The impact of parent and child media use on early parent–infant attachment

With the rise in affordability of digital media and mobile devices, children under age 2 on average spend significantly more time with digital media than is recommended. Although concerns have been expressed about how parent and child media use might negatively impact parent–child attachment, there continues to be a scarcity of research on the topic. The current study assessed both the amount and the way in which children (11–26 months) and their parents engage with digital media and the impact on early attachment after controlling for temperament, parent income, parent age, marital status, and access to support. The study utilizes data from a diverse sample: 248 parents of infants completed an attachment q-sort and surveys assessing the amount of media use, parental absorption in media, types of parental mediation, temperament, and demographics. Results showed that for both parent and child, time using digital media and co-viewing was not predictive of attachment insecurity. Parental absorption in media was found to significantly predict attachment insecurity. Greater child TV media use was associated with poorer attachment security when there was limited to no parental active mediation. Active mediation served as a protective factor for attachment while parental absorption in media serves as a risk factor for attachment.     

Timing of Parental Separation and Attachment to Parents in Adolescence: Results of a Prospective Study from Birth to Age 16

Using prospective longitudinal data from the Christchurch Health and Development Study (CHDS), this paper examines the effects of parental separation on the quality of adolescents' attachment to parents and their perceptions of parental care and overprotection during childhood. Exposure to parental separation was significantly associated with lower attachment to parents in adolescence and more negative perceptions of maternal and paternal care and protection during childhood. When examined in relation to the developmental timing of first separation, a linear relationship between the age at first separation and later parental attachment and perceived parent–child relations was found. The younger the age of the child at the time of separation, the lower their subsequent parental attachment and the more likely they were to perceive both their mother and father as less caring and more overprotective. No gender differences were found in children's responses to parental separation. These findings persisted after control for the confounding effects of family social background, marital conflict, parenting, child behavior, and remarriage. Results supported the importance of the early childhood years for the development of a secure and enduring attachment relationship between children and their parents.     

The abused and neglected foster child: Determinants of emotional conflict and oppositional behavior

Behavioral and emotional problems have been observed in emotionally vulnerable children in foster care under certain circumstances. A common pattern involves the unpredictable appearance of a previously absent or unavailable natural parent. Such an occurrence precipitates the reawakening of the child's ambivalent feelings toward both natural and foster parents as well as their fears of abandonment. This frequently leads to behavior that is oppositional and difficult to manage. If the foster parents find the child's behavior unmanageable, and if they are not provided with appropriate professional support during this difficult period, a crisis often follows that precipitates the child's removal from the foster home. Individual, familial, and systemic contributions to this dilemma are discussed. This article emphasizes the origins and nature of the intrapsychic dilemma faced by these children. Particular emphasis is placed on the manifestations of a conflict of loyalty, in the child, and its relationship to the oppositional behavior of these children in foster care. Additional considerations include the impact of inconsistent parenting, abuse and neglect by the natural parents, the assumption of a parental role by the child and a concomitant renunciation of the child's dependency needs, as well as an examination of the role of the foster parent's fantasy of what it will be like to parent a traumatized child.     

Effects of Parental Divorce on God Image Among Young Adults at a Christian University

We used path analysis to investigate the impact of parental divorce on God image, mediated by father–child and mother–child attachments, among 178 college students at a Christian university. Findings revealed that parental divorce negatively impacts father–child attachment; however, father–child attachment does not impact God image. Instead, the quality of mother–child attachment, which does not seem to be influenced by parental divorce, best predicts the development of a healthy God image. Thus, preliminary findings elucidated that parental divorce undermines the quality of attachment between father and child but not mother and child, and mother–child attachment ultimately influences God image. Further research is needed to replicate and generalize these preliminary findings.     

Mastery or Misery: Conflict Between Separated Parents a Psychological Burden for Children

This qualitative research examined parenting, parental conflict, and parent–child relationships following separation in the context of Australian government reform in 2006 and subsequent changes to the Family Law Act (1975). Participants were English-speaking men and women, age 16 to 27 years. The research was guided by attachment theory and social conflict theory, and embedded in grounded theory. The Cooperative Competitive Parental Conflict model emerged from the data. Two factors moderated the parent–child relationship: emotional security and responsive parenting. The research found it was not parental conflict, but how parental conflict was handled, that created the psychological burden for a child.     

A Model of Parental Demand for Child Labor with High Fertility Norms

This paper sets out a model to examine how social norms regarding fertility influence parental choice between child labor and child's education. The parent is modeled as a social animal who derives utility from conformity with behavior of other members of the society. In deciding on the number of children, parents internalize the gain of utility from conformity to the norm for fertility. The model investigates the influence of the social element of conformity on the education decision for children and the prevalence of child labor. Social utility from conformity with exogenous social norms of high fertility increases the prevalence of child labor. This social norm can decrease the effectiveness of public policy aimed at encouraging education in place of child labor.     

Does the Quality of Parent–Child Relationships Mediate the Increased Risk for Antisocial Behavior and Substance Use Among Adolescents in Single-Mother and Single-Father Families?

This study focuses on how specific parent–child relationship variables may function as mediators of the association between two postdivorce family structures and antisocial behavior and substance use. Five parent–child relationship variables (mother/father–child conflict, parental monitoring, and mother/father–child closeness) were tested as potential mediators of the relationship between living in a single-mother or single-father household and the outcome variables in a sample of 4,117 students with modal ages of 11 to 15 years. The applied multimediating path approach proved to be a useful method for identification of the relative importance of the included mediators. As hypothesized, there was a clear tendency for mother–child conflict and parental monitoring to be the most potent mediators between residing in a divorced single-mother household and the adolescents' antisocial behavior and substance use. In the single-father household, on the other hand, only parental monitoring was a clear mediator.     

Behind the cycle of violence, beyond abuse history: a brief report on the association of parental attachment to physical child abuse potential

Although the concept of a cycle of violence presumes that the transmission of violence is expressed directly across generations, the role of the overall quality of the parent-child relationship may ultimately be more influential in later parenting behavior. This study investigated whether mothers' poorer attachment to their parents was associated with their current increased child abuse potential and dysfunctional disciplinary style independent of a personal history of child abuse. A sample of 73 at-risk mothers raising children with behavior problems reported on their parental attachment, abuse potential, dysfunctional parenting style, and personal abuse history. An at-risk sample, rather than a sample of identified abuse victims or perpetrators, was studied to better examine the potential continuity or discontinuity from history of abuse to current abuse risk, allowing consideration of those who may break the cycle versus those who potentially initiate abuse in the absence of a personal history. Findings indicate that poor attachment significantly predicted both dysfunctional parenting practices and elevated child abuse potential, controlling for personal child abuse history. Such results highlight the importance of the overall quality of the relationship between the parent and child in potentially shaping future abuse risk. Findings are discussed in terms of continuity or discontinuity in the cycle of violence and future directions for research on attachment in relation to the development of later child abuse risk.     

Opioid Use Disorder,Attachment, and Parenting: Key Concerns for Practitioners

In the United States, the current epidemic of opioid use disorders impacts many parents and their children. Historically, interventions for parents with substance use disorders have focused on two separate areas, achieving and maintaining abstinence and learning parenting skills. These interventions do not address the parent/child relationship, and the impact of parental opioid use disorder on attachment. Insecure attachment, particularly disorganized attachment, negatively affects the child’s development and safety. Attachment should always be considered when doing a safety assessment or planning an intervention for parents with opioid use disorders. This conceptual paper describes the impact of parental opioid use on attachment across the developmental span of childhood, highlighting research about opioid use disorder, parenting, and attachment which is relevant for practitioners working with parents with opioid use disorders, as child protection workers, substance abuse counselors, or therapists. Identification, attachment assessment tools, and empirical research on attachment-based interventions are discussed.     

Spatial and Temporal Arrangements,Parental Authority,and Young Adults' Postdivorce Experiences

This research examines how the structure of children's time and space impacts parent–child relationship dynamics postdivorce. Our central research question is whether parent–child relationship quality and degree of perceived parental authority are associated with the amount of time spent with a parent and the type and amount of personalized space a child has at parents' homes after a divorce. We analyze the reports of 22 adolescents surveyed and interviewed in the northwestern United States in 2007. Most notably, the quality of personalized space for children, regardless of the amount of private space available, was significantly and positively related to parent–child relationship quality. Amount of time spent with a parent was also significantly and positively associated with parent–child relationship quality. Level of parental authority was partially positively associated with both quality of personalized space and amount of time spent with a parent. Our results confirm that these factors do indeed play a significant role in children's lives postdivorce and deserve more attention by families undergoing divorce and by researchers investigating the divorce experience for children and adolescents.     

Refocusing on the Parent: What are the social issues of concern for parents of disabled children?

A questionnaire was constructed to analyse the efficacy of service provision for disabled children from the parents' perspective, as well as the needs and issues pertinent to parents (Middleton, 1998, 1992). The familial and personal data identified deep parental concerns and fears regarding professional attitudes and dominance, neglect of parental knowledge, lack of counselling and therapy, coping in the future, support, and the child's aesthetics and body (Brown, 1998). Results indicate that professionals continue to control the parent-professional relationship, assuming the role of 'expert', rather than integrating and consulting parents in a negotiate decision-making process. Parental needs and issues are prescribed by professionals (Oliver & Barnes, 1998), thus marginalising and disempowering the parent (Appleton & Minchom 1991), and reducing opportunity for parental involvement and participation in an equitable 'partnership' relationship with professionals (Dale, 1996).     

Child Characteristics,Parenting Stress,and Parental Involvement: Fathers Versus Mothers

This study examined variations in the relationships among child characteristics, parenting stress, and parental involvement. Participants were 100 two‐parent families with preschool‐aged children. Self‐report and interview data were collected to measure parental involvement, as well as perceptions of child temperament and parental stress. Analyses revealed significant, yet somewhat different, associations between child temperament and parental stress for mothers and fathers. More significant associations were found between perceptions of child temperament and involvement for fathers than for mothers. The associations between child temperament and parental stress and involvement differed on the basis of child and parent gender. Results are discussed in terms of future research on father involvement, as well as programs designed to encourage fathers to assume more active parental roles.     

Parenting a child with Autism Spectrum disorder: parental work context

This research contributes to the literature on work-related factors for parents raising a child with a disability. Specifically, we used questionnaire methodology to compare two parent families raising a child with Autism Spectrum (AS) with similar families raising ‘typical’ children. Our findings suggested that parents raising a child with AS self-report higher parenting stress and more mental health symptomatology, as well as lower overall job satisfaction, less satisfaction with supervisors and less workplace contentment. In addition, our findings suggested that parents raising a child with a disability self-report similarly to parents raising ‘typical’ children with respect to work interest, commitment and quality, as well as time missed. In conclusion, our results appear to suggested that despite increased parental stress related to parenting a child with AS, with respect to several work-related factors, there are more similarities than differences among these parenting groups.     

Family interactions in public: Parent-child distance and touching

In an effort to extend the study of parent-child interaction to naturalistic settings, 207 families were observed in parks by observers who used scaled maps to record parent-child distances and touching behavior. Generally, parent-child distance increased and touching decreased as child age increased. The interactional behaviors of boys and girls and mothers and fathers were far more similar than different. Finally, the family context in which parent-child dyads interacted had second-order effects on their behavior. The presence of other children in the family reduced closeness between parent and child, whereas the presence of a second parent altered the behavior of individual parents without diminishing a child's experience of parental closeness. These findings support the value of studying parent-child interaction within its family context using a naturalistic approach.Preliminary data from this study were presented at the annual meeting of the Midwestern Psychological Association, Chicago, May, 1984. The authors appreciate the support of the Eastern Kentucky University Faculty Research Fund; the contributions to data collection of Ann Adams, Nina Begley, Laura Epperson McGrail, and Rodney Swain.     

Time with sons and daughters

We present a model of parental investment in child quality in which the effectiveness??objectively or as perceived by the parents??of parental childcare depends on the sex of the child. In particular, the time of the same-sex parent is more productive than that of the opposite-sex parent. When parents have equal wages, efficiency considerations dictate that a parent spends more time with a same-sex child than with an opposite-sex child, but parents allocate the same total time to boys and girls, and costs of raising a boy are the same as raising a girl. When wage rates differ, and the mother is the lower-waged parent, it is cheaper to produce child quality of girls than of boys. We show that many of the empirical results in terms of a different time allocation pattern, total amount of time invested in a child, expenditures on child consumption goods, and family size and composition can be explained by this technological difference and the gender wage gap, without relying on parental preferences for girls versus boys. Our analysis is largely diagrammatic.     

A Description of Attachment in Adoptive Parents and Adoptees in Romania During Early Adolescence

This study is an assessment of different components of attachment for a sample of Romanian adoptees and their parents, both who participated in the project (n = 63). Results suggest that various aspects of the parent–child relationship in early adolescence is quite positive from both the adoptee and adoptive parent perspective. However, almost half (46 %) of the adoptees were assessed as having insecure attachment. There are differences between all components of parental attachment and adoptee attachment security. Also, insecure attachment is more likely to occur with less optimal parenting style. Implications for social work practice and research are discussed.     

Mother–Adolescent and Father–Adolescent Relationships After Divorce: Relations with Emerging Adults’ Romantic Attachment

This longitudinal study examined relations between mother–child relationship quality and father support in adolescence (ages 15–19) and emerging adults’ (ages 24–28) romantic anxiety and avoidance in a sample that experienced parental divorce in childhood (n = 72). A significant interactive effect of mother–adolescent relationship quality and father support on romantic anxiety occurred. High levels of father support protected emerging adults from the negative effects of a low quality mother–adolescent relationship. These results highlight the importance of examining effects of one parental relationship in the context of the other and the role that nonresidential fathers play in influencing their offspring’s romantic attachment.     

Postdivorce Coparenting and Children’s Well-Being in Hong Kong

This article reports a survey study on postdivorce coparenting and its relationships with children’s well-being in Hong Kong. Based on data from 142 resident parents and 84 children, the results revealed that interparental conflict and triangulation of children within parental conflict adversely affected children’s well-being, whereas interparental support fostered children’s well-being. Parental communication and interparental support coexisted simultaneously with parent conflicts. These conflicting effects make postdivorce coparenting a mixed blessing for children. Fortunately, residential parent–child intimacy and quality parenting by both parents protected children’s well-being from the effects of negative relational dynamics. Promoting postdivorce coparenting should always accompany effective interventions in conflict resolution, the renegotiation of growth-enhancing boundaries among family members, the support of parental functioning and individual recovery of both parents, and the facilitation of noncompetitive parental involvement of nonresident parents.     

Attachment Quality and Post-treatment Functioning Following Sexual Trauma in Young Adolescents: A Case Series Presentation

Children and adolescents who suffer sexual abuse evidence symptoms that may persist into adulthood. Attachment theory may lend some insight into the psychological sequelae following sexual trauma. A clinical case series presents four sexually abused young adolescents from the first author's clinical caseload. Each case is rated regarding the quality of attachment, the severity of trauma, and the child's functioning at the time of follow-up. Ratings are made by the first author and qualified by a second clinician who is familiar with each case. Findings suggest that those youngsters who had the benefit of a strong and secure attachment evidence more positive outcome at follow-up.     

Work Characteristics and Parent‐Child Relationship Quality: The Mediating Role of Temporal Involvement

This study investigated whether the amount and nature of parent‐child time mediated the association between parental work characteristics and parent‐child relationship quality. We based hypotheses on the conflict and enrichment approaches, and we tested a path model using self‐collected data on 1,008 Dutch fathers and 929 Dutch mothers with school‐aged children. Longer working hours and less work engagement were associated with less parent‐child time and longer working hours, more restrictive organizational norms, stress, flexibility, nonstandard hours (mothers only), and work engagement increased the disturbance of parent‐child activities. Less and more disturbed parent‐child activities were, in turn, associated with a lower parent‐child relationship quality. In addition, work engagement and working hours had direct, beneficial effects on parent‐child relationship quality.