The nineteenth and twentieth centuries saw a dramatic shift in the role of children in American society and families. No longer necessary for labor, children became economic liabilities and ...twentieth-century parents exhibited a new level of anxiety concerning the welfare of their children and their own ability to parent effectively. What caused this shift in the ways parenting and childhood were experienced and perceived? Why, at a time of relative ease and prosperity, do parents continue to grapple with uncertainty and with unreasonable expectations of both themselves and their children?
Peter N. Stearns explains this phenomenon by examining the new issues the twentieth century brought to bear on families. Surveying popular media, *#8220;expert” childrearing manuals, and newspapers and journals published throughout the century, Stearns shows how schooling, physical and emotional vulnerability, and the rise in influence of commercialism became primary concerns for parents. The result, Stearns shows, is that contemporary parents have come to believe that they are participating in a culture of neglect and diminishing standards. Anxious Parents: A Modern History of Childrearing in America shows the reasons for this belief through an historic examination of modern parenting.
Christof Sparr
Angewandte Chemie International Edition,
January 21, 2019, Volume:
58, Issue:
4
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
“The most important thing I learned from my parents is the value of a fulfilling profession. If I were not a scientist, I would be ideally a maître chocolatier …” Find out more about Christof Sparr ...in his Author Profile.
Michael J. Zaworotko
Angewandte Chemie (International ed.),
November 12, 2018, Volume:
57, Issue:
46
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
“The most important thing I learned from my parents is integrity. My favorite place on earth is any Hawaiian island except Oahu …” Find out more about Michael J. Zaworotko in his Author Profile.
Sijbren Otto
Angewandte Chemie International Edition,
August 13, 2018, Volume:
57, Issue:
33
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
The most important thing I learned from my parents is that when you do something, you do it properly. The biggest problem that scientists face is the metrics by which success is measured …” Find out ...more about Sijbren Otto in his Author Profile.
Since 2000, approximately 440,000 Mexicans have migrated to the United States every year. Tens of thousands have left children behind in Mexico to do so. For these parents, migration is a sacrifice. ...What do parents expect to accomplish by dividing their families across borders? How do families manage when they are living apart? More importantly, do parents' relocations yield the intended results? Probing the experiences of migrant parents, children in Mexico, and their caregivers, Joanna Dreby offers an up-close and personal account of the lives of families divided by borders. What she finds is that the difficulties endured by transnational families make it nearly impossible for parents' sacrifices to result in the benefits they expect. Yet, paradoxically, these hardships reinforce family members' commitments to each other. A story both of adversity and the intensity of family ties, Divided by Borders is an engaging and insightful investigation of the ways Mexican families struggle and ultimately persevere in a global economy.
Quantity and quality of caregiver input was examined longitudinally in a sample of 50 parent—child dyads to determine which aspects of input contribute most to children's vocabulary skill across ...early development. Measures of input gleaned from parent—child interactions at child ages 18, 30, and 42 months were examined in relation to children's vocabulary skill on a standardized measure 1 year later (e.g., 30, 42, and 54 months). Results show that controlling for socioeconomic status, input quantity, and children's previous vocabulary skill; using a diverse and sophisticated vocabulary with toddlers; and using decontextualized language (e.g., narrative) with preschoolers explains additional variation in later vocabulary ability. The differential effects of various aspects of the communicative environment at several points in early vocabulary development are discussed.
The extensive measures to prevent spread of COVID-19 have had a major impact on families' daily lives. Changes in family routines and experiences of COVID-19-related stress might negatively impact ...the quality of parenting and the parent-adolescent relationship. However, using active coping strategies might be associated with limited negative or even positive changes in the parent-adolescent relationship. This longitudinal, multi-informant, and pre-registered study used data of 240 mostly Dutch parents (85% mothers; Mage = 44.2 years old) and adolescents (50% girls; Mage = 11.4 years) from diverse SES backgrounds. Using Latent Change Score models, we examined how parent-reported parenting (i.e., positive parenting and discipline practices) and adolescent-reported relationship quality (i.e., support and negative interaction) changed from pre-COVID-19 (Fall 2019) to the COVID-19 period (Spring 2020). Moreover, we investigated whether parents' and adolescents' level of COVID-19-related stress was associated with the change in relationships, and whether active coping moderated the association between stress and changes in relationships. Results showed average decreases in support, positive parenting, and negative interactions between parents and adolescents. COVID-19-related stress was not a direct predictor of relationship changes and there was little evidence of moderating effects. Only adolescents' use of active coping strategies moderated the effect of stress on positive parenting. For high active coping adolescents, the link between stress and change in positive parenting was negative, whereas for low active coping adolescents this link was positive. The findings suggest that parent-adolescent relationships during a pandemic need attention, especially for adolescents with high stress levels and using active coping strategies.
Nowadays, smartphones interweave family life. Affordable prices, easy access, expanding network coverage, and more and more practical applications make them a must-have in everyday life. Not only do ...adults use the smartphone, but also their children do so, often every family member has a device. From a very young age, it starts to be used for entertaining children, and then, from the first years of school, to keep them connected to parents. This way, they become independent users at a very early age, and this also entails risks and the possibility of media manipulation that parents are not always aware of. We asked more than 300 Transylvanian parents about the place of smartphones in their families and examined their awareness of regulating their children on the use of these devices.
To slow down the spread of the COVID-19 virus, schools around the world were closed in early 2020, transferring children's scholastic activities to the homes and imposing a massive burden on parents ...and school-age children. Using data of a 21-day diary study conducted between March and April 2020 in Germany, this work examined whether (a) distance learning and (b) parents' involvement therein were associated with negative parent-child interactions and affective well-being of parents and children, over and above the effect of daily stressors. Participants were 562 parents (489 mothers, Mage = 42.79, SDage = 6.12, range = 25-63) most of whom were married (n = 382, 68.0%). They responded to the daily items with respect to the youngest child living in their household (Mage = 9.74, SDage = 2.81, range = 6-19). On days when children were working on school tasks, parents reported more negative parent-child interactions as well as lower parental and child positive affect and higher child negative affect, but not higher parental negative affect. Moreover, days when parents were more heavily involved in learning (i.e., when children worked less independently) were days with more negative parent-child interactions, lower parental and child positive affect, and higher parental and child negative affect. Negative parent-child interactions were linked to lower affective well-being of parents and children, and partially accounted for the relation among daily stressors and affective well-being. The present work highlights the need for measures to better support school-age children and their parents during distance learning.
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