Use and Preference of Advice on Small Children's Food: Differences Between Parents From Ethnic Minority,Ethnic Majority,and Mixed Households

The authors analyzed the influence of acculturation on parental attitudes to, and use of, different sources of health advice about young children's food in Denmark. Using combined ethnic position of the children's parents as a proxy for household acculturation, the authors conducted a postal survey of 2,511 households with young children (6 months to 3.5 years) occupying ethnic minority, ethnic majority, or ethnic mixed position. The analysis showed that the use of advice differed in the 3 groups. Households with ethnic minority status were more likely to use the child's grandparents, general practitioners, and hospital staff as information sources, while households with ethnic majority status were more likely to use mothers’ peer groups and written material. In all types of household municipal public health nurses were relied on as a source of advice on young children's food, but households with ethnic minority status were more likely to find the advice obtained in this way incompatible with their family eating habits. Although existing dietary health communication strategies delivered by public health nurses appear to work well in all household types, parents from minority households seem to experience dilemmas. These may be related to their cultural and generational status at the time of receiving the advice. Adjustments to current communication strategies on young children's food are suggested.     

Television Viewing and Unhealthy Diet: Implications for Children and Media Interventions

The concern over increasing rates of obesity and associated health issues has led to calls for solutions to the potentially unhealthy influence of television and food advertising on children's diets. Research demonstrates that children's food preferences are acquired through learning processes, and that these preferences have long-lasting effects on diet. We examined food preferences and eating behaviors among college students, and assessed the relative influence of 2 potential contributors: parental communication and television experience. In line with previous studies with children, prior television experience continued to predict unhealthy food preferences and diet in early adulthood, and perceived taste had the most direct relationship to both healthy and unhealthy diets. In addition, both television experience and parenting factors independently influenced preferences and diet. These findings provide insights into the potential effectiveness of alternative media interventions to counteract the unhealthy influence of television on diet, including a) nutrition education; b) parental communication and media literacy education to teach children to defend against unwanted influence; and c) reduced exposure to unhealthy messages.     

Parents' Executive Functioning and Involvement in Their Child's Education: An Integrated Literature Review

BACKGROUND

Parents' involvement in their children's education is integral to academic success. Several education‐based organizations have identified recommendations for how parents can best support their children's learning. However, executive functioning (EF), a high‐ordered cognitive skill set, contributes to the extent to which parents can follow through with these recommendations.

METHOD

This integrative review of the literature describes how executive function can affect parents' ability to facilitate and actively participate in their child's education and provides strategies for all school staff to strengthen parent‐school partnerships when parents have limitations in EF.

RESULTS

EF skills are fluid and influenced by several factors, including parental age, sleep, stress, and mood/affect. Despite possible limitations in parental EF, there are strategies school personnel can employ to strengthen partnership with parents to support their children's academic success.

CONCLUSIONS

As reforms in education call for increased customization and collaboration with families, parental EF is an important consideration for school personnel. Awareness and understanding of how parents' EF affects children's learning will help schools better support parents in supporting their children's academic success.     

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.     

Longitudinal Patterns of Parental Support as Predictors of Children's Competence Motivation

The competence motivation of 77 children at 12 and 30 months was examined in relation to the quality of support they received from their parents at 6, 9, 12, 18, and 30 months. First, the quality of parental support at the separate ages was used to predict the children's competence motivation. Although the quality of parental support was moderately stable across time, only weak relationships were found between the quality of parental support the children received at earlier ages and their later competence motivation. Next, the individual patterns of parental support across time were examined in relation to children's competence motivation. Using cluster analysis, four groups of parent‐child pairs were identified with similar patterns of parental support across time: (1) increasing, (2) decreasing, (3) stable high, and (4) stable low quality of support. The children in these four groups differed significantly with regard to competence motivation. Remarkably low levels of competence motivation were found at 30 months for children receiving a decreased quality of parental support over time.     

The influence of perceived accessibility and expertise of healthcare professionals,and service austerity,on mothers' decision-making

Mothers often make key decisions regarding their children's health. They hold core beliefs and attitudes towards healthcare providers, relying on healthcare services to provide support, advice and reassurance. It is crucial that health providers form authentic relationships with families with young children, in order to effectively provide healthcare, support and information as needed. In this paper, we explore mothers' views on the accessibility and expertise of healthcare professionals caring for their child's health. A case study, using a geographic post code as the case boundary was used. Focus groups and semi-structured interviews with mothers of children aged under five years old were conducted. Participants (n = 33) were recruited from local playgroups and six focus groups (19 participants) and 14 individual interviews were conducted. Qualitative data were analysed using thematic analysis. General Practice (including general practitioners [GPs] and practice nurses) was considered to be the preferred option when seeking timely healthcare advice and information. Participant mothers were open to accessing professional advice concerning their child's health, from a range of health professionals and understood the role and potential contribution of various health professionals. However, some factors, influenced mothers' decision-making. These were captured in three themes: maternal perceptions of GPs as accessible experts; practice nurses as approachable and reassuring sources of advice; and difficulty in accessing health visiting services primarily due to service funding cuts. Further investment in primary care services, including expansion of the practice nurse role and an increase in health visiting service provision, may help to provide sufficient support for mothers seeking healthcare advice. In addition, healthcare service strategies, which engage with mothers and ensure nurses are recognised as knowledgeable, accessible, supportive and a suitable alternative to GPs, would be beneficial.     

Expressive vocabulary in 18-month-old children in relation to demographic factors, mother and child characteristics, communication style and shared reading

Background Previous research has elucidated the associations between children's language development and reading habits, and maternal education, communication style, gender and birth order. Research including maternal age and child temperament is more scarce. We studied the associations of all these factors with children's expressive vocabulary and reading habits. We also analysed the relationships of reading with expressive vocabulary, and effect sizes associated with frequent reading. Methods Questionnaires were completed by mothers of 1091 children aged 17–19 months visiting the Swedish Child Health Services. Expressive vocabulary was assessed by the Swedish Communication Screening at 18 months, a screening version of McArthur‐Bates Communicative Development Inventories. Mother's perception of ability to communicate was measured by a scale constructed ad hoc from the International Child Development Programmes, a parent education curriculum. Bates' ‘difficultness’ scale was used to assess temperament. Results Good communication, low maternal age, female gender and frequent reading were significantly associated with expressive vocabulary. High maternal education, good communication, higher maternal age, female gender and being a first‐born child were significantly associated with frequent reading. Reading at least 6 times/week added more than 0.3 SD in vocabulary regardless of gender and communication. Conclusions The findings support the importance of reading and communication quality to early language development. Knowledge of the relationship between children's vocabulary and book reading in a context of joint attention is both theoretically and practically valuable to speech and language pathologists, pre‐school teachers, child health workers and other professionals.     

The social construction of help among Danish children: the intentional act and the actual content

This paper is based on an ethnographic study of younger Danish school children's actions and social relations during episodes of sickness and minor accidents. The focus is on how children as social actors give help to others. The main points concern first, the need for a cultural approach to distinguish between the intention and the motive of an action in order to understand children's evaluation of and communication about help. A second point concerns the recognition of children's individual actions as they combine in a collective strategy. Finally I discuss the relationship between children's cultural practices and constitutive elements of their everyday life. I specifically focus on ‘the act of looking’ and time and tempo as it relates to understanding childhood sickness and its relevance in social negotiation between children and adults.     

Is parental coping associated with the level of function in children with physical disabilities?1

Objectives The objectives of this study are: (1) to describe parental coping in a cohort of children with physical disabilities (PDs); (2) to determine whether the child's level of function is associated with parental coping; and (3) to explore whether socio‐demographic factors such as child's age, maternal education and family structure are associated with parental coping. Methods Parents of 150 children with PDs were interviewed after being referred to community rehabilitation services. They answered the following: the Coping Health Inventory for Parents, the Functional Independence Measure for children (WeeFIM) and a study questionnaire that addressed socio‐demographic characteristics. Multiple linear regression models were used to determine the association between level of function and other factors and parental coping. Results Mean (SD) age of the children was 40.9 (15.2) months and 64.7% were male. Parental coping scores, measured by the Coping Health Inventory for Parents, indicated that the parents in our study found seeking out social support from community resources useful. Parents of children with moderate to severe dysfunction in mobility (WeeFIM) found coping behaviours related to communicating with the healthcare professionals regarding their child's condition useful (β coefficient, 2.07; 95% CI, 0.37, 3.78). Greater perceived usefulness of maintaining social support through community resources was associated with lower maternal education, working parents and two‐parent families. Conclusion These findings underscore the importance of helping parents of children with PDs maintain social support. It is important to help parents understand their child's medical situation, especially those whose children have more severe mobility dysfunction.     

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.     

Parents,Television and Children's Weight Status

This study scrutinizes the long-term effects of parental television socialization activities on their children's weight status measured through body mass index (BMI-score). We address the question how parental television habits and parental television mediation in childhood relate to a person's weight status in adulthood. To analyze this issue we employed data from the 2009 Family Survey of the Dutch Population with extensive retrospective information on 1,377 Dutch respondents and their parents. Structural equation models were estimated and showed long-term effects of parental television role modeling and mediation on their children's weight status in adulthood. A parental example of frequent television viewing and social coviewing lastingly increases children's weight status through two distinct pathways: via weight status in young adulthood and via educational attainment and adult television habits. Parental instructional television mediation, however, is related to a lower-weight status of their children later in life.     

Do You See What I See? Parent and Child Reports of Parental Monitoring of Media

Research on parental monitoring of children's media use suggests parents can reduce the negative effects of media exposure on children, although this research is rarely conducted with elementary school children and leaves open questions about whether parents or children are better reporters. Participants were 1,323 children, their parents, and teachers. Parents and children reported on four aspects of monitoring for TV and video games: co‐using, limit setting on amount, limit setting on content, and active mediation. Parents gave much higher estimates than did children. Monitoring was moderated by child age, child sex, parent marital status, parent education, and parent income. Although parent‐ and child‐reported monitoring correlated rather poorly, both types were almost equally good predictors of children's screen time, media violence exposure, and teacher reports of school performance. When there were differences, the child reports tended to be slightly better predictors, demonstrating the validity of child reports of parental monitoring.     

Financial Stress,Parental Depressive Symptoms,Parenting Practices,and Children's Externalizing Problem Behaviors: Underlying Processes

This study examined the relationships among financial stress encountered by families, parents' social support, parental depressive symptoms, parenting practices, and children's externalizing problem behaviors to advance our understanding of the processes by which family financial stress is associated with children's problem behaviors. We also tested moderated mediation to investigate if these relationships differed depending on children's characteristics. The data were drawn from 290 predominantly rural families with young children who were identified as at risk for the development of serious conduct problems. Using structural equation modeling, we found that the relationship between family income and children's externalizing problem behaviors was mediated by parents' social support, parental depressive symptoms, and parenting practices. The results also showed that the children's levels of aggression severity, academic functioning, and developmental strengths moderated the mediating relationships between family income and parental depressive symptoms and between family income and positive parenting.     

Links between Chinese mothers' parental beliefs and responses to children's expression of negative emotions

This study investigated relations between parental beliefs and mothers' reported responses to their children's negative emotions. Altogether 189 Chinese mothers of children aged six to eight years were interviewed in group sessions using structured questionnaires. It was found that Chinese mothers endorsed Guan, the Chinese parental beliefs. They also believed that children should be exposed to emotional experiences in order to learn about emotion but did not believe that parents should take an inactive role in their children's emotion learning. Regression analyses revealed that Guan predicted the adoption of the coaching, emotion-supportive and emotion-dismissing approaches when handling children's emotion. Maternal belief in children's open exposure to emotional experiences predicted the adoption of the coaching and emotion-supportive approaches but not the emotion-dismissing approach. Maternal belief in inactive parental role in children's emotion learning predicted the adoption of the emotion-dismissing approach but not the coaching approach. Implications for parent education are discussed.     

Family-Based Treatment for Pediatric Overweight: Parental Weight Loss as a Predictor of Children's Treatment Success

This study examined the relative influence of nutrition and exercise education, behavioral therapy, and parental weight loss on children's weight-related treatment outcomes. Participants included 65 children and their parents who were participating in an evidence-based multicomponential pediatric overweight intervention program. After accounting for age and sex, children's attendance at group treatment and change in health knowledge predicted 9.7% and 5.8% of the variance in children's weight change, respectively. However, the single greatest predictor of change in children's body mass index was parent weight loss, which accounted for 18.8% of the variance in the model. Findings suggest that although nutrition–exercise education and group therapy are beneficial, parental weight loss best predicts children's treatment outcomes.     

‘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.     

When community reintegration is not the best option: interethnic violence and the trauma of parental loss in South Sudan

The magnitude of violence and human loss in conflict settings often exceeds the caring capacity of traditional support systems for orphans. The aim of this study is to understand the developmental context for children experiencing armed conflict, parental loss, extreme poverty, violence and social exclusion in a setting affected by interethnic violence. This article challenges the received wisdom that community reintegration is always better than institutional provision. Using a case study employing interviews, focus groups, workshops and observations, we examined how children's experiences of armed violence and parental loss affected their mental well‐being, and their relationships within their community. Emerging findings such as experienced violence and psychological distress were further investigated using a cross‐sectional survey design to explore the generalisability or transferability of theories or conclusions drawn from qualitative data. Findings showed that parental loss had a major impact on children's lives in the context of armed violence. Four main outcomes of orphanhood emerged: (i) facing the situation and evading harm (feelings of rejection and stigmatisation); (ii) trauma exposure and mental health effects (associations of orphanhood with adverse mental health outcomes and the number and type of experienced trauma); (iii) dealing with psychological distress (seeking caring connections and decreased feelings of isolation); and (iv) education and acceptance (increasing knowledge, skills and attitude and being respected in their community). We discuss the role that contexts such as armed violence, parental loss and social exclusion play for children's mental well‐being and their implications for psychosocial interventions and orphan care in humanitarian settings. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Communicating With Head Start Families About Children's Weight Status: A Phenomenological Approach

BackgroundTo support the early identification of childhood obesity, Head Start (HS) implemented a body mass index screening program. This program provides opportunities for HS to communicate with families about children's weight status. Limited research is available describing the methods used to communicate this information.ObjectiveExplore common experiences of HS health/nutrition managers (HNM) when communicating information to families about children's weight status.Study Design, Settings, and ParticipantsTwenty-eight in-depth telephone interviews with HNM across North Carolina (n = 15) and Ohio (n = 13).Study Design/AnalysisPhenomenology guided the study design and analysis. The themes focused on HNM's lived experiences with their body mass index screening program. Interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim.ResultsFour emergent themes identified: (1) strategies for communicating weight status to families; (2) family response to communication strategies; (3) educational, staff support, and counseling opportunities for families; and (4) challenges engaging families in childhood obesity prevention efforts.Conclusions and ImplicationsHead Start programs acknowledged the importance of communicating children's weight status; however, there are inconsistencies in methods used and information communicated across programs. Head Start programs have community partners who support obesity prevention efforts; however, these partnerships may be underused. More research is needed to explore effective and sensitive communication methods for HS families regarding children's weight status.     

Students and their parental attitudes toward the education of children affected by HIV/AIDS: a cross‐sectional study in AIDS prevalent rural areas,China

Objective : To investigate the prevalence and determinants of student and parental attitudes toward the education of children affected by HIV/AIDS in areas of rural China where AIDS is prevalent. Methods : A cross‐sectional study of a random sample of students (n=732) and their parents (n=732) conducted in April 2010, using a questionnaire and in‐depth interview. Results : Twenty‐six per cent of students and 29% of parents had a ‘good’ attitude toward the education of children affected by HIV/AIDS. Following adjustment for sociodemographic characteristics, students’ attitudes were significantly associated with knowledge of HIV/AIDS non‐transmission (adjusted odds ratio [aOR]= 3.13) and their parents’ attitudes (aOR= 2.38), but not with knowledge of HIV/AIDS transmission, prevention or their parents’ knowledge. Parents’ attitudes were significantly associated with knowledge of HIV/AIDS non‐transmission (aOR= 2.12) and their children's attitudes (aOR= 2.52), but not with knowledge of HIV/AIDS transmission, prevention or their children's knowledge. Conclusion : Stigma and discrimination undermine the right to education of HIV/AIDS‐affected children in rural China. Improving non‐transmission knowledge may improve caring attitudes. Implications : HIV/AIDS public health educational campaigns highlighting non‐transmission and extending family education, combined with school education, may help to enhance an environment of non‐discrimination and safeguard public support programs for the right to education of children affected by HIV/AIDS.     

中国城市地区0~5岁儿童养育实践相关因素分析

目的 了解我国城市地区0~5岁儿童养育实践情况及其影响因素,为促进我国儿童早期发展、开展父母积极养育指导和服务提供依据。方法 2017年8-12月在我国14省15个城市4 515名0~5岁的儿童家长中进行自填式问卷调查,采用父母养育与家庭适应量表（PAFAS）评价父母对儿童的养育实践情况,包括养育一致性、强迫性、鼓励性和亲子关系以及父母的情绪适应、家庭关系和相互协助等多个维度,通过单因素分析和多重线性回归探索儿童个体、父母和家庭因素对父母养育实践的影响。结果 我国城市地区0~5岁儿童的父母在PAFAS量表中的总得分为21.00（15.00~28.00）分,该得分的变化与儿童年龄、独生子女、分娩方式、父亲文化程度、家长育儿信心、家长情绪、家庭年收入、家庭结构以及寻求专业支持等因素有关,提示我国儿童养育实践情况存在较大差异并受多种因素影响。结论 我国城市地区0~5岁儿童养育实践整体情况良好,养育实践与儿童个体、父母和家庭环境等多种因素有关,关注多重因素的影响有利于提高父母养育技能的培训效果,更好地促进儿童早期发展。