Supportive Coparenting,Parenting Stress,Harsh Parenting,and Child Behavior Problems in Nonmarital Families

Supportive coparenting is an identified protective factor for child development and behavioral outcomes. What is less known is how supportive coparenting dynamically links with other aspects of parenting and parent well‐being, particularly in multi‐stressed nonmarital families. This study used data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing study, analyzed within a structural equation model, to explore how mothers’ experience of maternal depression, maternal age, father education, and SES interacted with their parenting stress and supportive coparenting to impact child behavioral problems and harsh parenting practices. Among the findings, more supportive coparenting was found to be significantly associated with fewer child behavioral problems and less harsh parenting. Transmitted through supportive coparenting and parenting stress acting as mediator, maternal depressive symptoms were indirectly and positively related to harsh parenting practices and child behavior problems. These findings are discussed within the context of the broader literature and next steps for research are discussed.     

Parental Opioid Abuse: A Review of Child Outcomes,Parenting, and Parenting Interventions

Opioid abuse is now considered an epidemic, and many of the adults using this substance are parents. The purpose of the current paper is twofold: (1) to review rigorously conducted studies (e.g., included a comparison group; utilized inferential statistics) examining the association of opioid abuse with parenting and child outcomes, and (2) to review parenting intervention programs with these caregivers. Findings indicate that there are very few rigorously conducted studies examining children and parenting when parents abuse opioids. Furthermore, only four intervention programs have been conducted using randomized control trials and inferential statistics. We conclude that there is limited research that can be labeled as a rigorous science currently addressing this aspect of the opioid epidemic. Recommendations for further research are delineated.     

Authoritative Parenting, Parenting Stress, and Self-Care in Pre-Adolescents with Type 1 Diabetes

Parent involvement in type 1 diabetes (T1DM) care leads to improved adherence; however, the manner in which parents approach illness management interactions with children must also be considered. It was hypothesized that greater use of an authoritative parenting style and less parenting stress would be associated with greater behavioral adherence and better metabolic control. Ninety-five primary caregivers of preadolescents (ages 8-11) with T1DM completed questionnaires assessing parenting style, pediatric parenting stress, and child behavioral adherence. Caregivers primarily self-identified as using an authoritative parenting style. Greater authoritative parenting was associated with greater behavioral adherence and less difficulty with pediatric parenting stress; no differences in metabolic control were observed. Greater engagement in authoritative parenting behaviors may contribute to increased age-appropriate child behavioral adherence and less pediatric parenting stress. Interventions highlighting diabetes-specific authoritative parenting techniques may enhance health outcomes and improve overall family functioning.     

Parenting styles

Parental educational styles constitute one of the key elements of family socialization. The aim of the present essay is to present the results of a research project carried out in the Principality of Asturias (Spain) among 2,965 families with children of infant and primary-school age (5-8 years old). This research attempts to analyse, among other aspects, parental behaviour tendencies in child upbringing. The analysis of the results obtained allows us to: 1) identify the most common attitudinal and behavioural tendencies of parents in the upbringing of their children; 2) determine how many people have a well defined parental style, and delimit their socio-educational characteristics. Lastly, we consider the need to change some parental behaviour patterns and stress the importance of family education programmes, with the aim of promoting appropriate parenting models and modifying or improving current practices.     

Perceived Threat,Controlling Parenting,and Children's Achievement Orientations

Maternal perceptions of threat in the environment were examined as concomitants of controlling (vs. autonomy supportive) parenting. Forty mothers and their third-grade children were videotaped while completing homework-like tasks together. Maternal controlling (vs. autonomy supportive) behavior was measured both attitudinally by questionnaire, and behaviorally by coding of the videotapes. Mothers reported on their perceptions of environmental threat (worry, instability, scarcity). Results indicated that perceptions of threat were positively associated with controlling behaviors exhibited during the tasks, and negatively associated with children's motivation. Further, the relation between perceived instability and children's motivation was mediated by controlling parenting. Controlling parenting is associated with parental perceptions of threat and is one pathway through which threat may be associated with children's achievement goals.     

Relations between Parenting Stress,Parenting Style,and Child Executive Functioning for Children with ADHD or Autism

Relations among parenting stress, parenting style, and child executive functioning for children with disabilities are not easily teased apart. The current study explored these relations among 82 children and adolescents age 7–18: 21 with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, 33 with autism spectrum disorder, and 28 typically developing. Results indicated that children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder or autism spectrum disorder had more executive functioning deficits, and their parents reported more parenting stress and a greater use of permissive parenting, compared to typically developing children. In general, increased parenting stress was associated with greater use of authoritarian and permissive parenting styles, as well as more problems with behavior regulation for children. Authoritarian and permissive parenting styles were associated with poorer child executive functioning. Child diagnostic group (attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, autism spectrum disorder, typically developing) moderated relations between parent stress and child functioning, and between parenting style and child functioning. Implications for intervention with families of children with disabilities are discussed.     

Full-Spectrum Parenting

A parent of two teenagers diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome describes daily life with them and their neurotypical sibling.     

Parenting a damaged child: mourning, regression, and disappointment

This paper is an examination of the long-term parenting experiences of parents who have given birth to CNS damaged infants. In particular, the focus is on the mourning, regression, rage, and depression that frequently attend these parents throughout their lives and can become pathological and pathogenic interferences with the provision of good-enough parenting. Several clinical vignettes were presented, each of which illustrated the usefulness of different psychoanalytic clinical theories about normality and pathology of parenting and parent-child interaction. The now-classical contribution of Solnit and Stark (Mourning and the Birth of a Defective Child, 1962) is reviewed along with Benedek's and others' psychoanalytic theories about normal parenting. The thinking of these writers is within the framework of structural/libidinal theory and seems to be useful in describing certain parenting problems that concern the mourning and regressive aspects of parenting. However, it was proposed that some of the adaptive coping and pathology encompassed by Solnit and Stark's explanations is not comfortably illuminated by the structural clinical theory of conflict and drives. Freud's discussion (1917) compares mourning and melancholia, which he differentiated as related but dynamically distinct clinical phenomena. This work is briefly recalled as an earlier point in theory building where structural theory was not sufficient to explain clinical depression and rage that exceeds normal mourning (as in Freud's melancholia). It is felt that an additional theoretical perspective on parenting provided by self psychology can fill in some of the gaps left by structural theory explanations. The self psychology perspective is particularly helpful with understanding the rage, ambivalence, and chronic depression often experienced by parents of damaged children. According to this perspective, the damaged child is a disappointing selfobject for the parent, and the parent's self organization will give him the resources to cope adaptively or to develop narcissistic pathology. Three types of intrapsychic problems for a parent are described: mourning the lost object, the fantasied perfect child; experiencing and recovering from regression to early identifications with his own parents; withstanding tension and regulating one's self (experiencing chronic depression and rage) when confronted with a great disappointment in a selfobject (represented by the damaged child). It is important when designing intervention strategies in a hospital or pediatric clinic setting to clarify which type of problem is the major focus of the parent's struggle.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)     

Parenting, coparenting, and effortful control in preschoolers

This study investigated the relations among parenting, coparenting, and effortful control in preschoolers. The sample included 89 families with 2 parents and their firstborn 36-month-old children. Information was obtained by means of observation and parent-report questionnaires. In general, maternal parenting, paternal parenting, and coparenting were related to effortful control. Effortful control was more strongly predicted from parenting and coparenting when the same measurement method (observation or parent reports) was used. For both observation and parent reports, coparenting contributed to effortful control over and above maternal and paternal parenting. The results indicate the importance of adding indicators of triadic family processes to the study of parenting and young children's effortful control.     

Shared Parenting Dysfunction

Joint custody of children is the most prevalent court ordered arrangement for families of divorce. The goal of joint custody is to provide children the benefit of both parents' involvement and influence in their lives. To achieve this goal, judges require parents to engage in shared parenting, where joint decision-making and co-operation are necessary. A growing body of literature indicates that many parents engage in behaviors that are incompatible with shared parenting. The present article provides specific criteria for a definition of Shared Parenting Dysfunction. Clinical aspects of the phenomenon are reviewed and directions for research are delineated.     

Acculturation Conflict,Cultural Parenting Self‐Efficacy,and Perceived Parenting Competence in Asian American and Latino/a Families

Parents from immigrant backgrounds must deal with normative parenting demands as well as unique challenges associated with acculturation processes. The current study examines the independent and interactive influences of acculturation conflict and cultural parenting self‐efficacy (PSE; e.g., parents’ confidence in instilling heritage, American, and bicultural values in their children) on perceptions of general parenting competence. Using data from 58 Asian American and 153 Latin American parents of children in grades 6–12, ethnic differences were also explored. Results suggest that lower acculturation conflict is associated with higher perceptions of general parenting competence for both Asian and Latin American parents. Higher cultural PSE is associated with higher perceived general parenting competence for Latino/a parents only. One significant interaction was found, and only for Asian Americans, whereby the negative association between acculturation conflict and perceptions of parenting competence was weaker for those who felt efficacious in transmitting heritage messages. Results are discussed in light of clinical implications and the need for further recognition and study of culturally relevant factors and frameworks among families from immigrant backgrounds.     

Maternal BIS Sensitivity, Overprotective Parenting, and Children's Internalizing Behaviors

Although sensitivity to the Behavioral Inhibition System within Gray's (1970) reinforcement sensitivity theory relates to individuals' own depressive and anxious symptomatology, less is known about how parental BIS sensitivity relates to early indicators of internalizing problems in young children. Moreover, the extent to which this parental characteristic relates to parenting behavior, and children's internalizing problems above and beyond parenting, remains unknown. The current study assessed maternal BIS sensitivity, overprotective parenting, and toddlers' internalizing behaviors in a sample of 91 mothers while controlling for mothers' own internalizing symptomatology. Heightened BIS sensitivity related to both overprotective parenting and internalizing behaviors. Overprotective parenting partially mediated the relation between BIS sensitivity and children's internalizing behaviors, although BIS sensitivity maintained a marginal relation to internalizing behaviors. Maternal BIS sensitivity and toddler internalizing behaviors may represent a shared disposition towards inhibition that is somewhat accounted for by overprotective parenting.     

Equally Shared Parenting

Conventional images of motherhood and fatherhood, social interactions, and gender-based job pressures push couples toward unequal parenting. Equally sharing parents resist those pressures, and construct equality through everyday negotiations and ongoing decisions about family and work. They do not believe that mothers are more responsible for children, or more suited to care for them, than fathers. They avoid gender-based decisions about jobs that reinforce a gender-based division of labor at home. Qualitative research is necessary to unravel the complex interactions between work and family arrangements, and to show how economic, social, and ideological factors constrain family arrangements, but are also transformed in their creation.     

Feminism and Attachment Parenting: Attitudes, Stereotypes, and Misperceptions

This paper investigated attitudes and stereotypes about what feminist women, primarily from the United States, believed about a number of practices associated with attachment parenting which is theorized to be both feminist and non-feminist. The goals of this study were to determine whether feminists endorsed attachment parenting and whether stereotypes of feminists’ beliefs corresponded to actual feminists’ attitudes. Women were recruited online, primarily through blogs, to complete an online survey about feminism and mothering. Four hundred and thirty one women comprised the sample for the current investigation and included heterosexual-identified feminist mothers (n?=?147), feminist non-mothers (n?=?75), non-feminist mothers (n?=?143), and non-feminist non-mothers (n?=?66). Participants were asked to rate their own attitudes towards specific practices associated with attachment parenting and to indicate their perceptions of the beliefs of the typical feminist. Results indicated that feminists were more supportive of attachment parenting practices than were non-feminists. Non-feminists, particularly mothers, held misperceptions about the typical feminist, seeing them as largely uninterested in the time-intensive and hands-on practices associated with attachment parenting. Feminist mothers also held stereotypes about feminists and saw themselves as somewhat atypical feminists who were more interested in attachment parenting than they thought was typical of feminists. Our data indicated that feminists did endorse attachment parenting and that stereotypes of feminists related to attachment parenting are untrue. Furthermore, the role of feminism in the identity of feminist mothers and whether attachment parenting is truly a feminist way to parent are discussed.     

Parenting processes,self-esteem,and aggression: A mediation model

The present study examined the relations between perceived maternal and paternal parenting processes and adolescent aggression, and to what extent these relations were mediated by self-esteem in a sample of 546 (43.8% males and 56.2% females) Turkish adolescents. Participants’ ages ranged from 14 to 18 with a mean of 15.91 years (SD = .95). Findings supported our hypothesized model of the effect of perceived parenting processes on aggression as being mediated through self-esteem for both maternal and paternal parenting measures. Specifically, self-esteem mediated the relations between parental closeness, monitoring, peer approval and adolescent aggression. Self-esteem is an important individual charecteristic to consider for prevention efforts of adolescent aggressive behaviors, along with key parenting behaviors.     

Parenting, achievement strategies and satisfaction in ice hockey

The aim of this study is to understand adolescent players' satisfaction as a function of parenting styles, players' achievement strategies, and their norm breaking behavior. Finnish 14- and 16-year-old ice-hockey players (n=1018) completed a questionnaire measuring their achievement strategies (SAQ; Nurmi, Salmela--Aro & Haavisto, 1995 b), as well as scales of norm breaking and satisfaction, prepared for the present study. The parents (n=979) filled in scales measuring their parenting styles (CRPR; Pulkkinen, 1996) and attitudes towards norm breaking. Results revealed that players from authoritative families who showed a high level of mastery-orientation expressed high satisfaction in playing ice hockey. Results also showed negative associations between authoritative parenting and both task irrelevant and norm breaking behavior. Parents with parental stress and those with authoritarian parenting styles showed positive attitudes to norm breaking behavior, and players from authoritarian and parental stress homes showed norm breaking behavior in ice hockey. There was no association between norm breaking behavior and player satisfaction. Our results contribute to the planning of a coaching system that serves more educational and developmental purposes, and that encourages the desire to play ice hockey as a hobby.     

Parenting Beliefs, Parental Stress, and Social Support Relationships

The present study built on prior research by examining the relationship of parental stress and social support to parenting beliefs and behaviors. A sample of 87 parents provided their views concerning the importance of parenting characteristics as well as their level of parental stress and perceived social support. These parents completed the Parent Behavior Importance Questionnaire-Revised, as well as the Parenting Stress Index-Short Form, and the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support. Results reveal that, in general, less parenting stress was related to more positive parenting perceptions and more parenting stress was related to less positive parenting perceptions. Perceived social support was not found to moderate the relationship between parenting stress and parenting perceptions. This study extends prior research regarding parenting in relation to stress by adding the dimension of social support. There are substantial implications for parent education, professional practice, and research.     

Parenting,Protecting, Preserving:Mission of the Adolescent Female Runaway

This paper presents a systemic framework for therapy with families of adolescent female runaways. The runaway adolescent is viewed as serving three functions within her family. First, she often parents her parents and siblings. Second, she protects her parents' marriage and regulates marital distance. Third, she preserves her family unit at the preadolescent developmental stage. Interventions are described that remove the adolescent from those roles by empowering the parents to take charge of the adolescent, by changing the communication process such that the couple deal with their marital issues without the help of the teenager, and by facilitating the family's movement toward a new stage of separation and individuation.