Background
In humanitarian settings, family‐level drivers of mental health are insufficiently documented; we examined the strength of caregiver—child associations with two‐wave, family‐level Afghan ...data.
Methods
We recruited a gender‐balanced sample of 681 caregiver—child dyads (n = 1,362 respondents) using stratified random‐sampling in government schools in Kabul (364 dyads) and refugee schools in Peshawar (317 dyads). One year after baseline, we re‐interviewed 64% of Kabul and 31% of Peshawar cohorts (n = 331 dyads, 662 respondents), retaining fewer Peshawar families due to refugee repatriation. In multivariable analyses adjusted for baseline, we assessed the extent to which caregiver mental health (Self‐Report Questionnaire, SRQ‐20) was associated with child symptom scores of post‐traumatic stress (Child Revised Impact of Events Scale, CRIES), depression (Depression Self‐Rating Scale, DSRS), psychiatric difficulties, impact, and prosocial strength (Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire, SDQ).
Results
Caregiver mental health was prospectively associated with all eight measures of child mental health at follow‐up, adjusted for baseline. For post‐traumatic stress, caregiver mental health had a predictive impact comparable to the child experiencing one or two lifetime trauma events. For depression, caregiver mental health approached the predictive impact of female gender. Thus a one SD change in caregiver SRQ‐20 was associated with a 1.04 point change on CRIES and a 0.65 point change in DSRS. For multi‐informant SDQ data, caregiver—child associations were strongest for caregiver ratings. For child‐rated outcomes, associations were moderated by maternal literacy, a marker of family‐level dynamics. Both adults and children identified domestic violence and quality of home life as independent risk and protective factors.
Conclusions
In the context of violence and displacement, efforts to improve child mental health require a thoughtful consideration of the mental health cascade across generations and the cluster of adversities that impact family wellbeing. We identify culturally meaningful leverage points for building family‐level resilience, relevant to the prevention and intervention agenda in global mental health.
Abstract The purpose of the current study was to establish a measure of helicopter parenting that was distinct from other forms of parental control, and to examine parental and behavioral correlates ...of helicopter parenting. Participants included 438 undergraduate students from four universities in the United States ( Mage = 19.65, SD = 2.00, range = 18–29; 320 women, 118 men), and at least one of their parents. Analyses revealed that helicopter parenting loaded on a separate factor from both behavioral and psychological control, and that helicopter parenting was positively associated with behavioral and psychological control, but not at levels suggesting complete overlap. Results also revealed that helicopter parenting was positively associated with parental involvement and with other positive aspects of the parent–child relationship; but negatively associated with parental autonomy granting and school engagement. Discussion focuses on the implications of helicopter parenting for healthy development during emerging adulthood.
Parenting programs have the potential to improve the health and well-being of parents and children. A challenge for providers is to recruit and retain parents in programs. Studies researching ...engagement with programs have largely focused on providers', policy makers', or researchers' reflections of their experience of parents' participation. We conducted a systematic review of qualitative studies where parents had been asked why they did or did not choose to commence, or complete programs, and compared these perceptions with those of researchers and those delivering programs. We used data-mining techniques to identify relevant studies and summarized findings using framework synthesis methods. Six facilitator and five barrier themes were identified as important influences on participation, with a total of 33 subthemes. Participants focused on the opportunity to learn new skills, working with trusted people, in a setting that was convenient in time and place. Researchers and deliverers focused on tailoring the program to individuals and on the training of staff. Participants and researchers/ deliverers therefore differ in their opinions of the most important features of programs that act as facilitators and barriers to engagement and retention. Program developers need to seek the views of both participants and deliverers when evaluating programs.
The present meta-analysis assessed concurrent and longitudinal associations between parental educational expectations and child achievement, and factors that mediate the effect of expectations on ...achievement. A systematic search in electronic databases identified 169 studies that were included in a random-effects meta-analysis. We found small to moderate bivariate cross-sectional (
r
= .30) and longitudinal associations (
r
= .28) between parental expectation and achievement which persisted after statistically controlling for socioeconomic status. Associations varied, in part, by children’s age, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, matching of type of expectations and achievement, type of expectation assessed, publication status, and informant. The analysis of cross-lagged effects indicated that parental expectations predicted change in child achievement, thus indicating that expectations had an effect over and above the effect of prior achievement. Effects of expectations on change in achievement were even stronger (
r
= .15) than the effects of achievement on change in expectation (
r
= .09). Parental expectations tended to be higher than the child achievement. Associations between expectations and achievement were partially mediated by educational expectations in the offspring, child academic engagement, and academic self-concept, and to a lesser extent, by parental achievement-supportive behaviors. We conclude that parents are recommended to communicate positive educational expectations to their children. The transmission of positive expectations to the offspring and the encouragement of academic engagement seem to be more effective in realizing parental expectations than parental behavioral academic involvement such as checking homework and staying in contact with teachers.
Amidst the shrill and discordant notes struck in debates over the make-up-or breakdown-of the American family, the family keeps evolving. This book offers a close and clear-eyed look into a form this ...change has taken most recently, the lesbian coparent family. Based on intensive interviews and extensive firsthand observation,The Family of Womanchronicles the experience of thirty-four families headed by lesbian mothers whose children were conceived by means of donor insemination.With its intimate perspective on the interior dynamics of these families and its penetrating view of their public lives, the book provides rare insight into the workings of emerging family forms and their significance for our understanding of "family"-and our culture itself.
There is growing interest in the development of behavioral parent interventions targeting emotional and behavioral problems in children with autism spectrum disorders. Such interventions have ...potential to improve a number of child and parental well-being outcomes beyond disruptive child behavior. This systematic review and meta-analysis assesses evidence for the efficacy of behavioral parent interventions for disruptive and hyperactive child behavior in autism spectrum disorders, as well as parenting efficacy and stress. A total of 11 articles from nine randomized controlled trials were included. Sufficient data were available to calculate standardized mean difference and show favorable effects of behavioral parent interventions on parent-reported measures of child disruptive behavior (standardized mean difference = 0.67), hyperactivity (standardized mean difference = 0.31) and parent stress (standardized mean difference = 0.37); effects on parent efficacy are less clear (standardized mean difference = 0.39, p = 0.17). There were insufficient data to explore intervention effects on internalizing behavior in autism spectrum disorders, parenting behaviors, or observational and teacher-reported outcomes, providing important avenues for future research. This review adds to growing evidence of the efficacy of behavioral parent interventions for child behavior and parental well-being in autism spectrum disorders (Prospero: CRD42016033979).
Based on groundbreaking original research, this book provides a comprehensive account of the issues surrounding pregnancy and parenthood for young people in and leaving care. Featuring the voices of ...care-experienced parents, together with reflections from practitioners, it offers valuable insights into the issues facing this group. Using qualitative data to explore why parenthood is such an important issue for young people in and leaving care, this book shows what can be learned from their experiences in order to improve outcomes for parents and children in the future. The author highlights the practical and emotional needs of care-experienced parents and gives clear advice for practitioners on how these needs might be better addressed through summary points, practice guidance and recommendations for policy and practice.
Socioeconomic Status, Parenting, and Child Development presents cutting-edge thinking and research on linkages among socioeconomic status, parenting, and child development. The contributors represent ...an array of different disciplines, and approach the issues from a variety of perspectives. Accordingly, their "take" on how SES matters in the lives of children varies.
This volume is divided into two parts. Part I concerns the constructs and measurement of SES and Part II discusses the functions and effects of SES. Each part presents four substantive chapters on the topic followed by an interpretive and constructively critical commentary.
The chapters--considered as a whole--attest to the value of systematically examining the components of SES and how each flows through an array of specific parenting practices and resources both within and outside the home environment to help shape the course of child development. The result is a more fully delineated picture of how SES impacts the lives of children in the 21st century--a picture that contains a road map for the next generation of studies of SES and its role in the rapidly evolving ecology of family life.
The COVID-19 pandemic has presented families around the world with extraordinary challenges related to physical and mental health, economic security, social support, and education. The current study ...capitalizes on a longitudinal, cross-national study of parenting, adolescent development, and young adult competence to document the association between personal disruption during the pandemic and reported changes in internalizing and externalizing behavior in young adults and their mothers since the pandemic began. It further investigates whether family functioning during adolescence 3 years earlier moderates this association. Data from 484 families in five countries (Italy, the Philippines, Sweden, Thailand, and the United States) reveal that higher levels of reported disruption during the pandemic are related to reported increases in internalizing and externalizing behaviors after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic for young adults (Mage = 20) and their mothers in all five countries, with the exception of one association in Thailand. Associations between disruption during the pandemic and young adults' and their mothers' reported increases in internalizing and externalizing behaviors were attenuated by higher levels of youth disclosure, more supportive parenting, and lower levels of destructive adolescent-parent conflict prior to the pandemic. This work has implications for fostering parent-child relationships characterized by warmth, acceptance, trust, open communication, and constructive conflict resolution at all times given their protective effects for family resilience during times of crisis.
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