Journal of Child and Family Studies最新文献

This longitudinal study examined the psychosocial health trajectories of children following reunification from residential care and the associated contextual factors. Data were drawn from a randomised controlled trial evaluating the effects of a parenting programme on the successful reunification and reintegration of 1–13-year-old children with their families, in nine districts in Uganda. Families were randomised to receive either a basic reintegration package consisting of a reunification grant and case management (standard intervention) or an enhanced package consisting of the basic package plus 13 bi-weekly training sessions of a parenting programme (enhanced intervention). Data were collected from caregivers at home and the residential care facilities, as well as the children (n = 55 dyadic pairs) through prospective interviews at baseline (before reunification), and at 6- and 12-months post-reunification. Predictive growth curve analyses assessed longitudinal changes in child psychosocial problems (externalizing, internalizing, total behavioural problems) and associated contextual factors. In age, sex, and study arm stratified analyses, we found declining linear trajectories in children’s psychosocial problem scores at 6 and 12 months post-reunification. Taking covariates into account, persistent externalizing, internalizing, and total behavioural problems at endline were associated with children’s depressive symptoms, caregiver characteristics and quality of caregiving. Our findings suggest that children who are reunified from residential to family-based care have fewer psychosocial problems post-reunification compared to their time in residential care. These findings did not differ by age and sex of the child or type of reintegration package received. Although findings from our small single study have limited generalizability and should be interpreted with caution for policy and programming, they underscore the potential benefits of reunification programmes for children’s psychosocial well-being.

Abstract

Schools and districts nationwide have heavily emphasized supporting students’ health and wellbeing by engaging families and caregivers to truly support the “whole child,” as outlined in the Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child (WSCC) model. The COVID-19 pandemic only heightened the important role of school and family partnerships in supporting children’s health. The Chicago Public Schools (CPS) Healthy CPS initiative is designed to support schools in their compliance with existing health and wellness policies to support child health. This study aimed to explore parents’ primary health concerns for their children, characterize these views, explore any alignment with WSCC, and identify recommendations for family engagement in school health promotion. Eleven semi-structured focus groups (seven English, four Spanish) were conducted with CPS parents/caregivers. Groups were conducted in spring 2021 on Chicago’s West Side, one of the more historically disinvested communities in the city. Focus groups were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using constant comparison, incorporating both inductive and deductive approaches. Key themes emerged related to parents’ perceptions of schools’ role in promoting health including: (1) parents see child health as a shared responsibility between families and schools; and (2) parents identify significant structural barriers and inequities that impede child health, such as racism, community violence, and a lack of community resources in their neighborhoods, and believe schools can do more to address them. Parents’ viewed child health and wellbeing as multidimensional and stated that these dimensions must be considered holistically. Their views aligned with WSCC family engagement-related components. Parents recommended that schools employ a variety of strategies to engage families. Findings from this paper have implications for engaging families in school health policy and program development as well as implementation, particularly those in lower income, urban communities that have faced a history of structural inequities.

Parental incarceration is a traumatic experience that affects millions of children and adolescents worldwide. This population is at an increased risk of suffering from mental health problems and problematic behaviors that can lead to future delinquency, furthering the inter-generational cycle of criminality. The aim of this systematic review is to evaluate the effectiveness of different types of interventions for the mental health and behavior of children and adolescents with incarcerated parents. The following databases were searched to retrieve relevant studies from 1995 to 2021: PsycINFO, Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection, Child Development and Adolescent Studies, SocINDEX, CINAHL, MEDLINE, Embase, and the Web of Science Core Collection. Quality assessment was performed using the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme qualitative checklist and the “Quality Assessment Tool for Quantitative Studies” developed by the Effective Public Health Practice Project. The initial search yielded 2,711 records and 16 studies met the inclusion criteria. The narrative synthesis conducted determined that interventions focusing on improving caregiver outcomes and support, and maternal attachment may be effective in reducing mental health problems and problematic behaviors, however, findings need to be evaluated with regards to the included studies’ quality of evidence since many (n = 7) had a weak rating. Future research should aim to conduct a comparative analysis between the effectiveness of different types of interventions, while focusing on improving the quality of the evidence.

In Japan, many fathers consider their spouse to be their children’s primary parent while casting themselves in a supporting role. Yet, in the majority of reported child maltreatment cases in Japan, the child’s father is recorded as the perpetrator. This may seem somewhat puzzling, given that primary caregivers are recorded as the perpetrator of maltreatment in other cultures. This study qualitatively analyses the parenting experience of 11 Japanese fathers and their reflections on child maltreatment risks. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with fathers of pre-school aged children from middle-class families who had no reported history of child maltreatment. Using qualitative content analysis through a process of condensing, coding and categorising, we arrived at the following theme: fathers aspire to be an active parent, while respecting and supporting their spouses, but anxiety and stress trigger impatience and frustration during parenting. The fathers reported that they are more likely to maltreat their children, especially boys, in situations which triggered anxiety and frustration. Anxiety is particularly heightened when they feared public embarrassment. These findings are discussed with reference to the Japanese social and cultural context, and contrasted with previous research into the parenting experiences of Japanese mothers. The findings indicate that fathers may benefit from tailored support programmes which strengthen their self-efficacy before building resilience for the challenging situations they may encounter as fathers.

Abstract

This study examined the relationship between having a child with a disability or developmental delay and early impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on family environments that influenced early childhood development and health in the Maritime provinces of Canada. This was a mixed method cross-sectional survey involving 256 primary caregivers of children with disabilities or developmental delays and 1720 primary caregivers of typically developing children aged 0–8 years. A Family access to resources and social support, parenting Abilities and self-care, and home Routines and Environments change scale (FARE Change Scale) was produced from the survey to assess the early impacts of the pandemic on family environments that influenced early childhood development and health. Open-ended questions provided in-depth description of the early impacts of the pandemic on family environments. Pooled bivariate and multivariate regression coefficients revealed that having a child with a disability or developmental delay significantly decreased a caregiver’s score on the FARE Change Scale by 1.95. The open-ended questions were thematically analyzed. Caregivers of children with disabilities or developmental delays discussed positive and negative impacts of the pandemic on their family environments. Overall, the study findings indicate that the early impacts of the pandemic on family environments that influenced early childhood development and health of children with disabilities or developmental delays were mixed and context-specific. The study findings inform the development of context-specific policies and programs to adequately support families of children with disabilities or developmental delays in public health crises similar to the pandemic.

The rate of Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS) secondary to Prenatal Substance Exposure (PSE) has been rapidly increasing in the United States (U.S.); as these children age, they are interacting with public health systems such as in-home programs to promote early childhood development. These programs have been studied extensively in the context of their intended primary audiences, but less is known about their implementation or effectiveness relating to this specific subpopulation. Understanding the current literature on this topic can help program planning and service delivery. The purpose of this critical review is to assess trends in research and evaluation of home-based early childhood programs serving children with NAS and associated PSE. To conduct this review, the researcher searched for key phrases and topics in four databases and used a PRISMA diagram to structure the review process. The thirty-two studies that met the inclusion criteria were either formative evaluations of program implementation or summative evaluations that focused on outcomes for families. Areas of focus, definitions, and assessments varied greatly between the studies, making it difficult to generalize findings. From this review, three themes emerged: unmet basic needs threaten well-being and limit the effectiveness of interventions; existing programs are poorly equipped to help the families of children with NAS; and biases at all levels of the public health system may cause families to leave services. These findings are timely and relevant to the many service organizations that are experiencing an influx of potential clients with a history of PSE or NAS.

Abstract

This study investigated whether autistic adolescents are socially motivated to play Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPGs) and sought to explore whether parents’ perceptions of MMORPGs and the closeness of the parent-child relationships’ impact upon gaming habits. In a qualitative-based study, we explored the perspectives of five pairs of autistic adolescents and one of their parents. The themes identified through adolescent interviews indicated that autistic adolescents who play MMORPGs perceive that in-game socializing enhances their gaming experience which motivates them to socialize with other players and facilitates development of friendships. The themes derived from interviewing parents indicated that parents perceive social benefits to playing MMORPGs for their child, but there are factors that impact their support of socializing via gaming such as their own game use, attitudes towards socializing via games, and the amount of time their child spends gaming. This study’s findings suggest that playing MMORPGs can potentially enhance quality-of-life for autistic adolescents through increased socialization and friendships and highlights the importance of the parent-child relationship and how this supports autistic adolescents to develop socially. However, as there were no parent-child pairs reporting low closeness, the transferability of these findings may be limited to parent-child pairs with close relationships. This research indicates that parents who play games alongside their autistic child are more likely to be more understanding of, and acknowledge, the social benefits of gaming in helping their child develop socially. These findings have implications for the development of cost-efficient, accessible interventions to facilitate socialization.

The postnatal period is a potentially vulnerable time for families and can be associated with psychological distress in mothers and fathers. The aim of this analysis was to identify mother-father differences in symptoms of postnatal psychological distress and their risk factors. Cross-sectional screening data for postnatal psychological distress included postnatal depressive (PDS), anxiety (PAS), and obsessive-compulsive symptoms (POCS). Using baseline data of 4984 mothers and 962 fathers from the German SKKIPPI cohort study, we conducted an explorative multilevel logistic regression. Mothers were more likely than fathers to report PAS (OR 1.55, 95% CI: 1.00–2.41, p = 0.051) and POCS (1.38, 1.03–1.83, p = 0.029) but not PDS (1.15, 0.76–1.74, p = 0.509). Risk factors associated with psychological symptoms in mothers and fathers were life stressors, history of mental illness, and unsuitable pregnancy timing. Most risk factors were similar in mothers and fathers. However, relationship problems, having a child with a serious illness or disability, and the receipt of state payments seemed to have greater impact on fathers for some outcomes. These associations require further attention by researchers and should be considered by practitioners in the management of postnatal mental health. The SKKIPPI study has been registered in the German Clinical Trial Registry on February 8th, 2019 (DRKS-ID: DRKS00016653).

In this longitudinal small-scale study, we examined the association between maternal empowerment during pregnancy and infants’ social-emotional competence along with important maternal factors such as parental stress and the quality of mother-infant relationships. Thirty-eight women residing in a Midwestern state participated during the third trimester of pregnancy and when their infant was three to four months old. Results did not support a direct association between maternal empowerment during pregnancy and infants’ social-emotional competence. However, maternal empowerment during pregnancy, the quality of mother-infant relationships, and parental stress were significantly associated with one another, and parental stress was an important mediator of the association between maternal empowerment during pregnancy and the quality of mother-infant relationships. Our findings provide potential implications for the development of programs or practices that enhance the quality of mother-infant relationships by empowering pregnant women and reducing parental stress.

The Baby Care Questionnaire (BCQ) is an established ordinal measure of parenting beliefs about infant care, which includes structure and attunement scales. Rasch analysis is a powerful method to examine and improve psychometric properties of ordinal scales. This study aimed to evaluate the psychometric properties and improve precision of the structure and attunement scales of the BCQ using Rasch methodology. A Partial Credit Rasch model was applied to a sample of 450 mothers from the United Kingdom (n = 225) and New Zealand (n = 225) who completed the BCQ. Initial analyses indicated acceptable reliability of the structure and attunement scales of the BCQ, but some items showed misfit to the Rasch model associated with local dependency issues in both scales. After combining locally dependent items into testlets, both scales of the BCQ met expectations of the unidimensional Rasch model and demonstrated adequate and strong reliability and invariance across countries and person factors such as participants’ age and their baby’s sex. This permitted the generation of conversion algorithms to transform ordinal scores into interval data to enhance the precision of both scales of the BCQ. In conclusion, using Rasch methodology, this study demonstrated robust psychometric properties of the structure and attunement scales of the BCQ after minor modifications. The ordinal-to-interval conversion tables published here can be used to further enhance the precision of the structure and attunement scales of the BCQ without changing their original response format. These findings contribute to the enhancement of precision in measuring parenting beliefs about infant care.