‘Virtuoso ideal daddy’: Finnish children's perceptions of good fatherhood

Changes in family structures, such as the increase in the number of cohabiting couples, divorces, and blended families pose new challenges for fatherhood and research on fatherhood has been mainly adult-centred. This research studied how Finnish children perceive good fatherhood and what expectations they set for fathers. The following research questions were set for the study: (1) How do Finnish children describe a good father? and (2) How do Finnish girls' and boys' perceptions of a good father differ from each other? The participants of this study comprised pupils (n?=?39; 21 girls and 18 boys aged 10–12 years) from 3 to 6 grades at a typical northern Finland school. This was a narrative study in which pupils' narratives of a good father were used as the data. The pupils' narratives of a good fatherhood could be categorised into seven main types which are introduced as findings of the study. Also a metanarrative of a good father was composed based on the children's narratives. In conclusion, a good father's virtues as the basis on a good father–child relationship are discussed.     

Factors of social adjustment to school: child’s personality,family and pre‐school

The role of child’s characteristics (gender, cognitive ability, mother‐perceived personality traits), family environment (maternal education, self‐reported parenting practices) and pre‐school experience (at least three years vs. no experience) in social adjustment to school, reflected through teacher reports on social competence and internalising and externalising behaviours, was investigated with six‐year‐olds (N = 366). Three blocks of factors, i.e. child, family and pre‐school, explained up to 19% of variance in social adjustment with child’s characteristics accounting for the major part. Family variables contributed significant, though small, portions of variance to social competence and internalising behaviour over and above the child factors. Pre‐school experience was additionally predictive of lower incidence of internalising behaviour and more frequent externalising behaviour.     

A longitudinal study of children's voices in regard to stress and coping during the transition to school

This study explores (1) how parental and teacher scaffolding and children's coping strategies contribute to children's adjustment during the transition from preschool to school; and (2) how children's perception of stress and coping are constructed over time. The sample included 216 six-year-old children, their parents and teachers. The parents, teachers and children reported that many children encountered social stress and being incompetent at school, and most of the children used either direct problem-solving or seeking social support to cope with stress, but had not used emotion-focused coping strategies learnt at preschool. Compared with the parents’ and teachers’ responses, the children reported more incidences of social stress. Compared with the children's responses, more parents and teachers reported children being incompetent in learning or self-help skills at school. Implications of the study were discussed at the end of the article.     

Intraparental Inconsistency: The Influence of Parenting Behaviors on Aggression and Depression in Children

The authors examined several different predictive and mediation models of longitudinal parental inconsistency over a 3‐year time span. They hypothesized that parental behavior (communication/affection, kindness, and positive control) mediated the relationship between parental inconsistency (mother or father) and two emotional problems in children: (a) aggression and (b) depression. Data were obtained from a 3‐wave study (2007, 2008, and 2009) of 523 Spanish families with children ranging from 9–15 years of age at the beginning of Wave 1 (41.3% boys). Structural equation models revealed that multiple dimensions of parenting (mother or father) fully or partially mediated the relationship between longitudinal parental inconsistency and the child's adjustment. Communication/affection and kindness are the main processes through which parental inconsistency affects a child's aggression and depression. These results represent an important contribution to the improvement of parenting models of relationships between parental inconsistency and child adjustment.     

Chinese parents' perceptions and practices of parental involvement during school transition

Parents' perceptions and practices of parental involvement during the transition from kindergarten to primary school were captured through individual interviews with 18 Chinese parents after their children had entered primary school. The responses revealed that in order to facilitate children's adjustment during school transition, parents tended to become more academic-focused in their involvement at home. Parents also reported their dissatisfaction with the infrequent home–school communication as well as the lack of opportunities for active involvement in school (e.g. volunteering and decision-making). The implications of this research for promoting a smooth school transition for children are discussed, together with directions for future research.     

Mothers' perceptions of children's food behaviors: use of focus group interview study

Children''s food behaviors have been expressed in a various ways because of recent changes in their family environment. Thus, this study was performed to investigate in-depth qualitative research on the mother''s perception on children''s food behaviors by focused group interview. This study was designed in four steps of planning, collection of participants, process, and analysis. Participants for the focus group interview were recruited and sampled from households with elementary school students in the Seoul and Gyeonggido areas. Groups were divided by total income and education expense levels. 1) High income household: It is better to improve currently existing web sites for nutrition education. 2) Mid income household: Easy, practical, and inexpensive off-line cooking class/nutrition education classes for mothers are needed. Nutrition programs for children should be developed through mass media and be promoted in the broadcasting circle. 3) Low income household: Motivation is required for mothers'' education and the serious nutritional problems of children should be informed through mass media and home correspondence from school. And interesting educational materials should be developed for children to read whenever they want.     

Maternal general health and children's cognitive development and behaviour in the early years: findings from the Millennium Cohort Study

Background Mothers often experience physical and psychological difficulties during the post‐natal period and these may continue through the early years of raising children and have negative effects on engagement and caregiving. Pathways between maternal depression, parental engagement and caregiving and children's subsequent development have been described in longitudinal studies; yet, less is known about how other aspects of maternal health may influence children's development. Methods A longitudinal analysis within the Millennium Cohort Study was conducted including 7906 families from England. Maternal general health and psychological well‐being were assessed when their children were 9 months and 3 years old, socio‐demographic characteristics were assessed at 9 months, and engagement and caregiving were assessed at 3 years. These were examined as predictors of children's learning and development and behaviour at age 5. Results There are clear associations between maternal general health and children's development with regard to both learning and development and behaviour. These effects are reduced if psychological distress is taken into account; yet, maternal general health maintains importance as a predictor for children's subsequent development. There is evidence of an association via engagement and caregiving which links maternal health to children's development and evidence of the influence of underlying socio‐demographic disadvantage. Conclusion General maternal health as well as psychological well‐being during the early years of raising children may be influential for children's development. This study suggests the need for a broader recognition of maternal health as well as psychological well‐being as a foundation for family well‐being, and speaks to support for mothers in maintaining engagement and caregiving for their children during periods of ill health.     

Chinese parents' perceptions of their children's weights and their relationship to parenting behaviours

Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine Chinese parents' perceptions of their children's weights and explore the parenting behaviours associated with these perceptions. Methods A total of 2143 adolescents and 1869 parents were recruited from secondary schools in Ganzhou and Shantou in China. The adolescents' actual weights and heights were measured by trained testers. The self‐reported parents' weights and heights, parental perception of the adolescents' weights, adolescents' perception of their own weights, parenting behaviours and demographic information were collected through the questionnaires distributed to the respondents. Results The results based on Kappa statistics show only a slight agreement between parental perception of their children's weights and the adolescents' actual weights (Kappa = 0.221). The results from the logistic regression show that the parents' gender [odds ratio (OR) = 0.80, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.64–1.00], adolescents' gender (OR = 1.61, 95% CI: 1.29–2.01) and perception of their own weights (OR = 0.30, 95% CI: 0.24–0.38) are associated with the parents' perception of their children's weights. Statistically significant difference in several parenting behaviours was found between the parents with correct and incorrect perceptions of their children's weight. Discussion and conclusion Misconceptions about their children's weights are prevalent among Chinese parents. The association between parents' perception of their children's weight and parenting behaviours suggests that the accurate classification of children's weights could help prevent childhood obesity.     

Walking to school: incidental physical activity in the daily occupations of Australian children

Children's participation in physical activity is declining, and nowhere is this more apparent than in the incidental activity of walking to school. The aim of this pilot study was to examine the extent to which Australian children walked to and from primary school, and to survey parents to identify factors influencing this behaviour. Parents of 164 students in Grades 1 7 (mean age 9.1 +/- 2.02 years) from a primary school comprising 360 students responded to a questionnaire regarding psychosocial and environmental factors thought to influence the means by which their children went to and from school. Results indicated that parent perception of the importance of physical activity, parents' individual history of transport to school as well as distance from school were the most statistically significant factors determining children's involvement in walking to and from school. The results of this study highlight the attitudes and experiences of parents in determining the extent to which children are involved in non-motorized access to school. Also implicated are organizational policies about geographical school regions. While this study is limited to one school community, further study is recommended with others to better confirm findings by examining socioeconomic, geographic and policy variables. Occupational therapists are challenged to examine ways in which incidental physical activity can be increased in the lives of young children.     

The SOS Children's Villages : School Achievement of Subjects reared in a permanent Foster Care

This paper reports the long term effects of maternal deprivation and of a foster family care for siblings. In a permanent placement (children's villages) a single housemother cares for siblings until adulthood and receives the help of a psycho‐educative team. Investigation on school achievement and on level of education was made on all the subjects reared in a voluntary association of children's villages. It proves to be better compared with children in traditional foster care and children brought up by their parents from very disadvantaged backgrounds. A large part of school failure is lessened for children admitted before 6.     

Paths to child social adjustment: parenting quality and children's processing of social information

BaCKGROUND: The purpose of this research was to examine the manner in which multiple influences on child social adjustment operated together to predict differential outcomes for young children. Specifically, this study was designed to (i) examine the role of social cognitive and emotional factors in parents' observed and self-reported behaviour towards their children, and (ii) investigate the impact of parenting and children's social information processing (SIP) patterns on children's subsequent social adjustment in the school setting. METHODS: A model of children's peer social adjustment was evaluated using a group of 166 children, over-sampled for history of physical child abuse. Assessment of constructs was multi-method, including parent and child self-reports as well as teacher reports of child adjustment and observations of parent-child and child-peer interactions. RESULTS: Using structural equation modelling, support was found for our theoretical model. Specifically, parents' negative child-related beliefs and clinical elevations in emotional distress were predictors of harsh, insensitive parenting, which in turn predicted children's SIP operations and social maladjustment 6 months later. However, children's SIP did not significantly predict their social adjustment above and beyond the impact of parenting. CONCLUSIONS: Results indicated that the quality of parenting that children received was more central to subsequent adjustment in peer interactions than were children's SIP operations. Furthermore, the quality of parenting children experienced was closely linked to parents' beliefs about their children and parents' mental health status. Directions for future research and potential implications for clinical practice are discussed.     

留守初中生学校气氛、心理资本与学业成就的关系研究

目的探讨留守初中生学校气氛、心理资本和学业成就之间的关系。方法采用学校气氛量表、心理资本问卷和学业成就量表,对广西壮族自治区4所初级中学392名留守初中生进行测查。结果不同性别留守初中生的学业成就存在显著差异,不同年级留守初中生在学校气氛、心理资本和学业成就上存在显著差异;留守初中生的学校气氛、心理资本及学业成就两两之间相关显著;心理资本在学校气氛和学业成就之间起完全中介作用。结论留守初中生感知到的学校气氛通过心理资本间接影响学生的学业成就。     

Voices of children,parents and teachers: how children cope with stress during school transition

This study explores how children's perceptions of stress factors and coping strategies are constructed over time. Children were interviewed before and after they made the transition from preschool to primary school. This study also explores teachers' and parental strategies in helping children to cope with stress at school. The sample included 53 six-year-old children, their parents and teachers. The findings show that children generally could make accurate predictions of unhappy things that might happen during the transition to primary school. Children reported being incompetent in fulfilling teachers' expectations regarding learning, self-help skills and conforming to rules. Children also reported peer conflicts and being nervous about authority. Children learned direct problem-solving skills, seeking social support and emotional regulation at preschool, but had only used the first two coping strategies at school. A majority of parents thought that transition problems affected children's emotions, whereas most teachers thought that transition problems affected children's learning.     

School‐Related Parental Involvement and Adolescent Academic Achievement: The Role of Community Poverty

Although most current studies have established the importance of school‐related parental involvement to adolescents' academic achievement, they are limited in that they do not address macrolevel community influences on such an association. This may be due in part to the lack of community‐level data or the use of inappropriate statistical strategies that cannot account for the influence of factors at the community level. To address this limitation, in this study, the authors examined the influence of community poverty on the association between school‐related parental involvement and adolescents' academic achievement. Using a large, nationally representative sample, results from a multilevel model suggested that, compared to adolescents living in more affluent communities, the positive effect of school‐related parental involvement on adolescents' academic achievement was significantly weaker for adolescents living in poor communities. Such findings suggested the importance of community poverty in influencing the effectiveness of school‐related parental involvement on adolescents' academic achievement.     

Disrupted Caregiving and Maternal HIV Disease: A Proposed Model for Evaluating HIV-Affected Children's Psychosocial Adjustment

A current concern among social science researchers is the impact of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) disease on the family, especially on the parenting abilities of mothers with HIV. Beginning research suggests that the children of HIV-positive parents are vulnerable, pointing to the impact of HIV disease on children's social and emotional adjustment. The objective of this article is to propose a model of the HIV disease-related disruption of care on children's psychosocial adjustment. The schematic model can be used to evaluate the mechanisms by which maternal HIV disease may influence the psychosocial adjustment of elementary school-age children.     

Disentangling ethnicity,socioeconomic status and parenting: Interactions,influences and meaning

Abstract

Internationally and domestically there has been increased attention given to the influence of ethnic, cultural, economic and contextual factors as they influence parenting, family dynamics and children's developmental and mental health outcomes. Increased globalization and migration has heightened concerns about assuring that developmental theories and evidence-based programs and practices are sensitive to variations in parental beliefs, practices and their impact on child outcomes. This article integrates theories and worldviews that undergird research-focused understanding the role of ethnicity, culture and context on family dynamics and children's developmental outcomes. In addition, limitations in research designs for highlighting the interactive influences of ethnicity, socioeconomic status and community context on families are discussed in light of research designs that are heuristic in disentangling these factors for the purposes of developing culturally sensitive and appropriate theories, programs, policies and practices to benefit children and families.     

高中生焦虑、抑郁与学习成绩的相关性研究

目的探讨高中生焦虑、抑郁与学习成绩的相关性。方法用抑郁自评量表（SDS）和焦虑自评量表（SAS）对349名高二学生进行测评,记录期中考试文化课成绩,根据成绩分为优秀组、良好组、及格组与不及格组。对有焦虑、抑郁的学生进行2个月的焦虑、抑郁咨询及心理指导后,再次对焦虑、抑郁与期末考试成绩进行测评。结果第1次抑郁测评有145人有抑郁症状,抑郁发生率占41.55%;141人有焦虑症状,发生率占40.40%。优秀组、良好组的中度焦虑、抑郁高于及格组及不及格组;轻度焦虑、抑郁和重度焦虑、抑郁在及格组及不及格组显著高于优秀组、良好组;经过心理指导后,46人不具有抑郁症状,49人不具有焦虑症状,心理辅导前后抑郁、焦虑测评分显著降低（P〈0.01）,成绩显著增加（P〈0.01）。结论高中生的焦虑、抑郁症状较为普遍,焦虑、抑郁程度与学习成绩有关系,适当的心理指导可以减轻焦虑、抑郁程度,提高学习成绩。     

Coordinated school health programs and academic achievement: a systematic review of the literature

BACKGROUND: Few evaluations of school health programs measure academic outcomes. K-12 education needs evidence for academic achievement to implement school programs. This article presents a systematic review of the literature to examine evidence that school health programs aligned with the Coordinated School Health Program (CSHP) model improve academic success. METHODS: A multidisciplinary panel of health researchers searched the literature related to academic achievement and elements of the CSHP model (health services, counseling/social services, nutrition services, health promotion for staff, parent/family/community involvement, healthy school environment, physical education, and health education) to identify scientifically rigorous studies of interventions. Study designs were classified according to the analytic framework provided in the Guide developed by the Community Preventive Services Task Force. RESULTS: The strongest evidence from scientifically rigorous evaluations exists for a positive effect on some academic outcomes from school health programs for asthmatic children that incorporate health education and parental involvement. Strong evidence also exists for a lack of negative effects of physical education programs on academic outcomes. Limited evidence from scientifically rigorous evaluations support the effect of nutrition services, health services, and mental health programs, but no such evidence is found in the literature to support the effect of staff health promotion programs or school environment interventions on academic outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: Scientifically rigorous evaluation of school health programs is challenging to conduct due to issues related to sample size, recruitment, random assignment to condition, implementation fidelity, costs, and adequate follow-up time. However, school health programs hold promise for improving academic outcomes for children.