Lifespan Dev-School&Family Influences

Daycare

The research has found that high-quality daycare may increase behavioral problems but improve performance on measures of cognitive and language skills and some social skills (Belsky et al., 2007; NICHD ECCRN, 2006). In addition, there's evidence that, even when infants are in daycare for more than 20 hours a week, they're similar to children who are not in daycare in terms of attachment security (Friedman & Boyle, 2008; NICHD ECCRN, 1997). Apparently, the quality of parental caregiving and the parent-child bond is more important for attachment security than whether or not a child spends time in daycare.

Transition to Parenthood and Relationship Quality

The research has found that, for most couples, the transition to parenthood is accompanied by a decline in relationship satisfaction and an increase in relationship conflict. However, the effects vary. For example, Ceballo, Lansford, Abey, and Stewart (2004) compared this transition for biological and adoptive parents and found that becoming parents through adoption was associated with better outcomes: Adoptive parents in their study reported less marital and parenting stress, a smaller decrease in marital satisfaction, and a more stable pattern of relationship quality. One factor that lessens the stress associated with the transition to parenthood is the availability of support from family members and friends. Another factor is the degree to which the parents share parenting responsibilities, with greater declines in relationship satisfaction (especially for women) being associated with greater disparities in responsibilities.

Divorce Effects on Parents

Parents often exhibit "a diminished capacity to parent" that continues for up to two years after the divorce and involves reduced sensitivity to the children and a preoccupation with problems related to the divorce (Wallerstein & Blakeslee, 1989). Custodial mothers may show less affection toward their children (especially sons) and be less consistent and more authoritarian in their discipline, while noncustodial fathers often become more indulgent and permissive.

Adopted vs. Biological Children

Research has found that, compared to the parents of biological children, the parents of adopted children tend to be better educated and have a higher family incomes but that adopted children are at greater risk for psychological, behavioral, and academic problems despite these advantages (Amato & Cheadle, 2008). For example, Zill and Wilcox (2018) analyzed data from the U. S. Department of Education's 2016 National Household Education Survey and reported the following: (a) Compared to children living with biological parents, adopted children were more likely to have had their parents contacted by the school for schoolwork problems, to have repeated a grade, and to have been suspended or expelled from school. (b) Compared to children living with biological parents, adopted children were more likely to have had their parents contacted by the school for classroom behavior problems and were more likely to have physical and psychological health conditions, with ADHD being most common followed by, in order, specific learning disability, speech impairment, and developmental delay. Adopted children were also more likely to have a severe emotional disturbance with severe intellectual disability being most common followed by autism spectrum disorder. Zill and Wilcox conclude that poorer outcomes for adopted children are likely due to the children's experiences prior to adoption. This has also been noted by several other experts, including van IJzendoorn, Juffer, and Klein Poelhuis (2005) who suggest that the experiences of adopted children may have included exposure to multiple risk factors including birth complications and early malnutrition, neglect, or abuse.

Teacher Expectations

Rosenthal and Jacobson (1968) found that teachers' expectations about student achievement can have a self-fulfilling prophecy effect. They randomly selected a sample of incoming first-graders but told their teachers that these students had been identified as academic "bloomers" who could be expected to do exceptionally well. At the end of the school year, the children identified as bloomers had unusual increases in IQ scores, and Rosenthal and Jacobson concluded that this was because the teachers treated the bloomers differently than they treated the other students.

Predictors of Divorce

The risk for divorce has been linked to several factors including a couple's communication pattern. Based on the results of their longitudinal study of couples who divorced over a 14-year period, Gottman and Levenson (2002) concluded that two patterns are predictive of divorce: The emotionally volatile (attack-defend) pattern is characterized by frequent arguments that are followed by making-up and is associated with divorce early in the marriage. Couples exhibiting this pattern engage in escalating conflicts that include criticism, contempt, defensiveness, and stonewalling. Gottman and Levenson refer to these four behaviors as the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse and found that contempt is the single best predictor of divorce. The emotionally inexpressive (avoidant) pattern is characterized by the avoidance of conflict and is associated with divorce later in the marriage. Couples exhibiting this pattern avoid self-disclosure and expressing their emotions. Researchers have also identified a number of sociodemographic factors and individual characteristics that are associated with an increased risk for divorce. With regard to sociodemographic factors, age at time of marriage is one of the best predictors of divorce, with the risk for divorce decreasing as the age at time of marriage increases. The studies have also found that the risk for divorce is greater among members of lower socioeconomic groups, couples that had a child before marriage, and individuals who have had a previous marriage. With regard to individual characteristics, an elevated risk for divorce has been linked to psychopathology and certain personality traits: There's evidence that individuals who report having one or more psychiatric disorders before or during marriage are more likely to divorce than are those without psychopathology. Of the personality traits that have been studied, high levels of neuroticism have been identified as being most consistently linked to a high risk for divorce.

Teacher Interactions with Students

Based on their research, Sadker and Sadker (2003; Sadker, Zittleman, & Sadker, 2012) have concluded that, from elementary through graduate school, the ways that male and female teachers interact with male and female students reflect gender stereotypes: For example, teachers call on male students more often than female students and give male students more attention, praise, and feedback that encourages them to learn.

Child Maltreatment

Child maltreatment includes physical abuse, sexual abuse, psychological (emotional) abuse, and neglect. Neglect is the most common type of maltreatment followed by, in order, physical abuse, sexual abuse, and psychological abuse (U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, 2018). A number of risk factors for child maltreatment have been identified. For example, with regard to parental factors, a review of meta-analyses conducted between 2014 and 2018 by van IJzendoorn and colleagues (2019) revealed that an elevated risk was most associated with parental experience of maltreatment in his/her own childhood, low family socioeconomic status, dependent and aggressive parental personality, and parental experience of intimate partner violence. Several investigators have looked at the impact of family structure and have found that children living in a single-parent or a step/cohabiting family are at higher risk for maltreatment than are children living with two biological or adoptive parents (Turner, Finkelhor, Hamby, & Shattuck, 2013; van IJzendoorn, Euser, Prinzie, Juffer, & Bakermans-Kranenburg, 2009). The consequences of maltreatment are related not only to its type but also to several other factors that help explain why children exposed to similar maltreatment are not always affected in the same ways. For example, a number of studies have confirmed a link between childhood maltreatment and an increased risk for obesity in adulthood. However, Danese and Tan (2014) found that, when they adjusted their data for current depression, the link was no longer statistically significant. In other words, they found that depression may mediate the link between childhood maltreatment and adult obesity, with childhood maltreatment leading to depression for some adults which, in turn, increases the risk for obesity in those adults. The studies have also found that the outcomes of child sexual abuse (CSA) are affected by the individual's gender and relationship with the perpetrator and the nature of the abuse (e.g., Christensen, 2017). With regard to gender, the research suggests there are differences in terms of short-term effects, with females being more likely to exhibit depression and other internalizing behaviors and males being more likely to exhibit conduct problems, aggression, and other externalizing behaviors. In terms of long-term effects, the studies have not produced entirely consistent results; however, most have found similar outcomes for males and females, with both experiencing significant mental health problems and other difficulties throughout their lifetimes. With regard to the perpetrator, the research has confirmed the prediction of betrayal trauma theory that child sexual abuse perpetrated by a family member or other person who is close to the child is associated with worse mental health outcomes than is abuse perpetrated by a less familiar or unknown individual. Finally, the consequences of CSA are related to the duration and severity of the abuse, with severe outcomes being associated with abuse that occurs over a long period of time, involves force, and includes some form of penetration.

Cultural Socialization

Cultural socialization refers to "parental practices that are intended to teach youth about their history and cultural heritage, their cultural customs and traditions, and to instill cultural, ethnic, or racial pride" (Smetana, Robinson, & Rote, 2015, p. 72). Most parents from ethnic/racial minority groups in the United States report using cultural socialization practices which, for some groups (e.g., African American groups), include socializing their children and adolescents on how to cope with racial prejudice and discrimination. Research has linked cultural socialization to a number of positive outcomes for children and adolescents, including the development of a positive self-concept and ethnic/racial ethnic identity, higher academic achievement and motivation, and fewer externalizing and internalizing behavior problems.

Custodial Grandparents

Grandparents become the full-time caregivers to their grandchildren for a number of reasons including substance abuse, mental health problems, incarceration, or death of the children's biological parents and/or the parents' abuse or neglect of the children. Although this arrangement is considered preferable to placing children in foster care with nonrelatives, the research has linked it to both positive and negative consequences for the grandparents. In terms of positive consequences, custodial grandparents often report that caring for their grandchildren provides them with a closer relationship with the children, an increased sense of purpose, an opportunity to nurture family relationships, and a second chance in life. In terms of negative consequences, the studies have found that custodial grandparents report higher levels of stress, depression, anxiety, insomnia, and chronic health problems than do grandparents in more traditional roles and that these problems are attributable to several factors including the grandparents' neglect of their own psychological and physical health, financial difficulties, social isolation, and conflicts with biological parents and other family members.

Premarital Cohabitation and Divorce

Initial studies on the effects of premarital cohabitation on the risk for divorce found that married couples who cohabitated before marriage had higher rates of divorce than those who did not cohabit. Subsequent studies in the early 2000's found that premarital cohabitation was no longer associated with higher rates of divorce but, more recent research suggests that the relationship between cohabitation and divorce is complex: Based on their analysis of the National Surveys of Family Growth (NSFG), Rosenfeld and Roesler (2019) concluded that living together before marriage is associated with a decreased likelihood for divorce during the first year of marriage but with an increased likelihood for divorce in subsequent years. In addition, Kuperberg (2014) also analyzed NSFG data and concluded that age is more important than cohabitation for predicting divorce, with a younger age at first cohabitation or first marriage (whichever came first) being associated with an increased risk for divorce.

Intimate Partner Violence (IPV)

Is described by the Centers for Disease Control as "physical violence, sexual violence, stalking and psychological aggression (including coercive tactics) by a current or former intimate partner" (Breiding, Basile, Smith, Black, & Mahendra, 2015, p. 11). For the exam, you want to be familiar with Walker's cycle of violence, which describes a common pattern of IPV, and Johnson's typology, which distinguishes between four types of IPV.

Johnson's Typology

Johnson's (2006) research led him to conclude that there are four types of IPV that are distinguished primarily by two factors: (a) the perpetrator's motivation for acting violently and (b) whether the violence is more frequently perpetrated in heterosexual relationships by male or female partners or is perpetrated with similar frequency by males and females. According to Johnson, it's important to recognize the various types of IPV because they do not have "the same causes, developmental trajectory, consequences, or prognosis for effective intervention. Intimate terrorism is most often perpetrated in heterosexual couples by the male partner who uses violence to control his female partner. For perpetrators of intimate terrorism, physical violence is typically accompanied by other methods of control such as making threats, exerting economic control, inflicting sexual and emotional abuse, and isolating the victim. Intimate terrorism is the type of IPV that most often takes the form of Walker's cycle of violence. Violent resistance is most often perpetrated in heterosexual couples by the female partner as a response to the behavior of her violent and controlling male partner. The female partner's motivation is not to control her partner but, instead, to retaliate or defend herself - or, in extreme cases, to escape the abuse by killing the abuser. Mutual violent control is perpetrated by both partners for the purpose of gaining control over their relationship. Johnson's research found this to be the least common type of IPV. Situational couple violence is perpetrated by male and female partners, can be either one-sided or mutual, and can range from mild to severe. This type of violence is situationally provoked (e.g., by an argument that escalates to verbal and/or physical aggression). It may involve a desire to control the situation but not a more general desire to control the relationship. Johnson found this to be the most common type of IPV.

The Empty Nest

The empty nest refers to the family's situation after the last child leaves home and was initially described as resulting in an emotional crisis for the parents. However, research has found that the empty nest is associated with more positive than negative outcomes. For example, Gorchoff, John, and Helson (2008) found that the married women in their study experienced an increase in marital satisfaction after the last child left home and that this increase was due primarily to an increase in the quality of interactions with their husbands rather than the quantity of time they spent with their husbands.

Divorce Effects on Children

The negative consequences for children are moderated by several factors including the child's adjustment before the divorce and the child's age and gender. Not surprisingly, children who were well-adjusted before the divorce have less problems after the divorce (Hetherington, 2006). With regard to age, preschool children often have the most negative outcomes, especially in the short-run (Zill, Morrison, & Corio, 1993). However, long-term consequences may be worse for children who are older at the time of divorce. Wallerstein (1984) found that, 10 years after the divorce, children who were preschoolers when their parents divorced had few memories of the period surrounding the divorce, but those who were older when their parents divorced had painful memories and concerns about their own ability to have a successful marriage. With regard to gender, early studies found that boys experienced more negative short- and long-term effects than girls. However, subsequent studies found that girls also experience negative effects immediately after the divorce but are more likely to exhibit internalizing behaviors that aren't as obvious. In addition, girls may experience a "sleeper effect": Girls who were in preschool or elementary school when their parents divorced may experience few problems initially but become noncompliant and have low self-esteem and emotional problems as adolescents and become pregnant before marriage, marry young, and worry excessively about abandonment and betrayal in romantic relationship. Another important factor for child outcomes is marital conflict, which has been found to have a negative impact on children whether their parents are divorced or together. In fact, there's evidence that children from highly conflictual intact families are more poorly adjusted than children from low-conflict divorced families. Finally, contrary to what might be expected, there's evidence that the frequency of children's contact with their nonresident fathers has less impact on children's outcomes than other factors do, including the father's payment of child support, the closeness of the father-child relationship, and the father's reliance on an authoritative parenting style.

Gay and Lesbian Parents

The studies have found that children raised by gay or lesbian parents do not differ in any consistent way from children of heterosexual parents in terms of psychological adjustment, intellectual functioning, gender identity, or sexual orientation (Anderssen, Anile, &Ytteroy, 2002; Tasker, 2005; Wainright & Patterson, 2008). In addition, the parenting skills of gay and lesbian parents are similar or better than those of heterosexual parents.

Helicopter Parents

Used to describe parents "who overtly infuse themselves into every aspect of the child's life, not allowing the child to deal, cope, grow, or mature properly on his or her own". These parents are overinvolved in their children's activities, often make decisions for their children, and intervene to prevent their children from failing. This type of parenting is more benevolent than Baumrind's authoritarian parenting style but is similar to that style in terms of level of control and negative outcomes. Outcomes associated with helicopter parenting include high levels of stress and anxiety, increased sense of entitlement, low levels of autonomy and emotional and behavioral self-regulation, and decreased academic motivation and achievement. Several studies have focused on the effects of helicopter parenting on the adjustment of emerging adults: Cook (2020) found that, for college students, helicopter parenting was associated with increased symptoms of depression, increased substance use problems, and decreased competence in friendships and romantic relationships. In addition, Luebbe and his colleagues (2016) found a link between helicopter parenting and poor emotional functioning, decision-making, and academic functioning in their sample of individuals, ages 17 to 25.

Walker's Cycle of Violence

Walker (1979, 2017) derived her cycle of violence from the results of interviews with 1,500 women in heterosexual relationships who had been victims of IPV, and it describes recurring IPV as involving three phases that repeat over time: During the tension building phase, hostility and tension between partners gradually escalates as partners argue over domestic issues and the abuser becomes increasingly hostile and critical of the victim. The victim attempts to placate the abuser by doing things she believes will please or calm him. Increasing tension eventually leads to the acute battering incident, in which the abuser verbally expresses intense rage and/or physically attacks the victim. The incident may occur when the woman is no longer able to control her partner's hostility or unconsciously provokes the incident to relieve tension and move to the next phase. The loving contrition phase is also referred to as the honeymoon phase. During this phase, the abuser expresses remorse, is loving and kind, and tries to convince his partner the abuse will not happen again.

Stepfamilies

arly studies found that children living with a biological parent and stepparent tend to have worse outcomes than those living with both biological parents, but they've also found that this difference tends to be small (Amato & Keith, 1991). In addition, longitudinal studies suggest that the adjustment of children in simple stepfamilies (families with a stepfather or stepmother and children from only one parent) improves over time and that their adjustment is better than the adjustment of children in blended stepfamilies (families that include children from both previous marriages) and children in intact conflicted families (Hetherington, 2006). However, there's evidence that negative outcomes are reduced when the biological parent and stepparent both have an authoritative parenting style and the stepparent is supportive of the biological parent's decisions and develops a relationship with his/her stepchild before attempting to actively discipline the child. Research investigating gender and age differences in adjustment to a stepparent has not produced entirely consistent results, but the majority of studies have found that boys benefit more than girls from having a stepfather or stepmother. In terms of age, the studies have found that young children adjust to a stepparent most easily, with children nine years of age and younger at the time of the biological parent's remarriage having the fewest adjustment problems. In contrast, children and young adolescents ages 10 to 14 have the most problems, with girls being at greater risk than boys for poorer outcomes. Apparently, adjustment to a stepparent is most difficult for members of this age group because they're also dealing with issues related to identity and sexuality and other normal problems of adolescence.