‘Keeping families and children in mind’: an evaluation of a web‐based workforce resource

This study outlines pilot evaluation data of the web‐based training resource ‘Keeping Families and Children in Mind’, designed for clinicians who work with families where a parent has a mental illness. The resource was developed from scoping existing workforce packages and in consultation with consumers, carers, researchers and mental‐health clinicians. Preliminary evaluation data were collected from an urban and a rural site in Australia via focus group interviews and pre‐ and post‐training questionnaires to ascertain the experiences of those who participated in the training. Additionally, training facilitators were invited to maintain journals in order to identify planning and implementation issues when using the resource. Post‐training, participants emphasized the need to work collaboratively with others, as well as the importance of acknowledging and working with the family members of consumers, especially children. Also, participants reported positive changes in knowledge, skill and confidence when working with families affected by parental mental illness. Facilitators highlighted technology issues and the need to work interactively with participants when using the resource. Recommendations regarding policy and future research conclude this paper.     

The debate over the joint parental responsibility model in Hong Kong

Hong Kong's Law Reform Commission recommended the joint parental responsibility model into Hong Kong's family law in 2005. A public consultation on whether to implement the model by legislative means was launched in late 2011. An Internet search and secondary analysis of public opinion about the model and its legislation was conducted. It was found that stakeholders held diverse opinions on the legislation of the model. The greatest concern is over the inadequate support to facilitate a workable relationship between separated/divorced parents, and the methods used in protecting victims of domestic violence from ongoing abuse due to the continuous contact with the abusive parent necessitated by the model. Non-resident parents are invisible in the debate. Their absence in the debate has made the consultation a partial and incomplete one, though it saves the discussion from a gender competition between fathers' rights and mothers' rights. Taking a historical and comparative perspective, this paper makes a comprehensive review of the debate in Hong Kong, with reference to the debate at an international level. Implications to the social work profession and social work practice are discussed.     

Family Transitions and Children’s Well-Being During Adolescence

This study used longitudinal prospective data from a representative Canada-wide survey to assess the impact of childhood family experience on well-being during adolescence. First, we constructed family composition profiles to capture the number and type of changes in family structure that occurred in our sample over a 12-year period. Then, we examined links between initial family status, family composition profiles, timing of parental separation, and later behavioral outcomes during adolescence. Marital status at birth, as well as 2 different family transition profiles, were linked to externalized problems during adolescence. Timing of the first family transition suppressed the effect of family transition profiles on adolescent behavioral outcomes.     

Contrasting Complex with Highly Complex Contact Disputes Between Parents

This article discusses the complexity of seeking a solution to problems associated at times with parental alienation. Two scenarios are presented. Both cases involve a child who does not wish to have contact with an absent parent after the separation of the parents due to implacable hostility between them. In the first case, the child had a good relationship with the now absent parent. In the second case the child never had a close relationship with the absent parent. Each case needs to be assessed on its own merits. Conclusions are drawn and recommendations are made as to how to deal with such issues.     

Differences in Views of Family Life According to Age,Gender, and Parental Marital Status

A sample (N = 706) of children, adolescents, young adults, and older adults were surveyed with regard to their views of family. Young adults endorsed more nontraditional views than children and older adults and were more likely than other age groups to indicate that there is no best family type. Children and older adults were more likely than adolescents and young adults to endorse married or living together parents as the best family type. Women and respondents who had experienced parental divorce endorsed traditional views of family less strongly, but women also endorsed stronger expectations for their own family formation. Findings support the possibility of both developmental and sociocontextual influences on attitudes toward family life.     

Children of Divorce in the 1990s

Abstract

Amato and Keith's (1991) comprehensive meta-analysis of well-being differences in children from divorced and intact families found that, when studies were divided by era (1950-1969, 1970-1979, and 1980-1989), the apparent decrements to children of divorce became smaller over time. In an attempt to replicate and extend the Amato and Keith meta-analysis, we conducted a similar one for the 1990s, drawing from 35 published articles. Results showed that across several domains of child well-being (school achievement, conduct, psychological adjustment, self-concept, social adjustment, mother-child relations, and father-child relations), decrements to children of divorce between 1990-1999 were slightly-though consistently-more pronounced than in the previous decade.     

Children's Perceptions of Their Relationships with Coresiding and Non-Coresiding Fathers

In this study the perceptions of children who reside with their fathers and children who live apart from their fathers are compared on a number of relationship qualities. Residential status significantly affected the likelihood of a father being named as some- one who was important in thc life of the child, as well as the likeli- hood of the father being named as someone the child went to for help with a reccnt srressful event. However, for those fathers who were named by their children, the child's perception of the general quality of the relationship and the amount of social support it provided did not differ by residential status. In addition, noncoresiding fathers were seen as filling the functional roles of teacher, supporter, and challeng- er at a higher level than co-residing faUiers. It appears that residential status may reduce the child's access to his or her father, but that those fathers who maintain contact remain important, functional people in their children's lives and important sources of support in times of stress. The need to change the common rception that noncoresid- ing fathers are unimportant in the lives o P" their children is discussed.     

The Role of Parental Indulgence and Economic Stress in Life Satisfaction: Differential Perceptions of Parents and Adolescents

The purpose of this study was to determine if there were differences between adolescents and parents in their perceptions of parental indulgence, stress (economic and life), and life satisfaction. In addition, using the conceptual frameworks of family ecosystems and developmental theory, the relationships between the three types of parental indulgence (soft structure, overnurturance, and giving too much), economic stress, life stress, and life satisfaction were examined for parents and adolescent children. Findings indicated that adolescents perceived higher levels of stress and soft structure as compared to their parents, whereas parents perceived higher levels of economic stress. Additionally, each type of parental indulgence affected parent and adolescent life stress and life satisfaction differently. Implications for research and practice are discussed.     

“It Is Not a Big Deal,I Can Do It,Too”: Influence of Parental Divorce on Professional Women's Marital Experience in Turkey

This article reports on a study of how parental divorce affects the marriage and divorce experiences of professional women in Turkey. Drawing on the retrospective accounts of eight professional women in relation to their own divorce and those of their parents, this study highlights the role of parental divorce and cultural context in adult children's attitudes, beliefs, and experiences regarding their own union formation. Based on this small qualitative sample, results demonstrate that parental divorce affected women's entire lives, with considerable impact on their commitment to marriage and view of divorce in general. They learn from their parents that marriages can be broken when they do not function properly. As a result, instead of being more patient or self- sacrificing, as is frequently advised to women in Turkish society, the women in this study readily tended toward divorce as a viable solution to marital problems.     

Spatial and Temporal Arrangements,Parental Authority,and Young Adults' Postdivorce Experiences

This research examines how the structure of children's time and space impacts parent–child relationship dynamics postdivorce. Our central research question is whether parent–child relationship quality and degree of perceived parental authority are associated with the amount of time spent with a parent and the type and amount of personalized space a child has at parents' homes after a divorce. We analyze the reports of 22 adolescents surveyed and interviewed in the northwestern United States in 2007. Most notably, the quality of personalized space for children, regardless of the amount of private space available, was significantly and positively related to parent–child relationship quality. Amount of time spent with a parent was also significantly and positively associated with parent–child relationship quality. Level of parental authority was partially positively associated with both quality of personalized space and amount of time spent with a parent. Our results confirm that these factors do indeed play a significant role in children's lives postdivorce and deserve more attention by families undergoing divorce and by researchers investigating the divorce experience for children and adolescents.