The growing base of research on parenting stress and its relation to child behavior problems has largely paralleled the emergence of developmental psychopathology as a field of inquiry. Specifically, the focus on mechanism rather than main effects has begun to elevate explanatory models in the connection between parenting stress and a variety of adverse child and parent conditions. Still, work on parenting stress is limited by conceptual confusion, the absence of attention to developmental differentiation, a focus on child-specific rather than system influences. Recent research on these parenting stress issues is briefly reviewed, highlighting studies that have illustrated developmental psychopathology perspectives. A conceptual model is offered to illustrate the complex recursive nature of connections between parenting stress, parenting behavior, parent well-being, and children’s adjustment, and I make a case for the adoption of a more systemic perspective to influence the next generation of developmental psychopathology research on parenting stress.

Late-life divorce is a growing phenomenon in the Western world, likely to expand due to increasing expectancy and changes in marital and family values. However, existing research on divorce and its consequences for offspring focuses on young and middle-aged adults, analysing individual rather than familial/dyadic perspectives. Accordingly, our study employs a holistic perspective on the family unit following late-life divorce which is especially relevant to societies that value familism as an essential element in individuals' lives. Coincidingly, the term familyhood expresses an atmosphere of closeness and unity among family members and is a commonly used expression in Israel. Using family systems as a framework, our aim was to examine how, if at all, familyhood is experienced after divorce considering how it was experienced prior to divorce from a long-term marriage in Israel. Semi-structured, in-depth qualitative interviews (N = 72) were conducted separately with divorcees aged 60–81 who divorced at age 56–68 (N = 44), and with their adult children aged 19–40 at the time of their parents' divorce (N = 28). Interviews were given thematic analysis and dyadic qualitative analysis. The findings reveal the meaningfulness of familyhood following late-life divorce via a fourfold typology of familyhood continuity/change experienced as present or lacking, before or after divorce. The typology addresses key elements of when, where, by whom and how familyhood is reconstructed, along with strategies to maintain familyhood. Paradoxes inherent in the intersection of divorce and familyhood, discussed within the Israeli sociocultural context, are located between self-determination and familism. Implications are presented.

Changes in children’s attachment security to mother and father were examined for 230 firstborn children (M = 31.17 months), their mothers and fathers participating in a longitudinal investigation starting in the last trimester of the mothers’ pregnancy and 1, 4, 8, and 12 months after the birth of an infant sibling. Both parents completed the Attachment Q-set at prenatal, 4, and 12 months. Growth mixture models revealed four latent classes in which children’s attachments were (a) both secure with a modest decline to both parents (68.3%); (b) more secure with father than mother with a steep decline for both (12.6%); (c) both insecure with no change (10%); and (d) more secure with mother than father with a modest increase for both (9.1%). Multi-group latent growth curve analyses revealed that parenting and coparenting differed across families. Children had lower externalizing behavior problems in families with two secure attachments than in families with one secure attachment, either to mother or to father, who, in turn, had fewer problems than children with two insecure attachments. Findings underscore the strengths of a family systems framework to understand attachment relationships with multiple caregivers and the family risks and protective factors that covary with children’s behavioral adjustment after the birth of a sibling.

Families of youth with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are vulnerable to maladaptive psychosocial experiences, including elevated youth emotional and behavioral problems (EBPs) and poor parent couple relationship outcomes. Yet, the extent to which these family psychosocial experiences are intertwined has been given little research attention. The present study longitudinally investigated the bidirectional associations between parent couple conflict (PCC) and youth EBPs in 188 families of children and adolescents with ASD (initially aged 5 to 12 years) across four time points (T1, T2, T3, T4), each spaced 12 months apart. Mother- and father-report of youth EBPs and PCC were entered into a cross-lagged panel model. After adjusting for youth age and intellectual disability status and parent education and couple relationship length, the results indicated that father-report of PCC predicted increased youth EBPs 12 months later (T1→T2 and T2→T3). In addition, father-report of youth EBPs predicted increased PCC 12 months later (T3→T4). Mother-report did not demonstrate cross-lagged effects. The findings suggest that fathers’ perceptions of PCC and youth emotional and behavioral functioning are transactionally related, highlighting the need for family-wide interventions.

Many years ago, Emmanuel Todd came up with a classification of family types and argued that the historically prevalent family types in a society have important consequences for its economic, political, and social development. Here, we evaluate Todd's most important predictions empirically. Relying on a parsimonious model with exogenous covariates, we find mixed results. On the one hand, authoritarian family types are, in stark contrast to Todd's predictions, associated with increased levels of the rule of law and innovation. On the other hand, and in line with Todd's expectations, communitarian family types are linked to racism, low levels of the rule of law, and late industrialization. Countries in which endogamy is frequently practiced also display an expectedly high level of state fragility and weak civil society organizations.

Scant research has examined health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in family members of patients with severe brain injury, even less has been done in Scandinavian countries, and none has examined this construct longitudinally. The current study therefore used multilevel modelling to investigate the trajectories of HRQoL in 94 Danish family members of patients with severe brain injury at five time points, beginning at the patient's stay in a neuro intensive care unit through one year after injury. The family members’ HRQoL scores significantly and strongly increased over time, and Role Limitations – Emotional scores were higher when patients had high Rancho Los Amigos Scale scores at admission to early intensive rehabilitation in hospital. These results suggest that the acute and sub-acute periods after brain injury are an extremely difficult time psychologically for many families, and family-based mental health interventions during the acute and sub-acute phases are critical, especially for families who have a patient with severe deficits.