Fathers' contributions to attachment in adolescence and adulthood: the moderating role of race, gender, income, and residential status

Fathers play a critical yet underappreciated role in adolescent development. To examine contributions of fathers' parenting to attachment in adolescence and adulthood, this longitudinal study followed 184 adolescents from ages 13-24. At age 13, adolescents reported on their fathers' parenting behavior and were observed in a father-teen conflict task; at ages 14 and 24, they completed the Adult Attachment Interview. Adolescents who lived with their father showed higher attachment security at age 14 (Cohen's d = .72), compared to those with non-residential fathers. Fathers' positive relatedness and support for teens' psychological autonomy predicted attachment security at age 14. Fathers' physical aggression predicted attachment insecurity in adolescence, whereas fathers' verbal aggression predicted insecurity in adulthood, illuminating developmental shifts. Pathways to security were moderated by father residential status, adolescent gender, and race. Findings underscore the importance of fathers' presence, autonomy support, and non-aggression in predicting adolescents' state of mind in close relationships.

Exploring Parenting Styles Patterns and Children's Socio-Emotional Skills

In this study, we adopted parenting styles as a multidimensional and latent construct that includes different aspects of parenting, rather than solely focusing on a single parenting style. In a Web-based survey with 1203 Greek parents, we identified parenting styles and their SDQ reports on their children. According to our results by Latent Profile Analysis, we must use a more complex approach concerning parenting styles. We identified a "Highly Authoritative style" profile with high levels of authoritative, low levels of authoritarian and middle levels of permissive parenting styles. We additionally identified a profile called "Relaxed Authoritative style", with still high but lower levels of authoritative style, low but slightly heightened levels of authoritarian style, and middle levels of permissive style. A further profile, named "Permissive Focused Authoritative style", had a mix of high levels of authoritative, moderate levels of permissive, and elevated levels of authoritarian parenting styles. Finally, in a profile named "Inconsistent Parenting style", we identified parents with a blend of still high, but the lowest of all four levels of authoritative and highest levels of permissive and authoritarian parenting styles. When combining the four identified parenting patterns with the SDQ results, we identified the "highly authoritative parenting style" profile to be the least connected to internalizing or externalizing problems of the respective children.

"Opening up a well of emotions": A qualitative study of men's emotional experiences in the transition to fatherhood

AIM

To explore the emotional changes and reactions men experience in their transition to fatherhood.

DESIGN

This study used a qualitative design.

METHODS

Data were collected through in-depth interviews with 13 Norwegian fathers.

RESULTS

Through thematic analysis, three main themes were developed: (1) from self-focus to family perspective; (2) emotional vulnerability; and (3) from insecurity to self-assurance. The themes describe fathers' emotional process during the child's first year of life, ranging from positive feelings like affection and mastery, to challenging feelings like exclusion, jealousy and exhaustion. Many fathers describe taboos and shame over their own emotional reactions, although these can be considered a natural part of the postnatal period.

Pathways to Children’s Behavioral Problems during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Fathers’ Parenting Stress and Parenting Approaches

Although the family stress model theoretically focuses on the roles of both mothers and fathers as predictors of children’s outcomes, studies generally have focused on mothers. The pandemic has brought additional burdens to parents’ daily functioning, including fathers’ involvement in childcare. The current study aimed to examine the contributions of fathers’ parenting stress and parenting approaches to their children’s behavior problems during the COVID-19 pandemic. Particularly, we examined the indirect effects of parenting stress on children’s behavior problems via parenting practices. The participants were 155 fathers (Mage = 36.87, SD = 5.11) and their children (71 girls, 84 boys; Mage = 59.52, SD = 14.98) from Turkish contexts. The fathers reported their parenting stress, approaches, and children’s behavioral problems. The results from the path analysis showed that parenting stress predicted children’s internalizing and externalizing behaviors. Parenting stress also predicted severe punishment and obedience as parts of the parenting approach. Finally, parenting stress was indirectly related to children’s externalizing behaviors via the punishment-based parenting approach of fathers. The findings of the current study highlighted the importance of examining the roles of fathers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Intervention programs targeting reducing fathers’ parenting stress and negative parenting approaches would also be beneficial for reducing children’s behavioral problems.

The role of paternal and maternal warmth and hostility on daughter's psychosocial outcomes: The insidious effects of father warmth combined with high paternal hostility

Introduction

Despite the well-accepted view on the importance of parental warmth and parental hostility for adolescent development, few studies have examined the joint interactive effects of these two key aspects of parenting. Furthermore, research comparing maternal and paternal parenting is limited, with the father-daughter relationship during adolescence remaining one of the more understudied familial contexts. Given that family processes are key for the intergenerational transmission of inequality, these parent-child relationships may be especially important for youth at risk for exposure to violence.

Objectives

Using a sample of juvenile female offenders, this study examined the associations between the perceived warmth and hostility in the father-daughter and mother-daughter relationships on daughters' depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, romantic partner warmth, romantic partner hostility, and the daughter's sense of agency. We hypothesized that high perceived parental warmth would moderate the effects of parental hostility by protecting daughters from the negative effects of parental hostility, with stronger effects for the father-daughter than the mother-daughter relationship.

Results

In contrast, our paternal relationship findings across four of the five outcomes suggest a moderation in the opposite direction - that is, high perceived father warmth exacerbates the deleterious effects of father hostility on daughters' depressive symptoms, anxiety, romantic partner warmth, and romantic partner hostility. Maternal warmth, and not hostility, had a direct association with these four outcomes, with stronger explanatory power shown for the father-daughter than the mother-daughter model. Higher agency was associated with maternal hostility only.

Conclusion

Our findings suggest that daughters might be modeling and internalizing the relationship with their fathers (for better or worse) when they perceive it as warm and supportive. Consequently, adolescent girls whose fathers exhibit hostile behavior may benefit from emotional distancing from their fathers.

Perceived Parental Undifferentiated Rejection and Children's Personality Dispositions: A Meta-Analysis of Multicultural Studies

Prior multicultural meta-analyses have shown that three of the four individual expressions of parental rejection (viz., coldness/lack of affection, hostility/aggression, and indifference/neglect) tend to be significantly associated with all seven of the personality dispositions most central to interpersonal acceptance-rejection theory (IPARTheory). These dispositions include hostility/aggression, dependence, negative self-esteem, negative self-adequacy, emotional instability, emotional unresponsiveness, and negative worldview. However, it was unknown whether the fourth expression of rejection (i.e. undifferentiated rejection) tends to be associated transculturally, as predicted by the theory, with this cluster of dispositions among children. Thus, this meta-analysis investigated 1) the extent to which children's perceptions of maternal and paternal undifferentiated rejection were related to these personality dispositions, and 2) the extent to which these relations varied by gender of parent. To address these questions, we performed a meta-analysis on 16 studies involving 12,538 children in 14 countries. Results showed significant associations between all seven personality dispositions and both maternal and paternal undifferentiated rejection. The results also showed significantly stronger relations between maternal than paternal undifferentiated rejection on five of the seven indices of children's personality.

Parents can't see me, can peers see me? Parental phubbing and adolescents' peer alienation via the mediating role of parental rejection

BACKGROUND

Parental neglect has been shown to be associated with adolescents' peer alienation. However, few previous studies have considered parental phubbing as a new form of social neglect during parent-child interactions related to adolescents' peer alienation, and much less is known about the mechanisms underlying this relationship.

OBJECTIVE

The present study explored the relationship between father phubbing (Fphubbing) and mother phubbing (Mphubbing) and adolescents' peer alienation. Moreover, it examined whether adolescents' perceived paternal and maternal rejection mediate these associations.

PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING

A sample of 1140 students (M_age = 12.18 years, SD = 0.90) completed the measures of parental phubbing, parental rejection, and peer alienation.

METHODS

Structural equation modeling was used to assess the direct effects of Fphubbing and Mphubbing on adolescents' peer alienation and their indirect effects through adolescents' perceived paternal and maternal rejection as mediators.

RESULTS

The results indicated that Fphubbing and Mphubbing were positively related to adolescents' peer alienation. Perceived maternal rejection mediated the relationship between Mphubbing and adolescents' peer alienation. The relationship between Mphubbing and maternal rejection was stronger for adolescent girls.

CONCLUSIONS

Our study offers a preliminary understanding of how parental phubbing associates with adolescents' peer alienation through the mediating role of adolescents' perceived parental rejection, which has certain theoretical and practical implications for comprehending adolescents' peer alienation in the mobile age.

The Interaction Effect of Parental Rejection and Oxytocin Receptor Gene Polymorphism on Depression: A Cross-Cultural Study in Non-Clinical Samples

Parental rejection has been consistently empirically implicated in a wide array of developmental, behavioural and psychological problems worldwide. However, the interaction effect between parental rejection in childhood and the oxytocin receptor genotype on psychological adjustment has yet to be investigated. The present study aimed to investigate gene–environment interaction effects between parental rejection (maternal and paternal) and oxytocin receptor (OXTR) gene polymorphisms (rs53576 and rs2254298) on depressive symptoms in adults in different cultural contexts. Adults from Italy and Japan (N = 133, age = 18–27 years, females = 68) were preliminarily genotyped and then completed the Parental Acceptance-Rejection Questionnaire for mothers and fathers and the Beck Depression Inventory. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis showed that paternal rejection was related to self-reported depression and that the effect of parental rejection was moderated by OXTR gene polymorphisms and nationality. Among Italians, OXTR rs2254298 A-carriers showed resilience to negative early parental care, whereas among Japanese, OXTR rs53576 non-A-carriers showed resistance to negative early paternal care. These findings align with expected relations between perceived acceptance–rejection and an individual’s psychological adjustment, as proposed by interpersonal acceptance–rejection theory, and indicate the need for future studies adopting a multicultural and multilevel approach to better understand how the effects of parental rejection extend into adulthood.

Hypothalamus volume in men: Investigating associations with paternal status, self-reported caregiving beliefs, and adult attachment style

Most studies on mammalian caregiving and attachment focused on the mother-child relationship, particularly in humans. Yet, changing societal roles of male caregivers have highlighted the necessity for research with fathers.We examined the volume of the hypothalamus, an important subcortical brain area for caregiving and attachment, in N = 50 fathering (child age 5-6 years) and N = 45 non-fathering men using a novel technique to identify the hypothalamus in 3T MRI. We furthermore employed three self-report measures to assess interindividual differences in adult attachment style across all men and caregiving beliefs in fathers.While we did not observe any significant difference in hypothalamus volume between fathers and non-fathers or associations between hypothalamus volume and self-reported adult attachment style across all men, self-reported caregiving beliefs were positively related to total hypothalamus volume in fathers. A follow-up analysis showed that fathers' self-reported belief that a father's role is important to child development was specifically related to tuberal hypothalamus volume, while self-reported enjoyment of spending time with the child was not associated with sub-regional hypothalamus volume.Together, these findings suggest that interindividual variability in self-reported caregiving beliefs in fathers is related to brain structure, warranting further research.

A cross-cultural study of the effect of parental bonding on the perception and response to criticism in Singapore, Italy and USA

Parents play a primary and crucial role in emotional socialisation processes in children where individuals learn the expression, understanding and regulation of emotions. Parenting practices and dimensions of the parent-child relationship have been associated with social and emotional processes in children. As criticism involves negative emotional reactions and emotion regulation, the parent-child relationship is likely to influence an individual's perception and response to criticism. Hence, the present study investigated the relationship of parental bonding and the perception and response to criticism in three different countries-Singapore, Italy and USA. Adult participants (n = 444) completed the Parental Bonding Inventory (PBI) and measures of criticism. Parental care, overprotection and country were found to be significant predictors of a tendency to perceive criticism as destructive. Higher levels of parental care predicted a lower tendency to perceive criticism as destructive while higher levels of parental overprotection predicted a higher tendency to perceive criticism as destructive. US American participants were found to have a significantly higher tendency to perceive criticism as destructive compared to Italian and Singaporean participants. The findings align with past research on the role of the parent-child relationship in the socio-emotional development of children as well as providing insight into a specific aspect in social interaction; perception and response to criticism, being affected. Future studies can look to investigate this relationship further in different countries in light of cultural variation in parenting styles and emotion experience, expression and regulation.

Attachment and attitudes toward children: effects of security priming in parents and non-parents

The present two-study investigation is the first to examine whether experimentally boosting attachment security (security priming) affects attitudes in the parenting domain for both parents and non-parents. Mothers (n = 72) and childless undergraduates (n = 82) were randomly assigned to a neutral or a secure prime condition and then completed measures of implicit attitudes (a child-focused version of the Go/No-Go Association Task) and explicit attitudes (self-reported) toward children. Following the priming manipulation, mothers in the secure prime condition had more positive implicit attitudes toward their child compared to mothers in the neutral prime condition. Security priming also increased mothers' positive explicit attitudes toward their children, but only among mothers who scored high on self-reported attachment-related avoidance. No priming effects emerged among non-parents. These results provide the first evidence for a causal link between parental attachment security and parental attitudes toward children.

Characteristics for the Identification of Children Who Commit Family Murder in South Africa

Children who commit family murder have been increasingly reported on in the South African media. Violence of this type has far-reaching consequences for families and communities. In this qualitative study, nine documented cases of children who committed family murder were analyzed to gain an in-depth understanding of the factors that contribute to children murdering family members. The personal and systemic reasons for these types of murders guided the research. The Interpersonal Parental Acceptance-Rejection Theory (IPARTheory) was used as theoretical framework. The researcher argues that the quality of the interaction between the parent and the child, as well as individual differences within a specific environment, is central to committing family member murder. A narrative summary of the general characteristics of children who kill a family member was compiled. In this study, the children were predominantly exposed to dysfunctional family environments characterized by problematic attachment to the caregiver/s, rejection, abuse, and extreme parenting styles. The parenting styles were often extremely authoritarian or in some cases permissive. The caregivers often expected the child to conform to their idea of the ideal child, and nonconformance resulted in punishment and rejection. These children presented with interpersonal relationship problems, anxiety, and aggression, and fantasized about escaping their challenging home environments. In some of the cases, the children abused alcohol and drugs. In only a few of the cases, signs of antisocial personality disorder were present. The family murders committed by children were predominantly committed by males. The weapons used in the murders were often everyday objects available in the environment. In this study, it was important to note that children who commit family murder have unique backgrounds and circumstances. Therefore, the characteristics discussed in this article only serve as a guideline to understanding these children.

Parent and peer social support compensation and internalizing problems in adolescence

The general benefits of social support are well-documented; however, little is understood about the unique contributions of social support from specific sources, such as parents and peers. In addition, it is unknown whether social support from some sources might buffer against a lack of social support from another source for the outcome of internalizing problems. The current study investigated two research questions: (a) What is the association between social support from mothers, fathers, classmates, and close friends and internalizing problems for adolescent boys and girls? and (b) Can social support from one source (e.g., mothers) buffer against internalizing problems when social support from another source (e.g., fathers) may be lacking? Do these associations vary by gender? These research questions were examined with a sample of 364 middle school students (61.3% female). Students completed a series of self-report questionnaires assessing social support and internalizing symptoms. Multiple group structural equation models indicated that social support provided general benefits from all sources for early adolescent boys and girls. Regarding stress-buffering with low support as a stressor, no evidence was found for compensation between mothers and fathers. Mother support compensated for low classmate support for both boys and girls and father support compensated for low classmate support for boys. Classmate support compensated for low close friend support for boys. Implications in the context of the school environment for both boys and girls are discussed.

Psychological maladjustment mediates the link between remembrances of parental rejection in childhood and loneliness in adulthood: A cross-cultural comparative study

Drawing stimulus from interpersonal acceptance-rejection theory, this multicultural study examined relations between men's versus women's remembrances of maternal and paternal acceptance-rejection in childhood and their current level of loneliness, as mediated by adults' self-reported psychological maladjustment. Adults (N = 899) from five nations (Iraq, Italy, the Netherlands, Pakistan, and the United States) responded to the Adult version of the Parental Acceptance-Rejection Questionnaire-short form for mothers and fathers, the Adult version of the Personality Assessment Questionnaire-short form, and the Interpersonal Acceptance-Rejection Loneliness Scale. Adults' remembrances of maternal and paternal rejection in childhood significantly and independently predicted feelings of loneliness but remembered paternal rejection was more strongly related to these feelings than were remembrances of maternal rejection. Psychological maladjustment fully mediated the effect of remembered maternal rejection but only partially mediated the effect of remembered paternal rejection on loneliness. There were no significant differences in these results across the five countries or genders. Overall, the results suggest that adults' remembrances of parental rejection in childhood-along with the theoretically expected development of psychological maladjustment-are likely to be associated panculturally with the experience of loneliness in adulthood.

Adolescents at risk of anxiety in interaction with their fathers: Studying non-verbal and physiological synchrony

Adolescence is a vulnerable period in terms of the onset of anxiety disorders, and dyadic parent-adolescent interactions may play a key role in either increasing or reducing the risk of psychopathologies. This study examines the presence of physiological synchrony (specifically, linkage in interbeat interval series) and non-verbal synchrony in positive and negative interactions between adolescents (aged 13-16) and their fathers. Non-verbal synchrony was quantified through the coordination of the interactants' body movements, using an automated video-analysis algorithm (motion energy analysis). Participants were made up of 53 parent-adolescent dyads, the latter at either low (n = 28) or high (n = 25) risk of anxiety. Adolescents at low risk of anxiety displayed statistically significant levels of non-verbal synchrony with their fathers during positive interactions. Non-verbal synchrony was not found in the father-adolescent dyads featuring adolescents at high risk of anxiety. Physiological synchrony was not significantly present above chance level in either of the groups of adolescents. Overall, the results suggest that adolescents at high risk of anxiety may have difficulties in managing non-distressing interactions with their fathers. The results also suggest that physiological synchrony is not a straightforward phenomenon.

Childhood maltreatment and alcohol-related problems in young adulthood: The protective role of parental warmth

BACKGROUND

Alcohol use among young adults is highly prevalent. Individuals exposed to childhood maltreatment are particularly vulnerable to alcohol use and alcohol-related problems. Few studies have examined family protective factors, such as parental warmth, that may mitigate the effects of childhood maltreatment on alcohol-related problems.

OBJECTIVE

The current study seeks to examine the extent to which parental warmth reduces the effect of childhood exposure to maltreatment on alcohol-related problems in young adulthood.

PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING

Participants were young adults (N = 337; mean age = 21.7), who were recruited from an urban community and completed in-person interviews assessing childhood maltreatment, parental warmth, and alcohol-related problems.

METHODS

Multiple hierarchical linear regression models were used to examine whether maternal and paternal warmth reduced the impact of childhood exposure to maltreatment on alcohol-related problems in young adulthood. Common risk factors for alcohol-related problems, including psychological symptoms and peer and parental alcohol use, were also entered into the models.

RESULTS

We found a significant moderating effect of paternal warmth on the associations between childhood emotional abuse and alcohol-related problems (β= -0.29, p < .05). Specifically, the association between emotional abuse and alcohol-related problems was weaker among individuals with higher levels of paternal warmth. Moderating effects of maternal warmth on the maltreatment-problematic alcohol use relation were not supported.

CONCLUSION

The results of this research suggest that parental warmth may not only relate to fewer alcohol-related problems among offspring, but may also modify the associations between childhood emotional abuse and alcohol-related problems during young adulthood.

Relationship Quality Between Older Fathers and Middle-Aged Children: Associations With Both Parties' Subjective Well-Being

Objectives

Relationships between fathers and their children are salient to both parties throughout the life course. Yet little is known about how these ties may affect well-being in later life. This study examined the implications of aging fathers' and middle-aged children's perceptions of father-child relationship quality for their own and the other party's well-being.

Method

Using a sample of 103 fathers (M = 77.88 years) and their children (M = 49.92 years) drawn from Wave 1 of the Family Exchanges Study, we estimated actor-partner interdependence models to evaluate associations between each party's perceptions of father-child relationship quality and their well-being.

Results

Fathers had elevated depressive symptoms when they reported more negative relationships with children. This association was exacerbated for fathers of daughters when daughters reported a highly negative relationship. Fathers had better self-rated health, however, when they reported more positive relationships with daughters. Children had elevated depressive symptoms and lower life satisfaction when they reported more negative ties with fathers. Finally, sons had lower depressive symptoms when they reported more positive ties with fathers.

Discussion

Findings suggest that father-child relationship quality has significant implications for the well-being of both aging fathers and middle-aged daughters or sons.

Parental acceptance and children's psychological adjustment: The moderating effects of interpersonal power and prestige across age

The differential contribution of maternal and paternal acceptance-rejection to children's psychological adjustment has been explained by differences in interpersonal power and prestige within families; however, there is not yet enough empirical support for this explanation. This study examines the moderating effects of interpersonal power and prestige on the relationship between perceived parental acceptance-rejection and psychological adjustment across children's sex and age. The sample was composed of 913 children ranging in age from 9 to 16 years. Multiple hierarchical regression analyses in the total sample showed a significant and independent contribution of parental acceptance-rejection and parental power and prestige. No moderating effects of interpersonal power and prestige were found for the total sample. However, when the regression analyses were conducted across different age groups, maternal acceptance had a higher contribution to psychological adjustment in children from nine to ten years old. Interestingly, the moderating effects of interpersonal prestige (not interpersonal power) were also significant in younger participants. Furthermore, the moderating effects of prestige on maternal acceptance-rejection were different in late childhood than in early adolescence. These results suggest how parental prestige may explain the higher contribution of maternal acceptance to younger children's psychological adjustment.

The role of family and personality traits in Internet gaming disorder: A mediation model combining cognitive and attachment perspectives

BACKGROUND AND AIMS

Gaming disorder was recently recognized as a mental health disorder by the World Health Organization and included in the International Classification of Diseases. Extensive research has been conducted with regard to psychosocial correlates and comorbidity, less so for the developmental mechanisms and the processes leading to the disorder. The association between family factors, personality traits, and gaming has been studied independently but not in combination. To fill this gap in knowledge, this study examined (a) the association between parental acceptance-rejection theory and Internet gaming disorder (IGD) and (b) the mediating and moderating effect of core self-evaluations (CSE), a personality construct, on the aforementioned variables.

METHODS

The study was quantitative and involved young adults members of online gaming communities (N = 225).

RESULTS

The results showed that parental rejection is associated with the occurrence of IGD, only through the mediating effect of CSE. The moderation model was not confirmed.

DISCUSSION

Findings bridge early emotional deficits with CSE personality traits and IGD, based on two widely acknowledged theoretical frameworks. In addition, they highlight the importance of the father's role in upbringing.

CONCLUSIONS

These frameworks combine cognitive and attachment perspectives and a process-oriented approach to the development and maintenance of IGD. The implications of these findings are discussed in relation to (a) the mechanisms leading to the disorder and (b) providing an evidence base for therapeutic interventions for IGD to go beyond abstinence and include self-esteem enhancement and efficacy contingencies. Directions for future research are also provided in this study.

Strengthening resilience through an extended postnatal home visiting program in a multicultural suburb in Sweden: fathers striving for stability

BACKGROUND

To improve prerequisites for better health development among children growing up in multicultural suburbs in Stockholm County, where poorer health is displayed in several aspects including child health, early support was initiated for first-time parents in one of the suburbs. An extended postnatal home visiting program during the child's first 15 months was offered to families with first-time mothers during 2013-2014 and consisted of six home visits by a child health care nurse and a parental advisor from social services. Almost all invited families (94%) participated in the program and the program evaluation. Fathers' participation in two or more home visits within the program was 53%. The aim of this study was to explore the experiences of fathers participating in the program, with respect to their role as a first-time parent from a resilience perspective.

METHODS

In-depth interviews were conducted with nine fathers. Constructivist grounded theory (GT) was applied in the analysis.

RESULTS

The fathers' experiences formed the core category of the study, 'striving for stability in living conditions', as well as three categories: 'everyday life conditions', 'adjustment to fatherhood in Sweden' and 'channels of support'. The fathers perceived that the home visiting program strengthened their parental confidence and increased their knowledge of societal services and local resources for their family.

CONCLUSIONS

In terms of resilience, the extended postnatal home visiting program benefitted the interviewed migrant fathers on an individual level by meeting part of their need for support regarding knowledge and parental confidence; on a structural level the program helped fathers gain information about available societal services and resources in their local area.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

The study was retrospectively registered (11 August 2016) in the ISRCTN registry (ISRCTN11832097 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/ISRCTN11832097 ).

How different are parents and educators? A comparative study of interactive differences between parents and educators in a collaborative adult-child activity

Involving children in collaborative tasks supports their cognitive, motor and social development. This study, performed in Portugal, aims to describe and compare early childhood educators and parents regarding their collaborative and interactive behavior when working with children. For that purpose, 55 educators (of both genders) with a child from their class and 45 parents (of both genders) with their children, participated in an everyday-like quasi-experimental situation for 20 minutes. The participants were invited to build an object of their choice, using a range of available materials and tools. The children included 47 boys and 48 girls, between 3 and 5 year-old. In comparison with the parents, the educators encouraged the children more to explore and find their own solutions. Conversely, the parents helped their children by offering demonstrations and directions. When the educators and the parents were grouped by gender (“men” versus “women”), different opportunities were offered to boys and girls by male and female adults. Our study suggests that educators and parents serve as diverse, but complementary educational role models and provide different learning opportunities.

The Association of Fathers' Parental Warmth and Parenting Stress to Child Behavior Problems

This study examines whether fathers' parental warmth and parenting stress were associated with behavior problems when children were approximately 36-months of age, beyond the influence of maternal behaviors. Study participants were 3,342 low-income fathers and mothers who participated in the Building Strong Families (BSF) study. Cross-sectional regression analyses indicated that for unmarried nonresidential families, fathers' parental warmth and parenting stress were associated with child internalizing behavior problems; and fathers' parenting stress only was marginally associated with child externalizing behavior problems. For consistently cohabiting residential fathers, only fathers' parenting stress was marginally associated with child internalizing behavior problems. No associations of fathers' parental warmth and parenting stress on either internalizing or externalizing behavior problems were observed in married families. Overall, study results suggest that fathers' parental warmth and parenting stress may have a modest positive association on the development of child internalizing behavior problems particularly in vulnerable families (e.g., families in which fathers were nonresidential).

Father Involvement and Behavior Problems among Preadolescents at Risk of Maltreatment

Although there is a well-established connection between father involvement and children's positive behavioral development in general, this relation has been understudied in more vulnerable and high-risk populations. The aims of this study were to examine how the quantity (i.e., the amount of shared activities) and quality (i.e., perceived quality of the father-child relationship) of father involvement are differently related to internalizing and externalizing behavior problems among preadolescents at risk of maltreatment and test if these associations are moderated by father type and child maltreatment. A secondary data analysis was conducted using data from the Longitudinal Studies of Child Abuse and Neglect (LONGSCAN). Generalized estimating equations analysis was performed on a sample of 499 preadolescents aged 12 years. The results indicated that higher quality of father involvement was associated with lower levels of internalizing and externalizing behavior problems whereas greater quantity of father involvement was associated with higher levels of internalizing and externalizing behavior problems. The positive association between the quantity of father involvement and behavior problems was stronger in adolescents who were physically abused by their father. The association between father involvement and behavior problems did not differ by the type of father co-residing in the home. The findings suggest that policies and interventions aimed at improving the quality of fathers' relationships and involvement with their children may be helpful in reducing behavior problems in adolescents at risk of maltreatment.

Interação e linguagem dirigida a crianças de quinze meses

Resumo Neste estudo são comparadas a interação e a linguagem dirigida aos filhos(as) pelos pais e mães, para analisar as diferenças e semelhanças entre as díades. Para o efeito, foram videogravadas durante uma situação de brincadeira livre 80 díades - 40 crianças (25 meninas e 15 meninos) de 15 meses em interação com os respetivos pai e mãe. Os resultados revelam que não há diferenças significativas na forma de os pais e as mães interagirem com seus filhos e filhas. Contudo, observam-se diferenças na linguagem dirigida às crianças por pais e mães, em particular em comportamentos de nomeação e avaliação positiva. Para além das diferenças são de sublinhar correlação positiva quer na interação, quer na comunicação de pais que coabitam.

Concurrent and longitudinal effects of maternal and paternal warmth on depression symptoms in children and adolescents

The main aim of this study is to examine the concurrent and longitudinal effects of perceived affection of mothers and fathers separately on the self-reported symptoms of children's depression. Data were obtained from a 3-wave study of 535 families with children (41.3% boys) aged 9-15 years of age. Structural equation models were performed to test different models. Significant effects of mothers' and fathers' affection on depression symptomatology over the three years were found. The longitudinal effects of parental warmth on the child's depression symptoms were mediated over time by the previous levels of the mother's and father's warmth. The presence of parental warmth can lessen the severity of depression symptoms, especially when paternal and maternal warmth are applied consistently over a long period of time. These results were invariant across the child's sex. Treatments for childhood depression should take place over extended periods of time including both fathers and mothers.

Predictors of Involvement and Warmth of Custodial Fathers in Israel: Comparison with Married and Noncustodial Divorced Fathers

This study compared the levels and predictors of paternal warmth and involvement of 218 custodial fathers to 222 married fathers and 105 noncustodial (NC) divorced fathers in Israel. The examined predictors were fathers' perceptions of their own fathers; their own caregiving behaviors and parental self-efficacy; and child characteristics and coparental coordination. Results indicated that being a custodial father was associated with more involvement than being a married or NC divorced father. Regression analyses revealed that experience of care with own father predicted fathers' involvement, whereas own father control was related to lower paternal warmth. Lower avoidant caregiving and high paternal self-efficacy predicted both paternal involvement and warmth, whereas perceiving the child as more difficult predicted lower paternal warmth. Higher levels of coparental coordination were associated with more paternal involvement, whereas low coparental coordination was associated with less involvement, primarily among NC divorced fathers. These interactions highlight the distinct paternal behavior of custodial fathers. Unlike married and NC divorced fathers, they showed more warmth, regardless of their avoidant caregiving. Results are discussed in light of the different roles played by fathers in the three groups.

Pancultural Gender Differences in the Relation Between Perceived Parental Acceptance and Psychological Adjustment of Children and Adult Offspring

This cross-cultural meta-analysis is based on 220 studies involving 33,081 respondents from 23 nations across five continents. The study addressed a major question drawn from the basic postulates of interpersonal acceptance–rejection theory (IPARTheory): Is the psychological adjustment of both males and females universally (i.e., panculturally) associated with children’s and adults’ perceptions of both maternal and paternal acceptance in childhood? To remain true to the major postulates of IPARTheory (formerly known as parental acceptance–rejection theory, PARTheory), all studies included in this meta-analysis used the Parental Acceptance–Rejection Questionnaire for Mothers and Fathers (Child and Adult PARQ: Mother and Father versions), as well as the Personality Assessment Questionnaire (Child and Adult versions). Results showed that both paternal and maternal acceptance correlate significantly with the psychological adjustment of both children and adults across all cultures. The study also showed that there are no gender differences in the relation between children’s perception of parental acceptance and their psychological adjustment. However, remembrances of maternal acceptance in childhood showed significantly stronger relations with adult sons’ current psychological adjustment than that of adult daughters. Moreover, remembrances of paternal acceptance in childhood were found to have significantly stronger relations with adult daughters’ psychological adjustment than did daughters’ remembrances of maternal acceptance.

The Moderating Role of Parental Warmth on the Relation Between Verbal Punishment and Child Problem Behaviors for Same-sex and Cross-sex Parent-Child Groups

This study investigates the relation between parental verbal punishment and externalizing and internalizing behavior problems in Filipino children, and the moderating role of parental warmth in this relation, for same-sex (mothers-girls; fathers-boys) and cross-sex parent-child groups (mothers-boys; fathers-girls). Measures used were the Rohner Parental Acceptance-Rejection and Control Scale (PARQ/Control), the Achenbach Child Behavior Checklist (CBC), and a discipline measure (DI) constructed for the study. Participants were 117 mothers and 98 fathers of 61 boys and 59 girls who responded to a discipline interview, the Parental Acceptance-Rejection and Control scale (PARQ/Control) and the Achenbach Child Behavior Checklist via oral interviews. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses (with Bonferroni-corrected alpha levels) revealed that maternal frequency of verbal punishment was positively related to internalizing and externalizing outcomes in boys and girls whereas paternal frequency of verbal punishment was positively related to girls' externalizing behavior. Significant interactions between verbal punishment and maternal warmth in mother-girl groups were also found for both internalizing and externalizing behaviors. While higher maternal warmth ameliorated the impact of low verbal punishment on girls' internalizing and externalizing behaviors, it exacerbated the effect of high verbal punishment on negative outcomes.

"Holes in my memories": a qualitative study of men affected by father absence

This qualitative study explored adult men's experiences of father absence. Interviews with 21 men between the ages of 24 and 70 explored narratives of father absence and how the men perceived this influenced their life trajectory. Thematic analysis revealed that these men experienced a range of difficulties and challenges, including episodes of sadness and depression associated with loss and grief for the paternal relationship, self-esteem issues, feelings of anger and rejection, and difficulty forming trusting relationships particularly with other men. This study contributes to understanding mental health issues that can be associated with paternal absence for men.

Childhood experiences of perpetrators of child sexual abuse

PURPOSE

This study explored the childhood experiences of perpetrators of child sexual abuse.

DESIGN AND METHODS

A blend of narrative inquiry and phenomenology was employed. Interviews were conducted with 23 community-dwelling perpetrators (21 males, 2 females). The education of participants ranged from GED to PhD.

FINDINGS

There were four types of narratives: There Was No Love; Love Left; Love Was Conflated With Sex; and a Pretty Good Childhood. Chronic sorrow for a painful childhood was evident in most participants.

PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS

Cognitive-behavioral treatment may not be optimal for all perpetrators because it is not designed to facilitate recovery from early trauma and loss.

Examining the Quality of Adolescent-Parent Relationships Among Chilean Families

The purpose of this study was to examine if adolescents reports of warm and harsh parenting practices by their mothers and fathers varied as a function of demographic, youth and their mothers or mother figures' individual and family characteristics. Data are from 707 community-dwelling adolescents (mean age=14, SD=1.4) and their mothers or mother figures in Santiago, Chile. Having a warmer relationship with both parents was inversely associated with the adolescents' age and positively associated with adolescents' family involvement and parental monitoring. Both mothers' and fathers' harsh parenting were positively associated with adolescent externalizing behaviors and being male and inversely associated with youth autonomy and family involvement. These findings suggest that net of adolescent developmental emancipation and adolescent behavioral problems, positive relationships with parents, especially fathers, may be nurtured through parental monitoring and creation of an interactive family environment, and can help to foster positive developmental outcomes.

Parental monitoring, parental warmth, and minority youths' academic outcomes: exploring the integrative model of parenting

Guided by the integrative model of parenting, the present study investigated the relationship between parental monitoring and racial/ethnic minority adolescents' school engagement and academic motivation as a function of parental warmth, and explored whether these associations varied for boys and girls. Participants (60 % female) were 208 sixth through eighth grade students (63 % African American, 19 % Latino, 18 % Multiracial) from an urban middle school in the Midwestern United States. Youth completed an in-school survey with items on parenting (parental monitoring, mothers'/fathers' warmth), cognitive engagement (school self-esteem), behavioral engagement (school trouble), and academic motivation (intrinsic motivation). As hypothesized, mothers' warmth enhanced the association between parental monitoring and youths' engagement and motivation. No gender differences in these associations emerged. Fathers' warmth strengthened the negative association between parental monitoring and school trouble, and this association was stronger for boys. Implications regarding the importance of sustaining a high level of monitoring within the context of warm parent-adolescent relationships to best support academic outcomes among minority youth are discussed.

Communication with parents and body satisfaction in college students

OBJECTIVE

This study examined how communication with parents is related to college students' body satisfaction.

PARTICIPANTS AND METHODS

Participants (N = 134; 58 males and 76 females) completed a survey in March 2011 assessing body satisfaction and perceptions of communication with mothers and fathers.

RESULTS

Daughters' body satisfaction was negatively correlated with perceptions of problematic communication with mothers and fathers. Sons' body satisfaction was positively correlated with open communication with their mothers and negatively correlated with problematic communication with their mothers.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings indicated problematic communication with mothers was the most powerful predictor of daughters' body satisfaction, whereas open communication with mothers was the best predictor of sons' body satisfaction.

Pancultural Associations Between Perceived Parental Acceptance and Psychological Adjustment of Children and Adults

This meta-analysis tests the pancultural generalizability of two central postulates drawn from parental acceptance-rejection theory (PARTheory). The meta-analysis is based on 66 studies involving 19,511 respondents from 22 countries on five continents. All studies used the child and adult versions of the Parental Acceptance-Rejection Questionnaires for Mothers and for Fathers as well as the child and adult versions of the Personality Assessment Questionnaire. Results of analyses showed that the mean unweighted and weighted effect sizes of correlations between perceived maternal and paternal acceptance with offspring’s psychological adjustment were significant for both children and adults across all cultures studied. The results also showed that the mean weighted effect size of the correlation between paternal acceptance and psychological adjustment was significantly stronger than the mean weighted effect size of the correlation between maternal acceptance and psychological adjustment for children (but not for adults).

Fatherhood in Kenyan ethnic communities: Implication for child development

This article reviews the traditional and evolving constructions of fatherhood in Kenyan society, with an emphasis on fatherhood’s impact on child development outcomes. Western influence and increased access to technology have changed the role of the Kenyan father, and in turn affected his role in the family. Special attention is given to implications for child development and for educators working with children and families in Kenya.

One good thing leads to another: Cascades of positive youth development among American adolescents

Developmental cascades are links across the life span among heterotypic (qualitatively distinct) variables associated with one or more levels of organization within the ecology of human development. Using data from the longitudinal, 4-H Study of Positive Youth Development (PYD), we illustrate a developmental systems theory predicated model of cascades in the relations between individuals and contexts that promote positive development among adolescents. Consistent with expectations about the bases of PYD and the role in such development on person and context, ecological resources associated with parenting are linked to individual self-regulatory behaviors that in turn impact PYD, which is then associated with youth community contributions. We discuss the limitations and future directions of this research and the implications of developmental cascades for applications to policies and programs.