The Role of Parenting Patterns, Parent Characteristics, and the Family Environment in Child and Adolescent Internalizing and Externalizing in the ABCD Study Open Access

Abstract

Internalizing and externalizing behavior problems during childhood can lead to poor mental

health outcomes. Identifying intervenable mechanisms to decrease youth internalizing/

externalizing problems is crucial in preventing long-term negative psychological outcomes. One

possible mechanism is parenting, which has been shown to predict youth internalizing and

externalizing behaviors. Parenting research typically considers the influence of one or two

parenting behaviors at a time, ignoring interactions between the wide range parenting behaviors

that can impact child outcomes. Past research is also lacking a nuanced understanding of how

parent characteristics, family environments, and parenting interact, along with how these

relationships impact youth internalizing/ externalizing behavior. The current study aimed to

address these gaps using data from the ABCD Study. We used LPA to explore patterns of

parenting and found evidence for three parenting profiles that describe the data well (entropy

range 0.956-0.994). Profile 1 was characterized by the lowest levels of positive and the highest

levels of negative parenting behaviors, Profile 3 by the lowest levels of positive and the highest

levels of negative parenting behaviors, and Profile 2 by comparatively moderate levels of

positive and negative parenting behaviors. Increased parental psychopathology and poorer family

environments characterized profiles with more negative and fewer positive parenting behaviors.

Multiple regression models testing main effects of parenting, parent characteristics, and family

characteristics indicated that the most robust indicators of youth internalizing/ externalizing were

parent and family characteristics. Post-hoc analyses suggest inconsistent evidence for

interactions between parent or family characteristics and parenting in predicting child outcomes.

Table of Contents

ABSTRACT……………………………………………………………………………… iv

LIST OF TABLES……………………………………………………………………….. vii

LIST OF FIGURES……………………………………………………………………… ix

INTRODUCTION……………………………………………………………………….. 1

Parenting and the Family Environment………………………………………….. 2

Parent Characteristics……………………………………………………………. 4

Current Study……………………………………………………………………. 6

METHOD……………………………………………………….……………………..... 8

Sample…………………………………………………………………………… 8

Assessments…………………………………………………..………………….. 9

Demographic Characteristics……………………..……………………… 9

Parent Characteristics……………………………………………………. 10

Parent Behaviors…………………………………………………………. 11

Family Environment……………………………………………………… 12

Child/ Adolescent Behaviors……………………………………………... 12

Data Analysis……………………………………………………………………... 13

Analytical Plan Overview………………………………………………… 13

RESULTS………………………………………………………………………………… 14

Descriptive Results……………………………………………………………….. 14

Parenting Profiles…………………………………………………………………. 15

Parenting Profile Correlates………………………………………………………. 17

Parenting, Parent-, and Family Indicators of Childhood/Adolescent Internalizing

and Externalizing……………………………………………………….………… 18

DISCUSSION……………………………………………………………………………... 19

Limitations and Future Directions………………………………………………... 27

Summary………………………………………………………………………….. 28

REFERENCES…………………………………………………………………………… 29

TABLES AND FIGURES………………………………………………………………… 43

APPENDIX……………………………………………………………………………….. 52

About this Master's Thesis

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School	Laney Graduate School
Department	Psychology
Subfield / Discipline	Clinical Science
Degree	M.A.
Submission	Master's Thesis
Language	English
Research Field	Psychology, Developmental Psychology, Clinical
Keyword	Family Dynamics Externalizing Parenting Child Psychopathology Internalizing
Committee Chair / Thesis Advisor	Rohan Palmer, Emory University
Committee Members	Patricia Brennan, Emory University Yuk Fai Cheong, Emory University

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