African Parents Research Articles

Challenges, coping strategies, and sources of support available to South African parents with children with autism spectrum disorder during the COVID-19 lockdown: a qualitative study

Parenting a child with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is known to be complex and challenging and likely to be exacerbated under conditions of stress and uncertainty. We aimed to explore how parents experienced parenting their child with ASD during the initial COVID-19 lockdown in 2020. We also aimed to identify the coping strategies and sources of support available to them during this time. Using an exploratory qualitative design within an interpretivist paradigm, we interviewed 23 parents of children with ASD between the ages of 6 and 12 years. Parents were recruited from an online support group for ASD in South Africa. Interviews were semi-structured and transcribed verbatim for thematic analysis, using ATLAS.ti. We identified five themes: (1) The experience of communicating lockdown rules and disease containment measures to children, (2) Consequences of disruption to routine, (3) Parenting and interpersonal relationships in conditions of confinement, (4) Help-seeking and sources of support, and (5) Finding ways to cope amid a crisis. The findings demonstrate that the initial COVID-19 lockdown placed parents of children with ASD under considerable stress. Disrupted routines and interrupted access to financial, psychological, social, and educational support during the initial lockdown period exacerbated parenting experiences. This study highlights the importance of providing parents of children with ASD strategies to communicate significant change and various forms of support to navigate the negative effects of routine disruptions during conditions of uncertainty and crisis.

South African Parents' and Grandparents' Perspectives on the Acceptability of Implant Delivery of Treatment to Young Children with HIV.

Children living with HIV (CLWH) face unique challenges with adherence to antiretroviral therapy. In South Africa, just over a third of children receiving antiretroviral therapy are virally suppressed. Long-acting, subcutaneous implants may improve outcomes in CLWH compared to current daily oral dosing regimens. Qualitative in-depth interviews and focus group discussions (FGD) were conducted with 50 caregivers of CLHW in Johannesburg, South Africa. Interviews and FGDs were audio-recorded and transcribed. Data were coded and analyzed using Dedoose v9 software and a thematic approach. Caregivers had generally positive impressions of the pediatric HIV treatment implant. They emphasized the advantages of a long-acting and discreet treatment option for CLWH. Cited advantages were perceived to have widespread impact on CLWH, their caregivers, and other social dynamics. Caregivers raised some concerns or uncertainties about the potential efficacy, side effects and safety of the implant. Future clinical testing and outreach efforts may address such concerns and mitigate potential misinformation about implants. This study indicates the need to develop long-acting, discreet, safe, and efficacious HIV treatment options for young children.

"The Children Are Not Controllable Because They Follow Western Values" - Narratives of the Parenting Experiences of African Immigrants in Alberta, Canada.

African immigrants are moving to high-income nations such as Canada in greater numbers in search of a better life. These immigrants frequently struggle with several issues, including limited social support, shifts in gender roles/status, cultural conflicts with their children, and language barriers. We used participatory action research (PAR) to gather data about Sub-Saharan African immigrants residing in Alberta, Canada, with a focus on their viewpoints, difficulties, and experiences of parenting children in Canada. We contextualized our study and its findings using both postcolonial feminism and transnationalism approaches. Study findings show African immigrant parents place a high priority on respect between generations. The absence of assistance, conflicts caused by culture, and language barriers are notable difficulties they encountered in parenting. An additional factor is a lack of acquaintance with and comprehension of the culture of their new home nation. Several implications stem from our findings, including the need for interventional research that explores effective, culturally relevant strategies for enhancing parenting among African immigrants. Our findings demonstrate the need for culturally sensitive policies and practices that support the transition and integration of African immigrant families into Canadian society. It is imperative for health care providers and policy makers to develop and revise culturally appropriate policies that take into consideration the importance of African immigrants in destination countries. Adopting culturally relevant policies and practices will improve the wellbeing of this growing but underprivileged minority of Canadians.

The experiences of Black African parents on partnership: Working with education professionals in the English special education needs and disability system

Reforms to special education policy in England have emphasised the importance of parents being involved in decision-making about their child’s education and greater control over their child’s support. This study’s research questions investigated four Black African parents of children with special educational needs and disability (SEND) living in England and their experiences of working in partnership with education professionals to support their children, as well as exploring the barriers to effective partnership between Black African parents and education professionals. A critical approach was taken to understand how issues of power such as race and socio-economic status, combined with the parents own African culture, affected their interactions with education professionals who hold an entirely different contextual disposition. The parents took part in semi-structured interviews which were thematically analysed. Three overarching themes were identified: Communication (which focused on issues such as language, articulation and communication styles ); cultural barriers (which encompassed the cultural differences between the parents and the education professionals) ; and the parent-professional relationship (which was key for the parents to navigate the SEND system). Recommendations for practice such as professionals building more trust with parents, engaging more with cultural competency training and evaluating the accessibility of their current services are discussed.

Exploring the dietary practices and perceptions of African immigrants in Illinois- a qualitative study of immigrants from Nigeria and Congo

ABSTRACT Objective Previous studies suggest an increased prevalence of diet-related chronic diseases among African immigrants with increased length of stay in the U.S. The objective of the current study is to understand the dietary practices and perceptions of recent African immigrant families. Design Focus group sessions were conducted with Nigerian and Congolese immigrant parents residing in Illinois. Participants were recruited using convenience sampling methods and focus group sessions were conducted via videoconference. Participants discussed dietary practices, meal preparation, and family mealtimes for their families. They also discussed experiences with eating different kinds of foods since arrival in the U.S. Verbatim transcription of focus group sessions were completed and deductive thematic analysis of transcribed data was conducted using NVivo (QSR International Pty Ltd. [2020] NVivo [version 12]). Results Twenty African immigrant parents (Mean age: 42 years, Female: 95%) residing in Northern and Central Illinois participated in a total of five focus group sessions. Seven themes were derived from the analysis. Participants had a positive attitude toward healthy diet and had a high level of interest in receiving educational resources to make healthier food choices. Participants preferred and mostly consumed foods they were familiar with before migration. A majority of the participants perceived ‘American foods’ as unhealthy, characterizing them as containing a high amount of sugar and salt. Parents reported that their school-aged children often preferred a western diet over traditional African meals. Conclusion This study helps to understand unique diet-related practices and perceptions of recent Nigerian and Congolese African immigrants in Illinois. Findings could help to inform cultural adaptation of evidence-based nutrition education programs for these groups of African immigrants.

Parental Involvement of African Migrants in Multicultural Israeli Education Settings

This study aimed to examine the cultivation of mutual and beneficial relationships between educators and African asylum-seeker parents, focusing on the first level of Hoover-Dempsey’s parental involvement model, in Tel Aviv, Israel. This qualitative–phenomenological research allows the personal and authentic voices of fifteen educators and twenty parents to be heard. The findings indicate, on the one hand, differences between educators and parents when it comes to the meanings and roles of parental involvement. However, this involvement depends mainly on educators overcoming a feeling of racial–national superiority. Despite parents’ wishes to cooperate, their involvement is limited because involvement requires financial resources, free time, and the ability to communicate in the dominant language.

How has the quest for <i>itiwa sleeti</i> aided the neglect of African indigenous languages?

Itiwa sleeti in a loose translation means “to break the slate,” is an aphorism that was used during colonial period and beyond by Igbo- Africans to denote an unbridled passion to the acquisition of western education. Due to the high cost of acquiring western education and the intellectual rigor involved, many African parents could not face this challenge at that point in time. As a result these parents later took up the remedial challenge of bequeathing their children this perceived asset which they didn’t get. Unfortunately, this unbridled pursuit has left many valuable African cultures to be neglected and subjugated on the long run. The disastrous impact of this neglect is felt in the use of African indigenous languages because many of them are currently endangered while some have gone into extinction. My aim in this essay is to show how the unbridled quest for western education has aided the neglect of African indigenous languages. Though, some external factors like multilingualism, (which is a fall out of mindless partitioning of the continent by the west), Over-reliance on foreign languages as official language of instructions by Africans and their government and underdeveloped vocabularies and concepts have necessitated this neglect. I argue that there is an internal factor that is pioneered by African parents to foist these foreign languages on their children with the “mind view” that foreign languages serve the “actual need” of the hour more than indigenous languages. I contend that since the indigenous languages help the African child to establish both emotional and intellectual closeness with their parents in communicating their feelings in their own indigenous language at home, then restoration of African indigenous languages should begin from the home since charity they say begins from home.

“English on a pedestal”: the language attitudes and practices of African migrant bilingual parents and early years professionals in the U.K

ABSTRACT Bilingual parents must often make difficult and complex choices about which languages to use with their children. While existing research has explored family language practices and attitudes within certain language communities, the experiences of African parents are conspicuously absent from the literature. This study explores factors influencing intergenerational language transmission among African families in the UK. As educators can influence parental language choices, data were collected through semi-structured interviews with Early Years Professionals and parents of children attending nurseries. Interviews considered participants’ language backgrounds, attitudes and practices, especially in relation to heritage language maintenance. The interviews were recorded, transcribed, and analysed using thematic analysis. Findings revealed that being proficient in the English language was prioritised by all participants over maintaining the children’s heritage language, and the value of African languages was low. The findings suggest that the educators’ language practices were influenced by the monolingual education system and, for parents, colonial language ideologies that place English on a pedestal over African languages continue to play an influential role in shaping their language attitudes. Implications of this study include the need for increased understanding within Early Years practice of the unique language profiles and practices of bilingual African families.

Parental acceptance of silver fluoride as a treatment option for carious lesions among South African children with special health care needs.

Silver Diamine Fluoride has become popular as a minimally invasive treatment option for providing oral health care to young or uncooperative children. Silver Fluoride (SF) is a newer development with similar but improved properties. The aim was to determine the acceptance of SDF/SF as treatment option for Children with Special Health Care Needs (CSHCN), including Down Syndrome, Autism Spectrum Disorder and Cerebral Palsy. 51 Parents of CSHCN completed a questionnaire on the overall acceptance of SF; aesthetic concerns related to the location of application; the use of SDF as an alternative to general anesthesia; and the composition of SF. The use of SF on posterior teeth were more acceptable (70.59%) as opposed to its application to anterior teeth (50.98%). Parents generally agreed/ strongly agreed to the use of SF to reduce infection and pain (82%); to avoid treatment under GA (26.70%); and to avoid an injection (78%). 64% of parents indicated their agreement in using SF because it has a reduced cost when compared to a conventional restoration. Majority of parents were in agreement to use SF even if it contains Fluoride (84%) and Silver (78%). The use of SF, as treatment option for caries, was well accepted by South African parents of CSHCN. Shared decision making should be applied when considering SF as treatment option for CSHCN.

Not trustworthy. African parents’ perspectives on Norwegian child protection care measures

ABSTRACT This study focuses on the experiences of African parents with care measure histories and their working relations with the Norwegian Child Protection Service (CPS), investigating how these interactions affect trust and collaboration between parents and the agency. Qualitative interviews with 15 parents revealed the emotional and existential impact of care measures resulting in feelings of injustice, resentment, and disempowerment. The study emphasises the need for CPS to build strong working relationships with parents throughout child protection procedures, particularly for ethnic minority families who may lack confidence in the Norwegian child protection system. Despite the legal obligation of CPS to provide continued support and assist parents in developing necessary parenting skills, our results show that cooperation is complicated by perceived institutional bias, opaque decisions, no focus on reunion, and the overall feeling that the agency does not encapsulate the interests of minority families. The study highlights the importance of reflecting on power, trust, and risk in encounters between service personnel and minority parents, underscoring the need for empathetic approaches to child protection that prioritise building trust and collaboration between all parties involved. The findings have implications for improving relationships between professionals and parents and promoting greater trust and confidence in CPS.

Acceptability of Silver Diamine Fluoride

Background: Silver diamine fluoride (SDF) can be used for active carious lesions in primary teeth and can be applied in dental clinics, in school, or in community-based settings with simple armamentarium and minimal support. Silver diamine fluoride causes darkening of carious enamel and dentin after its application. Method: An electronic literature search in Web of Science, Scopus, Science Direct, PubMed, Google Scholar, African Journal Online, Researchgate, and Google was done in June 2023. Search terms and keywords were combined by Boolean operators. Four independent investigators (research assistants) screened titles, abstracts, and full text of publications. The inclusion criteria were original research articles ( human studies) carried out in African regions and including observational studies (cohort, case-control, cross-sectional), experimental studies (clinical trials, randomized or not) designs, case reports, and case series investigating parents, caregivers, guardians or children acceptability or acceptance of silver diamine fluoride treatment procedure and post-treatment blackening/staining of teeth. Systematic reviews and review articles were excluded. Results: One article was included as it was assessed to meet the aim of the review. It was a hospital-based study. Parental acceptance of silver diamine fluoride treatment with its black staining was assessed using the Likert scale. Acceptance of post-treatment staining of teeth among parents was higher in posterior teeth than in anterior teeth. Conclusion: Only one study on the acceptability or acceptance of silver diamine fluoride treatment procedure and post-treatment staining of teeth was identified among African parents. More studies from the diverse ethnic population in Africa will contribute to the existing literature. J Rang Med Col. September 2023; Vol. 8, No. 2: 53-55

A - 155 Southern African Parents' Concussion Knowledge and Intention to Report Youth Athletes.

To determine Southern African parents' concussion knowledge and intention to report in youth athletes. A diverse sample of 48 Southern African parents of youth athletes ages 5-18 completed an online survey. Recruitment included: 1) contacting school administrations to forward the survey to parents and 2) a social media post. The Concussion Knowledge Checklist (CKC) consists of 27 items, 19 true and eight false symptoms, with a score range of 0-54. The Intention to Report Scale consists of seven questions on a Likert scale, with a score range of 7-49. Higher scores indicate greater knowledge and intention to report, respectively. CKC score (M = 37.24; SD = 7.1) indicates a moderate degree of concussion knowledge. Certain symptoms (i.e., blurred vision) were accurately endorsed at a high rate (83%). Conversely, affective symptoms, such as more emotional, were accurately endorsed at a low rate (25%). The Intention to Report Scale score (M = 40.98; SD = 5.97) suggests a moderate to strong degree of participants' intention to report. Participants indicated a moderate degree of concussion knowledge. However, variability was evidenced by some symptoms (e.g., blurred vision) endorsed at a high rate and others, for example, more emotional, at a low rate. These findings have possible implications for concussion education. The Intention to Report Scale indicated a moderate to strong degree of parents' intention to report their children with a suspected concussion.

Parental emotionality and power relations in heritage language maintenance: experiences of Chinese and African immigrant families in Australia.

Emotionality is increasingly given prominence in the field of language acquisition and socialization in migration contexts. This cross-sectional study explores the emotional experiences of Chinese and African immigrant families in their practices of maintaining their children's heritage languages. We used open-ended interviews, field notes from informal conversations and observations, photographic evidence of children's literacy practices, and language portrait (LP) descriptions, to collect data. Results from an ethnographic analysis of the data revealed a whole range of negative and positive parental emotions (e.g., anxiety, loss, shame vs. enjoyment, accomplishment, and pride), in the discourse of maintaining heritage and minority languages. We discuss the language emotions, whether positive or negative, in light of language ideologies, which specifically points to the significance of profit discourse in the formation of family language policies (FLPs). This materialistic valorization reveals the complexities of power relations between English and minority languages, between Chinese and African languages, and within various Chinese and African languages. Consequently, the distinct hierarchies between English and minority languages and the hidden layers within minority languages further legitimate diasporic ideologies of Chinese and African parents in terms of the emotionality associated with prioritizing, maintaining, and forgoing languages. These findings suggests that language emotionality is of vital importance to the psycho-social wellbeing of immigrant families and has practical implications for policymakers and heritage language research.

Human capabilities of South African parents who have children with developmental disabilities.

Parenting a child with a developmental disability (DD) has a substantial influence on the lives of the parents or caregivers, as well as on how the family operates. This is frequently because of the adjustments in some daily practices that are crucial for parents' or caregivers' human capabilities to provide for childcare. There is not enough research done on human capabilities of parents or children with DD in South Africa. This study investigated the available support in improving the human capabilities of parents or caregivers with children with DD and the bodily health and bodily integrity human capabilities of parents or caregivers with children with DD. Qualitative interviews were conducted with 11 parents or caregivers of children aged between 1 and 8 years old with DD. This study used snowball sampling. Thematic data analysis was chosen to analyse the data collected. The results of the study indicate that participants have difficulties bringing up their children because of the emotional strain that goes along with parenting a child with DD. In addition, participants were not able to afford decent and satisfactory shelter and had limited access to good quality food because they could not afford it. A lack of social support and care burden influences parents' or caregivers' ability to raise their child with developmental disability. The study contains helpful information about families of children with DD in under-resourced locations. The information may be of significance to policymakers who are accountable for designing and executing policies that are targeted at assisting parents or caregivers of children with DD.

Challenges of Enforcing Anti-cyber Bullying Laws on Teen Sexting in South Africa

The protection of children from harmful online content is upheld in international and domestic legal instruments. In South Africa, children enjoy the right to privacy, freedom of expression and protection from exposure to abusive and exploitative materials when they go online. However, in recent years, many South African children have been involved in creating and distributing harmful and illegal messages through the Internet. This prompts the question of whether the South African legal framework is adequate to protect children and shield them from cyberbullying or sexting. This study re-examines the ability of South African anti-cyberbullying laws to protect children online. Cyberbullying takes many forms, and therefore, this study is confined to sexting—the participation in communicating nude pictures through mobile phones. This study is based on the purposive sampling of several well-known cases of sexting that occurred within the South African schooling environment. The findings of the study confirm the view that South African anti-cyberbullying laws are less effective in curbing children’s participation in sexting. In addition, children’s creativity with new age-technologies has tended to complicate and undermine efforts to protect the same children from the harms of sexting. The study concludes that many South African parents appear ill-equipped to teach their children to handle safe sexting and to protect these children from becoming victims of the frequently disastrous consequences of sexting, which may even include suicide.

Mother Tongue and Learning in Migrant Households

The extent to which the children in migrant households acquire proficiency in the new language of their destination and in their heritage language strongly conditions their well-being and their success in the country’s educational institutions. In this paper, i will exhibit how language practices by Moroccans (globally the North African) parents, attitudes towards the heritage language and French anguage, affect children’s development and the children’s success in the country’s educational. I will discuss how immigrant families are losing their heritage languages faster simply due to limited opportunities to read their own languages. And finally, i will show how my mother tongue books can help parents to explain nartural phenomena, to discover sciences, to learn civic acts or to express ideas and emotions to their children. All those skills are lost when a child have not access to books in their mother tongue. Keywords: Immigrant integration, Second-language acquisition, School reform, Darija, Moroccan language, North African language. DOI: 10.7176/JLLL/97-02 Publication date: March 31 st 2023

African immigrants in Sweden experiencing the threat of forced child removal

ABSTRACT This study investigated the experiences of African parents living in Sweden around the concept of forced child removal. The study aimed at finding out their experiences and attitudes around the concept and how the threat of it affects their parenting styles and coping strategies in Sweden. Nine semi-structured qualitative interviews were made with participants of African origin living in Sweden. Data was analysed using a reflexive thematic analysis. An important contribution of the study to parenting amongst African immigrants in Sweden is knowledge gained of the shift from an authoritarian style of parenting towards an authoritative one. It is about going from punishing the children if they make mistakes in life to reasoning with them more about what is right to do in life. This knowledge is helpful for social workers working with this segment of the population because an authoritative style of parenting takes into consideration the autonomy of the child and, therefore, closer to the Swedish styles of parenting, than authoritarian styles, which can make interventions with such parents easier. Social workers, however, need to get closer to their clients to understand the motivations of this shift from individual clients as this might differ.

Preferences and expectations of feedback of individual genetic research results in African genomics: Views of South African parents of children with neurodevelopmental disorders

Background: Genomic research is expanding at an exponential pace across the globe and increased access to genome analysis has led to greater generations of genetic results with specific relevance to individuals. This study aims to explore preferences and expectations of feedback of individually relevant genetic research results among parents of children with neurodevelopmental conditions. Methods: Following a qualitative approach, we conducted four deliberative focus group discussions with (n=27) South African parents of children involved in genomics research on neurodevelopmental disorders. Results: Most participants expressed a strong interest in receiving genetic results regardless of severity, actionability and preventability. These results were viewed as valuable because they could empower or emancipate individuals, families, and communities. Receiving risk information was also believed to motivate healthier lifestyle choices. However, some participants were uncertain or articulated a desire not to receive results due to fears of anxiety or psychological distress. In addition, participants expected to receive results as a demonstration of respect from researchers and articulated it as an act to build trust between researchers and participants. Conclusions: Internationally, a debate continues around whether individually relevant genetic results should or should not be fed back to participants of genomic research studies. In Africa, there is scant literature which has investigated this question and no policies to guide researchers. This study provides a basis of empirical data on perspectives of African participants which could inform work on the development of a consolidated approach to the feedback of genetic research results in the continent.

Parenting Culture(s): Ideal-Parent Beliefs Across 37 Countries

What is it to be “an ideal parent”? Does the answer differ across countries and social classes? To answer these questions in a way that minimizes bias and ethnocentrism, we used open-ended questions to explore ideal-parent beliefs among 8,357 mothers and 3,517 fathers from 37 countries. Leximancer Semantic Network Analysis was utilized to first determine parenting culture zones (i.e., countries with shared ideal-parent beliefs) and then extract the predominant themes and concepts in each culture zone. The results yielded specific types of ideal-parent beliefs in five parenting culture zones: being “responsible and children/family-focused” for Asian parents, being “responsible and proper demeanor-focused” for African parents, and being “loving and responsible” for Hispanic-Italian parents. Although the most important themes and concepts were the same in the final two zones—being “loving and patient,” there were subtle differences: English-speaking, European Union, and Russian parents emphasized “being caring,” while French-speaking parents valued “listening” or being “present.” Ideal-parent beliefs also differed by education levels within culture zones, but no general pattern was discerned across culture zones. These findings suggest that the country in which parents were born cannot fully explain their differences in ideal-parent beliefs and that differences arising from social class or education level cannot be dismissed. Future research should consider how these differences affect the validity of the measurements in question and how they can be incorporated into parenting intervention research within and across cultures.

Beyond educational workshops: How child‐focused NGOs can draw African rural parents out for sustainable intervention in childhoods

AbstractEducational workshops are channels for raising awareness and implementing childhood interventions in African communities. However, community (in)action during and after workshops can be a dichotomy that is less researched. Using a joint dialogic and ethnographic approach, we analysed and observed the responses and actions of NGO workers and rural folks on the occasion of a childhood intervention project. Findings reveal that community action in childhood during face‐to‐face interaction can be contradictory aftermath. We use the analytical framework of dramaturgy to inform and discuss how NGOs can get to know rural folks' deep‐seated perspectives on childhoods.