Perceived Parent-Child Alienation

Abstract

Parental alienation refers to a parent's attempts to distance a child from the child's other parent. We examined (1) the effects of “feeling alienation” upon college students' recollections of their childhood relationships, (2) the effects of “feeling alienation” on perceptions of adult parent-child relationships, and (3) the likelihood of alienation in intact and divorced families. A sample of undergraduates (N = 227) completed the Relationship Distancing Questionnaire and numerous other relationship questionnaires. Results suggested feeling alienation is inversely related to the quality of parent-child relationships during childhood and young adulthood and can be found in intact as well as divorced families. Findings also indicate parental conflict is a better predictor of whether alienation occurs than parents' marital status is.     

Parental monitoring,the parent-child relationship and children's academic engagement in mother-headed single-parent families

This longitudinal study of 110 mother-headed single-parent families examined the influence of parental monitoring, parent-child attachment and observed parent-child relationship quality on the child's academic engagement. Special interest resided in how parent-child relationship quality moderated the relationship between parental monitoring and academic engagement. Analyses indicated that observed relationship quality and parental monitoring predicted children's academic engagement. However, this relationship was not uniform. Parental influences on academic engagement are most prominent in mother-headed families with a female child. Family income also matters. These preliminary findings have import for school-family research, policy, and practice.     

The Consequences of Parental Underestimation and Overestimation of Youth Exposure to Violence

This study investigated differences in parent and child estimates of the child's exposure to violence. Using data (N = 1,517) from the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods, analyses related differences between parent and child reports of the child's exposure to violence to the child's psychosocial functioning. Most parents (66%) underestimated their children's exposure to violence. Further, parental underestimation was associated with the child's internalizing and externalizing problems and delinquent behaviors but parental overestimation was not. Family support partially mediated these associations. Parental underestimation of the child's exposure to violence, therefore, reflected lower levels of family support, which in turn led to more internalizing and externalizing problems and delinquency for the child.     

South Korean adolescents' delinquency,disclosure, parental knowledge,parent–child closeness,and delinquent peer associations

The present study sought to examine longitudinal associations among delinquency, children's disclosure to parents, parent-child relationship quality, and parental knowledge in a South Korean sample. Longitudinal research shows that in Western samples, delinquency is negatively associated with the latter three variables. We also sought to test whether the associations varied across gender. We found little evidence of significant reciprocal relationships among the variables and no differences in associations across gender. A second analysis revealed that adolescents’ involvement with delinquent peers was a good predictor of subsequent delinquency for males and females. Implications of the findings for future research and practice are discussed.     

Effects of Post-Divorce Relationships on Child Adjustment

This study examined how parent-child and interparent relationships affect child adjustment after at least two years of parental separation. Fifteen mother-custodial divorced families and 15 intact families with children from 9-12 years of age completed child adjustment and family relationship assessments. Each child's teacher completed an assessment of school adjustment. No significant difference was found between divorced and intact family groups on the quality of parent-child relationships or child adjustment, even when there is a conflictual interparent relationship.     

Parental Authority in Divorced Families

This work examines the possible differences between divorced mothers and mothers of intact families in their inclinations to exert parental authority, and the possible relationship between the degree of parental authority and children's personal and social adjustment. For the purposes of the study, we developed the Haifa Parental Authority Questionnaire, which is a situation-depicted test based on a conceptual analysis of the construct of authority. The participants were 88 mother–child dyads, 56 from single (divorced) families and 32 from two-parent families. The results show that married mothers are more disposed than are divorced mothers to use their authority. Although adding family status and parental authority scores to the regression analysis yielded insignificant models for the two children's adjustment variables, the interaction between the variables was found to be significant. In the divorced family the more authoritarian the mother is, the worse is the child's personal adjustment, whereas in the intact family the more authoritarian the mother is, the better is the child's social adjustment. The results are discussed in the wider context of the mother–child relationship, the breakdown of the family's hierarchical structure following divorce, and the relationship of these factors with the exertion of parental authority.     

ADOLESCENTS AS A SOURCE OF SOCIAL CONTROL: THE UTILITY OF ADOLESCENT SOCIAL CAPITAL FOR REDUCING VIOLENT DELINQUENCY

Parental social capital has emerged as an important social control component of adolescent delinquency. However, for severe forms of delinquency, such as violence, adolescent social capital is as likely a source of social control as adult social capital. This study uses the first two waves of the Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health to show that parental social capital has little effect on violence once parental and family characteristics are controlled. However, both neighborhood and school adolescent social capital reduce adolescents' violent behavior in spite of strong controls of peer fighting, prior violent offending, and neighborhood-level variables.     

Talking or Keeping Silent About Parental Mental Health Problems—A Grounded Theory of Parents' Decision Making and Experiences with Their Children

This grounded theory study explored parents' experiences of responding to their children's need for understanding parental mental health concerns. Fifteen parents with severe and enduring mental health difficulties participated in the study. The findings suggest four main social processes that influence parents' talk with their children about parental mental health issues, namely “Protecting and being protected,” “Responding to children's search for understanding,” “Prioritizing family life,” and “Relating to others.” Implications of the findings for clinical practice and future research are considered. In particular, the need for more family‐orientated services where parents experience parental mental health problems is highlighted.     

The effects of gender,age, and parental attachment on delinquency: A test for interactions

A recent interest in juvenile delinquency is the effect of parental attachment on delinquency for males and females. This study contributes to this research by demonstrating that the effect of gender on the relationship between parental attachment and delinquency depends on age. The inverse effect of virtual supervision on delinquency is significantly greater for males at age 15 than at age 11, and significantly greater for males than for females at age 15. The inverse effect of intimacy of communication on delinquency is significantly greater for males at age 11 than at age 18, and significantly greater for females than for males at age 18. The implications of these results for Hirschi's theory and future research comparing male and female delinquency are discussed.     

Dimensions of child neglect: an exploration of parental neglect and its relationship with delinquency

While neglect is generally associated with poor developmental outcomes, it remains poorly defined. Factor analysis was applied to 39 parental behavior variables on data from the Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development (CSDD) to explore underlying dimensions of parental behavior that were consistent with the concept of neglect. Logistic regression assessed associations between the dimensions of neglect recovered from the CSDD and future adult delinquency. Factor analysis revealed four dimensions; logistic regression revealed significant associations between two of these dimensions--poor supervision and a disorganized, chaotic home environment--and future adult delinquency. Neglect is a viable construct that can summarize aspects of parental behavior and predict future adult delinquency.     

Infant-Mother Attachment in Separated and Married Families

Abstract

Two contrasting predictions about the effects of parental marital separation on infants' attachment to their mothers are considered. The “early adversity” hypothesis suggests that infants will be adversely affected by negative life events and thus will develop anxious attachments to their mothers. The “protective” hypothesis claims that infants are resistant to stressors because of their limited cognitive ability, and therefore will be no more likely to develop anxious attachments than other infants. Results from 76 mother-child pairs in the “strange situation” procedure (assessing infantmother attachment) supported the “protective” hypothesis in that there were no significant differences between infants in two marital status groups. The role of marital status versus unfavorable life events in affecting children's development was discussed.     

The Effects of Parent‐Adolescent Relationships and Parental Separation on Adolescent Well‐Being

This article uses data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) to investigate the short‐term effects of parental separation on adolescent delinquency and depression. Findings indicate that parent‐adolescent relationships prior to marital dissolution moderate the effects of parental separation on adolescent delinquency. The higher adolescents' satisfaction with their relationship with the same‐sex parent prior to residential separation the greater their increases in delinquent behavior when they are separated from this parent at Wave 2. These results highlight the importance of interpersonal relationships within the family prior to parental separation. Opposite‐sex parents constitute a significant influence on adolescents' depression regardless of family structure. These findings suggest that research on parental influences on children's well‐being needs to pay more attention to gender‐specific effects.     

The Child in the Family of a Drug-Using Father: Attachment Styles and Family Characteristics

SUMMARY

The study examined the impact of family characteristics and parental attachment styles on the children of drug-using (DU) fathers in fifty-six families (n = 168) in Israel. Of the DU fathers, 60.7% were characterized by avoidant attachment style. Among the non-DU mothers, 53.6% were characterized by secure attachment style, 42.9% by avoidant style, and 3.6% by anxious/ambivalent style. Surprisingly, family cohesion and adaptability scores were similar to the Israeli norm, perhaps because the DUs had completed detoxification treatment and participated in rehabilitation programs. Of the children, 61.8% were characterized by secure attachment style, 21.8% by avoidant style, and 16.4% by anxious/ambivalent style. Stepwise regression to predict children's attachment styles revealed that maternal security of attachment and paternal anxious/ambivalent style predict similar attachment styles among the children. The important combined effects of spousal attachment styles on the children are discussed.     

Parent-Child Synchrony and Adolescent Adjustment

This study of 984 children and their parents examined the correlates of adolescent psychosocial adjustment. Based on previous research, it was expected that parental involvement and limit-setting would predict conduct disorder scores and that variables associated with the parent-child relationship, particularly parent-child synchrony, would be more closely related to emotional adjustment and social relationship measures. Contrary to expectations, parenting practices were unrelated to adolescent conduct disorder, but family harmony and adult-child synchrony predicted all measures of adolescent adjustment. It is concluded that positive parenting is not something adults do to children, but a quality of the parent-child relationship characterized by family harmony and parental empathy. Implications for social work practice with adolescents and their families are identified.     

Voices in the Adjudication of Compulsory Adoption in Israel: The Hegemonic Voice of the Professional Expert and the Unheard Voice of the Biological Parents

Ambiguity in the definitions of “parental incapability” and “child's best interests” in the Israeli law of adoption allows for different “voices” to determine their meaning. With regard to compulsory adoption, findings from texts of the judicial discourse in Israel portray the voice of the professional expert as hegemonic and that of the biological parents as unheard, revealing the nature of the practices that lead to the deligitimization of the parents’ voice. To bring about a balanced representation of the different voices, the article proposes a moralization of the legal procedure of adoption that stresses its rehabilitative rather than condemnatory character.     

Adolescent sexual behavior—family characteristics,parental involvement,and associated mental disorders

Abstract

Manifold factors connect with adolescent sexual behavior, but studies on their reciprocal associations are scarce. This study seeks to find the ways in which parental involvement, family characteristics, depression, and delinquency are connected to adolescent early/risky sexual behavior, and to what extent they modify each other. A population-based self-report survey of nearly 187,000 adolescents (50.4% girls) was used. The most important of the family variables was living in a two-parent family, which showed the clearest inverse association with early/risky sexual behavior throughout adolescence. Depression and delinquency persisted associated with sexual behavior in the presence of the family variables.     

Therapeutic Needs of Children in Family System Reorganization

The framework described in this paper implies that the major focus of therapeutic intervention for children of separation/divorce should be on the reorganized family system, the continuing parental subsystem, and the reactions and adjustments of the child to the marital breakup and family reorganization, particularly as these changes affect the child's longterm development toward maturity. Attention should be given to predictable factors in the disruption and reorganization process, such as loss and parental discord, and the child's reaction to them.     

The longitudinal effects of influence of parental attachment and emotion regulation on Internet delinquency in early adolescence

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to identify the longitudinal influence of parental attachment and emotion regulation on changes in Internet delinquency. This study used the Korean Youth Panel Survey (KYPS) data, in which 2,844 school-age children were annually assessed from Grade 4 in 2004 to Grade 8 in 2008 in South Korea. Latent growth models were used to examine developmental trajectories of Internet delinquency, parental attachment, and emotion regulation longitudinally. This study showed that adolescents experience an increase in Internet delinquency over the fourth year and a decline in the fifth year. The initial level of parental monitoring had significant effects on the initial level of emotion regulation. In addition, the initial level of parental attachment was associated with a slower rate of acceleration of Internet delinquency across time. The study findings indicate that parental attachment influences Internet delinquency among Korean adolescents. The practice implications of the findings are discussed in terms of Internet delinquency reduction efforts.     

The Role of Heritage Camps in Identity Development Among Korean Transnational Adoptees: A Relational Dialectics Approach

This study contributes to the literature on transracial adoptions in two important ways: (1) it compares how parents and transnational adoptees negotiate racial and family identities through the use of heritage camps and (2) it informs that comparison with insights garnered from the theory of relational dialectics. The results, which are based on interviews with Korean-born children and Caucasian-American parents (matched parent-child pairs), suggest that parents utilized camps to both downplay their children's racial differences and give credence to their children's “unique” lives. Adoptees, in contrast, were not concerned with downplaying race; instead, they reported that although camps were fun, they did not impact their sense of identity significantly because they did not do enough to address the racial challenges they faced. These results suggest a potential disjuncture between parental purposes for utilizing heritage camps and the actual experiences of adoptees while at these camps. Moreover, they suggest that additional empirical attention should be paid to adoption policies and practices that explicitly address the racial and ethnic needs of transnational adoptees.     

Consequences of Teen Parents' Child‐Care Arrangements for Mothers and Children

Using the nationally representative Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Birth Cohort (2001–2006; N ?7,900), the authors examined child‐care arrangements among teen parents from birth through prekindergarten. Four latent classes of child care arrangements at 9, 24, and 52 months emerged: (a) “parental care,” (b) “center care,” (c) “paid home‐based care,” and (d) “free kin‐based care.” Disadvantaged teen‐parent families were overrepresented in the “parental care” class, which was negatively associated with children's preschool reading, math, and behavior scores and mothers' socioeconomic and fertility outcomes compared with some nonparental care classes. Nonparental care did not predict any negative maternal or child outcomes, and different care arrangements had different benefits for mothers and children. Time spent in nonparental care and improved maternal outcomes contributed to children's increased scores across domains. Child‐care classes predicted maternal outcomes similarly in teen‐parent and nonteen‐parent families, but the “parental care” class predicted some disproportionately negative child outcomes for teen‐parent families.