Parental Responsiveness Research Articles

Early parent-child interaction and home environments of children exposed prenatally to opioids: A comparison of biological mothers and out-of-home caregivers.

Children born to mothers with opioid use disorder (OUD) are at increased risk of maltreatment and out-of-home care (OOHC) placement. This study examines the parent-child interaction quality and home environments of 92 New Zealand children with prenatal opioid exposure (OE) and 106 non-opioid-exposed (NE) children. Experiences for those in maternal care versus OOHC were of particular interest. Biological mothers completed a lifestyle interview during late pregnancy/at birth. At 18 months, parent-child interaction observations, maternal/primary caregiver interviews, and the Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment were completed during a home visit. At age 4.5, children underwent developmental assessment. By 18 months, 20% of OE children were in OOHC. Mothers with OUD who were younger, less cooperative, and had increased polysubstance use during pregnancy were more likely to have lost custody of their child. OE children in their mother's care experienced less positive parenting and lower-quality home environments than NE children. OE children in OOHC had similarly resourced environments to NE children, yet experienced lower levels of parental warmth and responsiveness. Early parenting predicted child cognition, language, and behavior 3 years later, underscoring the critical importance of supporting the parenting and psychosocial needs of OE children's parents/caregivers to improve long-term outcomes.

Parental Evaluation of a Responsive Parenting Program for Infants with Hearing Loss.

Parental satisfaction is an important factor in the evaluation of early intervention programs but is rarely investigated. The Muenster Parental Program (MPP) is a short, evidence-based early intervention program that focuses on parental responsiveness. It is a family-centered intervention for parents of infants aged 3-18 months who have recently been diagnosed with hearing loss and fitted with hearing devices, including prior to or following cochlear implant surgery. We aim to receive feedback from parents regarding the process and outcomes of their participation in the MPP. Following their participation, all participants of the MPP were asked to complete an evaluation questionnaire. This article reports feedback from the first 52 participants (44 mothers, 7 fathers, and 1 godmother). Their infants (N = 45) had moderate to complete hearing loss, they were aged 2-20 months, and 40% of them had an additional disease, disorder, and/or developmental delay. Parents reported high levels of satisfaction with the content, didactics, setting, and individual benefits of the intervention, and a high recommendation rate (92%). The aspects most appreciated were meeting other affected parents and the concrete individual support of parent-child communication, including video feedback. Almost all parents (96%) reported a change in their communication style with their child. This confirms the results of a previous controlled intervention study on the enhancement of parental responsiveness via the MPP. This evaluation of the MPP from a parental point of view has revealed equally high satisfaction with the content, setting, and didactics amongst all parents regardless of any potentially influential parent or child variables. The MPP is well suited to a wide range of close caregivers' needs despite the known diversity of children with hearing loss and their parents or families.

Parents’ Experiences of Raising 7- to 11-Year-Old Children With ADHD and Perception of a Proposed Parenting Program: A Qualitative Study

Objective: To examine the experiences of Australian parents raising primary school-aged children with ADHD and gather feedback on a proposed ADHD parenting program. Methods: Reflexive thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews undertaken with 11 Australian parents of 7- to 11-year-old children with ADHD. Interviews were conducted over Webex, audio recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed in NVivo Ltd. software. Results: We identified four themes: (1) “I love my child but their ADHD traits are challenging,” (2) “Compliance, control, and completion,” (3) “It’s hard, burdensome, and exhausting and I can feel like I’m alone,” and (4) “What a welcome relief.” Conclusion: Parents report that although raising neurotypical children is difficult, the presence of childhood ADHD increases the emotional and support burden placed on them. Parents were also very interested in and supportive of the proposed ADHD parenting program. The program aims to enhance parents’ understanding of the neurocognitive implications of ADHD and to foster secure parent-child attachment, attuned parental responsiveness, and age-appropriate development of traits that promote well-being, adaption and recovery in people with ADHD.)

Defining Parent Responsiveness: A Systematic Review‐Based Theoretical Model

ABSTRACTParent responsiveness to infants' cues may support attachment, mental health, and neurodevelopment. Across studies, parent responsiveness includes various behaviours (e.g., verbal responses, sensitivity, timeliness, physical proximity). Mixed evidence regarding associations between parent responsiveness and child development may be partially attributable to variable conceptualizations of parent responsiveness. Additionally, divergent perspectives on parent responsiveness may limit cross‐disciplinary collaborations, which are important to best support families in developing responsive parenting skills. Thus, the purpose of this systematic review of articles published from 1952 to 2022 was to establish a multidimensional definition of parent responsiveness. Inclusion criteria for the 463 articles included in this review were: (a) primary focus on behavioural parent responsiveness; (b) average infant age 6–18 months; and (c) in‐depth definition of parent responsiveness. We completed a qualitative content analysis of the definitions of parent responsiveness extracted from each included article. The resulting definition contains 15 dimensions of parent responsiveness across four levels of behaviour that comprehensively describe the complexity of parent‐infant interactions. This model is foundational for future studies of parent responsiveness, its impact on child development, and factors that influence parents' ability to respond to their infants' cues.

Single-Case Study of the Feasibility of Parent Training and Change in Parenting in Comparison to Baseline, in Adolescents With a Major Depressive Disorder.

Existing research has shown that parental behavior can influence the onset and persistence of adolescent depression; however, the initial treatment guidelines do not include parental involvement, and there is no established protocol for engaging parents. For this study, the Doepressie parent training protocol was designed to teach parents ways to help their child cope with depression, and this study sought to evaluate the feasibility and changes in parenting of combining individual cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for adolescents with parent training. Because of the heterogeneity observed in adolescents with depression, a single-case design study with daily diaries for parents was conducted. Adolescents (N = 9; mean age = 15.9, SD = 1.05) with major depressive disorder and their parents participated in this study. Parents reported that the parent training was feasible. After treatment, two-thirds of the adolescents no longer met the criteria for major depressive disorder. Most of the parents reported positive effects on their child's mood and activity level, problem-solving skills with their child, and parental responsiveness and competence. Four parents demonstrated medium positive change. Involving parents in the treatment of adolescent depression has significant clinical benefits. Because of the heterogeneity of adolescent depression, the impact of parental involvement varies.

Parental Divorce: Challenges and Opportunities for Adolescent

Divorce can have a significant impact on family dynamics. Adolescents with divorced parents show unique characteristics as they navigate the transition to adulthood and adjust to altered family dynamics. This study aims to see how the post-divorce parenting impacts on adolescents. The research used convenience sampling to select four adolescents with divorced parents as participants. Parenting is viewed based on the pattern of parental responsiveness and demandingness in adolescents. The data collection process was done using a qualitative approach, which involved interviews with four research participants. The interview data were then processed using thematic analysis, yielding several themes presented descriptively to answer the research questions. The results of this study found that adolescents with divorced parents have positive and negative experiences, meanings, and impacts from their parents' divorce. This is significantly influenced by the role of parents in parenting their teenagers after divorce. Parents can be risk factors and protective factors for adolescents whose parents are divorced. This study's data is crucial for divorced or divorcing parents and the Indonesian government, especially religious courts, as it provides psychoeducation on the impact of parental divorce on adolescents and the importance of appropriate post-divorce parenting.

Evaluating a targeted selective speech, language, and communication intervention at scale – Protocol for the Happy Talk cluster randomised controlled trial.

Background In areas of social disadvantage up to 40–50% of children enter preschool with speech and language skills significantly poorer than would be expected for their age. The Happy Talk trial tests if a community embedded, targeted selective speech and language programme that simultaneously engages with parents and early childhood educators, (1) improves language outcomes in children aged between 2 years 10 months and 6 years and (2) is cost effective for the health care system. Method The Happy Talk trial is a large scale cluster randomised trial of a 12-week manualised intervention delivered in pre/school settings serving socially disadvantaged communities, in Ireland. Seventy-two clusters will receive the intervention (12 participants per cluster). Parents and pre/school staff engage in group training and coaching in the form of 12 1-hour sessions for parents and four staff workshops, over the course of the pre/school year. Training/coaching includes core interaction skills (modelling, expanding, balancing questions and comments), early literacy and phonological awareness. Blinded assessments pre- and immediately post-intervention and at 6 months follow up, will measure the primary outcomes of children’s receptive and expressive language and functional impact, and secondary outcomes of quality of life. Parental responsiveness and educator-child interactions will also be evaluated. Discussion This robust study evaluates a public health approach to the delivery of speech language and communication intervention in the ‘real world’ in the community, which focuses on prevention and equity of access. Pilot work indicates that the programme is feasible, acceptable to parents and staff, cost effective, and suitable for implementation at scale. The trial includes a process evaluation, a well-developed economic evaluation and the outcomes are directly relevant to children, families and educators. This work has the potential to improve the long-term outcomes and life chances of people living in social disadvantage. Trial registration clinicaltrials.gov NCT06460090 Trial Management There is a formal governance structure to oversee the conduct and running of the trial, consisting of a trial management group and a steering committee. More details on the composition, roles and responsibilities of each committee can be found in the supplemental material.

Parental practices as mediators of the effect of a family-based program on the prevention of substance use among Brazilian adolescentes

BackgroundEvidence-based family prevention programs aims at strengthening family relationships and for reducing substance use. Thus, this study aims to evaluate the mediating effect of parental practices in reducing the prevalence of lifetime alcohol, cigarette, and inhalant use among adolescents enrolled in a family-based program. Material and methodsA cluster-randomized controlled trial was conducted in Social Assistance Reference Centers of 12 Brazilian municipalities to verify the effectiveness of the Famílias Fortes program. The sample included 1610 participants from 805 families, with each family nucleus consisting of one adolescent aged 10 to 14 years and one of their parents or guardians. The intervention group participated in seven meetings led by previously trained facilitators. The control group did not receive any interventions to prevent substance use. Data were collected at baseline, 6 and 12 months. Four mediation models were conducted, assessing the effect of the program according to the combined influence of parental practices on each outcome: adolescents’ lifetime use of alcohol, cigarettes, inhalants, and the practice of binge drinking. ResultsThe combination of all parental behaviors tested was found to act as a mediator of the effect of Famíilias Fortes in reducing lifetime alcohol use and binge drinking. The mediation model also showed that the program had an indirect effect in the reduction of cigarette and inhalant use by increasing parental responsiveness and demandingness. ConclusionsAlthough the program did not directly influence adolescents, it effectively prevented substance use by positively influencing parental actions, which indirectly influenced substance use behaviors in adolescents.

Measuring Parental Response Styles to Child Stress in Severe Pediatric Illness: A Validation Study.

Pediatric illnesses not only impose physical challenges on affected children, but also profoundly impact their emotional well-being. Understanding how parents respond to their children's psychological distress during medical experiences is crucial for enhancing the overall support provided to these families. This study evaluated the internal structure of the Parental Response Styles Questionnaire (PRSQ), designed to differentiate parental responses to psychological distress in children with pediatric illnesses. A sample of 701 parents of children with medical issues responded to the PRSQ, reporting their different emotional expressions and responses to their children's expressions of distress during the medical experience. Factor analysis confirmed, in three of the five subsamples, an internal scale structure consisting of four factors: apathy and dysphoria, irritability and rejection, overprotectiveness, and perceived maladjustment. The invariance analyses revealed that congenital heart disease and neurological disorders are more similar in function to each other than pediatric cancer. Parents of children with neurological disorders exhibited a notably insecure pattern of parental responsiveness. In pediatric contexts, parental responses to their children's emotional distress are significant factors in the process of adaptation. These responses can be measured, differentiated, and, ideally, managed by nurses and other healthcare professionals. The Parental Response Styles Questionnaire (PRSQ) is a promising tool for assessing parental reactions during their children's treatment, and its structure appears to be particularly robust across diagnoses such as pediatric cancer, congenital heart disease, and neurological disorders.

Effects of Responsiveness and Responsibility Parenting Factors on Family Mealtime Outcomes in Overweight African American Adolescents.

Family meals have been shown to be an important protective factor for positive health outcomes. This study assessed the associations of parenting factors with family mealtime among overweight African American adolescents over a period of 4 months. It was hypothesized that increases in warm and responsive parenting (parental responsiveness, parental responsibility) would be associated with increased frequency and quality of family mealtimes, while more demanding and controlling parenting (parental demandingness, parental monitoring) would be associated with a reduced frequency and quality of family mealtimes over time. Data from baseline to 16 weeks were collected from 241 African American adolescent-parent dyads (adolescent: Mage = 12.8 ± 1.7 years; 64% female; MBMI%= 96.6 ± 4.2) that participated in the Families Improving Together (FIT) for Weight Loss randomized controlled trial. Multilevel models revealed significant positive main effects of parental responsiveness and parental responsibility (p < 0.05) on the increased frequency of family meals (p < 0.01). Significant two-way interactions also showed that parental responsiveness (p < 0.05) predicted improved quality of family mealtimes, whereas parental demandingness (p < 0.01) predicted reduced quality of family mealtimes from baseline to 16 weeks. Results from this study have important implications for African American adolescent obesity prevention and future family-based intervention program guidelines.

Infants adapt their pointing frequency to experimentally manipulated parent responsiveness but not parent pointing

AbstractInfant pointing is predictive of later language development, but little is known about factors enhancing the development of pointing. The current study investigated two possible social learning mechanisms in the development of pointing. Given that infants observe their caregivers' pointing gestures from early on, one possibility is learning via imitation. A second possibility is that caregivers' contingent reactions to infant communication promote communicative exchange, including pointing. To test which of these behaviours influences infants' pointing frequency, we manipulated parents' pointing frequency and their responsive behaviour via instructions in a cross‐sectional 2 × 3 design. We randomly assigned 12‐months‐old infants (N = 131, 65 females) and one of their parents to six different experimental groups. Participants were predominantly central Europeans from middle to high socioeconomic backgrounds. Data were collected with an online remote adaption of the decorated‐room paradigm. Parents successfully adapted their behaviours to the instructions. Parents' increased responsiveness, but not their increased pointing in general, significantly enhanced infants' pointing frequency (d = 0.36). Regression results further revealed that parents' responsive pointing positively predicted infants' pointing frequency. Findings question direct imitation accounts of pointing and identify responsive social interactions, including responsive pointing, as factors enhancing the occurrence of pointing in infancy.Highlights Imitation and responsive social interaction are possible social learning mechanisms in the development of pointing. Experimental manipulation of parental behaviours reveals that infant pointing increases when parents are particularly responsive, but not when parents point a lot in general. Parents' responsiveness through pointing gestures may be especially suited to enhance infants' pointing frequencies.

Developmental Timing of Associations Among Parenting, Brain Architecture, and Mental Health

Parenting is associated with brain development and long-term health outcomes, although whether these associations depend on the developmental timing of exposure remains understudied. Identifying these sensitive periods can inform when and how parenting is associated with neurodevelopment and risk for mental illness. To characterize how harsh and warm parenting during early, middle, and late childhood are associated with brain architecture during adolescence and, in turn, psychiatric symptoms in early adulthood during the COVID-19 pandemic. This population-based, 21-year observational, longitudinal birth cohort study of low-income youths and families from Detroit, Michigan; Toledo, Ohio; and Chicago, Illinois, used data from the Future of Families and Child Well-being Study. Data were collected from February 1998 to June 2021. Analyses were conducted from May to October 2023. Parent-reported harsh parenting (psychological aggression or physical aggression) and observer-rated warm parenting (responsiveness) at ages 3, 5, and 9 years. The primary outcomes were brainwide (segregation, integration, and small-worldness), circuit (prefrontal cortex [PFC]-amygdala connectivity), and regional (betweenness centrality of amygdala and PFC) architecture at age 15 years, determined using functional magnetic resonance imaging, and youth-reported anxiety and depression symptoms at age 21 years. The structured life-course modeling approach was used to disentangle timing-dependent from cumulative associations between parenting and brain architecture. A total of 173 youths (mean [SD] age, 15.88 [0.53] years; 95 female [55%]) were included. Parental psychological aggression during early childhood was positively associated with brainwide segregation (β = 0.30; 95% CI, 0.14 to 0.45) and small-worldness (β = 0.17; 95% CI, 0.03 to 0.28), whereas parental psychological aggression during late childhood was negatively associated with PFC-amygdala connectivity (β = -0.37; 95% CI, -0.55 to -0.12). Warm parenting during middle childhood was positively associated with amygdala centrality (β = 0.23; 95% CI, 0.06 to 0.38) and negatively associated with PFC centrality (β = -0.18; 95% CI, -0.31 to -0.03). Warmer parenting during middle childhood was associated with reduced anxiety (β = -0.05; 95% CI -0.10 to -0.01) and depression (β = -0.05; 95% CI -0.10 to -0.003) during early adulthood via greater adolescent amygdala centrality. Neural associations with harsh parenting were widespread across the brain in early childhood but localized in late childhood. Neural associations with warm parenting were localized in middle childhood and, in turn, were associated with mental health during future stress. These developmentally contingent associations can inform the type and timing of interventions.

An open pilot of GROW, a responsive parenting intervention for young children with brain injuries: preliminary efficacy

Purpose Families experience stress and burden following their child’s traumatic brain injury (TBI). Parenting styles are related to parent stress and child behavior problems and executive dysfunction. Parent-child interactions are shown to be a promising intervention target. We aimed to examine the preliminary efficacy of Gaining Real life skills Over the Web (GROW) in improving responsive parenting and reducing parent stress and depression in parents of children ages 0-4 who experienced TBI. Method Participants (n = 11) were parents of children four years old or younger, at the time of enrollment, and previously hospitalized overnight for TBI. Parent-reported measures included the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale, Parenting Stress Inventory—Short Form, and Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System. Recordings of parent-child interactions were coded using the Play and Learning Strategies coding scheme. Study hypotheses were analyzed using independent samples t-tests, chi square analyses, and linear mixed models. Results Parental warmth (t=-3.64, p = 0.001, d=.97), responsiveness (t=-2.09, p = 0.047, d = 0.70), and verbal stimulation (t=-2.30, p = 0.029, d = 0.75) increased significantly from pretreatment to posttreatment. Improvements in parental warmth were maintained 3 months posttreatment (t=-3.15, p = 0.004, d = 1.16). There were no significant changes in depression, parental stress, or quality of life. Conclusions Results provide preliminary support for the efficacy of GROW in improving responsive parenting for children following early TBI. Future directions include tailoring GROW to better fit the needs of families and testing the utility through a randomized control trial.

Is home environment associated with child fluid reasoning abilities in middle childhood in high-risk settings? findings from a cross-sectional study in Pakistan

BackgroundEvidence from low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) suggests that home environment is associated with early childhood development outcomes. However, studies from LMIC that have examined how the home environment during middle childhood is associated with intellectual abilities are scarce. The objective of the study was to explore the association between different aspects of the home environment at 7–8 years and fluid reasoning abilities in a rural, high-risk cohort in Pakistan.MethodsWe employed a cross-sectional research design to examine 1172 children between 7 and 8 years and their families, utilizing the Home Observation for Measurement of Environment for Middle Childhood (HOME-MC) to evaluate various aspects of the home environment and the Fluid Reasoning Index (FRI) of the Wechsler Intelligence for Children (WISC)-5th edition to assess the fluid reasoning abilities of the children. Multivariable regression analyses were used to examine the association between different components of HOME-MC (scored as indices) and FRI scores.FindingsLearning materials and opportunities (β = 1.74, 95% CI = 1.15, 2.33) and Responsivity (β = 1.73, 95% CI = 1.07, 2.38) indices had the strongest association with FRI score followed by Family companionship index (β = 1.27, 95% CI = 0.63, 1.90). The eight different indices of the HOME-DC explained 22% of the total variation in FRI scores.ConclusionWe conclude that concurrent learning opportunities, parental responsivity and family companionship at home are associated with fluid reasoning abilities during middle childhood which is comparable to what has been found in early childhood years.

Evaluating a targeted selective speech, language, and communication intervention at scale – Protocol for the Happy Talk cluster randomised controlled trial.

Background In areas of social disadvantage up to 40–50% of children enter preschool with speech and language skills significantly poorer than would be expected for their age. The Happy Talk trial tests if a community embedded, targeted selective speech and language programme that simultaneously engages with parents and early childhood educators, (1) improves language outcomes in children aged between 2 years 10 months and 6 years and (2) is cost effective for the health care system. Method The Happy Talk trial is a large scale cluster randomised trial of a 12-week manualised intervention delivered in pre/school settings serving socially disadvantaged communities, in Ireland. Seventy-two clusters will receive the intervention (12 participants per cluster). Parents and pre/school staff engage in group training and coaching in the form of 12 1-hour sessions for parents and four staff workshops, over the course of the pre/school year. Training/coaching includes core interaction skills (modelling, expanding, balancing questions and comments), early literacy and phonological awareness. Blinded assessments pre- and immediately post-intervention and at 6 months follow up, will measure the primary outcomes of children’s receptive and expressive language and functional impact, and secondary outcomes of quality of life. Parental responsiveness and educator-child interactions will also be evaluated. Discussion This robust study evaluates a public health approach to the delivery of speech language and communication intervention in the ‘real world’ in the community, which focuses on prevention and equity of access. Pilot work indicates that the programme is feasible, acceptable to parents and staff, cost effective, and suitable for implementation at scale. The trial includes a process evaluation, a well-developed economic evaluation and the outcomes are directly relevant to children, families and educators. This work has the potential to improve the long-term outcomes and life chances of people living in social disadvantage. Trial registration clinicaltrials.gov NCT06460090 Trial Management There is a formal governance structure to oversee the conduct and running of the trial, consisting of a trial management group and a steering committee. More details on the composition, roles and responsibilities of each committee can be found in the supplemental material.

Maternal Mobile Device Use and Mealtime Interactions With Children.

This study examined (1) whether different types of mobile device use are associated with quantity/quality of parent-child interactions and (2) moment-to-moment changes in quantity/quality of parent-child interactions when devices are used. In 47 videorecorded home mealtimes conducted in 2011 to 2013, we conducted detailed coding of maternal device use (talking, texting/scrolling, having device on table), frequency of mother and child verbalizations, child bids for attention, and maternal response to bids (contingent, no response, negative response) in 5-second intervals. We examined between-mother differences in parent-child interaction variables for a 10-percentage point increase in each type of device use comparisons using negative binomial or logistic regression. We then compared intervals when there was active mobile device use to nonuse intervals using generalized estimating equation logistic regression, predicting the odds of each parent-child interaction variable. Mothers averaged 29.8 years (SD 6.10), child age 5.97 years (SD 0.56), and 55% had completed at least some college. Higher percentage of time spent texting/scrolling was associated with a lower rate of maternal verbalization (adjusted rate ratio 0.89 [95% confidence interval, 0.84-0.95]) and contingent response (adjusted rate ratio 0.92 [0.84-1.00]) and higher odds of nonresponse (adjusted odds ratio 1.13 [1.04-1.22]). In each 5-second interval of active device use, there was decreased odds of maternal verbalizations (adjusted odds ratio 0.48 [0.34-0.69]), child verbalizations (0.62 [0.44-0.88]), contingent response (0.45 [0.28-0.74]), and higher odds of maternal nonresponse (2.36 [1.40-4.00]). These results demonstrate decreased parent-child verbal interaction and lower parent responsiveness during mobile device use, particularly with texting and scrolling.

Teaching Parents via Online Asynchronous Training to Use Speech-Generating Devices with Their Autistic Children: A Pilot Study.

Background/Objectives: Telepractice interventions have been found to alleviate barriers families face when seeking communication interventions. This study is a multiple-baseline single-subject design that measures parent communication opportunities and parent responsiveness to determine if parent training through online modules created for parents of children with communication support needs can be effective for training parents of autistic children with communication support needs. Methods: This study replicates work by utilizing online training used as well as the same variables and definitions. This study expands the original study by providing the children with speech-generating devices (SGDs). SGDs are an assistive technology tool to increase language production and give access to language to minimally verbal autistic people. A central difference between this study and study is that the only training parents received was the online modules and written instructions to set up the SGD. Results: Overall, the POWR modules appear to positively impact the communication opportunities provided by the parent during play and activities, increase child communication, and improve parent proficiency in implementing the POWR strategy. Conclusions: There is a need for a larger single-case study or a randomized control trial to replicate these findings. Additional instruction may be needed for parents of children with autism around responsive interactions. This study adds to innovative ways of providing family-centered training and access to AAC for those with barriers to service.

A Study on the Relationship between Parental Parenting Styles and Adolescent Attachment Decision Making Styles

This study investigates the associations between perceived parenting styles, attachment orientations, and decision - making styles among adolescents. Employing a cross - sectional, correlation research design, data were collected from 197 eighth - grade students (111 boys and 86 girls) Participants completed self - reported scales measuring perceived parenting styles, attachment styles, and decision - making styles. The results revealed a significant positive correlation between parental responsiveness and secure attachment, highlighting the crucial role of parental warmth and support in fostering secure attachments during adolescence. Conversely, a significant correlation was found between parental control and fearful attachments, indicating the adverse effects of harsh and inconsistent parenting practices on attachment patterns. . These findings underscore the importance of responsive parenting in nurturing secure attachment bonds and advocate for culturally sensitive approaches to understanding parenting styles. Further research is warranted to explore parental influences on adolescent decision - making across diverse cultural contexts, with implications for tailored interventions aimed at promoting positive outcomes in adolescents' development.

Building Secure Relationships: A Review of the Literature on the Importance of Parent-Child Attachment in Early Life

Attachment between parents and children is an important foundation in a child's early development. Recent research has highlighted how important this attachment is in shaping healthy relationships and having a lasting impact on children's development. In this context, a review of the literature is important to thoroughly understand the concept of parent-child attachment in early life. A literature review methodology was used in this study to collect and evaluate recent research findings related to early life parent-child attachment. This approach allows for a comprehensive investigation into various aspects of attachment, including its effects on children's emotional, social and cognitive development. In conducting this literature review, we found that parent-child attachment in early life forms an important foundation for children's development in many ways. Research shows that secure attachment provides the child with a sense of security and comfort needed to explore the world around him or her with confidence. It also forms the basis for the development of social skills, empathy and emotional regulation essential for healthy social interactions later in life. In addition, our literature review highlighted factors that contribute to the formation of secure parent-child attachment. These include parental responsiveness to children's needs and emotions, warmth in parent-child interactions, and consistency in providing emotional support. In addition, we evaluated the impact of the family's social and economic environment and the influence of the child's internal factors, such as temperament, on attachment. The results of this literature review provide valuable insights into the importance of parent-child attachment in early life. By understanding and supporting the formation of secure attachments, parents and practitioners can play a role in ensuring that children have a solid foundation for optimal growth and development. In addition, the implications of these findings are also relevant in the context of interventions and policies to improve the quality of parent-child relationships in society at large

The Effects of Parent-Child Interaction Therapy on Parent Feeding Practices and Children’s Problematic Mealtime Behaviors

Many children are fussy or demanding about food, and managing these behaviors can be difficult and distressing for parents. Yet, no previous study had examined whether Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT), an interactive parenting support program that coaches caregivers while they interact with their young children, improves problematic mealtime behaviors and food-related parenting practices. In this study, 178 parents in Australia (Mage = 35.1 years, SD = 7.5 years; 93% female) of young children (Mage = 4.5 years, SD = 1.3, 76% male) completed up to two baseline surveys (prior to a waitlist, pre-PCIT) and a third survey after PCIT. The surveys included measures of their parenting practices in general and related to feeding and mealtimes, beliefs about eating, and children’s mealtime behavior (e.g., food avoidance, mealtime aggression) and general externalizing symptoms. Using paired t-tests, no changes were found during baseline (pre-waitlist to pre-PCIT), but from pre- to post-PCIT, medium to large improvements were found in parent mealtime demandingness and responsiveness, aversion to mealtime, child eating behaviors, general parenting practices, and child externalizing behavior. However, positive mealtime environment did not improve and improvements in general parenting and behavior were larger than for eating-related parenting and child behavior. The findings suggest that PCIT can be effective for reducing most problematic mealtime behaviors and can improve multiple parental feeding practices.