Parental Behaviour Research Articles

Paternal postnatal depression and parenting behaviours in the first year of life.

Paternal postnatal depression (PPD) symptomology has been positively associated with poorer outcomes for children. One mechanism by which PPD is thought to influence child outcomes is through parenting. The current study investigated the association between paternal postnatal depressive symptoms and parenting behaviours. Fathers (N = 213) with an infant (mean age = 7months, 46% female) between 2 and 12 months old were recruited through community and social media advertisements, as well as a paid survey recruitment website. Fathers completed a questionnaire on their symptoms of PPD and how they care for and raise their child (parental warmth, irritability, engagement in enrichment, play and safety behaviours). Fathers experiencing greater levels of PPD symptomatology self-reported higher irritability, lower warmth and fewer safe parenting behaviours but did not report lower enrichment or play with their infants. Overall, findings suggest that PPD symptomology may impact negatively on aspects of fathers' parenting behaviours. Further research using larger and more diverse samples is needed to assess the generalisability of these findings.

Delinquency among University Students and Parenting Attitudes in Kenya

Despite the heavy investment in education that the Kenya Government makes each year, delinquent behavior among University students continue to affect the goals of effective training and skill building. This undermines efforts at poverty alleviation and wealth creation in the country. Emerging evidence suggests that there is a correlation between University students’ demeanor and parenting behaviour in Kenya today. At a tender age of 17 many young people are thrust into the independent University world and left to fend for themselves emotionally and even physically. This invariably leads to delinquent behavior such as drug abuse and prostitution. Studies in Kenya have not fully explored the effects of parental attitude, behavior as well as the family structure on adolescent delinquent behavior. To fill this gap in knowledge, he current study has sought to explore the relationship between parental behavior, attitudes and delinquent behavior among University students in Kenya. This study has adopted a correlational study design as well as a desk review methodology. The paper recommends that family-centric intervention measures be put in place. Factors such as sensitization on the critical role the that the family structure plays in combating delinquency, strengthening of the parental role, discouraging divorce and encouraging parental involvement in the education of their children in the University must remain central.

Intergenerational Transmission of Preferences and Parental Behaviours

Intergenerational Transmission of Preferences and Parental Behaviours

Accessibility of Patients With Special Healthcare Needs to Dental Care in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia: A Multicentre Study From Perspective of Caregiver and Dental Care Providers.

Dental care accessibility is subject to a dentist's qualification, practice and intention to treat patients, regardless of whether those patients have special healthcare needs (SCN) and should receive treatment in a dental setting. This multicentre study aimed to evaluate the characteristics of patients with SCN, their access to dental care and behaviour towards dental care from their caregiver's perspective. In addition, the perspective of dental care providers who care for patients with SCN and the factors affecting the provision of treatment was also appraised. The Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia served as the site of this cross-sectional study from 1 February 2020 to 31 January 2022. Caregivers of 272 patients with SCN, regardless of age and gender, were recruited in the study. The caregiver's proforma sought information on the demographic characteristics, type of disability, cooperation, medical history, occupation of the parent and patient's behaviour towards oral hygiene and dental healthcare. The second proforma had the dental care provider's perspective about the common disabilities, factors that affect the decision to provide treatment, difficulties patients face in getting their dental treatment and, from the dentist's experience, recommendations to improve the access to dental care for patients with SCN. Statistical analysis was carried out by using SPSS version 22.0. The demographic features, caregiver's perception about oral healthcare accessibility and dental professional's point of view were presented as frequencies and percentages. Chi-square test was applied to compare the proportions. The majority of the caregivers were satisfied with the dental service providers (91.9%) for their patients with SCN. The dental care provider's survey results indicated a shortage of dentists (54.7%) in the region and other factors that pose challenges to special care, like the severity of the disability of patients with SCN (50%), family structure (46.7%), treatment cost (35.6%) and transportation (32.8%). Patients with SCN in Saudi Arabia had a high appraisal of access to dental care and were very satisfied with dental treatment results. However, the presence of a dental care provider in the same rehabilitation centre was a major concern. The severity of the disability and the patient's cooperation were the major factors that may have affected the decision of the dental care provider.

Factors Influencing Maternal Stress during Infant’s NICU Stay in a Tertiary Care Center, South Kerala, India: A Cross-sectional Study

Introduction: Recent advances in neonatal medicine have helped sick babies survive. However, the birth of a baby needing Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) stay may be a significant source of stress for mothers. Aim: To assess the maternal stress level perceived due to an infant’s NICU stay and the factors influencing this stress. Materials and Methods: The present cross-sectional study was conducted in the NICU of Pushpagiri Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Centre, Thiruvalla, Kerala, India, between March 2021 and September 2021. The study included 74 mothers of infants requiring at least five days of NICU stay. The stress levels were recorded using the Parental Stressor Scale: NICU (PSS:NICU) questionnaire, which included 27 items under three stressor domains: Sights and Sounds (SS), Parental Role Alteration (PRA), and looks and behaviour of the baby. Data were statistically analysed using the Mann-Whitney U test and Kruskal-Wallis tests. Results: In the study group, 33 (45%) mothers experienced moderate stress, 18 (24%) experienced a high level, and the remaining 23 (31%) experienced only low-level stress. The overall maternal stress perceived in the study group was found to be at a moderate level with a mean of 3.36±0.67. Factors causing stress in mothers included prematurity, low birth weight, low 1st-minute Appearance, Pulse, Grimace, Activity and Respiration (Apgar) score, expressed breastfeeding, and previous experience with abortion. Conclusion: The present study found that mothers experienced moderate stress when their babies were admitted to the NICU. Significant stress was experienced by mothers when they were unable to perform their maternal duties.

Growth of a nestling Little Eagle Hieraaetus morphnoides, with comments on rescue of pre-fledglings

A nestling Little Eagle Hieraaetus morphnoides was photographed and videoed from age 3 weeks until prematurely fledged at 8 weeks near Emmaville, New South Wales, during November–December 2023. This visual record, with notes, of physical and behavioural development supplements descriptions and the few earlier photographs of age-related growth stages of nestlings of this species. The adult Eagles tolerated observation on the ground from ~70 m away, without adverse effects on the breeding event. Brief descriptions of parental behaviour at these weekly stages, and at the incubation and hatching stages, are included. A predator killed the pre-fledged but feathered eaglet after an overnight storm blew the eaglet to the ground before it could fly. Rescue of such grounded fledglings is discussed.

A randomized waitlist control trial of the Make the Connection® online program for caregivers of infants and young children: Study protocol.

A positive child-caregiver relationship is one of the strongest determinants of child health and development, yet many caregivers report challenges in establishing a positive relationship with their child. For over 20 years, Make the Connection® (MTC), an evidence-based parenting program, has been delivered in-person by child-caring professionals to over 120,000 parents to improve positive parenting behaviours and attitudes. Recently, MTC has been adapted into a 'direct to caregiver' online platform to increase scalability and accessibility. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of the online modality of MTC in increasing parenting knowledge, attitudes, and the perceived relationship with their child, and to understand barriers and facilitators to its access. Two hundred caregivers with children aged 0-3 years old will be recruited through Public Health agencies in Ontario, Canada. Participants will be randomly placed in the intervention or waitlist control group. Both groups will complete a battery of questionnaires at study enrolment and 8 weeks later. The intervention group will receive the MTC online program during the 8-week period, while the waitlist group will receive the program after an 8-week wait. The study questionnaires will address demographic information, caregivers' relational attitudes towards their infant, self-competence in their caregiver role, depression, and caregiver stress, as well as caregivers' and infants' emotion regulation. Results from this study will add critical knowledge to the development, scaling, and roll out of the MTC online program, thus increasing its capacity to reach a greater number of families. The study was registered with ClinicalTrials.gov on 15 March 2023 (NCT05770414).

Study examines parent–child families’ interactions with exhibits in natural history museum

ABSTRACT This study aims to examine how parent–child families interact with exhibits while visiting a natural history museum. The study included 71 parent–child families with children aged 3–12 visiting the Zhejiang Museum of Natural History. Interaction with exhibits was recorded employing tracking and timing, and discourse analysis using video and observation recording forms. Qualitative and quantitative analyses were used to examine the data. The results revealed physical engagement in parent–child family interactions with exhibits and between family members, with high-frequency verbal interactions among members. Families have diverse preferences for different exhibits, with interactive question-and-answer displays being the most popular. The higher the relevance of the exhibit to the visitor’s life, the stronger the interest displayed by the parent–child family. The behaviour of parent–child families is influenced by three factors: exhibits, visitors and space layout, resulting in different visiting routes and patterns.

Вивірка (Sciurus vulgaris) в околицях Києва 100 років тому (1924–1927)

The adapted translation of the article ‘On the red squirrel’ (Danylovych 1925), which was published in the journal of the All-Russian Industrial Cooperative Union of Hunters (the antecedent of the USHF, now known in Ukraine), is presented. The article contains valuable data on the distribution of the species in suburban green areas that have been preserved to this day (in particular, Pushcha-Vodytsia and Holosiivskyi Forest), important information on nest building, nest location and reproduction, and features of parental behaviour. The autumn aggregations of squirrels in feeding grounds are also considered. The morphological features (morphometry, colouration details) of the squirrels are presented. Data on the currently known museum specimens collected by the author are presented.

Dimensions of young children's toothbrushing resistance: A qualitative content analysis of discussions on the online parenting forum Mumsnet.

Young children's resistant behaviour is a barrier to parental-supervised brushing. Discussions on online parenting forums offer an insight into parental experiences, behaviour and attitudes. Analysing these discussions also demonstrates how dental advice is represented and potentially resisted. To analyse how young children's toothbrushing resistance is discussed on an online parenting forum. Qualitative content analysis of threads on toothbrushing resistance retrieved from the UK parenting forum Mumsnet. A search was carried out on Mumsnet in April 2022. Overall, 204 relevant threads were identified and analysed. A coding frame was developed. Posters interacted by discussing their experiences of resistance, asking for advice, making suggestions and being both supportive and critical. Thirty-seven strategies for addressing resistance were identified. Discussions reflected attitudes and concerns relating to young children and toothbrushing resistance, including the idea brushing should be 'non-negotiable'. A key issue was the acceptability of physical force or restraint to achieve adequate brushing. Posters invoked dental authority to support their views. Understanding how toothbrushing resistance is discussed on a parenting forum helps establish what information and advice is shared, and highlights attitudes and concerns that shape how this problem is approached.

The price of addiction: Pakistani children paying the cost of tobacco use with their temperament.

Madam, Tobacco smoking is a significant public health concern and a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 942 million men and 175 million women aged 15 or older smoke tobacco and more than seven million people per annum die due to tobacco usage. In Pakistan, the prevalence of tobacco smoking is reported to be 13.4%, according to the NDSP survey (1) Research has shown that exposure to second and third-hand smoke can adversely effect children’s temperament and neurobehavioral outcomes. For instance, a study using the 2007 NSCH found that children exposed to second or third-hand smoke are at a 50% increased risk of developing neurobehavioral disorders such as ADHD or learning disabilities (2). Furthermore, E. Melinda et al. reported that exposure to tobacco smoke in children led to a statistically significant increase in developmental delay along with depression, intellectual learning and speech disabilities among others. (3) Childhood temperament has also been found to significantly impact adult temperament, as demonstrated by a cohort study that followed children from 3 years onwards to 26 years of age. Children classified as under-controlled at age 3 went on to display irritable, impulsive, emotionally labile, and unpredictable personality traits as adults. Similar correlations were found in children labelled as inhibited. Other temperament groups such as confident, reserved, and well-adjusted did not show significant personality profile changes, but a noticeable continuity was observed in each group (4). To decrease children's exposure to tobacco, parental awareness campaigns may be helpful. An RCT by Viki Myers et al. found that educating parents exploratively about tobacco exposure led to changes in parental smoking behaviour (5). So raising parental cognisance, essentially, can decrease neurobehavioral and temperamental issues in children and ultimately, adults. Hence, continually raising awareness about the detrimental effects of exposing children and individuals to tobacco smoking is a key method to reform a healthy environment for children.

Nestlings reared by males are in better body condition than those reared by females in uniparental European Penduline Tits

Conditions encountered during early development affect future survival and reproduction in many bird species. For parents, it is important what body condition the nestlings will achieve at fledging because the condition affects the offspring’s chances to survive and reproduce in the future. However, there is a trade-off between the number of nestlings and their condition. We studied parental behaviour and nestling body condition in uniparental Penduline Tits. In this small passerine, the parental care (incubation and food provisioning) is provided by the female only (49% of clutches in the study population) or the male only (15%). In addition, over a third of clutches are deserted by both parents before the start of incubation. We found that female-only cared clutches had more eggs and nestlings and produced more fledglings than male-only cared clutches. The incubation behaviour and incubation temperature in both types of clutches were similar. The provisioning rate per brood was positively, and the provisioning rate per nestling was negatively, correlated with brood size. Although males cared for smaller clutches, parent sex was not significant in both models of provisioning rates (per brood and per nestling). Moreover, the provisioning rate did not predict the brood’s average nestling condition. However, nestlings reared in broods with male care were in better condition than those reared by females. At the age of 13 days, they had a higher scaled mass index (describes the relative size of energy reserves) and higher haemoglobin levels. The results suggest that the lower productivity of male-only cared clutches, compared to those cared for only by females, may be compensated by the higher condition of nestlings. Information about the recruitment success of broods cared for by males and females will be necessary to test this prediction.

Applications of dialectical behavioural therapy in the perinatal period: A scoping review.

Psychological distress is the most common complication of pregnancy. High-risk concerns can include severe emotion dysregulation, suicidality and self-injury, and health risk behaviours, which bear substantial consequences for caregivers and families. Yet, effective, comprehensive interventions for high-risk caregivers have received limited attention. Dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT) is a frontline treatment for such concerns. Accordingly, we conducted a scoping review on the implementation of DBT in the perinatal period. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines were followed. Seven studies were identified; study designs included case studies and single-arm pilot trials. Most studies used DBT-informed protocols with significant adaptations, few included multiple components of DBT (i.e. skills group, individual therapy, phone coaching and consultation team), and none met criteria for adherent delivery of all four modes of DBT treatment. Findings suggest DBT-informed interventions may be successfully implemented to treat a range of perinatal mental health symptoms, including borderline personality disorder, depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress, and to promote emotion regulation and positive parenting behaviours. While results provide preliminary support for perinatal DBT, this literature is scant and empirical rigour considerably lacking. Clinical implications and future directions are outlined to aid researchers and providers in addressing the ongoing perinatal mental health crisis and developing sorely needed interventions to address the needs of high-risk caregivers.

Does adolescent academic achievement predict future parenting?

AbstractThe effects of academic achievement may extend beyond economic success to influence social functioning, including future parenting. To evaluate whether adolescent academic achievement forecasts future parenting (both positive and negative) and the family home environment of parents. We used prospectively gathered intergenerational data from a population‐based birth cohort born in 1972/1973 in Dunedin, New Zealand, including data from Generation 1 (parents of the birth cohort), the birth cohort (Generation 2; G2), and G2's children (Generation 3). Adolescent academic achievement in G2 was used to predict observed and reported parenting outcomes when offspring (G3) were aged 3 years after controlling for a range of covariates, including G2's adolescent wellbeing, early childhood socioeconomic status (collected from G1), and G2's age at child's birth. We also evaluated 2‐way interactions between academic achievement and G2 parent sex, G3 child behaviour, and G2 adolescent wellbeing. Greater G2 academic achievement, net of controls, predicted more positive and less negative parenting (for mothers only), and a more positive home environment. For the home environment outcome, the effect of adolescent academic achievement was moderated by wellbeing. Adolescent academic achievement may positively influence parenting behaviour and the quality of the home environment.

Comparison of manual, machine learning, and hybrid methods for video annotation to extract parental care data

Measuring parental care behaviour in the wild is central to the study of animal ecology and evolution, but it is often labour‐ and time‐intensive. Efficient open‐source tools have recently emerged that allow animal behaviour to be quantified from videos using machine learning and computer vision techniques, but there is limited appraisal of how these tools perform compared to traditional methods. To gain insight into how different methods perform in extracting data from videos taken in the field, we compared estimates of the parental provisioning rate of wild house sparrows Passer domesticus from video recordings. We compared four methods: manual annotation by experts, crowd‐sourcing, automatic detection based on the open‐source software DeepMeerkat, and a hybrid annotation method. We found that the data collected by the automatic method correlated with expert annotation (r = 0.62) and further show that these data are biologically meaningful as they predict brood survival. However, the automatic method produced largely biased estimates due to the detection of non‐visitation events, while the crowd‐sourcing and hybrid annotation produced estimates that are equivalent to expert annotation. The hybrid annotation method takes approximately 20% of annotation time compared to manual annotation, making it a more cost‐effective way to collect data from videos. We provide a successful case study of how different approaches can be adopted and evaluated with a pre‐existing dataset, to make informed decisions on the best way to process video datasets. If pre‐existing frameworks produce biased estimates, we encourage researchers to adopt a hybrid approach of first using machine learning frameworks to preprocess videos, and then to do manual annotation to save annotation time. As open‐source machine learning tools are becoming more accessible, we encourage biologists to make use of these tools to cut annotation time but still get equally accurate results without the need to develop novel algorithms from scratch.

A follow-up study of the "Lighthouse" mentalization-based parenting program: Mentalization as a mediator of change.

This paper reports follow-up findings for an Mentalization based treatment (MBT) parenting intervention delivered to a community mental health sample. Parents completed the 12-week version of the Lighthouse Parenting Program (LPP) and were evaluated on parenting practices, parent-child relationships, parental mental health indicators, and child problem behaviour levels. We evaluated the extent to which improvements in mentalizing at follow-up mediated changes in parenting, parental adjustment, mental health, and child outcomes. Results included a reduction in parental coercive behaviours and child problems, improved parent-child relationship, and better parental psychological adjustment and mental health. Improvement in self-focused mentalizing were observed. Self-focused mentalizing mediated the changes in most outcomes from baseline to 3-month follow-up. These results provide strong preliminary evidence that the LPP improves parent and child outcomes.

A moderated mediation model of the relationship between adolescent screentime, online privacy cognitions and exposure to online substance marketing

AbstractAdolescent exposure to substance‐related marketing is associated with subsequent substance initiation and progression. The extent to which adolescents are exposed to such content may be associated with adolescent cognitions about digital privacy and media‐specific parenting behaviours. The present study assesses whether the relationship between screentime and online marketing risk is mediated by adolescent digital privacy‐related cognitions and moderated by media‐specific parenting behaviours. Parents and their 10–14‐year‐old adolescents (n = 960) completed an online survey on media parenting techniques and adolescent media use and attitudes. Associations between screentime, Adolescent Cognitions about Online Privacy (ACOP; comprising privacy‐related attitudes, subjective norms and perceived behavioural control), TECH parenting (Talk, Educate, Co‐Use, House Rules) and adolescent online marketing exposure were explored via a moderated mediation model. A significant total effect between screentime and online marketing exposure was identified, including an indirect path via ACOP. TECH parenting significantly strengthened ACOP's mediation of the relationship between screentime and online marketing risk. This study indicates that adolescent privacy‐related cognitions may be an important mechanism for future studies related to adolescent online risk behaviour. Implications for child and family social work are discussed.

Risks and representations: Creating consensus narratives about risk with pregnant women involved with child protection systems in Aotearoa New Zealand and Scotland

Social work aspires to empowerment ideals, including taking a ‘non-expert’ position of professional curiosity, and validating the perspectives of people in contact with services. Yet in child protection, social workers are involved in practice that refutes the views and opinions of people and are positioned by their role as an identifier of abuse and risk manager. Social workers and people who are subject to child protection services can be locked into meaning battles regarding the effect of parental behaviour and the representation of risks to children. These negotiations over meanings are especially difficult in the pre and perinatal period, where who controls the representation of the baby's voice or best interests is fundamental to decision outcomes. Using Fricker's concept of ‘testimonial injustice’ as an analytical lens, this article draws on studies in two different contexts: Aotearoa New Zealand and Scotland, to examine the implications of the intense mediation of meanings that affect child protection practice. We find that concepts relating to the importance of mothering, love for children, and extended family relationships were sources of mother's disagreements with professional views of risk, but that through qualified agreement or advocacy from community workers, a shared risk narrative could be constructed.

Barriers to the uptake of eye health services of the children in rural Bangladesh: A community-based cross-sectional survey

Globally, ocular morbidity and disability among children are major public health concerns. This study was designed to explore the health-seeking behaviours of parents in Bangladesh whose children have ocular problems. A cross-sectional mixed method was followed for this study. The method was designed to measure the eye health care-seeking practices of caregivers/parents with children with ocular morbidity in three unions (the lowest administrative geographical area comprising 30,000–50,000 population) of the Raiganj Upazila under the Sirajganj District of Bangladesh. The study period was from January to April 2017. Face-to-face interviews using a semi-structured quantitative questionnaire with the caregivers and KI were conducted among the health service providers during the study period. This was the first community-based study conducted in Bangladesh to find out caregivers’ health-seeking behaviour with identified ocular morbidity. Among 198 confirmed cases of childhood ocular problems, only 87 (43.9%) parents sought health care for their children’s ocular morbidities. Better health-seeking behavior was found among the wealthier families. Proportions were 55.3% and 36% among wealthy and low-income families, respectively. Affluent families sought care from qualified service providers. Educated household heads chose qualified service providers for their children at a higher rate than illiterate household heads. Lack of knowledge, lack of awareness and financial constraints are significant barriers to seeking proper health care. More than half of the caregivers did not seek any eye care services for their children. Socio-demographic factors, and financial constraints play an essential role in the health-seeking behaviour of the parents.

Changes in parental anxiety and intention to demand antibiotics: A longitudinal study among parents during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Assessing the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on parental anxiety and preferences for antibiotic treatment can help inform antibiotic stewardship strategies. Therefore, this study aimed to examine COVID-19 pandemic-related changes in parental anxiety levels, their intentions to demand antibiotics and frequencies of practising preventative behaviours. This longitudinal quantitative study compared two groups of parents, those from Victoria and Western Australia, who experienced high and low COVID-19 risk, respectively. Participants were recruited through an online panel to complete three waves of surveys between October 2020 and August 2021. Anxiety scores and frequency of preventative behaviours were analysed using mixed-effects tobit regression, considering time, state, and their interaction as fixed effects predictors. Intention to demand antibiotics was modelled using multinomial logistic regression, with time, state, and their interaction as the predictors. The final longitudinal sample comprised 50 participants from Victoria and 51 from Western Australia. Parental anxiety did not significantly change over time for either state. Intention to demand antibiotics was also stable over time within each state; however, participants from Victoria exhibited stronger intentions to demand antibiotics compared to those from Western Australia. Frequencies of parental preventative behaviours declined from Wave 1 to Wave 2 before increasing again in Wave 3, but only for Western Australia. This longitudinal study among Australian parents found stable parental anxiety and intention to demand antibiotics within each state. However, the intention to demand antibiotics and preventative behaviours varied between states as per the COVID-19 risk. Thus, viral pandemics may not affect judicious antibiotic use, though the intention to demand antibiotics may increase in states with high COVID-19 risk. Though parental anxiety may not impact antibiotic stewardship during viral respiratory illness outbreaks, tailored messaging to maintain appropriate antibiotic use may be necessary, especially when the disease risk is high.