Mindfulness group intervention improved self-compassion and resilience of children from single-parent families in Tibetan areas

OBJECTIVE

The current study aimed to examine the effects of a mindfulness group intervention on self-compassion, psychological resilience, and mental health of children from single-parent families in Tibetan areas.

METHODS

A total of 64 children from single-parent families in Tibetan areas were randomly allocated to a control group (n = 32) and an intervention group (n = 32). Participants in the control group received conventional education, while participants in the intervention group received 6-week mindfulness intervention in addition to the conventional education. Both groups completed the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ), Self-compassion Scale (SCS), Resilience Scale for Chinese Adolescent (RSCA), and the Mental Health Test (MHT) before and after the intervention.

RESULTS

After the intervention, the levels of mindfulness and self-compassion in the intervention group were significantly improved in relative to the control group. The positive cognition in the RSCA was significantly increased in the intervention group, whereas no significant change was observed in the control group. There was a trend towards lower self-blame in the MHT, but no significant impact of the intervention on the overall level of mental health was found.

CONCLUSION

Results suggest that a 6-week mindfulness training effectively improve self-compassion and resilience of single-parent children. Thus, mindfulness training as a cost-effective approach can be arranged in the curriculum, which helps students develop high level of self-compassion and resilience. In addition, there may be a need to improve emotional control in order to improve mental health.

Maternal Distress and Adolescent Mental Health in Poor Chinese Single-Mother Families: Filial Responsibilities-Risks or Buffers?

Single motherhood and poverty have a significant, negative impact on mothers and their children. When their mothers experience maternal distress, adolescent children have to take up more instrumental and emotional filial responsibilities to comfort their mother and adapt to related changes. Based on 325 mother-child dyads of Chinese single-mother families experiencing economic disadvantage, this study examined the relationship between maternal distress and adolescent mental health problems (indexed by anxiety and depression) and the moderating roles of instrumental and emotional filial responsibilities. Results indicated that maternal distress was positively associated with anxiety and depression in adolescent children. In addition, instrumental filial responsibility intensified the associations of maternal distress with adolescent anxiety and depression. Moreover, the moderating role of emotional filial responsibility in the predictive relationship between maternal distress and adolescent anxiety was different in boys and girls. Adolescent girls with more emotional filial responsibility reported higher adolescent anxiety than did those who shouldered less emotional filial responsibility when their mother exhibited more distress, whereas the relationship between maternal distress and adolescent anxiety was stable in boys, regardless of emotional filial responsibility. In short, the present study showed that parentification was likely to occur in poor Chinese single-mother families, and adolescent children who took up a more caregiving role in the family exhibited poorer mental health. Family counselling and tangible support for single-mother families experiencing economic disadvantage are urged.

Single mothers by choice: Parenting and child adjustment in middle childhood

Findings are presented of the second phase of a longitudinal study of families created by single mothers by choice. Forty-four single heterosexual mothers were compared with 37 partnered heterosexual mothers, all with a donor-conceived child aged around 8-10 years. Standardized interview, observational, and questionnaire measures of maternal wellbeing, mother-child relationships and child adjustment were administered to mothers, children, and teachers. There were no differences in maternal mental health, the quality of mother-child relationships or children's emotional and behavioral problems between family types. However, higher levels of parenting stress and higher levels of children's prior adjustment difficulties were each associated with children's adjustment difficulties in middle childhood irrespective of family type. The findings suggest that the presence of two parents-or of a male parent-is not essential for children to flourish, and add to the growing body of evidence that family structure is less influential in children's adjustment than the quality of family relationships. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Risk and Protective Factors Associated with Childhood Obesity in a Sample of Low-Income, Single Female, Parent/Guardian Households: Implications for Family Therapists

The United States is in the midst of a childhood obesity epidemic that disproportionately impacts underserved and diverse populations. In this study, in-depth qualitative interviews were conducted with 16 low-income, single, female, parent/guardians of an overweight or obese 3- to 8-year-old from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds. Following the tenets of the thematic analysis approach, interviews focused on identifying risk and protective factors influencing parental and child health behaviors associated with child weight status. Results from the interviews are organized according to the Socioecological Framework to help identify risk and protective factors at various system levels. Findings from this investigation have relevance for family therapists as they can inform clinical and advocacy-focused interventions with disadvantaged families affected by childhood obesity.

The Impact of Having One Parent Absent on Children' Food Consumption and Nutrition in China

The rapid economic and social development in the past decades has greatly increased the societal acceptance of divorce and non-marital pregnancies in China, which leads to a soaring number of single-parent children. This paper aimed to investigate the impact of having one parent absent on children' food consumption and nutrition status. We extracted 1114 children from a longitudinal household survey data in China, all of which were observed twice. Using the Propensity Score Matching and Difference-in-Difference methods, we found that being raised by one parent does not have a negative effect on children's food consumption and nutrition intake. On the contrary, single-parent families tend to provide more food to their children as a compensation for the absence of one parent and this compensation effect offsets the negative impact caused by declined family income. Particularly, urban, rich families had stronger compensation effect than other families with low and middle incomes.

Parenting, coparenting, and adolescent adjustment in African American single-mother families: An actor-partner interdependence mediation model

This study examined family processes on the adjustment of adolescents from single-mother households using a dyadic approach. Participants included 107 noncohabiting Black parental dyads of adolescents aged 12 to 18 years. Each parent completed measures of positive parenting, parent-child relationship quality, parental depressive symptoms, coparenting relationship quality, and adolescent adjustment. Data were analyzed using the actor-partner interdependence model (APIM) and extended mediational model (APIMeM) within a structural equation modeling framework. APIM demonstrated significant actor effects from parent-child relationship quality and parental depressive symptoms to both adolescent externalizing and internalizing problems as well as significant partner effects from parent-child relationship quality to adolescent externalizing problems for both mothers and fathers. Additionally, APIMeM revealed significant indirect actor and partner effects from parent-child relationship quality to externalizing behavior through one's own and one's coparent's coparenting relationship quality for both parents. Indirect actor effects were also observed from positive parenting to externalizing behavior through one's own perception of coparenting relationship quality for both parents. Both APIM and APIMeM models found a significant gender difference for the direct effect from positive parenting to externalizing problems. Specifically, the association was negative for mothers in both models; whereas it was nonsignificant (APIM) and positive (APIMeM) for fathers. This study highlights the unique contributions of mother's and father's parent and coparent factors on one's own, and one's coparent's, perception of adolescent adjustment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Lesbians' experiences and attitudes towards parenthood in Greece

Same-sex parenthood is controversial subject. In this paper, we provide insights into the attitudes and experiences of self-reported lesbians regarding parenthood or the prospect of becoming a parent in the current Greek social and cultural context. In Greece, lesbians are not allowed access to in vitro fertilisation (IVF), while a solitary ('single') woman is allowed access for medical reasons. Fifty-nine (59) semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with women. What emerged from our data was a clear trend for participants to wish to have their own biological children based mostly on the belief that pregnancy would lead to a sense of self-completeness and/or fulfilment. Women also reported the negative impact of prejudice and social oppression on their reproductive autonomy. Interviewees reported that their reproductive choices were negatively influenced by their family and the wider socio-cultural environment. Even within a semi-permissive legal framework, impaired social acceptance of lesbian parenthood prohibits lesbians from becoming mothers. A major reason responsible for the positive attitude of most participants to shared biological motherhood was an altruistic attitude towards their partners.

Associations between early maternal behaviours and child language at 36 months in a cohort experiencing adversity

BACKGROUND

Variations in parenting, more specifically less responsive and more directive parenting, contribute to language difficulties for children experiencing adversity. Further investigation of associations between specific responsive and directive behaviours and child language is required to understand how behaviours shape language over time within different populations. As language is dyadic, further exploration of how mother-child interactions moderate associations is also important.

AIMS

To investigate associations between specific responsive and directive maternal behaviours, the quality of mother-child interaction (fluency and connectedness) and child language in a cohort experiencing adversity.

METHODS & PROCEDURES

Pregnant women experiencing adversity were recruited from maternity hospitals in Australia. At 12 months, videos of mother-infant free play were collected. Videos were coded for maternal behaviours and fluency and connectedness (n = 249). At 36 months, child language was measured using a standardized language test. Linear regression models were used to examine associations and the moderating role of fluency and connectedness was explored.

OUTCOMES & RESULTS

Responsive yes/no questions were positively associated with language scores. Unsuccessful redirectives were negatively associated with language scores. The moderation effect of fluency and connectedness was equivocal in the current data.

CONCLUSIONS & IMPLICATIONS

Findings reproduce and extend previous research highlighting key features of mother-child interactions associated with child language trajectories. Findings also augment knowledge of risk and protective factors related to language for children experiencing adversity and highlight where targeted interventions might be successful.

Single Parent Family Structure as a Predictor of Alcohol Use among Secondary School Students: Evidence from Jamaica

The aim of this study was to examine the potential relationship between Jamaican secondary students’ alcohol drinking habits and their family structure. Methods: Data collected from a nationally representative survey of 3,365 students were analysed. Descriptive and inferential statistics were performed. Results: Out of the 3,365 students, 1,044 (31.0%) were from single-parent families. Single-parent families, married-parent families and common law-parent families were significantly associated with lifetime use of alcohol (AOR= 1.72, 95% CI= 1.06 - 2.79; AOR= 1.73, 95% CI= 1.07- 2.81, AOR= 1.94, 95%CI= 1.17- 3.21 respectively). However, family structure was not significantly associated with past year and past month alcohol use. Students whose parents “sometimes” knew their whereabouts were significantly less likely to use alcohol in their lifetime compared to students whose parents “Always” knew where the students were. Conclusion: Family structure is an independent predictor of alcohol use among high school students in Jamaica. Being from single-parent families, married-parent and common- law parent families were significantly associated with increased likelihood for lifetime alcohol use.

Parenting in On/Off Relationships: The Link Between Relationship Churning and Father Involvement

Family systems theory points to the interconnected nature of dyadic relationships within the family unit, arguing for attention to how the parental relationship shapes their ties to and interactions with their children. Grounded in family systems theory, we consider how relationship churning-defined as being in an on-again/off-again relationship with the same partner-is associated with father involvement. We use data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study to examine how father involvement among relationship churners compares with father involvement among those in three other relationship types (measured during the first five years of the focal child's life): stably together relationships, stably broken-up relationships, and repartnered relationships. First, we find that churning fathers remain more involved with their 9-year-old children than do parents who stably break up or repartner, but they are less involved than those who are stably together. Second, lower relationship quality among churners-and, to a lesser extent, repartnering and childbearing with a new partner-explains some of the differences in father involvement between churners and the stably together. Third, these differences are most apparent among parents not living together when father involvement is measured. Taken together, the focus on relationship churning extends prior research on the association between relationship transitions and father involvement by separating relationship instability from partner change.

Relational Resilience in Māori, Pacific, and European Sole Parent Families: From Theory and Research to Social Policy

This study reports findings and policy recommendations from a research project that applied a relational resilience framework to a study of 60 sole parent families in New Zealand, with approximately equal numbers of Māori, Pacific, and European (White) participants. The sole parent families involved were already known to be resilient and the study focused on identifying the relationships and strategies underlying the achievement and maintenance of their resilience. The study was carried out to provide an evidence base for the development and implementation of policies and interventions to both support sole parent families who have achieved resilience and assist those who struggle to do so. The three populations shared many similarities in their pathways to becoming sole parents and the challenges they faced as sole parents. The coping strategies underlying their demonstrated resilience were also broadly similar, but the ways in which they were carried out did vary in a manner that particularly reflected cultural practices in terms of their reliance upon extended family-based support or support from outside the family. The commonalities support the appropriateness of the common conceptual framework used, whereas the differences underline the importance of developing nuanced policy responses that take into account cultural differences between the various populations to which policy initiatives are directed.

Anger in Adulthood in Participants Who Lost Their Father During the War in Croatia When They Were in Their Formative Age

BACKGROUND

Loss of parents in early childhood can have serious long-term psychological consequences. Abandoned by a close figure of attachment, many persons have developed the emotion of anger, even though the separation was caused by death. The traumatic experience of the loss of a parent is particularly hard in war, because most often it does not occur as an individual trauma. Our aim is to research anger as a personality trait in persons whose father had died in war at a time when they were children, and to compare it with an appropriate civilian control group of subjects.

SUBJECTS AND METHODS

The study comprised 155 persons of both sexes. The target group consisted of persons (N=98) whose father had died in the Homeland War and who had just been born at the time of their father's death, or were children or adolescents, and had since their father's death grown up in a single-parent family with their mother, while the control group of subjects (N=57) had not suffered any war losses in the family in the war time from 1991 to 1995. The examined variables were: sex, age, loss of father due to civilian or war causes, marital status, age when the subject lost their father, anger as a state and as a personality trait. STAXI is used in this study; it is frequently used in studies of experiencing, expressing and controlling anger in persons suffering from PTSD.

RESULTS

Statistically significant differences were demonstrated in some of the scales and subscales of anger as a state and anger as a personality trait between the abovementioned subject groups, with higher scores in persons who had suffered a civilian loss of father.

CONCLUSIONS

The study supports the opinion that the social context in which the grieving person is before, during and after the loss of a close person has an important role in the process of grieving, and eventually defines the social and personal meaning of death.

What Was Really Learned from Tasker and Golombok's (1995) Study of Lesbian and Single Parent Mothers?

Limitations of research on gays and family life are discussed, including the low statistical power of small samples, a condition which increases the likelihood of failing to reject null hypotheses. In particular, it is observed that Fitzgerald in 1999 shifted from very tentative arguments in her review of literature to rather conclusive statements in her abstract about outcomes for children of gay parents. Furthermore, an often quoted 1995 article by Tasker and Golombok, upon closer examination, appears to indicate that being raised in a lesbian family increases the odds of a child later adopting a homosexual lifestyle even in the absence of homosexual attractions. For such reasons, scholars and policymakers all should be very cautious in accepting, at face value, at least some of the research being reported on gays and family life.

Single mothers by choice: Mother-child relationships and children's psychological adjustment

Fifty-one solo mother families were compared with 52 two-parent families all with a 4-9-year-old child conceived by donor insemination. Standardized interview, observational and questionnaire measures of maternal wellbeing, mother-child relationships and child adjustment were administered to mothers, children and teachers. There were no differences in parenting quality between family types apart from lower mother-child conflict in solo mother families. Neither were there differences in child adjustment. Perceived financial difficulties, child's gender, and parenting stress were associated with children's adjustment problems in both family types. The findings suggest that solo motherhood, in itself, does not result in psychological problems for children. (PsycINFO Database Record

Father involvement in child welfare: Associations with changes in externalizing behavior

Nonresident fathers can have a significant impact on children's behavioral outcomes. Unfortunately, the impact of nonresident father involvement on the behavioral outcomes of children with child welfare involvement has received scant attention in the literature, a limitation the current study sought to address. A sample of 333 children in state custody in Illinois between the ages of six and 13 participated and were assessed using the externalizing behavior scale of the Child and Adolescent Needs and Strengths (CANS) at regular intervals throughout their time in care. Father involvement was measured through a review of case files and interviews with child welfare workers. Growth trajectories were fit to children's externalizing behavior across time and were predicted using Time 1 characteristics. Father involvement, total non-father relative involvement, and gender (girls) was associated with lower baseline externalizing behavior and the African American children in the sample experienced higher baseline externalizing behavior. However, only Time 1 father involvement predicted slope trajectories after controlling for Time 1 externalizing behavior; more father involvement was associated with lower externalizing behavior trajectories. These results suggest that even in the unique and stressful context of child welfare, father involvement can be protective regarding children's externalizing behaviors.

Integrating donor conception into identity development: adolescents in fatherless families

Objective

To study the processes by which donor-conceived children incorporate donor conception into their subjective sense of identity.

Design

Cross-sectional.

Setting

Family homes.

Patient(s)

Nineteen donor-conceived adolescents.

Intervention(s)

Administration of an interview and questionnaire.

Main Outcome Measure(s)

The mother-child relationship was assessed through the Friends and Family Interview, a semistructured interview designed to assess adolescents' security of attachment in terms of secure-autonomous, insecure-dismissive, insecure-preoccupied, and insecure-disorganized attachment patterns. The Donor Conception Identity Questionnaire assessed adolescents' thoughts and feelings about donor conception, yielding two factors: [1] curiosity about donor conception and [2] avoidance of donor conception.

Result(s)

Statistically significant associations were found between the Curiosity scale and the secure-autonomous and insecure-dismissing attachment ratings. Adolescents with secure-autonomous attachment patterns were more interested in exploring donor conception whereas those with insecure-dismissing patterns were less likely to express curiosity. Insecure-disorganized attachment ratings were statistically significantly correlated with the Avoidance scale, indicating higher levels of negative feelings about donor conception.

Conclusion(s)

The results of this study of the influence of parent-child relationships on thoughts and feelings about donor conception in adolescence suggest that the valence of the parent-child relationship influences adolescents' appraisal of their donor conception within the context of their growing sense of identity.

Negative emotional reactivity as a marker of vulnerability in the development of borderline personality disorder symptoms

Negative emotionality is a distinguishing feature of borderline personality disorder (BPD). However, this person-level characteristic has not been examined as a marker of vulnerability in the development of this disorder. The current study utilized a multimethod approach to examine the interplay between negative emotional reactivity and cumulative exposure to family adversity on the development of BPD symptoms across 3 years (ages 16-18) in a diverse, at-risk sample of adolescent girls (N = 113). A latent variable of negative emotional reactivity was created from multiple assessments at age 16: self-report, emotion ratings to stressors from ecological assessments across 1 week, and observer-rated negative affectivity during a mother-daughter conflict discussion task. Exposure to family adversity was measured cumulatively between ages 5 and 16 from annual assessments of family poverty, single parent household, and difficult life circumstances. The results from latent growth curve models demonstrated a significant interaction between negative emotional reactivity and family adversity, such that exposure to adversity strengthened the association between negative emotional reactivity and BPD symptoms. In addition, family adversity predicted increasing BPD symptoms during late adolescence. These findings highlight negative emotional reactivity as a marker of vulnerability that ultimately increases risk for the development of BPD symptoms.

Correlates of male cohabiting partner's involvement in child-rearing tasks in low-income urban Black stepfamilies

Cohabitation is a family structure experienced by many Black children. This study examines the link between family relationships (child relationship with mother and the cohabiting partner; parent and cohabiting partner relationship) and involvement of biologically unrelated male cohabiting partners (MCP) in child rearing. The participants were 121 low-income urban Black families consisting of a single mother, MCP, and an adolescent (56% female, M age = 13.7). Assessments were conducted individually with mothers, MCPs, and adolescents via measures administered by interview. MCPs were involved in both domains of child rearing assessed (daily child-related tasks and setting limits) and those identified as coparents by the mother were more involved in child-rearing tasks than those not identified as coparents. Using structural equation modeling (SEM), the mother-MCP relationship (both support and conflict) and the adolescent-MCP relationship were related to MCP's involvement in both domains of child rearing. The findings indicate that MCPs are actively involved in child rearing and family relationship variables are associated with their involvement in these tasks.

Resilience in families raising children with disabilities and behavior problems

The purpose of this study was to investigate the resilience displayed by families raising children with disabilities and behavior problems. The question is why do some families do well when others, exposed to similar stressors, struggle to keep their family life running? A stratified (by child age group) random sample of 538 families raising children with disabilities in Alberta, Canada took part. Participants completed the Family Life Survey, which incorporated measures of child behavior problems, social-ecological resources and family-level 'outcomes'. Families raising children with disabilities and behavior problems 'do well' under conditions of high social support and low financial hardship. In contrast, families with low levels of social support and high levels of financial hardship typically struggle, even when the number or intensity of child behavior problems is low. The study findings are consistent with the view that 'resilience' has more to do with the availability and accessibility of culturally relevant resources than with intrinsic, individual or family factors. With respect to family-level outcomes, strengthening social relationships and ameliorating financial hardship may be more important than behavior modification.

Father absence and depressive symptoms in adolescence: findings from a UK cohort

BACKGROUND

Previous studies suggest a link between parental separation or divorce and risk of depression in adolescence. There are, however, few studies that have prospectively examined the effects of timing of biological father absence on risk for depressive symptoms in adolescence while controlling for a range of confounding factors.

METHOD

We examine the association between father absence occurring in early (the first 5 years) and middle childhood (5-10 years) and adolescent depressive symptoms in a sample comprising 5631 children from the UK-based Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC). Self-reported depressive symptoms at 14 years were assessed using the Short Mood and Feelings Questionnaire (SMFQ). Father absence was assessed from maternal questionnaires completed at regular intervals from the birth of the study child up to 10 years.

RESULTS

There was evidence for an association between father absence in early childhood and increased odds of depressive symptoms at 14 years. This association was stronger in girls than in boys and remained after adjusting for a range of socio-economic, maternal and familial confounders assessed prior to the father's departure. Conversely, there was no evidence for an association between father absence in middle childhood and depressive symptoms at 14 years.

CONCLUSIONS

Father absence in early childhood increases risk for adolescent depressive symptoms, particularly in girls. Future research should be aimed at identifying possible biological and psychosocial mechanisms linking father absence to depressive symptomatology to enable the development of family-based early prevention and intervention programmes targeting young children at risk.

Modification effects of family economic status and school factors on depression risk of single-father family children in Mid-Taiwan area

The incidence of single-parent families has increased significantly in Taiwan in recent years. Children born in single-parent families are predisposed to suffering from emotional problems. We aimed to determine if the children of single-parent families are more depressive than children from both-parent families, and to examine the individual and joint effects of various factors on the depression risk. A cross-sectional study was performed to investigate the depression status of elementary school children in MiaoLi County, Taiwan. A total of 881 eligible subjects, including 144 children from single-parent families were recruited from 29 schools. Data for depression-related demographic characteristics, family and school variables were collected. The results show that 27.6% of children from single-father families with depressive symptoms, 15.1% children from single-mother families and 15.3% children from both-parent families with repressive symptoms. This study provides significant evidences that single-father family was one significant predictor for childhood depression and the enhanced effects of socioeconomic status and peer relationship on depression of children from single father families were found up to 4-fold (OR=4.0, 95% CI=1.8-8.5) and 5-fold (OR=5.5, 95% CI=2.3-13.2) risk respectively. The results provide hints to parents and teachers for improving the mental health of children in single-parent families by reducing the occurrence of depression.

The role of coparents in African American single-mother families: the indirect effect of coparent identity on youth psychosocial adjustment

The majority (67%) of African American youth live in single-parent households, a shift in the family structure that has been linked to increased risk for both internalizing and externalizing problem behaviors. Although the majority of single mothers endorse the assistance of another adult or family member in child rearing, relatively little is known about who is engaged in this nonmarital coparenting role (i.e., grandmother, father/social father, aunt, and female family friend) and how it relates to coparenting quality, maternal parenting, and youth psychosocial outcomes (i.e., internalizing and externalizing problems). This question, which is critical to the advancement of family focused programming for youth in these families, is addressed in this study. The participants examined in the current study were 159 African American single-mother child dyads. Adolescents' maternal grandmothers constituted the largest proportion of coparents in the sample (37.2%), followed by the mothers' female family friends (22.5%), adolescents' maternal aunts (12.7%), and adolescents' fathers/social fathers (11%). Differences emerged among groups of coparents in support and conflict with the mother. Specifically, grandmothers, aunts, and female family friends provided significantly more instrumental support than fathers. Furthermore, grandmothers and fathers had more conflict with the mother, both generally and specifically in front of the child, than aunts or female family friends. In turn, these differences were associated directly and indirectly through maternal parenting with internalizing and externalizing problems. Clinical implications and future directions are discussed.

Effects of diabetes-related family stress on glycemic control in young patients with type 1 diabetes: Systematic review

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the way that family stress influences glycemic control among patients with diabetes who are younger than 18 years of age.

DATA SOURCES

PubMed and Scopus were searched for relevant studies published since 1990 using the following key words: diabetes type 1, glycemic control, family stress, family conflict, and family function.

STUDY SELECTION

In total, 1478 papers were identified in the initial search. The final review included 6 cohort studies, 3 cross-sectional studies, and 1 qualitative review in which family stress was assessed using specific diabetes-related conflict measurement instruments, and glycemic control was evaluated by glycosylated hemoglobin measurement.

SYNTHESIS

In most studies family stress was negatively correlated with patients' glycemic control. Family function was strongly related to patients' glycemic control, while family conflict was adversely associated with glycemic control. Families of low socioeconomic status, those of adolescents with diabetes, and those of single parents were more prone to diabetes-related stress and thus more susceptible to worse glycemic control.

CONCLUSION

Therapeutic psychological interventions and educational programs can help alleviate family diabetes-related stress and will likely improve glycemic control.

Are two a family? Older single mothers assisted by sperm donation and their children revisited

This study follows 40 older single-mother families created with the aid of sperm donation using either insemination or in vitro fertilization. The study is based on qualitative data obtained from the mothers 3 years after a previous study with these families. The mean age of the mothers at this time was about 47 years and of the children 7 years. The findings provide insights into the mothers' and children's current sociodemographic characteristics, physical health, socioemotional development and the children's reactions to the absence of a father at follow-up time. The majority of the children raised by these older single mothers have good health. The salient result is that at follow-up, 45% of these older single-mother families comprise a family unit with more than 1 child, clearly demonstrating these families' desire for a larger family than a mother-child unit. The desire and attempts of the mothers in the sample to give birth to additional children using assisted conception demonstrate the divergence in the fertility patterns of Israeli society from other developed countries.

Adherence in single-parent households in a long-term asthma clinical trial

Adherence of participants in a long-term clinical trial is necessary to assure validity of findings. This article examines adherence differences between single-parent and two-parent families in the Childhood Asthma Management Program (CAMP). Adherence was defined as the percentage of completed daily diary cards and scheduled study visits during the course of the trial. Logistic regression and ordinal logistic regression analyses were used. Children from single-parent families had a lower percentage of completed diary cards (72% vs. 84%) than two-parent families. Single-parent families were also more likely to reschedule visits (62% vs. 45%) and miss more clinic visits (23% vs. 17%) than two-parent families. Suggestions are given for study coordinators to assist participants in completing a long-term clinical trial. Many suggestions may be adapted for nurses in inpatient or outpatient settings for assisting parents of patients with chronic diseases.

The influence of family structure on breakfast habits among adolescents

INTRODUCTION

Regular breakfast habits are important for the health and well-being of young people. The family is an important setting for developing regular breakfast habits. The objectives of the present study are to study the association between family structure and the regularity of breakfast habits among children and adolescents, and to analyse whether such potential association is modified by gender.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

Data are from the Danish contribution to the international study entitled Health Behaviour in School aged Children, 2006. Participants are school children aged 11, 13 and 15 drawn from a random sample of Danish schools. The response rate was 88.8%, n = 6,269. Family structure was categorized into traditional family, single-parent family and reconstructed family. Irregular breakfast habits (IBH) were defined as having breakfast 0-1 times per week.

RESULTS

Analyses of the total population show an increased, significant odds ratio (OR) of 1.56 for IBH among children from single-parent families. Among children from reconstructed families, an insignificant OR of 1.27 was observed. Further, the results suggest that girls living in a reconstructed family may also have an increased risk of IBH.

CONCLUSION

The breakfast habits of adolescent boys and girls are influenced by family structure.

Family structure and family processes in Mexican-American families

Despite increases in single-parent families among Mexican Americans, few studies have examined the association of family structure and family adjustment. Utilizing a diverse sample of 738 Mexican-American families (21.7% single parent), the current study examined differences across family structure on early adolescent outcomes, family functioning, and parent-child relationship variables. Results revealed that early adolescents in single-parent families reported greater school misconduct, conduct disorder/oppositional deviant disorder, and major depressive disorder symptoms, and greater parent-child conflict than their counterparts in 2-parent families. Single-parent mothers reported greater economic hardship, depression, and family stress. Family stress and parent-child conflict emerged as significant mediators of the association between family structure and early adolescent outcomes, suggesting important processes linking Mexican-American single-parent families and adolescent adjustment.

Empowerment or endurance? War wives' experiences of independence during and after the Second World War in Germany, 1939-1948

As German men were conscripted into the armed forces during the Second World War, more and more wives were left to manage their families alone. At the same time more women than ever entered paid employment to fill the gaps in the market left by their soldier husbands. Scholars working in the field have made much of the dislocation to gender roles prompted by the Second World War. This article questions whether women's wartime experiences changed their views on being confined to the home. Ultimately, this article argues, women wanted to return to a sense of normality at the end of the war. In the aftermath of defeat, in which mere survival rather than speculation about potentially improved models of the family set-up were paramount, "normality" was most obviously represented by prewar gender roles. Women were hoping for normalization, not only in the public sphere in the sense of a flourishing economy, but also in the private sphere with the return of the men and a resumption of the old role divisions. It was therefore not only conservative politicians who wished to preserve prewar structures within the home - so too did women themselves. The re-emergence of the traditional family model in the wake of the Second World War was thus as much the result of popular aspirations "from below" as of government policies imposed "from above".

For better or for worse? The dilemmas of unmarried motherhood in mid-twentieth-century popular British film and fiction

This article investigates representations of unmarried motherhood in the late 1940s and early 1950s through readings of popular British film and fiction. These sources are used to illustrate contradictions and conflicts in the meanings afforded to unmarried motherhood and, in turn, to highlight how the unmarried mother was used as a motif for exploring post-war normative boundaries around marriage, motherhood, and female sexuality. The article draws upon Raymond Williams's idea of a 'structure of feeling' to make connections between these representations and issues and debates about the role and status of women and mothers more generally in post-war Britain.

Unmarried motherhood in twentieth-century England

This article explores the experiences of unmarried mothers who kept and tried to raise their children between World War One and the end of the twentieth century. It argues that there has not been a simple progression from their experiencing social stigma and ostracism to more enlightened attitudes since the 1970s. Rather there is a great deal that has hitherto been unknown about what the evidence suggests were very diverse experiences and attitudes throughout the period. A major change since the 1970s has been from pervasive secrecy about unmarried motherhood, cohabitation, adultery and similar 'irregular' practices, especially among the middle classes, to greater openness. The article uses a variety of sources, including the records of the National Council for the Unmarried Mother and Her Child (founded in 1918, now One Parent Families), oral histories, contemporary interviews and official and unofficial investigations.

"Let us help them to raise their children into good citizens": the Lone-Parent Families Act and the wages of care-giving in Israel

Based on the assumption that the construction of meaning in the process of policy-making is crucial if we wish to understand the gender outcomes of social policy, this article analyzes the parliamentary debates that preceded and accompanied the legislation of the Israeli Mono-Parental Families Act, 1992. It focuses on the enunciation of gender roles and relations in the discourses that framed and justified the Act as well as on how the capacity to establish and maintain autonomous households was constructed and legitimized. Two sets of discourses emerged during the deliberations over the Act, each of which endeavored to interpret the needs, identities, and capacities for action among lone-parent families. The article shows how a specific version of the capacity to establish and maintain autonomous households—that of caregivers who happen to be workers—was privileged in the policy paradigm underlying the Act. The alternative vision—that of workers with caregiving responsibilities—was marginalized and eventually disregarded in the final wording and implementation of the Act. The article concludes with an analysis of the socio-political processes that underlie the prioritization of the version, which was ultimately expressed in the implementation of the Act. It is suggested that a state-level collective identity project shaped by demographic concerns and geo-political factors and changes in the political economy combined to define the needs, identities, and capacities for action of lone-parent families in terms of a model of motherhood in which care-giving trumped paid work.

Unmarried mothers in Ireland, 1880-1973

This article explores the changing experiences and representation of Ireland's unmarried mothers from 1880 to 1973. It focuses on the stigma of illegitimacy in political and cultural discourse and the representation of unmarried mothers as immoral and their children as a drain on resources. These remained constant themes within the discourse of unmarried motherhood in Ireland throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The article uses the records of philanthropic, government and religious organisations to chart the rising interest in the moral reformation of unmarried mothers at the end of the nineteenth century and rising tolerance towards them by the end of the twentieth century.

Changing notions of lone motherhood in twentieth-century Finland

Through written life stories of lone mothers, this article examines changes in lone motherhood in twentieth-century Finland. While the older life-story writers' narratives are clearly influenced by an 'ethos of survival' and the regulation of female sexuality, the younger writers relate their experiences with the help of scripts on gender equality and the psychological importance of 'good' parenting. These narrative shifts point to important changes in cultural scripts on women's positions in families, on the labour market, and in society.

Families with school-age children

Most working parents face a common dilemma--how to care for their children when they are not in school but the parents are at work. In this article Kathleen Christensen, Barbara Schneider, and Donnell Butler describe the predictable and unpredictable scheduling demands school-age children place on working couples and single working parents. The authors assess the potential capacity of schools to help meet the needs of working families through changes in school schedules and after-school programs and conclude that the flexibility parents need to balance family-work responsibilities probably cannot be found in the school setting. They argue that workplaces are better able than schools to offer the flexibility that working parents need to attend to basic needs of their children, as well as to engage in activities that enhance their children's academic performance and emotional and social well-being. Two types of flexible work practices seem especially well suited to parents who work: flextime arrangements that allow parents to coordinate their work schedules with their children's school schedules, and policies that allow workers to take short periods of time off--a few hours or a day or two-to attend a parent-teacher conference, for example, or care for a child who has suddenly fallen ill. Many companies that have instituted such policies have benefited through employees' greater job satisfaction and employee retention. Yet despite these measured benefits to employers, workplaces often fall short of being family friendly. Many employers do not offer such policies or offer them only to employees at certain levels or in certain types of jobs. Flexible work practices are almost nonexistent for low-income workers, who are least able to afford alternative child care and may need flexibility the most. Moreover the authors find that even employees in firms with flexible practices such as telecommuting may be reluctant to take advantage of them, because the workplace culture explicitly or implicitly stigmatizes or penalizes employees for choosing these work arrangements. The authors conclude by making a case for creating a workplace culture that supports flexibility. Such a culture, they argue, would enable working parents to better meet the responsibilities of their jobs as they care for and build strong relationships with their children.

Preschool and maternal labor market outcomes: evidence from a regression discontinuity Design

In developing countries, employment rates for mothers with young children are relatively low. This study analyzes how maternal labor market outcomes in Argentina are affected by the preschool attendance of their children. Using pooled household surveys, we show that 4-year-olds with birthdays on June 30 have sharply higher probabilities of preschool attendance than children born on July 1, given enrollment-age rules. Regression-discontinuity estimates using this variation suggest that preschool attendance of the youngest child in the household increases the probability of full-time employment and weekly hours of maternal employment. We find no effect of preschool attendance on maternal labor outcomes for children who are not the youngest in the household.

Life stress, maternal optimism, and adolescent competence in single mother, African American families

Although research demonstrates many negative family outcomes associated with single-parent households, little is known about processes that lead to positive outcomes for these families. Using 3 waves of longitudinal data, we examined how maternal dispositional optimism and life stressors are associated with parenting and child outcomes in 394 single mother African American families. Confirming prior research, we found that mothers' childhood adversities, current economic pressure, and internalizing problems were associated with lower levels of maternal warmth and child management and with lower child school competence. Extending previous studies, we found that maternal optimism was a positive resource, predicting lower levels of maternal internalizing symptoms and higher levels of effective child management and moderating the impact of economic stress on maternal internalizing problems. These findings highlight the need for further investigation of processes and resources that promote positive outcomes for African American mother-headed families and single mother families in general.

Self-regulation as a mediator between sibling relationship quality and early adolescents' positive and negative outcomes

The current study examined the role of adolescents' self-regulation as a mediator between sibling relationship quality and adolescent outcomes, after controlling for the quality of the parent-child relationship. Participants were 395 families (282 two parent; 113 single parent) with an adolescent child (M age of child at Time 1 = 11.15, SD = .96, 49% female) who took part in [project name masked for blind review] at both Time 1 and Time 2. Path analysis via structural equation modeling suggested that sibling affection was longitudinally and positively related to self-regulation and prosocial behaviors, and negatively related to externalizing behaviors; while sibling hostility was positively, and having a sister was negatively related to internalizing behaviors (in general, paths were stronger for adolescents from two- vs. single-parent families). There was also evidence that adolescents' self-regulation partially mediated the relation between sibling affection and positive and negative adolescent outcomes. The discussion focuses on the importance of continued research examining the mechanisms through which the sibling relationship influences development during adolescence.

Parental relationships in fragile families

As nonmarital childbearing escalated in the United States over the past half century, fragile families--defined as unmarried couples with children--drew increased interest from researchers and policy makers. Sara McLanahan and Audrey Beck discuss four aspects of parental relationships in these families: the quality of parents' intimate relationship, the stability of that relationship, the quality of the co-parenting relationship among parents who live apart, and nonresident fathers' involvement with their child. At the time of their child's birth, half of the parents in fragile families are living together and another third are living apart but romantically involved. Despite high hopes at birth, five years later only a third of parents are still together, and new partners and new children are common, leading to high levels of instability and complexity in these families. Drawing on findings from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, McLanahan and Beck highlight a number of predictors of low relationship quality and stability in these families, including low economic resources, government policies that discourage marriage, gender distrust and acceptance of single motherhood, sex ratios that favor men, children from previous unions, and psychological factors that make it difficult for parents to maintain healthy relationships. No single factor appears to have a dominant effect. The authors next discuss two types of experiments that attempt to establish causal effects on parental relationships: those aimed at altering economic resources and those aimed at improving relationships. What can be done to strengthen parental relationships in fragile families? The authors note that although economic resources are a consistent predictor of stable relationships, researchers and policy makers lack good causal information on whether increasing fathers' employment and earnings will increase relationship quality and union stability. They also note that analysts need to know more about whether relationship quality in fragile families can be improved directly and whether doing so will increase union stability, father involvement, and co-parenting quality.

The educational gradient of childbearing within cohabitation in Europe

Nearly every European Country has experienced some increase in nonmarital childbearing, largely due to increasing births within cohabitation. Relatively few studies in Europe, however, investigate the educational gradient of childbearing within cohabitation or how it changed over time. Using retrospective union and fertility histories, we employ competing risk hazard models to examine the educational gradient of childbearing in cohabitation in eight countries across europe. In all countries studied, birth risks within cohabitation demonstrated a negative educational gradient. When directly comparing cohabiting fertility with marital fertility, the negative educational gradient persists in all countries except Italy, although differences were not significant in Austria, France, and West Germany. To explain these findings, we present an alternative explanation for the increase in childbearing within cohabitation that goes beyond the explanation of the Second Demographic Transition and provides a new interpretation of the underlying mechanisms that may influence childbearing within cohabitation.

Parental relationships in fragile families

As nonmarital childbearing escalated in the United States over the past half century, fragile families--defined as unmarried couples with children--drew increased interest from researchers and policy makers. Sara McLanahan and Audrey Beck discuss four aspects of parental relationships in these families: the quality of parents' intimate relationship, the stability of that relationship, the quality of the co-parenting relationship among parents who live apart, and nonresident fathers' involvement with their child. At the time of their child's birth, half of the parents in fragile families are living together and another third are living apart but romantically involved. Despite high hopes at birth, five years later only a third of parents are still together, and new partners and new children are common, leading to high levels of instability and complexity in these families. Drawing on findings from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, McLanahan and Beck highlight a number of predictors of low relationship quality and stability in these families, including low economic resources, government policies that discourage marriage, gender distrust and acceptance of single motherhood, sex ratios that favor men, children from previous unions, and psychological factors that make it difficult for parents to maintain healthy relationships. No single factor appears to have a dominant effect. The authors next discuss two types of experiments that attempt to establish causal effects on parental relationships: those aimed at altering economic resources and those aimed at improving relationships. What can be done to strengthen parental relationships in fragile families? The authors note that although economic resources are a consistent predictor of stable relationships, researchers and policy makers lack good causal information on whether increasing fathers' employment and earnings will increase relationship quality and union stability. They also note that analysts need to know more about whether relationship quality in fragile families can be improved directly and whether doing so will increase union stability, father involvement, and co-parenting quality.

Nonresident fathers' parenting, family processes, and children's development in urban, poor, single-mother families

With dramatic growth in nonrmarital births, an increasing number of children are growing up in single-mother families. This study examines the relationships among nonresident fathers' parenting and children's behavioral and cognitive development in low-income, single-mother families. It also considers the personal characteristics of the children's single mothers as well as family processes and economic circumstances. Analyses use the first three waves of longitudinal data from a subsample of single and noncohabiting mothers in the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study. Results suggest that nonresident fathers' parenting is indirectly associated with children's behavior problems and cognitive development. The findings further suggest that those estimated associations are transmitted through mothers' parenting. The study also discusses the policy and practice implications of its findings.

Family transitions and juvenile delinquency

There is a large body of research that shows children from non-intact homes show higher rates of juvenile delinquency than children from intact homes, partially due to weaker parental control and supervision in non-intact homes. What has not been adequately addressed in the research is the influence of changes in family structure among individual adolescents over time on delinquent offending. Using the first and third waves of the National Youth Study, we assess the effect of family structure changes on changes in delinquent offending between waves through the intermediate process of changes in family time and parental attachment. Although prior research has documented adolescents in broken homes are more delinquent than youth in intact homes, the process of family dissolution is not associated with concurrent increases in offending. In contrast, family formation through marriage or cohabitation is associated with simultaneous increases in offending. Changes in family time and parental attachment account for a portion of the family formation effect on delinquency, and prior parental attachment and juvenile offending significantly condition the effect of family formation on offending.

Maternal incest as moral panic: envisioning futures without fathers in the South African lowveld

During 2008, rumours about revolting incestuous encounters between sons and their mothers circulated in the Bushbuckridge municipality of the South African lowveld. This article views these rumours as expressing moral panic, paying particular attention to the historical contexts of their emergence and circulation, and to their temporal orientation. I locate these rumours in the periphery of South Africa's de-industrialising economy, marked by increased unemployment and criminality among men and by a growing prominence of women-headed households. They express a regressive temporalisation and pessimistic vision, not of development, progress and civilisation, but rather of deterioration and de-civilisation. Through the alleged act of incest, sons who engage in crime usurp the authority of fathers who once produced value in strategic industries and mines. As such the rumours envision a dystopia marked by the 'death of the father' and chaotic disorder without morality and law.

Mothers, men, and child protective services involvement

This study used data on 2,297 families from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study to examine whether Child Protective Services (CPS) involvement varies by maternal relationship status. Families were categorized according to whether the mother was living with a (male) partner or spouse, was involved in a dating relationship, or was not romantically involved. Families in which the mother was romantically involved were further delineated by whether her partner was the biological father of none, some, or all of the children in her household. Results indicated that families in which the mother was living with a man who was not the biological father of all children and those in which she was not romantically involved were significantly more likely to be contacted by CPS than those in which she was living with the biological father of all resident children. These findings withstood the inclusion of detailed controls for the mother's characteristics and behaviors and (in two-parent families) her partner's characteristics and behaviors, suggesting that they are not fully explained by observable social selection factors.

A national study of male involvement among families in contact with the child welfare system

Few studies inform the frequency and type of adult male involvement in families in contact with child welfare, and even fewer explore how male involvement relates to child welfare outcomes. This study employed data from a sample of 3,978 families in contact with the U.S. child welfare system, drawn from the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being. The nature of male involvement in these families and its relationship to (a) caseworkers' perception of children's risk for maltreatment rereport and (b) entry into out-of-home care were explored. Results indicate that most caregivers report male involvement, distinct types of male involvement are related to the likelihood of out-of-home care, and households that include nonparental adult males are perceived by caseworkers as relatively risky. No male involvement indicator tested, however, was related to maltreatment rereport. Implications include the need to appropriately assess, include, and engage adult male family members across diverse family systems.

[Street children in Bukavu, Democratic Republic of the Congo: causes for leaving home]

The purpose of this report is to describe the results of a survey conducted in 2004 among a cohort of 310 street children in Bukavu DR Congo to determine sociodemographic features and the reasons that led them to leave the homes of their parents. The causes were school dropout due either to the inability of the parents to pay or refusal to study, death or separation of parents, family dispute, feelings of injustice or discrimination within the family, and a desire for freedom. Street life depersonalizes children, subjects them to the law of the strongest, and exposes them to drugs and prostitution.

Moderators of outcome in a brief family-centered intervention for preventing early problem behavior

This study investigated moderators of change in an empirically supported family-centered intervention (the Family Check-Up) for problem behavior in early childhood. Participants were 731 2- to 3-year-olds (49% girls; 28% African American, 50% European American, 13% biracial) from low-income families and had been screened for risk of family stress and early-onset problem behavior. They were randomized to the Family Check-Up intervention or to a no-intervention control group. Latent growth models examined sociodemographic and parent psychological risk factors as potential moderators of change in problem behavior between ages 2, 3, and 4. Results revealed 2 moderators of intervention effectiveness. Caregivers with the lowest educational levels were more responsive to the family-centered intervention, and 2-parent families were more responsive to the intervention. Other risk factors showed no predictive effects. Overall, findings suggest that this brief family-centered intervention can be equally effective in reaching the most distressed and most disadvantaged families, compared to those who are more advantaged. However, results suggest that more attention may be needed to address the intervention needs of single parent families in reducing problem behavior in early childhood.