Longitudinal research is often interested in identifying correlates of heterogeneity in change. This paper compares three approaches for doing so: the mixed-effects model (latent growth curve model), the growth mixture model, and structural equation model trees. Each method is described, with special focus given to how each structures…

Purpose: This study tested two hypotheses relating young athletes' sports motivations to parental behaviors and cognitive appraisal: (1) young athletes' motivation in sports is related to their parents' behavior; and (2) this relationship is mediated by cognitive appraisal, even after controlling for competitive level and sports records. Method:…

A wealth of literature has examined the association between breastfeeding and the development of cognitive abilities in childhood. In particular, at least some evidence exists suggesting that breastfed children perform better on measures of intelligence later in life. Although a correlation appears to be present, fewer observational studies have…

The study explores how parents' occupational field affects gender differences in educational fields. On the one hand, the theory of direct transfer predicts that adolescents enter fields similar to those of their parents because of intergenerational transmission of occupation-specific resources and that adolescents are more likely to draw upon the…

The study of adolescent childbearing is a major public policy concern in the United States, and father involvement is particularly important. The current study examined 94 African American and Latino adolescent mothers and their children's fathers (47 co-parents) to determine whether co-parenting was a better predictor of father involvement than…

The study of adolescent childbearing is a major public policy concern, and father involvement is a particular focus. Previous research with married couples has found that coparenting may be a better predictor of father involvement than relationship quality. The current study examined 94 primiparous African American and Latino parents to determine…

The study examined the association among mothers' parenting stress, adolescents' emotional separation and self-orientation toward connectedness. Participants were 194 Italian adolescents, aged from 15 to 19 years (mean age = 17.39, SD = 1.18), and their mothers, aged from 33 to 64 years (mean age = 44.35, SD = 5.40). General findings showed that…

The purpose of this study was to explore the influence of maternal depressive symptoms on adolescent alcohol use among a sample of Latino/Latina youth aged 10 to 16 years from a high-risk community. Direct and mediating effects of youth depressive symptoms, controlling for levels of concurrent emotion dysregulation, on alcohol use were examined.…

This study examines whether and how student-perceived parents' and teachers' overestimation of students' own perceived mathematical ability can explain trajectories for adolescents' mathematical task values (intrinsic and utility) controlling for measured achievement, following expectancy-value and self-determination theories. Longitudinal data…

This study aimed to gain a better understanding of the normative declines in adolescent disclosure and maternal knowledge over the course of adolescence, by assessing the underlying monitoring processes. Multilevel structural equation models were applied to 15 assessments among 479 families across 5 years (13 years at T1, 57% boys, 11% low…

We used structural equation modeling to explore associations between inhibitory maternal gatekeeping attitudes, reports of inhibitory maternal gatekeeping behaviors, maternal psychological control, observed mother-adolescent warmth, and adolescent reports of maternal involvement. Our random stratified sample consisted of 315 mothers and their…

Objective: Mounting evidence has demonstrated a link between exposure to family of origin violence and the perpetration of teen dating violence (TDV). However, only recently have mechanisms underlying this relationship been investigated and very few studies have differentiated between exposure to father-to-mother and mother-to-father violence.…

Children who are iron deficient (ID) or iron-deficient anemic (IDA) have been shown to seek and receive less stimulation from their caregivers, contributing to "functional isolation". Over time, the reduced interactions between child and caregiver are thought to interfere with the acquisition of normative social competencies and…

In efforts to increase the field and society's understanding of bullying, the authors investigated how various forms of attachment (mother, peer, and school) are directly and indirectly related to bullying behavior through empathy, and whether these relationships are moderated by gender. Adolescents, of grades 7 through 9, from one middle school…

This four-wave prospective longitudinal study evaluated stability of language in 324 children from early childhood to adolescence. Structural equation modeling supported loadings of multiple age-appropriate multisource measures of child language on single-factor core language skills at 20 months and 4, 10, and 14 years. Large stability…