Melvin N Wilson
Biographic Data
| ID | 150056 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Melvin N Wilson |
| GIVEN NAMES | Melvin N |
| FAMILY NAME | Wilson |
| SIGNATURE | WILSON M N |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Virginia |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-6142-9252 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 46 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 410 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 46 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1975 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2024 |
| H-INDEX | 9 |
Paternal activation parenting and growth in children's inhibitory control across early childhood
Activation parenting (AP) is a parenting construct derived from research and theory on paternal caregiving that includes behaviors that challenge children to approach novel situations, explore their environments, and take physical and socioemotional risks through a balance of encouragement and limit‐setting. Although components of AP have been linked to different domains of children's self‐regulation skills, comprehensive measures of AP and longi…
Predictors of stability/change in observed parenting patterns across early childhood: A latent transition approach
Family processes and structure: Longitudinal influences on adolescent disruptive and internalizing behaviors
The role of early intervention for adolescent mental health and polydrug use: Cascading mediation through childhood growth in the general psychopathology (p) factor
This study is a secondary data analysis that extends knowledge about the effects of the early childhood Family Check-Up (FCU) intervention to trajectories of general psychopathology problems (p factor) across early and middle childhood, and effects on adolescent psychopathology and polydrug use. The Early Steps Multisite study (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier NCT00538252) is a randomized controlled trial of the FCU and consists of a large, racially…
Early childhood predictors of early school‐age academic skills and resilience among children living in poverty
This longitudinal study of low‐income families tested neighborhood‐, family‐, and child‐centered promotive factors in early childhood, responses to an early family intervention, and their interactions as predictors of school‐entry levels of and early school‐age gains in academic skills. Using a racially‐diverse, low‐income sample ( n = 527) from a randomized controlled trial of the Family Check‐Up (FCU) intervention and Bayesian multilevel regres…
Trajectories of early childhood family instability and the development of externalizing behaviors from middle childhood to adolescence: A prospective study of at-risk families
This study examined associations between trajectories of family instability across early childhood and trajectories of externalizing behaviors from middle childhood to adolescence. Growth mixture models were fit to annual caregiver reports of instability from child ages 2–5 (N = 731; 49% girls, 50% White). A curve of factors model was fit to externalizing behaviors from child ages 7.5–14. Chronic, elevated instability across early childhood predi…
Indirect Associations between Middle-Childhood Externalizing Behaviors and Adolescent Substance Use through Late-Childhood Exposure to Violence
An Observational Approach to Examining White Parents’ Racial Socialization Practices With Adolescent Youth
The racial socialization (RS) strategies used by White parents have received limited empirical attention. Thus, the current study examined the frequency and content of White parents' RS messages to their White children during an observed parent-child discussion task on discrimination when youth were 14 years old. Participants were 243 White caregivers and their adolescent children (47.7% female). Overall, parents provided few RS messages, but whe…
Indirect effects of the Family Check‐Up on youth extracurricular involvement at school‐age through improvements in maternal positive behavior support in early childhood
Extracurricular involvement in the school-age years has widespread potential benefits for children's subsequent socioemotional development, especially for low-income youth. However, there is a dearth of research on interventions aimed at increasing school-age extracurricular involvement in low-income youth. Thus, the present study aimed to test the collateral effect of a brief, family-focused intervention for low-income families, the Family Check…
Identification of Multiracial Adolescents in Research Samples: An Examination and Critique of Existing Practices
This study examined caregivers’ longitudinal reports of adolescent multiracial categorization across the ages of 9.5, 10.5, and 14 years, and adolescents’ reports of their own multiracial categorization at the age of 14 years. A portion of caregivers’ reports of adolescent multiracial status were inconsistent across the years of the study; some adolescents’ and caregivers’ responses differed when questions assessing multiracial status were phrase…
An examination of the influence of procedurally just strategies on legal cynicism among urban youth experiencing police contact
Adolescents experience more police‐initiated contacts resulting from relatively minor infractions than any other group, and often these interactions do not result in notable legal consequences. However, such interactions may have long‐term consequences for adolescent perceptions of the justice system. Using data from the age 15 wave of the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, our study examines associations between situational and process …
Race/Ethnic and Socioeconomic Microaggressions Experienced by Low-Income Parents in Three US Cities
Considering the role of early discrimination experiences and the parent–child relationship in the development of disruptive behaviors in adolescence
Discrimination has been shown to be related to diminished psychological adjustment and greater risk for substance use when personally experienced by adolescents and when their caregivers experience discrimination. Our research considers the impact of primary caregiver experiences of racial‐ and socioeconomic‐based discrimination in early (age 3–5 years) and late childhood (age 91⁄2) on adolescent disruptive behaviors (age 14) with a large sample …
Romantic partner satisfaction among low‐income mothers: Links to child‐peer and teacher relationships via mother‐child conflict
The current project explores maternal inter-parental (IP) romantic partner satisfaction in relation to mother-child conflict and later peer and teacher relations from early to middle childhood among a sample of low-income, ethnically diverse mothers ( N = 271) who were part of a longitudinal study testing the effectiveness of the Family Check-Up intervention. We hypothesized spillover effects from IP dissatisfaction during early childhood to moth…
Maternal depression and parenting in early childhood: Contextual influence of marital quality and social support in two samples
Marital quality and social support satisfaction were tested as moderators of the association between maternal depressive symptoms and parenting during early childhood (18-36 months) among 2 large, divergent, longitudinal samples (n = 526; n = 570). Unexpectedly, in both samples the association between maternal depressive symptoms and reduced parenting quality was strongest in the context of high marital quality and high social support, and largel…
Does early childhood callous-unemotional behavior uniquely predict behavior problems or callous-unemotional behavior in late childhood
Callous-unemotional (CU) behavior has been linked to behavior problems in children and adolescents. However, few studies have examined whether CU behavior in early childhood predicts behavior problems or CU behavior in late childhood . This study examined whether indicators of CU behavior at ages 2-4 predicted aggression, rule-breaking, and CU behavior across informants at age 9.5. To test the unique predictive and convergent validity of CU behav…
Longitudinal relations between observed parenting behaviors and dietary quality of meals from ages 2 to 5
Pathways to Pain: Racial Discrimination and Relations Between Parental Functioning and Child Psychosocial Well-Being
The relationship between racial discrimination, parental functioning, and child adjustment is not well understood. The goal of the present study was to assess parental reports of discrimination in relation to depression and parenting practices, as well as on subsequent child internalizing and externalizing problems in low-income Black families. Data include a subsample of the Early Steps project, a multisite longitudinal study of financial and be…
Parent–Child Conflict and Early Childhood Adjustment in Two-Parent Low-Income Families: Parallel Developmental Processes
Early Parental Positive Behavior Support and Childhood Adjustment: Addressing Enduring Questions with New Methods
A large literature provides strong empirical support for the influence of parenting on child outcomes. The current study addresses enduring research questions testing the importance of early parenting behavior to children's adjustment. Specifically, we developed and tested a novel multi-method observational measure of parental positive behavior support at age 2. Next, we tested whether early parental positive behavior support was related to child…
The Ecology of Early Childhood Risk: A Canonical Correlation Analysis of Children’s Adjustment, Family, and Community Context in a High-Risk Sample
Proactive Parenting and Children's Effortful Control: Mediating Role of Language and Indirect Intervention Effects
We examined associations of proactive parenting, child verbal ability, and child effortful control within the context of a randomized prevention trial focused on enhancing parenting practices in low‐income families. Participants ( N = 731) were assessed annually from the age of two to five, with half randomly assigned to the F amily C heck‐ U p ( FCU ). Results indicated that the child's verbal ability at the age of three partially mediated the i…
Predicting Desistance in a High‐risk Sample: Examining the Influence of Individual and Contextual Factors
Peer Reviewed
Predictors of Longitudinal Growth in Inhibitory Control in Early Childhood
In the current study, we examined latent growth in 731 young children's inhibitory control from ages 2 to 4, and whether demographic characteristics or parenting behaviors were related to initial levels and growth in inhibitory control. As part of an ongoing longitudinal evaluation of the Family Check-Up (FCU), children's inhibitory control was assessed yearly at ages 2, 3, and 4. Inhibitory control was initially low and increased linearly to age…
The relations among cumulative risk, parenting, and behavior problems during early childhood
Background: This study examined relations among cumulative risk, nurturant and involved parenting, and behavior problems across early childhood. Methods: Cumulative risk, parenting, and behavior problems were measured in a sample of low‐income toddlers participating in a family‐centered program to prevent conduct problems. Results: Path analysis was utilized to examine longitudinal relations among these constructs, with results supporting an indi…
Family Ecologies of Ethnic Minority Children
Child development in the context of the Black extended family
The Black extended family: An analytical consideration
Pathways to Pain: Racial Discrimination and Relations Between Parental Functioning and Child Psychosocial Well-Being
The relationship between racial discrimination, parental functioning, and child adjustment is not well understood. The goal of the present study was to assess parental reports of discrimination in relation to depression and parenting practices, as well as on subsequent child internalizing and externalizing problems in low-income Black families. Data include a subsample of the Early Steps project, a multisite longitudinal study of financial and be…
Flexibility and sharing of childcare duties in black families
Collateral benefits of the family check-up on early childhood school readiness: Indirect effects of parents' positive behavior support
The authors examined the longitudinal effects of the Family Check-Up (FCU) on parents' positive behavior support and children's school readiness competencies in early childhood. It was hypothesized that the FCU would promote language skills and inhibitory control in children at risk for behavior problems as an indirect outcome associated with targeted improvements in parents' positive behavior support. High-risk families in the Women, Infants, an…
Health status and behaviors of unwed fathers
An examination of the influence of procedurally just strategies on legal cynicism among urban youth experiencing police contact
Adolescents experience more police‐initiated contacts resulting from relatively minor infractions than any other group, and often these interactions do not result in notable legal consequences. However, such interactions may have long‐term consequences for adolescent perceptions of the justice system. Using data from the age 15 wave of the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, our study examines associations between situational and process …
Women of Color: Social Challenges of Dual Minority Status and Competing Community Contexts
Predictors of Longitudinal Growth in Inhibitory Control in Early Childhood
In the current study, we examined latent growth in 731 young children's inhibitory control from ages 2 to 4, and whether demographic characteristics or parenting behaviors were related to initial levels and growth in inhibitory control. As part of an ongoing longitudinal evaluation of the Family Check-Up (FCU), children's inhibitory control was assessed yearly at ages 2, 3, and 4. Inhibitory control was initially low and increased linearly to age…
Maternal depression and parenting in early childhood: Contextual influence of marital quality and social support in two samples
Marital quality and social support satisfaction were tested as moderators of the association between maternal depressive symptoms and parenting during early childhood (18-36 months) among 2 large, divergent, longitudinal samples (n = 526; n = 570). Unexpectedly, in both samples the association between maternal depressive symptoms and reduced parenting quality was strongest in the context of high marital quality and high social support, and largel…
Early Parental Positive Behavior Support and Childhood Adjustment: Addressing Enduring Questions with New Methods
A large literature provides strong empirical support for the influence of parenting on child outcomes. The current study addresses enduring research questions testing the importance of early parenting behavior to children's adjustment. Specifically, we developed and tested a novel multi-method observational measure of parental positive behavior support at age 2. Next, we tested whether early parental positive behavior support was related to child…
Proactive Parenting and Children's Effortful Control: Mediating Role of Language and Indirect Intervention Effects
We examined associations of proactive parenting, child verbal ability, and child effortful control within the context of a randomized prevention trial focused on enhancing parenting practices in low‐income families. Participants ( N = 731) were assessed annually from the age of two to five, with half randomly assigned to the F amily C heck‐ U p ( FCU ). Results indicated that the child's verbal ability at the age of three partially mediated the i…
An Observational Approach to Examining White Parents’ Racial Socialization Practices With Adolescent Youth
The racial socialization (RS) strategies used by White parents have received limited empirical attention. Thus, the current study examined the frequency and content of White parents' RS messages to their White children during an observed parent-child discussion task on discrimination when youth were 14 years old. Participants were 243 White caregivers and their adolescent children (47.7% female). Overall, parents provided few RS messages, but whe…
Identification of Multiracial Adolescents in Research Samples: An Examination and Critique of Existing Practices
This study examined caregivers’ longitudinal reports of adolescent multiracial categorization across the ages of 9.5, 10.5, and 14 years, and adolescents’ reports of their own multiracial categorization at the age of 14 years. A portion of caregivers’ reports of adolescent multiracial status were inconsistent across the years of the study; some adolescents’ and caregivers’ responses differed when questions assessing multiracial status were phrase…
The Influence of Family Structure Characteristics on the Child-Rearing Behaviors of African American Mothers
Recognition of the diversity of African American families increases our understanding of the socialization within these families. Family characteristics that influence socialization includefamily structure variables such as number of adult and child family members and amount offamily income. More likely than not, because the earliest primary caretaker of a child is the mother, socialization begins through maternal caretaking. Mothers'perceived pe…
Perceived Parental Activity of Mothers, Fathers, and Grandmothers in Three-Generational Black Families
Grandmothers, mothers, fathers, and children between the ages of 8-14 reported their perceptions of adult childrearing activities. For the 60 participating families, there were two levels of family structure, single-parent or dual-parent, two levels of grandmother's domicile, living with the family or living in the local community, and the sex of the child. The results indicated grandmothers perceived themselves and were perceived as having more …
Considering the role of early discrimination experiences and the parent–child relationship in the development of disruptive behaviors in adolescence
Discrimination has been shown to be related to diminished psychological adjustment and greater risk for substance use when personally experienced by adolescents and when their caregivers experience discrimination. Our research considers the impact of primary caregiver experiences of racial‐ and socioeconomic‐based discrimination in early (age 3–5 years) and late childhood (age 91⁄2) on adolescent disruptive behaviors (age 14) with a large sample …
Longitudinal relations between observed parenting behaviors and dietary quality of meals from ages 2 to 5
Analyzing factors influencing readmission to a battered women's shelter
Predicting Desistance in a High‐risk Sample: Examining the Influence of Individual and Contextual Factors
Peer Reviewed
The Context of Caretaking in Rural Areas: Family Factors Influencing the Level of Functioning of Seriously Mentally Ill Patients Living at Home
After the deinstitutionalization of psychiatric hospitals, many families became primary caregivers for seriously mentally ill individuals. Mental health services became further reduced with the advent of managed care and reductions in health and mental health care. The dearth of community-care options often results in psychiatric patients being quickly stabilized in hospital units and discharged to live with their families. The lack of community …
Does early childhood callous-unemotional behavior uniquely predict behavior problems or callous-unemotional behavior in late childhood
Callous-unemotional (CU) behavior has been linked to behavior problems in children and adolescents. However, few studies have examined whether CU behavior in early childhood predicts behavior problems or CU behavior in late childhood . This study examined whether indicators of CU behavior at ages 2-4 predicted aggression, rule-breaking, and CU behavior across informants at age 9.5. To test the unique predictive and convergent validity of CU behav…
Alternatives to blaming the victim or the environment: Our places to stand have not moved the earth
Alternatives to Blaming the Victim or the Environment: Our Places to Stand Have Not Moved the Earth
The Black extended family: An analytical consideration
Perceived Parental Activity of Mothers, Fathers, and Grandmothers in Three-Generational Black Families
Grandmothers, mothers, fathers, and children between the ages of 8-14 reported their perceptions of adult childrearing activities. For the 60 participating families, there were two levels of family structure, single-parent or dual-parent, two levels of grandmother's domicile, living with the family or living in the local community, and the sex of the child. The results indicated grandmothers perceived themselves and were perceived as having more …
Analyzing factors influencing readmission to a battered women's shelter
Child development in the context of the Black extended family
Flexibility and sharing of childcare duties in black families
Family Ecologies of Ethnic Minority Children
The 1990 society for community research and action award for distinguished contributions to community psychology and community mental health: Edward Seidman
Effect of familial composition on parent-child interactions in African American families
An analysis of adult-child conversation patterns in diverse African American families
This study considers the effect of family type on familial and adult-child conversation during evening meals
African American family life: The dynamics of interactions, relationships, and roles
Roles and interrelationships of the extended African American family are considered
Promotion of African American family life: Families, poverty, and social programs
Social support networks in the African American family: Utility for culturally compatible intervention
This study investigates the various patterns of African American familial support, using an ecological approach
The Influence of Family Structure Characteristics on the Child-Rearing Behaviors of African American Mothers
Recognition of the diversity of African American families increases our understanding of the socialization within these families. Family characteristics that influence socialization includefamily structure variables such as number of adult and child family members and amount offamily income. More likely than not, because the earliest primary caretaker of a child is the mother, socialization begins through maternal caretaking. Mothers'perceived pe…
Women of Color: Social Challenges of Dual Minority Status and Competing Community Contexts
Health status and behaviors of unwed fathers
The Context of Caretaking in Rural Areas: Family Factors Influencing the Level of Functioning of Seriously Mentally Ill Patients Living at Home
After the deinstitutionalization of psychiatric hospitals, many families became primary caregivers for seriously mentally ill individuals. Mental health services became further reduced with the advent of managed care and reductions in health and mental health care. The dearth of community-care options often results in psychiatric patients being quickly stabilized in hospital units and discharged to live with their families. The lack of community …
Describing differences among a sample of low-income fathers: A glimpse into their romantic relationships
The relations among cumulative risk, parenting, and behavior problems during early childhood
Background: This study examined relations among cumulative risk, nurturant and involved parenting, and behavior problems across early childhood. Methods: Cumulative risk, parenting, and behavior problems were measured in a sample of low‐income toddlers participating in a family‐centered program to prevent conduct problems. Results: Path analysis was utilized to examine longitudinal relations among these constructs, with results supporting an indi…
The Family Check-Up With High-Risk Indigent Families: Preventing Problem Behavior by Increasing Parents’ Positive Behavior Support in Early Childhood
Seven hundred thirty-one income-eligible families in 3 geographical regions who were enrolled in a national food supplement program were screened and randomized to a brief family intervention. At child ages 2 and 3, the intervention group caregivers were offered the Family Check-Up and linked parenting support services. Latent growth models on caregiver reports at child ages 2, 3, and 4 revealed decreased behavior problems when compared with the …
Collateral benefits of the family check-up on early childhood school readiness: Indirect effects of parents' positive behavior support
The authors examined the longitudinal effects of the Family Check-Up (FCU) on parents' positive behavior support and children's school readiness competencies in early childhood. It was hypothesized that the FCU would promote language skills and inhibitory control in children at risk for behavior problems as an indirect outcome associated with targeted improvements in parents' positive behavior support. High-risk families in the Women, Infants, an…
Predictors of Longitudinal Growth in Inhibitory Control in Early Childhood
In the current study, we examined latent growth in 731 young children's inhibitory control from ages 2 to 4, and whether demographic characteristics or parenting behaviors were related to initial levels and growth in inhibitory control. As part of an ongoing longitudinal evaluation of the Family Check-Up (FCU), children's inhibitory control was assessed yearly at ages 2, 3, and 4. Inhibitory control was initially low and increased linearly to age…
The Ecology of Early Childhood Risk: A Canonical Correlation Analysis of Children’s Adjustment, Family, and Community Context in a High-Risk Sample
Proactive Parenting and Children's Effortful Control: Mediating Role of Language and Indirect Intervention Effects
We examined associations of proactive parenting, child verbal ability, and child effortful control within the context of a randomized prevention trial focused on enhancing parenting practices in low‐income families. Participants ( N = 731) were assessed annually from the age of two to five, with half randomly assigned to the F amily C heck‐ U p ( FCU ). Results indicated that the child's verbal ability at the age of three partially mediated the i…
Psychology (44 works) · Developmental psychology (34 works) · Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development (20 works) · Medicine (20 works) · Early Childhood Education and Development (19 works) · Early childhood (17 works) · Social Psychology (15 works) · Clinical Psychology (14 works) · Sociology (13 works) · Psychiatry (12 works)