The Association of Maternal Depressive Symptoms with Child Externalizing Problems: The Role of Maternal Support Following Child Sexual Abuse

This study examines the role of abuse-specific maternal support in the association between parent depressive symptoms and child externalizing problems in a sample of children with a history of sexual abuse. In total, 106 mother–child dyads were studied. The association between maternal depressive symptoms and child delinquency behaviors was found to partially operate through abuse-specific maternal support, which was assessed via parent report. Implications of the findings for parenting programs are discussed, and future research directions are considered.     

Maternal Work Absence: A Longitudinal Study of Language Impairment and Behavior Problems in Preschool Children

Combining work and family responsibilities is challenging when children have special needs, and mothers commonly make employment‐related adjustments. In this study, the authors examined associations between maternal work absence and child language impairment and behavior problems in preschool children. Questionnaire data at child age 3 years from 33,778 mothers participating in the prospective population‐based Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study were linked to national register data on employment and long‐term physician‐certified sick leave at child age 3–5 years. Mothers who reported having a child with language impairment had a consistently higher risk of not being employed and were at increased risk of taking long‐term sick leave at child age 5 years. Co‐occurring problems were associated with excess risk. Language impairments in preschool children, in particular when they are co‐occurring with behavior problems, are likely to have a range of negative short‐ and long‐term consequences for the financial and overall health and well‐being of mothers and their families.     

The Longitudinal Effects of Divorce and Maternal Employment on the Home Environments of Preschool Children

The purpose of this study was to examine the home environments of children whose mothers were married1 working, married/nonworking, or divorced/working across an eighteen-month period. The sample consisted of 42 families, with children from 4 1/2 to 7 years of age. The HOME (Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment) Inventory was administered in the home to assess the amount of cognitive and social stimulation provided the children. The home environments of children from divorced/working homes were found to be less cognitive and socially stimulating than those of married homes. These differences did not appear to be reflective of differences in the child-rearing attitudes of mothers from divorced and married families. The home environments of the married families with and without working mothers were found to very similar.     

The Impact of a History of Child Sexual Abuse on Maternal Response to Allegations of Sexual Abuse Concerning Her Child

Mothers exhibit a wide range of emotional responses to the discovery that their children may have been sexually abused. The clinical lore suggests that a personal history of child sexual abuse (CSA) may influence maternal reactions to such a discovery. Interestingly, however, while the impact of a history of CSA has been examined in many different populations, the impact of such a history has rarely been studied with respect to nonoffending mothers of CSA victims. The current investigation, therefore, aimed to compare nonoffending mothers with and without a history of CSA with respect to demographic variables, psychosocial functioning, and personal responses to the CSA allegations concerning their children. Nonoffending mothers with a history of CSA exhibited more general symptom distress as measured by the SCL-90-R and reported greater feelings of aloneness in facing the crisis of the CSA allegations. However, maternal history of CSA did not differentiate the groups with respect to demographic variables or maternal responses to the CSA allegations concerning their children. Implications of these findings are discussed.     

Impact of Marital Dissolution on Men's and Women's Incomes: A Longitudinal Study

This study adopted a longitudinal framework in examining economic consequences of marital dissolution for men and women. Data collected in the Survey of Labor and Income Dynamics from 1998 to 2005 were used to compare men's and women's incomes for up to 5 years during and after marital dissolution. Marital dissolution was defined as divorce or separation from a spouse or a common-law partner. Results revealed a dramatic drop in women's income and a slight drop in men's income during the dissolution year. One year later, women's income was 80% that of men's; 4 years past dissolution, it reached 85% that of men's. Gender differences in adjusted incomes were statistically significant for up to 3 years postdissolution. These findings suggest that the level of deterioration in women's economic well-being after marital dissolution has not improved in the last 2 decades.     

The Impact of Housing Instability on Child Maltreatment: A Causal Investigation

More than a half million children are confirmed as victims of maltreatment by the child welfare system each year. Children from unstably housed families are over-represented in child maltreatment reports, and a growing body of evidence links housing problems to maltreatment and Child Protective Services (CPS) investigation. The present study applies two propensity score analysis approaches—greedy matching and propensity score weighting—to data from the Fragile Families and Child Well-being Study to move toward a causal explanation of child maltreatment behaviors among mothers in low-income households. Utilizing two separate methods to correct for overt selection bias, the present study finds that housing instability leads to a small increase in maltreatment behaviors, yet this small positive net impact on child maltreatment does not fully explain the over-representation of unstably housed families in the child welfare system. Families experiencing housing problems likely have a range of needs that require earlier, targeted intervention to mitigate consequences of poverty, domestic violence, and maternal depression. Child welfare services should invest resources in housing assistance programs in-house as well as through partnerships with local public housing authorities to stabilize families, reduce housing-related strain on caregivers, and promote family preservation.     

A Longitudinal Analysis of Parenting Practices,Couple Satisfaction,and Child Behavior Problems

This longitudinal study examined the relationship between couple relationship satisfaction, parenting practices, parent depression, and child problem behaviors. The study participants (n = 148) were part of a larger experimental study that examined the effectiveness of a brief family-centered intervention, the Family Check-Up model. Regression analysis results indicated that our proposed model accounted for 38% of the variance in child problem behavior at Time 2, with child problem behavior and couple relationship satisfaction at child age 2 years each accounting for a significant portion of the variance in child problem behavior at age 3. Couple relationship satisfaction directly predicted child behavior problems over time. Clinical and research implications are discussed.     

The Impact of the National Child Development Study

SUMMARY. For the first 20 years of the National Children's Bureau's life, the massive and many-sided National Child Development Study was the flagship of the Bureau's research. The Study's impact on policy and practice was very considerable and it also earned itself an international reputation scientifically. This article highlights some of the study's major findings in education, health and social policy over the period when the 15,000 or so children involved were still at school     

Women's Scientific Employment and Family Formation: A Longitudinal Perspective

We focus here on the retention of highly qualified women scientists in science‐based employment in England and Wales. Using linked Census records from the Longitudinal Study 1971–1991 we show that women's education and employment rates in science, engineering and technology increased somewhat, although some fields show persistently low representation. We then compare retention in employing women with health‐related degrees with that of women with degrees in science, engineering and technology, showing that the latter group has markedly lower retention rates. Those who stay on in science‐based employment have children later than other types of graduate and their rates of non‐motherhood are higher. Four‐fifths of women in health‐related occupations were mothers, compared to only two‐fifths in science, engineering and technology. Our findings have implications for policymakers who wish to make best use of the knowledge base: attention should be paid to retention, as well as the more usual focus on qualifications and recruitment. The findings also suggest the potential for institutionally based theories to explain why highly qualified women have such low retention rates in science‐based employment.     

Reciprocal Associations Among Maternal and Child Characteristics of At‐Risk Families: A Longitudinal Actor–Partner Interdependence Model

Researchers have found linear associations among maternal and child characteristics. However, family systems theorists suggest that relationships are more complex and family members are interdependent. We used actor–partner interdependence modeling to unravel associations among maternal and child characteristics to predict outcomes in adolescence. We used data from 361 mother–child dyads from the Longitudinal Studies of Child Abuse and Neglect and found both actor and partner effects. Maternal depression and history of victimization were associated with children's later reports of lower mother–adolescent relationship quality. Children's perceptions of relationship quality were also associated with mothers' later depressive symptoms and perceptions of relationship quality. Overall, results highlighted interdependence among mothers and their children over time. We discuss implications for marriage and family therapists.     

Examining the Impact of Changes in Maternal Employment on High School Completion Among Low-Income Youth

The passage of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act and decisions about its re-authorization have resurrected interest in the impact of maternal employment on child outcomes in poor families. The emerging evidence suggests that employment stability among former welfare recipients is a key factor in making successful transitions from welfare to work. This investigation explores how changes in maternal employment in poor families relate to high school completion among at risk youths. Our findings show that a substantial number of mothers experience unstable employment patterns. This instability is positively correlated with dropout among adolescents. The paper concludes with policy implications for the next phase of welfare reform.     

Maternal Work and Child Overweight and Obesity: The Importance of Timing

Previous studies have found that increased work by mothers results in an increased likelihood that children are obese. Building upon this work, this study uses data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth-Child Supplement to investigate whether the timing of maternal work matters to this relationship. Fixed effects models found that maternal work at ages 9–11 and 12–14 was related to an increased rate of overweight during the same periods, while work at ages 6–8 resulted in a decreased rate of obesity in the same period and later at ages 9–11, a novel finding. Subgroup analyses found that effects were confined to families who were relatively low income and to children who grew up with single mothers.     

A Longitudinal Study of the Problems and Concerns of Urban Divorced Men

This study examined thoughts, problems, and con- cerns of urban divorced men at three points in time: during the first month of divorce (Time I), at six months (Time 2), and one year later (Time 3). Finances, social relationships, and loneliness were major areas of concern; problems in practical living were least troublesome. These men thought more about financial malters at Time 1 than aboul any of the other areas which were major concerns a year later. Statistically significant decreases existed between T i e s 1 and 2 concerning loneliness, reaction of friends to the divorce, reaction of relatives to the divorce, and also between Times 1 and 3 for h e latter two concerns. Five problem areas (loneliness, former spouse contacts, interpersonal relationships, control and compe- tence, discussing the dworce) were derived through factor analysis of problem and concern items. Statistically significant decreases between Times 1 and 2 and between Times 1 and 3 were found in loneliness and also in control and competence.     

The Effects of Early Maternal Employment on Later Cognitive and Behavioral Outcomes

This article investigates the long‐term impact of early maternal employment on children's cognitive and behavioral outcomes. Non‐Hispanic White and African American children aged 3 to 4 in the 1986 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth were followed longitudinally to see whether the effects that prior studies found at age 3 to 4 persist into the school‐age years (ages 7 to 8) or whether those effects attenuate over time. The empirical results indicate that maternal employment in the 1st year of a child's life has significant negative effects on White children's cognitive outcomes. These effects persist to ages 7 or 8 for some children but not for others. We also found some negative effects of maternal employment in the 1st year on behavioral problems as assessed at age 7 or 8, but again these effects are found only for White children.     

Paternal Child Care and Relationship Quality: A Longitudinal Analysis of Reciprocal Associations

This study explored reciprocal associations between paternal child‐care involvement and relationship quality by following British couples from the birth of a child until he or she reached school age. It extends the literature by distinguishing between paternal engagement in absolute terms and relative to the mother and by considering relationship quality reports of mothers and fathers and family breakdown. The analysis was based on the British Millennium Cohort Study, a representative survey of children born in 2000 and 2001 and their parents (N = 5,624 couples). The author applied ordinary least squares regression analysis with lagged dependent variables and event history modeling. Fathers' relative child‐care share was positively associated with mothers' relationship satisfaction, whereas fathers' absolute child‐care frequency was positively related to their own perceived relationship quality for most time periods. Fathers' relative and absolute child‐care contributions were positively associated with relationship stability over the preschool years. Greater perceived relationship quality of mothers, but not fathers, was associated with more frequent paternal engagement.     

The Development of Maternal Self‐Efficacy and Its Impact on Maternal Behavior

A developmental model of the origins of maternal self‐efficacy and its impact on maternal sensitivity was tested. Participants were 92 primiparous mothers and their 6‐month‐old infants. Mothers completed questionnaires about remembered care from their own parents and self‐esteem prenatally, satisfaction with support, infant temperament, and maternal self‐efficacy postnatally, and they participated in a laboratory observation with their infants. Maternal self‐efficacy was predicted by remembered maternal care as mediated by global self‐esteem. Infant soothability predicted maternal self‐efficacy independently and in conjunction with distress to novelty and in conjunction with both distress to limits and satisfaction with support. Maternal self‐efficacy interacted with distress to limits to predict maternal sensitivity during emotionally arousing activities. High infant distress was associated with less sensitive maternal behavior when maternal self‐efficacy was moderately low and extremely high, but was positively associated with sensitive maternal behavior when self‐efficacy was moderately high. Implications for future research are discussed.     

The Impact of Wives' Employment on Attitude Toward Divorce

Previous studies indicated a relationship between wives' employment and marital instability. Although there are several notable exceptions, the theoretically predicted positive link between wives' employment and marital instability/divorce remains popular. This paper explores the extent to which wives' employment affects their attitudes toward divorce, once religious and other sociodemographic variables are statistically controlled. The data are taken from the 1983-1984 Canadian Fertility Survey of 5,315 women aged 18 to 49. The overall effect of wives' employment on divorce attitude is substantial, indicating that employed women are more likely to favour marriage as a permanent union. Many popular notions about the influence of demographic and socioeconomic factors such as age, age at marriage, children and occupational prestige on divorce attitude, are not supported by this research. At the same time, religious factors significantly predict divorce attitudes. The results suggest that the less educated, employed, highly religious and heterogeneous are more likely to agree that marriage is a permanent union which should only be broken for very serious reasons.     

Interpreting Child Sexual Abuse: The Impact of Victim Response

There is little empirical knowledge about whether the interpretation process of child sex offenders is offense-supportive in nature and contributes to the offending process. Vignettes were developed to compare child sex offenders’ and nonoffenders’ interpretations of child molestation incidents after ambiguous and nonambiguous victim responses. Results showed that child sex offenders’ (N = 60) interpretations did not differ from nonoffenders’ (N = 40) interpretations. Overall, the more ambiguous the child responses, the more child complicity and child benefit was seen. Our results indicate that offense-supportive interpretations are not unique to child sex offenders. The mechanisms that are responsible for whether or not to commit a sexual offense should be unraveled and treated, to prevent deviant processes to be activated.     

Community Relations and Risk Communication: A Longitudinal Study of the Impact of Emergency Response Messages

This study replicates and extends Heath and Abel's (1996) quasi-longitudinal analysis of the long-term impact of risk communication and emergency response measures. This study confirms and disconfirms some of the 1996 Heath and Abel conclusions. We found that because concern remains high that risk events are likely to occur and harm community safety, citizens are willing to become knowledgeable of emergency response measures. Such knowledge gives citizens a greater sense of control, which may translate into trust for industry and city emergency response experts. Support for the industry is increased by effective improvements in its operations. Long-term, community-relations programs may empower citizens with knowledge of what to do in the event an emergency occurs.