Who’s Home? Caregiver Links to Adolescent Psychological and
Achievement Outcomes
Introduction
Bethany S. Quinn, Rike Frangos, and Laura D. Pittman
•Adolescents
Method
Procedures
This study used data from two waves of the Welfare, Children and Families: A Three-City
Study, a random sample of low-income families.
1153 adolescents are represented in this sample (10-14 years old at Wave 1; 14-21 years
old at Wave 3).
• Biological mothers were the primary caregivers of all children in these analyses.
•This study used data collected in 1999 (Wave 1) and follow up data collected in 20052006 (Wave 3).
•97% of the sample were below two times the poverty line.
Measures
•Mothers’ psychological symptoms were assessed using the Brief Symptom Inventory- 18,
which contains 18 original items from the BSI (BSI-18; Derogatis, 2000).
Adolescent externalizing and internalizing symptoms and total problem behaviors were
assessed using The Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL; Achenbach, 1992).
•Mathematical and reading achievement was assessed using the Applied Problems and
Letter- Word Identification subtests respectively from the Woodcock-Johnson PsychoEducational Battery - Revised (Woodcock & Mather, 1989, 1990).
•Mothers reported on the presence of fathers and grandmothers in the home at Wave 1 & 3.
Data Analysis
•All analyses controlled for child gender and corresponding variables at Wave 1.
•A series of OLS regressions were run predicting adolescent outcomes at Wave 3.
•Wave 1 maternal internalizing symptoms, and either father presence in the home, and
grandmother presence were entered into the equation.
•Interaction terms were added to the regression model to test whether father or
grandmother presence in the home moderated the links between mother’s internalizing
symptoms and adolescent outcomes. Interaction terms were created by centering mothers’
BSI scores with father presence and grandmother presence respectively. If there were
significant interactions, they were probed according the methods by Aiken and West
(1990).
Sample Characteristics
• 42% African American; 48% Hispanic; 8.5 %White , 1.5% Other
• 50% male; 50% female
• 63% mother has high school degree ; 37% mother has no high school degree
• 4.8% father in home at Wave 1 & 3 (n = 56)
• 1.4% grandmother in home at Wave 1 & 3 (n = 16)



Figure 2. Interaction of Father Presence on Mother’s Psychological Symptoms Predicting
Adolescents’ Internalizing Symptoms
Results
Main Effects
•Mothers’ internalizing symptoms predicted higher adolescents externalizing behaviors internalizing symptoms
and overall psychological problems. Father presence predicted lower reading achievement over time (see Table
2). Grandmother presence did not predict adolescent outcomes (see Table 3).
Interactions
•Father presence moderated the link between mother internalizing symptoms and overall adolescent problem
behaviors over time (r = .63, p = .04; see Figure 1). Mother’s internalizing symptoms related to children’s
increased problem behaviors only if there was no father present in the home over time. If a father was present in
the home over time, a buffering effect was observed such that mother’s internalizing symptoms did not relate to
problem behaviors .Similarly, father presence moderated the link between mother internalizing symptoms and
adolescent internalizing symptoms (r = .67, p =.03; see Figure 2). Interactions between mother’s psychological
symptoms and grandmother presence did not predict adolescent outcomes.
Caregiver and Control Variables
Externalizing Internalizing
Behaviors
Behaviors
Wave 1 Outcomes
.45**
.40**
.41**
Child Sex
.05
.06
.05
.11**
.16**
.12**
Mother Internalizing Symptoms (Wave 1)
Total Problem
Behaviors
Math
Achievement
.53**
-.01
-.06
Child’s age at wave 1
M
SD
Range
11.91
1.42
10-14
Mother Internalizing at Wave 1 (BSI)
8.39
10.85
0-65
Child Behavior Checklist Total
51.95
11.63
24-81
Child Externalizing Behaviors
53.07
10.67
33-86
Child Internalizing Behaviors
52.26
11.49
31-82
Math Achievement
88.59
11.47
34-142
Reading Achievement
94.61
18.84
26-165
.67**
.02
.02
-.02
-.02
-.04
-.07*
F Ratio
54.20**
46.24**
50.70**
62.69**
121.23**
R2
.25
.23
.23
.29
.44
Note: *p < .05, **p < .01; standardized beta coefficients are presented
Table 3. OLS Regressions Predicting with Grandmother Presence Adolescents’
Socioemotional and Academic Outcomes
Caregiver and Control Variables
Wave 1 Outcomes
30
High Dad Present
Dad Present
25
20
Low Mom's BSI
Reading
Achievement
.01
Externalizing Internalizing
Behaviors
Behaviors
.45**
.40**
Low Dad Present
Dad Not Present
35
- 1 SD
Father Presence
Total Problem
Behaviors
.39**
Math
Achievement
.53**
Reading
Achievement
.67**
Child Sex
.05
.06
.05
-.01
.02
Mother Internalizing Symptoms (Wave 1)
.12**
.16**
.15**
-.06
.02
Grandmother Presence
-.01
-.02
-.02
-.01
-.06
F Ratio
52.77**
47.79**
49.09**
65.97**
134.308**
R2
.25
.23
.23
.29
.45
High Mom's BSI
+ 1 SD
Conclusions & Discussion
Conclusions
•Consistent with prior research, the results show that adolescents who live with mothers
struggling with internalizing symptoms will also have higher levels of internalizing,
externalizing and overall psychological problems (Goodman & Brand, 2008; Goodman & Tully,
2006). However, there was no link between mothers’ internalizing symptoms and adolescents’
academic outcomes. Being a longitudinal study, the significance of these results demonstrates
that mother’s internalizing symptoms are linked to adolescents’ problem behaviors over time.
•Many studies have examined the relationship between mothers’ internalizing symptoms and
child outcomes. This study adds to that literature in that it studies how the presence of other
caregivers influences these relationships.
•When mothers had high internalizing symptoms, father presence appeared to function as a buffer
that prevented adolescents from developing problem behaviors. Additionally, grandmother
presence did not predict adolescent outcomes in this sample.
•Thus, these findings suggest that different caregivers may have very unique and interacting
effects on children’s social-emotional and academic outcomes.
Limitations and Future Research
•A limitation of this study is that father and grandmother psychopathology and family SES were
not used as controls. Father psychopathology in addition to mother psychopathology has been
shown to have an additive negative effect on child outcomes and thus should be controlled in
future studies (Gotlib & Goodman, 1999).
•Another limitation is that adolescent outcomes were mother-report rather than self-report, which
may influence the findings.
•Finally, the current sample focuses on low-income families, thus, future research may want to
compare whether similar results are found when father and grandmother psychopathology and
SES are considered, specifically including higher SES families.
Note: *p < .05, **p < .01; standardized beta coefficients are presented
References
Figure 1. Interaction of Father Presence on Mother’s Psychological Symptoms Predicting
Overall Adolescents’ Problem Behaviors



45

Adolescent CBCL-Total Scores
Variables
40
Table 2. OLS Regressions Predicting with Father Presence Adolescents’
Socioemotional and Academic Outcomes

40
Table 1. Descriptive Statistics (N = 1153)
45
Dependent variable
of depressed parents have been found to display higher rates of internalizing
problems such as depression, as well as externalizing behavior problems (Goodman &
Tully, 2006).
Research has shown that if there is a mentally healthy father present in a home where the
mother is depressed, many of these negative child outcomes become less prevalent (Gotlib
& Goodman, 1999).
 Adolescents of mothers with internalizing symptoms have been found to score lower on
measures of academic performance (Goodman & Brand, 2008)
The research of this phenomenon has been broadened to include other family members.
For example, Silverstein and Ruiz (2006) claim that grandparents can buffer the
transmission of maternal depression to their grandchildren.
 This poster will examine whether the presence of a father or grandmother in the home
will buffer this expected risk when examining low-income adolescents’ psychological and
academic outcomes.

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35


30
Low Dad Present
Dad Not Present



25
High Dad Present
Dad Not Present
20
Low Mom's BSI
-1 SD
High Mom's BSI
+1 SD

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