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Exploring the Effects of Parental Involvement on Broad and Specific Dimensions of Behavioral Problems in Adolescence

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Abstract

Few studies have differentiated the specificity from the generality of the associations between parental involvement and adolescent behavioral problems across levels of the psychopathology hierarchy. Among 537 adolescents aged 11–17 years, the current study considered the extent to which associations between mother- and father- involvement and behavioral problems (assessed via the parent-reported Child Behavior Checklist) were unique to a specific dimension or reflective of associations with higher-order factors. The hierarchical structure of behavioral problems fit well, with total problems at the top, internalizing and externalizing at the second level, and eight specific symptom dimensions at the third level. Mother and father involvement were protective factors for withdrawn/depressed symptoms and risk factors for anxious/depressed symptoms that were not accounted for by internalizing or total problems. Mother involvement was also a protective factor for rule-breaking behavior and a risk factor for social problems symptoms and aggressive behavior symptoms that were not accounted for by externalizing or total problems.

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Notes

  1. As noted above, all analyses were preregistered through the Open Science Framework (OSF; https://osf.io/rqb9w).

  2. Though we originally planned to test for invariance of total, direct, and indirect effects, after further reviewing the analyses recommended to those attempting to test for group differences in total, direct, and indirect effects, we decided to use a z-test to determine whether or not the difference in effects was significantly difference from zero.

  3. Given the focus on group comparisons, unstandardized betas are reported in this section.

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  1. Department of Psychology, Georgia State University, PO Box 5010, Atlanta, GA, 30302-5010, USA

    Rachel C. Davis, Isabella M. Palumbo, Kaitlyn E. Tobin & Robert D. Latzman

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Davis, R.C., Palumbo, I.M., Tobin, K.E. et al. Exploring the Effects of Parental Involvement on Broad and Specific Dimensions of Behavioral Problems in Adolescence. Child Psychiatry Hum Dev 53, 1359–1371 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10578-021-01215-5

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