The Longitudinal Relationship Between Children's Internalizing Problems and Family Difficulties: The Role of Child Executive Functioning and Parenting Flexibility.

IF 3.7 1区心理学 Q1 PSYCHOLOGY, DEVELOPMENTAL

Journal of Youth and Adolescence Pub Date : 2025-03-20 DOI:10.1007/s10964-025-02165-0

Hongyu Zou, Yanxiang Tan, Kaiwen Bi, Qing Zeng

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Research has extensively examined how a poor family climate influences internalizing problems in children. However, studies investigating the directional relationship between children's internalizing issues and family difficulties, particularly in Chinese populations, remain limited. To address this gap, the current study employed a longitudinal design involving three rounds of surveys with 282 elementary school students (45.74% girls, M_age = 9.73 ± 1.54 years at Time 1) and their parents. Cross-lagged panel model analyses revealed several key findings: children's internalizing problems consistently predicted subsequent family difficulties, while family difficulties did not significantly affect children's internalizing problems. Additionally, parenting flexibility at Time 2 (T2) mediated the relationship between children's internalizing problems at Time 1 (T1) and family difficulties at Time 3 (T3). Children's executive functioning at T2 also mediated the association between internalizing problems at T1 and family difficulties at T3. These findings underscore the importance of enhancing children's executive functioning and improving parenting flexibility to mitigate the negative effects of children's internalizing problems on family dynamics.

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儿童内化问题与家庭困难的纵向关系：儿童执行功能与父母灵活性的作用。

研究广泛地考察了贫穷的家庭环境如何影响儿童的内化问题。然而，调查儿童内化问题与家庭困难之间定向关系的研究，特别是在中国人口中，仍然有限。为了解决这一差距，本研究采用纵向设计，包括三轮调查282名小学生（45.74%，年龄= 9.73±1.54）及其父母。交叉滞后面板模型分析揭示了几个关键发现：儿童的内化问题一致地预测了随后的家庭困难，而家庭困难对儿童的内化问题没有显著影响。此外，时间2的父母灵活性（T2）在时间1的内化问题（T1）与时间3的家庭困难（T3）之间起中介作用。儿童在T2的执行功能也介导了T1的内化问题和T3的家庭困难之间的关联。这些发现强调了提高儿童的执行功能和提高父母的灵活性对于减轻儿童内化问题对家庭动态的负面影响的重要性。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Journal of Youth and Adolescence PSYCHOLOGY, DEVELOPMENTAL-

CiteScore

8.20

自引率

6.10%

发文量

155

期刊介绍： Journal of Youth and Adolescence provides a single, high-level medium of communication for psychologists, psychiatrists, biologists, criminologists, educators, and researchers in many other allied disciplines who address the subject of youth and adolescence. The journal publishes quantitative analyses, theoretical papers, and comprehensive review articles. The journal especially welcomes empirically rigorous papers that take policy implications seriously. Research need not have been designed to address policy needs, but manuscripts must address implications for the manner society formally (e.g., through laws, policies or regulations) or informally (e.g., through parents, peers, and social institutions) responds to the period of youth and adolescence.