Building Emotional Awareness and Mental Health in Parenting (BEAM)

Parent mental health will be a composite of symptoms of depression, anxiety, and anger. Depression symptoms will be measured via the 10-item Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D; scores range from 0-30 with higher score indicating more severe symptoms). Clinically elevated depressive symptoms will be identified with a cut-off of >10. Anxiety symptoms will be measured via the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) Anxiety short form (raw scores range from 7-35 with higher scores indicating more severe symptoms). Parent anger will be measured via PROMIS Anger (raw scores range from 5-25 with higher scores indicating more anger). T-score cut-offs of >60 will be used to identify those with clinically elevated anger and anxiety symptoms. An aggregate variable for parent mental health symptoms will be computed by converting scores on the CES-D, PROMIS Anxiety, and PROMIS Anger to standardized z-scores and then taking their average.

The Parenting Stress Index (PSI) is a measure of parenting stress and interactional style. Scores range from 36-180; higher scores indicate greater parental stress.

The Me as a Parent Scale- Short Form (MaaPs-SF) is a 4-item measure that will be used to examine parenting self-efficacy. Scores can range from 4-20, with higher scores indicating greater self-efficacy.

The Parenting Scale assesses the discipline practices of parents who have young children. The scores can range from 30-210; higher scores indicate more ineffective parenting discipline practices.

The Couple Satisfaction Index assesses relationship satisfaction. Scores can range from 0-21; higher scores indicate greater relationship satisfaction.

The Chaos, Hubbub, and Order Scale will also be administered to capture the household environment. Scores can range from 0-15; higher scores indicate a more chaotic and disorganized environment.

A parent will complete the Behaviour Assessment System for Children Third Edition (BASC-3) Parent Rating Scales-Preschool which assesses children's social-emotional functioning and behaviour. This is a 139-item questionnaire which provides T scores and percentile ranks. T scores have a mean of 50 and a standard deviation of 10.

This will be assessed using the Children's Somatic Symptoms Inventory-parent report (CSSI-8). The CSSI-8 scores can range from 0-32; higher scores indicate more somatic distress.

Children's structural brain connectivity will be assessed via MRI scans. A variety of images will be collected including anatomical (T1-weighted, T2-weighted) and diffusion-weighted MRI scans. Total scan duration is approximately 45 minutes. During the MRI scan, participants may watch a movie or video of their choice. The study team will work with participants to maximize their comfort during the scan, but children may choose to decline further time in the MRI scanner at any time. Following the MRI scan, images will be preprocessed and analyzed to identify key anatomical regions and the structural (i.e., white matter) connectivity between regions. Preprocessing and analysis will be conducted using popular neuroimaging tools including FSL, FreeSurfer, MRtrix, and R.

Children's functional brain connectivity will be assessed via MRI scans. A variety of images will be collected including anatomical (T1-weighted, T2-weighted), diffusion-weighted, and functional MRI scans. Total scan duration is approximately 45 minutes. During the MRI scan, participants may watch a movie or video of their choice. The study team will work with participants to maximize their comfort during the scan, but children may choose to decline further time in the MRI scanner at any time. Following the MRI scan, images will be preprocessed and analyzed to identify key anatomical regions and the functional (i.e., neuronal activity) connectivity between regions. Preprocessing and analysis will be conducted using popular neuroimaging tools including FSL, FreeSurfer, MRtrix, and R.

Children's language ability will be partly assessed using the Phonological Processing subtest of the NEPSY second edition (NEPSY-II). Phonological Processing is a 22-item measure with scores ranging from 0-22, with higher scores indicating better word segment recognition. The subtest also has percentile rank scores based on normative data.

Children's language ability will be partly assessed using the Speeded Naming subtest of the NEPSY-II. Speeded Naming is a 2-item measure with a maximum completion time of 300 seconds for naming 12 colours and 300 seconds for naming 12 shapes. A shorter completion time means more rapid access to and vocalization of names and shapes. The subtest also has percentile rank scores based on normative data.

The PROMIS Sleep Disturbance- Short Form (PROMIS Sleep) will be used to assess parents' sleep. It is an 8-item measure with raw scores ranging from 8 to 40, where higher scores indicate greater sleep disturbance. Raw scores will be converted to T-scores which can be used to categorize sleep disturbance as "None to Slight," "Mild," "Moderate," or "Severe."

The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) questionnaire will be administered to parents to examine what, if any, adverse experiences they had before the age of 18. It is an 11-item questionnaire that examines eight areas of adversity across three factors: Household Dysfunction (score range: 0-5), Physical/Emotional Abuse (score range: 3-9), Sexual Abuse (score range: 3-9).