Browsing by Subject "Adversity"

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    Guilt-proneness and shame-proneness in homeless children
    (2017-08) Ahumada, Sandra
    Abstract There is a preponderance of literature on the adaptive functions of guilt- and shame-proneness. As the conceptualization and measurement of these self-conscious emotions has improved, there has been a growing consensus that guilt-proneness serves an adaptive role within interpersonal domains whereas shame-proneness is consistently associated with maladaptive functioning. However, the vast majority of this research has focused on typically developing populations. This is unfortunate because the few studies that have examined maltreated samples suggest that maltreatment increases an individual’s tendency toward negative self-conscious emotions. The current study examined the impact of multiple levels of adversity on guilt- and shame-proneness within a sample of 108, 4- to 7-year-old homeless children. The study first investigated whether cumulative sociodemographic risk, a child’s own personal experience with negative life events, or the negative childhood events of the child’s caregiver influenced children’s likelihood of endorsing guilt or shame. Results showed that children’s guilt-proneness was associated with caregiver’s history of adverse events, childhood maltreatment in particular. The study then examined the predictive profiles of guilt- and shame-proneness with respect to academic, emotional, and social functioning. Guilt-proneness predicted greater academic competence and better emotion regulation while shame-proneness predicted worse academic competence and less emotion regulation. Exploratory analyses suggested that guilt-proneness’ adaptive function and shame-proneness’ detrimental effect was most pronounced at higher adversity levels. Overall, findings highlight the importance of interpersonal experiences in shaping guilt-proneness and suggest that guilt-proneness may serve a protective role for children facing adversity.
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    Parenting Resilience in the Context of Homelessness: Risk and Protective Factors
    (2015-08) McCormick, Christopher
    Homelessness among families with children has become a surprisingly common and persistent problem. Children who experience the disruptions of homelessness are at increased risk for difficulties with academic, social, emotional, and behavioral development. Decades of research on resilience suggests that effective parenting helps to mitigate the effects of adversity on child development. However, relatively little is known about factors that predict parenting quality during family homelessness. This study examined predictors of parenting quality among 138 families who were staying in three Minneapolis emergency housing shelters, with the goal of identifying distal and proximal influences on parenting in families facing homelessness. Based on transactional-ecological systems perspectives on the determinants of parenting, and research on risk and protective processes for parenting under stress, current parenting in a shelter context was expected to relate to recent and past adversity of the parent and current health and social resources. Current trauma, anxiety, and depressive symptoms in parents were expected to interfere with effective parenting. Two basic dimensions of parenting, warmth and structure, were expected to underlie observed parenting assessed by three empirically validated observational coding techniques. Factor analyses indicated two dimensions of parenting; however, these reflected a blend of warmth/structure and a distinct factor of negativity. Thus, subsequent analyses predicted parenting on each of these two dimensions, using linear methods of path analysis and multiple regression to test for predictive, mediating, and moderating effects of earlier and recent adversity, physical and mental health, and available resources on parenting quality. Also tested was the moderating influence of resources, specifically cognitive resources and social support, on the relationship between adversity, mental health, and parenting quality. Finally, a person-centered analytic approach was used to provide an integrated portrait of resilient parenting in the context of homelessness. Controlling for parent age, sex, and child behavior, parents’ adverse experiences in childhood were positive related to warmth/structure, contrary to expectations, whereas current resources, as predicted, were positively and independently associated with this aspect of effective parenting. Resources did not moderate any of these relationships. Parents classified as showing resilience in the person-focused analyses had greater cognitive, social, and emotional resources than parents classified as maladaptive. Strengths and limitations of this study are discussed in relation to future research and the goals of identifying malleable protective influences on parenting for families in challenging situations.