Developmental 

Chris Trentacosta, Assistant Professor, Clinical Psychology, Wayne State University

Monday, January 28, 2013, 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm
B247 East Hall

Event Information

This presentation will describe a program of research focusing on contextual disadvantage, parental self-regulation skills, and their interplay as predictors of depressive symptoms and parenting practices among at-risk parents with young children. The accumulation of contextual disadvantage is a robust predictor of negative outcomes, but high levels of self-regulation may attenuate this association for at-risk young adult parents. Support for this perspective was found in a study of 104 young mothers of toddlers who were recruited from Women Infants and Children (WIC) programs serving low-income families in Detroit, Michigan. Cumulative contextual disadvantage was associated with maternal depressive symptoms, but the link between contextual disadvantage and depressive symptoms was non-significant when mothers had low levels of impulsivity or high levels of inhibitory control. Furthermore, mothers who reported utilizing an adaptive emotion regulation strategy (reappraisal) demonstrated positive parenting toward their toddlers even when facing high levels of contextual disadvantage. On the other hand, in an ongoing pilot study with a similar sample of young adult parents from Detroit, indicators of emotion dysregulation during late adolescence predicted later harsh parenting. Collectively, these findings suggest that policies and prevention programs that build at-risk parents’ self-regulation skills could reduce the likelihood of depressive symptoms, problematic parenting practices, and subsequent negative outcomes for their children.