College of Education
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Item Peer Influence during Adolescence: The Moderating Role of Parental Support(MDPI, 2021-04-17) Havewala, Mazneen; Bowker, Julie C.; Smith, Kelly A.; Rose-Krasnor, Linda; Booth-LaForce, Cathryn; Laursen, Brett; Felton, Julia W.; Rubin, Kenneth H.Although many studies show that peers influence the development of adolescent internalizing and externalizing difficulties, few have considered both internalizing and externalizing difficulties in the same study, and fewer have considered the contributions of parents. Using a longitudinal sample of 385 adolescents, the contributions of best friends’ internalizing and externalizing difficulties (as assessed in Grade 6; G6: Mage = 13.64 years; 53% female; 40% ethnic or racial minority) were examined as they predicted subsequent adolescent internalizing and externalizing difficulties (at G8); in addition, the moderating role of both maternal and paternal support (at G6) was explored. Structural equation modelling revealed that best friend internalizing difficulties predicted decreases, but that best friend externalizing difficulties predicted increases in adolescents’ externalizing difficulties over time. Significant interactions involving both maternal and paternal support revealed that the negative impact of a G6 best friend having internalizing problems on later G8 adolescent externalizing problems was stronger at low levels of maternal and paternal support. The findings highlight the complex, and interactive, influences of friends and parents on the development of internalizing and externalizing symptomatology during adolescence, and underscore the importance of targeting both sources of social influence in research and clinical work.Item Children’s Adjustment to Parents’ Break Up: The Family System Mechanisms(2015) Karberg, Elizabeth; Cabrera, Natasha J; Human Development; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Research has shown that many aspects of family functioning are directly and indirectly linked to children’s social development. One important aspect of how families function is family structure. In this regard, families have undergone tremendous change over the last decades resulting in increased cohabitation and divorce. These types of families are believed to be more unstable than married families. Instability creates more stress that can be difficult for children to cope with resulting in increased behavioral problems. Although past studies have shown an association between union instability and children’s externalizing problem behaviors (EPB), the mechanism by which this occurs is less understood. Using Family Systems Theory and data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing study (n = 3,387), I examined whether family processes – father and mother involvement, co-parenting support, and maternal responsiveness – explained the association between union instability and children’s EPB at 9 years. I also examined whether marital status and children’s temperament moderated this association. Using measured variable path analysis, I found that only co-parenting support mediated the association between union instability and child EPB, and only for children whose mothers experienced a divorce (not a nonmarital separation), controlling for known covariates of children’s EPB. The association between union instability and children’s EPB through co-parenting and parenting was not moderated by child temperament. These findings suggest that co-parenting rather than parenting explains children’s social adjustment when families undergo a divorce.