Pathways of influence: Chinese parents' expectations,parenting styles,and child social competence

This study examines relations among Chinese parents' expectations for children's development of social–emotional skills, parenting styles, and child social competence. A total of 154 parents with preschool-aged children from mainland China completed questionnaires measuring their timing of expectations for children's mastery of social–emotional skills, value placed on social–emotional skills, parenting styles, and child social competence. Parenting styles were found to mediate the effects of parental expectations on child social competence. Parents with earlier expectations reported higher levels of authoritative parenting, which, in turn, related to better parent-reported child social competence. Parents who placed more value on social–emotional skills were more likely to adopt an authoritative parenting style, and subsequently, they reported children having better social competence.     

Supporting secure parent–child attachments: the role of the non‐parental caregiver

Parent–child attachment has been extensively confirmed as a central contributing factor to children's positive developmental outcomes. Theory and research imply that the non‐parental caregiver is an important figure that may assist parents in the development of a secure attachment relationship with their infants. Specific practices that increase daily face‐to‐face time of the parent and child, reinforce baby's budding attachment with the parent and reinforce the parent's close relationship with baby are suggested in this article. These recommendations, if incorporated as program practices, have substantial ramifications for non‐parental caregivers, center directors, parents and children. Furthermore, directions for confirmatory resource and public police development are implied.     

The Association Between Overparenting,Parent‐Child Communication,and Entitlement and Adaptive Traits in Adult Children

What is colloquially referred to as “helicopter parenting” is a form of overparenting in which parents apply overly involved and developmentally inappropriate tactics to their children who are otherwise able to assume adult responsibilities and autonomy. Overparenting is hypothesized to be associated with dysfunctional family processes and negative child outcomes. Predictions were tested on 538 parent‐young adult child dyads from locations throughout most of the United States. Parents completed a newly developed measure of overparenting as well as family enmenshment, parenting styles, and parent‐child communication scales. Young adult children completed measures of parent‐child communication, family satisfaction, entitlement, and several adaptive traits. Results showed that overparenting is associated with lower quality parent‐child communication and has an indirect effect on lower family satisfaction. Overparenting was also a significant predictor of young adult child entitlement, although it was not related to any of the adaptive traits measured in young adult children.     

Associations between child mobile use and digital parenting style in Hungarian families

ABSTRACT

Mobile touch screen device (MTSDs) use is becoming widespread in children and has negative and positive consequences. Yet, factors associated with greater use remain unexplored, despite the importance of their identification for intervention purposes. It stands to reason that parents can influence child MTSD use, via their attitudes, beliefs, role-modelling, and style of parenting. Here, we examined the associations between these parental characteristics and child MTSD use and whether parenting styles specifically with regard to child MTSD use exist. Hungarian parents (N = 1283) were surveyed about their children’s digital activities, their own attitudes and beliefs regarding the child’s MTSD use, and their own attachment to- and use of mobile phones. Taking a data-driven approach, distinct “digital parenting styles” were identified and these resembled general parenting styles. Findings further suggested that children spent more time with MTSD use if their parents: were more permissive, more authoritative and less authoritarian; had a lower educational level; exhibited greater attachment to their mobile phones; and had more positive attitudes towards, and attributed less harm and more benefits to, early device use. These results are the first evidence for existence of digital parenting styles and suggest that parental characteristics are potential prevention and treatment targets.     

Predicting preschoolers’ attachment security from parenting behaviours,parents’ attachment relationships and their use of social support

Associations between preschoolers’ attachment security, parenting behaviours (i.e. parent–child involvement, parenting consistency and co‐parenting consistency) and parenting context (i.e. parents’ internal working models (IWMs) and use of social support) were examined in a sample of 235 culturally diverse families. The authors predicted that parenting behaviours would mediate associations between children’s attachment security and less proximal parenting context. Mothers and fathers completed questionnaires regarding their parenting behaviours, IWMs of adult relationships, their use of social support and an attachment Q‐List to assess their children’s attachment security. Parenting behaviours mediated the relationship between parenting context and children’s attachment security. Findings support an ecological view of children’s attachment security within a multilayered system.     

Household,Parent, and Child Contributions to Childhood Obesity*

Ongoing increases in adult and child obesity have become a serious public health concern. The current study of 65 parent‐child pairs uses parent‐completed surveys and child Body Mass Index (BMI) to portray the potential family processes that put children at risk and to illustrate the household environment, parenting beliefs, and child characteristics of obese and non‐obese children. Results suggest that efforts to curb childhood obesity should address improving parent knowledge of child nutrition and reducing child television viewing.     

Expanding the understanding of how parenting influences the dietary intake and weight status of children: A cross‐sectional study

Aim: The present study explored whether existing tools measuring parenting could be combined to assess an expanded parenting definition, specifically to include co‐participation in food‐related activities and teaching children about nutrition. The relationships between parenting, child dietary intake and weight outcomes were explored. Methods: The sample included 93 children aged 4–13 years and their parent/caregiver. Child outcomes were dietary intake and body mass index z‐score. Parent measures included demographics, nutrition knowledge and parenting practices. Exploratory factor analysis was used to identify underlying dimensions of parenting. Hierarchical linear regression was used to investigate the independent effects of parenting on child outcomes (body mass index z‐score, fruit and vegetable, fibre, saturated and total fat) after adjustment for covariates. Results: Five factors were extracted, accounting for 44% of the total variance (α= 0.77–0.87). The regression model for kilojoules explained 31% of the variance (P= 0.001), with a significant independent contribution from construct ‘guide and reward’ (β=?0.249, P= 0.027). For child body mass index z‐score, the model explained 25% of variance, and parenting constructs ‘guide and reward’ (β= 0.274, P= 0.015) and ‘concern about intake’ (β=?0.273, P= 0.008) made significant contributions. Conclusions: The present study adds to our understanding of parenting influences on children's dietary intake and weight status. Results support the inclusion of parenting strategies in obesity prevention interventions. Future research should explore the range of ways parenting influences children's diet and risk of obesity, preferably longitudinally.     

Parenting children with neurodevelopmental disorders and/or behaviour problems

Background Parenting behaviours influence child well‐being and development. However, much of the research on parenting behaviours and their correlates has focused on caregivers of healthy, typically developing children. Relatively less is known about the parenting behaviours of caregivers of children with chronic health conditions. Objective To examine and compare three parenting behaviours (positive interactions, consistency and ineffective parenting) among caregivers of children with neurodevelopmental disorders and/or externalizing behaviour problems, before and after accounting for child and family socio‐demographic characteristics. Methods Participants (n= 14 226) were drawn from the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth, a long‐term study of Canadian children that follows their development and well‐being from birth to early adulthood. Children (and their caregivers) were divided into four groups according to the presence of a neurodevelopmental disorder (NDD; n= 815), the presence of an externalizing behaviour problem (EBP; n= 1322), the presence of both conditions (BOTH; n= 452) or neither of these conditions (NEITHER; n= 11 376). Results Caregivers of children in the NEITHER group reported significantly higher positive interaction scores and lower ineffective parenting behaviours than caregivers of children in any of the other three groups. Caregivers of children in the EBP and BOTH groups reported similar levels of consistency, but significantly lower levels than caregivers of NDD or NEITHER children. These associations largely remained after accounting for child and family socio‐demographic characteristics, with two exceptions: caregivers' reports of positive interactions were no longer significantly associated with child's NDD and BOTH conditions. Conclusions Parenting children with multiple health conditions can be associated with less positive, less consistent and more ineffective parenting behaviours. Understanding the factors that are associated with the challenges of caring for these children may require additional research attention.     

Family Income and Parenting: The Role of Parental Depression and Social Support

This study examined the relations among family income, social support, parental depression, and parenting among 290 predominantly rural families with children at risk for disruptive or socially withdrawn behaviors. Structural equation modeling and multiple regression were used, and the results showed that low family income was related to high levels of parental depression, which in turn were associated with disruptive parenting. The findings also showed that social support mediated the adverse relationship between low family income and parental depression. Social support was directly related to positive parenting and indirectly related to parent‐child relational frustration via parental depression. Social support also moderated the indirect relationship between low family income and parenting. Implications for prevention intervention are discussed.     

Parental Behaviors and Beliefs,Child Temperament,and Attachment Disorganization

This research examined alternative mechanisms in the etiology of attachment disorganization. The authors hypothesized that negative intrusive parenting would significantly predict children's attachment disorganization at age 12 months within a diverse community sample. Of more substantial interest, the authors tested moderational mechanisms in the association between negative intrusive parenting, parental strong belief in discipline and control, child difficult temperament, and children's attachment disorganization. Using a multiple regression analytic approach, this research found that negative intrusive parenting significantly predicted children's attachment disorganization. This prediction was more significantly related to children's levels of attachment disorganization when it was paired with stronger rather than weaker parental beliefs in discipline and control. In contrast, when children had difficult temperament at 6 months, it was only when parents held very weak beliefs in discipline and control that children were at higher risk for attachment disorganization. Implications of the findings were discussed accordingly.     

The Moderating Effects of Parent Antisocial Characteristics on the Effects of Parent Management Training-Oregon (PMTO?)

The degree to which parent antisocial characteristics moderated the effects of the Oregon model of Parent Management Training (PMTO?) on observed parenting practices over 2 years after baseline was assessed in a sample of recently married biological mother and stepfather couples with at-risk children. Sixty-seven of the 110 participating families were randomly assigned to PMTO, and 43 families to a non-intervention condition. Using an intent-to-treat analysis, PMTO was reliably related to growth in positive parenting and to decreases in coercive parenting. Parent antisocial characteristics moderated the effect of PMTO on coercive but not on positive parenting practices. PMTO resulted in greater reductions in coercive parenting as parent antisocial histories were more extensive, and this moderator effect was found for both mothers and stepfathers. The findings support the effectiveness of PMTO as a preventive intervention for child conduct problems, and indicate that the parenting behaviors of antisocial parents are malleable and serve as important mediators of their impact on child conduct problems.     

Do attachment patterns of parents with a mental illness have an impact upon how they view the quality of life of their children?

This study examines the relationship between the attachment patterns of 61 parents with a mental illness and their perception of their children's health-related (QoL). Parental attachment patterns were assessed using the Bielefeld Partnership Expectations Questionnaire (BFPE); health-related QoL of children was measured with the parent version of KINDL-R. Compared to the general population, parents showed different attachment patterns and rated their children's QoL significantly lower overall as well as in the dimensions “emotional well-being”, “friends” and “family”. QoL ratings were associated with specific parental attachment styles. Parents with secure patterns also differed from those with other patterns in their ratings of their children's QoL. These results suggest a role of parental attachment for the perception of child well‐being and functioning. They also underline the need for more research into the association between parent attachment and child well-being in families with mental health problems.     

A Pilot Study to Evaluate a Treatment Model for Parents of Preschoolers with Behavioral Problems

Few programs for parents of young children with emotional difficulties are available or have been evaluated. This article describes a group treatment program, Helping Encourage Affect Regulation (HEAR), that has been developed for parents of young children with symptoms of excessive aggression and noncompliance. The parenting program uses a developmental approach encouraging parents to interact with their children in ways to enhance a variety of capacities in their children. These include: secure attachment, self-esteem, compliance, problem-solving ability and empathy. While the focus is on parenting techniques and understanding young children, parents are also encouraged to review their own experience of being parented and its effect on their current parenting practices. The results of a pilot evaluation study of the program's success with 24 parents of young children are described. Results show significant pre-and post-test improvements in measures of child symptoms, including level of aggression and parent-child interactions, especially parent sensitivity, intrusiveness and their ability to structure a task. Parents also reported increased understanding and more positive perceptions of their child. The findings are discussed in light of the process of change that the groups are likely to have facilitated in the parents. An outline of further evaluation of the group treatment is provided.     

‘Love builds brains’: representations of attachment and children's brain development in parenting education material

A focus on early brain development has come to dominate expert child rearing advice over the past two decades. Recent scholars have noted a reinvigoration of the concept of attachment in this advice and changes in the ways that attachment is framed and understood. The extent to which the concept of attachment is drawn on, the way it is framed, and the consequences for mothers, families and parent‐child relationships is examined through a discursive analysis of a current Canadian parental education campaign. Findings support the argument that attachment is receiving a great deal of attention in brain‐based parenting education programmes as children's emotional development becomes increasingly prioritized. Attachment is presented as needing to be actively and continually built through expert‐guided empathetic and responsive parental behaviour, and is framed as crucial for the development of brain pathways that promote emotional strength and self‐regulation in children. Attachment‐building is also presented as requiring highly intensive parenting that falls overwhelmingly to mothers. The parent‐child relationship that is envisioned is one that is instrumental, lacking in affect and conducive to the creation of ideal self‐regulating neo‐liberal citizens.     

COVIEWING PRESCHOOL TELEVISION IN THE US

Past studies have shown that naturalistic parent–child coviewing of television provides a context for interactions that promote comprehension and more general language development. To determine whether onscreen text can facilitate such interactions, 58 parent–child dyads (with children aged 3 to 5 years) were observed while viewing a preschool video in which the narrative was accompanied by either: (1) an onscreen “Mommy bar” of subtitles including jokes and general parenting tips targeted at parents; (2) a parent‐directed “educationally enhanced bar” that modeled the sorts of educationally valuable comments observed in past research (e.g. discussing characters' emotions, tying onscreen events to the child's own experience); or (3) no onscreen subtitles for parents. Results indicated that, during viewing, parents who watched the “educationally enhanced” version were significantly more likely to make comments involving inferences about characters' emotions, tying onscreen events to children's own experiences, and encouraging children to engage in viewer participation. Thus, onscreen prompts can successfully elicit the types of parent–child interactions that can contribute to story comprehension, language development, and literacy.     

Parenting stress in US families: implications for paediatric healthcare utilization

Objective According to family stress models, parental responses to stress disrupt interactions between parent and child and may lead to parental inability to seek timely medical care for their child. The objective of this study was to quantitatively assess the relationship between high parenting stress and child healthcare utilization. Methods We used the 2003–2004 National Survey of Children's Health to determine the prevalence of parenting stress in US families and associated socio‐demographic variables. We used weighted logistic regression to investigate associations between parenting stress and healthcare utilization, controlling for other parental psychosocial and socio‐demographic variables. The primary independent variables were parenting stress, parental mental health, parental coping and social support. The main dependent variables were emergency care, sick visits to primary care and preventive care in the past 12 months. Results Nationally, 13% of children lived in households with at least one parent experiencing high parenting stress. Socio‐demographic variables associated with the highest odds of parenting stress included Black race, special needs status and non‐English primary language. Parents with high parenting stress had a higher odds (adjusted odds ratio 1.24, 95% confidence interval 1.10–1.41) of seeking emergency care for their children compared with parents with low parenting stress, controlling for other parental psychosocial factors and socio‐demographic variables. Conclusions Having a parent who is experiencing high parenting stress is associated with greater utilization of paediatric emergency care. Interventions targeted at parenting stress may provide families with needed support and reduce unnecessary emergency care utilization.     

Incredible Years parent training support for foster carers in Wales: a multi‐centre feasibility study

Background the incidence of conduct disorder in young children is 10% in the general population and 37% among fostered children. Up to 40% of untreated children diagnosed with conduct disorder develop problems later in life including drug misuse, criminal and violent behaviour. There are more than 80 000 looked after children in the UK, with 5000 in Wales. Challenging child behaviour is the main reason for placement breakdown and has huge cost implications as challenging children cost up to 10 times more in service use than children without conduct disorder. The Incredible Years (IY) evidence‐based parenting programme is an effective, low cost solution in improving child behaviour and social competence in ‘conventional’ families and thus has the potential to support foster carers in managing difficult behaviours. Our main aims were to establish:

• ? The feasibility of delivery and the effectiveness of the IY parenting programme in supporting carers in managing difficult behaviour in looked after children.
• ? Service use costs for foster carers and looked after child.

Methods This was a 12‐month trial platform study with 46 foster carers in three authorities in Wales. Carers were allocated 2:1 intervention to waiting‐list control. Validated measures were used to assess ‘parenting’ competency, carers' depression levels, child behaviour and service use. Measures were administered at baseline and 6‐month follow‐up. Intervention carers received the programme between baseline and follow‐up. Results Analyses showed a significant reduction in child problem behaviour and improvement in carers' depression levels for intervention families at follow‐up, compared with control. Unexpectedly, there was a significant improvement in control carers' self‐reported ‘parenting’ strategies. Special education was the greatest service cost for looked after children. Conclusions Initial foster carer training could incorporate the IY programme to support carers in establishing positive relationships and managing difficult child behaviour. Programme participation may lead to reduced service use and improved placement stability.     

Parenting and children's cardiovascular functioning

Objectives To test the hypothesis that more supportive/less negative parenting is associated with lower resting blood pressure and heart rates in children and to determine whether parent and/or child gender and developmental stage moderate the relations in question. Design Longitudinal data on 835 children/families who participated in the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development were analysed. Children (one per family) were followed from age 1 month to 11 years. Methods Data were collected from children and their families via interviews, observations of parent–child interaction and physical health assessments. Results Correlations show that more supportive and less negative parenting prior to kindergarten entry (～5 years) are associated with lower heart rates and blood pressure in children of primary school grades 4–6 (～9 to 11 years), especially in the case of fathering, sons and parenting during the pre‐school years. Conclusions Such findings raise the prospect that interventions to enhance parenting, especially the early fathering of sons, may have beneficial effects on children's cardiovascular functioning. The inability to discount genetic mediation of parenting effects makes it clear that behaviour‐genetic and/or experimental research is needed to document cause and effect relations.     

Child and parent characteristics,parental expectations,and child behaviours related to preschool children's interest in literacy

The current study examined the relations between children's literacy interest and parent and child characteristics (i.e. parents' education level and child's gender), parental expectations of their child's school attainment and achievement and the child's positive and problem behaviours. Participants were 61 preschoolers from predominately low‐income families enrolled in local preschool programmes. Parents completed questionnaires reporting demographic characteristics, parents' expectations and their child's literacy interest. Preschool teachers reported on children's behaviours in the classroom using standard behaviour‐rating scales. Child gender was marginally related to child literacy interest, but parent education was not significantly correlated with interest. Parents' expectation of their child's school achievement was significantly correlated with child literacy interest, but parental expectations about attainment were not. Overall, teachers' reports of children's positive and problem behaviours were correlated with child literacy interest in the expected direction. Interpretation and implications of the findings and future directions for research are discussed.     

Mothering While Imprisoned: The Effects of Family and Child Dynamics on Mothering Attitudes

Since the early 1990s, the number of children with imprisoned mothers has increased 131%. A mother's imprisonment potentially exposes children to a concentrated disadvantage that undermines their cognitive, emotional, and intellectual abilities. Additionally, such experiences can have deleterious effects on mother‐child relationships, stand‐in caregivers, foster care caseloads, the penal system, and society. Less may be understood, however, about how imprisonment affects the ways in which women view themselves as mothers. This study examines mothering attitudes for a sample of 210 Black, White, and Hispanic imprisoned mothers. Nested modeling results suggest a positive relationship between favorable views about mothering and children's profiles and mothers' expectations about future custody. Regular contact with their children through letter writing and telephone calls foster the most favorable views.