Commentary on Special Section on “Bidirectional Parent–Child Relationships”: The Continuing Evolution of Dynamic, Transactional Models of Parenting and Youth Behavior Problems

Abstract

Creative and methodologically sophisticated longitudinal research on bidirectionality in parenting and child behavior can shed important new light on the dynamics of behavior-problem development. The articles assembled for this Special Section are at the forefront of efforts aimed at tracing the interplay of parenting behavior and child and adolescent adjustment problems over time. In this commentary, we provide a brief overview of thinking and research on bidirectionality and then highlight key themes and findings reported in these articles. We describe some of the challenges in research on bidirectional processes and offer some recommendations for future research in this area.

Parent–Child Relationships and Influences

“…Overlapping questions of individual versus dyadic measurement is the matter of the " level " that is being examined, or the unit of analysis (Heatherington & Lavner, 2008 ;Pettit & Arsiwalla, 2008 ). The emphasis could be at the relationship level, for example in terms of global attitudes; at an intervening level of self -report behaviors; or at a micro level of interactive behaviors.…”

“…When research efforts move to the effects of parent -child relationships on child outcomes, there is a new set of methodological challenges, with the need to take account of bidirectional infl uence processes as well as contemporaneous and overtime infl uences in both directions in a transactional and circular causal process (Bornstein, 2006 ;Collins et al, 2000 ;Cook, 2003 ;Kuczynski, 2003a ;Laible & Thompson, 2007 ;O ' Connor, 2002 ;Patterson & Fisher, 2002 ;Pettit & Arsiwalla, 2008 ). There are also conceptual and methodological diffi culties associated with the separation of correlation and causality (Cook, 2003 ;Cowan & Cowan, 2002 ;Howe, Reiss, & Yuh, 2002 ) as well as the specifi cation and separation of the contributions of different environmental effects, including separating the contributions of parent -child relationships from other environmental effects (Bradley, 2002 ).…”

“…The fi eld of behavioral genetics is contributing substantially to knowledge about parent -child relationships Maccoby, 2000 ;Moffi tt & Caspi, 2007 ). Longitudinal research designs have been increasingly used to untangle questions of causation, especially the direction of effect (Lacourse et al, 2002 ;Patterson & Fisher, 2002 ;Pettit & Arsiwalla, 2008 ). Although family research is not easily amenable to experimental manipulation, intervention strategies to improve parent -child and/or marital relationships provide powerful opportunities to examine causal effects (Cowan & Cowan, 2002 ;Howe et al, 2002 ;O ' Connor, 2002 ;Patterson & Fisher, 2002 ).…”

“…This is a question about moderators of the linkages between parentchild relationships and child outcomes (Jones et al, 2008 ;Pettit & Arsiwalla, 2008 ). The moderators could include the sex of the child and the sex of the parent (Cummings, Schermerhorn, & Keller, 2008 ;Hastings & De, 2008 ;Kochanska et al, 2008 ;McElwain, Halberstadt, & Volling, 2007 ;Nelson, Hart, Wu, et al, 2006 ).…”

“…Bidirectionality has received increasing attention in the conceptualization of parent -child relationships (Bornstein, 2006 ;Kuczynski, 2003aKuczynski, , 2003bLaible & Thompson, 2007 ;Maccoby, 2007 ;Pardini, Fite, & Burke, 2008 ;Patterson & Fisher, 2002 ;Pettit & Arsiwalla, 2008 ). Kuczynski ' s (2003aKuczynski ' s ( , 2003b) emphasis on bidirectionality draws on and extends a common theme in the relationship literature (e.g., the social relations model) that in dyadic interactions or relationships, each affects the other.…”