Parenting practices in Northern Ireland: evidence from the Northern Ireland Household Panel Survey

The impact of parental child-rearing practices on child outcomes has been the subject of much research and debate for many years. Studies carried out within a variety of disciplines and across a number of different countries in the world have indicated that parents tend to use a different pattern of rearing their sons than their daughters, and that child-rearing practices are related to the gender of the parent, as well as to the age and developmental stage of the child. However, there has been little research in Northern Ireland on child-rearing behaviours. In order to address this shortfall, this paper presents an analysis of parents’ perceptions of their interactions with their children. Data from Wave 3 of the Northern Ireland Household Panel Survey were analysed to explore aspects of ‘‘negative’’ parenting practices (arguing, yelling and use of physical punishment) as well as ‘‘positive’’ parenting practices (talking, praising and hugging). The participants were all parents (aged 16 years and over) with children under the age of 16 years living in the same household. Each parent reported his/her interaction with each child (up to a maximum of six children), and in total 1,629 responses were recorded. The results of the research supported previous findings from the United Kingdom and elsewhere, and indicated that the parenting styles of respondents in Northern Ireland were indeed related to the gender and age of the children and to the gender of the parents. The survey found that parents in Northern Ireland tend to have a harsher, more negative style of parenting boys than girls and that children in their teenage years have fewer positive interactions with their parents than younger children. The same parents and children will be followed up in 2007 in order to provide a longitudinal analysis of parent/child relationships in Northern Ireland.

Substance Use and Misuse : Adolescent Substance Use in the context of the family ; a qualitative study of young people's views on parent child attachments , parenting style and parental substance use

Introduction and Aims. While the role of the family in adolescent substance use has been well documented, few studies have attempted to explore in-depth youth perceptions of how these familial processes/dynamics influence teenage substance use. This paper reports the findings from a study exploring risk and protective factors for teenage substance use within the context of the family as perceived by young people with a view to informing current and future family based prevention and education interventions.
Design and Methods. Data collection took place in nine post-primary schools across Northern Ireland. Nine focus groups using participatory techniques were facilitated with a purposive sample of sixty-two young people (age 13-17 years). Data were transcribed verbatim and analysed using a content/thematic analysis.
Results. Three broad themes/aspects of the family emerged from the data, which may serve to protect or attenuate the risk of substance use among young people. Parent-child attachment was a major theme identified in protecting adolescents from substance use in addition to effective parenting particularly an authoritative style of parenting supplemented by parental monitoring and good parent-child communication to encourage child disclosure. Family substance use was deemed to impact on children’s substance use if exposed at an early age and the harms associated with PSM were discussed in detail.
Discussion and Conclusions. The qualitative approach provides insight into current understanding of youth perceptions of substance use in the context of family dynamics. A number of recommendations are outlined. Family based (preventive) interventions/parenting programmes may benefit from components on effective parenting including authoritative styles, parental monitoring, effective communication, spending time together (building attachments), parent-child conflict, adolescent development and factors which impact on parenting. Parenting programmes tailored to mothers and fathers may be beneficial. School based interventions targeting children/adolescents may be best placed to target children living with parental substance misuse.
Keywords: substance/substance related disorders, focus groups, young people/adolescent,

Adolescent substance use in the context of the family: a qualitative study of young people’s views on parent-child attachments, parenting style and parental substance use

Background: Adolescent substance use can place youth at risk of a range of poor outcomes. Few studies have attempted to explore in-depth young people’s perceptions of how familial processes and dynamics influence adolescent substance use.
Objectives: This paper aimed to explore risk and protective factors for youth substance use within the context of the family with a view to informing family based interventions.
Methods: Nine focus groups supplemented with participatory techniques were facilitated with a purposive sample of sixty-two young people (age 13-17 years) from post-primary schools across Northern Ireland. The data were transcribed verbatim and analysed using thematic analysis.
Results: Three themes emerged from the data: 1) parent-child attachments, 2) parenting style and 3) parental and sibling substance misuse. Parent-child attachment was identified as an important factor in protecting adolescents from substance use in addition to effective parenting particularly an authoritative style supplemented with parental monitoring and strong parent-child communication to encourage child disclosure. Family substance use was considered to impact on children’s substance use if exposed at an early age and the harms associated with parental substance misuse were discussed in detail. Both parent and child gender differences were cross-cutting themes.
Conclusion: Parenting programmes (tailored to mothers and fathers) may benefit young people via components on authoritative styles, parental monitoring, communication, nurturing attachments and parent-child conflict. Youth living with more complex issues, e.g. parental substance misuse, may benefit from programmes delivered beyond the family environment e.g. school based settings.

Can childhood neglect be prevented through parenting skills training?

Child neglect continues to be the most prevalent form of child maltreatment, yet it has received less specific research attention than other forms of maltreatment (Zuravin, 1999). It is only in recent years that neglect has been seen as a phenomenon that needs to be conceptualised separately to other forms of abuse (Gershater- Molko et al., 2002). Although the term ‘neglect’ is used generally when children do not receive minimal physical and/or emotional care, there is no single agreed definition; one possible reason for this is the lack of consensus about minimally adequate standards of childcare either within professional groups or existing research (Rose and Meezan, 1996; Stone, 1998).

The quality of parenting of individuals who had failed to thrive as children

Parenting behaviour is determined by a range of factors including personality, psychopathology, values, social support, child characteristics and socio-cultural influences. It has also been suggested that an individual's style of child-rearing is influenced by the style of parenting that they experienced as children. The relationships between children who fail-to-thrive and their parents are often characterized by interactional difficulties. Previous research using retrospective accounts suggested that mothers of children who fail-to-thrive for non-organic reasons themselves showed high levels of abuse, neglect, and deprivation during their childhoods. However, to date no one has investigated prospectively what kinds of parents failure-to-thrive individuals become. This paper examines the parenting experiences of individuals who had received psychosocial intervention for their non-organic failure-to-thrive as children over 20 years ago. Results suggest that where initial intervention failed to bring about long-term changes in family interactional patterns, there was a greater incidence of failure-to-thrive in the next generation. These families were characterized by dissatisfaction with the child, high levels of stress associated with the parenting role, and low levels of social support. However, where the family environment in the original study had changed substantially, the former clients' outcomes were more positive with their own children. These parents tended to find interaction with their children more rewarding, had good support networks and low levels of stress. The characteristics of particular cases are discussed in detail to illustrate differences between these two groups of individuals.