Child & Family Social Work最新文献

Adolescent girls placed in residential care are often the victims of childhood experiences of maltreatment. Their history of relational trauma may subsequently limit their ability to establish and maintain positive relationships with others, a central component for their development and adaptation. The goal of the present study was to determine the nature and strength of associations between adolescent girls' relationship quality with their parents at admission to care and their perceptions, 3 months later, of the therapeutic alliance and group climate within their unit. The sample consisted of 156 adolescent girls between the ages of 12 and 18 living in residential care. Path analysis using structural equation modelling examined significant associations between variables. Results revealed that adolescent girls' perceptions of greater relationship quality with their mothers were associated with more positive perceptions of (a) their therapeutic alliance with their mentor, (b) their relationships with other care workers, and (c) the care practices of their unit. Perceptions of greater relationship quality with their fathers were associated with more positive perceptions of their relationships with the other girls in their unit. Relationship quality with parents as a significant factor to consider in the context of out-of-home care for adolescents is discussed.

Tailoring support for first and second-generation immigrant families with young children necessitates understanding the extent to which immigrant families initiate access to community resources and perceived support from formal and informal stakeholders in their ecology. As part of an exploratory analysis, we surveyed bilingual, immigrant parents (n = 54) in a mid-Atlantic urban community in the United States. We examined factors that may correlate with seeking child-related advice and/or emotional support. Sixty-one percent of the sample approached at least one formal or informal contact for emotional support or advice in the past year, and willingness to do so was correlated with having a child with a suspected or diagnosed delay or disability. Stronger parent–stakeholder rapport was more likely to be reported with informal supports among younger parents (aged 20–30). Respondents with greater perceived parenting stress and child behaviour concerns were more likely to seek out stakeholders and less personalised sources. We discuss noteworthy implications for research and practice.

There is growing recognition, in the UK and internationally, of the huge costs of recurrent appearances of parents in local authority care proceedings. This paper contributes to pressing policy and practice concerns to reduce recurrence. It presents qualitative longitudinal data from the first study of fathers' experiences of recurrent care proceedings in England. Demonstrating the emotional impact of repeat proceedings and successive loss of children on fathers, in terms of grief, loss and shame, we highlight the trauma and abuse in their developmental histories. We consider complex connections between anger and shame for these fathers, including within the arena of family justice. With the use of literature on complex trauma, shame and parental disengagement, we explore ideas for re-framing fathers', and professionals', resistance to engagement and for better understanding fathers' intense emotions. We suggest that the link between shame and complex trauma and the value of shame reducing, dignity promoting practice in response provide a valuable way forward for working with fathers. As is recognized to be the case for mothers, without holistic, empathic interventions to address the vulnerabilities of such fathers, the risks for children, mothers and fathers are unlikely to reduce.

Studies report an increase in self-harm, and engagement in risk content online has gained growing attention. This study aims to synthesize qualitative studies on youths' (12–25 years of age) engagement in self-harm content online (SCO). We conducted a systematic database search of studies on first-person experience and included 16 studies. The meta-synthesis resulted in two meta-themes: 1) “Belonging to a community – online engagement with peers who self-harm” and 2) “Self-development – online engagement to get to know myself”. Following Winnicott's (1953) thinking, digital activity is discussed as an extended peer arena with a “transitional” quality – neither completely internal, nor external, and potentially bridging an inner and outer world. Engagement in SCO is discussed as a transitional object or activity that enables relatedness and self-definition – important developmental experiences for the exploration of social roles, borders between self and others and self-identity during adolescence. However, engagement in SCO comes with a risk for deterioration of mental health. Clinicians should ask directly about digital activity and meet those engaged in digital risks with respect.

The prevalence and intensity of grandparenting have continued to increase in the era of rapid aging. However, little is known about grandparents with different health statuses as primary caregivers and their implications for children's health. A nationally representative cohort of over 8990 Chinese children interviewed from 2010 to 2018 was used. Random effects logit models were constructed to assess the association of the primary caregiver type (grandparents vs. parents) and caregiver health with child health. Subsequently, additive interactions between the primary caregiver type and caregiver health were estimated to determine whether children cared for by grandparents with poor health were the most vulnerable children in terms of health. Deterioration of health status was found among children cared for mainly by grandparents, manifested as a higher likelihood of illness, depressive symptoms and unmet health care needs. However, children looked after by healthy grandparents tended to exhibit better health than their counterparts who were cared for by unhealthy parents. Grandparents as primary caregivers might not have a universally detrimental effect on child health. Thus, interventions to prompt child health could consider grandparents as caregivers, especially healthy grandparents.

Children with disabilities and their families are often socially isolated. To integrate them into society, it is important to improve their access to services and encourage families to participate in society. It is effective to incorporate information and communication technology in providing information access and care services for children with disabilities and their families. Therefore, this study explores parental satisfaction with and demand for information and communication technology-based care services for children with disabilities. This study used an explanatory sequential mixed method design. A total of 99 parents of children enrolled in two schools for special education or rehabilitation hospital participated in the study. Data were collected from parents through either a questionnaire survey or interviews. The study was conducted from 5 November to 5 December 2018. More than 50% of the participants found it inconvenient to search for services and reported below-average satisfaction because of a lack of information and the results being inappropriate, abstract, difficult to understand, insufficient and scattered. More than 70% of the participants were dissatisfied with the services because of their high cost and the limited frequency of use. Participants expressed a need for information and communication technology-based services to address these issues, including services to help the child's development, with low eligibility requirements and easy access to treatment that can enhance networks and services. Parents had high care burdens and difficulties accessing services for their children, which highlights the need for alternative services.

Literature on street children has documented the life of street children in four phases: at home, on the streets, in child care institutions and post institutionalization. However, the journey to the streets has not received sufficient scholarly examination. This article documents street children's experiences in search of survival in Nakuru City, Kenya. The study adopted a qualitative research design with Nakuru City being purposively selected as an emerging city and a fourth city in Kenya with the highest number of street children. Data was collected from 14 purposively street children through in-depth interviews and analysed thematically. The study demonstrates unique experiences of the journey to the streets and recommends policy development that guarantee survival and protection rights. We conclude that the desire for survival generates resilience in children that powers them through the journey to the streets.

African American caregivers providing informal kinship care are vulnerable to chronic stress. Research has indicated stress increases individuals' risk for many adverse physical and mental health outcomes, including cardiovascular disease, Alzheimer's disease and depression. Given the adverse outcomes related to stress, identifying mechanisms to help these caregivers lower and manage their stress is critical to their overall health and well-being. This pilot qualitative study aimed to explore the self-care practices of 12 African Americans providing informal kinship care using a phenomenological approach. Three themes emerged: (a) behaviours to manage stress levels, (b) support network reminding caregivers to take care of themselves and (c) prioritizing my own needs. Specifically, our findings indicate that some caregivers have high-stress levels and engage in maladaptive coping behaviours. The children they cared for reminded them to take care of themselves by attending doctors' appointments or getting their nails done. Nevertheless, some caregivers prioritized their needs by participating in positive self-care behaviours, such as listening to jazz and gospel music and exercising. Prevention and intervention programs that focus on improving caregivers' health should consider the role of self-care practices.

Resilience is essential for students to resist adversity, and low academic achievers (LAA) may experience more challenges in resilience development than high academic achievers (HAA). This study aimed to compare resilience between LAA and HAA and to analyse the effects of protective factors in order to inform social work practices. This study analysed 1125 school-aged subjects derived from a large survey conducted in 23 districts/counties in eight provinces in mainland China. We ran independent sample t-tests to compare resilience between LAA and HAA, ran linear regression models to analyse the effects of internal and external protective factors on resilience, and tested the mediation effects of the protective factors. This study found that LAA were less resilient and more vulnerable to adversity than HAA. Internal protective factors helped to explain resilience, two main subfactors of which—self-efficacy and confidence—fully mediated the effects of academic performance and resilience. External protective factors did not significantly impact resilience. We propose service strategies to enhance self-efficacy and confidence in LAA in order to improve their resilience in social work practices.

The COVID-19 pandemic has taken most part of the world by surprise. The orders of nationwide movement control and social distancing by the Malaysian authority to curb the spread of the airborne virus have sent working-class families into a novel work-from-home condition. This study aimed to examine the association between positive experiences in parent–child relationships, parental stress and working parents' psychological well-being in Malaysia during the pandemic by considering the mediating role of parental stress and the moderating role of parental gender role. A total of 214 working-from-home parents (M_age = 46.39; SD_age = 9.06; 51.9% working mothers; 76.6% Chinese) participated in a cross-sectional quantitative online survey. A significant positive relationship was found between parent–child relationships and parents' psychological well-being. Parental stress was negatively correlated with parent–child relationships and parents' psychological well-being. Meanwhile, parental stress significantly mediates the link between parent–child relationships and parents' psychological well-being. Besides, parental gender role was found to be a significant moderator where fathers experience better psychological well-being when they have more positive parent–child relationships. The findings further support the importance of positive interaction between parents and children and parental stress, which could affect parents' psychological well-being. This study may fill a knowledge gap by providing an overview of working parents' psychological well-being in their experience of working from home during the pandemic.