Father Reports Research Articles

Predictors of treatment outcome in parent training for families with conduct problem children

A total of 101 mothers and 70 fathers with conduct problem children completed a 10-week parent-training program. Treatment effectiveness was assessed at 1 month and 1 year posttreatment based on three types of outcome variables: home observations of parent and child behaviors, parent reports of their children's behavior and teacher reports of the children's adjustment. Multiple regression analyses were performed using four predictors: parent depression, marital status or marital adjustment, socioeconomic status, and amount of negative life experiences. Results indicated that depression and the amount of negative life stress made a significant contribution to the prediction of mother and father reports of child adjustment regardless of the time of the posttreatment assessment. The combination of socioeconomic status and marital status (single versus married) made a significant contribution to mothers' behaviors with their children at both posttreatment assessments. For fathers, marital adjustment made the greatest contribution to the prediction of their critical behaviors with their children immediately at posttreatment but by 1-year follow-up, socioeconomic status emerged as a more significant predictor. For children, the best predictor of the amount of observed child deviance on the home observations was single-parent status or marital adjustment. For families who had a father present, the amount of negative life stress experienced by the family in the year since treatment was completed, was the best predictor of child deviance.

A Measure of Parenting Satisfaction and Efficacy

We obtained normative information for the Parenting Sense of Competence (PSOC) scale from 297 mothers and 215 fathers of 4- to 9-year-old boys and girls. Principal-components analysis of the PSOC revealed two factors: Satisfaction, an affective dimension reflecting parenting frustration, anxiety, and motivation; and Efficacy, an instrumental dimension reflecting competence, problem-solving ability, and capability in the parenting role Significant inverse relationships were found between perceptions of child behavior problems and of parenting. For mothers, reported child behavior problems related to parenting satisfaction. For fathers, child behavior problems related both to satisfaction and efficacy as a parent. Mother and father reports of parenting were positively correlated; however, fathers obtained significantly higher scores than mother, particularly on the Satisfaction dimension. PSOC scores did not vary as a function of child age or sex.

Bingeing, purging, and estimates of parental attitudes regarding female achievement

A questionnaire measuring respondents' beliefs about the attitudes regarding female achievement held by their parents was distributed to 326 women attending a state university. Women who report frequent bingeing are more likely than other women to report that (1) their parents believed a woman's place is in the home (2) their mothers were unhappy with their own careers, (3) their fathers thought the respondents' mothers were not intelligent, and (4) their fathers treated a male as the most intelligent sibling in the family. Reports of fathers' attitudes regarding mothers' intelligence and the proper role for women are related to respondents' self-reports of purging, but only among those women who are much more concerned with academic achievement than with household skills.

The relationship of early adolescent functioning to parent-reported and adolescent-perceived interparental conflict.

Is an adolescent's perception of interparental conflict important or is the parents' report of such conflict sufficient to predict adolescent functioning? To examine this question, a study was undertaken with 178 young adolescents and their mothers, fathers, and social studies teachers. Adolescents completed a measure of their perceptions of interparental conflict while mothers and fathers completed a self-report measure of their conflict. Teachers provided an assessment of each adolescent's cognitive and social functioning at two separate times, 1 year apart. Results indicated that both parental report, particularly maternal, and adolescent perception of interparental conflict were significantly related to adolescent cognitive and social functioning, and the magnitude of the correlations did not differ significantly. Hierarchical regression analyses were performed in which mother and father report of conflict was forced into the equation initially and adolescent perception of such conflict was allowed to enter freely. These analyses indicated that adolescents' perceptions accounted for unique variance in their functioning, beyond that accounted for by parental report. The results are discussed in terms of the specific roles that parental conflict and adolescent perceptions of such conflict play and the possible mechanisms by which each operates.

Stress factors among overwhelmed mothers of toddlers in immigrant families in France

This study analyzes “microsystem” variables that are associated with stress in the lives of 191 North African low SES immigrant families. Four domains of potential stress factors were analyzed for 36 overwhelmed mothers compared to the 155 non‐overwhelmed mothers: (1) ecological stressors (lack of toilet, bath, etc.; overcrowded apartment; more than three children); (2) medical stressors (difficult pregnancy or delivery; frequent maternal or child illnes); (3) interpersonal problems (father or mother reports major problems in relationship with toddler; father feels overwhelmed); (4) child behavior stressors (retarded language; sleep or feeding difficulties; severe behavior problems). Few ecological or medical stressors differentiated overwhelmed from non‐overwhelmed mothers. However, in the families of the overwhelmed mothers the following factors were significantly more frequent: Poor father‐child relationship; severe toddler behavior problems; and father feeling overwhelmed. The importance of interperso...

Symposium on Sleep

Postnatal mother-infant bonding refers to the early emotional bond between mothers and infants. Although some factors, such as maternal mental health, especially postnatal depression, have been considered in relation to mother-infant bonding, few studies have investigated the role of infant temperament traits in early bonding. In this study, the effects of maternal postnatal depressive and anxiety symptoms and infant temperament traits on mother-infant bonding were examined using both mother and father reports of infant temperament. Data for this study came from the first phase of the FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study (n = 102, father reports n = 62). After controlling for maternal symptoms of depression and anxiety, mother-reported infant positive emotionality, measured by infant smiling was related to better mother-infant bonding. In contrast, infant negative emotionality, measured by infant distress to limitations was related to lower quality of bonding. In regards to father-report infant temperament, only infant distress to limitations (i.e., frustration/anger) was associated with lower quality of mother-infant bonding. These findings underline the importance of infant temperament as one factor contributing to early parent-infant relationships, and counseling parents in understanding and caring for infants with different temperament traits.

Factor analysis of reports of parental behavior by children living in divorced and married families.

To determine whether or not responses to the Child's Report of Parental Behavior Inventory (CRPBI) would yield similar factors for children living in divorced families and for children living in married families, responses to the 56-item six-scale version of the CRPBI were obtained from 29 children living with their divorced mothers and from 30 children living with their married parents. All children were between seven and 11 years of age. Socioeconomic characteristics of the two types of families were similar except for income. Each child completed the inventory for both the mother and the father. Scale totals for each family structure and sex of parent were intercorrelated separately and subjected to a principal axis factor analysis with Varimax rotation. Three factors emerged for children's reports of married mothers, married fathers, and divorced fathers; however, two factors emerged for children's reports of divorced mothers. While the unique factor structure observed for children's reports of divorced mothers may be a function of the instrument's being more valid for reports of parental behavior by children living with married parents, alternative explanations were discussed. Results of the study appear to lend empirical support to Weiss' theory of the structure and functioning of single-parent households.

The Prevalence of Behavior Problems in 3-Year-Old Children: Comparison of the Reports of Fathers and Mothers

This study compares differences between mothers and fathers in reporting behavior problems in 3-year-olds making up a total population sample of an island community. Separate and independent interviews were conducted according to a standard format with the two parents. Findings support the underreporting of problems by fathers as demonstrated by a lower prevalence figure, less frequent reporting of several individual behavioral symptoms, and an absence of association between familial factors shown to correlate significantly with behavior problems based on maternal reports. Some exploratory findings on the protective role of fathers and the similarity of working mothers and fathers in reporting young children's behavior problems are also discussed.

Measurement of Infant Difficultness

The Infant Characteristics Questionnaire (ICQ) was developed as a short, factor-analytic screening device for difficultness. Responses of 322 mothers of 4-6-month-old infants suggested that they regard the fussy, hard-to-soothe, labile infant as difficult. Mother report on the ICQ, particularly on the main fussy-difficult factor was found to have adequate reliability over time and convergence with the Carey Survey of Temperamental Characteristics, with father report on the ICQ, and, to a lower degree, with home data collected by independent observers. It was also found that mother characteristics may affect perceptions of infant difficultness: multiparous, extraverted mothers tended to rate their infants as easy.

Field-Dependence and Stability of Self-View

Contrary to Witkin's opinion, field-dependent individuals are expected to show higher stability of self-view than field-independent individuals. 73 Belgian second-year university students were submitted to the Group Embedded Figures Test. The Five Personality Factor Test measuring extraversion, friendliness, emotional instability, conscientiousness and general culture, was administered to each student for self-description (self-report) and to both parents for description of the student (mother's report and father's report). The decrease of correlation between self-report and parent's report as a function of the degree of student's field-independence supports the authors' hypothesis. Results are interpreted in terms of closer attention of field-independent individuals to relevant cues.

Response Bias in Children's Reports of Parental Status Characteristics

There is increasing evidence of the differential accuracy of children's reports of parental status characteristics (Colfax & Allen, 1967; St. John, 1970; Borus & Nestel, 1971; Kayser & Summers, 1973). These studies point to differential abilities of children to accurately replicate parental reports of their income, education, and occupation. Borus and Nestel (1971) using son's and father's reports of father's education found identical reports more frequent for whites, for sons in school, for younger sons, for better educated sons, for sons from smaller families, and for sons from less populated areas. St. John (1970) in addition to finding low accuracy of reports of parental education, found that the sixth grader non-response rate was 45% for father's education and 33% for mother's education. Non-response was associated with being female, being black, and with low mother's education. Overreporting education was associated with being male, with being a poor reader, with low actual parental education, with the presence of a report of the father's education, with the presence of a report of education for the same-sex parent, with having a father absent, and with being black. Colfax and Allen (1967) reported non-response rates of only 6% on father's occupation for sixth graders, and no missing data for similar reports by ninth and twelfth graders. All students were found to upgrade the father's occupational status if permitted the opportunity to give other than open-ended answers. Kerckhoff, Mason, and Poss (1973) attempted to replicate and expand the findings of St. John (1970) by using a sample of 6th, 9th, and 12th grade boys and interviewing both parents. Non-response was low and inversely related to the grade level of the student. In addition, increased response rate was not associated with increased error. Percentage of identical reports of parental education based on matching the son's and parent's reports ranged from 45% to 82% for mother's education and from 47% to 73% for father's education. Their study found minimal evidence of upgrading of status characteristics, with less dispersion of responses for whites. With increases in age levels of the groups, there was evidence of increased predictability in the son's estimates. However,

Cross-National Validity of a Spherical Conceptual Model for Parent Behavior

An adapted and translated version of the Child's Report of Parent Behavior Inventory was administered to 182 Walloon high school students. A factor analysis of the intercorrelations of the 18 scales revealed three factors-Acceptance versus Rejection, Psychological Control, and Lax Control versus Firm Control-that were similar for boys and girls, for reports of mothers and fathers, and for American and Walloon subjects. A map of a nomological network of parent-behavior concepts was generated by stereographic projections of each scale's factor loadings. The findings provide evidence of the cross-national validity of a spherical conceptual model for parent behavior.

PERSISTENT OMPHALOMESENTERIC DUCT AND URACHUS IN THE SAME CASE

Though it is not uncommon to find a case of patent urachus or patent omphalomesenteric duct, to have the two in the same patient is very rare. We have been able to find only two such cases in the literature. REPORT OF CASE R. H., a boy, aged 1 year, was admitted to Clarkson Hospital, Feb. 26, 1925, with the complaint of discharge from the umbilicus. The physician who delivered him made the statement that at birth, March 5, 1924, the umbilical cord was very large. When he was 6 days old, his father reports, some material that looked like feces was discharged from the umbilicus. Since then there had always been some moisture at the umbilicus. At 6 weeks the physician cauterized the umbilicus with a silver nitrate stick. This had no effect and there had been some liquid discharge ever since. The child was well nourished. A dressing

Some Relics of Early Presbyterianism in Maryland

There are among the archives of Maryland preserved at Annapolis (the colonial records are perhaps the best in the country) some curious documentary proofs of the existence of a large number of Puritans in the colony. Indeed, these State papers contain almost all the account that we have of their presence there at an early date, as all their purely ecclesiastical documents have perished. They were there, however, from a very early period, and in such large numbers, that Maryland cannot be called a Roman Catholic colony in the sense that Massachusetts can be called a Puritan colony, or Virginia a colony of the Cavaliers. The Protestants were in the majority from the very beginning, as the reports of the Jesuit fathers clearly show. The celebrated Act of Toleration was evidently a compromise between the Lord Proprietor and his Protestant subjects, a piece of legislation which reflects great credit upon the common-sense of Lord Baltimore, even if we may suspect that on this occasion he made a virtue of necessity. Of these Protestants so large a number were Puritans in their sympathies, that they ruled the colony during the Commonwealth, passing a law, which is little to their credit, which deprived both Papists and prelatists of any part in the government. For a long time the colony continued Puritan in its tone. So late as 1676 Lord Baltimore objected to the proposed action of the Privy Council of England looking toward the establishment of the Church of the mother country as the established church of Maryland, on the ground that the large majority of the inhabitants of the province were either Presbyterians, Independents, or Quakers. He represents those of his own faith as being but a small minority. The Episcopalians, also, did not form a majority until some time after the establishment of the Church of England, at the beginning of the next century.