父母迁移模式对农村留守儿童问题行为的影响

农村留守儿童是问题行为的高发群体,在不同父母迁移模式下,留守儿童在问题行为表现上存在差异.通过综述近年来农村留守儿童问题行为的研究,发现相较于非留守儿童,父母均迁移儿童的问题行为总体发生率显著较高;在父亲或母亲一方迁移情况下,母亲迁移儿童的问题行为发生率显著高于父亲迁移.本综述为进一步深入研究农村留守儿童问题行为提供参...     

父母反思功能在其童年期虐待经历与亲子关系间的中介作用

目的 探讨父母童年期虐待经历、父母反思功能和亲子关系的关系,为改善亲子关系提供理论依据.方法 2019年4-7月采用整群分层随机抽样的方法,使用儿童期虐待问卷(简版)、父母反思功能问卷、亲子关系量表对582名通州区3～6岁儿童的父母进行测查.结果 反思功能在父亲童年期虐待经历与亲子关系间不存在中介效应,模型拟合指数为x...     

Childhood socio‐economic disadvantage predicts reduced myelin growth across adolescence and young adulthood

Socio‐economic disadvantage increases exposure to life stressors. Animal research suggests early life stressors impact later neurodevelopment, including myelin developmental growth. To determine how early life disadvantage may affect myelin growth in adolescence and young adulthood, we analysed data from an accelerated longitudinal neuroimaging study measuring magnetisation transfer (MT), a myelin‐sensitive marker, in 288 participants (149 female) between 14 and 25 years of age at baseline. We found that early life economic disadvantage before age 12, measured by a neighbourhood poverty index, was associated with slower myelin growth. This association was observed for magnetization transfer in cortical, subcortical and core white matter regions, and also in key subcortical nuclei. Participant IQ at baseline, alcohol use, body mass index, parental occupation and self‐reported parenting quality did not account for these effects, but parental education did so partially. Specifically, positive parenting moderated the effect of socio‐economic disadvantage in a protective manner. Thus, early socioeconomic disadvantage appears to alter myelin growth across adolescence. This finding has potential translational implications, including clarifying whether reducing socio‐economic disadvantage during childhood, and increasing parental education and positive parenting, promote normal trajectories of brain development in economically disadvantaged contexts.     

Evolutionary‐adaptive and nonadaptive causes of infant attack/desertion in mammals: Toward a systematic classification of child maltreatment

Behaviors comparable to human child maltreatment are observed widely among mammals, in which parental care is mandatory for offspring survival. This article first reviews the recent findings on the neurobiological mechanisms for nurturing (infant caregiving) behaviors in mammals. Then the major causes of attack/desertion toward infants (conspecific young) in nonhuman mammals are classified into five categories. Three of the categories are ‘adaptive’ in terms of reproductive fitness: (i) attack/desertion toward non‐offspring; (ii) attack/desertion toward biological offspring with low reproductive value; and (iii) attack/desertion toward biological offspring under unfavorable environments. The other two are nonadaptive failures of nurturing motivation, induced by: (iv) caregivers’ inexperience; or (v) dysfunction in caregivers’ brain mechanisms required for nurturing behavior. The proposed framework covering both adaptive and nonadaptive factors comprehensively classifies the varieties of mammalian infant maltreatment cases and will support the future development of tailored preventive measures for each human case. Also included are remarks that are relevant to interpretation of available animal data to humans: (1) any kind of child abuse/neglect is not justified in modern human societies, even if it is widely observed and regarded as adaptive in nonhuman animals from the viewpoint of evolutionary biology; (2) group‐level characteristics cannot be generalized to individuals; and (3) risk factors are neither deterministic nor irreversible.     

Parent–student communication regarding alcohol use: an examination of tacit approval

Background: First-year college students appear to be at particular risk for experiencing negative alcohol-related consequences. This risk has fostered a need to identify malleable factors associated with first-year student alcohol consumption. Studies have shown significant positive associations between perceived parental approval of drinking and alcohol use and associated consequences. However, researchers have not yet identified the exact mechanism responsible for this relationship.

Objectives: This study examined a potential vehicle by which parents may communicate approval of drinking to their college aged children. Specifically, we tested if less parent communication about alcohol use would be perceived as tacit approval on the part of first-year college students.

Methods: Two hundred seventy-nine first-year undergraduate students age 18–20 answered online surveys of perceived parental approval of drinking, negative alcohol-related consequences, perceived parental knowledge, and parent–student communication regarding alcohol use.

Results: Contrary to hypothesis, our findings indicate the amount of parent–student communication regarding alcohol use did not predict perceived parental approval of drinking in first-year students, after controlling for the influence of gender, perceived parental knowledge, and negative consequences of alcohol use.

Conclusions: Results suggest that first-year college students may not interpret less parent–student communication regarding alcohol as tacit approval of drinking.