Longitudinal course and family correlates of sibling relationships from childhood through adolescence

Changes in sibling intimacy and conflict were charted from middle childhood through adolescence, and family structure and relationship correlates of change were examined. Participants were mothers, fathers, and firstborn (M=11.82 years at Time 1) and secondborn (M=9.22 years) siblings from 200 White, working/middle class, 2-parent families. Sibling intimacy was highest for sisters, stable over time for same-sex dyads, and showed a U-shaped change pattern in mixed-sex dyads. Sibling conflict declined after early adolescence at the same time (but at different ages) for firstborn and secondborns. Maternal acceptance covaried positively with sibling intimacy, and father-child conflict covaried positively with sibling conflict over time; fathers' marital love was linked to sibling intimacy in a pattern suggestive of compensation.     

Effects of Mexican Immigrant Parents’ Daily Workplace Discrimination on Child Behavior and Family Functioning

This study investigated Mexican immigrant parents’ reports of perceived workplace discrimination and their children's behavior, parents’ moods, and parent–child interactions. Parents of one hundred and thirty‐eight 3‐ to 5‐year‐old children were asked to complete one survey daily for 2 weeks (N = 1,592 days). On days when fathers perceived discrimination, fathers and mothers reported more externalizing child behaviors, and mothers reported fewer positive child behaviors. When mothers perceived discrimination, they reported more externalizing child behaviors; fathers reported more internalizing child behaviors. Parents reported worse mood on days with perceived discrimination. Perceived discrimination was not strongly related to parent–child interactions. For fathers, but less so for mothers, those whose psychological acculturation indicated separation had more negative relations between daily perceived workplace discrimination and child and family outcomes.     

Gender Differences in Child Aggression: Relations With Gender‐Differentiated Parenting and Parents’ Gender‐Role Stereotypes

This longitudinal study examines the association between child gender and child aggression via parents’ physical control, moderated by parents’ gender‐role stereotypes in a sample of 299 two‐parent families with a 3‐year‐old child in the Netherlands. Fathers with strong stereotypical gender‐role attitudes and mothers were observed to use more physical control strategies with boys than with girls, whereas fathers with strong counterstereotypical attitudes toward gender roles used more physical control with girls than with boys. Moreover, when fathers had strong attitudes toward gender roles (stereotypical or counterstereotypical), their differential treatment of boys and girls completely accounted for the gender differences in children's aggressive behavior a year later. Mothers’ gender‐differentiated parenting practices were unrelated to gender differences in child aggression.     

Links between parenting styles,parent–child academic interaction,parent–school interaction,and early academic skills and social behaviors in young children of English-speaking Caribbean immigrants

This study examined the influence of parenting styles, parent–child academic involvement at home, and parent–school contact on academic skills and social behaviors among kindergarten-age children of Caribbean immigrants. Seventy immigrant mothers and fathers participated in the study. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that fathers’ authoritarian parenting style was negatively associated with and father–school contact was positively associated with receptive skills, vocabulary, and composite scores over and above that of mothers’ contributions in these areas. Fathers’ authoritative parenting style and father–child academic interaction at home were positively related to children's social behaviors. Mothers’ authoritarian parenting style was negatively and mother–school contact was positively associated with children's social behaviors. Analyses indicated that fathers’ parenting carried the weight of influence over mothers’ parenting for facilitating both child academic skills and social behaviors. The roles of parenting styles, parent–academic activities, and parent–school contacts in early schooling are discussed.     

Sibling differentiation: sibling and parent relationship trajectories in adolescence

Studied here were the links between sibling differences in trajectories of change in the qualities of parent-child relationships and the qualities of sibling relationships across a 2-year period in adolescence. Participants were first- and second-born siblings (M age = 14.94 years for firstborns and M age = 12.46 years for secondborns) from 185 predominantly White, working and middle-class families. In home interviews, siblings reported on their dyadic family relationships. For reports of parent-child warmth but not parent-child conflict, results were consistent with sibling differentiation theory: Increasing differences between siblings over time in parent-child warmth were linked to trajectories of increasing warmth and decreasing conflict in the sibling relationship as reported by firstborns, and increasing warmth in the sibling relationship as reported by secondborns. The findings support the view that sibling differentiation may be a strategy for managing sibling conflict and rivalry.     

Longitudinal Links Between Fathers’ and Mothers’ Harsh Verbal Discipline and Adolescents’ Conduct Problems and Depressive Symptoms

This study used cross‐lagged modeling to examine reciprocal relations between maternal and paternal harsh verbal discipline and adolescents’ conduct problems and depressive symptoms. Data were from a sample of 976 two‐parent families and their children (51% males; 54% European American, 40% African American). Mothers’ and fathers’ harsh verbal discipline at age 13 predicted an increase in adolescent conduct problems and depressive symptoms between ages 13 and 14. A child effect was also present, with adolescent misconduct at age 13 predicting increases in mothers’ and fathers’ harsh verbal discipline between ages 13 and 14. Furthermore, maternal and paternal warmth did not moderate the longitudinal associations between mothers’ and fathers’ use of harsh verbal discipline and adolescent conduct problems and depressive symptoms.     

Mothers’ and Fathers’ Roles in Caring for an Adult Child with an Intellectual Disability

To date, there have been few studies of mothers’ and fathers’ roles in caring for their adult children with intellectual disabilities. The present study investigated the care-giving roles of mother and father couples caring for their adult offspring with an intellectual disability, their psychological health, and the demands and satisfaction of their care-giving roles. Twelve Anglo-Australian middle-aged mother and father couples with an adult child with intellectual disability (mean age?=?24 years) participated in semi-structured interviews about their care-giving roles and completed a series of questionnaires pertaining to care-giving difficulties and satisfaction, hassles and uplifts, and general health. Findings indicated that an extremely high proportion of both mothers and fathers were in the clinical range for social dysfunction, anxiety/insomnia, and somatic complaints, although levels of depression were relatively low. The present study found that mothers undertake more daily care-giving tasks than fathers, but that the range of tasks is similar. Mothers also reported significantly more care-giving difficulties and satisfaction than fathers. Associations between measures differed somewhat for the two parent groups, indicating the need for further exploration of both mothers’ and fathers’ experiences.     

Parents’ perception of child behavior,parenting stress,and child abuse potential: Individual and partner influences

Based on the Social Information Processing model of parenting risk for child abuse, the present study examined the associations between mothers’ and fathers’ perception of child behavior and child abuse potential, as well as whether parenting stress mediates the association between these constructs. Two hundred and fifty-nine mother-father couples raising preschool children answered the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL), the Parenting Stress Index (PSI), and the Child Abuse Potential Inventory (CAPI). The results of dyadic path analysis showed that perception of child behavior was related to heightened parenting stress and abuse potential in both mothers and fathers. Concerning partner effects, we found that mothers’ perception of child behavior problems was positively associated with fathers’ parenting stress and that the higher the mothers’ distress, the higher the fathers’ risk of physical abuse. Finally, parenting distress partially mediated the association between parents’ perception of child behavior and child abuse potential, with mothers’ perception of their children as problematic showing a significant indirect effect through distress on their own abuse risk and on fathers’ CAP as well. These findings suggest that parental distress may represent a critical mechanism by which parents’ negative views of their children contribute to abuse potential. Moreover, mothers seem to influence fathers’ tendency towards abusive behaviors.     

Behaviour Problems in the Siblings of Children With Down Syndrome: associations with family responsibilities and parental stress

Forty‐five families with a child with Down syndrome and 88 comparison families provided information about their children's behaviour problems and their involvement in household tasks. In addition, parental stress was measured using the Parenting domain of the Parenting Stress Index (Abidin, 1990). There were no differences between the siblings of a child with Down syndrome and comparison children on mothers’ or fathers’ reports of problem behaviour. Siblings of a child with Down syndrome also did not differ in their contribution to family tasks, however, for the brothers of a child with Down syndrome there were significant negative correlations between household tasks and behaviour problems on fathers’ report. Parents of a child with Down syndrome reported more stress than comparison parents and stress was related to reports of problem behaviour for some parent groups.     

Angry Responses to Infant Challenges: Parent,Marital, and Child Genetic Factors Associated With Harsh Parenting

This study examined genetic and environmental influences on harsh parenting of adopted 9‐month‐olds (N = 503), with an emphasis on positive child‐, parent‐, and family‐level characteristics. Evocative gene–environment correlation (rGE) was examined by testing the effect of both positive and negative indices of birth parent temperament on adoptive parents’ harsh parenting. Adoptive fathers’ harsh parenting was inversely related to birth mother positive temperament, indicating evocative rGE, as well as to marital quality. Adoptive parents’ negative temperamental characteristics were related to hostile parenting for both fathers and mothers. Findings support the importance of enhancing positive family characteristics in addition to mitigating negative characteristics, as well as engaging multiple levels of the family system to prevent harsh parenting.     

The association between characteristics of fathering in infancy and depressive symptoms in adolescence: A UK birth cohort study

Evidence suggests that the quality of fathers’ parenting has an impact on psychological outcomes during adolescence, but less is known about which aspects of fathering have the strongest effects. This study, using the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC), considers which paternal attitudes towards and experiences of child care in infancy are most strongly associated with depressive symptoms in adolescence, and whether father effects are independent of maternal influence and other risk factors. Primary exposures were fathers’ attitudes to and experiences of child care at 8 weeks, 8 months and 21 months coded as continuous scores; the primary outcome was self-reported depressive symptoms at 16 years (Short Moods and Feelings Questionnaire score ≥11). Multivariable logistic regression models showed reasonably strong evidence that parental reports indicating potential paternal abuse when children were toddlers were associated with a 22% increased odds of depressive symptoms at age 16 (odds ratio [OR] 1.22 [95% CI 1.11, 1.34] per SD). There was some evidence for an interaction with social class (p = 0.04): for children living in higher social class households (professional, managerial and technical classes), an increase in the potential abuse scale increased the odds of depressive symptoms by 31% (OR 1.31 [1.13, 1.53] per SD), whereas there was no effect in the lower social class categories. The potential paternal abuse measure needs to be validated and research is needed on what circumstances predict anger and frustration with child care. Effective interventions are needed to help fathers cope better with parenting stress.     

Technoference: Parent Distraction With Technology and Associations With Child Behavior Problems

Heavy parent digital technology use has been associated with suboptimal parent–child interactions, but no studies examine associations with child behavior. This study investigates whether parental problematic technology use is associated with technology‐based interruptions in parent–child interactions, termed “technoference,” and whether technoference is associated with child behavior problems. Parent reports from 170 U.S. families (child M_age = 3.04 years) and actor–partner interdependence modeling showed that maternal and paternal problematic digital technology use predicted greater technoference in mother–child and father–child interactions; then, maternal technoference predicted both mothers’ and fathers’ reports of child externalizing and internalizing behaviors. Results suggest that technological interruptions are associated with child problem behaviors, but directionality and transactional processes should be examined in future longitudinal studies.     

Parenting stress and harsh discipline in China: The moderating roles of marital satisfaction and parent gender

This research examined the relationships between parents’ parenting stress and their harsh discipline (psychological aggression and corporal punishment) and the moderating effects of marital satisfaction and parent gender in Chinese societies. Using a sample of 639 Chinese father–mother dyads with preschoolers, findings revealed that both mothers’ and fathers’ parenting stress were directly associated with their harsh discipline. Mothers’ marital satisfaction attenuated the association between their parenting stress and harsh discipline. However, fathers’ marital satisfaction did not moderate the association between their parenting stress and harsh discipline. Findings from the current study highlight the importance of considering how the dyadic marital relationship factors may interact with individuals’ parenting stress to influence both maternal and paternal disciplinary behaviors.     

Intergenerational transmission of out-of-home care in Sweden: A population-based cohort study

The objective of this study is to examine the intergenerational transmission of out-of-home care. This population-based study used data from the Swedish National Registers and included all children born in Sweden between 1990 and 2012 (followed for up to 13 years), whose parents were both born in Sweden between 1973 and 1980 (278 327 children; 145 935 mothers; 146 896 fathers). Cox regression models are used to obtain crude and adjusted hazard ratios (HR) of OHC placement among children based on parents’ history of OHC. Compared with children whose parents both did not have a history of OHC, the risk of being placed in OHC was greater when both parents spent time in OHC (crude HR = 48.70, 95% CI 41.46–57.21; adjusted HR = 3.04, 95% CI = 2.54–3.64), however, children who had only one parent who spent time in care were also at higher risk (mothers only adjusted HR = 2.37, 95% CI = 2.08–2.70; fathers only adjusted HR = 1.33, 95% CI = 1.13–1.55). The crude rate of placement in OHC was highest for children whose parents were placed in care during adolescence, but after adjusting for social and behavioral covariates, children whose parents were in care in early childhood were at greater risk of OHC than children whose parents were in care in adolescence. To reduce this intergenerational transmission of OHC, more supports should be provided to parents who spent time in OHC to ensure a successful transition to parenthood.     

Dual-Earner Wives' And Husbands' Perceptions of Their Children's Day Care Experiences: Relationship to Personal Well-Being,Marital Stress,and Job Satisfaction

Dual-earner mothers and fathers whose children were enrolled in day care for at least two years were asked to rate the care environment, assess its effects on children's development and parent–child relations, and to provide assessments of marital stress, job satisfaction, and emotional support. Mothers and fathers did not differ significantly on any of the measures. A path model failed to provide support for the contention that personal well- being mediates influences from the broader social context on the parent–child relationship of day care children; however, it did show that the parent–child relationship may buffer certain influences from the broader social context on children's developmental status. The data are discussed with respect to the need to examine day care issues from an interrelated systems perspective.     

How are parental functioning and single parenthood associated with court outcomes? An analysis of child protection cases

Impaired parental functioning and single parenthood are considered risk factors for child maltreatment and being involved in the child protection context. Past research has shown that an impaired mental functioning and being a single parent are indicators of limited parenting resources. These risk factors are likely to be considered by family judges, which might lead to more intrusive court decisions concerning parental custody. To date, court data have rarely been investigated. The present study examined parental mental health and single parenthood using data from family law proceedings. The role of the fathers has been understudied and the few existing studies yielded contradictory results with respect to fathers’ involvement as risk or protective factor. Therefore, the study included both fathers’ data and mothers’ data. A total of 220 child protection court files with 343 affected children were coded using a category system. Parental mental health was coded as parental functioning in daily life and was significantly associated with the court outcome. Multilevel mediation analyses showed a significant indirect effect of maternal functioning on the intrusiveness of the court decisions via child maltreatment. Single motherhood moderated the effect: The indirect effect was more pronounced for single mothers. This study contributes to a better understanding of the population getting before court and the judicial process. Psychological attributes do play a role in the decision-making of judges; and taking the role of the fathers into account is necessary.     

Comorbid LD and ADHD in childhood: socioemotional and behavioural adjustment and parents’ positive and negative affect

The present study examined how vulnerability and protective factors at the individual level (child’s disabilities; patterns of attachment), and at the family level (fathers’/mothers’ affect), help explain differences in socioemotional and behavioural adjustment among children aged 8–12 years with comorbid learning disability (LD) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or with typical development. Participants were 118 father–mother–child triads: 59 couples and children with comorbid LD/ADHD and 59 couples with typically developing children. Preliminary analyses indicated significant group differences on all children’s measures and on fathers’ and mothers’ affect measures. As hypothesised, findings showed the contribution of parents’ positive and negative affect to children’s adjustment, with differences for fathers’ versus mothers’ affect. Discussion focuses on understanding the unique value of fathers’ and mothers’ affect on children’s well‐adjusted functioning.     

Assessing pupils’ intelligence through self,parental, and teacher estimates

This study examined the accuracy of self‐ and other‐estimated intelligence in relation to tested cognitive ability and gender. Three groups of raters were examined: 187 (102 male, 85 female; mean age 14.33 years, SD = .32) pupils of single‐sex comprehensive schools, 109 (55 mothers and 54 fathers) parents, and six teachers of the pupils. Pupils estimated their own overall IQ, while their parents and teachers estimated the pupils’ overall, mathematical, spatial, and verbal abilities. Self‐ and other‐estimates were compared to each other, and to the child’s psychometric test scores in verbal, quantitative, and figural/non‐verbal reasoning ability. Results suggested that participants were reasonably accurate at estimating pupils’ intelligence – teachers significantly more so than parents, and pupils significantly more so than fathers. Although both parents significantly overestimated their child’s IQ, this overestimation was more pronounced in fathers.     

Fathers’ and mothers’ performances in father-mother-baby games

Until now studies comparing fathers and mothers have mostly been realized in dyadic situations, father-infant versus mother-infant. The aim of the present paper was to bring to the core similarities and differences, between fathers and mothers, in terms of performance (N=42 families) in a triadic context. Father, mother and baby, seated in a triangular formation were invited to play as usual: first, one parent played with the infant and the other was participant-observer, and then they reversed their roles. Globally, no differences were observed between fathers and mothers in terms of being available, keeping their assigned roles, sharing a common focus of interest and co-creating games with their three month old infant. However a difference emerged when the order in which parents began as active parent versus third party parent was taken into account. Mothers who played first were better active partners than fathers, for keeping roles, sharing focus and co-creating games; and fathers who were first third party parent were better than third party mothers for sharing a common focus.     

The Role of Mothers' and Fathers' Parental Control and Coparenting in Toddlers' Compliance

Research Findings: This study examined the unique and relative contributions of mothers' and fathers' parental control and coparenting to toddlers' committed compliance with parents in both dyadic parent–child and triadic family play contexts. Sixty-eight mostly middle-class, 2-parent families with toddlers (16–37 months) were observed in a university laboratory setting. There were positive associations among mothers' gentle guidance, balanced coparental engagement, and child committed compliance with mothers. However, there was no association between any parental control or coparenting variable and child compliance with fathers. Unique contributions of fathers' control and coparenting, beyond mothers' parenting, were found for children's compliance with mothers but not with fathers. Practice or Policy: The findings highlight the importance of taking the family relationship context into account when assessing parenting behaviors and toddlers'compliance.