Abstract
In this chapter we discuss testing theoretical models of processes in child health research. By this we mean the kind of research that is based on deriving predictions from a theoretical portrayal of the process that has engaged the investigator’s interest and designing a study to provide a test of this model. Some may think that theoretical models are always complicated and abstruse, but this is not the case; in fact, some of the best models may be quite simple ones. A child psychologist may pose a question such as, “Why are some children more at risk for a certain condition?” or “How do families adapt successfully to their child’s chronic disease?” or “What makes a particular treatment technique effective?” The psychologist’s thinking about the process underlying the outcome provides the basis for a model of how things occur: How do environmental and familial factors combine to create risk; what coping processes lead to adaptation; what mediating variables are responsible for the effectiveness of a therapeutic program. Such statements are the beginning of a testable model.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Aiken, L. S., & West, S. G. (1991). Multiple regression: Testing and interpreting interactions. Newbuiy Park, CA: Sage Publications.
Arbuckle, J. L. (1995). AMOS for Windows. Analysis of moment structures (Version 3.5). Chicago, IL: Smallwaters.
Bandura, A. (1969). Social learning theory of identificatory processes. In D. Goslin (Ed.), Handbook of socialization theory and research (pp. 213–262). Chicago: Rand McNall
Bandura, A. (1977). Self-efficacy: Toward a unifying theory of behavioral change. Psychological Review, 84,191–215.
Baranowski, T., & Nader, P. R. (1985). Family involvement in health behavior change programs. In D. Turk & R. Kerns (Eds.), Health, illness, and families (pp. 81–107). New York: Wiley.
Baron, R. M., & Kenny, D. A. (1986). The moderator-mediator distinction in social psychological research: Conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51,1173–1182.
Bentler, P. M. (1989). EQS structural equations program manual. Los Angeles, CA: BMDP Statistical Software.
Bentler, P. M. (1990). Comparative fit indices in structural models. Psychological Bulletin, 107,238–246.
Biglan, A., Weissman, W., & Severson, H. (1985). Coping with social influences to smoke. In S. Shiftman & T. A. Wills (Eds.), Coping and substance use (pp. 95–116). Orlando, FL: Academic Press.
Bollen, K. A. (1989). Structural equations with latent variables. New York: Wiley.
Carver, C. S., Scheier, M. F., & Pozo, C. (1992). Conceptualizing the process of coping with health problems. In H. S. Friedman (Ed.), Hostility, coping and health (pp. 167–187). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Cohen, J. (1992). A power primer. Psychological Bulletin, 112,155–159.
Cohen, J., & Cohen, P. (1983). Applied multiple regression/correlation analysis for the behavioral sciences (2nd ed.). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Cohen, S., & Wills, T. A. (1985). Stress, social support, and the buffering hypothesis. Psychological Bulletin, 98, 310–357.
Cole, R. E., & Reiss, D. (Eds.) (1993). How do families cope with chronic illness? Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Compas, B. E. (1987). Coping with stress during childhood and adolescence. Psychological Bulletin, 101, 393–403.
Compas, B. E., Malcarne, V. L., & Banez, G. A. (1992). Coping with psychosocial stress: A developmental perspective. In B. N. Carpenter (Ed.), Personal coping: Theory, research, and application (pp. 47–63). Westport, CT: Praeger.
Conger, R. D., Elder, G. H., Jr., Lorenz, F. O., Conger, K.J., Simons, R. L., Whitbeck, L. B., Huck, S., & Melby, J. N. (1990). Linking economic hardship to marital quality and instability. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 52, 643–656.
Doherty, W. J., & Campbell, T. L. (1988). Families and health. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
Donovan, J. E., & Jessor, R. (1985). Structure of problem behavior in adolescence and young adulthood. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 53, 890–904.
DuBois, D. L., Feiner, R. D., Meares, H., & Krier, M. (1994). Prospective investigation of the effects of socioeconomic disadvantage, life stress, and social support on early adolescent adjustment. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 103, 511–522.
Dubow, E. F., & Tisak, J. (1989). The relation between stressful life events and adjustment in elementary school children: The role of social support and social problem-solving skills. Child Development, 60, 1412–1423.
Elder, G. H., Jr., Nguyen, T. V., & Caspi, A. (1985). Linking family hardship to children’s lives. Child Development, 56, 361–375.
Fergusson, D. M., & Horwood, L. J. (1995). Early disruptive behavior, IQ, and later school achievement and delinquent behavior. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 23,183–199.
Flay, B. R., Hu, F. B., Siddiqui, O., Day, L. E., Hedeker, D., Petraitis, J., Richardson, J., & Sussman, S. (1994). Differential influence of parental smoking and friends’ smoking on adolescent initiation and escalation of smoking. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 35, 248–265.
Folkman, S., & Lazarus, R. S. (1985). “If it changes it must be a process”: Study of emotion and coping during three stages of a college examination. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 48, 150–170.
Friedman, L. S., Lichtenstein, E., & Biglan, A. (1985). Smoking onset among teens: An empirical analysis of initial situations. Addictive Behaviors, 10,1–13.
Friedman, M., & Rosenman, R. H. (1974). Type A behavior and your heart. New York: Knopf.
Garmezy, N., & Masten, A. S. (1991). The protective role of competence indicators in children at risk. In E. M. Cummings, A. L. Greene, & K. H. Karraker (Eds.), Life-span developmental psychology: Perspectives on stress and coping (pp. 151–174). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Gilbert, D. G. (1979). Paradoxical tranquilizing and emotion-reducing effects of nicotine. Psychological Bulletin, 86, 643–661.
Graham, J. W., Marks, G., & Hansen, W. B. (1991). Social influence processes affecting adolescent substance use. Journal of Applied Psychology, 76, 291–298.
Hansen, W. B., & Graham, J. W. (1991). Preventing alcohol, marijuana, and cigarette use among adolescents: Peer pressure resistance training versus establishing conservative norms. Preventive Medicine, 20, 414–430.
Hauser, S. (1991). Adolescents and their families: Paths of ego development. New York: Free Press.
Hauser, S. T., Jacobson, A. M., Lavori, P., Wolsdorf, J. I., Herskowitz, R. D., Milley, J. E., Bliss, R., Wertlieb, D., & Stein, J. (1990). Adherence among children and adolescents with IDDM: Immediate and long-term linkages with the family milieu. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 15, 527–542.
Hayduk, L. A. (1987). Structural equation modeling with LISREL. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press
Hinshaw, S. P. (1992). Externalizing behavior problems and academic underachievement in childhood and adolescence: Causal relationships and underlying mechanisms. Psychological Bulletin, 111, 127–155.
Hinshaw, S. P. (1994). Attention deficits and hyperactivity in children. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Holmbeck, G. N. (1997). Toward terminological, conceptual, and statistical clarity in the study of mediators and moderators: Examples from the child-clinical and pediatric psychology literatures. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 65, 599–610.
Hoyle, R. L., & Smith, G. T. (1994). Formulating clinical research hypotheses as structural equation models: A conceptual overview. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 62, 492–440.
Hoyle, R. H. (Ed.). (1995). Structural equation modeling: Concepts, issues, and applications. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Hu, L-T., & Bentler, P. M. (1995). Evaluating model fit. In R. H. Hoyle (Ed.), Structural equation modeling: Concepts, issues, and applications (pp. 76–99). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Jaccard, J., & Wan, C. K. (1996). LISREL approaches to interaction effects in multiple regression. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Jessor, R., & Jessor, S. (1977). Problem behavior and psychosocial development. New York: Academic Press.
Jöreskog, K. G., & Sörbom, D. (1988). LISREL 7: A guide to the program and applications. Chicago: SPSS
Kazdin, A. E. (1995). Conduct disorders in childhood and adolescence (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Khantzian, E. J. (1990). Self-regulation and self-medication factors in alcoholism and the addictions: Similarities and differences. In M. Galanter (Ed.), Recent developments in alcoholism (Vol. 8, pp. 255–271). New York: Plenum Press.
Lazarus, R. S., & Folkman, S. (1984). Stress, appraisal and coping. New York: Springer.
Loehlin, J. C. (1987). Latent variable models: An introduction to factor, path, and structural analysis. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Lustig, J. L., Ireys, H. T., Sills, E. M., & Walsh, B. B. (1996). Mental health of mothers of children with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis: Appraisal as a mediator. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 21, 719–733.
MacCallum, R. (1986). Specification searches in covariance structure modeling. Psychological Bulletin, 100,107–120.
MacCallum, R. C., Roznowski, M., & Necowitz, L. B. (1992). Model modifications in covariance structure models. Psychological Bulletin, 111, 490–504.
MacKinnon, D. P. (1994). Analysis of mediating variables in prevention and intervention studies. In L. Beatty & A. Cazares (Eds.), Scientific methods in prevention research (pp. 127–153). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. (DHHS Publication No. 94-3631).
MacKinnon, D. P., Johnson, C. A., Pentz, M. A., Dwyer, J. H., Hansen, W. B., Flay, B. R., & Wang, E. Y.-I. (1991). Mediating mechanisms in a school-based drug prevention program. Health Psychology, 10, 164–172.
Mann, B. J., & McKenzie, E. P. (1996). Pathways among marital functioning, parental behaviors, and child behavior problems in school-age boys. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 25, 183–191.
Martin, C. S., Earleywine, M., Blackson, T. C., Vanyukov, M. M., Moss, H. M., & Tarter, R. E. (1994). Aggressivity, inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity in boys at high and low risk for substance abuse, journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 22, 177–203.
Masten, A. S., Morison, P., Pellegrini, D., & Tellegen, A. (1990). Competence under stress: Risk and protective factors. In J. Rolf, A. S. Masten, D. Cicchetti, K. H. Nuechterlein, & S. Weintraub (Eds.), Risk and protective factors in the development of psychopathology (pp. 236–256). New York: Cambridge University Press.
McClelland, G. H., & Judd, C. M. (1993). Statistical difficulties of detecting interactions and moderator effects. Psychological Bulletin, 114, 376–390.
Minuchin, S. (1974). Families and family therapy. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Moffitt, T. E. (1993). The neuropsychology of conduct disorder. Development and Psychopathology, 5,135–151.
Moffitt, T. E., & Lynam, D. (1994). The neuropsychology of conduct disorder and delinquency: Implications for understanding antisocial behavior. In D. C. Fowles, P. Sutker, & S. H. Goodman (Eds.), Experimental personality and psychopathology research, 1994: Focus on psychopathy and antisocial personality (pp. 233–262). New York: Springer.
Monroe, S. M., & Simons, A. D. (1991). Diathesis-stress theories in the context of life stress research: Implications for the depressive disorders. Psychological Bulletin, 110, 406–425.
Newcomb, M. D., & Bentler, P. M. (1988). Impact of adolescent drug use and social support on problems of young adults: A longitudinal study. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 97, 64–75.
Newcomb, M. D., & Felix-Ortiz, M. (1992). Multiple protective and risk factors for drug use and abuse: Cross-sectional and prospective findings. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 63, 280–296.
Patterson, G. R., DeBaryshe, B. D., & Ramsey, E. (1989). A developmental perspective on antisocial behavior. American Psychologist, 44, 329–335.
Perkins, K. A. (1995). Individual variability in responses to nicotine. Behavior Genetics, 25,119–132.
Petraitis, J., Flay, B. R., & Miller, T. Q. (1995). Reviewing theories of adolescent substance use: Organizing pieces in the puzzle. Psychological Bulletin, 117, 67–86.
Ramsey, G. (Ed.). (1989). The science of family medicine. New York: Guilford.
Rosenbaum, M. (Ed.). (1990). Learned resourcefulness: On coping skills, self-control, and adaptive behavior. New York: Springer.
Rutter, M. (1990). Psychosocial resilience and protective mechanisms. In J. Rolf, A. S. Masten, D. Cicchetti, K. H. Nuechterlein, & S. Weintraub (Eds.), Risk and protective factors in development of psychopathology (pp. 181–214). New York: Cambridge University Press.
SAS Institute. (1990). SAS Technical Report P-200 SAS/STAT Software: CALIS AND LOGISTIC Procedures (Release 6.04 edition). Cary, NC: Author.
Schumacker, R. E., & Lomax, R. G. (1996). A beginner’s guide to structural equation modeling. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Sher, K. J. (1991). Children of alcoholics: A critical appraisal of theory and research. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Stark, K. D., Schmidt, K. L., & Joiner, T. E. (1996). Cognitive triad: Relationship to depressive symptoms, parents’ cognitive triad, and perceived parental messages. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 24, 615–631.
Stevens, J. (1996). Applied multivariate statistics for the social sciences (3rd ed). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Takeuchi, D. T., Williams, D. R., & Adair, R. K. (1991). Economic stress in the family and children’s emotional and behavioral problems. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 53,1031–1041.
Tarter, R. E. (1988). Are there inherited behavioral traits that predispose to substance abuse? Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 56,189–196.
Thoits, P. A. (1986). Social support as coping assistance. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 54, 416–423.
Thompson, R. J., Gil, K. M., Gustafson, K. E., George, L. K., Keith, B. R., Spock, A., & Kinney, T. R. (1994). Stability and change in the psychological adjustment of mothers of children and adolescents with cystic fibrosis and sickle cell disease. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 19,171–188.
Tucker, L. R., & Lewis, C. (1973). A reliability coefficient for maximum likelihood factor analysis. Psychometrika, 38,1–10.
Turk, D. C., & Kerns, R. D. (1985). The family in health and illness. In D. Turk & R. Kerns (Eds.), Health, illness, and families (pp. 1–22). New York: Wiley.
Varni, J. W., & Setoguchi, Y. (1996). Perceived physical appearance and adjustment of adolescents with congenital/acquired limb deficiencies: A path-analytic model. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 25, 201–208.
Wallander, J. L., Varni, J. W., Babani, L., Banis, H. T., & Wilcox, K. T. (1989). Family resources as resistance factors for psychological maladjustment in chronically ill and handicapped children. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 14,157–173.
Werner, E. E. (1986). Resilient offspring of alcoholics: A longitudinal study from birth to age 18. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 47, 34–40.
Wills, T. A. (1986). Stress and coping in early adolescence: Relationships to substance use in urban school samples. Health Psychology, 5, 503–529.
Wills, T. A., Blechman, E. A., & McNamara, G. (1996). Family support, coping and competence. In E. M. Hetherington & E. A. Blechman (Eds.), Stress, coping, and resiliency in children and families (pp.107–133). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Wills, T. A., & Cleary, S. D. (1996). How are social support effects mediated: A test for parental support and adolescent substance use. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 71, 937–952.
Wills, T. A., & Filer, M. (1996). Stress-coping model of adolescent substance use. In T. H. Ollendick & R. J. Prinz (Eds.), Advances in clinical child psychology (Vol. 18, pp. 91–132). New York: Plenum Press.
Wills, T. A., & Filer, M. (1999). Social networks and social support. In A. Baum & T. Revenson (Eds.), Handbook of health psychology. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Wills, T. A., McNamara, G., & Vaccaro, D. (1995). Parental education related to adolescent stress-coping and substance use: Development of a mediational model. Health Psychology, 14, 464–478.
Wills, T. A., Pierce, J. P., & Evans, R. I. (1996). Large-scale environmental risk factors for substance use. American Behavioral Scientist, 39, 808–822.
Wills, T. A., Schreibman, D., Benson, G., & Vaccaro, D. (1994). Impact of parental substance use on adolescents: A test of a mediational model. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 19, 537–555.
Wills, T. A., & Shiftman, S. (1985). Coping and substance use: A conceptual framework. In S. Shiftman & T. A. Wills (Eds.), Coping and substance use (pp. 3–24). Orlando, FL: Academic Press.
Wills, T. A., Vaccaro, D., & McNamara, G. (1992). The role of life events, family support, and competence in adolescent substance use: A test of vulnerability and protective factors. American Journal of Community Psychology, 20, 349–374.
Windle, M., & Searles, J. S. (1990). Summary, integration, and future directions: Toward a life-span perspective. In M. Windle & J. S. Searles (Eds.), Children of alcoholics: Critical perspectives (pp.217–238). New York, NY: Guilford Press.
Zucker, R. A. (1994). Pathways to alcohol problems: A developmental account of the evidence for contextual contributions to risk. In R. A. Zucker, G. M. Boyd, & J. Howard (Eds.), The development of alcohol problems (pp. 255–289). Rockville, MD: National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2000 Springer Science+Business Media New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Wills, T.A., Cleary, S.D. (2000). Testing Theoretical Models and Frameworks in Child Health Research. In: Drotar, D. (eds) Handbook of Research in Pediatric and Clinical Child Psychology. Issues in Clinical Child Psychology. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-4165-3_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-4165-3_2
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-1-4613-6869-4
Online ISBN: 978-1-4615-4165-3
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive