Changes In Parental Attitudes Research Articles

Assessing parental attitudes toward genetic testing for childhood hearing loss: Before and after genetic consultation

We report on the development of a Genetic Attitude Assessment Tool (GAAT) to measure parental attitudes in contemplating genetic testing for childhood hearing loss, and to examine the differences in assessments made before and after genetic counseling. The GAAT tool was administered to a convenient sample of 119 parents of children with bilateral sensorineural hearing loss. The respondents completed the survey either before (n = 77) or after (n = 42) genetic counseling. Exploratory Factor Analysis was applied to identify and quantify the underlying psychosocial structure. Our results showed the validated 54-item GAAT instrument contains six subscales: (1) "test intention," (2) "beliefs in non-genetic causes of hearing loss," (3) "deferral of decision to undergo genetic testing," (4) "appropriate use of genetic testing results," (5) "beliefs in the benefits," and (6) "concerns about stigma." The respondents who answered the survey after genetic counseling had higher "test intention" (P = 0.017) and endorsed to a greater extent "beliefs in the benefits" (P < 0.001). They believed to a lesser extent that childhood hearing loss was due to "non-genetic causes" (P < 0.001) and were less inclined to prefer "decision deferral" (P = 0.031). Respondents who themselves had a hearing loss expressed a significantly weaker belief in "non-genetic causes" of hearing loss (P < 0.0001). In conclusion the validated GAAT instrument is responsive to changes in parental attitudes after genetic counseling. The GAAT may be used to monitor parental attitudes serially, to further understand how parental attitudes change from pre genetic counseling, post genetic counseling, to post test result disclosure.

Influenza Among Healthy Young Children: Changes in Parental Attitudes and Predictors of Immunization During the 2003 to 2004 Influenza Season

In Colorado, the 2003 to 2004 influenza season was unusually early and severe and received substantial media attention. Among parents of healthy young children, to determine how parental knowledge and attitudes regarding influenza infection and immunization changed during the 2003 to 2004 influenza season and to identify factors predictive of influenza immunization. The study was conducted in 5 metropolitan Denver pediatric practices. A total of 839 healthy children age 6 to 21 months and their parents were randomly selected for participation. Parents were surveyed by telephone before (August 18 to October 7, 2003) and after (March 31 to June 10, 2004) the influenza season. Among 828 eligible parents, 472 (57%) completed the preseason survey; 316 (67%) of these parents subsequently completed the postseason survey. All analyses were performed for the 316 subjects who completed both preseason and postseason surveys. Compared with their attitudes before the influenza season, 48% of parents interviewed after the season viewed their child as more susceptible to influenza, 58% viewed influenza infections as more severe, and 66% perceived fewer risks associated with influenza vaccine. Ninety-five percent of parents reported hearing in the media about Colorado's influenza outbreak, and having heard about the outbreak in the media was associated with viewing influenza infections as more severe. A total of 258 parents (82%) immunized their child against influenza. In multivariate analyses, positive predictors of immunization included a physician recommendation for immunization and a preseason to postseason increase in the perception that immunization was the social norm. Negative predictors of immunization included high perceived barriers to immunization, less parental education, and preseason intention not to immunize. Parent attitudes about influenza infection and immunization changed substantially during the 2003 to 2004 influenza season, with changes favoring increased parental acceptance of influenza vaccination for young children. During an intensively publicized influenza outbreak, a physician recommendation of vaccination was an important predictor of influenza immunization.

An evaluation of an Internet-delivered eating disorder prevention program for adolescents and their parents

Purpose To evaluate the effectiveness of Student Bodies, an Internet-delivered eating disorder prevention program for adolescents, and a supplemental program for their parents. Methods One hundred fifty-two 10th grade females completing a health course at a private sectarian school, and 69 of their parents were assigned to either the Internet-delivered intervention group or to a comparison group (students) or wait-list control group (parents). Student participants completed subscales of the Eating Disorder Inventory, Eating Disorder Examination-Questionnaire, and a content knowledge test. Parents completed the Parental Attitudes and Criticism Scale. Results The main effects of the intervention were assessed pre- to post- and post- to follow-up using ANCOVA, with the baseline assessment of the independent variable as the covariate. Students using the program reported significantly reduced eating restraint and had significantly greater increases in knowledge than did students in the comparison group. However, there were no significant differences at follow-up. Parents significantly decreased their overall critical attitudes toward weight and shape. Conclusion The program demonstrates the feasibility of providing an integrated program for students and their parents with short-term positive changes in parental attitudes toward weight and shape.

Parental attitudes and children's self-concept and behavior following parents' participation in parent training groups

This study assessed changes in parental attitudes and children's self-concept and behavior following parents' participation in one of two skills training programs: behavioral skills and communication skills. At posttest, communication skills group parents demonstrated greater mutual understanding in the area of parent-child communication than did comparison group parents. These results were maintained at 3-month follow-up. Children of parents who participated in either training group showed positive changes in self-concept at posttest that were maintained at follow-up. The parentrated behavior of both groups of children did not improve at posttest. However, at follow-up, communication skills parents perceived their children as less withdrawn/hostile and perceived themselves as playing a greater role in the causation of their children's behavior.

An Evaluation of Group Parent Education: Behavioral, PET, and Adlerian Programs

An evaluation of 48 investigations on three parent education programs—behavioral, PET, and Adlerian—indicated that certain changes in parental attitudes and/or child behavior were evident as a result of different educational approaches. These changes were not always consistent and often depended on the type of assessment and educational approach used. Recommendations for future research include determining individual parental goals and existing knowledge and attitudes about child-rearing, considering the impact of parental characteristics and the possible interaction of these characteristics with different program goals and procedures, identifying factors influencing leader or instructor effectiveness, and using appropriate research designs, control groups, and multiple assessment procedures.

An Evaluation of Group Parent Education: Behavioral, PET, and Adlerian Programs

An evaluation of 48 investigations on three parent education programs—behavioral, PET, and Adlerian—indicated that certain changes in parental attitudes and/or child behavior were evident as a result of different educational approaches. These changes were not always consistent and often depended on the type of assessment and educational approach used. Recommendations for future research include determining individual parental goals and existing knowledge and attitudes about child-rearing, considering the impact of parental characteristics and the possible interaction of these characteristics with different program goals and procedures, identifying factors influencing leader or instructor effectiveness, and using appropriate research designs, control groups, and multiple assessment procedures.

Stability and change in parental attitudes following an infant's birth into traditional and nontraditional Swedish families.

Fifty‐one Swedish couples were interviewed in the last trimester of their first pregnancy and again when their infants were 5 months old. Twenty‐five of the couples indicated that the mothers would be primary caretakers throughout the first year (traditional families) whereas the other 26 couples said that the fathers would be primary caretakers for between 1 and 6.5 months during the year (nontraditional families). Analyses showed that the value of parenthood and the value of work were stable from the first (prenatal) to the second (postnatal) interview, although prenatally‐anticipated paternal involvement was only marginally correlated with actual paternal involvement. Subjects agreed with their spouses when asked about the same issues, suggesting that the constructs had some validity. Parenthood and work were more highly valued by nontraditional parents than by traditional parents. Degree of paternal caretaking was positively correlated with the fathers satisfaction with and value of parenthood and negatively correlated with their resentment of the infant. Correlations differed somewhat among traditional and nontraditional mothers and fathers. Fathers were more involved with “difficult” sons and “easy” daughters than with “easy” sons and “difficult” daughters.

Towards a tailored measure of parental attitudes: an approach to the evaluation of one aspect of intervention projects with parents of handicapped children.

One important aspect of early intervention projects involving parents of handicapped children, namely changes in parental attitudes, would seem to have been elusive to study. This paper describes an approach to measurement in this area in which the measure is constructed around the specified objectives of the project under investigation. An outline is given of the process by which a Maternal Self-Rating Scale was devised, together with a description of the Scale and evidence regarding its usefulness within an evaluative study.

Changes in parental attitudes as a function of anxiety and authoritarianism.

Changes in parental attitudes as a function of anxiety and authoritarianism.

Further report on experimental evaluation of mental hygiene techniques in school and community.

A further study on experimental evaluation of controlled mental hygiene workshops in school and community is reported. This controlled study was made on mental health workshop groups of teachers and parents and controlled by other groups of teachers and parents from the same and other communities. These studies were all made in Westchester County, New York State. Psychological test instruments were used before and after the mental health workshops for both the experimental and control groups, all groups being tested simultaneously. The scoring and statistical analysis of over 110,000 test items lead to the following conclusions: 1. The experimental groups as a whole showed more changes in a positive direction than did the control groups. 2. There was a significant trend for parents in the experimental groups to show greater over-all changes than did the teachers as compared with changes in the control groups. 3. In spite of the differences in content, approach, and instructions to the experimental groups, there were no statistically significant differences between changes produced in the groups by a psychiatrist and a psychologist. 4. The most striking positive changes were obtained on the Parental Survey Scale for all the experimental groups, with 2 groups showing a conclusive change toward a more liberal conception of parent-child relationships and 1 a trend toward change(6). 5. Telling a control group that it is being used as a control seems to raise subscale scores on the Minnesota. Whether this would hold in general or whether a community factor is operating is uncertain. 6. There were no changes in Morale for any of the groups, suggesting that the morale "climate" at the time of this experiment is better than it was at the time of previous experiment or that community differences were being reflected. 7. One control group showed a significant change in parental attitudes. It is suggested that this might have resulted from the stimulus value of the Scale. 8. It is probable that the workshop is better suited for those who volunteer to participate rather than for an unselected random population. 9. It seems advisable to stress attitude evaluation in future studies rather than "adjustment." This might make it possible to administer a shorter test battery and to accomplish a more detailed item analysis of the responses.