DOI: 10.60641/3h5m-3z48
title: Parent-Child Interaction - Conflict and Cooperation

description: YOUth is a large-scale longitudinal cohort study following children from the city of Utrecht and its surrounding areas in their development from pregnancy until early adulthood. The YOUth cohort focuses on neurocognitive development involved in two core characteristics of behavioral development: social competence and behavioral control. YOUth includes children from the general population to cover the whole range of variation in behavioral development, ranging from uncomplicated development, through problem behavior, to psychiatric disorders. To understand why some children develop problematic behavior, and others show resilience, YOUth measures a broad range of biological, child-related and environmental determinants.

YOUth conducts repeated measurements at regular intervals (i.e. 'waves'). Specifically, the study has two inclusion moments: YOUth Baby & Child and YOUth Child & Adolescent. YOUth applies a flexible longitudinal design to the cohorts, meaning that children are measured at broader age ranges (3-year age ranges) at each wave. The main benefit of the flexible age design is that it provides more detailed information on the neurodevelopmental curves over time.

An extensive data set is generated, including 3D-ultrasound sweeps of the fetal brain, eye tracking, EEG, (f)MRI, computer tasks, cognitive measurements and parent-child observations. We also collect a broad range of questionnaires on behavior, personality, health, lifestyle, parenting, child development, use of (social) media and more. Finally, (umbilical) blood samples, buccal swabs, saliva and hair samples are collected at each visit, and stored in the UMC Utrecht Biobank.
description: The Parent-Child Interaction - Conflict task is a Family Interaction Task that is recorded to assess the qualitative aspects of the interaction between a parent and their child, by observing them during a discussion of a predetermined set of subjects.
description: In YOUth, the PCI consisted of age-appropriate structured scenarios that included a common mildly stressful topic (Conflict task) and a pleasant scenario (Cooperation task). In the Conflict task, children and their parents were instructed to discuss a family issue about which they had a disagreement in the last month. The goal of the conflict scenario was to discuss the topic of disagreement and to try to agree on possible solutions for the future. To assist the participants in finding a suitable topic, the experimenter provided a list with common topics of disagreements between parents and children. The list included topics such as screen time, bedtime, homework, and household chores. If no suitable topic could be found on the list or could be agreed upon, the parent and child were asked to come up with a topic of their own. In the Vacation task, children and their parents were instructed to plan a short vacation together. The goal of the cooperation scenario was to encourage a cooperative interaction between the parent and the child. During the discussions, the parent and child were alone in the room and seated on chairs. The interactions lasted for about 15 minutes and were videotaped. Data were collected up until May 2022.