Clinical,developmental and social aspects of infant crying and colic

Persistent unexplained infant crying in the first few months is a common source of distress for parents and is costly for the health services. The aim was to assess the merits of developmental and social conceptualizations of this phenomenon, compared to the clinical approach as represented by the concept of colic. From a community sample of 530 infants, 67 who met the ‘rule of threes’ definition of colic by fussing and crying for 3 or more hours per day at 4-5 weeks of age were chosen. To avoid confusion, these infants were called ‘persistent criers’. Groups of ‘evening criers’ (N = 38) and ‘moderate cries’ (N = 55) were also selected. These 160 infants were assessed by researcher measures of their consolability and by maternal diary measures of their amounts of fussing, crying and colic behaviour when 5-6 weeks old. The persistent and evening criers cried more than the moderate criers. However, irritable, ‘fussy’ behaviour was the predominant form of distress for all three groups of infants. Colic bouts–defined as ‘bouts of intense, unsoothable crying and other behaviour, perhaps due to stomach or bowel pain’–were rare even among the persistent criers and only 7% of these infants were found to be inconsolable. The results support growing evidence that normal infant developmental processes are central to this phenomenon. In addition, social interactions between infants and parents, and parental subjective variables, appear to be involved. Colic was distinguished as a rare and separate form of distress by the infants' mothers. Further evidence needs to determine whether colic is a distinct clinical phenomenon or an extreme degree of normal distress interpreted within a western cultural framework.     

Infantile Colic Among The Traditional Shona People: An Ethnopsychological perspective

The study provides an ethnopsychological view of infantile colic among the Shona people. Ethnopsychological perspectives are culturally grounded views of psychological phenomena, and intersect a number of disciplines, including anthropology, sociology and cultural psychology. The study considered Shona perspectives on the aetiology, diagnosis and treatment of colic among the traditional Shona people from their cultural lenses. Unlike Western perspectives which regard infantile colic as primarily reactive physiological phenomenon to gastrointestinal disorders or other psychosomatic stimulation, the traditional Shona people emphasize the social aspects of infantile colic. They may also ascribe infantile colic to diseases of childhood and the influence of supernatural powers.     

DOES SLEEPTIGHT WORK? A BEHAVIORAL ANALYSIS OF THE EFFECTIVENESS OF SLEEPTIGHT FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF INFANT COLIC

We evaluated the effectiveness of SleepTight in the management of infant colic. SleepTight is a device that vibrates the infant's crib to simulate the action of a car traveling at 55 mph. A multiple baseline design across 6 infants was used. Data were collected on infant crying, parental use of SleepTight, and parental satisfaction. The application of SleepTight was associated with reduction in crying in 4 of the 6 infants. These outcome data notwithstanding, consideration of reported nonrecording of severe episodes and mixed reports of satisfaction suggests that SleepTight may not be a viable means of managing infant colic.     

The effects of parental illness and other ill family members on youth caregiving experiences

Informed by a model of family role redistribution derived from the family ecology framework, this study examined differences in two proposed psychological components of role redistribution (youth caregiving experiences and responsibilities) between youth of a parent with illness and their peers from ‘healthy’ families controlling for the effects of whether a parent is ill or some other family member, illness type and demographics. Based on self-report questionnaire data, four groups of Australian children were derived from a community sample of 2474 youth (‘healthy’ family, n = 1768; parental illness, n = 336; other family member illness (OFMI), n = 254; both parental and OFMI, n = 116). The presence of any family member with a serious illness is associated with an intensification of youth caregiving experiences relative to peers from healthy families. This risk is elevated if the ill family member is a parent, if more illnesses are present and by certain youth and family demographics, and especially by higher caregiving responsibilities. The presence of a family member, particularly a parent, with a serious medical condition has pervasive increased effects on youth caregiving compared to healthy families, and these effects are not fully accounted for by illness type, demographics or caregiving responsibilities.     

Earliest memories in Israeli kibbutz upbringing: it is parental engagement that makes a difference

Culture and parenting shape the ability to recall early childhood experiences. This research focused on the unique context of upbringing in the Israeli kibbutz and examined how cultural orientation and experiences of parental engagement in Kibbutz and non-Kibbutz settings shaped adults’ earliest memories. Participants were 108 women (study 1) and 75 women and men (study 2) who were raised in traditional kibbutz upbringing or in a non-kibbutz family setting. In addition to reporting their earliest memory and age at earliest memory, participants estimated retrospectively the amount of daily time spent in interaction with parents, caregivers, and other children during the time of earliest memory. Overall, upbringing-related variations in cultural orientation were evident in the content of memories. A prediction of later age at earliest memory due to limited opportunities for parent–child interaction characteristic of traditional kibbutz upbringing was not supported. Rather, in both studies, age at earliest memory was linked to retrospective estimation of parental engagement, after controlling for childhood ecology. Study 2 revealed also a link of age at earliest memory to retrospective estimation of involvement with non-parental caregivers. These findings are congruent with the social-interaction model’s claims about the importance of interaction with caregiving adults to autobiographical memory’s development.     

Self-compassion reduces parental burnout: Mediation roles of parental psychological control and support

This study investigated the mediating role of parental psychological control (PPC) and support in the relationship between self-compassion and parental burnout syndrome. The study participants included 1185 Vietnamese parents who completed questionnaires regarding demographic information, parental burnout, self-compassion, parental support of the child, and PPC. We used data analyses, including structural equation modeling, to test the mediation roles of PPC and parental support of the child. Our main findings include: (1) self-compassion had a significant negative effect on parental burnout; (2) the mediation roles of PPC and parental support of the child were also significant. These results suggest that parents with high self-compassion tend to provide more support for children in daily parenting, which helps reduce parental burnout. In contrast, parents with low self-compassion were more likely to use PPC, which exacerbated their burnout. The results from this study provide suggestions for creating effective interventions in the family context to reduce parental burnout and improve parenting effectiveness.     

The role of negative reinforcement in infant caregiving: an experimental simulation

We observed 11 undergraduates in an experiment designed to simulate infant caregiving. In negative reinforcement conditions experienced by all participants, a targeted caregiving response (e.g., rocking a baby doll) produced escape from, and avoidance of, a recorded infant cry. Nine participants' caregiving was shown to be controlled by this negative reinforcement contingency. Nine participants experienced an extinction condition that consisted of an inescapable cry, and the previously reinforced caregiving responses of 2 of these participants were resistant to extinction. For both of these participants, the previously reinforced response was eliminated when an alternative form of caregiving was reinforced. These results highlight the role of negative reinforcement in infant caregiving and suggest the need for additional research on the effects of crying on caregivers as well as the development of effective strategies for minimizing infant crying.     

The interplay between parental beliefs about children's emotions and parental stress impacts children's attachment security

This study investigated how parental beliefs about children's emotions and parental stress relate to children's feelings of security in the parent–child relationship. Models predicting direct effects of parental beliefs and parental stress, and moderating effects of parental stress on the relationship between parental beliefs and children's feelings of security were tested. Participants were 85 African American, European American, and Lumbee American Indian 4th and 5th grade children and one of their parents. Children reported their feelings of security in the parent–child relationship; parents independently reported on their beliefs and their stress. Parental stress moderated relationships between three of the four parental beliefs about the value of children's emotions and children's attachment security. When parent stress was low, parental beliefs accepting and valuing children's emotions were not related to children's feelings of security; when parent stress was high, however, parental beliefs accepting and valuing children's emotions were related to children's feelings of security. These findings highlight the importance of examining parental beliefs and stress together for children's attachment security. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The development of parental monitoring during adolescence: A meta-analysis

Abstract

As adolescents grow up, one of the important developmental tasks is to individuate themselves and to become more autonomous from parents. This requires a realignment of the parent-adolescent communication. The current meta-analytic study aims at identifying developmental changes in parent-adolescent communication, conceptualized within the parental monitoring framework, as entailing parental solicitation, control and knowledge, and adolescent’s disclosure and secrecy. Thirty-one longitudinal studies published between 2000 and 2015 were identified and included in the current meta-analysis. Informants, age at assessment and study duration were tested as moderators. Results showed a low to medium normative decline in parental control (Cohen’s d = ?.395, 95% CI [?.541, ?.249]), knowledge (d = ?.245,95% CI [?.331, ?.160] and adolescence disclosure (d = ?.147, 95% CI [?.204, ?.090]), and an increase in adolescent’s secrecy (d = .194, CI [031, .356]). Parental solicitation decreased based on parents’ (d = ?.242, 95% CI[?.376, ?.109]) but not on adolescents’ reports (d = .038, 95% CI[?.099, .175]). Another significant moderator was the duration of the study, with studies longer than 2 years being able to detect a more pronounced change in parental control than studies lasting less than 2 years (≤2 years, d = ?.139 vs. duration > 2 years, d = ?.581). Limitations of the current knowledge and new directions of studies are discussed.     

Perceived parental involvement and well-being among Ethiopian adolescents

This study examined the relationship between perceived parent academic socialisation of their children and the children’s well-being in four domains: depression, self-esteem, school adjustment, and substance use. The participants consisted of 809 Ethiopian high school students, mostly male (52.9%) (mean age = 16.8 years; SD = 1.58 years). Data were collected using self-report measures of perceived parental involvement in education support, depression, self-esteem, school adjustment, and substance use. Multiple regression analyses were used to predict aspects of child well-being from parent child academic socialisation. Generally, results showed that increased level of parental academic socialisation predicted lower depression symptoms, school adjustment problems, substance use, and also increased self-esteem among adolescents.     

Early cognitive development and parental education

Relations between cognitive development in infancy and early childhood, and parental education were examined. Previous research has found little association between measures of the parenting environment, including parental education and socio‐economic status (SES), and cognitive development in infants and children under 2 years of age. However, the earlier studies may not have reliably measured individual differences in cognitive abilities, thus, there is uncertainty as to what age elements in the parental environment affect cognitive development. Seventy‐six infants were tested on a range of cognitive tasks at 3‐month intervals between the ages of 9 and 18 months. Information on parental education (a component of SES) was collected. Seventy‐one of the children returned at 27 months and completed the Bayley Scales of Infant Development, Mental Scale, which was used as an outcome measure for the earlier tasks. The findings present a clear indication that cognitive development in early childhood is affected by the parenting environment, at least from as early as 12 months. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Bullies and delinquents: personal characteristics and parental styles

This research aimed to analyse the personal characteristics and parental styles of bullies and delinquents, and to establish which factors were related to the bully/delinquent group and which were related to only bullies or only delinquents. A self‐report questionnaire on bullying and delinquency was completed by 113 girls and 125 boys aged 11–14 in a middle school in Rome. Bullying and delinquency were more common among boys than among girls. Bullying did not vary significantly with age, but delinquency increased with age. Bullying and delinquency were especially related for boys and for older students. Only bullies were younger, while only delinquents were older, suggesting that bullying might be an early stage on a developmental sequence leading to delinquency. Only bullies and only delinquents had different parenting correlates; only bullies had authoritarian parents and disagreed with their parents, whereas only delinquents had conflictual and low supportive parents. This suggested that bullying and delinquency are not merely different behavioural manifestations of the same underlying construct. Parent training interventions might prevent both bullying and delinquency. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Persistent crying and parenting: Search for a butterfly in a dynamic system

The risks and causes of persistent crying in early infancy are discussed on the basis of a study of 61 infants referred to the Munich Interdisciplinary Research and Intervention Program for Fussy Babies for persistent crying between 1 and 6 months of age, and of a community sample of 51 infants of the same age. Particular attention was paid to pre-verbal parent-infant communication, the development of which was interpreted in terms of a dynamic interactional system including both regulatory and communicative predispositions in infants and intuitive competence for supporting infant predispositions in parents. Neither a gut problem nor any other single causal factor was identified for persistent crying in the majority of cases. In contrast, persistent crying was significantly associated with multiple biological and psychosocial risk factors for both parents and infants. Neurological immaturity, difficult temperament and sleep problems in infants, and impaired psychological conditions, limited resources and failures of intuitive competences in mothers were found to threaten the developmental process in infants and give rise to ‘vicious circles’ which were destabilizing the interactional systems. Increased attention to intuitive parental competences is recommended as one effective model for therapeutic interventions.     

Self-control,parental crime,and discipline across three generations

The objective of this study is to examine the relationships between self-control, parental crime, and use of discipline across three generations. Data spanning 30 years from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, are analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling. This study focuses on whether different types of discipline used by parents predict the self-control of each successive generation. We also examine whether self-control and criminal activities of parents are predictive of parenting and resulting self-control of children. We find that discipline has a weak relationship to self-control but that parental crime and self-control do relate to the self-control of later generations.     

Cyberbullying: youngsters' experiences and parental perception.

This paper describes a survey on the prevalence and nature of cyberbullying of and by youngsters and the parental perceptions. Two questionnaires, one for youngsters and one for their parents, were sent to 1,211 final-year pupils of primary schools and first-year pupils of all levels of secondary schools and their parents. Pupils completed the questionnaires in their classroom, and parents completed them at home. The results show that about 16% of the youngsters had engaged in bullying via the Internet and text messages, while about 23% of the youngsters had been victims of cyberbullying. Cyberbullying seems to be a rather anonymous, individualistic activity, which primarily takes place at home. The most frequently used nature of harassment were name-calling and gossiping. Youngsters mostly react to cyberbullying by pretending to ignore it, by really ignoring it, or by bullying the bully. Most parents set rules for their children about the way to they should use the Internet but are not really conscious of the harassments. They underestimate their own children's bullying behavior and have insufficient notion of their children as victims of bullying.