Predicting harsh discipline in at-risk mothers: the moderating effect of socioeconomic deprivation severity

Socioeconomic disadvantage is an important predictor of maternal harsh discipline, but few studies have examined risk mechanisms for harsh parenting within disadvantaged samples. In the present study, parenting stress, family conflict, and child difficult temperament are examined as predictors of maternal harsh discipline among a group of 58 mothers from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds and their young children between the ages of 1- to 4-years-old. Maternal harsh discipline was measured using standardized observations, and mothers reported on parenting stress, family conflict, and child temperament. Severity of socioeconomic deprivation was included as a moderator in these associations. Results showed that parenting stress and family conflict predicted maternal harsh discipline, but only in the most severely deprived families. These findings extend prior research on the processes through which socioeconomic deprivation severity and family functioning impact maternal harsh discipline within a high-risk sample of low-income families. They suggest that the spillover of negative parental functioning into parent–child interactions is particularly likely under conditions of substantial socioeconomic deprivation. Severity of socioeconomic stress seems to undermine maternal adaptive forms of coping, resulting in harsh disciplining practices. Intervention efforts aimed at improving parenting and family relations, as well as an adaptive coping style assume especial relevance.

Childhood history of abuse and child abuse potential: the role of parent’s gender and timing of childhood abuse

It has been suggested that being physically abused leads to someone becoming a perpetrator of abuse which could be associated to parents' gender, timing of the physical abuse and specific socio-demographic variables. This study aims to investigate the role the parents' gender, timing of childhood abuse and socio-demographic variables on the relationship between parents' history of childhood physical abuse and current risk for children. The sample consisted of 920 parents (414 fathers, 506 mothers) from the Portuguese National Representative Study of Psychosocial Context of Child Abuse and Neglect who completed the Childhood History Questionnaire and the Child Abuse Potential Inventory. The results showed that fathers had lower current potential risk of becoming physical abuse perpetrators with their children than mothers although they did not differed in their physical victimization history. Moreover, the risk was higher in parents (both genders) with continuous history of victimization than in parents without victimization. Prediction models showed that for fathers and mothers separately similar socio-demographic variables (family income, number of children at home, employment status and marital status) predicted the potential risk of becoming physical abuses perpetrators. Nevertheless, the timing of victimization was different for fathers (before 13 years old) and mothers (after 13 years old). Then our study targets specific variables (timing of physical abuse, parents' gender and specific socio-demographic variables), which may enable professionals to select groups of parents at greater need of participating in abuse prevention programs.

Negotiating cultural values in bi-national relationships : a comparative research on children from German-Chinese families

Magdeburg, Univ., Fak. für Geistes-, Sozial- und Erziehungswiss., Diss., 2012

Comparing the early research performance of PhD graduates in labor economics in Europe and the USA

This paper analyzes the early research performance of PhD graduates in labor economics, addressing the following questions: Are there major productivity differences between graduates from American and European institutions? If so, how relevant is the quality of the training received (i.e. ranking of institution and supervisor) and the research environment in the subsequent job placement institution? The population under study consists of labor economics PhD graduates who received their degree in the years 2000 to 2005 in Europe or the USA. Research productivity is evaluated alternatively as the number of publications or the quality-adjusted number of publications of an individual. When restricting the analysis to the number of publications, results suggest a higher productivity by graduates from European universities than from USA universities, but this difference vanishes when accounting for the quality of the publication. The results also indicate that graduates placed at American institutions, in particular top ones, are likely to publish more quality-adjusted articles than their European counterparts. This may be because, when hired, they already have several good acceptances or because of more focused research efforts and clearer career incentives.

Promoting breastfeeding for mothers returning to work: a guide for employers

This booklet is the third in a series of Work Well guides aimed at promoting health in the workplace. It outlines to employers the business benefits of encouraging mothers to continue breastfeeding on return to work, the health benefits of breastfeeding for mums, the legislation affecting mothers at work, and some easy steps that employers can take to support breastfeeding mothers.

Growing up in Ireland. Key findings: infant cohort (at 3 years).

 The latest results from the study paint a picture of how these families are faring across a range of areas in their lives including their health, family life and financial and economic circumstances. In general the findings show that three-year-olds in Ireland are in good health with a few notable public health and related issues (including overweight and obesity), there is overall stability in family structures over the short term and that the recession has had a substantial effect on families with young children over the last number of years. These are the first longitudinal findings from the study. The first wave of fieldwork with the families of the Infant Cohort included approximately 11,100 nine-month-olds, their parents and carers. Interviews began in September 2008 and were completed in March 2009. Interviews for the second round of interviews with this cohort took place between January and August 2011. A total of 90% of the original sample of nine-month-olds were successfully re-interviewed. (A full download of the results released today, presented in three briefing documents can be found by clicking here. Key findings include: Health â?¢ Most of the children were described as being in good health; 75% were rated as very healthy and a further 23% were rated as healthy, but a few minor problems. Girls were more likely to be reported as very healthy (78%) compared with boys (72%). â?¢ One in four or almost one quarter of three-year-old children were overweight (19%) or obese (6%). â?¢ Childrenâ?Ts weight was related to household social class. 5% of children in families in the professional/managerial group were classified as obese at three years of age compared with 9% of those in the most disadvantaged social class group. However, at least one-fifth of children in every social class were overweight. â?¢ Childrens consumption of energy-dense foods such as crisps, sweets, chips, and non-diet fizzy drinks increased as parental education fell. 63% of children whose mother had a lower secondary education or less ate at least one portion of crisps compared with 36% of those from degree-level backgrounds, although consumption of biscuits/chocolates was over 70% for both groups of children. â?¢ Two-thirds (66%) of three-year-olds had received at least one course of antibiotics in the 12 months preceding the interview. Children with a full medical card (35% of the sample) or a GP-only medical card (5% of the sample) were more likely to have received a course of antibiotics than â?¢ Children with a full medical card received a higher number of antibiotic courses on average (2.6) compared with those without a medical card (2.1). â?¢ Just under 16% of three-year-old children were reported as having at least one longstanding illness, condition or disability. The most commonly reported illness types included Asthma (5.8%), Eczema/Skin allergies (3.9%) and Food/digestive allergies (1.2%) Family Life and Childcare â?¢ While the overall distribution of family structure was stable, there have been transitions from one-parent families to two-parent families and vice-versa over the 27 months between interview â?" approximately 2 to 3 percent in each direction. â?¢ 50% of three year olds were in some form of non-parental childcare for eight or more hours a week. The most common form used was centre-based childcare which almost tripled between nine months and three years, from 11% to 30%. â?¢ A similar percentage of grandparents were caring for children at both nine months and three years, 12% and 11% respectively. A total of 10% of three-year-olds were being minded by a childminder, an increase of 3 percentage points from when the children were nine months of age. â?¢ Children who were in some form of non-parental childcare were spending an average of 23 hours a week in their main type of childcare. â?¢ At time of interview the vast majority of mothers reported that they had regular contact with the Study Childâ?Ts grandparents (91%). In offering support to parents, grandparents were most likely to babysit (50%), and buy clothes (40%) at least on a monthly basis. One-parent families were more likely than two-parent families to receive financial support from grandparents with just under one-third (66%) of one-parent families receiving financial support from grandparents at least once every three months. â?¢ The most frequently used discipline technique was â?~discussing or explaining why the behaviour was wrongâ?T, with 63% of mothers saying they always did this. â?¢ 12% of mothers said they used â?~smackingâ?T as a form of discipline now and again and less than 1% used â?~smackingâ?T as a form of discipline more frequently. Over half reported that they never smacked the Study Child. Financial and Economic Circumstances â?¢ Just over half (53%) of mothers of three-year-olds worked outside the home, 38% said they were on home duties and 6% said they were unemployed. â?¢ The biggest change in terms of the work status of three-year-oldsâ?T parents was an increase in the percentage of unemployed fathers â?" 6% when the child was nine months rising to almost 14% when s/he was three years of age. â?¢ 61% of families of three-year-olds reported experiencing difficulties in making â?~ends meetâ?T. This was a substantial increase from 44% in the first round of interviews when the children were nine-months-old. â?¢ Almost two thirds (63%) of all families with three-year-olds reported that the recession had had a very significant or significant effect on them. â?¢ The most frequently recorded effects were: a reduction in wages (63%); canâ?Tt afford luxuries (54%), social welfare reduction (53%) and canâ?Tt afford/cut back on basics (32%). Growing Up in Ireland is a Government funded study tracking the development of two nationally representative cohorts of children: an Infant Cohort which was interviewed initially at nine months and subsequently at three years of age; and a Child Cohort which was interviewed initially at nine years and subsequently at 13 years of age. The study is being conducted by a consortium of researchers led by the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) and Trinity College Dublin. For Further Information Please Contact: Jillian Heffernan Communications Officer, Growing Up in Ireland Tel: 01 896 3378 Mobile: 087 9016880This resource was contributed to our repository by the National Documentation Centre on Drug Use.

Putting children first: The role of health psychology in applied child/youth research

Overview Part One • Background/context  – defining and thinking about health • The role of the health psychologist • Promoting the psychosocial well being of children and young people • Early intervention and prevention in Ireland • Intervening in the lives of children with emotional and behavioural difficulties   Part Two • Case-study  – The Incredible Years Ireland Study: theory, practice and research   Part Three • Some key considerations in intervention science for research, policy and practice with children and young people   Sinead McGilloway: Putting children first. The role of health psychology

FLYER: Ethics, Consent and Participation in Research With Children and Young People

  Date: Friday, 14 June 2013   Time:10:30 – 13.30 Location: G13, Western Gateway Building, University College Cork The children's Research Network for Ireland and Northern Ireland in conjunction with the Children and Young People Research Cluster at the Institute for Social Sciences in the 21st Century at UCC are holding a workshop on ethics, consent and participation in research with children and young people. The event will explore some of the complex ethical issues involved in conducting research with children and young people, from the perspectives of researchers, children, families and service-providers.  

Promoting breastfeeding for mothers returning to work: a guide for employers

This booklet is the third in a series of�Work�Well guides aimed at promoting health in the workplace. It outlines to employers the business benefits of encouraging mothers to continue breastfeeding on return to�work, the health benefits of breastfeeding for mums, the legislation affecting mothers at�work, and some easy steps that employers can take to support breastfeeding mothers.

Effect of iodine prophylaxis during pregnancy on neurocognitive development of children during the first two years of life.

CONTEXT The association between thyroid function during pregnancy and the later mental and psychomotor development of the child is supported by numerous experimental, clinical, and epidemiological studies. OBJECTIVE The aim of the study was to evaluate the psychological development of infants aged 3 to 18 months whose mothers had received 300 microg of potassium iodide during the first trimester of their pregnancy and compare with infants whose mothers had received no iodine supplements. DESIGN AND STUDY SUBJECTS: The study included 133 women who had received 300 microg of potassium iodine and 61 women who had received no iodine supplements. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES The neuropsychological status of the children was evaluated with the Bayley Scales of Infant Development, and measurements were made of TSH, free T(3), free T(4), and urinary iodine. RESULTS Those children whose mothers had received an iodine supplement of 300 microg had a more favorable psychometric assessment than those of the other group of mothers. They had higher scores on the Psychomotor Development Index (P = 0.02) and the Behavior Rating Scale. CONCLUSIONS Dietary iodine supplements not only have no harmful effect on the neurodevelopment of the children, they may even be beneficial. Given the possible presence of confounding variables not controlled for in this study, these findings should be considered as preliminary.

From controlling to letting go : what are the psychosocial needs of parents of adolescents with a chronic illness?

While one of the main objectives of adolescence is to achieve autonomy, for the specific population of adolescents with a chronic illness (CI), the struggle for autonomy is accentuated by the limits implied by their illness. However, little is known concerning the way their parents manage and cope with their children's autonomy acquisition. Our aim was to identify the needs and preoccupations of parents of adolescents with CI in coping with their children's autonomy acquisition and to determine whether mothers and fathers coped differently. Using a qualitative approach, 30 parents of adolescents with CI participated in five focus groups. Recruitment took place in five specialized pediatric clinics from our university hospital. Thematic analysis was conducted. Transcript analyses suggested four major categories of preoccupations, those regarding autonomy acquisition, giving or taking on autonomy, shared management of treatment and child's future. Some aspects implied differences between mothers' and fathers' viewpoints and ways of experiencing this period of life. Letting go can be hard for the father, mother, adolescent or all three. Helping one or the other can in turn improve family functioning as a whole. Reported findings may help health professionals better assist parents in managing their child's acquisition of autonomy.

lmplementació i avaluació d'un programa dirigit a I'alfabetització de les mares amb infants estrangers en la seva llengua i en català

Teixint Cultures és un projecte de recerca-acció comunitari que intenta promoure des de I'educació d'adults, I'aprenentatge de la llengua catalana a partir dels recursos Iingüístics que les mares d'origen africà tenen en la seva llengua familiar. El programa atén a mares d'origen immigrat amb fills menors de tres anys no escolaritzats al seu càrrec (la majoria de les quals té altres fills en edat escolar que assisteixen a la tarda a la biblioteca per fer els deures escolars). Tot el projecte esta vehiculat a partir dels contes infantils. De fet, intenta recuperar els contes de tradició oral provinents del continent africà per posteriorment elaborar materials educatius bilingües (en català i en les seves llengües) que es puguin utilitzar com a llibres educatius de consulta, tant per les biblioteques públiques com pels centres educatius. El programa es realitza de forma setmanal, al llarg de dues hores, a la biblioteca pública infantil d'en Massagran de Salt. Les mares expliquen contes i llegendes rellevants de la seva infància en la seva llengua i, a partir de diferents activitats de narració, traducció i dramatització de les històries basades en una metodologia de a dual-language D, elaboren textos escrits i narracions orals en català i en la seva llengua. Posteriorment són les mateixes participants les que editen els contes a I'ordinador i elaboren digitalment un llibre de contes bilingüe. Les sessions s'han registrat en àudio i vídeo i hem estudiat el procés d'implementació del programa i les estratègies multilingües utilitzades per les participants, els educadors i voluntaris. Els resultats evidencien el progrés de les dones en I'aprenentatge del català, la modificació de les seves actituds lingüístiques i de la seva autoimatge, així com I ‘impacte positiu del programa a la comunitat pel que fa al reconeixement dels recursos lingüístics i culturals de les minories ètniques.