Newborn behavioral observations system in rural Pakistan: A feasibility and acceptability study

The Newborn Behavioral Observations (NBO) system is a relationship-based tool that helps parents recognize their infant's competencies and learn their behavioral cues, with the goals of enhancing parental responsiveness and satisfaction in the infant-parent relationship. In our study, a pediatrician integrated the NBO into 44 pediatric health care visits of infants in rural Pakistan villages, under the remote guidance of two U.S.-based child psychiatrists. A clinician then gave the mothers a survey about their experience of the NBO and found that the mothers were highly satisfied, reporting greater appreciation of their infant's strengths, greater understanding of their infant's behavioral cues, stronger attachment to their infant, and greater self-confidence as a mother. In their consideration of these results, the authors explore cultural reasons for the mothers’ responses and generate hypotheses to inform an outcome study of a similar intervention. This was a feasibility and acceptability study and was not randomized, had no control group, and did not use objective measures of outcome.     

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.     

Parental socialization of mental health in Chinese American families: What parents say and do,and how youth make meaning

Parental mental health socialization is a process by which parents shape how youth develop and maintain beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors regarding mental health and help-seeking behaviors. Although culture shapes parental mental health socialization, few studies have examined specific parental socialization practices regarding mental health and help-seeking, especially as a culturally anchored process. Using a qualitative approach, this study explores youth-reported parental socialization of mental health within Chinese American families by examining focus group data from 69 Chinese American high school and college students. Findings revealed that youth received parental messages that conveyed culturally anchored conceptualizations of mental health that included stigmatized views of mental illness and perceptions of mental distress as not a legitimate problem. Parents responded to youth distress in culturally consonant ways: by encouraging culturally specific coping methods, dismissing or minimizing distress, or responding with silence. Youth engaged in the active interpretation of parental messages through cultural brokering, bridging the gap between their parents’ messages and mainstream notions of mental health and help-seeking. Overall, our findings point to the significant role of culture in parental mental health socialization in Chinese American families and the need to integrate culturally specific understandings of mental health into future interventions for Asian American youth.     

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.     

父母学业参与和高中生消极情绪的关系：亲子关系的中介作用以及父母心理控制的调节作用

目的：本研究旨在探究父母学业参与和学生消极情绪的关系及作用机制。方法：本研究对1569名上海高中生进行问卷调查,学生填写学业参与量表、心理控制量表、亲子关系量表和消极情绪评估量表。结果：（1）父母学业参与和学生的消极情绪负相关;（2）父母学业参与可通过提高亲子关系质量从而减少学生的消极情绪;（3）父母心理控制调节父母学业参与和亲子关系质量、父母学业参与和消极情绪之间的关系。结论：父母积极参与子女学业并减少对子女的心理控制,将更有利于形成良好的亲子关系和减少消极情绪。     

父母元情绪理念与青少年问题行为:迷走神经的调节作用

探讨父母元情绪理念与青少年问题行为的关系以及青少年自身迷走神经功能对两者关系的影响。采用“心算任务范式”及问卷法, 对224名青少年及其父母进行测量与调查。结果发现:(1) 母亲情绪教导理念负向预测青少年内外化问题行为, 母亲情绪失控理念正向预测青少年内外化问题行为, 母亲情绪不干涉理念正向预测青少年外化问题行为; 父亲情绪教导理念负向预测青少年内化问题行为, 父亲情绪失控理念正向预测青少年外化问题行为。(2) 当青少年迷走张力较低时, 母亲情绪不干涉理念正向预测青少年外化问题行为; 当青少年迷走抑制较低时, 母亲情绪失控理念正向预测青少年内化、外化问题行为, 父亲情绪失控理念正向预测青少年外化问题行为。综上, 父母元情绪理念能够预测青少年问题行为, 且父母元情绪理念对青少年问题行为影响存在差异。同时, 迷走神经功能对父母元情绪理念与青少年问题行为的关系具有一定调节作用。     

粗暴养育与青少年学业成绩:有调节的中介分析

以往研究表明消极的养育行为损害青少年学业成绩,但对两者之间的关系机制缺乏探究。本研究通过检验一个有调节的中介模型,考察了父母消极归因情境下努力控制在粗暴养育和青少年学业成绩之间的中介作用。880名初中生作为被试,填写粗暴养育问卷、努力控制分量表、儿童责任归因分量表,并以语文、数学和英语的成绩均值作为学业成绩的指标。结果显示：（1）控制性别、年龄、社会经济地位后,粗暴养育与学业成绩呈显著负相关;（2）努力控制是粗暴养育与学业成绩之间的中介变量;（3）粗暴养育通过努力控制对学业成绩的间接效应受父母消极归因的调节。因此,矫正父母消极的养育行为和归因模式,改善孩子的自控能力,有利于改善其学业成绩。     

Parental Alcoholism and Co-Occurring Antisocial Behavior: Prospective Relationships to Externalizing Behavior Problems in their Young Sons

The hypothesis that parental alcoholism and co-occurring antisocial behavior would be indirectly linked to child externalizing behavior problems through child lack of control, current levels of parent depression, family conflict, and parent–child conflict was tested using manifest variable regression analysis. Participants were a community sample of 125 families with an alcoholic father and 83 ecologically matched but nonsubstance abusing families involved in the first 2 waves of an ongoing longitudinal study (with 3 years between each wave). All families had a biological son who was 3–5 years old at study onset. Results revealed that child lack of control mediated the relation between paternal alcoholism and the son's subsequent externalizing behavior problems. Family conflict was a significant mediator of maternal and paternal lifetime antisocial behavior effects and father–son conflict mediated paternal lifetime antisocial behavior effects. Study implications are discussed within the context of parental socialization of antisocial behavior.     

4～7岁儿童内在动机的追踪研究

把内在动机看作是一种特质,将其划分为物为定向内在动机和人为定向内在动机.对110名儿童进行了为期三年的追踪(从4岁到7岁).在儿童4岁和7岁时,实验室的自由游戏情境中对他们进行录像观察,编码他们的两种内在动机.由父母报告他们对儿童的控制.结果表明:(1)儿童从4岁到7岁,物为定向内在动机和人为定向内在动机均呈显著上升趋势.(2)在儿童4岁、7岁时,物为定向内在动机和人为定向内在动机均呈显著负相关.(3)在儿童4岁、7岁时,物为定向内在动机均显著高于人为定向内在动机.(4)在儿童4岁和7岁时,父母控制与儿童物为定向内在动机和人为定向内在动机均无显著相关.