Frustrated Fertility: Infertility and Psychological Distress Among Women

Using a random sample of 580 Midwestern women, we test the hypothesis that women who have experienced infertility report higher psychological distress. Approximately one third of our sample reports having experienced infertility sometime in their lives, although the majority of the infertile now have biological children. Drawing hypotheses from identity and stress theories, we examine whether roles or resources condition the effects of infertility or whether its effects are limited to childless women. Infertility combined with involuntary childlessness (including biological and social) is associated with significantly greater distress. For women in this category, the risk of distress is substantial.     

Transition to parenthood: it does not get easier the next time. Exploring ways to support well-being among parents with newborns

Investing in parents is important because their well-being is positively related to the development and well-being of their children. This study investigated which factors predict two types of parents’ well-being: individual well-being and parenting-related well-being. Participants were 416 parents (90 fathers, 326 mothers) of a baby (younger than age 1 year old), both first-time parents and not-first-time parents. Relationship quality, life skills, parenting skills, and social support were taken into account. Results show that both types of well-being have different main predictors. Self-esteem, self-management, and interpersonal relationship skills contribute to both types of well-being, suggesting that interventions aimed at improving these skills could be very beneficial for parents in their transition to parenthood. Fathers and mothers differ significantly on several predictors—for example, self-esteem, self-management, parenting behavior, and empathy—suggesting they might have different needs for support in the transition to parenthood. Finally, results show that, though parents get better at providing basic care for their children, regarding well-being and relationship quality, not-first-time parents are not better off then first-time parents. Therefore, interventions aimed at easing the transition to parenthood should not only be aimed at first time parents, they might be more effective for parents who already have children.     

Intergenerational continuity in parenting: a review and theoretical integration

Abstract

Objective: This review evaluates literature on how parenting behaviors are passed from one generation to the next in families by providing a new definitional framework to organize existing work, utilizing this framework to review literature on intergenerational continuity in parenting behaviors, and proposing a new developmental framework for understanding the etiology of intergenerational continuity in parenting behaviors.

Design: The present review examines 31 studies of intergenerational continuity in parenting, summarizes the findings offered by these studies, and integrates this existing literature in a theoretical framework for considering the etiology of intergenerational continuity in parenting behaviors.

Results: Results indicate that parental warmth, hostility, and behavioral control each demonstrate intergenerational continuity, and that internalizing and externalizing behavior serve as potential mediators of intergenerational continuity across all three types of parenting behaviors.

Conclusions: Parenting behaviors falling in the warmth, hostility, and behavioral control domains each demonstrate modest continuity across generations. Internalizing and externalizing behaviors developed by children in response to parenting in their family of origin may persist and cause similar patterns of parenting when these children grow up and start their own families. Partner psychopathology and parenting styles may moderate these externalizing and internalizing pathways to intergenerational continuity in parenting.     

Parenting stress among US Army spouses during combat‐related deployments: the role of sense of coherence

The present study seeks to model the effects of parenting stress on contentment experienced by spouses of soldiers deployed to Iraq for long periods of time (n= 200). Using the ABC‐X model from family stress and resiliency theory, a path analysis determined that, in addition to parenting stress, the length of deployment and the ethnic background of the Army spouse also acted as contributing stress factors influencing not only contentment, but perception of family coping and the sense of coherence experienced by the spouse during long‐term deployments (mean = 4.6 months). The mean age of children in the home was found to have significant effect on sense of coherence in this particular sample of women. The influence of the stressors in the statistical model on life contentment was mostly ameliorated by sense of coherence (i.e. perception of comprehensibility, manageability and meaningfulness in daily life). In other words, spouses with higher sense of coherence experienced better contentment with their lives during deployments. The study also captures qualitative responses and provides several themes associated with daily experiences of Army spouses. Implications for both military and civilian social workers are discussed.     

KEEP foster-parent training intervention: model description and effectiveness

In this paper, we describe the development and history of the Keeping Foster Parents Trained and Supported (KEEP) foster-parent training intervention. KEEP intervention represents a modified version of the Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care intervention developed by interventionists at the Oregon Social Learning Center and is designed to provide training and support for children ages 5–11 in regular foster care. We also report on the initial findings from a programme of research focused on determining the effectiveness of the intervention. Thus far, the results indicate that the intervention is effective in reducing child behaviour problems and that the effects of the intervention are mediated through changes in parenting behaviour. There is also evidence that the KEEP foster-parent training intervention increases the chances of a positive change of placement (e.g. child reunited with biological parents) and mitigates the negative risk-enhancing effect of a history of multiple placements. We conclude with a discussion of unanswered questions and directions for future research.     

论离异家庭子女的家庭教育策略

离异家庭的家庭结构不完整对儿童心理健康有着巨大的负面影响。使自己的孩子同完整家庭孩子一样得到健康成长,将孩子的心理灾难降低到最低限度,是每一个离异家庭家长的责任和义务。因此,家长要从家庭的解体而导致儿童存在着严重的心理问题这一角度出发,采取行之有效的家庭教育策略来面对和解决这些问题。     

The Best Laid Plans: Expectations,Preferences, and Stability of Child‐Care Arrangements

This study considers whether an earlier and more extensive search for child care, and a match of the type used to the type preferred, predicts arrangement stability. We used the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care to estimate multinomial logit models of arrangement changes over 3‐month intervals between 3 and 12 months (n= 958 children and 2,223 observations). Use of preferred care predicted greater arrangement stability, and parents who settled early on 1 option were less likely later to switch care types. Those who planned earlier were more likely to use their preferred care type and to use higher quality settings. This study encourages future research on how, when, and with what success parents search for child care.     

Cohort Perspectives on Women’s Educational Attainment and the Timing of Parenthood in Ghana

This paper examines the effects of womens educational attainment on the timing of parenthood across successive generations of women in Ghana. Given the more enhanced career opportunities in recent years, we argue that the opportunity cost of parenthood may be higher for contemporary educated women, and as such, they are expected to delay parenthood for longer periods than their counterparts in the past. Using data from the 1998 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey, we found that while higher maternal education associates with delayed parenthood, significant cohort differences were noticeable. Consistent with our expectations, the effect of higher educational attainment was substantially greater among younger women, indicating a longer transition to parenthood. Implications of the findings are discussed.     

‘Not worth mentioning’: The implicit and explicit nature of decision-making about the division of paid and domestic work

The aim of this qualitative study of 31 Dutch couples is to help us understand why the division of paid and unpaid work between women and men remains stubbornly unequal, despite women's gains in the workplace and rising educational levels. This study expands on other research by documenting daily implicit and explicit decision-making about the division of paid and domestic work by couples during a unique period of their lives: the formative years of their relationship, until they are expecting their first child. Our findings indicate that in general, these Dutch couples do not look explicitly at their division of paid and domestic work, and that this often perpetuates a gendered division of work. More explicit decision-making occurs when couples have a very strong preference for equal sharing, or when the partners disagree or feel frustrated with their current situation. One important finding of this study is that even the couples who prefer to divide the work equally often end up following traditional patterns. This has to do with the decision-making strategies they apply, which seem to be grounded in ambivalent feelings about roles and responsibilities and often romanticizing relationships. Such ambivalence functions as a barrier to more effective decision-making processes. Data from this study seems to suggest that couples wanting to share household responsibilities should, as a minimum, engage in explicit decision-making until they have developed egalitarian routines.     

The relationship between foster care families and birth families in a child welfare context: The determining factors

Children placed in foster care families usually continue to see their birth parents in supervised and home visits. These children deal with the fact that they belonged to two families in a context where the relationship between the two families is sometimes complex and tense. Based on 45 semi‐structured interviews conducted with foster care families and kinship foster care families, the present study examines the relationship between foster care parents and birth parents in a placement context, and focuses on the factors affecting the nature and quality of this relationship. The results showed that the quality of the relationship dynamics varies according to the following: how well and how often the parent–child visits took place, the birth parents' characteristics, and the foster carers' attitudes. The results also showed that placements in kinship foster care families were more likely to result in conflict and tension between the two parties than placements in regular foster care families.