Biomedical subjects

Jennifer S Silk

Publications and source records attributed to Jennifer S Silk.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Emotion regulation strategies in offspring of childhood-onset depressed mothers.

BACKGROUND: This study examines emotion regulation strategies used by children of mothers with childhood-onset depression (COD) and children of never-depressed mothers (NCOD). METHODS: Participants were 49 COD offspring (ages 4-7) and 37 NCOD offspring (ages 4-7) and their mothers. Emotion regulation strategies were assessed observationally during a laboratory mood induction paradigm. RESULTS: COD offspring were more likely to focus on the delay object or task than NCOD offspring. Daughters of COD mothers were also more likely to wait passively and less likely to engage in active distraction than daughters of NCOD mothers. These findings were replicated using number of maternal depressive episodes. CONCLUSIONS: COD offspring, especially daughters, exhibit a more passive style of regulating emotion that may place them at risk for developing psychopathology.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed2006

Maternal depression, child frontal asymmetry, and child affective behavior as factors in child behavior problems.

BACKGROUND: Despite findings that parent depression increases children's risk for internalizing and externalizing problems, little is known about other factors that combine with parent depression to contribute to behavior problems. METHODS: As part of a longitudinal, interdisciplinary study on childhood-onset depression (COD), we examined the association of mother history of COD, child frontal electroencephalogram asymmetry, and affective behavior with children's concurrent behavior problems. RESULTS: Children in the COD group had higher anxious/depressed and aggressive problems than did children in the control group, but this was qualified by a COD-by-asymmetry interaction effect. For COD but not control children, left frontal asymmetry was associated with both anxious/depressed and aggressive child problems. Children with left frontal asymmetry and low affect regulation behavior had higher anxious/depressed problems than did those with high affect regulation behavior. Boys with left frontal asymmetry had higher aggressive problems than did those with right frontal asymmetry. CONCLUSIONS: In children of mothers with COD, physiological and behavioral indices of affect regulation may constitute risks for behavior problems.

Adult↗

PubMed2006

Ethnic differences in relations between family process and child internalizing problems.

BACKGROUND: Family process variables have been linked to child problem behavior, but recent research suggests that child ethnicity may moderate relations between family process and child outcomes. The current study examined how ethnicity moderates relations between parent conflict, parent-child relationship quality, and internalizing problems. METHODS: A sample of 101 mother-child dyads was drawn from a larger longitudinal study of childhood-onset depression. Maternal reports of family process factors were used with child reports of anxiety and depressive symptoms. RESULTS: The results indicated a moderating effect of ethnicity for multiple indicators of internalizing symptoms, such that child-rearing disagreement and low levels of mother-child openness were associated with internalizing problems only for European American (not African American) children. CONCLUSIONS: Findings suggest that ethnicity moderates the effects of family process factors on child psychopathology. Ethnic differences may be accounted for by the normativeness of family processes and the meaning that children of different ethnic backgrounds assign to these processes.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2006

Maternal depression and child internalizing: the moderating role of child emotion regulation.

This study tests a model of children's emotion regulation (ER) as a moderator of the link between maternal depression and child internalizing problems. Participants were 78 children (ages 4 to 7), including 45 children of mothers with a history of childhood-onset depression (COD) and 33 children of mothers who had never been depressed. ER was assessed observationally during a laboratory mood induction. ER behaviors were empirically reduced into 3 categories: (a) negative focus on delay, (b) positive reward anticipation, and (c) behavioral distraction. Linear mixed models indicated that positive reward anticipation moderated the effects of maternal COD on children's internalizing problems, particularly if mothers had current depressive symptoms. Findings suggest that generating positive affect in the face of a potential frustration may be a protective ER strategy for children at risk for depression.

Adult↗

PubMed2004

Neighborhood cohesion as a buffer against hostile maternal parenting.

This study explored the moderating effects of children's neighborhoods on the link between hostile parenting and externalizing behavior. Participants were 1st- or 2nd-grade children in an urban northeastern community. Children were administered the Parenting and Neighborhood scales of the Child Puppet Interview, and mothers completed questionnaires on neighborhood quality and parenting practices. Census tract measures of neighborhood quality and teachers' reports of children's externalizing behavior also were obtained. Results indicated that children's and mothers' perceptions of neighborhood involvement-cohesion buffered the link between hostile parenting and externalizing problems. Children's externalizing behavior was unrelated to census tract variables. Findings highlight the protective effect of neighborhood social cohesion and the utility of including young children's perspectives in research on neighborhoods and families.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Adolescents' emotion regulation in daily life: links to depressive symptoms and problem behavior.

This study examined links between emotion regulation and adjustment in a sample of 152 adolescents in Grades 7 (M age = 12) and 10 (M age = 15). Emotion regulation was assessed using the experience sampling method, in which adolescents provided multiple reports about the intensity, lability, and strategies used to regulate negative emotions across 1 week. Adolescents also completed self-report measures of adjustment. Adolescents who reported more intense and labile emotions and less effective regulation of these emotions also reported more depressive symptoms and problem behavior. Responding to negative emotions with disengagement (e.g., denial) or involuntary engagement (e.g., rumination) was less effective in regulating negative affect, and greater use of these strategies was related to higher levels of depressive symptoms and problem behavior.

Adaptation, Psychological↗