Genetic Counselors' Experiences with Paternal Involvement in Prenatal Genetic Counseling Sessions: An Exploratory Investigation

Limited research exists concerning male partners' participation in prenatal genetic counseling (R. Kenen, A. C. M. Smith, C. Watkins, & C. Zuber-Pitore, J. Genet Corns 9, 33–45, 2000). To further understand paternal participation, we interviewed 17 experienced prenatal genetic counselors to assess their perspectives on this issue. We investigated 6 research questions: 1) How do genetic counselors define paternal involvement, 2) how do they determine and address problematic involvement, 3) what factors influence involvement, 4) was paternal involvement addressed in training, 5) how might training be improved, and 6) how do participant strategies for addressing involvement compare to those of marriage/family therapists? Qualitative analysis revealed that 1) participants regard paternal involvement asimportant; 2) most address problematic involvement with strategies similar to those of marital/family therapists; 3) influential factors include male partner's characteristics, the couple's relationship (including culturalpractices), and pregnancy factors; and 4) participants received little or notraining on paternal involvement and recommended didactic and experientialactivities. Implications and research recommendations are presented.     

Relation of Behavioral and Psychological Involvement to a New Four-Factor Conceptualization of Work-Family Interference

The relation of role involvement to work-family interference has had inconsistent results in past research. By paying closer conceptual attention to the measurement of role involvement and work-family interference, this study addresses past inconsistent findings. First, a new four-factor measure of work-family interference is proposed that incorporates the dimension of externally generated versus internally generated conflict, which has been ignored in previous research. Second, role involvement is considered from both a behavioral and a psychological perspective. Data were obtained from a sample of 534 employed adults with families. The results suggest that a mapping of behavioral and psychological involvement to specific dimensions of external and internal work- family interference appears to be important when examining the general relation of role involvement to work-family interference.     

A multidimensional, multilevel examination of mother and father involvement among culturally diverse Head Start families

In this study we examined the relationships between family demographics and level of satisfaction with school contact as possible determinants of multiple dimensions of family involvement in early childhood education. Participants included 171 urban, Head Start parents (108 mothers and 63 fathers). Results revealed that for mothers, having less than a high school education was negatively associated with levels of home-school conferencing. For fathers, primary language spoken in the home was associated with both levels of home-school conferencing and school-based involvement, with Polish- and Spanish-speaking fathers participating less compared with their English-speaking counterparts. In addition, fathers of boys reported higher levels of home-school conferencing. Involvement at school was significantly associated with level of satisfaction with school contact for both mothers and fathers. Multilevel analyses revealed parent gender and satisfaction as the most salient predictors of involvement at the level of the family. Implications for future research, as well as family involvement practice and policy, are discussed.     

Disaggregating the Distal,Proximal, and Time-Varying Effects of Parent Alcoholism on Children’s Internalizing Symptoms

We tested whether children show greater internalizing symptoms when their parents are actively abusing alcohol. In an integrative data analysis, we combined observations over ages 2 through 17 from two longitudinal studies of children of alcoholic parents and matched controls recruited from the community. Using a mixed modeling approach, we tested whether children showed elevated mother- and child-reported internalizing symptoms (a) at the same time that parents showed alcohol-related consequences (time-varying effects), (b) if parents showed greater alcohol-related consequences during the study period (proximal effects), and (c) if parents had a lifetime diagnosis of alcoholism that predated the study period (distal effects). No support for time-varying effects was found; proximal effects of mothers' alcohol-related consequences on child-reported internalizing symptoms were found and distal effects of mother and father alcoholism predicted greater internalizing symptoms among children of alcoholic parents. Implications for the time-embedded relations between parent alcoholism and children's internalizing symptoms are discussed.     

Systematic Review and Meta‐analysis of Stepping Stones Triple P for Parents of Children with Disabilities

The aim of this systematic review and meta‐analysis was to examine the effectiveness of Stepping Stones Triple P (SSTP) parent training programs on child behavior problems and parenting outcomes in families of children with developmental disabilities. Sixteen suitable studies including data from over 900 families were identified in a search for English language published and unpublished controlled outcome studies. SSTP has five levels on a graded continuum of increasing intensity targeting families with differing degrees of treatment need from low intensity media‐based parenting information campaigns at level 1, through brief interventions at levels 2 and 3, to more intensive parent training and family therapy interventions at levels 4 and 5. Analyses were conducted on the combination of all levels of SSTP and separately for each level. For combined levels, significant overall effect sizes were found for parent‐reported child problems (d = 0.46), researcher observed child behavior (d = 0.51), parenting style (d = 0.70), parenting satisfaction/self‐efficacy (d = 0.44), parental adjustment (d = 0.27), and coparental relationship (d = 0.26), but not researcher‐observed parent behavior. Strong support was found for level 4 SSTP as an effective intervention for improving child and parent outcomes in families of children with disabilities who have clinically significant problems. Less intensive SSTP interventions for cases with circumscribed difficulties yielded fewer significant treatment effects, and there were relatively few studies of such interventions.     

母亲守门行为与母亲教养投入、母子依恋的关系及发展性差异

基于家庭系统理论与依恋理论提出了一个母亲守门行为通过母亲教养投入预测母子依恋的间接效应模型, 同时考察了这一模型在青少年发展阶段上的差异。采用问卷法对597个核心家庭的母亲和青少年进行调查, 结果发现：(1)总体上, 母亲开门行为对母亲教养投入和母子依恋均具有正向预测作用, 母亲教养投入对母子依恋具有正向预测作用, 间接效应模型成立; 母亲关门行为对母亲教养投入的预测作用不显著, 对母子依恋具有负向预测作用, 间接效应模型不成立; (2)从发展阶段来看, 母亲开门行为的间接效应模型在三个发展阶段均成立, 且间接效应大小无差异; 母亲关门行为的间接效应模型只在早期和后期成立, 且两发展阶段的作用性质相反, 早期为正向预测作用, 后期为负向预测作用。结果补充和扩展了母亲守门行为的作用效果研究, 并且强调了青少年发展阶段在其中的作用, 对家庭教育实践具有一定的指导意义。     

Combining Data from Parent Ratings and Parent Interview When Assessing ADHD

This study examined different methods of combining data from a well established rating scale – the Disruptive Behavior Disorders Rating Scale (DBDRS) – with data from a well established interview – the computerized self report version of the Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children for DSM-IV (P-DISC-IV) – when examining parent report of ADHD. These measures were completed for 80 children who participated in a summer camp for children with disruptive behavior. Results showed significant overlap between the two diagnostic measures but parent report on the DBDRS was more highly associated with children’s camp behaviors than was parent report on the P-DISC-IV. In addition, combining ratings and interview data using an “either/or” rule was more highly associated with camp behavior than was combining data using a “both/and” rule. Results suggest there may be little additional value of adding data from parent self-report on the computerized version of the P-DISC-IV to behavior rating data.     

Effects of the Dads for Life intervention on interparental conflict and coparenting in the two years after divorce

The ability of parents to forge harmonious coparenting relationships following divorce is an important predictor of their children's long-term well-being. However, there is no convincing evidence that this relationship can be modified through intervention. A preventive intervention that we developed, Dads for Life (DFL), which targeted noncustodial parents as participants, has previously been shown in a randomized field trial to favorably impact child well-being. We explore here whether it also has an impact on mothers' and fathers' perceptions of coparenting and interparental conflict in the 2 years following divorce. Results of the latent growth curve models we evaluated showed that both mothers and fathers reported less conflict when the father participated in DFL as compared with controls. For the fathers, perceptions of coparenting did not change over time in either the DFL or control conditions. Alternatively, mothers' perceptions of support declined over time in the control group, whereas those whose ex-husbands participated in the DFL program reported significant positive growth change toward healthier coparenting. The positive findings for mothers' reports are particularly compelling because mothers were not the participants, and thus common alternative explanations are ruled out. The DFL intervention, then, offers courts a promising program to improve families' functioning after divorce.