Mary Jo Coiro

Bio: Mary Jo Coiro is an academic researcher from Loyola University Maryland. The author has contributed to research in topics: Mental health & Anxiety. The author has an hindex of 15, co-authored 29 publications receiving 1597 citations. Previous affiliations of Mary Jo Coiro include United States Department of Health and Human Services & University of Virginia.

Do marriage problems affect fathering more than mothering? A quantitative and qualitative review.

Abstract: The important question of whether marital problems disrupt fathering more than mothering is addressed in (a) a quantitative review of evidence on marital conflict and parenting in intact families, and (b) a qualitative review of research on mother and father involvement with their children following divorce. We conclude that (a) there is limited evidence that, relative to mothering, fathering is more likely to be affected by marital conflict, but suggest that (b) marital status (i.e., divorce) affects fathering notably more than it affects mothering. We further suggest that marital problems may disrupt father involvement which, in turn, weakens the quality of father-child relationships; there likely are multiple alternative pathways through which marriage problems affect parenting, including both "spillover" and "compensation"; researchers need to examine more carefully how marital problems disrupt coparenting; child age and gender may moderate linkages between the parental and marital subsystems; and coparenting, marital happiness, and the institution of marriage itself may be essential first avenues of intervention for those who wish to improve or maintain fathers' involvement with their children.

Parental conflict and marital disruption : Do children benefit when high-conflict marriages are dissolved?

Abstract: A million children experience divorce each year, and some policymakers argue for policies that would make it more difficult for parents to divorce. However, being exposed to a high degree of marital conflict has been shown to place children at risk for a variety of problems. Using mother-child data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY) and a prospective design, this research explores two questions: Do the effects of marital disruption on child well-being vary for children whose parents leave high-conflict marriages versus low-conflict marriages? How do children fare when their high-conflict parents remain together? We find that separation and divorce are associated with increases in behavior problems in children, regardless of the level of conflict between parents. However, in marriages that do not break up, high levels of marital conflict are associated with even greater increases in children's behavior problems. High rates of divorce have prompted many observers, largely out of concern for the children involved, to advocate measures to keep marriages together. The accumulated evidence suggests that children, particularly boys, not only have problems in the immediate aftermath of marital disruption, but have difficulties that persist into adulthood as well (e.g., Amato, 1994; Amato & Keith, 1991; Cherlin, Chase-Lansdale, & McRae, 1998). Along with these findings, however, there is evidence that being exposed to a high degree of conflict between married parents also places children at risk for a variety of problems. Consequently, the difficulty for parents, legal professionals, and policymakers weighing what is best for the child lies in determining whether the effects of divorce will be less deleterious than the effects of remaining with two parents in a disharmonious relationship. Another question is whether the effects of marital disruption on child well-being vary according to the level of marital conflict that children experience before the separation. If the break-up represents an exit from severe marital disharmony, children may make an easier adjustment than if the separation was unexpected. Moreover, children removed from intense parental conflict may fare better than those whose high-conflict parents remain together. In a recent study Amato, Loomis, and Booth (1995) used longitudinal data from a study of marital instability over the life course and documented that the well-being of young adults after a parental divorce was highest among those who experienced high levels of conflict before the disruption and lowest among those who experienced less conflict before the divorce. Amato and his colleagues argued that when young people are not aware of the level of their parents' unhappiness, divorce is likely to be unanticipated and unwelcomed by the youth. We attempt to build on the findings of Amato et al. (1995) by examining children who were younger when their parents divorced and whose parents divorced more recently. Children in our sample ranged in age from 4 to 9 years in 1988 (the average child is 6 years old) when all of the children were in married, two-parent families. Controlling for children's preexisting levels of behavior problems, we examine their mother-rated behavior problems scores 6 years later. By then, some of the children's parents had separated or divorced. (The average time since disruption is 3.4 years.) Our analysis addresses two main questions: Do the consequences of marital disruption for children's behavior problems vary, depending on the level of marital conflict that preceded the disruption? That is, do children benefit when high-conflict marriages are dissolved, but do they show elevated problems when the couple was less conflictual before separation? And how do children fare when their high-conflict parents remain together? BACKGROUND Accumulated evidence suggests that children who experience divorce and the associated disruptions in parent-child relationships, living arrangements, and economic circumstances fare less well than children in two-parent families who do not divorce. …

Depressive symptoms among women receiving welfare.

Abstract: Using data from an ongoing study of welfare recipients and their preschool-aged children, this study examined levels and correlates of self-reported depressive symptoms, and factors predicting transition off welfare assistance, among 173 low-income, single, African American mothers. Forty percent reported symptom levels that are likely to indicate a diagnosis of clinical depression, and very few had received any mental health services. Mothers who had lived as children in households that received AFDC, who had received AFDC themselves for more than five years, who perceived less social support to be available to them, and who reported more life stressors, had significantly higher levels of depressive symptoms. Controlling for these factors associated with depression, women with higher symptom levels were slightly less likely to stop receiving AFDC tor some period of time over the two years of the study, but were no less likely to work or attend school. Implications of these findings for the development of programs and services for families on welfare are discussed.

Childhood functional status, family stressors, and psychosocial adjustment among school-aged children with disabilities in the United States.

Abstract: Background: During the last 30 years, several studies have indicated that children with disabilities are at increased risk for emotional and behavioral morbidity. Populationbased studies are needed to understand the relationship between functional status, family stressors, and the psychosocial adjustment of children with disabilities. Methods: Using data from the 1994 and 1995 National Health Interview Surveys, Disability Supplement, this study examines the associations between children’s functional status, family stressors, and the psychosocial adjustment of school-aged children with disabilities. Results: Regression analyses indicate that children’s functional impairments in the areas of communication or learning, poor maternal health and mental health, family burden, and poverty are significantly and positively associated with psychosocial maladjustment among children with disabilities. Conclusions: Children’s functional activity limitations and family stressors are significant correlates of psychosocial adjustment among children with disabilities. These data indicate a need for routine screening for mental health problems among children with disabilities, as well as a family-oriented approach to their medical care. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2003;157:687-695

The emerging field of emotion regulation: An integrative review.

Abstract: The emerging field of emotion regulation studies how individuals influence which emotions they have, when they have them, and how they experience and express them. This review takes an evolutionary perspective and characterizes emotion in terms of response tendencies. Emotion regulation is denned and distinguished from coping, mood regulation, defense, and affect regulation. In the increasingly specialized discipline of psychology, the field of emotion regulation cuts across traditional boundaries and provides common ground. According to a process model of emotion regulation, emotion may be regulated at five points in the emotion generative process: (a) selection of the situation, (b) modification of the situation, (c) deployment of attention, (d) change of cognitions, and (e) modulation of responses. The field of emotion regulation promises new insights into age-old questions about how people manage their emotions.

From Neurons to Neighborhoods: The Science of Early Childhood Development

Abstract: How we raise young children is one of today's most highly personalized and sharply politicized issues, in part because each of us can claim some level of "expertise." The debate has intensified as discoveries about our development-in the womb and in the first months and years-have reached the popular media. How can we use our burgeoning knowledge to assure the well-being of all young children, for their own sake as well as for the sake of our nation? Drawing from new findings, this book presents important conclusions about nature-versus-nurture, the impact of being born into a working family, the effect of politics on programs for children, the costs and benefits of intervention, and other issues. The committee issues a series of challenges to decision makers regarding the quality of child care, issues of racial and ethnic diversity, the integration of children's cognitive and emotional development, and more. Authoritative yet accessible, From Neurons to Neighborhoods presents the evidence about "brain wiring" and how kids learn to speak, think, and regulate their behavior. It examines the effect of the climate-family, child care, community-within which the child grows.

The Consequences of Divorce for Adults and Children

Abstract: I use a divorce-stress-adjustment perspective to summarize and organize the empirical literature on the consequences of divorce for adults and children. My review draws on research in the 1990s to answer five questions: How do individuals from married and divorced families differ in well-being? Are these differences due to divorce or to selection? Do these differences reflect a temporary crisis to which most people gradually adapt or stable life strains that persist more or less indefinitely? What factors mediate the effects of divorce on individual adjustment? And finally, what are the moderators (protective factors) that account for individual variability in adjustment to divorce? In general, the accumulated research suggests that marital dissolution has the potential to create considerable turmoil in people's lives. But people vary greatly in their reactions. Divorce benefits some individuals, leads others to experience temporary decrements in well-being, and forces others on a downward trajectory from which they might never recover fully. Understanding the contingencies under which divorce leads to these diverse outcomes is a priority for future research.

Preventing Mental, Emotional, and Behavioral Disorders Among Young People: Progress and Possibilities

Abstract: This report builds on a highly valued predecessor, the 1994 Institute of Medicine (IOM) report entitled Reducing Risks for Mental Disorders: Frontiers for Preventive Intervention Research. That report provided the basis for understanding prevention science, elucidating its then-existing research base, and contemplating where it should go in the future. This report documents that an increasing number of mental, emotional, and behavioral problems in young people are in fact preventable. The proverbial ounce of prevention will indeed be worth a pound of cure: effectively applying the evidence-based prevention interventions at hand could potentially save billions of dollars in associated costs by avoiding or tempering these disorders in many individuals. Furthermore, devoting significantly greater resources to research on even more effective prevention and promotion efforts, and then reliably implementing the findings of such research, could substantially diminish the human and economic toll.