Abstract
Purpose: Adolescents in residential treatment (RT) encounter multiple obstacles upon discharge that can make maintaining treatment gains in the community challenging. This study examined relationships among parenting (sense of competence, practices), household chaos, and adolescent behavior problems in a sample of parents with adolescents in RT. Method: This exploratory cross-sectional study used convenience sampling to recruit 71 parents through Facebook. After providing informed consent, parents completed a battery of self-report instruments. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and linear regression. Results: Parents reported several strengths, including high involvement and consistent discipline, and low levels of corporal punishment. Parental sense of competence was relatively high, and household chaos was moderate. Adolescent inattention behaviors were positively associated with inconsistent discipline, corporal punishment, and parental sense of competence. Adolescent internalizing behaviors were positively associated with parent involvement and positive parenting and negatively associated with household chaos. Adolescent externalizing behaviors were positively associated with inconsistent discipline, corporal punishment, and parental sense of competence. Discussion: Findings suggest that there are numerous parenting strengths; however, some aspects of parenting could be promoted through evidence-based interventions such as parent training. Future research should also comprehensively study the home environment beyond self-report to understand environmental factors that may promote or inhibit adolescent behavior problems.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.
References
Achenbach, T. M., & Rescorla, L. (2001). Manual for the ASEBA School-Age Forms & Profiles. University of Vermont, Research Center for Children, Youth, and Families.
Achenbach, T. M., & Ruffle, T. M. (2000). The child Behavior Checklist and related forms for assessing behavioral/emotional problems and competencies. Pediatrics in Review, 21(8), 265–271. https://doi.org/10.1542/pir.21-8-265.
Achenbach, T., McConaughy, S., Ivanova, M., & Rescorla, L. (2011). Manual for the ASEBA brief Problem Monitor (BPM). University of Vermont, Research Center for Children, Youth, and Families.
Ackerman, B. P., & Brown, E. D. (2010). Physical and psychosocial turmoil in the home and cognitive development. In G.W. Evans & T.D. Wachs (Eds.), Chaos and its influence on children’s development: An ecological perspective (pp. 35–47). American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/12057-003
Albanese, A. M., Russo, G. R., & Geller, P. A. (2019). The role of parental self-efficacy in parent and child well-being: a systematic review of associated outcomes. Child: Care Health and Development, 45(3), 333–363. https://doi.org/10.1111/cch.12661.
Blader, J. (2004). Symptom, family, and service predictors of children’s psychiatric rehospitalization within one year of discharge. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 43(4), 440–451. https://doi.org/10.1097/00004583-200404000-00010.
Blader, J. C. (2006). Which family factors predict children’s externalizing behaviors following discharge from psychiatric inpatient treatment? Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines, 47(11), 1133–1142. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7610.2006.01651.x.
Briggs, C. E., Greeson, J. K. P., Layne, C. M., Fairbank, J. A., Knoverek, A. M., & Pynoos, R. S. (2012). Trauma exposure, psychosocial functioning, and treatment needs of youth in residential care: preliminary findings from the NCTSN Core Data Set. Journal of Child & Adolescent Trauma, 5(1), 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1080/19361521.2012.646413.
Capaldi, D. M., Chamberlain, P., & Patterson, G. R. (1997). Ineffective discipline and conduct problems in males: Association, late adolescent outcomes, and prevention. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 2(4), 343–353. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1359-1789(97)00020-7.
Connor, D. F., Doerfler, L. A., Toscano, P. F., Volungis, A. M., & Steingard, R. J. (2004). Characteristics of children and adolescents admitted to a residential treatment center. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 13(4), 497–510. https://doi.org/10.1023/B:JCFS.0000044730.66750.57.
Dadds, M. R., Maujean, A., & Fraser, J. A. (2003). Parenting and conduct problems in children: australian data and psychometric properties of the Alabama parenting questionnaire. Australian Psychologist, 38(3), 238–241. https://doi.org/10.1080/00050060310001707267.
Deater-Deckard, K., Mullineaux, P. Y., Beekman, C., Petrill, S. A., Schatschneider, C., & Thompson, L. A. (2009). Conduct problems, IQ, and household chaos: a longitudinal multi-informant study. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines, 50(10), 1301–1308. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7610.2009.02108.x.
Dumas, J. E., Nissley, J., Nordstrom, A., Smith, E. P., Prinz, R. J., & Levine, D. W. (2005). Home chaos: Sociodemographic, parenting, interactional, and child correlates. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 34(1), 93–104. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15374424jccp3401_9.
Dwairy, M. (2007). Parental inconsistency versus parental authoritarianism: Associations with symptoms of psychological disorders. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 37, 616–626. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-007-9169-3.
Farley, T. M., McWey, L. M., & Ledermann, T. (2020). Trauma and violence as predictors of internalizing and externalizing symptoms of youth in residential child welfare placements. Journal of Family Violence, 36, 249–258. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-020-00140-w.
Fite, P. J., Stoppelbein, L., & Greening, L. (2009). Predicting readmission to a child psychiatric inpatient unit: the impact of parenting styles. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 18(5), 621–629. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-009-9284-8.
Frick, P. J. (1991). The Alabama Parenting Questionnaire University of Alabama. Retrieved from: https://cyfar.org/sites/default/files/PsychometricsFiles/Parenting%20Questionnaire-Alabama%20(parents%20of%20children%206-18)_0.pdf
Fritz, J., de Graaff, A. M., Caisley, H., van Harmelen, A. L., & Wilkinson, P. O. (2018). A systematic review of amenable resilience factors that moderate and/or mediate the relationship between childhood adversity and mental health in young people. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 9, 230. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2018.00230.
Glatz, T., & Stattin, H. (2013). Exploring parents’ experiences and reactions to adolescents’ hyperactivity, impulsivity, and attention problems. Journal of Marriage & Family, 75(4), 1030–1043. https://doi.org/10.1111/jomf.12038.
Griffith, A., Ingram, S. D., Barth, R. P., Trout, A. L., Hurley, D., Thompson, K., R. W., & Epstein, M. H. (2009). The family characteristics of youth entering a residential care program. Residential Treatment for Children & Youth, 26(2), 135–150. https://doi.org/10.1080/08865710902914283.
Griffin, M., Martino, R. J., LoSchiavo, C., Comer-Carruthers, C., Krause, K. D., Stults, C. B., & Halkitis, P. N. (2021). Ensuring survey research data integrity in the era of internet bots. Quality & Quantity, 56, 2841–2852. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11135-021-01252-1.
Grinde, B., & Tambs, K. (2016). Effect of household size on mental problems in children: results from the norwegian mother and child cohort study. BMC Psychology, 4(1), 31. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-016-0136-1.
Heilmann, A., Mehay, A., Watt, R. G., Kelly, Y., Durrant, J. E., van Turnhout, J., & Gershoff, E. T. (2021). Physical punishment and child outcomes: a narrative review of prospective studies. The Lancet, 398(10297), 355–364. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(21)00582-1.
Herbell, K., & Banks, A. J. (2020). “Fighting tooth and nail”: barriers to accessing adolescent mental health treatment from mothers perspectives. Administration and Policy in Mental Health and Mental Health Services Research, 47(6), 935–945. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10488-020-01026.
Herbell, K., Banks, A. J., Bloom, T., Li, Y., & Bullock, L. F. C. (2020). Priorities for support in mothers of adolescents in residential treatment. Children and Youth Services Review, 110, 104805. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2020.104805.
Herbell, K. S., & Breitenstein, S. M. (2021). Parenting a child in residential treatment: Mother’s perceptions of programming needs. Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 42(7), 639–648. https://doi.org/10.1080/01612840.2020.1836536.
Hodges, K. (2000). Child and adolescent functional Assessment Scale. Eastern Michigan University.
Lanier, P., Jensen, T., Bryant, K., Chung, G., Rose, R., Smith, Q., & Lackmann, L. (2020). A systematic review of the effectiveness of children’s behavioral health interventions in psychiatric residential treatment facilities. Children and Youth Services Review, 113, 104951. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2020.104951.
Mackenbach, J. D., Ringoot, A. P., van der Ende, J., Verhulst, F. C., Jaddoe, V. W. V., Hofman, A., Jansen, P. W., & Tiemeier, H. W. (2014). Exploring the relation of harsh parental discipline with child emotional and behavioral problems by using multiple informants. The Generation R Study. PLOS ONE, 9(8), e104793. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0104793.
Marsh, S., Dobson, R., & Maddison, R. (2020). The relationship between household chaos and child, parent, and family outcomes: a systematic scoping review. Bmc Public Health, 20(1), 513. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-020-08587-8.
Matheny, A. P., Wachs, T. D., Ludwig, J. L., & Phillips, K. (1995). Bringing order out of chaos: psychometric characteristics of the confusion, hubbub, and order scale. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 16(3), 429–444. https://doi.org/10.1016/0193-3973(95)90028-4.
National Conference of State Legislatures (2020). Family First Prevention Services Act. https://www.ncsl.org/research/human-services/family-first-prevention-services-act-ffpsa.aspx
Obradović, J., Sulik, M. J., & Shaffer, A. (2021). Learning to let go: parental over-engagement predicts poorer self-regulation in kindergartners. Journal of Family Psychology, 35(8), 1160–1170. https://doi.org/10.1037/fam0000838.
Ohan, J. L., Leung, D. W., & Johnston, C. (2000). The parenting sense of competence scale: evidence of a stable factor structure and validity. Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science / Revue Canadienne Des Sciences Du Comportement, 32(4), 251–261. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0087122.
Orri, M., Girard, L. C., Pingault, J. B., Rouquette, A., Herba, C., Falissard, B., Côté, S. M., & Berthoz, S. (2019). Harsh parenting practices mediate the association between parent affective profiles and child adjustment outcomes: Differential associations for mothers and fathers. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 43(1), 53–60. https://doi.org/10.1177/0165025418769376.
Patterson, G. (1982). Coercive family process. Castalia.
Pozzar, R., Hammer, M. J., Underhill-Blazey, M., Wright, A. A., Tulsky, J. A., Hong, F., Gundersen, D. A., & Berry, D. L. (2020). Threats of bots and other bad actors to data quality following research participant recruitment through social media: cross-sectional questionnaire. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 22(10), e23021. https://doi.org/10.2196/23021.
Preyde, M., Cameron, G., Frensch, K., & Adams, G. (2011). Parent-child relationships and family functioning of children and youth discharged from residential mental health treatment or a home-based alternative. Residential Treatment for Children & Youth, 28(1), 55–74. https://doi.org/10.1080/0886571X.2011.550171.
Preyde, M., VanDonge, C., Carter, J., Lazure-Valconi, K., White, S., Ashbourne, G., Penney, R., Frensch, K., & Cameron, G. (2015). Parents of youth in intensive mental health treatment: Associations between emotional and behavioral disorders and parental sense of competence. Child & Adolescent Social Work Journal, 32(4), 317–327. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10560-014-0375-z.
Qualtrics (2021). Available at: https://www.qualtrics.com
R Core Team (2017). R: A language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria. https://www.R-project.org//
Ringle, J. L., Thompson, R. W., & Way, M. (2015). Reunifying families after an out-of-home residential stay: evaluation of a blended intervention. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 24(7), 2079–2087. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-014-0009-2.
Segrin, C., Woszidlo, A., Givertz, M., Bauer, A., & Murphy, M. T. (2012). The association between overparenting, parent-child communication, and entitlement and adaptive traits in adult children. Family Relations, 61(2), 237–252. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-3729.2011.00689.x.
Schiffrin, H. H., Batte-Futrell, M. L., Boigegrain, N. M., Cao, C. N., & Whitesell, E. R. (2021). Relationships between helicopter parenting, psychological needs satisfaction, and prosocial behaviors in emerging adults. Journal of Child & Family Studies, 30(4), 966–977. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-021-01925-3.
Schiffrin, H. H., Erchull, M. J., Sendrick, E., Yost, J. C., Power, V., & Saldanha, E. R. (2019). The effects of maternal and paternal helicopter parenting on the self-determination and well-being of emerging adults. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 28(12), 3346–3359. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-019-01513-6.
Shelton, K. K., Frick, P. J., & Wootton, J. (1996). Assessment of parenting practices in families of elementary school-age children. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 25(3), 317–329. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15374424jccp2503_8.
Sunseri, P. A. (2020). Hidden figures: is improving family functioning a key to better treatment outcomes for seriously mentally ill children? Residential Treatment for Children & Youth, 37(1), 46–64. https://doi.org/10.1080/0886571X.2019.1589405.
Tahhan, J., St. Pierre, J., Stewart, S. L., Leschied, A. W., & Cook, S. (2010). Families of children with serious emotional disorder: maternal reports on the decision and impact of their child’s placement in residential treatment. Residential Treatment for Children & Youth, 27(3), 191–213. https://doi.org/10.1080/0886571X.2010.500956.
Temmen, C. D., & Crockett, L. J. (2021). The importance of father involvement for adolescent internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Psychology of Men & Masculinities, 22(3), 564–577. https://doi.org/10.1037/men0000322.
Therriault, D., Lemelin, J. P., Toupin, J., & Déry, M. (2021). Factors associated with parent–adolescent attachment relationship quality: a longitudinal study. Adolescents, 1(2), 159–174. https://doi.org/10.3390/adolescents1020013.
Trout, A., Chmelka, M., Thompson, R., Epstein, M., Tyler, P., & Pick, R. (2010). The departure status of youth from residential group care: implications for aftercare. Journal of Child & Family Studies, 19(1), 67–78. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-009-9283-9.
Weber, L., Kamp-Becker, I., Christiansen, H., & Mingebach, T. (2019). Treatment of child externalizing behavior problems: a comprehensive review and meta–meta-analysis on effects of parent-based interventions on parental characteristics. European Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 28(8), 1025–1036. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-018-1175-3.
Whittaker, J. K., Holmes, L., del Valle, J. F., Ainsworth, F., Andreassen, T., Anglin, J., Bellonci, C., Berridge, D., Bravo, A., Canali, C., Courtney, M., Currey, L., Daly, D., Gilligan, R., Grietens, H., Harder, A., Holden, M., James, S., Kendrick, A., & Knorth, E. (2016). Therapeutic residential care for children and youth: a consensus statement of the International Work Group on Therapeutic Residential Care. Residential Treatment for Children & Youth, 33(2), 89–106. https://doi.org/10.1080/0886571X.2016.1215755.
Ziv, I., Golbez, N., & Shapira, N. (2020). Parental sense of competence, resilience, and empathy in relation fathers’ responses to children’s negative emotions in the context of everyday paternal childrearing decisions. Cogent Psychology, 7(1), https://doi.org/10.1080/23311908.2020.1794681.
Funding
This research was supported by the Sigma and Jonas Philanthropies Collaborative Research Grant awarded to Kayla Herbell.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of Interest
The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
Ethical Approval
This study was approved by The Ohio State University Institutional Review Board.
Informed Consent
Informed consent was obtained from all participants, following approval of all participant-facing documentation through The Ohio State University Institutional Review Board.
Additional information
Publisher’s Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Herbell, K., Eisner, M., Ault, S. et al. Associations Among Parenting Competence and Practices, Household Chaos, and Behavior Problems in Adolescents Accessing Residential Treatment. Child Adolesc Soc Work J (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10560-022-00912-x
Accepted:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10560-022-00912-x
Keywords
- Residential treatment
- Children’s mental health
- Family characteristics
- Residential youth care
- Youth with emotional and behavioral disorders
- Parental sense of competence