Psychology Research Digest
Journal of Family Psychology - Vol 39, Iss 4
The Journal of Family Psychology is devoted to the study of the family system from multiple perspectives and to the application of psychological methods of inquiry to that end.
Latinx caregivers of LGBTQ people, cultural values, and mental health outcomes.
Studies have found that Latinx cultural values play a crucial role in the acceptance process of Latinx caregivers of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people. Guided by minority stress framework, in this study we quantitatively examine whether Latinx cultural values buffered the effects of acceptance on mental health outcomes among Latinx caregivers of LGBTQ people. In a national survey of 315 Latinx caregivers (age: M = 37.9; SD = 9.6) of LGBTQ people (age: M = 18.9, SD = 7.0), we assessed (a) the relation between acceptance, mental health outcomes (i.e., depression and anxiety), and Latinx cultural values (i.e., familism support, familism referents, respeto, religion, and traditional gender roles) and (b) whether Latinx cultural values buffered the effects of acceptance on mental health outcomes among Latinx caregivers of LGBTQ people. Main effect and moderation analyses were conducted. Findings revealed that (a) Latinx cultural values of family referents, religion, and traditional gender norms were associated with caregiver acceptance; (b) acceptance was a significant predictor of both lower depression and anxiety among caregivers; (c) Latinx cultural factors such as traditional gender roles were found to be predictive of higher depression and anxiety; and (d) Latinx cultural factors did not moderate the relationship between caregiver acceptance and mental health. Findings shed light on the important role of culture on acceptance and mental health outcomes among Latinx caregivers of LGBTQ people. We provide implications for working with Latinx caregivers of LGBTQ people such as using evidence-based interventions to unpack the role of Latinx culture. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)
Publication date: Mon, 07 Apr 2025 00:00:00 GMT Access the article >>“The three musketeers”: A triadic analysis of parenting responsibilities within U.K. LGBTQ+ three-parent families.
Within the United Kingdom, alongside many other countries, it is legally and socially assumed that every child is born with two parents. Recently, there has been an increased societal interest in intentional multiparent families, where more than two adults are actively involved in coparenting a child, yet little research has explored experiences within these families. This study addresses this gap, exploring the way in which parenting roles and responsibilities are negotiated within lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer and questioning intentional three-parent families in the United Kingdom. This article draws upon a unique data set of three-parent families, including interviews with 12 lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer and questioning parents in four families in the United Kingdom. Data were analyzed using a novel analytical approach, qualitative triadic analysis, which allows for the analysis of participants’ experiences at an individual and family level. Family systems theory and the underutilized theoretical concept of emotional triangles were used to make sense of the data. Three themes were identified in the data, all addressing the research question “How do three-parent families negotiate parenting roles and responsibilities?” Findings highlight that participants managed their parenting arrangement in two different ways, either sharing parenting responsibilities equally or dividing parenting roles, with primary and secondary caregivers taking on different responsibilities. Participants discussed the importance of flexibility and communication in managing their arrangement and all participants reported positive coparenting relationships. This study has a number of implications: Methodologically and theoretically, this study highlights the usefulness of systemic qualitative approaches to studying diverse families. Legally, findings highlight the restrictiveness of two-parent models. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)
Publication date: Thu, 06 Feb 2025 00:00:00 GMT Access the article >>Retraction of “Home visiting impacts during the pandemic: Evidence from a randomized controlled trial of Child First” by Xia et al. (2023).
Reports the retraction of "Home visiting impacts during the pandemic: Evidence from a randomized controlled trial of child first" by Samantha Xia, Mervett Hefyan, Meghan P. McCormick, Maya Goldberg, Emily Swinth and Sharon Huang (Journal of Family Psychology, 2023[Aug], Vol 37[5], 569-580). This article is being retracted at the request of the publisher, and the editor and all authors of the original article consented. The MDRC study team identified two caregivers who were enrolled at baseline but were, themselves, minors. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record
Parental sensitivity and child–parent attachment security in lesbian and gay parent families through assisted reproduction.
This longitudinal study examined parental sensitivity and child–parent attachment security in lesbian and gay parent families formed through assisted reproduction, comparing them to thresholds established in prior research. Additionally, it investigated differences in parental sensitivity, child–parent attachment security (measured 1 year later), and the strength of their association based on parent gender and attachment figure role. Participants included 76 lesbian mothers (from 38 families) through sperm donation and 72 gay fathers (from 36 families) through surrogacy, all White and residing in Italy, with first-born children (52.70% assigned female at birth) aged 36.00 months (SD = 9.16) at Time 1 and 48.38 months (SD = 9.22) at Time 2. Within each family, parents identified the primary and secondary attachment figures. Both lesbian mothers and gay fathers exhibited high levels of sensitivity, and their children demonstrated comparable attachment security. Regardless of parent gender, primary attachment figures displayed greater sensitivity, and children showed higher attachment security to their primary attachment figure than to their secondary attachment figure. The strength of the association between parental sensitivity and child–parent attachment security did not vary by parent gender, attachment figure role, or their interaction. However, a significant positive association between parental sensitivity and attachment security was found within all groups except gay father secondary attachment figures. The findings offer valuable insights for prospective lesbian and gay parents, policymakers, and reproductive and mental health practitioners while moving beyond polarized debates on parent gender versus attachment figure role. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)
Publication date: Mon, 07 Apr 2025 00:00:00 GMT Access the article >>Lived experiences of empowerment in parents of trans children and adolescents.
The construct of empowerment is associated with beneficial outcomes in numerous populations with well-being across multiple domains. Within families, empowerment has been found to be related to both parent and child well-being. As such, empowerment appears to be a promising concept to support parents of young (< 18 years) trans and gender diverse children and adolescents; however, what empowerment means for parents of trans children and adolescents is not known. This study aimed to characterize empowerment for parents of trans and gender diverse children and adolescents from their lived experiences. To accomplish this, a qualitative design was implemented using reflexive thematic analysis to describe what the lived experience of empowerment is for N = 18 (12 mothers and six fathers) Australian parents of trans children and adolescents under 18 years of age. Four primary themes best described the accounts offered by the participants, with empowerment consisting of (1) having knowledge and information, (2) advocating for their child or adolescent, (3) experiencing a sense of belonging to an accepting community, and (4) experiencing support and help from professionals and systems. These findings support establishing high-quality, easy-to-access, and understandable informational resources for parents and better education and training of professionals and organizations to enhance the empowerment of parents of trans children and adolescents. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)
Publication date: Mon, 20 Jan 2025 00:00:00 GMT Access the article >>Affect synchrony and emotion coregulation are separable processes: Evaluation of relational stress and mother–infant synchrony.
Establishing and repairing ruptures in mother–infant positive affect synchrony are thought to support infants’ self-regulation and social competence. Yet, despite rich theorizing, little is known about associations between mother–infant positive affect synchrony and emotion coregulation. This study used the Still Face Paradigm (SFP), which consists of separate initial play, Still Face (SF) stressor, and reunion phases, to assess levels and changes of within-dyad synchrony before and after an experimentally induced relational stressor in a sample of 77 mother–infant (M = 5.6 months; 53% female) dyads. We hypothesized that, on average, dyads would exhibit positive affect synchrony before and after the SF and that within-dyad affect synchrony would increase following the SF. Guided by biobehavioral synchrony and mutual regulation models, we also hypothesized that post-SF increases in synchrony and greater post-SF synchrony would be associated with greater infant negative affect reactivity and recovery. Infant negative affect and infant and maternal positive affect were coded in 3-s epochs for each phase of the Still Face Paradigm. Analyses used residual dynamic structural equation modeling, which disentangled mother- and infant-led synchrony, and multilevel regression. Hypotheses regarding typical within-dyad processes were generally supported: Mother-led positive affect synchrony increased from baseline to the poststressor reunion play, and there was evidence of both infant- and mother-led positive affect synchrony during the reunion. Yet, neither infant negative reactivity nor recovery was associated with changes in positive affect synchrony or post-SF levels of synchrony. Results highlight that synchrony is sensitive to relational stress but challenge traditional assumptions that “more” synchrony promotes emotion coregulation. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)
Publication date: Thu, 20 Mar 2025 00:00:00 GMT Access the article >>The affective dynamics of parenting: Inertia of emotional distance characterizes severe parental burnout.
Our emotional trajectories make up our affective experience—but these can be disrupted during mental illness. This study focuses on affect anchored to the parenting context (i.e., daily emotional exhaustion, emotional distance from children, and feeling fed up) to assess whether the way parenting affect fluctuates relates to dysfunction: parental burnout severity. We focus on three specific patterns (i.e., affective dynamic indices): inertia (i.e., persistence across days), variation (i.e., magnitude of change), and covariation (i.e., whether affect variables fluctuate together). We reanalyzed multiple data sets (from Belgium and the United States) yielding 180 parents who had rated their parenting affect daily for either 3 or 8 weeks. We computed a regression model with all affective indices as predictors (controlling for mean levels), with parental burnout severity as the outcome variable. Results indicate that inertia of emotional distance predicts parental burnout severity across most sensitivity models (i.e., even with varied operationalizations of affective indices). No other temporal pattern (i.e., variation or covariation) robustly predicted parental burnout severity, although the mean levels of emotional distance and emotional exhaustion did. Results from sensitivity analyses emphasize that operationalization choices for affective indices can yield varying values and impact results. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)
Publication date: Thu, 20 Mar 2025 00:00:00 GMT Access the article >>Dyadic daily examination of repetitive thought and well-being in bereaved parents.
We aimed to investigate the bidirectional associations of repetitive thought (i.e., rumination, yearning) with individual (grief levels, depressive symptoms) and relational well-being in bereaved parents who lost their child during pregnancy, labor, or afterward. The Response Styles Theory posits a reciprocal link between repetitive thought and well-being. However, past studies provided mixed evidence for this claim for individual well-being, and no study has yet examined this claim for relational well-being. Moreover, reciprocal associations have not been investigated within dyads. In total, 483 Turkish bereaved parents (228 couples, 27 individuals) participated in a 7-day dyadic diary. We conducted Random Intercept Cross-Lagged Panel Model analyses. The study yielded limited evidence for the lagged daily effects in the whole sample: bereaved parents’ higher-than-usual rumination predicted lower relational well-being in the partner the next day, but no lagged link appeared for individual well-being. Yet, sensitivity analyses revealed that higher-than-usual rumination predicted increased grief and reduced relational well-being in the partners of people who are recently bereaved or have experienced pregnancy loss. At the between-person level, bereaved parents’ average repetitive thought was related to their own and their partner’s individual but not relational well-being. Findings indicate that bereaved parents’ interdependence in repetitive thought and well-being is more evident at the between-person level for individual well-being. Still, daily rumination is a risk factor for the partners’ relational well-being. Both the persistent repetitive thought and daily fluctuations in rumination and well-being should be considered in supporting bereaved parents during their joint experience. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)
Publication date: Thu, 10 Apr 2025 00:00:00 GMT Access the article >>Caregiver emotion socialization and child adjustment in context of pediatric cancer.
The present study assessed parent emotion socialization as a potential protective factor for child adjustment during the first year of pediatric cancer treatment and examined whether this association varied as a function of treatment intensity and child age. Families of children newly diagnosed with cancer (N = 159, Mage = 5.6 years, range = 2–17 years) were recruited from two children’s hospitals to participate in a 1-year longitudinal study. Multilevel models were used to test whether specific dimensions of parent metaemotion philosophy (i.e., awareness and acceptance of their own negative emotions and awareness, acceptance, and coaching of their child’s negative emotions) were associated with the level and trajectory of child psychopathology, with treatment intensity and child age as moderators. The trajectory of children’s symptom levels over the course of the year differed depending on parent acceptance of their own and their children’s negative emotions; other parent metaemotion philosophy dimensions did not predict child adjustment at the end of the first year. Treatment intensity acted as a moderator between all parent metaemotion philosophy dimensions and internalizing symptoms at the end of the year. Although caregiver awareness, acceptance, and coaching of negative emotions seem to be adaptive for children undergoing less intense treatment, these approaches may be less effective in the face of high-intensity treatment. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)
Publication date: Thu, 06 Mar 2025 00:00:00 GMT Access the article >>Parents’ disclosure of their child’s health and neurodevelopmental conditions: A systematic review and qualitative metasynthesis.
Parents of children with physical/mental health and/or neurodevelopmental conditions often need to make disclosure decisions for their child. Disclosure can bring benefits (e.g., support) but can also risk harm (e.g., stigma). This systematic review aimed to consolidate research regarding parents’ disclosure experiences to better understand how to support parents during this process. We focused on two research questions: (1) What factors contribute to parents’ decision to disclose or conceal their child’s health or neurodevelopmental condition? (2) If they choose to do so, how, when, and to whom do parents typically disclose? Twenty studies of medium to good quality were identified through systematic electronic database searches since 1990. Data were analyzed using a descriptive–interpretative approach and presented as a qualitative metasynthesis. Factors contributing to parents’ disclosure decisions included managing stigma, protecting privacy, advocating, and seeking social support. Parents considered disclosure based on existing relationships, adapted disclosure content to context, and planned how to disclose. Throughout all findings, the child’s best interests were at the forefront of parents’ decision making. Factors affecting parents’ disclosure decisions were similar across different childhood conditions. Disclosure decisions are complex and challenging but become easier with experience after the child’s diagnosis, indicating that parents need disclosure support relatively soon after diagnosis. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)
Publication date: Mon, 03 Feb 2025 00:00:00 GMT Access the article >>Mindful parenting mediates the association of family economic pressure with child adjustment: A longitudinal study.
Economic pressure, that is, psychological stress due to not having enough money to deal with everyday expenses, represents a pressing concern for many families around the globe. Indeed, prior research has linked family economic pressure to academic, behavioral, and psychological problems among children. However, most work has been cross-sectional and used family socioeconomic status as an indicator of economic disadvantages. The longitudinal association of family economic pressure with child adjustment and the possible underlying mechanism have been less well-studied, especially among non-Western families with young children. Therefore, using a three-wave, 2-year design, this study examined the longitudinal associations of family economic pressure with child school readiness, externalizing behaviors, and internalizing behaviors among Chinese families and tested mother mindful parenting as a mediator. On three occasions separated by about 6 months, questionnaire data were collected from the mothers of 207 kindergarten children from Hong Kong, China (mean age of children at Time 1 = 4.98 years; 52% of them were girls). Mothers rated their family conditions, their parenting practices, and their children’s adjustment. Path analysis showed that family economic pressure was associated with decreases in child school readiness and increases in child externalizing and internalizing behaviors. Moreover, decreases in mother mindful parenting partially mediated the longitudinal associations of family economic pressure with child school readiness and externalizing behaviors. Theoretically, findings highlighted the role of mindful parenting in understanding the possible implications of family economic pressure. Practically, findings pointed to the potential utility of targeting mindful parenting to support economically disadvantaged families. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)
Publication date: Mon, 07 Apr 2025 00:00:00 GMT Access the article >>Family risk classes predict longitudinal parent and child outcomes: Understanding the implications of poverty-related adversity.
Experiencing poverty and associated risk factors can be detrimental to families’ mental health and well-being. However, it is unclear whether experiencing specific types or patterns of adversity leads to distinct outcomes. Guided by the Family Stress Model, the objective of this study was to (a) identify unique family risk classes based on exposure to various combinations of poverty-related adversity and (b) examine whether the family risk classes differed in their levels of parental coping strategies, couple relationship quality, parenting practices, and child behavior problems. The sample included 301 mother–father–child triads (602 adults and 301 children) with a combined income ≤ 200% of the federal poverty level from diverse racial backgrounds: 26% White, 20% Black, 15% Hispanic/Latiné, 35% Interracial, and 3% Other. Measures were based on a combination of both mother and father reports and were assessed at multiple timepoints. Using latent class analysis, we identified four unique family risk classes: Low Adversity (low on most poverty-related adversities except job instability; 15%), Mothers At Risk (high mother victimization; 11%), Economic Stress, Depressive Parents (moderate economic distress and parental depressive symptoms; 41%), and Extreme Adversity (high on most adversities; 33%). These risk classes reported numerous differences in longitudinal family outcomes. This study provides critical information about which combinations of risk are most harmful to family health and well-being and can inform the development of preventive interventions tailored to each family’s risk exposure patterns. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)
Publication date: Thu, 20 Mar 2025 00:00:00 GMT Access the article >>Associations between neighborhood risk and protective factors and parenting styles in Chinese American immigrant families.
Despite the rapid increase of the Chinese immigrant population in the United States, there is limited knowledge on how neighborhood context shapes parenting practices in Chinese immigrant families. Using data from a socioeconomically diverse sample of 239 Chinese American children (aged 7–10 years, 51.9% boys) in immigrant families, the present study examined the unique associations between neighborhood risk and protective factors and parenting styles in Chinese American families. Neighborhood socioeconomic disadvantage, coethnic concentration, and ethnic diversity were assessed using the 2010 census tract-level data. Parents rated neighborhood criminal events and reciprocal exchange, and parenting styles (authoritative, authoritarian, and intrusive parenting) were rated by parents and children. Path analyses showed that controlling for covariates, neighborhood reciprocal exchange was positively associated with parent-rated authoritative parenting and negatively associated with child-rated authoritarian and intrusive parenting. In contrast, neighborhood Asian concentration was positively associated with child-reported authoritarian and intrusive parenting. Neighborhood criminal events were positively associated with parent-reported intrusive parenting. The findings suggest that risk and protective factors coexist in neighborhoods and have differential implications for parenting practices in Chinese immigrant families. The results also highlighted parent–child differences in perceptions of parenting styles in immigrant families. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)
Publication date: Thu, 06 Feb 2025 00:00:00 GMT Access the article >>Gender differences in variability of intimate relationship satisfaction in a multinational sample.
To evaluate potential gender differences in relationship satisfaction between women and men, researchers have generally focused on gender differences in mean levels of relationship satisfaction. In comparison, the present study was conducted to evaluate gender differences in the distribution (i.e., variability) of relationship satisfaction scores by examining (a) variance ratios (i.e., variance of women’s relationship satisfaction scores divided by men’s scores) and (b) tail ratios (i.e., ratio of the relative proportion of women divided by the relative proportion of men in the distributional tail regions). Results from a large, multinational sample of married individuals recruited from 33 countries (N = 7,178) spanning five continents indicated that compared to men, (a) women reported greater variability in relationship satisfaction (variance ratio = 1.25) and (b) women predominated in the lower tail of the distribution of relationship satisfaction scores. These results support the greater female variability hypothesis of relationship satisfaction and underscore the need for research to better understand why compared to men, women’s relationship satisfaction scores show greater variability or dispersion at lower levels of satisfaction. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)
Publication date: Thu, 24 Apr 2025 00:00:00 GMT Access the article >>Postpartum sleep and relationship satisfaction among Black mothers.
Sleep difficulties for parents and infants in the first months postpartum are common and are likely to impact multiple areas of life, including parents’ romantic relationship satisfaction. Empirical literature linking different indicators of sleep in the first months postpartum to concurrent and prospective relationship satisfaction is limited, however, particularly among families who experience disproportionately elevated rates of sleep difficulties postpartum. To address this gap, we examined multiple indicators of subjective and objective maternal sleep and maternal reports of infant sleep as predictors of relationship satisfaction among a sample of first-time Black mothers in relationships (N = 107). At 8 weeks postpartum, mothers reported on their own sleep difficulties and on their infant’s nighttime awakenings and time in bed, and they wore an accelerometer to provide estimates of total sleep time and sleep efficiency. Mothers reported their relationship satisfaction at 8 and 16 weeks postpartum. Results indicated that mothers who reported that their own sleep difficulties were more impactful to their functioning at Week 8 reported lower relationship satisfaction at Week 16. Additionally, mothers who had longer nighttime sleep reported higher relationship satisfaction at both Week 8 and 16 postpartum. Infant sleep was not significantly associated with relationship satisfaction. These findings offer new insights into associations between sleep and relationship satisfaction during a critical period of adjustment for families and can inform interventions to enhance individual and relational well-being for new parents. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)
Publication date: Mon, 14 Apr 2025 00:00:00 GMT Access the article >>Knowing your own darkness is the best method for dealing with the darknesses of other people.
- Carl Jung, Psychological Reflections (1973)
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