Maternal Caregiving Moderates the Relation Between Temperamental Fear and Social Behavior with Peers

Temperament works in combination with a child’s environment to influence early socioemotional development. We examined whether maternal caregiving behavior at infant age 9 months moderated the relation between infant temperamental fear (9 months) and observations of children’s social behavior with an unfamiliar peer at age 2 in a typically developing sample of 155 children. When infants received lower quality maternal caregiving, temperamental fear was inversely related to observed social engagement and aggression. These relations were nonsignificant when infants received higher quality maternal caregiving. Findings indicate that variations in temperamental fear may predict individual differences in future peer interactions, but sensitive, nonintrusive caregiving behaviors can attenuate these associations.     

Web-based survey 'Contraception and attitudes to sexual behaviour' completed by women accessing a UK menopause website

Background and methodology Sociodemographic trends mean increasing numbers of new relationships in later life. These trends may not only have health consequences for women and health services but also impact on the targeting of sexual health messages. This study aimed to examine attitudes and knowledge surrounding contraception, sexual health and unwanted pregnancy among those accessing the website www.menopausematters.co.uk. A voluntary online survey was completed. RESULTS: Survey was completed by 550 respondents. Three hundred and sixty-six women, 94% of whom self-classified as pre- or perimenopausal, had been sexually active with a male partner in the previous four weeks. Commonest contraceptive methods used by perimenopausal and postmenopausal women were condoms, combined oral contraceptive pill (COCP) and male sterilization. Up to 42% of women surveyed were unhappy with their contraception. A total of 27% premenopausal, 32% perimenopausal women and 40% postmenopausal used no contraception. One-third of women were unhappy about this and 19 unplanned pregnancies had occurred. The majority of women were informed regarding COCP use over 35 years, hormone replacement therapy, emergency contraception and ceasing contraception. The majority of women were unaware that more terminations of pregnancy are performed in women over 40 than any other age group per total pregnancies.Almost a third of women were unaware that chlamydia incidence is increasing in older women. Most would use condoms in new relationship. Discussion and conclusions Women accessing www.menopausematters.co.uk are well informed about contraception and sexual health. The majority of those accessing the site are sexually active, but many use no contraception, or are unhappy with their chosen method, leaving them vulnerable to unwanted pregnancy or sexually transmitted infection.     

When parents love and don't love their children: some children's stories

This paper discusses a small pilot study with Anglo‐Australian children aged 6 to 8 years. The children expressed through stories of what it meant for them when parents love and care for their children, and when they do not. Themes from stories of parental love and care included: relationships, shared special times, being safe and protected, and physical affection. Stories about parents who did not love or care for their children covered themes of abandonment, isolation and sadness. The study contributes an approach that can improve professional practice with children and early outcomes showing the importance of seeking children's perspectives in decision‐making about their welfare.     

Climatic conditions and infant care: implications for child nutrition in rural Ethiopia

Population and Environment - We examine the relationships between climatic conditions, breastfeeding behavior, and maternal time use in Ethiopia. Infant feeding practices are important predictors...     

Science,reason and value

There is a relatively simple argument which shows that science is not, in any important sense, value free. Further, if science is not value free, it may be that the values involved in science rest upon moral considerations. In this paper the author examines one argument for the claim that science essentially involves value, and then looks at the types of values which may be an essential facet of scientific inquiry.     

Opening our eyes,changing our practices: learning through the transnational lifeworlds of teachers

This article examines the inclusion of a culturally relevant curricular practice of social identity papers within teacher education in the USA that incorporates the transnational lifeworlds of teachers. Using tenets of feminist interdisciplinary frameworks, we highlight how this curricular practice allows teachers and teacher candidates in urban and rural contexts to examine transnational lifeworlds and their influence on culturally relevant practices in relation to notions of oppression and privilege. We focus on linguistic border crossings and both/and perspectives of teacher’s social identities. More research is needed to better understand the construction of teacher’s social identities within and across transnational lifeworlds and the ways it impacts their practices and student’s academic and social achievement.     

Family-Faculty Trust As Measured with the ESSP

The degree to which parents and teachers perceive they are working together in the best educational interests of children is a critical aspect of school culture. In previous work by Hoy, Tarter, and Woolfolk Hoy (2006), the phenomenon was named Faculty Trust and was measured with data from teachers. The current study builds upon Hoy et al.'s work by recommending that measures of Faculty Trust capture the important reciprocal nature of trust and cooperation between schools and families that is theoretically part of the original construct. Data collected from parents and teachers with the Elementary School Success Profile (ESSP) were used to test a broadened construct called Family-Faculty Trust. Confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) with Mplus indicated that items and composites on the ESSP could be used to measure a multidimensional Family-Faculty Trust construct. Implications for how school social workers can improve this aspect of school culture when total or subscale scores are found to be low are discussed.