Parenting Capacity Research Articles

Of Good Mothers and Violent Fathers: Negotiating Child Protection Interventions in Abusive Relationships.

This article examines the efficacy of a supportive housing program aiming to provide mothers in violent relationships with the practical resources to minimize child protection intervention. Drawing on qualitative interviews with program mothers, child safety officers, and program practitioners, we explore the extent to which the program enabled mothers and children to live free from fathers' violence and disengage from the child protection system. We find that, although valuable, the program did not fully mitigate the risks posed by violent fathers. We therefore argue that responsibility must be shifted onto violent fathers to change their behavior and build their parenting capacities.

The Effect of Nutrition Counseling on Mother’s Knowledge and Nutrition Information in Autistic Children in Banda Aceh City

Abstract
 
 Background: Autism Spectrum Disorder (Autism Spectrum Disorder), commonly abbreviated as ASD or autism, is a condition of neurodevelopmental brain disorder that causes sufferers to experience difficulties in communicating and socializing. Parents go through difficult phases after their child is diagnosed with ASD. Therefore, increasing the knowledge capacity of parents and nutritional intake in autistic children is very important. Children with autism often experience a lack of certain nutrients that affect the growth, development, and fulfillment of specific nutritional needs.
 
 AIM: Analyzing the Effect of Nutrition Counseling on Mother's Knowledge and Nutrient Intake in Autistic Children in Banda Aceh City
 
 Methods: The research design used in this study was quasi-experimental with a pre-posttest observational approach. This research was conducted in four locations, namely the Autism Child Service Center, The Nanny Children Center (TNCC), Bintang Kecil, and My Hope Special Need Center from October to December 2021 in Banda Aceh. The sample in this study was the entire population, which amounted to 30 children with autism—analysis of the data using univariate and bivariate using the T-test dependent.
 .
 Results: From the results of statistical tests, it is known that there is a significant effect of nutritional counseling on mothers' knowledge and intake of gluten and casein sources of food in autistic children with p-value < 0.05). Nutritional counseling has been shown to increase maternal knowledge. The average knowledge of mothers before nutrition counseling was 84.56 and after 88.62. The average intake of gluten and casein sources before nutritional counseling was 82.59 and after 77.12.
 
 CONCLUSION: There

Effect of the Parenting Preparation Program on Maternal Role Competence: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

The maternal sense of competence refers to the mother's sense of ability to care for the baby. Maternal competence can affect the mother's parenting capacities. Maternal preparation programs are aimed to increase mothers' knowledge and improve their maternal competence. This systematic review and meta-analysis investigated the effect of a maternal preparation program on maternal role competence. A systematic search was conducted using the following MeSH terms: "education", "program", and "parenting sense of competence" in databases including PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Central, and Scopus, from inception till July 2022. All Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs) published in any language were extracted. Articles were screened based on predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria. The quality of the included articles was assessed by two qualified reviewers based on the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA). Of the 170 published works that were retrieved in the initial stage, five articles including 647 first-time mothers were analyzed. A meta-analysis showed that parenting preparation program interventions increased maternal role competence in first-time mothers as opposed to those who received routine care Mean Difference (MD) = 3.31, 95% Confidence Interval (CI) [2.07, 4.55]. The results of this study encourage health policymakers to develop maternal preparation programs for first-time mothers and their children.

Quality of the Key Processes of Psychological Support of Families with Low Parental Capacity

Family (biological or otherwise) is central to everyone’s life. As a primary and natural socializing microenvironment, it is of great importance for the birth of a person’s personality and full development of his potential, i.e. – physical, emotional, intellectual and behavioral development. Often, the key to understanding childhood problems lies in the analysis and assessment of the family situation, since the child’s mental development is determined not only by his individual characteristics, but also by the characteristics of communication in the family system to which he belongs. In the considered context, the concept of quality means understanding and fulfilling the expectations of the client (the family, with low parental capacity), the user of the psychological intervention. Quality is a set of all signs and characteristics of psychological work with parents with low parental capacity. They determine the reliability of the chosen psychological intervention to respond to and even build on awareness of the needs and demands of the client (the parenting system). The quality of psychological support determines the expected and desired parameters of the outcome of the process of psychoconsultative interaction in the relationship “psychologist-consultant - parents with low parental capacity”.

"Wearing a High Heel and a House Shoe at the Same Time": Parents' Information Needs While Navigating Change in their Child's Behavioral Care

Change is an inevitable part of a parent's role, whether due to their child's development, family life, or external events. To understand the information needs of parents navigating change, we studied the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic as a widely experienced disruption in the lives of parents and children. We interviewed 16 parents about their caregiving experience as the COVID-19 pandemic collapsed boundaries between home, school, and work. In particular, we asked about adjustments to behavioral care, or the social learning, supports, and interventions through which children develop social and emotional skills. We focused on parents of children already receiving accommodations and behavioral support from their school, to understand how disruptions in these services affected the role of the parent in meeting their child's individual needs. Applying role theory and the Kübler-Ross change curve, we describe the coping mechanisms that parents used to navigate the stages of change, as well as the information needs that remained unmet, despite their efforts. We discuss how practitioner-initiated and parent-centered supports can be designed around the lived experience of change, by accommodating a parent's capacity to accept and use help at different stages.

Doświadczenia rodziców i dzieci podczas pandemii COVID-19

The study, which included a total of 1,122 Italian parents (96.5% female; 3.5% male) of children with an average age of 7.56 years (N = 1,461, SD = 2.03), explores how parents with children (5–11 years old) represent changes in their daily habits as well as their own and children’s experiences in relation to the impact caused by the health emergency. The study also investigates how work, family life, contextual factors and media exposure associated with information regarding COVID-19 have contributed to influencing emotional states and behavioural patterns. The research programme was carried out by an online questionnaire in June 2020. The pandemic was experienced in a variety of ways across four clusters. The highest levels of discomfort can be observed among those parents who have experienced isolation and the fear of contagion with higher levels of anxiety, which have been intensified by the perception of change and the deterioration in working conditions. Parents with higher emotional instability have found a low emotional stability and high depressive tones in their children. Results suggest that the capacity of parents to process and mentalise emotions by facing the difficulties and stress caused by the situation can act as a protective factor in contrasting any emotional instability in children.

Parental health in the context of public care proceedings: a scoping review of evidence and interventions

BackgroundChild protective services (CPS), or equivalent systems, have statutory power to remove children from birth parents via public family care proceedings in instances of child abuse, neglect, or concerns around parenting capacity. Parents who have children subject to care proceedings, referred to here as birth parents, often have complex health and social care needs that can predispose them to CPS involvement. We aimed to review what is known about the health needs of these birth parents and the interventions available to support their needs. MethodsIn this scoping review, we searched PubMed, Scopus, and grey literature using the search terms “health”, “care proceedings”, and “parents”. We included all publications in English that reported parental health in the context of care proceedings from Jan 1, 2000, to March 1, 2021. Findings1328 studies were identified by the search, of which we included 61 (4·5%) in our review. 35 (57%) of 61 studies reported on maternal health, 25 (40%) on the health of both parents, and one (2%) on the health of fathers alone. 41 (67%) studies described parental health need and these were conceptually categorised into mental health, physical health, substance misuse, developmental disorders, and reproductive health. Health inequities and poor access to services were described across all categories, with health needs often predating care proceedings, and sometimes the child's birth. 20 (33%) studies described interventions to support parental health and these were all targeted at mothers, with eight (40%) of the 20 studies formally or informally also supporting fathers. We grouped interventions into alternative family courts; holistic, tailored services; and specialist advocacy or peer support. InterpretationParents who have children subject to care proceedings have complex health needs. The studies included in our review strongly suggest that health issues are exacerbated by child removal, triggering deteriorating mental health, poor antenatal health for subsequent pregnancies, and avoidable mortality. Our findings highlight the need for targeted and timely intervention for parents to improve whole-family outcomes. There are models that have been designed, implemented, and tested using trauma-informed, relationship-based, multidisciplinary, family-focused, and long-term approaches. FundingThere was no funding for this study.

Service delivery goals and underlying interprofessional practices: A scoping review to support interprofessional collaboration in the field of child protection

To improve outcomes for vulnerable children, there is a pressing need to strengthen collaboration between services that support children and families known to child protection. There is potential for shared service goals to enhance interprofessional collaboration in this field. To better understand shared service goals as an enabler of interprofessional collaboration, a scoping review was undertaken to critically explore (i) goals for children and for their parents/caregivers held by services for children and families known to child protection (ii) interprofessional practices underpinning these goals. Ninety-one studies met the inclusion criteria. Safety, family preservation and increasing parenting capacity were identified as the most universally common goals across the range of services included in the review. Findings to enhance interprofessional collaboration are presented including: the role and value of shared goals at both the organizational and individual client level, as well as interprofessional practices that underpin the attainment of these shared goals. Recommendations for future research are made including the need to explore involvement of consumers in design and evaluation of collaborative approaches and how work to support children’s wellbeing is balanced with work to improve the context in which they live.

Nutritional needs of children with disabilities in the UAE: understanding predictors and mediators of nutritional knowledge and practices

BackgroundThere is a high estimated prevalence of obesity and poor eating habits among children with disabilities. Unfortunately, the extent of parental and teachers’ awareness of the dietary needs and nutritional requirements of children with disabilities has been understudied. This study aims to explore the predictors and mediators of nutritional knowledge and practices among parents and teachers of children with disabilities in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) using Nutbeam’s hierarchical health literacy model as a framework to test three hypotheses.MethodsA total of 149 parents and teachers were recruited from rehabilitation centres in two of the seven Emirates in the UAE. The revised Food and Nutritional Literacy Scale (FNLIT) was used for data collection. The revised scale was validated and its reliability was assessed using SPSS and AMOS version 28 to compute exploratory factor analysis and structural equation modelling (confirmatory factor analysis and path analysis), respectively.ResultsThe results confirmed a four-factor structure for FNLIT, and all three hypotheses were supported by the study findings. We confirmed a relationship between understanding and practical nutritional skills (Hypothesis I), and found that two practical nutritional skills, functional and interactive, combined to predict the understanding of nutritional needs of children with disabilities (Hypothesis II). Hypothesis III was partially supported in that participant type mediated the relationship between functional, interactive, and understanding factors. The convergent and discriminant validities of the scale were confirmed, and path analysis showed the ability of practical skills to predict knowledge.ConclusionThe study concludes on the need for public education on nutritional needs as well as developing the capacity of teachers and parents to implement appropriate eating programmes for children with disabilities.

In whose best interests? The ECD regulatory framework, understandings of the best interests of the young child and access to quality early education

The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa 1996, and early childhood development policy, legislation and regulations prioritise the best interests of the child. The United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child General Comment 7 provides guidance on how best interests should be applied for young children to protect their rights and promote their survival, protection, and development, as well as measures to support and assist parents and others responsible for realising children’s rights. The ECD regulatory framework defines quality standards and monitoring is undertaken by local government and provincial education departments. The Children’s Act 38 of 2005 (as amended) provides for ‘developing appropriate parenting skills and capacity of parents and caregivers to safeguard the well-being and interests of children’. These align with General Comment 7. However, a conspicuous gap in the regulatory framework is the limited focus on the programme quality critical for realising the right to education. Further, we contend the contextual factors are not sufficiently considered in the application of ECD regulations. Using a case study approach, we explore how the best interests of the child, regarding access to quality early education, are interpreted by different stakeholders in a diverse, vulnerable community and compare these views with the operationalisation of the best interests principle in our regulatory framework.

Benefits and challenges in the adoption of evidence-based practices in the child and family services

The Council of Europe’s Recommendation (Rec 2006/19) to promote positive parenting, aimed at fostering child development and protecting child rights, has emphasized a preventive approach to support all families, the need to strengthen parental capacities and empowering communities, and the adoption of evidence-based practices (EBP) to improve the quality of professional work with families. This paper, revolved around this Recommendation and expanded in three related directions: (a) described the modern view of parenting as articulated in three facets: dyadic parenting, team parenting, and social parenting, and their corresponding support needs; (b) proposed the challenges and redefinition of EBP for the field of child and family services; and (c) showcased the building of the national agency-university partnership, the translational research-practice bidirectional process, and the implementation and evaluation of evidence-based programmes to foster the adoption of EBP in Spain. The conclusions highlighted the benefits involved in this complex process of quality assurance.

Parenting in Israel amid COVID-19: the Protective Role of Mentalization and Emotion Regulation.

The global COVID-19 pandemic changed the life of numerous parents. The medical worry, the financial hardship, and the need to take care of children 24/7 caused an enormous burden on parenting, resulting in an elevation in parenting stress and in harsh parenting. In the current study, we were interested in assessing the role of parental emotion regulation and parental mentalization as resilience-promoting factors, by mitigating the harmful relationship between parental distress and negative and positive parenting. Seventy Israeli parents of children (aged 6-14) participated in the study. We assessed parental mentalization and emotion dysregulation before the COVID-19 pandemic. During the national lockdown in Israel in May 2020, we assessed parental distress, COVID-related financial risk, and parental practices. Results indicated elevations in parental distress compared to the population mean, alongside high rates of financial risk. The results indicated that although parental distress was significantly related to parenting practices, parental mentalization, and emotion regulation moderated these relationships in differential ways. Improved capacity for emotion regulation reduced the prevalence of negative parenting practices and higher parental mentalization increased the prevalence of positive parenting, these are despite elevation in parental distress. The results suggested that when parents are able to regulate their own negative emotions and think about a child's mind, they can remain available to support the child's needs despite the elevation in parental distress. Supporting parental capacity for mentalization and emotion regulation during stressful times may prevent the harmful consequences of parental distress on parenting.

Parenting in the Context of Intimate Partner Violence: Understanding Mothers' Perceptions.

Despite existing research, which has focused on the impacts of intimate partner violence (IPV) on mothers and their children, there is a paucity of research specifically examining mothers' perceptions of parenting in the context of IPV. This qualitative study explored parenting capacity and meaning making among a purposive sample of 16 female survivors of IPV who experienced IPV during both childhood and adulthood and had at least one school-aged child. Participants completed semi-structured in-person interviews during which they were asked a series of questions about their experiences with IPV and their parenting practices. Analysis revealed that parenting capacity could be categorized by two capacities: relational and operational. Based on these descriptive accounts of the experiences of parenting in contexts of IPV, a preliminary model suggesting a Dual-Part Model of Parenting (relational and operational capacity) is presented to aid in understanding the complexity and nuance of how parenting capacity may be impacted by IPV exposure throughout the lifespan. Strengths-based approaches to supporting survivors in parenting are explored, and future implications for strengths-based approaches to clinical practice with IPV survivors as well as improved research practices and social policies that emphasize an intersectionality approach are discussed.

Literacy practices as an arena for girls’ development of literacies

ABSTRACT Literacy practices play a catalytic role in equipping girls with the necessary knowledge, skills and attitudes to make qualitative improvements on their lives. This paper reports on a qualitative study that identified existing literacy practices and the support available to enable the development of literacies among girls. Interviews and observations were used to generate data from in and out-of-school-girls, teachers, the ward education officer, parents, and religious, traditional and village leaders. The study found that girls had access to a variety of print materials, and used print more than any other literacy materials. Similarly, the engagement with traditional literacy practices like poems, folklore, metaphors, music or rituals was not reported by the participants, which may simply suggest that they do not associate the traditional literacy practices with literacy learning. This implies further that many traditional ways of acquiring literacies, which were part of the cultural heritage and ways of learning language of older generations, are being forgotten and possibly slowly vanishing. To support girls’ acquisition of literacies, it is essential to build the capacity of communities, parents, teachers, religious and local leaders who can help girls fully integrate all available literacy sources into their literacy learning.

The Influence of Parents on Emotion Regulation in Middle Childhood: A Systematic Review.

Emotion regulation (ER) has been identified as a transdiagnostic risk factor for psychopathology, making it an ideal target for prevention and treatment. This study explores how parents can nurture the development of child ER. In April 2022, a systematic review was executed focusing on malleable factors in the parental emotion-socialization process during middle childhood. Papers in PubMed, Web of Science and Medline were screened on content-related and methodological criteria. Their methodological quality was assessed. Knowledge was assembled using a summarizing framework encompassing four factors involved in emotion socialization. Fifty papers shed light on modifiable factors at the level of parental meta-emotion philosophy, emotion-related socialization behaviors, the ER skills of parents and the emotional climate of the family. Adaptive socialization appears to be context- and child-specific, thereby taxing parents’ ER skills and their ability to put them into practice flexibly. The four changeable factors in the emotion-socialization process are highly intertwined, resulting in four possible entries for parent-directed interventions. Importantly, time should be devoted to the ER capacities of parents and their ability to attune to the situation and their child. Regarding the latter, replication studies are necessary. Recommendations for clinical interventions are provided.

PARENTING PROGRAM TO INCREASE PARENTS' CAPACITY IN IMPLEMENTING HEALTHY LIFE FOR EARLY CHILDREN BASED ON THE APOSTLE'S WAY OF LIFE

The background of this research is that child development requires a family that acts as a center for children, where interactions between children and other families can make a foundation for children's attitudes towards other people and the surrounding environment. This study aims to determine the implementation of the parenting program to increase the capacity of parents in instilling healthy lifestyle behaviors for early childhood based on Ala Rasul. This study uses a qualitative descriptive emethod, with the number of samples in the study being one manager, one teacher, and 6 representatives of parents. Data collection techniques through interviews and observation. Based on the results of the study, it was found that the implementation of parenting to increase the capacity of parents in instilling healthy living behavior for early childhood based on the Ala Rasul has been going well following the purpose of this activity, namely increasing the capacity of parents in instilling healthy living behaviors in children, parents of students. gain knowledge that can be used at home where parents are examples when children are at home.

Autistic Parents’ Personal Experiences of Parenting and Support: Messages from an Online Focus Group

Abstract Social work with autistic adults should be operated within principles of personalisation and strength-based approach. Whilst many parents are diagnosed on the autistic spectrum as adults, their needs, different parenting styles and capabilities have been often misunderstood, or seldom respected by professionals. To address this gap, this study explored autistic parents’ experiences of parenting and support. In order to examine ‘real-life’ through the parent’s own points of view, an online focus group was used to explore seven autistic parents’ own perspectives and experiences. Data were analysed via thematic techniques. This study found that the parents claimed that autism may not impact always on their parenting capacity, and, when it does, they can succeed in raising their children, especially their autistic children, if they are provided with appropriate support services. But their parenting style and capabilities were misunderstood by professionals who used traditional pathologising assumptions on parental capacity. This study concluded that dismantling stereotypical norms of autism and lack of knowledge of autism within professionals is needed to change to properly assess autistic parent’s needs and their capacity using strength-based approach.

Best FACES Forward: Outcomes of an Advocacy Intervention for Black Parents Raising Autistic Youth

ABSTRACT Despite increased diagnostic prevalence, Black parents raising autistic youth still experience additional and unique barriers to accessing and using autism-related services compared to their non-Black peers. Increasing parent advocacy capacity may be one way to reduce these disparities. This efficacy study examined the effects of the FACES advocacy program on advocacy capacity for Black parents raising autistic youth. Authors used a quasi-experimental research design that compared pretest and posttest measures for 16 Black parents raising autistic youth. Intervention participants demonstrated increases in family empowerment, school communication, and perceptions of advocacy ability. Findings offer emergent evidence of advocacy programs for Black families raising autistic youth.

Social workers’ perceptions of assessing the parental capacity of parents with intellectual disabilities in child protection investigations

Parental capacity is one of the main aspects assessed by social workers as part of child protection investigations. The aim of this study is to explore the social workers' perceptions of assessing the parental capacity of parents with intellectual disabilities in child protection investigations. Four focus group interviews were conducted with twelve social workers in May-October 2021. Data were analysed using an inductive, conventional qualitative content analysis. One overarching theme, "Parental capacity in relation to the child's needs was assessed, not disability of parents" was created. Three main categories and ten sub-categories were identified exploring the social workers' perceptions of assessing parental capacity. The study shows that social workers perceive the assessment of parental capacity in parents with intellectual disabilities as demanding and complex, in which the assessment of what is good enough is perceived as the most difficult task.

Exploring parental understanding of child sexual abuse and prevention as a measure for HIV prevention in Rwampara district.

BackgroundWorldwide, more than 95 million children are sexually abused each year with children in sub-Saharan Africa experiencing sexual assault at higher rates than those in more developed areas. In Uganda, 20% of young people indicated that their sexual debut was non-consensual. The risk for transmission of HIV to children through Child Sexual Abuse is high because of greater mucosal tissue damage and the often repetitive nature of abuse. This contributes significantly to the burden of HIV in Uganda. Despite these risks, studies have shown gaps in active parental involvement in child sexual abuse prevention despite their being the primary protectors of children. Against this background we sought to explore parental understanding of childhood sexual abuse and prevention as a measure for HIV prevention in Rwampara District, South Western Uganda.MethodsA phenomenological study was carried out in four health centers that serve the communities of Rwampara district. A total of 25 (n = 25) parents or guardians of children aged 9–14 years were purposively selected to participate in the study. The participants were subjected to in-depth semi-structured interviews which were recorded, transcribed, and translated for thematic analysis.ResultsParents’ understanding of child sexual abuse was limited to penetrative sex between a man and a child. Three of the parents interviewed reported to have had children who had been sexually abused while one of the parents had been abused when she was young. The children reported to have been abused were female and were between 3-14years. We also identified gaps in the sensitization of parents regarding home-based prevention of child sexual abuse and psychological support for the victims of abuse.ConclusionOur study shows that child sexual abuse exists in rural western Uganda. There remains a significant gap in the awareness of parents regarding the extent of sexual abuse, signs of sexual abuse, case handling, and psychological support for victims of sexual abuse. This significantly affects the capacity of parents as the primary protectors of children to identify and protect the children against the multiple forms of child sexual abuse.