Little is known about individual differences in how children respond to peer aggression. This research explored the contribution of social goal orientation, specifically development goals (improving social skills and relationships), demonstration-approach goals (gaining positive judgments), and demonstration-avoidance goals (minimizing negative judgments). Children (M age = 7.97, SD = .34) were followed from 2nd to 3rd grade. Validity of the social goal orientation construct was established through correlations with situation-specific goals and social adjustment. Development goals predicted adaptive responses (more effortful engagement, problem solving, advice seeking; fewer involuntary responses); demonstration goals predicted maladaptive responses (less effortful engagement, problem solving; more disengagement, retaliation). This study contributes to theoretical understanding of the process of peer aggression and interventions to promote optimal social health.

This study examined the hypothesis that maternal socialization of coping would make a differential contribution to youth depression and externalizing psychopathology depending on youths’ level of exposure to life stress. A sample of 155 youth (M age = 12.41, SD = 1.21) and their maternal caregivers completed semi-structured interviews and questionnaires in a two-wave longitudinal study over a one-year period. Results provided evidence for two types of socialization x stress interactions—an amplification-effects model and a differential-effects model. In the context of interpersonal stress, findings supported an amplification-effects model wherein the risk and protective effects of engagement and disengagement socialization of coping emerged in youth exposed to high but not mild levels of stress. In the context of noninterpersonal stress, findings supported a differential-effects model wherein disengagement socialization of coping contributed to heightened risk among youth exposed to high stress but dampened risk among youth exposed to mild stress. This research identifies maternal socialization of coping as a noteworthy contributor to risk for youth psychopathology, and highlights the need to consider parenting x environment interactions when investigating parenting processes related to youth psychopathology.

Objectives. The ways that White American parents socialize their children to think about and interact with racial outgroups are not well understood. The goals of this study were to explore the degree to which White parents endorse contradictory racial ideologies, and the reasons behind the presence versus absence of parent-child discussions of race-related current events (e.g., Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, or the Charleston church shooting).Method. We recruited a sample of White parents of children ages 8-12 on Amazon MechanicalTurk (N= 165, 66.1% female, M-age = 36.67) and applied a qualitative thematic analysis to their answers to open-ended probes regarding racial discussions with their children. Results. Results revealed both colorblind and color conscious racial ideology communicated byWhite parents. Thirty-seven percent of White parents endorsed a mixture of colorblind and color conscious ideology. The majority of parents did not discuss race-related current events with their children; many believed these discussions were either too negative or unnecessary. Conclusions.The results indicate that White parents have the potential to be agents of change that socialize color conscious beliefs in their children, but many are reinforcing the current system of colorblind indifference to racial inequality. Public significance statement:This study suggests that some White parents communicate contradictory messages to their children about race and racism. The study also found that most White parents avoided talking about race-related current events with their 8-12-year-old children because they view their children as too young to talk about race, they say the topic hasn't come up, or they think discussing race isn't necessary.

This study examined whether a transactional interpersonal life stress model helps to explain the continuity in depression over time in girls. Youth (86 girls, 81 boys; M age = 12.41, SD = 1.19) and their caregivers participated in a three-wave longitudinal study. Depression and episodic life stress were assessed with semi-structured interviews. Path analysis provided support for a transactional interpersonal life stress model in girls but not in boys, wherein depression predicted the generation of interpersonal stress, which predicted subsequent depression. Moreover, self-generated interpersonal stress partially accounted for the continuity of depression over time. Although depression predicted noninterpersonal stress generation in girls (but not in boys), noninterpersonal stress did not predict subsequent depression.Youth depression is a recurrent and chronic disorder that often portends ongoing distress and impairment (for a review, see Rudolph, Hammen, & Daley, 2006). Despite the well-known fact that past depression is the best predictor of future depression (e.g., Lewinsohn, Zeiss, & Duncan, 1989;Tram & Cole, 2006), little research directly investigates the mechanisms that underlie the continuity of depression. The goal of the present research was to investigate one possible mechanism. Drawing from transactional perspectives of psychopathology (Cicchetti, Rogosch, & Toth, 1994;Sameroff & MacKenzie, 2003) and interpersonal theories of depression (Coyne, 1976;Hammen, 1992Hammen, , 2006Joiner, Coyne, & Blalock, 1999), this research examined the hypothesis that depressed youth generate stress in their relationships that contributes to the continuity of depression over time (see Figure 1). More specifically, based on theory and research indicating that girls show particular vulnerabilities within their relationships (for a review, see Rudolph, in press), it was expected that interpersonal stress generation would more likely serve as a mechanism underlying depression continuity in girls than in boys. Transactional Interpersonal Theories of DepressionTransactional perspectives of psychopathology posit that youth and their social contexts participate in dynamic interchanges over time, creating feedback loops that stimulate reorganization at both the individual and environmental levels (Cicchetti et al., 1994;Sameroff & MacKenzie, 2003). Consistent with these perspectives, interpersonal theories of depression suggest that depressed individuals act in ways that elicit rejection and stress in their relationships; these disturbances then perpetuate depression. For example, Coyne's (1976) pioneering theory articulates an escalating cycle of interpersonal disturbances and depressive symptoms. Depressed individuals are thought to engage in excessive efforts to seek reassurance from their relationship partners. These efforts provoke avoidance or rejection, which then NIH Public Access

The majority of White parents in the United States are uncomfortable discussing race with their children and tend to avoid it. When they do discuss race with their children, they often take a color blind approach—in which they emphasize a belief that race does not matter—instead of a color conscious approach—in which they acknowledge race‐related issues. In the current study, we sought to explore the individual difference factors that may be associated with White American parents’ racial socialization practices. Results indicated that parents’ racial bias awareness was associated with greater willingness to discuss race with their children, increased color consciousness, and decreased color blindness; when statistically controlling for their racial attitudes, motivations to respond without prejudice, and interracial contact. The potential impacts of bias awareness interventions on White parents’ racial socialization behaviors are discussed.