All three studies exploring attachment used different
emotional adjustment outcome measures and all reported significant associations between at least one attachment style category and their outcome measure.
One - third of the psychosocial factors explored were found to be significantly related to
emotional adjustment outcome measures.
There were 37 studies identified, which aimed to explore associations between psychosocial variables and
emotional adjustment outcome measures.
Papers included in this review were those reporting empirical research (cross sectional or longitudinal in design) exploring associations between a psychosocial variable and emotional adjustment, or the predictive effect of, at least one psychosocial variable on
an emotional adjustment outcome measure.
With each reference, the type of
emotional adjustment outcome measure is stated.
One - third of the psychosocial factors explored were found to be significantly related to
emotional adjustment outcome measures.
Only three studies to date have explored the relationship between attachment style and
emotional adjustment outcomes in IVF patients.
These factors will be discussed below according to their risk or protective relationship to
emotional adjustment outcomes.
Personality trait measures that were not related to
any emotional adjustment outcomes included all subscales of the Karolinaska Scale of Personality (unreferenced in Csemiczky et al., 2000), Extroversion measured by the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire - Revised (Eysenck and Eysenck, 1991) and the Swedish Universities Scales of Personality (Gustavsson et al., 2000).
Nine studies explored whether personality traits were related to
emotional adjustment outcomes using six different measures of personality.
Not exact matches
Only a small number of research studies have used positive
emotional outcome measures, well - being, positive affect, happiness or life satisfaction, to quantify
emotional adjustment, but 22 used a negative
emotional outcome measure.
Training prevention practitioners, school guidance and
adjustment counselors, and applied researchers to improve the educational, social and
emotional outcomes of children and adolescents.
On the basis of the
emotional contagion hypothesis, we thought that effective parental coping among the COPE mothers would lead to better
adjustment outcomes for their children.
Kay Margetts, Associate Professor of Early Childhood Studies at the Melbourne Graduate School of Education, talks about children's social,
emotional and behavioural
adjustment to school and the importance of early preparation by families for the best
outcomes.
Children in the NSCAW study with multiple placements had more compromised
outcomes across domains than children who experienced greater placement stability.63 In another study of a large group of foster children, the number of placements children experienced predicted behavioral problems 17 months after placement entry.64 Other studies have reported that placement instability is linked to child behavioral and
emotional problems, such as aggression, coping difficulties, poor home
adjustment, and low self - concept.65 Relatedly, children's perceptions of the impermanency of their placements have also been linked to behavioral difficulties.66
These longitudinal studies have used interview and maternal report measures to track the course of maternal depression, observational measures of parenting and mother - child interaction to assess specific aspects of parenting and the mother - child relationship, and
outcome measures focused on children's social -
emotional and cognitive development, school readiness and overall
adjustment.4
Evidence suggests that improving young children's
emotional and behavioral
adjustment is both an important
outcome in its own right and can be a pathway to improved academic achievement for low - and high - risk children alike.
Where there was a different informant (the child's parent) for two
outcome measures (behavioural and
emotional difficulties, poor school
adjustment), the finding of an association with father - child relationship quality appears stronger.
Summary: (To include comparison groups,
outcomes, measures, notable limitations) Children with early onset conduct problems whose parents received The Incredible Years parent treatment program when they were 3 - 8 years were contacted and reassessed regarding their social and
emotional adjustment 8 - 12 years later.
Main
Outcome Measures Psychosocial
adjustment dimensions assessed included health problems,
emotional adjustment, school
adjustment, relationships with classmates, alcohol use, and weapon carrying.
Findings indicate that, regardless of age, children of authoritative parents perform better in school, display fewer conduct problems and show better
emotional adjustment than those raised in non-authoritative homes.12 Adolescents with authoritative parents who balance appropriate levels of supervision, nurturance and democratic decision - making tend to achieve better psychosocial
outcomes.12 Studies reveal that adolescents with authoritative parents are associated with less psychological distress, higher self - esteem, higher academic achievements, lower levels of delinquency and less substance use.13 Gray and Steinberg13 found that
emotional and behavioural problems tended to be associated with the degree of behavioural control and supervision or monitoring.
An investigation of classroom situational dimensions of
emotional and behavioral
adjustment and cognitive and social
outcomes for Head Start children
Evaluation of programs should include program effects not only on bullying but also on psychosocial
outcomes such as
emotional adjustment, peer relationships, school
adjustment, and occurrence of other problem behaviors.
Early intervention to increase maternal
adjustment and decrease
emotional distress should remain a priority in facilitating the most optimal maternal and child health
outcomes.
The findings for
emotional symptoms are in line with studies from New Zealand showing that the number of depressive episodes in adolescence was associated with later self - reported welfare dependence after
adjustment for confounding factors and comorbidity.17 In a study with an
outcome measure similar to that of our study, Pape et al16 reported that anxiety and depression symptoms in adolescence increased the susceptibility of receiving medical benefits in early adulthood in a Norwegian sample.
However it might also be that these factors are associated with some aspect of
emotional adjustment, but not to the
outcome measures used in these particular studies.
There is a paucity of research using positive
emotional outcome measures (e.g. well - being, positive affect, happiness or life satisfaction) to quantify
emotional adjustment.
Parent - training programmes have been shown to be successful in improving a range of
outcomes including maternal psychosocial health32 and
emotional and behavioural
adjustment in children under 3 years of age.33 In the UK, the Sure Start project was launched in 1999 targeting preschool children and their families, in disadvantaged areas, with a number of interventions including good quality play, learning and child care.34 Recent evidence suggests that enrolled families showed less negative parenting and provided a better home - learning environment.35 The findings presented in this paper suggest that successful parenting interventions may improve the transfer of cognitive skills between generations thereby protecting disadvantaged families from unintentionally placing their children at risk of being on a path of continual negativity.
The least frequent
outcome measure used was well - being, explored by only one study (Lowyck et al., 2009), revealing a notable lack of published research that has explored positive aspects of
emotional adjustment, such as life satisfaction, happiness, well - being or marital quality.
There is also a paucity of research using positive
emotional outcome measures (e.g. well - being, positive affect, happiness or life satisfaction) to quantify psychological
adjustment.
They also only reviewed psychosocial risk factors, e.g. those associated with increased (di) stress levels, and did not include any positive
emotional outcome measures of
emotional adjustment such as well - being, positive affect, happiness or life satisfaction, which are just as significant to health and for quality of life as the prevalence of negative emotions (Folkman and Moskowitz, 2000; Steptoe and Wardle, 2005; Rutten et al., 2013).