L'amour maternel chez les animaux,

Series title also at head of t.-p.

Maternal support for autonomy : relationships with persistence for children with Down syndrome and typically developing children

Maternal behaviors and child mastery behaviors were examined in 25 children with Down syndrome and 43 typically developing children matched for mental age (24–36 months). During a shared problem-solving task, there were no group differences in maternal directiveness or support for autonomy, and mothers in the two groups used similar verbal strategies when helping their child. There were also no group differences in child mastery behaviors, measured as persistence with two optimally challenging tasks. However, the two groups differed in the relationships of maternal style with child persistence. Children with Down syndrome whose mothers were more supportive of their autonomy in the shared task displayed greater persistence when working independently on a challenging puzzle, while children of highly directive mothers displayed lower levels of persistence. For typically developing children, persistence was unrelated to maternal style, suggesting that mother behaviors may have different causes or consequences in the two groups.

Love at first sight : Sanja Pahoki

I am a landscape architect, a non-photographer, and in reviewing this exhibition, it seems that in a critical discourse on photography the nature of the view and its relation to the observer (presumably the camera) is inevitably a key focus of creative inquiry, in an epistemological sense. In conducting such a review, of 'self-portraits' by 'female photographers' in relation to 'the landscape', one cannot help but ask what priority this critique should allocate to each of these conceptual agendas, quite apart from the simple formal quality of the individual pieces themselves. Analytically, each could form the axes of a matrix that might allow for a number of quite different permutations and therefore differently conclusive commentaries on the others: the view vs landscape; the view vs sexuality; the self-portrait vs the landscape picture. All of these would be productive in their own right and each is alluded to in the works themselves and in the narrative of the catalogue. Considering this range of possible permutations, this show is certainly rich and this richness sits well with the relative formal saturation of the images themselves.

Maternal age and paternal age are associated with distinct childhood behavioural outcomes in a general population birth cohort

Abstract Background Recent studies show that advanced paternal age (APA) is associated with an increased risk of neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. A body of evidence also suggests that individuals who develop schizophrenia show subtle deviations in a range of behavioural domains during their childhood. The aim of the study was to examine the relationship between paternal and maternal ages and selected behavioural measures in children using a large birth cohort. Method Participants were singleton children (n = 21,753) drawn from the US Collaborative Perinatal Project. The outcome measures were assessed at 7 years. The main analyses examined the relationship between parental age and behavioural measures when adjusted for a range of potentially confounding variables, including age of the other parent, maternal race, socio-economic measures, sex, gestation length, maternal marital status, parental mental illness, and child's age-at-testing. Results Advanced paternal age was associated with a significantly increased risk of adverse ‘externalizing’ behaviours at age seven years. For every five year increase in paternal age, the odds of higher ‘externalizing’ behaviours was increased by 12% (OR = 1.12; 95% CI = 1.03, 1.21, p < 0.0001). The relationship persisted after adjusting for potential confounding factors. ‘Internalizing’ behavioural outcome was not associated with advanced paternal age. In contrast, advanced maternal age was significantly protective against adverse ‘externalizing’ behavioural outcomes, but associated with an increased risk of adverse ‘internalizing’ behavioural outcomes. Discussion The offspring of older fathers show a distinctly different pattern of behaviours compared to the offspring of older mothers. The diverse socio-cultural and biologically-mediated factors that underpin these findings remain to be clarified. In light of secular trends related to delayed parenthood, the mechanisms underlying these findings warrant closer scrutiny.

'The seven things all men love in bed' : young women's magazines and the governance of femininity

Rather than passing judgment of the content of young women’s magazines, it will be argued instead that such texts actually exist as manuals of self-formation, manuals which enroll young women to do specific kinds of work on themselves. In doing so, they form an effective link between the governmental imperatives aimed at constructing particular personas – such as the sexually responsible young girl - and the actual practices whereby these imperatives are operationalised.

Maternal anxiety and attention problems in children at 5 and 14 years

Objective: This study examines the association between maternal anxiety from pregnancy to 5 years and child attention problems at 5 and 14 years. Method: Birth cohort of 3,982 individuals born in Brisbane between 1981 and 1983 are assessed. Self-reported measures of maternal anxiety are assessed at four time points. Maternal reports of child attention problems using Achenbach’s Child Behavior Checklist are assessed at 5 and 14 years. Results: Children of mothers experiencing anxiety during or after pregnancy are at greater risk of experiencing attention problems at 5 and 14 years. After adjusting for maternal age and child’s gender, antenatal anxiety is strongly associated with persistent attention problems (OR = 3.65, 95% CI = 2.19, 6.07). Children with chronically anxious mothers are 5.67 (95% CI = 3.56, 9.03) times more likely to have persistent attention problems. These associations remain consistent after adjusting for potential confounders. Conclusions: Maternal anxiety appears to increase the rate of child attention problems and identifies a need for treatment programs to have a dual focus—the mother and her child. (J. of Att. Dis. 2009; XX(X) 1-XX)

Any old love

Album (CD,vinyl and digital) of original music.

Maternal reminiscing style during early childhood predicts the age of adolescents' earliest memories

Individual differences in parental reminiscing style are hypothesized to have long-lasting effects on children’s autobiographical memory development, including the age of their earliest memories. This study represents the first prospective test of this hypothesis. Conversations about past events between 17 mother–child dyads were recorded on multiple occasions between the children’s 2nd and 4th birthdays. When these children were aged 12–13 years, they were interviewed about their early memories. Adolescents whose mothers used a greater ratio of elaborations to repetitions during the early childhood conversations had earlier memories than adolescents whose mothers used a smaller ratio of elaborations to repetitions. This finding is consistent with the hypothesis that past-event conversations during early childhood have long-lasting effects on autobiographical memory.

To work or not to work? Child development and maternal labor supply

We estimate the effect of early child development on maternal labor force participation. Mothers of poorly developing children may remain at home to care for their children. Alternatively, mothers may enter the labor force to pay for additional educational and health resources. Which action dominates is the empirical question we answer in this paper. We control for the potential endogeneity of child development by using an instrumental variables approach, uniquely exploiting exogenous variation in child development associated with child handedness. We find that a one unit increase in poor child development decreases maternal labor force participation by approximately 10 percentage points.

From China with love

Like the Montagues and the Capulets, the East and West have had a great many affairs that have stirred suspicions of one another. But for those of us fortunate enough to cross the cultural divide, Gillian Lawson says there is much about which to be curious, excited and anxious.

Maternal feeding practices and feeding behaviors of Australian children aged 12 to 36 months

Objectives To explore parents' perceptions of the eating behaviors and related feeding practices of their young children. Methods Mothers (N=740) of children aged 12 to 36 months and born in South Australia were randomly selected by birth date in four 6-month age bands from a centralized statewide database and invited to complete a postal questionnaire. Results Valid completed questionnaires were returned for 374 children (51% response rate; 54% female). Although mothers generally reported being confident and happy in feeding their children, 23% often worried that they gave their child the right amount of food. Based on a checklist of 36 specified items, 15% of children consumed no vegetables in the previous 24 hours, 11% no fruit and for a further 8% juice was the only fruit. Of 12 specified high fat/sugar foods and drinks, 11% of children consumed none, 20% one, 26% two, and 43% three or more. Six of eight child-feeding practices that promote healthy eating behaviors were undertaken by 75% parents 'often' or 'all of the time'. However, 8 of 11 practices that do not promote healthy eating were undertaken by a third of mothers at least ‘sometimes’. Conclusions In this representative sample, dietary quality issues emerge early and inappropriate feeding practices are prevalent thus identifying the need for very early interventions that promote healthy food preferences and positive feeding practices. Such programs should focus not just on the 'what', but also the 'how' of early feeding, including the feeding relationship and processes appropriate to developmental stage. Key words: Maternal feeding practices, infants, obesity