Staff Articles
- Positive Emotions and Academic Achievement
- Narrative Expression of the Emotional Experience of Breast Cancer Survivors
- The Impact of Zero Tolerance Policies on the Relation Between Educational Attainment and Crime
- Teachers’ Support of Preschoolers’ Emergent Literacy through Play
- Psychological Well-being of Refugees Throughout the Relocation Process
- The Effects of Sexual Objectification on Women’s Mental Health
- Gang Involvement as a Means to Satisfy Basic Needs
- Chinese Adolescents’ Self-Esteem and Mental Health Outcomes: The Role of Permissive Parenting
- Effects of Mentoring on Students’ Academic Success
- Exploring Parental Self-Efficacy and Preschoolers’ School Readiness
- Latino Parenting Practices and Preschoolers’ Self-Regulation Skills
- Measurement of Shame among Juvenile Justice-Involved Girls
- Peer Mentorship and the Well-being of Women with Breast Cancer
- Positive Emotions and Academic Achievement
- System Justification and Mental Health Outcomes in Juvenile Justice-Involved Youth
- The Combined Influence of Parenting and Early Puberty on Disruptive Behavior Problems in African American Girls
- The Development of Internal State Language: The Role of Age, Gender and Context
Hope White
Faculty Mentor | Dr. Shabnam Javdani
Doctoral Student Mentor | Chloe Greenbaum
Adolescent girls’ Disruptive Behavior Problems (DBP) are associated with increased risk for juvenile-justice system involvement and other mental health problems (Zahn et al., 2010). The onset of puberty increases risk for the development of DBP, particularly for girls with early pubertal development in comparison to their on-time or late-developing peers (Burt, McGue, DeMarte, Kreuger, & Iacono, 2006; Caspi, Lynam, Moffitt, & Silva, 1993; Haynie, 2003). The current literature on the relation between early pubertal development and DBP highlights the importance of girls’ interpersonal relationships with parents as mechanisms that may protect against or promote the development of DBP (Ge, Brody, Conger, Simons, & Murry, 2002; Deardorff et al., 2013). However, few studies examine the combined influence of parenting practices and early onset of puberty on DBP within a single model. This study aims to further our understanding of the parenting constructs that accord risk for DBP through a longitudinal study design utilizing a clinical sample of African American adolescent girls and their female caregivers. Specifically, this study examined the relationships among perceived parental monitoring, perceived disapproval, and early pubertal onset on the change in DBP at 1-year follow-up. Results indicate that neither perceived monitoring nor disapproval nor monitoring predicted change in DBP; however, the combined effects of perceived monitoring and pubertal timing confer increased risk for DBP above and beyond each factor alone. Findings highlight the importance of parental monitoring as a protective factor for girls’ DBP and support the development of community-based interventions for early developing girls.