Depression as a Mediator of the Association between Substance Abuse and Negative Parenting of Fathers

Objective: The role of substance abuse (SA) and depression on paternal parenting has recently gained attention in the research literature. Both SA and depression have been associated with negative parenting in fathers, but studies to date have not examined the mediating role that depression may play in the association of SA and fathering. Methods: SA, depression, and parenting data were reported by 87 fathers presenting for SA evaluation. Bootstrap mediation modeling was conducted to determine the role of depression on the association between SA and negative parenting. Results: Depression is a significant mediator of the relationship between the severity of fathers’ drug use and hostile-aggressive parenting behaviors. Fathers who had concerns about parenting or wanted help to improve the parent–child relationship had significantly higher symptoms of depression. Conclusions: Depressive symptoms in fathers entering SA treatment have implications for both the severity of drug abuse and negative parenting behaviors.     

Longitudinal pathways from early maternal depression to children’s dysregulated representations: a moderated mediation analysis of harsh parenting and gender

There is some evidence linking maternal depression, harsh parenting, and children’s internal representations of attachment, yet, longitudinal examinations of these relationships and differences in the developmental pathways between boys and girls are lacking. Moderated mediation growth curves were employed to examine harsh parenting as a mechanism underlying the link between maternal depression and children’s dysregulated representations using a nationally-representative, economically-vulnerable sample of mothers and their children (n = 575; 49% boys, 51% girls). Dysregulation representations were measured using the MacArthur Story Stem Battery at five years of age (M = 5.14, SD = 0.29). Harsh parenting mediated the association between early maternal depression and dysregulated representations for girls. Though initial harsh parenting was a significant mediator for boys, a stronger direct effect of maternal depression to dysregulated representations emerged over time. Results are discussed in terms of their implications for intervention efforts aimed at promoting early supportive parenting.     

The Canadian Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect: Implications for Federal Responses to Child Maltreatment

In Canada, provinces and territories directly deliver services related to child maltreatment, but various federal departments share responsibility for responding in other ways. The Canadian Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect (CIS) is one of the Public Health Agency's contributions. This paper presents an overview of its key findings, and points to some implications for program and policy development. CIS data suggest that neglect is the most common type of child maltreatment in Canada, followed by physical abuse, emotional maltreatment and sexual abuse. Because CIS data suggest that parents and other adult relatives are most often the perpetrators of child maltreatment, and that the maltreatment rarely results in severe physical harm, federal support of parenting education programs may be a useful response to the problem of child maltreatment.     

Parenting Style and the Vulnerable Child Syndrome

TOPIC:  Vulnerable child syndrome (VCS) refers to the combination of the parental view that their child is at increased risk for death despite the child's objective health and the resulting behavior problems in the child. Although risk factors for the development of the syndrome have been outlined, the variability in the development of VCS has not been explained.
PURPOSE:  A theoretical explanation for the variability in the development of VCS utilizing Susan Calkins' model is explored. By considering the development of VCS in light of Calkins' model, variability may be explained and preventative interventions may be instituted.
SOURCES USED:  Relevant literature pertaining to child development and VCS was reviewed.
CONCLUSIONS:  By recognizing the risk of the role that parenting sensitivity plays in the development of VCS, team-based interventions involving a developmental approach may be employed, and the long-term behavioral sequelae of the disorder may be prevented or alleviated.     

Parenting children with hypoplastic left heart syndrome: Finding a balance

Purpose. This study described the role normalization played for parents related to their young children with hypoplastic left heart syndrome. Design and Methods. The data source for this secondary analysis was 30 interviews with 16 parents. Results. Three themes were identified: normalization, parental perception of child vulnerability, and optimistic appraisal. Parents engaged in a balancing act between worrying about their children's vulnerability and marveling at their children's survival, using normalization as a coping strategy. Practice Implications. Nurses can collaborate with parents to determine strategies to restore a sense of normalcy to simultaneously promote child independence and parent well‐being.     

Inhibited temperament and parent emotional availability differentially predict young children's cortisol responses to novel social and nonsocial events

Preschool‐aged children (n = 274) were examined in the laboratory to assess behavioral and cortisol responses to nonsocial and social threat. Parents also responded to scales on the Children's Behavior Questionnaire reflecting exuberant approach to novel/risky activities (reversed scored) and shyness. Multi‐method measures of Nonsocial and Social Inhibition were computed. Parents and children were observed engaging in a series of interactive tasks and the Emotional Availability scales were scored for parental sensitivity, nonintrusiveness, nonhostility, and structuring. These scores were factored to yield one measure of Parenting Quality. Analyses revealed that Nonsocial and Social Inhibition could be distinguished and that associations with cortisol response were stressor specific. Moderation analyses revealed that parenting quality buffered cortisol elevations for extremely socially, but not nonsocially inhibited children. These findings are consistent with evidence that sensitive, supportive parenting is an important buffer of the HPA axis response to threat in infants and toddlers, and extends this finding to the preschool period. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Dev Psychobiol 51: 521–532, 2009.     

Furthering the Understanding of Parent–Child Relationships: A Nursing Scholarship Review Series. Part 1: Introduction

PURPOSE.  Understanding the parent–child relationship is fundamental to nursing of children and families. The purpose of this integrative review is to explore nursing scholarship published from 1980–2008 concerning parent–child relationships. Study approaches are examined, critiqued, and future directions for research identified.
CONCLUSIONS.  A historical review of nursing research is presented and methods described as an introduction to a review series of the parent–child relationship.
IMPLICATIONS.  Definition and explication of the parent–child relationship is a first-step in understanding factors amenable to nursing intervention. A clear definition of the concept of parent–child relationship will support further study using appropriate theoretical frameworks, and enable development and testing of supportive nursing interventions.     

Family Response to Adolescence,Youth and Alcohol

SUMMARY

This review highlights three aspects of adolescent alcohol use and misuse that have ramifications for families: (a) adolescent disinhibition, (b) substance-specific parenting factors, and (c) non-substance-specific parenting factors. Although there are a great number of adolescent treatment models currently utilized across the country, this review focuses on three integrated family-based treatment models with proven efficacy: (a) Multisystemic Therapy (MST; Henggeler, Schoenwald, Borduin, Rawland, & Cunningham, 1998), (b) Brief Strategic Family Therapy (BSFT; Szapocznik, Hervis, & Schwartz, 2003), and (c) Multidimensional Family Therapy (MDFT; Liddle, 2004; Center for Substance Abuse Treatment [CSAT], 2004). These family-based therapies focus on accurately assessing multiple influences and targeting effective intervention strategies designed to support changes throughout a number of systems that affect and serve to reinforce or support the adolescent's problem behaviors.     

Parenting with a diagnosis bipolar disorder

Title.  Parenting with a diagnosis bipolar disorder.
Aim.  This paper is a report of a study of the ways in which bipolar disorder is constructed in the DSM-IV and popular texts, and how parents who have been diagnosed as having a bipolar disorder construct their role as parent.
Background.  Research into parenting and mental illness has typically taken a deficit-based approach that focuses on the risks to children when a parent has a mental illness. Literature that considers parenting specifically in the context of bipolar disorder retains a focus on the increased risk to their children of psychopathology or psychosocial difficulties.
Method.  A critical discourse analysis was conducted using interviews with five parents who had received a diagnosis of bipolar disorder. These interviews were examined in relation to the text that constructs the diagnosis of bipolar disorder (DSM-IV) and the popular texts from which the parents drew their understandings of parenting.
Findings.  The need to monitor and moderate emotions was a dominant theme that emerged from the analysis. For these parents this also involved teaching moderation to their children and monitoring it in their children's development. The consequence of this for these parents was a heightened sense of the need for self-surveillance.
Conclusion.  The challenge for people working with parents who have been diagnosed with a bipolar disorder is to support them to feel confident in the management of their bipolar disorder and their ability to parent effectively.