Lifespan Development School And Family Influences

Question 1

Predictors of Divorce

Answer 1

The risk for divorce has been linked to several factors including a couple’s communication pattern. Based on the results of their longitudinal study of couples who divorced over a 14-year period, Gottman and Levenson (2002) concluded that two patterns are predictive of divorce: The emotionally volatile (attack-defend) pattern is characterized by frequent arguments that are followed by making-up and is associated with divorce early in the marriage.

Question 2

Gottman and Levenson (2002) concluded that two patterns are predictive of divorce:

Answer 2

emotionally volatile (attack-defend) pattern is characterized by frequent arguments that are followed by making-up and is associated with divorce early in the marriage. Couples exhibiting this pattern engage in escalating conflicts that include criticism, contempt, defensiveness, and stonewalling

emotionally inexpressive (avoidant) pattern is characterized by the avoidance of conflict and is associated with divorce later in the marriage. Couples exhibiting this pattern avoid self-disclosure and expressing their emotions.

Question 3

criticism, contempt, defensiveness, and stonewalling
Gottman and Levenson refer to these four behaviors as

Answer 3

Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse and found that contempt is the single best predictor of divorce

Question 4

Researchers have also identified a number of sociodemographic factors that are associated with an increased risk for divorce (Carr, 2006; Rodrigues, Hall, & Fincham, 2006).

Answer 4

sociodemographic factors, age at time of marriage is one of the best predictors of divorce, with the risk for divorce decreasing as the age at time of marriage increases. The studies have also found that the risk for divorce is greater among members of lower socioeconomic groups, couples that had a child before marriage, and individuals who have had a previous marriage

Question 5

Researchers have also identified a number of individual characteristics that are associated with an increased risk for divorce (Carr, 2006; Rodrigues, Hall, & Fincham, 2006).

Answer 5

individual characteristics, an elevated risk for divorce has been linked to psychopathology and certain personality traits: There’s evidence that individuals who report having one or more psychiatric disorders before or during marriage are more likely to divorce than are those without psychopathology. Of the personality traits that have been studied, high levels of neuroticism have been identified as being most consistently linked to a high risk for divorce.

Question 6

Consequences of Divorce on Parents and Children

Answer 6

1. Effects on Parents

Parents often exhibit “a diminished capacity to parent” that continues for up to two years after the divorce and involves reduced sensitivity to the children and a preoccupation with problems related to the divorce (Wallerstein & Blakeslee, 1989). Custodial mothers may show less affection toward their children (especially sons) and be less consistent and more authoritarian in their discipline, while noncustodial fathers often become more indulgent and permissive.

2. Effects on Children

The consequences of divorce for children are affected by the child’s age, gender, and other factors. With regard to age, preschool children often have the most negative outcomes, especially in the short-run (Zill, Morrison, & Corio, 1993). However, long-term consequences may be worse for children who are older at the time of divorce. Wallerstein (1984) found that, 10 years after the divorce, children who were preschoolers when their parents divorced had few memories of the period surrounding the divorce, but those who were older when their parents divorced had painful memories and concerns about their own ability to have a successful marriage.

Question 7

Regards to children’s gender and divorce

Answer 7

early studies found that boys experienced more negative short- and long-term effects than girls. However, subsequent studies found that girls also experience negative effects immediately after the divorce but are more likely to exhibit internalizing behaviors that aren’t as obvious. In addition, girls may experience a “sleeper effect”: Girls who were in preschool or elementary school when their parents divorced may experience few problems initially but become noncompliant and have low self-esteem and emotional problems as adolescents and become pregnant before marriage, marry young, and worry excessively about abandonment and betrayal in romantic relationship (Chase-Lansdale & Hetherington, 1990; Hetherington, 1988)

Question 8

Important factor for child outcomes is

Answer 8

marital conflict, which has been found to have a negative impact on children whether their parents are divorced or together (Amato, 2006). In fact, there’s evidence that children from highly conflictual intact families are more poorly adjusted than children from low-conflict divorced families (Block, Block, & Gjerde, 1988.) Socioeconomic status following divorce also affects children’s outcomes. Family socioeconomic status often decreases following divorce, especially for custodial mothers, and financial hardship has been linked to an increased risk for academic and social problems and other negative outcomes for children (e.g., Amato & Keith, 1991). Finally, contrary to what might be expected, there’s evidence that the frequency of children’s contact with their nonresident fathers has less impact on children’s outcomes than other factors do, including the father’s payment of child support, the closeness of the father-child relationship, and the father’s reliance on an authoritative parenting style (Amato & Gilbreth, 1999).

Question 9

Stepfamilies: Early studies found

Which results are significant?

Answer 9

children living with a biological parent and stepparent tend to have worse outcomes than those living with both biological parents, but they’ve also found that this difference tends to be small (Amato & Keith, 1991). In addition, longitudinal studies suggest that the adjustment of children in simple stepfamilies (families with a stepfather or stepmother and children from only one parent) improves over time and that their adjustment is better than the adjustment of children in blended stepfamilies (families that include children from both previous marriages) and children in intact conflicted families (Hetherington, 2006). However, there’s evidence that negative outcomes are reduced when the biological parent and stepparent both have an authoritative parenting style and the stepparent is supportive of the biological parent’s decisions and develops a relationship with his/her stepchild before attempting to actively discipline the child (Bray, 1999; Hetherington, Bridges, & Insabella, 1998).

Question 10

Research investigating gender and age differences in adjustment to a stepparent has confirmed

At what age do children have the hardest time in dealing in adjusting to stepparents?

Answer 10

Boys and girls both experience difficulties but that girls tend to have more problems adjusting to both stepfathers and stepmothers.

Girls living with stepfathers are more likely to avoid and be hostile toward their stepfathers and to be at increased risk for academic and behavioral problems. In contrast, boys living with stepfathers often benefit from having stepfathers in terms of self-concept, academic achievement, and adjustment, especially when they perceive their relationships with stepfathers as being close and supportive.

Girls living with stepmothers have even more problems than those living with stepfathers and tend to view stepmothers as threats to their relationships with their fathers and mothers. However, boys are more likely to view stepmothers as an additional source of support. With regard to age, pre- and early adolescence (approximately 9 to 15 years of age) are associated with the most problems (Hetherington, 1989). Apparently, adjustment to a new stepparent is most difficult for children and adolescents in this age group because they are also dealing with issues related to identity and sexuality and other normal problems of adolescence (e.g., Ashford, LeCroy, & Williams, 2018; Hetherington, 1993).

Question 11

Premarital Cohabitation and Divorce

Answer 11

Initial studies on the effects of premarital cohabitation on the risk for divorce found that married couples who cohabitated before marriage had higher rates of divorce than those who did not cohabit (e.g., Thomson & Colella, 1992). Subsequent studies in the early 2000’s found that premarital cohabitation was no longer associated with higher rates of divorce but, more recent research suggests that the relationship between cohabitation and divorce is complex: Based on their analysis of the National Surveys of Family Growth (NSFG), Rosenfeld and Roesler (2019) concluded that living together before marriage is associated with a decreased likelihood for divorce during the first year of marriage but with an increased likelihood for divorce in subsequent years.

Question 12

Marital Status has been found to be related

Answer 12

mortality rates and life satisfaction. (a) Longitudinal studies have consistently found that married men and women have lower mortality rates than do divorced, widowed, or never married men and women.

Question 13

Data collected by the National Center for Health Statistics (Curtin & Tejada-Vera, 2019) indicate that, in 2017,

Answer 13

age-adjusted death rates for persons 25 years of age and older were lowest for married men and women, followed in order by divorced, never married, and widowed men and women. In addition, the mortality rates for all four marital statuses were lower for women than for men. (b) Most studies have found that married individuals report the highest levels of life satisfaction with some studies indicating that cohabiting individuals have similar or slightly lower levels and that previously married individuals have the lowest levels. As an example, Greenstein’s (2016) cross-national study found that married and cohabiting men had the same and the highest average scores on a measure of life satisfaction followed by married women and that divorced and separated men and women had the lowest average scores. There is some disagreement about the nature of the link between marriage and life satisfaction. For instance, rather than concluding that marriage increases happiness, Lucas and colleagues (2003) propose that people who get married and maintain their marriage were happier before they married than people who never married or got married and eventually divorced.

Question 14

Transition to Parenthood and Relationship Quality

Answer 14

The research has found that, for most couples, the transition to parenthood is accompanied by a decline in relationship satisfaction and an increase in relationship conflict (e.g., Kuther, 2017). However, the effects vary

Question 15

Ceballo, Lansford, Abey, and Stewart (2004) compared this transition for biological and adoptive parents and found

Answer 15

becoming parents through adoption was associated with better outcomes: Adoptive parents in their study reported less marital and parenting stress, a smaller decrease in marital satisfaction, and a more stable pattern of relationship quality. One factor that lessens the stress associated with the transition to parenthood is the availability of support from family members and friends. Another factor is the degree to which the parents share parenting responsibilities, with greater declines in relationship satisfaction (especially for women) being associated with greater disparities in responsibilities.

Question 16

Adopted vs. Biological Children

Answer 16

Research has found that, compared to parents of biological children, parents of adopted children tend to be better educated and have higher family incomes but that adopted children are at greater risk for psychological, behavioral, and academic problems despite these advantages

Question 17

Zill and Wilcox (2018) analyzed data from the U. S. Department of Education’s 2016 National Household Education Survey and reported the following: Compared to children living with biological parents, adopted children were more likely

Answer 17

a) to have had their parents contacted by the school for schoolwork and classroom behavior problems and (b) to have physical and psychological health conditions, with ADHD being most common followed by, in order, specific learning disability, speech impairment, and developmental delay. Also, in a meta-analysis of studies comparing international adoptees, domestic adoptees, and nonadopted peers, Juffer and van IJzendoorn (2005) found that international and domestic adoptees had higher rates of internalizing and externalizing problems than nonadoptees had. However, contrary to their prediction, international adoptees had lower rates of internalizing and externalizing problems than domestic adoptees had and were referred less often to mental health services. Zill and Wilcox (2018) conclude that poorer outcomes for adopted children are likely due to the children’s experiences prior to adoption. For example, the pre-adoption experiences of adopted children may have included exposure to multiple risk factors including birth complications, early malnutrition, neglect, and/or abuse (IJzendoorn, Juffer, & Klein Poelhuis, 2005).

Question 18

What is are Helicopter Parents

Answer 18

The term “helicopter parents” is used to describe parents “who overtly infuse themselves into every aspect of the child’s life, not allowing the child to deal, cope, grow, or mature properly on his or her own” (Parents, Overinvolved, 2016, p. 809). These parents are overinvolved in their children’s activities, often make decisions for their children, and intervene to prevent their children from failing. This type of parenting is more benevolent than Baumrind’s authoritarian parenting style but is similar to that style in terms of level of control and negative outcomes (Bayat, 2020).

Question 19

Outcomes associated with helicopter parenting include

Answer 19

high levels of stress and anxiety, increased sense of entitlement, low levels of autonomy and emotional and behavioral self-regulation, and decreased academic motivation and achievement (e.g., Perry et al., 2018; Schiffrin & Liss, 2017; Segrin, Woszidlo, Givertz, & Montgomery, 2013).

Question 20

Several studies have focused on the effects of helicopter parenting on the adjustment of emerging adults

Answer 20

Cook (2020) found that, for college students, helicopter parenting was associated with increased symptoms of depression, increased substance use problems, and decreased competence in friendships and romantic relationships. In addition, Luebbe and his colleagues (2016) found a link between helicopter parenting and poor emotional functioning, decision-making, and academic functioning in their sample of individuals, ages 17 to 25.

Question 21

Gay and Lesbian Parents

Answer 21

: The studies have found that children raised by gay or lesbian parents do not differ in any consistent way from children of heterosexual parents in terms of psychological adjustment, intellectual functioning, gender identity, or sexual orientation (Anderssen, Anile, &Ytteroy, 2002; Tasker, 2005; Wainright & Patterson, 2008). In addition, the parenting skills of gay and lesbian parents are similar or better than those of heterosexual parents (e.g., Flaks et al., 1995).

Question 22

Custodial Grandparents

Answer 22

Grandparents become the full-time caregivers to their grandchildren for a number of reasons including substance abuse, mental health problems, incarceration, or death of the children’s biological parents and/or the parents’ abuse or neglect of the children. Although this arrangement is considered preferable to placing children in foster care with nonrelatives, the research has linked it to both positive and negative consequences for the grandparents. In terms of positive consequences, custodial grandparents often report that caring for their grandchildren provides them with a closer relationship with the children, an increased sense of purpose, an opportunity to nurture family relationships, and a second chance in life (e.g., Hartwell-Walker, 2016; Langosch, 2012). In terms of negative consequences, the studies have found that custodial grandparents report higher levels of stress, depression, anxiety, insomnia, and chronic health problems than do grandparents in more traditional roles and that these problems are attributable to several factors including the grandparents’ neglect of their own psychological and physical health, financial difficulties, social isolation, and conflicts with biological parents and other family members (e.g., Hayslip & Kaminski, 2005).

Question 23

The Empty Nest

Answer 23

The empty nest refers to the family’s situation after the last child leaves home and was initially described as resulting in an emotional crisis for the parents. However, research has found that the empty nest is associated with more positive than negative outcomes. For example, Gorchoff, John, and Helson (2008) found that the married women in their study experienced an increase in marital satisfaction after the last child left home and that this increase was due primarily to an increase in the quality of interactions with their husbands rather than the quantity of time they spent with their husbands.

Question 24

Intimate Partner Violence (IPV)

Answer 24

IPV is described by the Centers for Disease Control as “physical violence, sexual violence, stalking and psychological aggression (including coercive tactics) by a current or former intimate partner” (Breiding, Basile, Smith, Black, & Mahendra, 2015, p. 11). For the exam, you want to be familiar with Walker’s cycle of violence, which describes a common pattern of IPV, and Johnson’s typology, which distinguishes between four types of IPV.

Question 25

Walker’s Cycle of Violence

Answer 25

Walker (1979, 2017) derived her cycle of violence from the results of interviews with 1,500 women in heterosexual relationships who had been victims of IPV, and it describes recurring IPV as involving three phases that repeat over time: During the tension building phase, hostility and tension between partners gradually escalates as partners argue over domestic issues and the abuser becomes increasingly hostile and critical of the victim.

Question 26

Johnson’s Typology

Answer 26

Johnson’s (2006) research led him to conclude that there are four types of IPV that are distinguished primarily by two factors: (a) the perpetrator’s motivation for acting violently and (b) whether the violence is more frequently perpetrated in heterosexual relationships by male or female partners or is perpetrated with similar frequency by males and females. According to Johnson, it’s important to recognize the various types of IPV because they do not have “the same causes, developmental trajectory, consequences, or prognosis for effective intervention” (p. 1013).

Question 27

The victim attempts to placate the abuser by

Answer 27

doing things she believes will please or calm him

Question 28

Increasing tension eventually leads to

Answer 28

acute battering incident, in which the abuser verbally expresses intense rage and/or physically attacks the victim. The incident may occur when the woman is no longer able to control her partner’s hostility or unconsciously provokes the incident to relieve tension and move to the next phase.

Question 29

The loving contrition phase is…… also referred to as the honeymoon phase

Answer 29

During this phase, the abuser expresses remorse, is loving and kind, and tries to convince his partner the abuse will not happen again.

Question 30

Johnson’s Typology

Answer 30

Johnson’s (2006) research led him to conclude that there are four types of IPV that are distinguished primarily by two factors: (a) the perpetrator’s motivation for acting violently and (b) whether the violence is more frequently perpetrated in heterosexual relationships by male or female partners or is perpetrated with similar frequency by males and females. According to Johnson, it’s important to recognize the various types of IPV because they do not have “the same causes, developmental trajectory, consequences, or prognosis for effective intervention” (p. 1013).

Question 31

Intimate terrorism

Answer 31

often perpetrated in heterosexual couples by the male partner who uses violence to control his female partner. For perpetrators of intimate terrorism, physical violence is typically accompanied by other methods of control such as making threats, exerting economic control, inflicting sexual and emotional abuse, and isolating the victim. Intimate terrorism is the type of IPV that most often takes the form of Walker’s cycle of violence.

Question 32

Violent resistance

Answer 32

often perpetrated in heterosexual couples by the female partner as a response to the behavior of her violent and controlling male partner. The female partner’s motivation is not to control her partner but, instead, to retaliate or defend herself – or, in extreme cases, to escape the abuse by killing the abuser.

Question 33

Mutual violent control is perpetrated

Answer 33

both partners for the purpose of gaining control over their relationship. Johnson’s research found this to be the least common type of IPV.

Question 34

Situational couple violence is perpetrated

Answer 34

male and female partners, can be either one-sided or mutual, and can range from mild to severe. This type of violence is situationally provoked (e.g., by an argument that escalates to verbal and/or physical aggression). It may involve a desire to control the situation but not a more general desire to control the relationship. Johnson found this to be the most common type of IPV.

Question 35

Child Maltreatment

Answer 35

includes physical abuse, sexual abuse, psychological (emotional) abuse, and neglect. Neglect is the most common type of maltreatment followed by, in order, physical abuse, sexual abuse, and psychological maltreatment

Question 36

Factors that affect a child’s risk for maltreatment include the child’s

Answer 36

age, gender, race/ethnicity, and family structure

Question 37

Regard to age, younger children have

Answer 37

Higher rates of maltreatment: For all ages between birth and 17, the rate of victimization (number of victims per 1,000 children in the population of the same age) is highest for those below 1 year of age; thereafter, rates decrease with increasing age.

Question 38

Regard to gender and race/ethnicity, the rate of victimization is

Answer 38

Higher for girls than for boys, and the rates of victimization are highest for American Indian and Alaska Native children followed by African American children. Investigators looking at family structure have found that children living in a single-parent or a step/cohabiting family are at higher risk for maltreatment than are children living with two biological or adoptive parents (Turner, Finkelhor, Hamby, & Shattuck, 2013; van IJzendoorn, Euser, Prinzie, Juffer, & Bakermans-Kranenburg, 2009).

Question 39

The consequences of maltreatment

Answer 39

related not only to its type but also to several other factors that help explain why children exposed to similar maltreatment are not always affected in the same ways. For example, a number of studies have confirmed a link between childhood maltreatment and an increased risk for obesity in adulthood. However, Danese and Tan (2014) found that, when they adjusted their data for current depression, the link was no longer statistically significant. In other words, they found that depression may mediate the link between childhood maltreatment and adult obesity, with childhood maltreatment leading to depression for some adults which, in turn, increases the risk for obesity in those adults. The studies have also found that the outcomes of child sexual abuse (CSA) are affected by the individual’s gender and relationship with the perpetrator and the nature of the abuse (e.g., Christensen, 2017).

Question 40

regard to gender, the research suggests there are differences in terms of short-term effects

Answer 40

females being more likely to exhibit depression and other internalizing behaviors and males being more likely to exhibit conduct problems, aggression, and other externalizing behaviors.

Question 41

In terms of long-term effects, the studies……

Answer 41

have not produced entirely consistent results; however, most have found similar outcomes for males and females, with both experiencing significant mental health problems and other difficulties throughout their lifetimes (e.g., Cashmore & Shackel, 2014; Odone Paolucci, Genuis, & Violato, 1999).

Question 42

With regard to the perpetrator, the research has confirmed

Answer 42

the prediction of betrayal trauma theory (Freyd, 1996) that child sexual abuse perpetrated by a family member or other person who is close to the child is associated with worse mental health outcomes than is abuse perpetrated by a less familiar or unknown individual. Finally, the consequences of CSA are related to the duration and severity of the abuse, with severe outcomes being associated with abuse that occurs over a long period of time, involves force, and includes some form of penetration.

Question 43

Empirically supported therapies for child maltreatment include

Answer 43

parent-child interaction therapy and trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy.

Question 44

Parent-child interaction therapy (PCIT)

Answer 44

originally developed for children with disruptive behavior disorders but is also effective for children ages 2 to 12 who have experienced or are at risk for experiencing physical or emotional abuse. It includes didactic parent training and live coaching in which the therapist observes parent-child interactions from behind a two-way mirror and provides parents with feedback and support via an earpiece

Question 45

PCIT Therapy has two phases:

Answer 45

During the first child-directed interaction phase, the focus is on helping parents establish non-coercive, non-violent relationships with their children and strengthen the parent-child bond. During the second parent-directed interaction phase, the focus is on teaching parents how to give clear instructions to children and consistently provide children with appropriate consequences for acceptable and unacceptable behaviors.

Question 46

Trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy (TF-CBT)

Answer 46

an effective treatment for youths 3 to 18 years of age who have experienced sexual abuse or other maltreatment, witnessed domestic violence, or experienced a traumatic loss. Treatment is provided to children and nonoffending parents and focuses on providing them with the resources and skills needed to help children cope with posttraumatic stress and other negative consequences of the abuse or other trauma. It incorporates a variety of strategies including psychoeducation, parenting skills training, relaxation techniques, affect regulation and expression techniques, in vivo exposure, and cognitive coping techniques.

Question 47

Daycare

Answer 47

The research has found that high-quality daycare may increase behavioral problems but improve performance on measures of cognitive and language skills and some social skills (Belsky et al., 2007; NICHD ECCRN, 2006). In addition, there’s evidence that, even when infants are in daycare for more than 20 hours a week, they’re similar to children who are not in daycare in terms of attachment security (Friedman & Boyle, 2008; NICHD ECCRN, 1997).

Question 48

Cultural Socialization

Answer 48

refers to “parental practices that are intended to teach youth about their history and cultural heritage, their cultural customs and traditions, and to instill cultural, ethnic, or racial pride

Question 49

Most parents from ethnic/racial minority groups in the United States report using cultural socialization practices which, for some groups (e.g., African American groups), include

Answer 49

socializing their children and adolescents on how to cope with racial prejudice and discrimination. Research has linked cultural socialization to a number of positive outcomes for children and adolescents, including the development of a positive self-concept and ethnic/racial ethnic identity, higher academic achievement and motivation, and fewer externalizing and internalizing behavior problems (Aldoney, Kuhns, & Cabrera, 2018).

Question 50

Rosenthal and Jacobson (1968) found that teachers’ expectations about student achievement can have a

Answer 50

self-fulfilling prophecy effect.
They randomly selected a sample of incoming first-graders but told their teachers that these students had been identified as academic “bloomers” who could be expected to do exceptionally well. At the end of the school year, the children identified as bloomers had unusual increases in IQ scores, and Rosenthal and Jacobson concluded that this was because the teachers treated the bloomers differently than they treated the other students.

Question 51

Teacher Interactions with Students: Based on their research, Sadker and Sadker (2003; Sadker, Zittleman, & Sadker, 2012) have concluded that

Answer 51

from elementary through graduate school, the ways that male and female teachers interact with male and female students reflect gender stereotypes: For example, teachers call on male students more often than female students and give male students more attention, praise, and feedback that encourages them to learn.