psychology, 2014
Structural equation modeling : a multidisciplinary journal, Jan 31, 2013
Missing data are common in studies that rely on multiple informant data to evaluate relationships... more Missing data are common in studies that rely on multiple informant data to evaluate relationships among variables for distinguishable individuals clustered within groups. Estimation of structural equation models using raw data allows for incomplete data, and so all groups may be retained even if only one member of a group contributes data. Statistical inference is based on the assumption that data are missing completely at random or missing at random. Importantly, whether or not data are missing is assumed to be independent of the missing data. A saturated correlates model that incorporates correlates of the missingness or the missing data into an analysis and multiple imputation that may also use such correlates offer advantages over the standard implementation of SEM when data are not missing at random because these approaches may result in a data analysis problem for which the missingness is ignorable. This paper considers these approaches in an analysis of family data to assess ...
Social Development, 2008
During early childhood, harsh and emotionally negative parent-child exchanges are expected to inc... more During early childhood, harsh and emotionally negative parent-child exchanges are expected to increase children's risk for developing later conduct problems. The present study examined longitudinal associations between the quality of parenting responses and children's distress reactivity during children's second year of life. Forty-seven mother-child dyads completed observational assessments of children's distress reactivity and mothers' harsh and supportive parenting when children were 12 and 24 months of age. Results indicated that mothers' contingent harsh parenting responses to children's non-compliance when children were 12 months of age predicted increases in children's observed distress from 12 to 24 months, but children's level of distress at 12 months did not predict change in harsh parenting responses over the same time period. In contrast, supportive parenting contingent responses did not predict declines in children's distress reactivity, although children's distress reactivity predicted declines in mothers' supportive parenting responses from 12 to 24 months. Results are discussed in terms of the implications of the quality of parent-child interactions as a point of entry onto developmental pathways of risk.
Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 2012
Young adolescents who encounter difficulties with peers can consult with their parents to help so... more Young adolescents who encounter difficulties with peers can consult with their parents to help solve these problems. In this context, this study examines the contribution of adolescents' disclosure, parental advice giving, and parental intrusiveness into adolescents' social and behavioral adjustment. Young adolescents (N = 93; 49% girls; mean age = 12.9) and their parents took part in a problem-solving task in which adolescent disclosure, parental advice giving, and intrusiveness where observed. Several indicators of social and behavioral adjustment were measured concurrently and 1 year later by using adolescents' self-reports and teacher ratings. Results indicated that adolescent disclosure and advice giving were associated with adjustment, whereas intrusiveness was concurrently and longitudinally associated with maladjustment.
Journal of Research on Adolescence, 1999
Journal of Research in Personality, 2010
This prospective, longitudinal investigation examined differential consistency of three core dime... more This prospective, longitudinal investigation examined differential consistency of three core dimensions of individuality from toddlerhood through middle childhood. Data came from 273 families who participated with their child at least once during three developmental periods: toddlerhood (2 years), early childhood (3 to 5 years), and middle childhood (6 to 10 years). Both mothers and fathers reported on attributes of their child using subscales from the Toddler Behavior Assessment Questionnaire, the Child Behavior Questionnaire, and the Iowa Personality Questionnaire. Reports were used as indicators of the latent "Big Three" dimensions of positive emotionality, negative emotionality, and constraint at each of the three developmental periods. Results pointed to consistency in these broad dimensions of temperament and personality from toddlerhood to middle childhood.
Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 2002
Page 1. JOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN CRIME AND DELINQUENCY Stewart et al. / CONTRIBUTION OF LEGAL SANCT... more Page 1. JOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN CRIME AND DELINQUENCY Stewart et al. / CONTRIBUTION OF LEGAL SANCTIONS BEYOND THE INTERACTIONAL RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DELINQUENCY AND PARENTING PRACTICES: THE CONTRIBUTION ...
Journal of Family Psychology, 2011
Neighborhood dangerousness and belongingness were expected to moderate associations between harsh... more Neighborhood dangerousness and belongingness were expected to moderate associations between harsh parenting and toddler-aged children's problem behaviors. Fifty-five predominantly African American mothers participated with their 2-year old children. Neighborhood danger, neighborhood belongingness, and children's problem behaviors were measured with mothers' reports. Harsh parenting was measured with observer ratings. Analyses considered variance common to externalizing and internalizing problems, using a total problems score, and unique variance, by controlling for internalizing behavior when predicting externalizing behavior, and vice-versa. Regarding the common variance, only the main effects of neighborhood danger and harsh parenting were significantly associated with total problem behavior. In contrast, after controlling for externalizing problems, the positive association between harsh parenting and unique variance in internalizing problems became stronger as neighborhood danger increased. No statistically significant associations emerged for the models predicting the unique variance in externalizing problems or models considering neighborhood belongingness.
Journal of Family Psychology, 2010
Despite high rates of grandmother involvement with young grandchildren, very little research has ... more Despite high rates of grandmother involvement with young grandchildren, very little research has examined the associations between non-residential grandmother involvement and grandchild social adjustment. The present study draws 127 families enrolled in the Family Transitions Project to consider the degree to which mother-reported maternal grandmother involvement buffers 3-and 4year old grandchildren from economic, parenting, and child temperamental risks for reduced social competence and elevated externalizing behaviors. Findings indicate that higher levels of motherreported grandmother involvement reduced the negative association between observed grandchild negative emotional reactivity and social competence. Further, high levels of mother-reported grandmother involvement protected grandchildren from the positive association between observed harsh mother parenting and grandchild externalizing behaviors. These findings underscore the relevance of moving beyond the nuclear family to understand factors linked to social adjustment during early childhood.
Journal of Family Psychology, 2008
This study considers the intergenerational consequences of experiencing socioeconomic disadvantag... more This study considers the intergenerational consequences of experiencing socioeconomic disadvantage within the family of origin. Specifically, the influence of socioeconomic disadvantage experienced during adolescence on the timing of parenthood and the association between early parenthood and risk for harsh parenting and emerging child problem behavior was evaluated. Participants included 154 3-generation families, followed prospectively over a 12-year period. Results indicated that exposure to poverty during adolescence, not parents' (first generation, or G1) education, predicted an earlier age of parenthood in G2. Younger G2 parents were observed to be harsher during interactions with their own 2-year-old child (G3), and harsh parenting predicted increases in G3 children's externalizing problems from age 2 to age 3. Finally, G3 children's externalizing behavior measured at age 3 predicted increases in harsh parenting from ages 3 to 4, suggesting that G3 children's behavior may exacerbate the longitudinal effects of socioeconomic disadvantage.
Journal of Family Psychology, 2013
Sex differences in rates of behavior problems, including internalizing and externalizing problems... more Sex differences in rates of behavior problems, including internalizing and externalizing problems, begin to emerge during early childhood. These sex differences may occur because mothers parent their sons and daughters differently, or because the impact of parenting on behavior problems is different for boys and girls. In this study, we examined whether associations between observations of mothers' positive and negative parenting and children's externalizing and internalizing behaviors vary as a function of child sex. The sample consisted of 137 African American low-income families with one sibling approximately 2 years old and the closest-aged older sibling who was approximately 4 years old. Results from fixed-effects within-family models indicate clear sex differences regardless of child age. Mothers were observed to use less positive parenting with sons than with daughters. Higher levels of observed negative parenting were linked to more externalizing behaviors for boys, whereas lower levels of positive parenting were linked to more externalizing behaviors for girls. No child sex differences emerged regarding associations between observed positive and negative parenting and internalizing behaviors.
Journal of Family Psychology, 2010
This study examined personality during adolescence as a predictor of later parenting of toddlerag... more This study examined personality during adolescence as a predictor of later parenting of toddleraged offspring. Based on empirical research on the timing of parenthood and the interactionist model , age at parenthood and family socioeconomic status (SES) were examined as mediators of the relation between personality and parenting. Participants were 228 emerging adults from an ongoing longitudinal study of the transition to adulthood. Later entry into parenthood and higher SES accounted for the association between personality characteristics and lower levels of harsh parenting and higher levels of positive parenting. Consistent with the interactionist model, both personality characteristics and SES-linked variables were related to interpersonal processes in families. The findings suggest that promoting adaptive personality traits during childhood and adolescence may help delay early entry into parenthood, promote higher SES, and, indirectly, foster more positive parenting of young children.
Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology, 2008
Hurricane Katrina dramatically altered the level of social and environmental stressors for the re... more Hurricane Katrina dramatically altered the level of social and environmental stressors for the residents of the New Orleans area. The Family Stress Model describes a process whereby felt financial strain undermines parents' mental health, the quality of family relationships, and child adjustment. Our study considered the extent to which the Family Stress Model explained toddler-aged adjustment among Hurricane Katrina affected and nonaffected families. Two groups of very low-income mothers and their 2-year-old children participated (pre-Katrina, n = 55; post-Katrina, n = 47). Consistent with the Family Stress Model, financial strain and neighborhood violence were associated with higher levels of mothers' depressed mood; depressed mood was linked to less parenting efficacy. Poor parenting efficacy was associated to more child internalizing and externalizing problems.
Journal of Adolescent Research, 1997
... The adolescent indicated, "how often did your mom (or dad): (a) criticiz... more ... The adolescent indicated, "how often did your mom (or dad): (a) criticize you or your ideas, (b) try to make you feel guilty, (c) ignore you when you tried to talk to him or her, (d) threaten to do something that would upset you if you didn't do what he or she wanted, (e) say you made ...
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Papers by Laura Scaramella