Negative (But Not Positive) Parenting Interacts with Infant Negative Affect to Predict Infant Approach: Evidence of Diathesis‐Stress

Temperament by parenting interactions may reflect that individuals with greater risk are more likely to experience negative outcomes in adverse contexts (diathesis‐stress) or that these individuals are more susceptible to contextual influences in a “for better or for worse” pattern (differential susceptibility). Although such interactions have been identified for a variety of child outcomes, prior research has not examined approach characteristics—excitement and approach toward pleasurable activities—in the first year of life. Therefore, this study investigated whether 6‐month maternal reported infant negative affect—a phenotypic marker of risk/susceptibility—interacted with 8‐month observed parenting behaviors (positive parenting, negative parenting) to predict 12‐month infant behavioral approach. Based on a sample of mothers and their infants (N = 150), results indicated that negative parenting was inversely associated with subsequent approach for infants with high, but not low, levels of negative affect. Similar results did not occur regarding positive parenting. These findings better fit a diathesis‐stress model rather than a differential susceptibility model. Implications and limitations of these findings are discussed.     

Parenting in the Context of Deportation Risk

Nearly 5.1 million children younger than age 18 live with at least one undocumented parent, about 7% of the U.S. child population. Between 2010 and 2013, an estimated 300,000 parents of U.S. citizen children were deported. Raising children in the context of deportation risk increases overall parenting stress for undocumented Latino parents. To investigate this and understand the experience of undocumented parenting, the authors interviewed 70 undocumented parents in two Southwest cities from 2012 to 2013. The authors frame their analysis using the lens of the problem of “illegality.” There are three domains of stressors associated with parenting in the context of deportation risk: trapped parenting, threat of family separation, and altered family processes. The authors discuss these findings in the context of the literature on undocumented families and parenting stress and connect these findings to the current sociopolitical context experienced by Latino families in the United States .     

Early childhood education and care use: Differences by race/ethnicity and age

This article describes factors that predict the use of early childhood education and care among Latino families, as compared to non-Latino black and non-Latino white families in the United States in two age groups (0–2 and 3–5 years old). Using National Household Education Survey data, this study presents a framework and examines the association of numerous child and family characteristics with the number of hours children spend in care, the number of care arrangements, and the type of care used. Multinomial logit results show that once preexisting differences between Latino and black families and between Latino and white families are equalized, differences in the type of care are often eliminated. Findings suggest that the observed enrollment patterns of Latino children are due in part to their over-representation in families that are poorer, have lower levels of maternal education, and have lower levels of maternal employment.     

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.     

The impact of parenting education on parent and child behaviors: Moderators by income and ethnicity

Parenting education has emerged as a promising resource for supporting parents, but the relative impact of parenting education among families facing higher versus lower risk remains unclear. The present study explored the effects of participating in an evidence-based parenting education series and examined whether those effects were moderated by families' socio-demographic contexts (income level and ethnicity status). Results indicated that parenting education series serving predominantly lower-income parents resulted in greater improvements in parents' parenting skills and their children's behaviors compared to series serving higher-income parents. Attending a parenting series with a higher proportion of Latino parents also significantly predicted greater improvements in child behaviors, but not parent skills. These findings provide preliminary evidence that parenting education may be most effective when it targets underserved populations. The findings further highlight the importance of continuing to explore the influence of parenting education adapted for low-income and Latino families to inform the design of evidence-based programs.     

Factors affecting post-permanency adjustment for children in adoption or guardianship placements: An ecological systems analysis

Despite a growing body of research on post-permanency adjustment for children adopted from public child welfare agencies, many studies lack a systematic review using a theoretical framework. To develop promising post-permanency services for adopted children with special needs and their families, the first step is to examine risk and protective factors affecting adoption or guardianship adjustment. This study systematically reviews and synthesizes current empirical studies investigating post-permanency outcomes using an ecological systems analysis, with an integration of family theories. A search of five electronic databases and relevant child welfare books identified 36 empirical studies on post-permanency adjustment. Risk factors include some individual factors such as caring for a child with special needs, raising children with a multiple placement or maltreatment history and involving parents with no parenting experience. Living in a family experiencing boundary ambiguity and lacking social support are also risk factors. Protective factors include having adoption preparation and having a child living with married parents, as well as a high level of adoption openness and the availability of formal and informal social support. Implications for child welfare practice and policy also are discussed.     

Maternal Cohabitation and Child Well‐Being Among Kindergarten Children

Using data collected from 10,511 kindergarten children and their parents from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study—Kindergarten Cohort, this study examines child well‐being across cohabiting 2‐biological‐parent families; cohabiting stepfamilies; married stepfamilies; and married 2‐biological‐parent families. Findings indicate no differences in child well‐being for children living in cohabiting stepfamilies and cohabiting 2‐biological‐parent families. Multivariate models controlling for child characteristics, economic resources, maternal depressive symptoms, stability, and parenting practices show no significant differences across family types in child well‐being indicators, with the exception of reading skills. Important factors in explaining the link between cohabitation and child well‐being include economic resources, maternal depressive symptoms, and parenting practices.     

Latino families and the public child welfare system: Examining the role of social support networks

The number of Latino families involved with the public child welfare system has increased exponentially in the last decade. This qualitative study examined one of this population's inherent resources – their social network – and the role it plays when involved with the public child welfare system. Findings reveal that Latino families rely heavily on their network for emotional support, advice/information, and advocacy. Often parents received incorrect or conflicting information or advice grounded on experiences that were very different from the participant's case. In addition, their networks are homophilous; that is, limited to people who are in their same circumstances which limits their ability to access formal sources of advocacy and support. Many parents were also genuinely interested in helping other parents with open cases. Practice recommendations are made as it relates to actively engaging Latino families in their case process and supporting Latino families by incorporating their networks and genuine interest in helping others into child welfare service delivery.     

Framework for culturally competent decisionmaking in child welfare

This article provides a framework to understand the cultural, social, political, and economic factors that affect decisionmaking when working with ethnically and racially diverse families in the child welfare system. The article describes external factors affecting the decisionmaking process, including community environment, agency structure, and family characteristics. It then reviews the core stages of the casework process, describing key decisions during intake, assessment, service planning, implementation, evaluation, and closure. Although the framework is based on casework process in the child welfare system, it can be adapted to other child-serving systems, including education, mental health, and juvenile justice.     

The Effect of Childbearing Age on Child Support Awards and Economic Well Being Among Divorcing Mothers

Most teenage mothers eventually marry but are at greater risk for subsequent marital disruption than those who delayed childbearing, and those who began parenting early are likely to experience greater economic insecurity as divorced/separated couples, we compare the economic status of ever-teen mothers and never-teen mothers at the time of divorce. We also examine the potential of an effective child support system to improve economic well being among families initially created by a birth to a teenager. The findings indicate that ever-teen mothers who experience a divorce have lower overall economic well being than their counterparts who delayed childbearing, and the former husbands of these women have less ability to pay child support than the husbands of never-teen mothers.     

Are At-Risk Parents Getting What They Need? Perspectives of Parents Involved with Child Protective Services

This qualitative study explores the perspective of 24 parents who were at risk for having their children placed in foster care but ultimately retained custody of their children. We asked participants to reflect on their parenting needs prior to Child and Protective Services involvement and if and/or how they implemented parent education skills post-intervention. Parents most frequently cited stressors such as financial strain and single parenthood as contributing factors associated with their involvement with the child welfare system. Many parents stated that they wanted help with their parenting practices and provided their thoughts about time-out and physical punishment. Implications include assessing parental stress at the onset of services, seeking to understand the unique needs of families, evaluating the impact of length of time services are offered, and helping parents utilize age-appropriate discipline strategies.     

Healthy children in families affected by AIDS: Epidemiological and psychosocial considerations

Traditional means of conceptualizing the psychosocial impact of AIDS have emphasized infected individuals out of their natural context AIDS occurs not simply within hospitals but within families. A secondary morbidity occurs within a family system when one of its members is infected. Clinical experience suggests that non-infected children within families with AIDS are at significant risk for poor developmental outcomes as a consequence of the skewing of familial resources. Children living in families who have a member infected by HIV are impacted by isues such as stigma, isolation, abandonment, and death. This article explores the epidemiology of this child population and risk factors that render them vulnerable. Social workers are in a unique position to identify and serve these children in such diverse settings as schools, welfare agencies, and hospitals. Suggested interventions based on the developmental stage of the child are discussed as are implications for policy formation and program development.     

Spirituality in Latino families of children with autism spectrum disorder

Research on Latino parents of children with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) suggests that these parents often use spirituality to conceptualize and to cope with their child’s diagnosis. However, there are no studies that examine religion among Latino parents of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). The current study explores how Latino parents of children with ASD incorporate spirituality into their conceptualizations of their child’s disability. In the current study, 34 Latina mothers of children with ASD were interviewed about autism-related services, family characteristics, and cultural beliefs including spiritual beliefs. Thematic analysis of the transcribed interview data relating to spiritual beliefs was conducted for the present study. Most mothers endorsed beliefs that their child with a disability was a message from God. Within this theme, mothers reported beliefs that their child was a blessing from God, a test from God, a sign from God or that the parent was special. Other parents believed that having a child with a disability was not an act of God, but related to biomedical factors, and another group of parents was unsure about the spiritual meaning of their child with a disability. Lastly, some mothers reported that their larger cultural group believed that having a child with a disability was a punishment or a negative sign from God but they markedly rejected that conception. These findings suggest that providers working with Latino families of children with ASD should acknowledge the importance of spirituality for these families.     

Latino caregiver psychosocial factors and health care services for children involved in the child welfare system

Children in the child welfare system have a high prevalence of health problems, making pediatric health service use critical. Latino children represent a growing proportion of the child welfare system, and are at increased risk for health problems. Many have argued that Latino caregivers can provide Latino children with the least disruptive out-of-home placement, but little is known about how caregiver factors might relate to health services utilization or child health status within this population. This study assessed relationships between caregiver psychosocial factors, health care service utilization, and health status for children in the child welfare system. This sample featured 48 Latino caregivers involved in child welfare. Logistic regression models were used to test for relationships between caregiver psychosocial factors and appointment adherence and child health status. Problem-focused coping was positively related to well-child status. No psychosocial factors were related to medical appointment adherence. Case workers may help improve child health outcomes by promoting problem-focused coping skills among Latino caregivers.     

Child Abuse and Children with Disabilities

Children with disabilities experience a significantly increased risk of abuse. This paper explores the cultural context that values body perfection and tolerates violence, so that abuse of children with disabilities, in response to normal frustrations and pressures, becomes a legitimate response. These pressures are analysed as to how they affect parents and siblings. The medical model as it affects hospital organisation and the health care system and rehabilitation is analysed. The objectification of parts of the disabled child is discussed in terms of its effect on lowering the natural modesty boundaries of the child. The child with disabilities as it relates to the family is also a creator of frustration and rage. The structural issues as they apply to the external environment are presented. The paper proposes a new understanding of the child with disabilities within the family, and within the external environment, most particularly the medical system.     

Contemporary discourses on children and parenting in Norway: Norwegian Child Welfare Services meets immigrant families

Discourses on children and what is considered to be proper parenting have been accentuated by the processes of globalization. In Norway, we study current discourses on children and parenting, based on a particular case: Norwegian Child Welfare Services' interaction with and intervention in immigrant families with children. We use a discursive analytical framework to analyse a sample of 80 newspaper texts, reflecting on and debating this allegedly problematic meeting. The texts are derived from regional and country-wide Norwegian newspapers in the period 1 January 2011 to 30 April 2013. Distinct discourses located in the texts concerned: (1) No-tolerance for parenting practices implying violence and force; (2) Every child is a subject of individual – and equal – rights; (3) Good parenting is child-focused and dialogue based and (4) Norwegian Child Welfare Services – authoritative as well as contentious in family matters. The discourses indicate the presence of two important subject positions, first, the child as the pivot. This implies that children are given a superior moral status, and are to enjoy human dignity and values such as individuality, equality and justice, individual rights and an obligation for the state to oversee and ensure this position also for the child. The other important subject position concerns parents as guarantors for children developing proper skills. This compels processes toward standardization and homogenization of parenting which positions some groups of parents as deficient.     

Fathers' alcohol use and spousal abuse and mothers' child abuse in multicultural families in South Korea: The mediating role of acculturation and parenting stress

There is a potential high risk for child abuse by foreign-born mothers in multicultural families in Korea, particularly given that they experience acculturation and parenting stress at the same time. Further, the risk for child abuse by foreign-born mothers may be aggravated through the high rate of alcohol abuse among Korean husbands that may increase their spousal abuse and in turn the mothers' acculturation and parenting stress. Therefore, this study examined the associations between Korean fathers' alcohol use and spousal abuse and foreign-born mothers' child abuse in multicultural families, with particular attention to investigating whether foreign-born mothers' acculturation and parenting stress mediated the associations. This study overall found that fathers' alcohol use was directly associated with their spousal abuse, and that fathers' spousal abuse was directly associated with mothers' acculturation stress and child abuse. Further, this study found a full mediation path in which fathers' alcohol use was associated with mothers' child abuse through fathers' spousal abuse. Fathers' spousal abuse was also associated with mothers' parenting stress through mothers' acculturation stress, and mothers' acculturation stress was associated with their child abuse through their parenting stress. The findings of this study provide social work implications for child abuse in multicultural families in Korea.     

Parenting and the process of migration: possibilities within South Asian families

The migration experience creates a unique set of challenges for families, which can result in intergenerational conflict and create the conditions for abuse or neglect. Alternatively, families can cope with these challenges in creative and seemingly contradictory ways, thus strengthening family relationships. This article introduces the process of migration as a theoretical framework to use in understanding the complexity of the migration experience as well as the wide range of coping responses within families. The process was developed as a theoretical tool in an ethnographic study of first- and second-generation South Asian women in the United States; the study's findings are used to illustrate the application of the process to South Asian parenting experiences and show how the process of migration-where families adjust to a different set of structural conditions, ideologies, cultural norms, and social systems-shapes parenting and family life.     

Differences in Caregiver Self-Efficacy and Satisfaction Related to Sexual Abuse of Offspring

Research suggests parents of sexually abused children may experience negative perceptions of themselves and their parenting abilities following the victimization of their children, which may influence the recovery process in treatment for these families. This study assessed perceived self-efficacy and parenting satisfaction among female caregivers of sexually abused children and female caregivers whose children were not victimized. Results indicated that caregivers of child victims had significantly lower levels of perceived parenting efficacy than their counterparts. There were no significant differences found between groups with regard to parenting satisfaction. The results highlight the importance of evaluating perceived parenting competence in the treatment of nonoffending caregivers in order to facilitate optimal treatment of the child victim and all members of the family system.