Introduction: Children and adolescents with elevated internalizing symptoms are at increased risk for depression, anxiety, and other psychopathology later in life. The present study examined the predictive links between two bioecological factors in early childhood-parental hostility and socioeconomic stress-and children's internalizing symptom class outcomes, while considering the effects of child sex assigned at birth on internalizing symptom development from childhood to adolescence. Materials and Methods: The study used a sample of 1,534 children to test the predictive effects of socioeconomic stress at ages 18 and 27 months; hostile parenting measured at child ages 4-5; and sex assigned at birth on children's internalizing symptom latent class outcomes at child ages 7-9, 10-12, 13-15, and 16-19. Analyses also tested the mediating effect of parenting on the relationship between socioeconomic stress and children's symptom classes. Other covariates included parent depressive symptoms at child ages 4-5 and child race and ethnicity. Results: Analyses identified three distinct heterogenous internalizing symptom classes characterized by relative symptom levels and progression: low (35%); moderate and increasing (41%); and higher and increasing (24%). As anticipated, higher levels of parental hostility in early childhood predicted membership in the higher and increasing symptom class, compared with the low symptom class (odds ratio (OR) = .61, 95% confidence interval (CI) [.48,.77]). Higher levels of early childhood socioeconomic stress were also associated with the likelihood of belonging to the higher-increasing symptom class compared to the low and moderate-increasing classes (OR = .46, 95% CI [.35,.60] and OR = .56, 95% CI [.44,.72], respectively). The total (c = .61) and direct (c' = .57) effects of socioeconomic stress on children's symptom class membership in the mediation analysis were significant (p <.001). Discussion: Study findings suggest that intervening on modifiable bioecological stressors-including parenting behaviors and socioeconomic stressors-may provide important protective influences on children's internalizing symptom trajectories.

OBJECTIVE:To examine the additive or moderating influences of caregiver COVID-19-related stress, social support, and discrimination on children's behavior problems across racially diverse populations. METHOD:In this Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) cohort study (N = 1,999 caregiver/child pairs), we operationalized caregiver COVID-19-related stress in 2 ways: first, as the number of stressors (eg, financial concerns, social distancing); and second, as the level of pandemic-related traumatic stress symptoms reported via questionnaires administered between April 2020 and August 2022. At the same assessment visit, caregivers also reported their current levels of discrimination, and a subsample (n = 968) reported their emotional and instrumental support. Either concurrently or at a later assessment visit, caregivers reported on their children's internalizing and externalizing behavior problems using the Child Behavior Checklist for Ages 6-18 (CBCL/6-18). RESULTS:Multivariable analyses controlling for maternal education, marital status, child age, and child sex revealed that COVID-19-related stress (caregiver stressors and symptoms) and discrimination were positively associated, and that perceived support was negatively associated with child internalizing and externalizing behavior problems. Unexpectedly, neither emotional nor instrumental support attenuated the relationship between caregiver COVID-19-related stressors nor traumatic stress symptoms and child behavior problems. In the subset of Black American participants, caregiver perceived discrimination moderated the relationship between caregiver COVID-19 traumatic stress symptoms and child internalizing problems, such that the association was stronger at higher levels of discrimination. CONCLUSION:Our findings highlight the potential importance of relieving caregiver stress and increasing caregiver social support to optimize children's behavioral outcomes.

Partner abuse (PA) continues to be one of the most critical human rights and public health issues of our time (UNICEF, Facts and figures: Ending violence against women, 2014). Communities that experience oppression are most at-risk. Social networks, however, are a key target for PA prevention and intervention. One of the most important sources of support for individuals experiencing PA is family and friends (Coker et at 2003). The vast majority of PA victims, for example, disclose first to family and friends and turn to them most for informal support (Tjaden & Thoennes, 2000). Scholars have conducted few studies with family and friends directly to understand what factors influence how they respond to PA. Our study purpose was to expand on Chronister et al.'s (2020) findings by identifying what contextual and cultural factors affected, how family members and friends responded to their Filipino loved ones involved in PA relationships. We used a constructivist-interpretivist research paradigm and phenomenological methods to conduct 29 in-depth interviews with family members and friends. The factors that influenced how participants responded included their understanding of PA and its mental health impact; their emotional and physical safety and the safety of their loved ones; cultural scripts; the availability of culturally appropriate responses and services; and interpersonal relationship contexts. Identification of these factors brought to light prominent Filipino values and psychological concepts; the challenges that intersections among cultural values as well as age, generation status, and acculturation posed for participants; and the desperate need for health care and social service systems that work for Filipinos.

Community-based research shows that 22% of Filipino Americans report experiencing at least one form of partner abuse (PA) during their lifetime, a higher prevalence rate than those documented among other Asian ethnic groups (Asian Pacific Institute on Gender-Based Violence, 2018). Victims with support resources are less likely to experience negative health outcomes and revictimization, and one of the most important sources of support is family and friends (Coker, Watkins, Smith, & Brandt, 2003). The vast majority of PA victims disclose first to family and friends and turn to them most for informal support (Tjaden & Thoennes, 2000). There is little research, however, that has involved asking family and friends directly about how they responded to loved ones involved in abusive intimate partnerships. The purpose of this study was to explore in depth family members' and friends' responses to Filipino loved ones involved in PA relationships. We used a constructivist-interpretivist research paradigm and phenomenological methods to conduct 29 in-depth interviews with family members and friends. Findings indicate that participants considered it important to respond in ways that allowed them to maintain their connection with loved ones and support their welfare, and 2 types of response categories emerged: communication responses and actions taken. Findings illuminate the importance of working collaboratively with family and friends to cocreate definitions of PA as well as identify PA responses that consider a collective perspective on individual well-being and address the dynamic relationship, social, and cultural contexts in which family and friends respond.