Parental Role Models Research Articles

Smoking habits of Greek preschool children's parents

BackgroundSmoking is Greece's largest public health threat. Greece has the highest adult smoking prevalence among all E.U countries, which in turn possibly predisposes Greek children and adolescents to smoke. The purpose of our study was to research into the smoking habits of preschool children's parents since children of that age could be vulnerable to parental negative role modeling and to investigate into the necessity of conducting a public health awareness programme aimed at the general population.MethodsA cross-sectional study was performed on the parents of children enrolled in kindergarten in western Crete-Greece (2809 parents), and interviewed during the 2004–2005 Cretan school health promotion programme.Results63% of households had at least one parent a current smoker and in 26% both parents were found to be current smokers. Smoking prevalence among adults with preschool children was estimated at 44% (52% of fathers and 36% of mothers). Paternal education and nationality were statistically significantly related to smoking (p < 0.001), unlike place of residence (p = 0.862) and level of maternal education (p = 0.132).ConclusionSmoking prevalence is high even among parents with preschool children. Taking into account the parents' significant primary role in the children's upbringing and the effect that parental induced passive smoking has on children's health and health attitude; one can deduce that the health of Greek children is under threat. It is of major importance that educational and policy intervention measures are implemented to reduce such a situation that could contribute to promoting the initiation of smoking among Greek adolescents.

Frequency of Eating Homegrown Produce Is Associated with Higher Intake among Parents and Their Preschool-Aged Children in Rural Missouri

Objective The purpose of this study was to identify whether or not there are associations between frequency of eating homegrown produce among rural parents and their preschool children and overall intake. Study Design A cross-sectional study, including parents (n=1,658) and their preschool children (aged 2 to 5 years) enrolled in a parent education program, in eight rural Southeast Missouri counties was conducted. Main Outcome Measures Parents completed a telephone interview answering questions for themselves and their preschool child about their fruit and vegetable intake during the past 7 days using a 29-item food frequency questionnaire (82% response rate). Statistical Analysis Performed Frequency of eating homegrown fruits and vegetables was examined and categorized as almost always/always (n=226), sometimes (n=871), and rarely/never (n=546). Odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals, independent sample t tests (two-sided) analyses, and analysis of covariance (with post hoc tests) were conducted. Results Significant differences were found in the overall fruit and vegetable diets and nutrient quality between all three groups for both parents and their preschool children. Furthermore, frequency of eating homegrown fruits and vegetables promoted a positive home environment with increased availability of produce (rarely/never=4.3 items, sometimes=4.7 items, almost always/always=5.2 items), preschooler’s preference for them (rarely/never=3.5 favorites, sometimes=3.7 favorites, almost always/always=4.8 favorites) and parental role modeling (rarely/never=5.3 fruit and vegetable eating observations, sometimes=6.2 fruit and vegetable eating observations, almost always/always=6.3 fruit and vegetable eating observations). Interactions within the larger community food environment were not significantly affected as measured by weekly food dollars spent (rarely/never=$136, sometimes=$117, almost always/always=$137) or eating out the previous month (rarely/never=7.7 times, sometimes=7.2 times, almost always/always=7.0 times). Conclusions Our findings suggest that educational programs promoting awareness of local produce sources and facilitating the development of gardening programs may be a worthwhile investment.

The role played by a former federal government residential school in a first nation community’s alcohol abuse and impaired driving: Results of a talking circle

Objectives. The study’s objective was to better understand alcohol abuse and impaired driving behaviors in a First Nations community as it reflects systemic issues linked to historical, family and community experiences.Study Design and Methods. Fifteen 18-to 29-year-old drivers participated in an exploratory eight-hour Talking Circle held according to traditional cultural practice. Four First Nations researchers, trained in Talking Circle protocol, and a Band Elder facilitated the data collection, data analysis according to emerging themes, and data verification.Results. Federal government residential schools contribute to intergenerational effects which impact impaired driving in a northern First Nations community. Traditional parental role modeling has changed dramatically. Rather than guide children through a communally shared development process, many parents now expect their children to assume adult roles by expecting them to take care of their guardians when they drink excessive amounts of alcohol. Because a wall of silence exists between the young and old, many young people seek refuge with friends and peers, who subsequently influence them to abuse alcohol and engage in impaired driving. Many older Band members no longer serve as leaders for young people. Instead, they behave like peers and engage in activities that facilitate alcohol abuse and impaired driving.Conclusions. Historical institutions like federal government residential schools have contributed to systemic socio cultural problems which influence alcohol abuse and impaired driving. Hence there is a need for community-based intervention strategies that promote cultural healing. The healing journey can start with First Nations communities providing their people opportunities to share their stresses and traumas in supporting and nurturing environments.(Int J Circumpolar Health 2006; 65(4): 347–356).

Fathers’ Role Model Perceptions

Qualitative interview data are used to explore fathers’( N = 24) perceptions of their own fathers and others as influential parental role models and associations between fathers’ role model perceptions and their involvement with their own children. In fathers’ descriptions of their parental role models, three themes emerged: types of models that fathers identified as role models for them as parents, affective evaluations the fathers ascribed to the models, and content that the fathers perceived learning from the models. Highly involved fathers were more likely to cite peer parents than to specifically cite their own fathers as influential role models for them and infrequently cited their spouses as models. Low-involvement fathers more often attributed positive affective evaluations to their models than did highly involved fathers.

A Paper Life

A Paper Life

Parental attitudes towards the uptake of smoking by children

Factors related to parental smoking and parenting practice have a big effect on adolescent smoking. More in-depth information about these relationships can be used to inform interventions. This study investigated Maori, Pacific Islander, New Zealand European and Asian parent attitudes and practices in relation to smoking uptake in children. Parents of children aged 8-15 years, recruited through the researchers' community networks and the media, participated in focus groups or interviews run by ethnically matched facilitators. Areas addressed included parents' beliefs about children smoking, their actions, and their suggestions for tobacco control activities. The data were analysed thematically. Parents believed that parental smoking, peer pressure and smoking role models in the media influenced smoking uptake in children. They said they would be disappointed if their children started smoking, but their confidence in influencing them varied. Many talked to their children about the health consequences of smoking, including their own negative perceptions of smoking and smokers. Most had smoke-free homes. The parents who smoked tried to avoid smoking around children. There was a good deal of commonality across the different ethnic groups. Important differences related to the provision of interventions. Parents believed in the value of a smoke-free lifestyle and wanted to protect their children from smoking. Important strategies to prevent smoking in children may include supporting parents to quit, informing them that discouraging children of any age from smoking can be effective, and providing culturally appropriate education and resources to facilitate parent/child communication about smoking.

Development of mound-building in Australian brush-turkeys (Alectura lathami): the role of learning, testosterone and body mass

Australian brush-turkeys (Alectura lathami) hatch in incubation mounds of organic material and have no parental role models to learn from. When raised in outdoor aviaries, without adults, four of six males built incubation mounds at an early age of 4.5–9 months. The two males without mounds were the only ones without detectable levels of testosterone (T) at 4.5 months, whereas body mass did not explain the presence or absence of mound building. At the age of 11 months, all males had detectable T, including those without mounds. This study also investigated the development of social dominance in males kept in mixed-sex groups for 4.5 months. At this latter age, higher-ranked males tended to have higher T levels (P = 0.076), whereas dominance ranks at 4.5 months were not correlated with body mass or size, either at this age or at hatching. Overall, these results suggest that mound building develops without learning, and there is a relationship between T levels and dominance status as well as the absence or presence of mound building. These findings contribute to discussions on the role of learning in behavioural development and the role of T and body mass in avian life history.

Policy and experiences of professional integration of young immigrants in the Walloon region (Belgium)

This paper aims to identify obstacles to integration of young foreigners in the Walloon region and more generally in Belgium as a whole while presenting in a critical manner the actions undertaken by the local and/or regional actors and the public policies aimed at overcoming these obstacles. Since the 1960s, North Africans, Turkish and Sub-Saharan immigrants and their families have constituted the major component of non-European inflows into Belgium. It has been proved that youths of immigrant descent, in the absence of positive parental role models, often experience difficulties in breaking into the work arena. General initiatives that address the entire population groups experiencing difficulty with employment are inadequate as far as the social integration of foreigners is concerned. In order to go beyond local pilot initiatives and the experimental phase, the Walloon Region has set up integration policy measures for foreigners in the framework of the Centres régionaux d'intégration (CRI) , created under the Decree of 4th July 1996. The action of professional social integration handled by the CRI gives an impression of vagueness in the accomplishment of its role: frontline or rearguard, socio-professional or general integration, local or "trans-regional work".

How High School Athletes Talk about Maternal and Paternal Sporting Experiences

Despite increased structural opportunities through Title IX, adolescent females in the US continue to participate in physical activity less than males. This persistent pattern suggests gender stereotypes might subtly groom girls’ and boys’ choices about health behaviors. Although communication can shape gender stereotypes, the majority of physical activity studies employ social influence frameworks (i.e. social learning theory) that ignore this important dimension of influence. Because the family is a primary socializing agent where gender roles are learned, the current qualitative interview study of high school basketball players illustrates: (1) how communication within the family context prompts learning about parental role models in sport; (2) how adolescents talk about maternal and paternal sports participation. This research suggests that communication is an important modifiable social process for physical activity interventions that include a family influence component.

Parenting practices and the transmission of ethnic identity.

Three years after being interviewed, a nonrandom, purposeful subsample of 14 Jewish families from a larger sample of 48 families living in Central New York was reinterviewed. The primary aim of this follow-up study was to develop a descriptive understanding of parenting practices and the transmission of ethnic identity. Semistructured family interviews were conducted and coded using grounded-theory techniques, in particular the constant comparative method of analysis. Four main qualitative categories emerged from this study: Individual differences in teenagers, stages of ethnic identity development, parenting practices, and parental role models. Findings suggest that clear expectations, a type of authoritative parenting, could be associated with the positive transmission of Jewish ethnic identity. This type of parenting style was direct as parents expressed clear expectations for participation in Jewish activities both at home and in the community.

Sunburn reduction through parental role modeling and sunscreen vigilance

Objectives To identify characteristics associated with child sunburn experience and sun protection practices, including parent and child demographics, phenotype, and sun-related knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors. Study design A nationally representative telephone survey conducted in 1999 with 651 parents of children 5 to 12 years of age to collect data relating to the sun-related knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors of the parent and child. Results Nearly half of parents (49%) and children (44%) were sunburnt during the previous summer. Parents who reported that they had been sunburnt were more likely to have children who had been sunburnt (OR = 2.9, 95% CI = 2.0, 4.2). Conversely, parents with a high level of sun protection behavior were less likely to report being sunburnt (OR = 0.6, 95% CI = 0.4, 0.9), and their children were more likely to have a high level of sun protection behavior (OR = 3.0, 95% CI = 2.0, 4.6) and sunscreen vigilance (OR = 2.7, 95% CI = 1.7, 4.5). High sunscreen vigilance was associated with a 60% reduction in child sunburning. Conclusions The sunburn experience and sun protection practices of children (5-12 years of age) are closely linked to a number of modifiable attitudes and behaviors of their parents. Therefore the inclusion of parents and care givers in interventions targeting children may increase program efficacy. (J Pediatr 2003;142:67-72)

EFFECT OF MEDIATING VARIABLES ON THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN PHYSICAL ACTIVITY OF PARENT AND CHILD

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to assess the effect of mediating variables on the association between physical activity of parent and child. METHODS: In September COctober 1996, computer-assisted telephone interviews were conducted among 1,504 parent-child pairs residing in the U.S. Trained interviewers asked each parent and a randomly selected child from the same household a series of questions about physical activity, for the parent and the child, and five mediating variables: parental encouragement, role modeling, financial support, and attitudes toward physical activity of the parent and of the child. At least four attempts were made to reach the telephone number before it was retired from the sample. Of households contacted, fourteen percent had eligible parent-child pairs, among whom 72% completed the survey. The mean interview length for both parent and child was 34 minutes. Structural equation modeling was used to test the hypotheses that parental physical activity was: (1) directly associated with physical activity of the child, or (2) was indirectly associated via mediating psychosocial variables. RESULTS: The direct association between parental and child physical activity was not statistically significant (p > 0.05). However, a test of the aggregate model that included all five mediating variables revealed a significant indirect association (r = 0.20) with parental physical activity and physical activity of the child. For individual mediating variables that were significant, we declared as important those associations whose absolute value was > = 0.30. Important positive associations were observed between parental physical activity and parental mediating variables (values in parentheses): financial support (0.43), attitude (0.32), and role modeling (0.43). Parental role modeling was also associated with the child's attitude toward physical activity (0.30). CONCLUSION: These cross-sectional data reveal that parental role modeling of physical activity behaviors may positively influence children's attitudes toward physical activity and suggest an important focus for media as part of health promotion efforts.

Parental eating attitudes and the development of obesity in children. The Framingham Children's Study.

To investigate the extent to which parents' degree of dietary self-control, as measured by self-reported dietary restraint, disinhibition, and perceived hunger, affects the development of excess body fat in the child. Prospective observational study. Ninety-two 3-5y old children and their parents, enrolled in 1987 in the Framingham Children's Study. Self-reported levels of parental dietary restraint, disinhibition and perceived hunger were estimated using Stunkard and Messick's Three-Factor-Eating Questionnaire. Anthropometric measurements (height, weight and skinfold measurements at five sites) were obtained yearly for children and parents. The child's activity level was measured on multiple days each year using Caltrac accelerometers. Energy intake and percentage of calories from total fat were estimated from multiple sets of food diaries, collected each year. All analyses were adjusted for the following potential confounders: child's sex and baseline values for age, height, mean physical activity level, total calories and percentage of calories from fat as well as the educational levels of the parents at baseline. Over 6y, children's body fat increased linearly with increasing levels of self-reported parental disinhibition (eg 6y increase in the child's sum of five skinfolds was 34.4, 45.8 and 59.2 mm across increasing tertiles of parental disinhibition, P=0.012). Overall, children whose parents had higher dietary restraint scores had greater increases in body fatness than children whose parents had the lowest levels of restraint. When both parents had above average scores on dietary disinhibition or restraint, the children had greater increases in body fat (on all anthropometry measures) than when only one parent or when neither parent had high scores on those factors. Parental scores on the perceived hunger scale had no clear effect on body fat change of children. Since disinhibition and dietary restraint frequently co-exist, we then examined the joint effect of these two factors. The children with the greatest increases in body fat were those whose parents scored high on both factors. In the final analysis, we found that dietary restraint adversely affected the child's body fat only when associated with high parental disinhibition. This study suggests that parents who display high levels of disinhibited eating, especially when coupled with high dietary restraint, may foster the development of excess body fat in their children. This association may be mediated by direct parental role modeling of unhealthy eating behaviors, or through other indirect, and probably subconscious, behavioral consequences such as the suppression of the child's innate regulation of dietary intake.

The Falmouth Safe Skin Project: evaluation of a community program to promote sun protection in youth.

A multidimensional community-based skin cancer prevention program was conducted in Falmouth, Massachusetts, combining community activism with publicity campaigns and behavioral interventions to improve sun protection knowledge; attitudes; and practices in parents, caregivers, and children. The program was associated with improvements in target outcomes, based on two telephone surveys of random samples of parents (n = 401, 404). After program implementation, fewer parents reported sunburning of their children, particularly among children 6 years old or younger (18.6% in 1994 vs. 3.2% in 1997), and more parents reported children using sunscreen, particularly continuous use at the beach (from 47.4% to 69.9% in younger children). Hat and shirt use did not increase. Improvements also were seen in parent role modeling of sun protection practices, parents' self-efficacy in protecting children from the sun, and sun protection knowledge. While these findings must be interpreted cautiously, they do suggest that this project was effective in promoting sun protection.

Parental nurturance and identification with own father and mother: the reproduction of nurturant parenting

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the impact of parental identification and role-modeling on parenting in the next generation, with a special focus on fathers. Ninety-four fathers and 130 mothers of five-year-old children completed structured, standardized questionnaires that assessed the subject's child-rearing practices, quality of marriage and perceived parental care and control exerted by their father and mother. Analysis using structural equation modeling revealed that paternal nurturance was significantly affected by received paternal care, as well as by the quality of the subjects own marriage. Maternal nurturance was affected by received maternal care and quality of marriage. It was also found that for fathers, quality of marriage was negatively affected by received paternal control, while for mothers, quality of marriage was negatively affected by received maternal control. For both fathers and mothers, received maternal care affected the quality of marriage positively. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Improving the Life Chances of Children in Poverty: Assumptions and What We Have Learned

©1998 Society for Research in Child Development. All rights reserved. In spite of more than three decades of antipoverty programs, the number of children living in poverty has increased in recent years (Carnegie Task Force, 1994; National Center for Children in Poverty, 1996). Reasons for this include an increase in the number of single-parent families, a declining labor market for low-skilled workers, and reduced welfare benefits to poor families (Duncan, 1991). For children and families, the correlates of living in poverty are many. Mothers in poverty may suffer a variety of psychological consequences, including low self-esteem, depression, lack of hope for the future, lack of sense of personal empowerment, low aspirations, and social isolation. They may have health problems such as untreated chronic illness, anemia stemming from poor nutrition, and are increased risk of substance abuse. The combination of unfinished education, absence of parental role models, and social supports often leaves them with inadequate life management skills; they may have difficulty making decisions, be unable to manage limited budgets, and have little understanding of what it takes to be a good parent. Facing difficulties, both practical and motivational, in completing their education or acquiring job skills, they may remain dependent on welfare and unable to achieve even limited economic self-sufficiency (McLoyd, Jayaratne, Ceballo, & Borquez, 1994). Poverty places severe strains on family relationships, including conflict with a spouse, spousal abuse, and marital dissolution. Frequently, if the child’s father lacks job prospects, marriage is deferred or not entered into. The family faces constrained resources in terms of income, housing, food, and transportation, as well as inadequate or totally absent social supports. Dangerous neighborhoods place additional stress on the family, and poor schools fail to offer needed support (Huston, McLoyd, & Garcia Coll, 1994). The economic, social, physical, or psychological stresses associated with poverty affect parent-child relationships. Parents who them-

Parental Role Models, Gender and Educational Choice

Parental role models are often put forward as an explanation for the choice of gender-atypical educational routes. This paper aims to test such explanations by examining the impact of family background variables like parental education and occupation, on choice of educational programme at upper secondary school. Using a sample of around 73,000 Swedish teenagers born between 1972 and 1976, girls' and boys' gender-atypical as well as gender-typical educational choices are analysed by means of logistic regression. Parents working or educated within a specific field increase the probability that a child will make a similar choice of educational programme at upper secondary school. This same-sector effect appeared to be somewhat stronger for fathers and sons, while no such same-sex influence was confirmed for girls. No evidence was found that, in addition to a same-sector effect, it matters whether parents' occupations represent gender-traditional or non-traditional models. Parents of the service classes or highly educated parents--expected to be the most gender egalitarian in attitudes and behaviours--have a positive influence upon children's choice of gender-atypical education.

Do Parents' Social Activities Promote Children's School Attainments? Evidence from the German Socioeconomic Panel

Felix Buchel Technical University of Berlin Gerg J . Duncan Northwester University* Using longitudinal data from the German Socioeconomic Panel, we investigate whether parental activities, such as attending cultural events, doing volunteer work, and socializing with friends, promote the educational attainments of children. These parental activities may constitute a beneficial form of social capital. On the other hand, they may reduce the amount of time parents spend with their children. We find significant linkages between a subset of fathers' activities and the attainments of children-especially boys-with positive effects for fathers' engaging in active sports and volunteer work, but negative effects for socializing with friends. Most of the effects of mothers ' activities can be accounted for by differences in the family 's socioeconomic status. Key Words: fatherhood, parent time use, schooling achievement, social capital. Most studies of the role that parenting plays in promoting child development have focused on the extent and nature of the time that parents spend with their children. Allocation of parent's time to market work is presumed important, as well, because it provides the economic resources on which most families depend and because time spent in the labor market may reduce the amount of time parents have to spend with their children. Less well studied are the effects on children's attainments of parents' engagement in activities outside the home, including purely social activities, unpaid volunteer work, high-brow and popular cultural events. Collectively, adults' engagement in social and civic activities is seen as vital to the performance of government and other social institutions (Putnam, 1993, 1995). But these kinds of activities also may be important to the parents and children involved in them. They may enable parents to establish useful relationships with individuals and organizations outside the family. The social network literature (e.g., Cochran, Larner, Riley, Gunnarsson, & Henderson, 1990) speculates that these relationships supply parents with valuable social support or parental role models. Extrafamilial relationships also fall under the loosely defined rubric of social capital because they could supply children with valuable time or financial resources when needed. These relationships are capital to the extent that they are developed through the investment of time and money and constitute a stock of obligations that a family can draw on in time of need (Hofferth, Boisjoly, & Duncan, 1995). Coleman's (1988) definition of social capital includes relationships within the family and outside of it. The quality of social capital within the family, especially parent-child relationships, is important to the healthy cognitive and emotional development of children and has been the subject of countless research articles. We focus on extrafamilial activities in which parents engage, and we seek to determine whether they help or hinder children's school attainments. Our assessment of the links between parents' activities and children's attainments are based on data from Germany. As a highly developed, Western, capitalist society, Germany provides an important testing ground for theories of the effects of social forces on development that have been evaluated largely with data from the United States. However, there are a number of noteworthy ways in which the German context differs from that of the U.S. First, many more German than U.S. families are the traditional two-parent, male-earner type. The percentage of single-parent families with children under the age of 18 in Germany stood at only 14% in 1989 (Vaskovics, Garhammer, Schneider, & Kabat vel Job, 1994). This not only allows more abundant observations on children raised in two-parent families, but also may provide a more general social context geared toward traditional families. …

Helping Your Child Lose Weight the Healthy Way: A Family Approach to Weight Control

LEARNING OUTCOME: To define effective family-centered techniques for counseling parents of overweight children. According to the Centers for Disease Control, 20% of children in the United States are overweight –– a two-fold increase in the last 30 years. In a 10-year outcome study, Epstein demonstrated that the most successful weight loss in overweight children occurs when the whole family is involved in the process. Dietitians counseling parents of overweight children should assess family dynamics in order to identify specific attitudes and behaviors for change, and to recommend strategies that involve appropriate family members. Assessment techniques include: (1) evaluating family shopping, cooking and meal patterns; (2) questioning the parents about their own exercise habits as well as the activity patterns of the child; (3) determining the parents’ expectations about their child's ideal body size and shape; and (4) probing parental and child preconceptions about dieting. Family-centered strategies for improving the eating and activity patterns and self-esteem of an overweight child might include: (1) parental role modeling of eating more fruits and vegetables; (2) gradually removing excessive high-calorie temptations from the home environment; (3) limiting family television viewing time; (4) engaging in more family-oriented physical activities that the child enjoys; and (5) eliminating parental and sibling comments that contribute to the overweight child's negative self-image. These techniques are integral to achieving effective weight control for overweight children that protects both their physical health and mental well-being.

Family background characteristics and relationship satisfaction in a native community in Canada.

Using data collected from a Native Canadian community by Embree (1993), we examine the influence of personal and family background characteristics on satisfaction with spousal relationships, both legal marriages and cohabitations. Of special interest are the quality of relationships with parents while growing up, alcohol abuse by the parent(s), and the experience of sexual abuse during childhood. Personal traits such as age, sex, and gender role attitudes and the respondent's own drinking behavior are also considered. Path analytic techniques model both the direct effects of independent variables on relationship satisfaction as well as the role of personal consumption of alcohol as an intervening variable in level of satisfaction with a relationship. The results of the analysis indicate that personal consumption of alcohol and the experience of sexual abuse during childhood are the best direct predictors of level of satisfaction with the current relationship, with higher alcohol consumption and experience of sexual abuse related to lower satisfaction. Age also has a significant direct, though smaller, positive influence on relationship satisfaction. Sexual abuse and the respondent's sex are also linked to level of satisfaction through personal alcohol consumption. With personal alcohol use, both the respondent's sex and the experience of sexual abuse during childhood have a significant effect, with males and those sexually abused as children reporting higher levels of alcohol consumption. The socialization explanation of the intergenerational consequences of parental behavior argues that parental role models are primary to the future family formation behavior of children. Consistent with this hypothesis, the findings concerning sexual abuse, in particular, as a predictor of both personal alcohol use and relationship satisfaction seem to underscore the importance of antecedent family characteristics in influencing later adjustment to adult roles and responsibilities.