Culture-general and -specific associations of attachment avoidance and anxiety with perceived parental warmth and psychological control among Turk and Belgian adolescents

Both the adolescent peer attachment and perceived parenting style literatures emphasize the role of the quality of the parent-child relationship in children's healthy adjustment beyond the family, but few studies have investigated links between adolescents' peer attachment and perceptions of parenting. We investigate relations of adolescents' perceptions of warmth and psychological control from parents with avoidance and anxiety in attachment to close friends in two contrasting cultures. Altogether, 262 Turk and 263 Belgian youth between 14 and 18 years of age participated. Cross-culturally, attachment avoidance was negatively related to maternal warmth, and attachment anxiety positively related to maternal and paternal control and negatively to paternal warmth. Beyond these general relations, attachment avoidance was associated with paternal psychological control in Belgians but not in Turks. The study provides cross-cultural evidence for specific relations between peer attachment and perceived parenting and suggests a culture-specific pathway for the development of attachment avoidance.

Indigenous fathers' involvement in reconstituting "circles of care"

This qualitative study, part of a Canadian national study of fathers' involvement, opened up First Nations and Métis fathering as a new area of inquiry. Conversational interviews with 80 Indigenous fathers illuminated the socio-historical conditions that have shaped Indigenous men's experiences of learning to be a father and becoming a man in the context of changing gender relationships and the regeneration of circles of care. Indigenous fathers' experiences unfold in a socio-historical context fraught with difficulties. However, the study findings suggest cultural strengths and sources of resilience unseen in research and community programs driven by Euro-western perspectives. This research can inform efforts to reduce systemic barriers and reconstitute positive father involvement following disrupted intergenerational transmission of fathering in Canada and elsewhere.

The Design and Development of the Father-Child Instrument (FCI) for Assessing the Characteristics of Fathers’ Availability and Engagement With Their Preschool Children

Despite the fact that father—child involvement has extensive effects on the health and well-being of the family, there is a paucity of research on fathers’ presence in health care research. The design and development of an instrument for assessing the characteristics of fathers’ availability and engagement with their preschool-aged children in Finland is presented. Data collection was undertaken in two separate periods involving 263 and 821 fathers. Results indicate that the father—child instrument (FCI) is ready for use in research seeking to assess fathers’ availability and engagement with their preschoolers. Further research is nonetheless required to assess the potential for a more sensitive interaction and for the generalization of the FCI.

Associations Between Father-Daughter Relationship Quality and the Academic Engagement of African American Adolescent Girls: Self-Esteem as a Mediator?

Positive social interactions and relationships may play an influential role in the academic success of African American adolescent girls. Though studies have suggested that the paternal relationships are particularly consequential to girls’ outcomes, few studies exist that have explored how aspects of the father-daughter relationship contribute to their academic-related outcomes. Using a sample of 122 African American adolescent girls (M = 12.2 years; SD = 1.02), this study examined how father-daughter relationship quality was associated with academic engagement. An equally important goal of this investigation was to explore self-esteem (global and academic self-esteem) as a mediator of girls’ academic engagement. Findings indicated that quality of the father-daughter relationship was positively related to girls’ academic engagement. Also, both global and academic self-esteem mediated the link between father-daughter relationship quality and academic engagement. These findings suggest the importance of father-daughter relationship quality in both the academic engagement and self-esteem of African American adolescent girls.

Psychometric properties of a brief version of the Escala de Satisfação com o Suporte Social for children and adolescents

The main objective of this study was to develop a brief version of the Escala de Satisfação com o Suporte Social for children and adolescents (Ribeiro, 1999). A representative sample of 3195 children and adolescents was obtained from 5th and 7th graders throughout all five Portuguese regions. The results showed a good internal consistency for the social support satisfaction factor, alpha = 0.84; acceptable for the necessity for activities connected to social support factor, alpha = 0.69. By using ANOVA, gender, age and socioeconomic status related differences were identified. A confirmatory factorial analysis was done and an adjusted model was found by taking off item 5. The concurrent validity was inspected with measures related to social support, such as optimism, self-worth and perceptions of health related quality of life. With this analysis, we verified that women and younger participants (< 12 years) showed a higher social support satisfaction. Medium-high socioeconomic status participants showed a higher negative social support satisfaction. These results suggest the validity of the scale in assesing perceptions of social support.

Associations between maternal older age, family environment and parent and child wellbeing in families using assisted reproductive techniques to conceive

Maternal age effects on parenting and family outcomes are of increasing interest because of the demographic shift toward older maternal age at first birth. Maternal age is also of interest because of the greater use of assisted reproductive techniques (ART) to bypass age-related infertility in couples trying to conceive late in the reproductive life cycle of the woman. The aim of the present study was to investigate maternal age effects associated with delayed parenting by comparing families of mothers who gave birth at a younger (<31 years) or older (>38 years) age and to ascertain whether associations were linear associations by comparing these groups to women who had conceived in between these ages (i.e., >31 and <38 years). All children (4-11 year olds) were first-born and conceived using ART. Participants were recruited from one of 20 fertility clinics and mothers (n=642) and fathers (n=439) completed a postal questionnaire about demographic and reproductive characteristics, family environment as well as parent and child wellbeing. Our results demonstrate that parenthood via assisted conception later in the reproductive life cycle is not associated with a negative impact on child wellbeing. Despite maternal age-group differences on demographic (education, income) and reproductive characteristics (bleeding during pregnancy, caesarean rate, breast feeding), and parental warmth and depressive symptoms, child wellbeing was similar across mother age groups. We conclude that the parenting context is different for older mother families (more depressive symptoms in mothers and fathers, less expressed warmth in the couple) but that this difference is not associated with child wellbeing in early and middle childhood.

Paternal correlates of cognitive and behavioral functioning in children with myelomeningocele

This study examined paternal correlates of the cognitive and behavioral functioning of children with myelomeningocele, when controlling for maternal and biological/child correlates as possible sources of variance. Participants were 48 parent dyads of children with myelomeningocele (21 males, 27 females) between the ages of 4 and 12 years (mean 8y, 2mo, SD 2y 3mo). Lesion levels of participants ranged from the thoracic to sacral (thoracic-L3: n=15; L4-L5: n=15; sacral or lipomeningocele: n=18), of whom 38 had been shunted for hydrocephalus. Half of the participants (n=24) were community ambulators. Potential predictors of cognitive and behavioral functioning included paternal and maternal parenting stress, as assessed by the Parenting Stress Index - Short Form paternal, and maternal perceptions of support and resources, as assessed by the Family Resource Scale and the Family Support Scale, and child medical severity. Paternal variables significantly correlated with behavioral functioning but not with cognitive functioning. Regression analyses revealed that paternal personal distress and maternal perceived adequacy of social support accounted for significant variance in overall child behavioral functioning. Only child medical severity and annual household income explained significant variance in overall child cognitive functioning. These findings add to the growing body of theory and research documenting that fathers make unique and significant contributions to child adjustment in children with myelomeningocele. Both fathers and mothers need to be considered in interventions supporting development and adjustment of children with myelomeningocele and their families.

Mother- and father-reported reactions to children's negative emotions: relations to young children's emotional understanding and friendship quality

Mother- and father-reported reactions to children's negative emotions were examined as correlates of emotional understanding (Study 1, N = 55, 5- to 6-year-olds) and friendship quality (Study 2, N = 49, 3- to 5-year-olds). Mothers' and fathers' supportive reactions together contributed to greater child-friend coordinated play during a sharing task. Further, when one parent reported low support, greater support by the other parent was related to better understanding of emotions and less intense conflict with friends (for boys only). When one parent reported high support, however, greater support by the other parent was associated with less optimal functioning on these outcomes. Results partially support the notion that children benefit when parents differ in their reactions to children's emotions.

PERCEIVED PATERNAL AND MATERNAL ACCEPTANCE AND CHILDREN'S OUTCOMES IN COLOMBIA

The relationship between perceived paternal and maternal acceptance and children's adjustment was analyzed. The sample consisted of 234 children and 234 parental figures (mother or primary female caregiver, and father or primary male caregiver) living in two-parent nuclear families in Colombia. The children's age range was 7 to 13 (M = 9.7). Children completed the Parental Acceptance-Rejection Questionnaire (Child PARQ mother and father versions; Rohner, 1990), and the Personality Assessment Questionnaire (PAQ; Rohner, 1990). Parents completed the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL; Achenbach & Edelbrock, 1983). The analyses revealed that perceived paternal and maternal acceptance were both related to self-reported children's psychological adjustment. Perceived acceptance from mothers, but not from fathers, was directly related to children's behavioral problems as reported by parents. Results suggested that the effect of perceived paternal acceptance on children's behavioral problems is indirect, and that maternal acceptance mediates the effects of paternal acceptance.

Father absence and adolescent development: a review of the literature

Rapid social change has seen increasing numbers of woman-headed single-parent families, meaning that more and more children are growing up without a father resident in the home. Father absence is a term that is not well defined and much of the literature does not discriminate between father absence due to death, parental relationship discord or other causes. This article presents a critical review of the extant literature on father absence, particularly as it relates to adolescent well-being and development. Findings from the literature point to the importance of father presence in children's lives and suggest that father absence has ramifications for children and adolescents. The conclusions drawn from this literature review suggest that father absence and its effects on children and families is an area for further research, with the view of developing strategies to ameliorate the impact of father absence on children and adolescents.

Family and coping factors in the differentiation of childhood anxiety and depression

The purpose of this investigation was to explore whether specific contextual (perception of family relationships) and personal (coping strategies) factors are more likely to be associated with anxiety or depression. The research was conducted on a sample of 331 children and adolescents ranging in age from 10 to 16 years who completed measures of the anxiety symptoms, depressive symptoms, coping strategies, and family interactions. Data were analysed according to gender differences. Among family variables, perceived father rejection was found to be best predictor of anxiety, and father and mother rejection, together with family satisfaction, was best predictor for the depression. Avoidance is a coping strategy that best predicts anxiety, and expressing feelings is a significant predictor of depression. This research strongly indicates that problems in family interactions are more associated and better predictors of depression than anxiety. Results support the argument that the two disorders are distinct and that they are characterized by unique coping and family profiles. Knowledge that anxiety and depression could be distinguished on the basis of family and coping variables may facilitate clinical assessment and treatment planning.

Support of fathers of infants by the child health nurse

The child health nurse is considered to be able to support fathers in the transition to parenthood, through utilizing the fathers' inherent resources for the best development of the child. The aim of present study was to identify what expectations fathers of infants have of the child health care, including the nurse: whether they feel that they have received support in this role and how they think the nurse can support new fathers. A qualitative descriptive design was used with an inductive approach using grounded theory, which was suitable to obtain knowledge and understanding of how fathers perceived and interpreted their interaction with their child health nurse. Twenty fathers of infants gave their informed consent to participate. They were interviewed and data were systematically analysed on three levels by constant comparative method. From the analysis, the core category trustful relationship was discovered, comprising the categories involvement, faith and support. Nurses ought to reflect on that a father of an infant may feel slighted at the child health clinic if, as traditionally, the nurse turns only to the mother. Many fathers of today want to share the infant care and they want more communication with the nurse. It is suggested that in the long run, support in early fatherhood may be of benefit for the child and for the family. If the father has a trustful relationship with the nurse, his involvement in child health care is presumed to increase, as is the possibility of having faith in the nurse, as well as receiving support in his role as father. The findings are discussed in relation to literature in the field.

Psychology at the Intersection of Work and Family: Recommendations for Employers, Working Families, and Policymakers

Demographic data show that major changes have been occurring in the everyday lives of families over the last generation, with the majority of mothers of young children in the workforce and an increasing number of men and women assuming caregiving responsibilities for older relatives. Thus, the 2 primary identities of most adults, defined by their multiple family and work roles, need to be coordinated in ways that promote positive family outcomes, returns on investments for employers, and societal values. Despite changes in the workforce, the world of work is still largely organized for a family model that is increasingly rare--one with a stay-at-home caregiver. Recommendations based on psychological and other social science research are offered to align the needs of working families and employers.