Prenatal and Postnatal Diagnosis of Infant Disability: Breaking the News to Mothers

The birth of an infant with a disability is often perceived as the loss of a “perfect” baby and is typically an unanticipated event for the mother and family. Mothers may experience self-blame for the disability; therefore, sensitive communication is crucial. A private setting is recommended, with a minimum of health-care professionals in attendance when the diagnosis is revealed. The perinatal educator can guide the mother through the early emotional phases of processing and accepting the new information by offering support and incorporating timely information and interventions. The perinatal educator can also inform and prepare other expectant couples in the childbirth class and encourage them to support the mother and father in celebrating the forthcoming birth. The objective of nursing care for a mother whose infant is newly diagnosed with a disability is to facilitate a positive outcome for her and to promote optimal infant bonding. In all communication and information, replacing the term “disabled infant” with “infant with a disability” is emphasized in order to recognize the infant first and the disability second.     

弱智儿童认知行为问题与父母生活质量的相关研究

本研究的目的在于探讨自编的儿童认知行为问题调查表的效度和信度以及弱智儿童认知行为问题与其父母生活质量的相关性.研究结果表明自编的儿童认知行为问题调查表具有良好的信度和效度.弱智儿童(MRC)父母对儿童认知行为问题的评价都显著高于正常儿童(NC)的父母,但这种差异的显著性在弱智儿童父亲与母亲之间不存在.弱智儿童父母与正常儿童父母的生活质量差异不显著.多元回归分析表明,弱智儿童父亲的心理功能状态、社会功能状态和生活质量都受儿童交往障碍的显著影响,而弱智儿童的情绪障碍是影响其母亲心理功能状态的主要因素.儿童的认知问题是正常儿童母亲社会功能状态的主要影响因素.     

Attributions and Attitudes of Mothers and Fathers in Colombia

OBJECTIVE: The present study examined mean level similarities and differences as well as correlations between mothers' and fathers' attributions regarding successes and failures in caregiving situations and progressive versus authoritarian attitudes. DESIGN: Interviews were conducted with both mothers and fathers in 108 Colombian families. RESULTS: Fathers reported higher uncontrollable success attributions and higher authoritarian attitudes than did mothers, whereas mothers reported higher modernity of attitudes than did fathers; only the gender differences related to parental attitudes remained significant after controlling for parents' age, education, and possible social desirability bias. Medium effect sizes were found for concordance between parents in the same family for attributions regarding uncontrollable success and progressive attitudes after controlling for parents' age, education, and possible social desirability bias. CONCLUSIONS: This work elucidates ways that parent gender relates to attributions regarding parents' success and failure in caregiving and to progressive versus authoritarian parenting attitudes in Colombia.     

Attributions and Attitudes of Mothers and Fathers in Jordan

OBJECTIVE: The present study examined mean level similarities and differences as well as correlations between mothers' and fathers' attributions regarding successes and failures in caregiving situations and progressive versus authoritarian attitudes in Jordan. DESIGN: Interviews were conducted with both mothers and fathers in 112 families. RESULTS: There were no significant main effects of gender on any of the constructs of interest. Mothers and fathers reported similar levels of attributions regarding uncontrollable success, adult-controlled failure, and child-controlled failure in the same family. Regarding attitudes, mothers and fathers reported greater progressive attitudes than authoritarian attitudes. Large, significant correlations were found for concordance between parents in the same family on all seven attributions and attitudes examined; all remained significant after controlling for parents' age, education, and possible social desirability bias. Significant positive correlations were found for mothers' and fathers' attributions regarding uncontrollable success, adult-controlled failure, child-controlled failure, perceived control over failure, progressive attitudes, authoritarian attitudes, and modernity of attitudes. CONCLUSIONS: This study concluded that in Jordan mothers and fathers hold similar levels of attributions and attitudes.     

Attributions and Attitudes of Mothers and Fathers in Kenya

OBJECTIVE: The present study examined differences and similarities between Kenyan mothers and fathers in attributions regarding successes and failures in caregiving situations and progressive versus authoritarian attitudes. DESIGN: Interviews were conducted with both mothers and fathers in 100 two-parent families in Kenya. RESULTS: Mothers were more likely to make attributions regarding adult-controlled failure in caregiving situations than were fathers, but mothers and fathers did not differ on attributions regarding uncontrollable success, child-controlled failure, or authoritarian or progressive attitudes. Moderate to large correlations were found between mothers and fathers in terms of attributions regarding uncontrollable success, authoritarian attitudes, and modernity of attitudes. CONCLUSIONS: Kenyan mothers and fathers hold very similar attributions for success and failures in caregiving situations as well as parenting attitudes.     

Attributions and Attitudes of Mothers and Fathers in China

OBJECTIVE: The present study examined mothers' and fathers' attributions and attitudes related to parenting in China. DESIGN: Interviews were conducted with 241 pairs of parents to obtain maternal and paternal reports of attributions regarding successes and failures in parent-child interactions and on progressive versus authoritarian attitudes about parenting. RESULTS: Mothers' mean levels of attributions and attitudes did not differ significantly from fathers' mean levels of attributions and attitudes. Significant correlations were found between mothers' and fathers' attributions regarding uncontrollable success, authoritarian attitudes, and modernity of attitudes. CONCLUSIONS: Supporting the cultural evolutionary view that drastic social changes bring about non-conforming and individualistic behavioral tendencies, these findings rectify and expand the existing literature portraying Chinese parenting as uniformly Confucian and traditional.     

Attributions and Attitudes of Mothers and Fathers in Sweden

OBJECTIVE: The present study examined mean level similarities and differences as well as correlations between mothers' and fathers' attributions regarding successes and failures in caregiving situations and progressive versus authoritarian attitudes. DESIGN: Interviews were conducted with both mothers and fathers in 77 Swedish families. RESULTS: Fathers reported higher adult-controlled failure and child-controlled failure attributions than did mothers; these differences remained significant after controlling for parents' age, education, and possible social desirability bias. Significant positive correlations were found for mothers' and fathers' progressive attitudes, authoritarian attitudes, and modernity of attitudes after controlling for parents' age, education, and possible social desirability bias. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that in Sweden fathers are more likely to attribute failures in caregiving situations both to themselves and to children than are mothers and that there is moderate concordance between fathers and mothers within the same family in progressive and authoritarian parenting attitudes.     

Attributions and Attitudes of Mothers and Fathers in Thailand

OBJECTIVE: The present study examined similarities and differences between mothers' and fathers' attributions regarding successes and failures in caregiving situations and progressive versus authoritarian attitudes as well as correlations between mothers' and fathers' attributions and attitudes. DESIGN: Interviews were conducted with both mothers and fathers in 88 Thai families. RESULTS: Mothers and fathers did not differ in mean levels of attributions regarding successes and failures in caregiving situations or in authoritarian or progressive attitudes. Mothers' and fathers' perceived control over failure, authoritarian attitudes, progressive attitudes, and modernity of attitudes were significantly correlated. CONCLUSIONS: This work suggests high similarities between Thai mothers and fathers in their attributions and attitudes related to parenting.     

Attributions and Attitudes of Mothers and Fathers in Italy

OBJECTIVE: The present study examined mean level similarities and differences as well as correlations between mothers' and fathers' attributions regarding successes and failures in caregiving situations and progressive versus authoritarian attitudes. DESIGN: Interviews were conducted with both mothers and fathers in 177 Italian families from Rome and Naples. RESULTS: Fathers' attributions reflected higher perceived control over failure than did mothers' attributions, whereas mothers reported attitudes that were more progressive than did fathers. Only the difference in progressive attitudes remained significant after controlling for parents' age, education, and possible social desirability bias. Site differences emerged for four of the seven attributions and attitudes examined; three remained significant after controlling for parents' age, education, and possible social desirability bias. Medium effect sizes were found for concordance between parents in the same family for authoritarian attitudes and modernity of attitudes after controlling for parents' age, education, and possible social desirability bias. CONCLUSIONS: This work elucidates ways that parent gender and cultural context relate to attributions regarding parents' success and failure in caregiving situations and to progressive versus authoritarian parenting attitudes.     

Attributions and Attitudes of Mothers and Fathers in the Philippines

OBJECTIVE.: This paper investigates the mean level and within-family similarities and differences in Filipino mothers' and fathers' attributions about success and failure in caregiving situations, and their progressive and authoritarian parenting attitudes. DESIGN.: Both mothers and fathers in 95 families in metropolitan Manila completed interviews. RESULTS.: Controlling for parents' age, education, and possible social desirability bias, there was a significant gender difference in modernity of attitudes, with mothers exhibiting higher levels of modernity than fathers. There was a strong correlation in mothers' and fathers' authoritarian attitudes and moderate correlations in modernity of attitudes. There were neither parent gender effects nor concordance in the attributions of mothers and fathers. CONCLUSIONS.: Cultural explanations are presented to account for the findings, specifically the sociocultural values that foster traditional attitudes favoring parental authority and child obedience, and the differences in gender and family roles of Filipino mothers and fathers.     

Attributions and Attitudes of Mothers and Fathers in the United States

OBJECTIVE.: The present study examined mean level similarities and differences as well as correlations between U.S. mothers' and fathers' attributions regarding successes and failures in caregiving situations and progressive versus authoritarian attitudes. DESIGN.: Interviews were conducted with both mothers and fathers in 139 European American, Latin American, and African American families. RESULTS.: Interactions between parent gender and ethnicity emerged for adult-controlled failure and perceived control over failure. Fathers reported higher adult-controlled failure and child-controlled failure attributions than did mothers, whereas mothers reported attitudes that were more progressive and modern than did fathers; these differences remained significant after controlling for parents' age, education, and possible social desirability bias. Ethnic differences emerged for five of the seven attributions and attitudes examined; four remained significant after controlling for parents' age, education, and possible social desirability bias. Medium effect sizes were found for concordance between parents in the same family for attributions regarding uncontrollable success, child-controlled failure, progressive attitudes, authoritarian attitudes, and modernity of attitudes after controlling for parents' age, education, and possible social desirability bias. CONCLUSIONS.: This work elucidates ways that parent gender and ethnicity relate to attributions regarding U.S. parents' successes and failures in caregiving situations and to their progressive versus authoritarian parenting attitudes.     

Predictors of Behavior Problems in Preschool Children of Inner-City Afro-American and Puerto Rican Adolescent Mothers

Maternal reports on the Child Behavior Checklist/2-3 (CBCL/2-3) were used to evaluate child, maternal, and environmental predictors of behavior problems in 83 preschool children of disadvantaged adolescent mothers. CBCL/2-3 scores correlated modestly with independent ratings of child difficult behaviors observed in videotaped mother-child play interactions. 13% of children had scores in the clinical range. Significant correlations were consistently found between CBCL/2-3 ratings and maternal depressive symptoms, social supports, and life stress—assessed 3 times during the first year postpartum. In hierarchical regression analyses, maternal depressive symptoms, residence with the adolescent's mother, and perceived emotional support from friends contributed most to the explained variance. A significant ethnicity and child gender interaction term also suggested that African American mothers of male children reported more behavioral problems. Findings evidence the heterogeneity of outcomes for children of disadvantaged adolescent mothers but also demonstrate how correlates of poverty negatively affect their socioemotional development.     

Support Needs of Expectant Mothers and Fathers: A Qualitative Study

The aim of this study was to describe expectant mothers’ and fathers’ perceived needs of support during pregnancy. Twenty-two women and 10 men were interviewed in four focus groups and 13 individual interviews. Systematic text condensation was performed to analyze the data. Parents described not only a broad spectrum of social support needs but also needs of psychological and physical support. They also requested to share their experiences with others. The foci of care and parents’ needs of support are more harmonized with medical support than with psychological and emotional support. Mothers’ needs were predominately addressed in the health services, but fathers often felt “invisible.” Antenatal services may need to offer more customized individual support and emphasize peer support in groups; the challenge is to involve both parents through communication and encouragement so they can support each other.     

Preschoolers' Communicative Functions During Shared Book Reading With Mothers and Fathers

Research Findings: This study examined whether the communicative behaviors of preschoolers during shared-reading interactions differ according to child age or parent gender. Twenty Italian preschoolers (from 3.1 to 5.11 years) were observed during book reading with each parent separately. Communicative behaviors were analyzed according to the speech act theory. The findings showed that older children produced significantly more requests with fathers than with mothers but significantly more assertions with mothers than with fathers. Sequential analysis showed that only the fathers' reading utterances were significantly followed by older children's requests. These results suggest that older children adjusted their communicative functions to elicit richer conversations from their fathers. Practice or Policy: These findings have implications for the assessment and support of preschoolers' conversational skills.     

Associations among Attachment Classifications of Mothers, Fathers, and Their Infants

Associations are reported among classifications of Adult Attachment Interviews (AAIs) obtained from expectant parents and subsequent classifications of their infants in the Strange Situation Procedure (SSP). Mothers' AAIs predicted infant-mother SSPs ( X ²= 41.87, N = 96, df = 9, ρ≤ .0001), and fathers' AAIs predicted infant-father SSPs ( X ²= 18.94, N = 90, df = 6, ρ≤ .005). Associations between parents' AAIs and infant-parent SSPs were lessened by the failure to predict the insecure-resistant pattern with mother and the absence of this pattern with father. Counter to expectation, infant-father SSPs were associated with infant-mother SSPs ( X ²= 3.78, N = 90, df = 1, ρ≤ .05), which could not be accounted for in terms of an overlap between parental AAIs. A secondary analysis of the data suggested that this dependency effect of SSPs may be explained by the influence of maternal AAIs upon child-father SSPs. Results are discussed in terms of intergenerational and relationship-specific influences upon attachment during infancy, the possible influence of infant temperament, and the relative influence of mother and father upon the child's evolving representations of attachments within the family.     

Stress and Social Support in Fathers and Mothers of Young Children with and without Disabilities

This study compared perceived stress and social support in fathers and mothers of children with and without disabilities. The sample consisted of 15 families with special needs children and 15 with children with no known handicapping conditions. The Parent Stress Index and a parental questionnaire were used. Findings indicated higher perceived stress in families with special needs children. Within these families no significant differences were found between fathers' and mothers' perceived stress. Significant negative correlations were found between families' stress and support received from fiends and relatives. Negative correlations were found for mothers' stress in Child Domain and support from the community. Implications include planning for active engagement of fathers in all areas of service delivery in early intervention programs, including encouragement for more participation in programming; opening a direct line of communication through designing tailored workshops, support groups and counseling; recognizing fathers' strengths beyond their traditional roles; and viewing them as an additional emotional source of support for mothers.     

Stress and Social Support in Fathers and Mothers of Young Children with and without Disabilities

This study compared perceived stress and social support in fathers and mothers of children with and without disabilities. The sample consisted of 15 families with special needs children and 15 with children with no known handicapping conditions. The Parent Stress Index and a parental questionnaire were used. Findings indicated higher perceived stress in families with special needs children. Within these families no significant differences were found between fathers' and mothers' perceived stress. Significant negative correlations were found between families' stress and support received from fiends and relatives. Negative correlations were found for mothers' stress in Child Domain and support from the community. Implications include planning for active engagement of fathers in all areas of service delivery in early intervention programs, including encouragement for more participation in programming; opening a direct line of communication through designing tailored workshops, support groups and counseling; recognizing fathers' strengths beyond their traditional roles; and viewing them as an additional emotional source of support for mothers.     

Caregiving Practices of Low-Income Adolescent Mothers and the Academic Competence of Their First-Grade Children

Objective. This study examines the relation between the caregiving practices of teenage mothers and the academic performances of their children in first grade. Design. The teenage mothers were involved in a family support program, and data were collected on the sample for 7 years (the prenatal period through first grade). The sample included 89 children who participated in the first-grade follow-up and who resided with their biological mothers. Children's school performance was assessed with an achievement test in the fall semester of first grade and with teachers' ratings of academic performance at the end of the spring semester. Caregiving practices were assessed by both the research team and the family advocates who worked with the young mothers during the 5-year family support program; mothers also reported on home support for academic achievement during the first-grade interview. Results. Measures of home environment, advocates' ratings of parenting, and mothers' self-report of support for achievement were positively correlated with children's achievement in first grade. Conclusions. Results from multiple regression analyses were consistent with the view that differences in parenting prior to school entry and in maternal support for achievement once the child enters school are predictive of individual differences in first-grade achievement among children born to low-income adolescent mothers.