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There is a social gradient to the determinants of health; low socioeconomic status (SES) has been linked to reduced educational attainment and employment prospects, which in turn affect physical and mental wellbeing. One goal of preventive interventions, such as parenting programs, is to reduce these health inequalities by supporting families with difficulties that are often patterned by SES. Despite these intentions, a recent individual participant data (IPD) meta-analysis of the Incredible Years (IY) parenting program found no evidence for differential benefit by socioeconomic disadvantage (Gardner et al. in Public Health Resesearch 5, 1–144, 2017). However, it did not examine whether this was influenced by engagement in the intervention. Using intervention arm data from this pooled dataset (13 trials; N = 1078), we examined whether there was an SES gradient to intervention attendance (an indicator of engagement). We ran mixed-effects Poisson regression models to estimate incidence rate ratios (IRRs) for program attendance for each of five (binary) markers of SES: low income; unemployment; low education status; teen parent; and lone parent status. The multilevel structure of the data allowed for comparison of within-trial and between-trial effects, including tests for contextual effects. We found evidence that low SES was associated with reduced attendance at parenting programs—an 8–19% reduction depending on the SES marker. However, there was no evidence that this association is impacted by differences in SES composition between trials or by the attendance levels of higher-SES families. The findings underscore the importance of developing and prioritizing strategies that enable engagement in parenting interventions and encourage program attendance by low-SES families.

Researchers commonly rely on adolescents’ and parents’ reports to assess family functioning (e.g., conflict, parental monitoring, parenting practices, relationship quality). Recent work indicates that these reports may vary as to whether they converge or diverge in estimates of family functioning. Further, patterns of converging or diverging reports may yield important information about adolescent adjustment and family functioning. This work is part of a larger literature seeking to understand and interpret multi-informant assessments of psychological phenomena, namely mental health. In fact, recent innovations in conceptualizing, measuring, and analyzing multi-informant mental health assessments might meaningfully inform efforts to understand multi-informant assessments of family functioning. Therefore, in this Special Issue we address three aims. First, we provide a guiding framework for using and interpreting multi-informant assessments of family functioning, informed by recent theoretical work focused on using and interpreting multi-informant mental health assessments. Second, we report research on adolescents’ and parents’ reports of family functioning that leverages the latest methods for measuring and analyzing patterns of convergence and divergence between informants’ reports. Third, we report research on measurement invariance and its role in interpreting adolescents’ and parents’ reports of family functioning. Research and theory reported in this Special Issue have important implications for improving our understanding of the links between multi-informant assessments of family functioning and adolescent adjustment.

Parents' attachment representations and child-parent attachment have been shown to be associated, but these associations vary across populations (Verhage et al., 2016). The current study examined whether ecological factors may explain variability in the strength of intergenerational transmission of attachment, using individual participant data (IPD) meta-analysis. Analyses on 4,396 parent-child dyads (58 studies, child age 11-96 months) revealed a combined effect size of r = .29. IPD meta-analyses revealed that effect sizes for the transmission of autonomous-secure representations to secure attachments were weaker under risk conditions and weaker in adolescent parent-child dyads, whereas transmission was stronger for older children. Findings support the ecological constraints hypothesis on attachment transmission. Implications for attachment theory and the use of IPD meta-analysis are discussed.

Objective: The study examines how early parenthood affects mothers and fathers of different ages, family backgrounds, and cohabitation status. Background: Although having children at an early age is associated with unfavorable outcomes for women, the evidence for men is sparse; moreover, having children and cohabiting early are closely related. Method: Using Danish register data merging all childbirths to mothers and fathers, the authors examined the long-term consequences of parenthood before age 21. Cohorts born 1968 to 1977 were included. The authors employed sibling fixed effects to investigate the link between early parenthood and educational attainment, employment, and earnings at ages 22 to 35. Results: In general, early parenthood limited education and employment, and the relationship was only slightly weaker for men than for women. The effects were persistent across ages, and young parents were still catching up to other parents into their 30s. Around half of the young couples cohabited around childbirth, which mitigated the effect for fathers in particular. Individuals with a favorable family background seemed to be affected more than others. Conclusion: Early parenthood had negative long-term consequences for mothers and fathers—even in the context of a Nordic welfare state with generous support. Fathers were less affected when they remained with the mother and child.

Parental reflective functioning (PRF) refers to parents’ capacity to reflect on mental states such as their own and their child’s feelings, thoughts, and intentions. Studies suggest that PRF is an important factor in parental behavior; however, only a few studies have examined the effect of early PRF on infant socioemotional development. The Parental Reflective Functioning Questionnaire (PRFQ) was developed as a brief, multidimensional measure to assess PRF. Recently, a modified version, the PRFQ-I, was suggested as a more accurate measure of PRF in an at-risk sample of mothers of infants. The study aims were to examine the factor structure and factorial invariance across parental gender of the PRFQ-I in a community sample, to compare PRF dimensions across mothers and fathers, and to investigate the association between PRF dimensions and infant socioemotional development. We examined this within a longitudinal design in a community sample of 1243 first-time mothers and 512 fathers. The results supported the expected factor structure of PRFQ-I and invariance across parental gender. Significant differences between mothers and fathers were found on the three PRF dimensions comprised by the questionnaire. The PRF dimensions of pre-mentalizing and certainty about mental states significantly predicted infant socioemotional development. Findings show that the PRFQ-I is a valid measure in parents of infants and suggest that PRF in early parenthood is an important factor in infant socioemotional development. Identification of first-time parents with limited PRF enables early intervention and may thus prevent limited PRF from having potentially adverse effects on infant socioemotional development. Highlights The factor structure of the Parental Reflective Functioning Questionnaire, Infant version, was an acceptable fit in a community sample of parents 4 months postpartum. Measurement invariance across mothers and fathers was achieved at the configural, metric, and scalar level. Mothers reported lower levels of pre-mentalizing and higher levels of certainty about mental states, and interest and curiosity than fathers. Pre-mentalizing and certainty about mental states at 4 months predicted infant socioemotional development at 11 months.

This study aimed to (1) evaluate how population levels of anxiety and depression grow and correlate from middle childhood through early adulthood, and (2) determine whether sex, family socioeconomic status, parental education, academic achievement, learning disabilities, or externalizing symptoms predict anxiety and/or depression levels and growth trajectory. We used two longitudinal samples (N = 445, 448) of Portuguese children. Mean depression levels increased from mid-childhood through adolescence before stabilizing in early adulthood and were most strongly predicted by academic achievement and learning disabilities. Mean anxiety levels increased until adolescence before decreasing across early adulthood and were most strongly predicted by academic achievement, learning disabilities, and externalizing symptoms. Quadratic models of growth fit best for both depression and anxiety, and depression and anxiety growth trajectories were strongly correlated. Though anxiety and depression trajectories differ in pattern and predictors, the two are highly interrelated and pathways to comorbid anxiety and depression should be characterized.

This study employed integrative data analysis techniques to examine the long-term effects of the family check-up (FCU) on changes in youth suicide risk using three randomized prevention trials, including one trial initiated in early childhood and two initiated in early adolescence. Data were harmonized across studies using moderated nonlinear factor analysis, and intervention effects were tested using an autoregressive latent trajectory model examining changes in suicide risk across long-term follow-up. Across trials, significant long-term effects of the FCU on reductions in suicide risk were observed, although differences between intervention and control group trajectories declined over time. No moderation of intervention effects was observed by youth gender or race/ethnicity or across samples. While results offer further support for the benefits of the FCU for suicide risk reduction, they also suggest that such effects may wane over time, underscoring the need for continued development of the FCU to enhance longer-term durability of effects on suicide-related behaviors.

How do pregnancy and childbirth affect engagement in politics and society? Our data from a large-scale citizen panel record political engagement before, during, and after pregnancy for (future) mothers and fathers. We find that women demobilize from politics and societal issues during pregnancy. This disengagement is strongest for indicators of political participation and seeking of political news. Our analysis also shows that gender gaps in political engagement are not only strengthened but also partly created in the earliest stages of parenthood. Although the effects are relatively minor, they are robust to various analysis techniques. Some effects also last until the child grows older. Pregnancy and childbirth rarely lead to political mobilization, and when they do, they concern child-related activities, such as attempts to change daycare providers, but only at later stages of early parenthood.

Parents and adolescents often hold discrepant views about the family environment and these discrepancies may in turn influence adolescents’ psychological adjustment. The current study examined how adolescent–parent perceptions of family routines and chaos, and their congruence and incongruence, relate to adolescents’ self-reported psychological adjustment (depressive symptoms and perceived stress), both concurrently ( N dyads  = 261; 53 % female) and 2 years later ( N dyads  = 118; 50 % female). Using polynomial regression and response surface analysis, results indicated that adolescents’ perceptions of the family environment were a stronger predictor of adolescents’ adjustment than parents’ perceptions (76 % mothers), concurrently and over time. However, both congruence and incongruence in adolescent–parent perceptions were also related to adolescents’ adjustment. Specifically, congruently negative adolescent–parent perceptions were associated with worse concurrent adolescent adjustment. Further, incongruence defined by more negativity in adolescents’ versus parents’ perceptions was associated with worse adolescent psychological adjustment, concurrently and over time. In sum, in addition to the strong links between adolescents’ perceptions of the family and their own psychological adjustment, examining how congruent and incongruent adolescents’ perceptions are with parents’ perceptions may shed additional light on how the family environment relates to adolescent adjustment.

Objective The goal of this study was to examine dual trajectories of supportive coparenting and father involvement across the transition to parenthood into early childhood. Background During the transition to parenthood, families adapt to new dynamic family subsystems. Drawing on family systems theory, we investigated the influence of supportive coparenting (mother–father subsystem) and father involvement (father–child subsystem) on child development. Method Longitudinal data from the Future of Families and Child Wellbeing Study collected at the child's birth and ages 1, 3, and 5 years included a sample of predominantly unmarried disadvantaged couples (N = 856) living in diverse couple relationship configurations. Group‐based modeling was used to identify interfamilial variations in dual trajectories and how these trajectory groups were associated with parental predictors and child behavior outcomes. Results Three classes were identified: High‐Slow Decreasing Supportive Coparenting and Father Involvement (Class 1, 78%), High‐Rapid Decreasing Supportive Coparenting and Father Involvement (Class 2, 12%), and Low‐Increasing Supportive Coparenting and Low‐Stable Father Involvement (Class 3, 10%). Class 3 showed greater couple supportiveness than the other classes. Couples in committed partner relationships were more likely to be in Class 1 or Class 2 than Class 3. Children of Class 1 displayed fewer behavioral problems than the other classes. Conclusions Findings emphasize the value of jointly considering coparenting and father involvement in targeted interventions to strengthen child development and family functioning among economically disadvantaged families.