Parental Partner Research Articles

Parental responsibilities: Reformulating the paradigm for parent–child relationships Part 2: Who has responsibilities to children and what are these responsibilities?

ABSTRACTThis is the second part of an article, Part 1 of which proposes the paradigm of parental responsibilities to replace the discourse of rights, custody, and visitation. This Part describes the scope of parental responsibilities; who, alongside or instead of the biological parents, may have parental responsibilities vis-à-vis the child; the roles of grandparents and members of the extended family, and partners of parents, are described. The principal categories of parenting tasks are described in detail. I also show how the concept of parental responsibilities is essential for properly dealing with children in need of protection, and how the paradigm applies to courts that deal with proceedings involving children.

Best Fed Beginnings: A Nationwide Quality Improvement Initiative to Increase Breastfeeding.

In response to a low number of Baby-Friendly-designated hospitals in the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention funded the National Institute for Children's Health Quality to conduct a national quality improvement initiative between 2011 and 2015. The initiative was entitled Best Fed Beginnings and enrolled 90 hospitals in a nationwide initiative to increase breastfeeding and achieve Baby-Friendly designation. The intervention period lasted from July 2012 to August 2014. During that period, data on process indicators aligned with the Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding and outcome measures (overall and exclusively related to breastfeeding) were collected. In addition, data on the Baby-Friendly designation were collected after the end of the intervention through April 2016. Hospitals assembled multidisciplinary teams that included parent partners and community representatives. Three in-person learning sessions were interspersed with remote learning and tests of change, and a Web-based platform housed resources and data for widespread sharing. By April 2016, a total of 72 (80%) of the 90 hospitals received the Baby-Friendly designation, nearly doubling the number of designated hospitals in the United States. Participation in the Best Fed Beginnings initiative had significantly high correlation with designation compared with hospital applicants not in the program (Pearson's r [235]: 0.80; P < .01). Overall breastfeeding increased from 79% to 83% (t = 1.93; P = .057), and exclusive breastfeeding increased from 39% to 61% (t = 9.72; P < .001). A nationwide initiative of maternity care hospitals accomplished rapid transformative changes to achieve Baby-Friendly designation. These changes were accompanied by a significant increase in exclusive breastfeeding.

Cohabiting and Married Individuals' Relations With Their Partner's Parents

AbstractUsing Norwegian survey data on partnered individuals ages 18 to 55 (N = 4,061; 31% cohabitors), the current study investigated differences across marital and cohabiting unions regarding the patterns of contact with the parents of the partner. In addition to investigating the frequency of such contact, we assessed the nature of and perceived quality of contacts with the partner's parents. The authors grouped respondents according to whether they had children with their partner and controlled for a range of selection characteristics. Results confirmed that parents with preschool children met their in‐laws more frequently than the childless, irrespective of union type. Married respondents as well as cohabitors with preschool children reported better relations with their partner's parents than childless cohabitors. Taken together, the results imply that having small children was more decisive for the relationship with the parents of the partner than getting married, particularly with regard to contact frequency.

Trainee teachers’ perceptions about parent partnerships: are parents partners?

ABSTRACTChildren’s life chances are enhanced when relationships between home and educational settings are strong. This original piece of research involved second-year trainee teachers who were surveyed about their perceptions about parents and the nature of the partnership relationship. Research suggests that teachers act in accordance with their beliefs when their knowledge, understanding and confidence is high. Using this assumption, this small scale study was contextualized utilized a set of open-ended questions. The study consider the participants’ own experiences of families and parenting. Contextual discourse analysis was employed to analyse the policy-based data for this project. The initial findings suggest that the challenge for new teachers is their confidence in potential relationships with parents in relation to their feelings of being qualified but a novice. This is a timely paper, given the current developments in education policy in England which may impact on future teacher training.

Mental Health Symptoms and Parenting Among Father-Only and Dual Substance Use Disorder Couples.

In the present study, we examined associations between fathers' and mothers' mental health symptoms as related to their own and their partner's parenting in couples in which fathers (n = 38 families) or both partners (n = 30 families) had substance use disorder (SUD). Each partner reported on symptoms of depression, anxiety, and hostility; children reported on each parent's parenting behaviors, including acceptance, psychological control, and knowledge of children. Actor-partner interdependence models indicated that when substance-abusing fathers have more symptoms of anxiety and depression, non-substance-abusing mothers report greater knowledge of children, whereas non-substance-abusing mothers' mental health symptoms were related to less paternal knowledge of children. In dual SUD couples, mothers' depressive symptoms were associated with more paternal knowledge of children. These preliminary findings offer select support for family systems theory.

Provision of fertility services for women at increased risk of complications during fertility treatment or pregnancy: an Ethics Committee opinion.

This opinion addresses the ethics of providing fertility treatment to women at elevated risk from fertility treatment or pregnancy. Providers ethically may treat women at elevated risk provided that they are carefully assessed; that specialists in their medical condition are consulted as appropriate; and that patients are fully informed about risks, benefits, and alternatives, including oocyte and embryo donation, use of a gestational surrogate, not undergoing fertility care, and adoption. Providers also may conclude that the risks are too high for them to treat particular patients ethically; such determinations must be made in a medically objective and unbiased manner and patients must be fully informed of the decision. Counseling of women who wish to initiate fertility treatment with underlying medical conditions that confer increased risk during treatment or pregnancy should incorporate the most current knowledge available, being cognizant of the woman's personal determinants in relation to her reproductive desires. In such a way, both physician and patient will optimize decision making in an ethically sound, patient-supportive context.

Needs, expectations and consequences for children growing up in a family where the parent has a mental illness.

The lack of pan-European guidelines for empowering children of parents with mental illness led to the EU project CAMILLE - Empowerment of Children and Adolescents of Mentally Ill Parents through Training of Professionals working with children and adolescents. The aim of this initial task in the project was to analyse needs, expectations and consequences for children with respect to living with a parent with mental illness from the perspective of professionals and family members. This qualitative research was conducted in England, Finland, Germany, Italy, Norway, Poland and Scotland with 96 professionals, parents with mental illness, adult children and partners of parents with mental illness. A framework analysis method was used. Results of the study highlighted that the main consequences described for children of parental mental illness were role reversal; emotional and behavioural problems; lack of parent's attention and stigma. The main needs of these children were described as emotional support, security and multidisciplinary help. Implications for practice are that professionals working with parents with mental illness should be aware of the specific consequences for the children and encourage parents in their parental role; multi-agency collaboration is necessary; schools should provide counselling and prevent stigma.

Avoidant adult attachment negatively relates to classroom popularity: Social network analysis support for the Parent–Partner–Peer Attachment Transfer model

We propose and test one aspect of the Parent–Partner–Peer Attachment Transfer (3PAT) model. Specifically, we examined whether adults who were more romantically avoidant were less likely to be nominated as friends by their peers. Social network analysis is ideal for this investigation because it integrates individuals (nodes) and their relationships (ties) into a common framework of social associations. We predicted that avoidant romantic attachment would negatively relate to classroom popularity in peer-based social networks. In Study 1, undergraduate psychology students indicated their friendship strength with classmates and completed personality and attachment measures. After controlling for Big Five personality, which relates to social network structure, avoidant attachment was negatively related to eigenvector in degree centrality — a popularity measure. In Study 2 and using integrative data analysis (Curran & Hussong, 2009), we directly replicated this effect with identical measures. Overall, our findings supported one aspect of the 3PAT Model — partner-based avoidant romantic attachment negatively related to peer-based classroom friendships.

The variance shared across forms of childhood trauma is strongly associated with liability for psychiatric and substance use disorders.

IntroductionForms of childhood trauma tend to co‐occur and are associated with increased risk for psychiatric and substance use disorders. Commonly used binary measures of trauma exposure have substantial limitations.MethodsWe performed multigroup confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), separately by sex, using data from the Childhood Trauma (CT) Study's sample of twins and siblings (N = 2594) to derive three first‐order factors (childhood physical abuse, childhood sexual abuse, and parental partner abuse) and, as hypothesized, one higher order, childhood trauma factor (CTF) representing a measure of their common variance.Results CFA produced a good‐fitting model in the CT Study; we replicated the model in the Comorbidity and Trauma (CAT) Study's sample (N = 1981) of opioid‐dependent cases and controls. In both samples, first‐order factors are moderately correlated (indicating they measure largely unique, but related constructs) and their loadings on the CTF suggest it provides a reasonable measure of their common variance. We examined the association of CTF score with risk for psychiatric and substance use disorders in these samples and the OZ‐ALC GWAS sample (N = 1538) in which CT Study factor loadings were applied. We found that CTF scores are strongly associated with liability for psychiatric and substance use disorders in all three samples; estimates of risk are extremely consistent across samples.ConclusionsThe CTF is a continuous, robust measure that captures the common variance across forms of childhood trauma and provides a means to estimate shared liability while avoiding multicollinearity.

When Parents Separate and One Parent 'Comes Out' as Lesbian, Gay or Bisexual: Sons and Daughters Engage with the Tension that Occurs When Their Family Unit Changes.

The experiences of Irish sons and daughters born into heterosexually-organised parental partnerships/unions whose parents have separated and one has come out as Lesbian, Gay or Bisexual (LGB) were explored through a grounded theory approach. 15 adult children (over the age of 18 years), who varied in age when their parents separated and one disclosed as LGB, were interviewed. The primary concern that emerged centred on participants having to adjust to their parents’ being separated, as opposed to their parent being LGB. This involved engaging with the tension that arose from the loss of the parental union, which involved changes to the home environment and adapting to new parental partners and family units. Heightened reflection on sexual orientation and an increased sensitivity to societal LGB prejudice were specifically associated with a parent coming out as LGB. How parents negotiated disclosing the changes to others, the level of support available to parents, and how capable parents were at maintaining the parent-child relationship had an impact on the tension experienced by sons and daughters. Participants moved from initially avoiding and resisting the family changes that were occurring to gradual consonance with their altered family environments. Concluding directions for research and clinical considerations are suggested.

Factors related to perceived parental approval of adult sons’ and daughters’ heterosexual engagements

This study examined factors that may predict perceived parental approval of an adult child's heterosexual engagement relationship as parental approval has been shown in previous studies to be an important predictor of later couple quality and stability. A total of 4175 engaged individuals completed the RELATE inventory. Among the items in the questionnaire were measures of perceived parental approval of the relationship, parents’ marital quality, autonomy from the family of origin and couple relationship quality. The individuals also reported their age, education, length of their relationship, parents’ marital status and parents’ socioeconomic status. The results showed that adult sons’ and daughters’ age, parental marital quality, autonomy and couple relationship quality predicted parental approval. Length of the relationship and parental marital status did not influence parental approval for either gender. Clinical implications and directions for future research are discussed. Practitioner points Perceived parental approval of an adult child's heterosexual engagement relationship should be assessed with engaged couples. Assess current couple relationship as this is not always as high as we may assume. Perceived quality of each partner's parents’ marriage should be discussed as to how it may affect perceptions of parental approval. Assess differentiation of self in the family of origin and increase it using transgenerational couple therapy approaches.

INTERGENERIC HYBRIDS BETWEEN SPECIES OF HYDRANGEA AND DICHROA - THEIR GERMINATION IN VIVO AND IN VITRO AND MOLECULAR VERIFICATION BY RAPD ANALYSIS

Hydrangea macrophylla (Thunb.) Ser. is a very popular pot plant with a long breeding history. The genetic background of today’s hundreds of cultivars is rather narrow because they originate from only a few progenitors. In the past, H. serrata (Thunb.) Ser. was used to widen the gene pool of H. macrophylla for breeding initiatives as well as to increase the phenotypic diversity. Molecular phylogenetic studies demonstrated the close relationship of Dichroa Lour. and H. macrophylla as well as the paraphyly of Hydrangea s.l. (Hydrangeaceae tribe Hydrangeeae), which is opening new research avenues by widening the gene pool and phenotypic variability through hybridization. We realized first crossings between H. macrophylla as well as H. serrata cultivars with D. febrifuga (Lour.) or D. yunnanensis (S.M. Hwang.). Hand pollination was performed in late spring and summer 2013 and seeds were harvested from September 2013 to January 2014. The seed set varied depending on the parental partners. Macroscopically normal developed seeds and seeds where the seed number exceeded 30 per cross-combination were sown in peat soil in the first week of February 2014. In vitro germination was applied to few seeds obtained from eight cross-combinations. The best germination rate was observed with sterilized seeds after a treatment with 1.3 mg/L GA3 and 1.0 mg/L KNO3 followed by germination on ½ Gamborg B5-medium supplemented with 10 g/L sucrose and 0.13 mg/L GA3. Plants originating from in vitro germination were successfully transferred to greenhouse cultivation. RAPD analysis performed on plants showing peculiar morphology confirmed that intergeneric hybrids between Dichroa and Hydrangea ssp. have been successfully generated by cross-breeding.

The Influence of Social Disadvantage on Children's Emotional and Behavioral Difficulties at Age 4-7 Years

To examine associations between indicators of social disadvantage and emotional and behavioral difficulties in children aged 4-7 years. This cross-sectional study was based on data collected in a questionnaire completed by parents of children enrolled in their first year of school in Victoria, Australia, in 2010. Just over 57000 children participated (86% of children enrolled), of whom complete data were available for 38955 (68% of the dataset); these children formed the analysis sample. The outcome measure was emotional and behavioral difficulties, assessed by the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire Total Difficulties score. Logistic regression analyses were undertaken. Having a concession card (a government-issued card enabling access to subsidized goods and services, particularly in relation to medical care, primarily for economically vulnerable households) was the strongest predictor of emotional and behavioral difficulties (OR, 2.71; 95% CI, 2.39-3.07), followed by living with 1 parent and the parent's partner or not living with either parent (OR, 1.93; 95% CI, 1.58-2.37) and having a mother who did not complete high school (OR, 1.27; 95% CI, 1.11-1.45). These findings may assist schools and early childhood practitioners in identifying young children who are at increased risk of emotional and behavioral difficulties, to provide these children, together with their parents and families, with support from appropriate preventive interventions.

Proximity of couples to parents: influences of gender, labor market, and family.

We use household survey data from the UK to study how close middle-aged men and women in partnerships live to their parents and their partner's parents. We find a slight tendency for couples to live closer to the woman's parents than the man's. This tendency is more pronounced among couples in which neither partner has a college degree and in which there is a child. In other respects, proximity to parents is gender-neutral, with the two partners having equal influence on intergenerational proximity. Better-educated couples live farther from their parents. And although certain family characteristics matter, intergenerational proximity is primarily driven by factors affecting mobility over long distances, which are mainly associated with the labor market, as opposed to gender or family circumstances.

Complex effects of inbreeding on biparental cooperation.

There is mounting evidence that inbreeding can have detrimental effects on the fitness of outbred individuals that interact with or depend on inbred individuals. However, little is currently known about the behavioral mechanisms by which interactions with inbred individuals induce fitness costs in outbred individuals. Here, we study effects of inbreeding on the behavioral dynamics of biparental cooperation in the burying beetle Nicrophorus vespilloides. To this end, we used a two-by-two factorial design, in which an inbred or outbred female was mated to an inbred or an outbred male and tested for effects on cooperation between male and female parents providing care for their joint offspring. We found no evidence that inbred parents provided less care than outbred parents. Nevertheless, partners of inbred parents increased the amount of care they provided, leading to overcompensation. Our study shows that inbreeding can have strong and complex effects on the behavioral dynamics of biparental cooperation and that these effects are mediated mainly through changes in the partner's behavior. We suggest that similar effects of inbreeding on outbred individuals may extend to other social contexts, such as cooperative breeding and mating.

The Amsterdam Sexual Abuse Case (ASAC)-study in day care centers: longitudinal effects of sexual abuse on infants and very young children and their parents, and the consequences of the persistence of abusive images on the internet.

BackgroundLittle research has been done on the signs of child sexual abuse (CSA) in infants and very young children, or on the consequences that such abuse - including the persistence of the abusive pornographic images on the internet - might have for the children and their parents. The effects of CSA can be severe, and a variety of risk- and protective factors, may influence those effects. CSA may affect the psychosocial-, emotional-, cognitive-, and physical development of children, their relationships with their parent(s), and the relations between parents. In the so called `the Amsterdam sexual abuse case’ (ASAC), infants and very young children were victimized by a day-care employee and most of the victims were boys. Research involving the children and their parents would enable recognition of the signs of CSA in very young children and understanding the consequences the abuse might have on the long term.Methods/designThe proposed research project consists of three components:(I) An initial assessment to identify physical- or psychological signs of CSA in infants and very young children who are thought to have been sexually abused (n = 130);(II) A cross-sequential longitudinal study of children who have experienced sexual abuse, or for whom there are strong suspicions;(III) A qualitative study in which interviews are conducted with parents (n = 25) and with therapists treating children from the ASAC. Parents will be interviewed on the perceived condition of their child and family situation, their experiences with the service responses to the abuse, the effects of legal proceedings and media attention, and the impact of knowing that pornographic material has been disseminated on the internet. Therapists will be interviewed on their clinical experiences in treating children and parents.The assessments will extend over a period of several years. The outcome measures will be symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), dissociative symptoms, age-inappropriate sexual behaviors and knowledge, behavioral problems, attachment disturbances, the quality of parent-child interaction, parental PTSD, parental partner relation, and biological outcomes (BMI and DNA).DiscussionThe ASAC-project would facilitate early detection of symptoms and prompt therapeutic intervention when CSA is suspected in very young children.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12888-014-0295-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

The Influence of Direct and Indirect Juvenile Victimization Experiences on Adult Victimization and Fear of Crime.

Research has identified that juvenile victimization can play a detrimental role for individuals later in life. While this literature has focused on direct and indirect forms of victimization at different stages of life, the influence of juvenile victimization on fear of crime and violent victimization as an adult has been limited. To expand this body of literature, the present research examines the effects of direct (sexual victimization) and indirect (witnessing parental intimate partner violence) juvenile victimization on fear of crime as well as the prevalence of victimization as an adult. Using telephone survey data collected from randomly selected Texas adults, this study demonstrates that both juvenile sexual victimization and indirect victimization increase the likelihood of adult victimization, whereas juvenile sexual victimization increases the likelihood of adult sexual victimization. In contrast, fear of crime as an adult was not significantly influenced by either juvenile sexual victimization or indirect victimization. A discussion of how these findings relate to previous research, limitations, and implications are also provided.

Intergenerational solidarity between parents and adult children: a qualitative research among cohabiting and married children in Italy

The objective of this article is to compare the patterns of intergenerational solidarity between adult children who cohabit or are married and their own parents or their partner's parents through the analysis of 50 in-depth interviews. The research did not reveal any different behavioural patterns between cohabiting and married couples. Financial support provided by own parents or partner's parents and the presence of small children constituted positive factors which intensified the frequency of contacts and improved the quality of the relationship. In the event of illness of a parent, both the married and cohabiting couples provided assistance, especially when the illness was not disabling and there were no other kin relatives. When this was not possible, a private caregiver was hired or close family members provided assistance. Only those respondents who cohabited with a partner awaiting divorce were less willing to maintain contacts with their partner's parents. The presence of a family formed by previously married partners and the old age of the parents of the latter compromised the quality of the relationship and the willingness to provide assistance.

Distress and the parenting dynamic among BRCA1/2 tested mothers and their partners.

To investigate the influence of dyadic parenting relationships on psychological distress among mothers tested for BRCA1/2 genetic mutations and their untested partners. Data were from a prospective study of mothers suspected to be at risk for hereditary breast/ovarian cancer who underwent genetic counseling and BRCA1/2 testing and their untested parenting partners (n = 109 parenting dyads). Participants completed assessments before and 1 month after genetic testing. Structural equation modeling was used to examine relationships among mothers' and partners' psychological distress, decisional conflict surrounding communication of test results to their offspring, and the parent-child communication relationship. Psychological distress was measured using items modified from the Brief Symptom Inventory. Among mothers, greater psychological distress (B = 0.29, p < .001) and poorer parent-child communication (B = -0.12, p < .01) at baseline predicted greater distress at follow-up. Among partners, greater distress at baseline predicted greater distress at follow-up (B = 0.67, p < .001). Mother and partner decisional conflict at baseline were equally associated with the other dyad member's distress at follow-up (B = 1.17, p < .01), but not their own distress. Our findings indicate that conflicted decision-making over family communication of hereditary breast/ovarian cancer genetic test results for one member of a parenting dyad adversely affects the other dyad member's psychological well-being. Interventions to improve outcomes for mothers who may be at-risk for hereditary breast and ovarian cancer and undergoing BRCA1/2 genetic testing should attend to mothers' and their partners' preferences regarding family communication about hereditary cancer risk.

Intensifying attachment-related sadness and decreasing anger intensity among individuals suffering from unresolved anger: The role of relational reframe followed by empty-chair interventions

This study examined whether two therapy interventions – relational reframe followed by empty chair – were associated with increases in sadness intensity and decreases in anger intensity among a sample of 61 undergraduate students suffering from unresolved anger toward an attachment figure (e.g. parent, sibling, and past-romantic partner). Participants underwent a single analog therapy session comprised of three interventions delivered in sequence: empathic focus on their anger; relational reframe; and empty-chair enactment. Participants retrospectively reported on the intensity of their attachment-related anger and sadness during the session using an interpersonal process recall procedure. Results showed that over the course of the relational reframe and empty-chair intervention sequence, sadness intensity increased and anger intensity decreased. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.