Middle‐Class African American Parents’ Conceptions of Parenting in Early Adolescence

Conceptions of parenting were examined in 87 middle‐class African American parents (87 mothers and 51 fathers) of early adolescents (M= 13.11 years of age). Using semistructured interviews, parents were queried about two developmentally salient issues of early adolescence: parental limit‐setting and adolescent independence. Parents primarily defined firm limits in terms of nonnegotiation, strongly endorsed setting firm limits regarding a range of issues, and justified the importance of limits by focusing on adolescents’ socialization and psychological development. Mothers rated limiting adolescents’ behavior as more important than permitting or encouraging adolescents’ independence. Limits were seen as more important by mothers of younger rather than older early adolescent females, but mothers encouraged independence more for younger rather than older early adolescent males. Mothers permitted independent decisions regarding a limited range of issues such as clothes and appearance, based on psychological concerns with adolescents’ developing autonomy and competence; they encouraged independence primarily by encouraging greater responsibility. The results demonstrate that there is considerable heterogeneity in African American parents’ beliefs and goals about parenting in early adolescence.     

Parenting Styles: The Impact on Student Achievement

ABSTRACT

Parenting style and its impact on student achievement in a multidimensional society continues to pose significant challenges to clinicians, researchers, educators, and parents alike. This literature review summarizes the research surrounding five domains: (1) parental control; (2) gender and parenting style; (3) parental education; (4) perceptual differences between parents and their children; and (5) ethnicity and diversity. Behavioral control and psychological control were found to be two inherent features of parental style that have a direct affect on student achievement. Adolescents' perceived level of independence when interacting with their parents also seemed to have a direct relationship on their academic achievement. Research concerning children's progress in mathematics as related to parenting style and gender stereotype was also uncovered. Evidence was found to support the notion that parental education can have an indirect impact on children's academic achievement in various cultures. Implications for future research are identified including the need for applied research in learning communities factoring in variables for family structure, expectations, ethnicity, communication, and involvement.     

Parenting groups for parents whose children are in care

Excluding very severe child abuse cases, biological parents are usually encouraged to maintain contact with their children in care. Parent‐child contact is often considered important because it can maintain the child's psychological identity and well‐being. It can also maintain parent‐child attachment and in some cases facilitate reunification. Improving parenting skills is viewed as an important method by which contact between children and their biological parents can be enhanced. However, mainstream parenting groups are often unsuitable for parents whose children are in care for a number of reasons. There is stigma involved with having children in care, such parents have very complex lives and there are reduced opportunities to practise skills learnt with their children. Groups designed specifically for parents whose children are in care appear to be a promising approach to improving the quality of contact between these parents and their children. This paper will review group‐based approaches to working with biological parents whose pre‐school‐aged children have been placed in care. The paper will also report the findings of a research project designed to identify key facilitators and barriers to parental involvement in a group‐based programme which includes contact between parents and their children who have been placed in care. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Children of prisoners: exploring the impact of families' reappraisal of the role and status of the imprisoned parent on children's coping strategies

Qualitative data from a larger study on the impact of parental imprisonment in four countries found that children of prisoners face fundamentally similar psychological and social challenges. The ways that children cope, however, are influenced by the interpretative frame adopted by the adults around them, and by how issues of parental imprisonment are talked about in their families. This article argues that families have to reappraise their view of the imprisoned parent and then decide on their policy for how to deal with this publicly. Their approach may be based on openness and honesty or may emphasise privacy and secrecy, or a combination of these. Children are likely to be influenced by their parents'/carers' views, although these may cause conflict for them. Where parents/carers retain a positive view of the imprisoned parent, children are likely to benefit; where parents/carers feel issues of shame and stigma acutely, this is likely to be transmitted to their children. This is important for social workers and practitioners involved in supporting prisoners' families and for parenting programmes.     

How Does Borderline Personality Disorder Affect Parental Care?

This article seeks to find arguments based on research for the possibility of dealing with borderline personality disorders (BPDs). This is illustrated by the frequency with which children are removed from parents who have been given the diagnosis of BPD. The author favors the view that there are degrees of BPD. As a result, it is felt that psychological treatment can do much to reverse the symptoms of BPD, in many cases, if not all. Following the delineating of the research, the author presents strategies and procedures that seek to counteract the symptoms of BPD and when possible the eventual reinstatement of children with the parent.     

Medications in parents of kids with cancer; IV ketamine for TRD

Our two Journal Watch stories this week are about the stress‐related psychotropic drug use in parents of children with cancer, and a study of IV ketamine for treatment‐resistant depression in adolescents.     

Groupwork for Parents whose Children are in Care: Challenges and Opportunities

Until recently, the focus for child protection in NSW has been on risk assessment, supportive measures for parents, and ‘the best interests of the child’. The needs of the birth families, once their children have been removed have not received the same attention. An emerging body of research indicates a growing awareness of the importance of the link between good outcomes for children in care and positive ongoing links with their birth parents. Biological parents of children who have been removed invariably continue to have parenting relationships, if not with the removed child, then with subsequent birth children, step children and children in their extended family. Service provision for this group of parents is critical given the complexity and scale of their emotional needs, and the implications for the children they will care for. In this paper, we describe one such intervention: Kids in Care, a group program offered at Relationships Australia NSW, and consider the arising issues and dilemmas for both parents and group workers. Developed to address the particular needs of parents whose children have been taken into care, the group creates an environment of acceptance and support. This opens up possibilities for parents to consider issues of grief, stigma and trauma, as well as to develop skills in communication, assertiveness and emotional regulation.     

Exploring parent–child communication in the context of threat: immigrant families facing detention and deportation in post-9/11 USA

This paper explores whether and how documented and undocumented migrant parents communicate with their children about the threats posed by the intensified enforcement of 1996 and 2001 US immigration reforms; whether parents facing potential detention and deportation plan for the care of their children; and whether their children learn from other sources about detention and deportation. The focus of this paper emerged in the context of a multiyear participatory and action research (PAR) process as one effort to understand the multiple meanings and divergent perspectives on parental–child communication that arose among and between participants and coresearchers. The aim is to better understand, in parents' own voices, their embrace of and resistance to direct communication with their children about the threat of deportation. Data are triangulated from in-depth interviews with 18 Central American immigrant coresearchers (Study 1), responses of 132 Latino/a immigrant parents to a survey with open-ended questions (Study 2), and conversations in a series of community meetings and workshops. Findings confirm the importance for advocates, service providers, and researchers to understand migrant parents' decisions about communication within the context of family and community values; gender expectations; lived and psychological experiences of being criminalized; and strategies to manage daily challenges of living without documents while parenting US-citizen children.     

Adopted Persons' Search for and Contact with Their Birth Parents I

ABSTRACT

This article presents a critical review of different lines of empirical research on adopted persons' search for their birth parents and identifies questions and issues that are in need of further study. The review covers research on the demographic and psychological characteristics of searchers and their motives for searching. Research findings are also used to evaluate the validity of three different theoretical frameworks that have been offered as explanations for why adopted persons search for their birth parents.     

The grieving child: Manifest and hidden losses in childhood and adolescence

The loss of parents through abandonment has specific traumatic features. This paper discusses the variety of losses children and adolescents may experience and the psychological implications and manifestations in relation to the loss. Specific reactions of children and suggestions for therapeutic prevention through psychotherapy are discussed.Coordinator, Ph.D. Specialization in treatment of children and adolescents and is in private practice     

When Parenting Pays Off: Influences of Parental Financial Socialization on Children’s Outcomes in Emerging Adulthood

This study examined the influences of parental financial socialization during adolescence on emerging adults’ financial outcomes using Family Financial Socialization Theory. It utilized two waves of data from 307 triads—consisting of parents and emerging adults—from a large city in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. Time one was reported in 2012 by fathers and mothers when their 13 to 17-year-old children were adolescents and time two in 2017 by their emerging adult children 5 years later. Results of path analyses revealed that responsible parental financial behavior at Time 1 predicted greater financial satisfaction and lower financial independence for their emerging-adult children at Time 2. In addition, parental financial distress at Time 1 predicted lower financial satisfaction, higher financial distress, and higher financial independence for their children at Time 2. Implications for practitioners, educators, and parents are discussed.

     

Behaviour Exchange Systems Training: The ‘BEST’ Approach for Parents Stressed by Adolescent Drug Problems

Parents are challenged in the adolescent years by attempts to increase adolescent responsibility while also managing separation issues. Adolescent drug use can exacerbate parental concerns. Parental fears and anxieties surrounding adolescent drug use can undermine opportunities to respond effectively. This paper describes the theoretical rationale for, and early experience of delivering, a brief intervention program designed to assist parents coping with adolescent drug problems. The program emerges out of a hybrid of systems and behaviour therapy principles and has been designed to address issues associated with parenting characterised by a high level of emotional involvement and/or ineffective parental control. Group work encouraging more adolescent responsibility-taking can assist parents disabled by feelings of guilt and failure. As parents develop emotional independence from adolescent behaviour, an appropriate expectation for adolescent control is established.     

DIVORCE TRANSITIONS: IDENTIFYING RISK AND PROMOTING RESILIENCE FOR CHILDREN AND THEIR PARENTAL RELATIONSHIPS

This paper gives an account of qualitative research linked to clinical work relating to some of the short-term effects of divorce on children within a British perspective. The transitions that accompany divorce and family reordering are shown by many studies in the United States, Australia, and New Zealand as well as in the United Kingdom to have stressful effects for children that can lead to long-term negative outcomes. Other studies have focused on the differential social and family factors that may contribute to the "differences that make a difference" to whether divorce has harmful effects on children. This paper describes clinical intervention into family relationships in divorcing and postdivorce families and suggests some high-risk issues for children. The focus of the work is one promoting long-term connections between parents and children in reordered+ families. Some interactions that may promote resilience in children as well as in their parents are alluded to briefly.     

Working With Parents of Gender-Variant Children: Using Social Action as an Emancipatory Research Framework

This article examines and reflects on the methodology used in a research project that involved group work activities with parents of gender-variant children. Gender variance in children remains a topic people talk little about. Discussions about people who express themselves differently from the social norms attached to their birth sex, to a large extent, remain rarely discussed. They challenge a society organized largely on the basis of a binary understanding of identity, one that belongs to either male or female. This article discusses the concept of oppression as being central to the experiences of gender-variant children and young people and their parents, and it proposes social action research as a compatible and appropriate research framework for exploring their experiences. We describe the research process, identify its achievements, and explore issues that had to be confronted. We suggest that traditional research structures may benefit from being revisited in order to allow emancipatory research to more fully achieve its potential for both research and social action.     

Home care reimbursement for technology-dependent children: Its impact on parental distress

The distress of 52 parents with a technology-dependent child at home is measured using a standardized psychological inventory. Fifty-eight percent of these parents report enough symptoms to classify them as needing psychiatric intervention. Cost savings to third-party payers are accelerating the trend toward home care (rather than institutionalized care). Yet, these findings point to an underestimated cost to families in terms of parents' psychological well-being. One factor associated with less distress for mothers is having services reimbursed through the Medicaid Model Waiver Program, which provides a comprehensive plan for home care services. In contrast, services reimbursed by private third-party payers are more variable, placing greater financial strain and uncertainty on parents, which is associated with greater psychological distress. These results suggest the need for further study of the long-term impact on parents caring for technology-dependent children at home.Reprint requests to Barbara J. Leonard, R.N., Ph.D., Maternal and Child Health Major, Division of Human Development and Nutrition, School of Public Health, Box 197 UMHC, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, (612) 625-3660.This study was supported in part by BRSG Number 2-S07-RR05448-25 awarded to the University of Minnesota, School of Public Health by the Biomedical Research Grant Program, Division of Research and Resources, National Institute of Health. Additional support was provided by the Department of Health and Human Services, State of Minnesota, Academic Computing Services and Systems, University of Minnesota and special project funds from the University of Minnesota School of Public Health.Barbara J. Leonard is an Assistant Professor and Chair of the Maternal and Child Health Major, Division of Human Development and Nutrition, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, MN 55455. Her research interests include children with developmental disabilities, their parents, and siblings. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota.Janny Dwyer Brust is a Research Fellow in the Maternal and Child Health Major at the University of Minnesota. Her research interests include issues related to the care of chronically ill children and sexually abused children. She received her M.P.H. from the University of Minnesota.Joan Patterson is an Assistant Professor in the Maternal and Child Health Major and Associate Director of the Center for Children with Chronic Illness and Disability at the University of Minnesota. Her research interests include family adaptation to chronic illness and family stress and coping. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota.     

Shared Physical Custody: Summary of 40 Studies on Outcomes for Children

One of the most complex and compelling issues confronting policymakers, parents, and professionals involved in making custody decisions is this: What type of parenting plan is most beneficial for the children after their parents separate? More specifically, are the outcomes any better or worse for children who live with each parent at least 35% of the time compared to children who live primarily with their mother and spend less than 35% of the time living with their father? This article addresses this question by summarizing the 40 studies that have compared children in these two types of families during the past 25 years. Overall the children in shared parenting families had better outcomes on measures of emotional, behavioral, and psychological well-being, as well as better physical health and better relationships with their fathers and their mothers, benefits that remained even when there were high levels of conflict between their parents.     

The Impact of Parental Incarceration on Children: An Emerging Need for Effective Interventions

The increasing number of children with incarcerated parents constitutes perhaps one of the largest at-risk populations in the United States. Short- and long-term effects of parental incarceration are difficult to quantify; however, the current literature indicates that this population is negatively responding to major shifts in family structure, and is vulnerable to economic stress and adverse interpersonal issues. Service providers are seeking appropriate intervention strategies to address the resultant issues of parental incarceration. Unfortunately, there is a paucity of research on effective practice methods. This paper reviews the literature on the potential implications parental incarceration has on children, and discusses service providers’ concerted efforts to allay the consequences. Recommendations for appropriate data collection and identification of relevant gender, developmental, and cultural interventions are provided.     

‘It's afforded us a huge flexibility’: the impact of ‘Disabled Children's Access to Childcare Pilots’ on families with a disabled child in England

For many parents of disabled children, finding affordable and suitable childcare that meets their needs is very challenging. Research in the UK has shown that parents with disabled children experience barriers not just with cost, but also accessibility, the attitudes of childcare providers and in getting good information about sources of childcare. The Disabled Children's Access to Childcare (DCATCH) pilots was an initiative designed to improve access to childcare for disabled children in England. As part of an evaluation of DCATCH, qualitative interviews were carried out with 38 members of 22 families who had received support from the initiative. All of the families reported positive outcomes and highlighted: a beneficial impact on the parents' capacity to work; enjoyable experiences for the disabled child; increased confidence and independence for both parents and children; and the creation of time for parents to pursue other activities. The results of the DCATCH initiative support other research which argues that whilst cost is a significant factor around childcare choices for families with a disabled child, having confidence in the childcare provider's ability to meet specific needs (including complex health care needs) and providing positive experiences for the disabled child are also key, determining factors.