Latent growth curve modeling was used to investigate the longitudinal link between attachment, effortful control (EC), and maladaptive development during middle childhood. In a community sample, children (Time 1: n = 157; M[subscript age] = 10.91) and their mothers were examined three times over a two-year period. Attachment was operationalized at…

We tested whether adoptive parenting played a role in the association between pre-adoption experiences and children's adaptive (responsiveness) and maladaptive (internalizing and externalizing behavioral problems, attention and sleep problems) behavioral adjustment over time. Ten-year-old girls, adopted at 13 months from institutional care (n =…

Few longitudinal studies examine how "changes" in parent-child relationships are associated with changes in youth internalizing problems. In this longitudinal study, we investigated how developmental trends (linear change) and year-to-year lability (within-person fluctuations) in parental warmth and hostility across Grades 6 to 8 predict…

Black South Africans are disproportionately affected by HIV compared with White counterparts. In their unique social context, South African families affected by HIV are vulnerable to adverse psychosocial effects. U.S.-based and emerging South African research suggests mothers living with HIV may experience compromised parenting. In the United…

In line with family systems theory, we examined patterns of hostile interactions within families and their associations with externalizing problems among early-adolescent children. Using hostility scores based on observational data of six dyadic interactions during a triadic interaction (n = 462; i.e., child-to-mother, mother-to-child,…

Although the assertion that marital hostility relates to higher levels of youth adjustment difficulties has been well established, few studies have examined cooperative marital conflict in relation to youth behavior problems. This study examined the main and moderating effects of cooperative marital conflict on youth behavior problems in a sample…

Based on former research, it can be assumed that attachment relationships provide a context in which children develop both the effortful control (EC) capacity and the repertoire of responses to regulate distress. Both are important to understand children's (mal)adjustment. While the latter assumption has been supported in several studies, less is…

Both autonomy and friendship quality have consistently been associated with adolescent adjustment. To date, the potentially moderating role of peer relationships in the context of autonomy achievement has received less attention. The present study used observational and quantitative data, as well as multiple reporters, to examine interactions…

Most research exploring the interplay between context and adolescent separation and detachment has focused on the family; in contrast, this investigation directs its attention outside of the family to peers. Utilizing a latent variable approach for modeling interactions and incorporating reports of behavioral adjustment from 14-year-old…