Partners Of Mothers Research Articles

English Vowel

In this case the differences that exist in two different languages Pronunciation can be a barrier to communication. A speaker can cause misunderstandings when he mispronounces a word in a foreign language. English has a number and types of sounds that are very different from the number of sounds in that language. Indonesian.Also, a letter with a different word can represent a different sound. The aim of this course is to equip students with knowledge of English vowels so that they can improve the pronunciation of English words to make them better and correct. This training is conducted online via Zoom Media because You are taking the semester through the use of two approaches namely teaching and training.Although not 100% of partners succeed in producing the correct pronunciation, improvements can be seen in the pronunciation of the accompaniment. Partners, meanwhile, had a positive attitude toward the activity through active participation in the training provided and also satisfaction. From the survey data provided by the service team, partners were identified as part of the campaign.Barriers encountered during the activity were due to the partner's lack of confidence and the influence of the partner's mother tongue.

Family mosaic in the drawings of children from patchwork families

The creation of a patchwork (reconstructed) family is a challenge both for the entire family systems that make up this family mosaic and for each of its member. The aim of the study, the results of which we present in this article, was to characterise the psychological functioning of the youngest children raised in reconstructed families in the following areas: family structure, interpersonal relations, place of the studied child and his/her adaptation in the reconstructed family, overt and covert family conflicts. The study was conducted in a qualitative research strategy in an interpretative paradigm, using the individual case method. By opting for an inductive order of the research, we consciously refrained from posing hypotheses, remaining to ask the following research questions: (a) How do the interviewed children perceive the structure of their patchwork family?; (b) How do the interviewed children describe the interpersonal relationships in the new family, with a particular focus on the perception of the role of the new patchwork family member (stepfather/stepmother/half sibling)?; (c) How do the interviewed children perceive themselves and their place in the new reconstructed family?; (d) Do and which family conflicts most often arise in the new family systems from the perspective of the youngest children?; (e) How the interviewed children adapted to the current family situation? In order to get to the inner picture of the family situation of a child raised in a patchwork family and his/her self-image as a member of such a family group, we used the projection method of the Family Drawing Test. The article presents the results of the analysis of drawings of three children aged 911 years raised in patchwork families. The research findings presented in the article indicate that the children involved in the study reveal difficulties in defining the external boundaries of the family, often experiencing conflicts of loyalty to the biological parent, who is outside the system on a daily basis. In addition, the results show that some of the interviewed children did not draw themselves, did not included their biological father in the drawing, or did not include their stepfather, mother's partner and foster siblings as new family members, which indicates the experienced difficulties in building interpersonal relationships in a new family and finding their place in it.

Associations of adverse childhood experiences with educational attainment and adolescent health and the role of family and socioeconomic factors: A prospective cohort study in the UK.

BackgroundExperiencing multiple adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) is a risk factor for many adverse outcomes. We explore associations of ACEs with educational attainment and adolescent health and the role of family and socioeconomic factors in these associations.Methods and findingsUsing data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC), a prospective cohort of children born in southwest England in 1991–1992, we assess associations of ACEs between birth and 16 years (sexual, physical, or emotional abuse; emotional neglect; parental substance abuse; parental mental illness or suicide attempt; violence between parents; parental separation; bullying; and parental criminal conviction, with data collected on multiple occasions between birth and age 16) with educational attainment at 16 years (n = 9,959) and health at age 17 years (depression, obesity, harmful alcohol use, smoking, and illicit drug use; n = 4,917). We explore the extent to which associations are robust to adjustment for family and socioeconomic factors (home ownership, mother and partner’s highest educational qualification, household social class, parity, child’s ethnicity, mother’s age, mother’s marital status, mother’s depression score at 18 and 32 weeks gestation, and mother’s partner’s depression score at 18 weeks gestation) and whether associations differ according to socioeconomic factors, and we estimate the proportion of adverse educational and health outcomes attributable to ACEs or family or socioeconomic measures. Among the 9,959 participants (49.5% female) included in analysis of educational outcomes, 84% reported at least one ACE, 24% reported 4 or more ACEs, and 54.5% received 5 or more General Certificates of Secondary Education (GCSEs) at grade C or above, including English and Maths. Among the 4,917 participants (50.1% female) included in analysis of health outcomes, 7.3% were obese, 8.7% had depression, 19.5% reported smoking, 16.1% reported drug use, and 10.9% reported harmful alcohol use. There were associations of ACEs with lower educational attainment and higher risk of depression, drug use, and smoking. For example, odds ratios (ORs) for 4+ ACEs compared with no ACEs after adjustment for confounders were depression, 2.4 (1.6–3.8, p < 0.001); drug use, 3.1 (2.1–4.4, p < 0.001); and smoking, 2.3 (1.7–3.1, p < 0.001). Associations with educational attainment attenuated after adjustment but remained strong; for example, the OR after adjustment for confounders for low educational attainment comparing 4+ ACEs with no ACEs was 2.0 (1.7–2.4, p < 0.001). Associations with depression, drug use, and smoking were not altered by adjustment. Associations of ACEs with harmful alcohol use and obesity were weak. For example, ORs for 4+ ACEs compared with no ACEs after adjustment for confounders were harmful alcohol use, 1.4 (0.9–2.0, p = 0.10) and obesity, 1.4 (0.9–2.2, p = 0.13) We found no evidence that socioeconomic factors modified the associations of ACEs with educational or health outcomes. Population attributable fractions (PAFs) for the adverse educational and health outcomes range from 5%–15% for 4+ ACEs and 1%–19% for low maternal education. Using data from multiple questionnaires across a long period of time enabled us to capture a detailed picture of the cohort members’ experience of ACEs; however, a limitation of our study is that this resulted in a high proportion of missing data, and our analyses assume data are missing at random.ConclusionsThis study demonstrates associations between ACEs and lower educational attainment and higher risks of depression, drug use, and smoking that remain after adjustment for family and socioeconomic factors. The low PAFs for both ACEs and socioeconomic factors imply that interventions that focus solely on ACEs or solely on socioeconomic deprivation, whilst beneficial, would miss most cases of adverse educational and health outcomes. This interpretation suggests that intervention strategies should target a wide range of relevant factors, including ACEs, socioeconomic deprivation, parental substance use, and mental health.

Finding More than I Asked For &lt;em&gt;Discussing the Impact of COVID-19 on the Film Heritage Foundation, Mumbai, and Korean Film Archive, Seoul&lt;/em&gt;

Finding More than I Asked ForDiscussing the Impact of COVID-19 on the Film Heritage Foundation, Mumbai, and Korean Film Archive, Seoul Victoria Duckett (bio) It is ironic that on the day I have put aside to write a reflection on film archives in Asia for this second iteration of "Conversations"—one with Shivendra Singh, founder and director of the Film Heritage Foundation in Mumbai, and another with Sungji Oh, head of the Korean Film Archive's Cinematheque team—I had my first COVID-19 test. I woke to find my teenage son sprawled across a beanbag on the living room floor, confiding in a rasping voice that he had a sore throat and was unable to sleep. With COVID-19 cases slowly on the rise in Victoria, and with our first hard shutdown of the border with New South Wales imposed three days ago, on January 1, 2020, I felt duty-bound to bundle my son into a car, drive him through a testing site, and impose quarantine on the household until our results were in. Yes, the cotton swab made me gag and brought tears to my eyes. But there were some positives. As the doctor attending our car cheerfully told us, we had been lucky to be tested today; yesterday, the queues were five hours long. I was possibly being overly cautious in taking us to be tested. After all, no one I know in Australia has had COVID-19, traveled to the hot spots listed in our daily news cycles, or been abroad, and only one family member has presented with a sore throat. But I also actively provide support to aging parents. Moreover, my partner's mother is a healthy ninety-five-yearold who similarly depends on us for groceries, technological support (i.e., Sunday Mass on Zoom), and company. I am therefore acutely concerned about community transmission. Moreover, the father of my boys recently flew into Australia from abroad and is currently in quarantine. He managed to obtain a visa only because one child is a minor. Significantly—particularly in view of what Shivendra Singh speaks to me about in terms of poverty and class in India—he was also able to pay for hotel quarantine and a very expensive business class airplane ticket to Melbourne (which was the only ticket available for purchase). If he records two COVID-19 negative results, he can see his children for the first time in more than a year. Both have grown. The oldest one has just completed his final year of school, doing this largely online after schools shut down in Victoria in March. These particular circumstances—to which I would add an extraordinarily busy academic year of online teaching while negotiating homeschooling and 111 days of lockdown—pale into insignificance when I look at what colleagues, family, and friends are facing abroad. Or better, my understanding of the enormity of what is occurring because of COVID-19 is crystallized when I reflect on the conversation I had with Shivendra for this article in October. My previous "Conversations" were undertaken in May 2020. At this early point in the coronavirus pandemic, I joined Meg Labrum (of the National Film and Sound Archive in Canberra) to reflect on archival practice following a summer of bushfires and Matteo Pavesi (as director of the Cineteca Italiana in Milan) to detail the initiatives his archive was taking in reaching new, intergenerational audiences through curating online initiatives from home. At that point in time, I did not ask about mortality rates, migrant populations, or the "actual" lived experience of lockdown. What I sought, instead, was information about archival capacity: I asked Labrum and Pavesi about organizing teams to work from home, the focus given to curatorial projects, and the public outreach they were enjoying—the same, and yet different. In [End Page 231] hindsight, it is as though COVID-19 was being imagined as a pandemic impacting an archive's work practices and online visibility (it moves largely online, or at least newly develops materials in this space). INTRODUCING INDIA Shivendra began our discussion by reminding me of the desperate reality India is facing. Given just four hours' notice on...

Associations of maternal quitting, reducing, and continuing smoking during pregnancy with longitudinal fetal growth: Findings from Mendelian randomization and parental negative control studies.

Maternal smoking during pregnancy is an established risk factor for low infant birth weight, but evidence on critical exposure windows and timing of fetal growth restriction is limited. Here we investigate the associations of maternal quitting, reducing, and continuing smoking during pregnancy with longitudinal fetal growth by triangulating evidence from 3 analytical approaches to strengthen causal inference. We analysed data from 8,621 European liveborn singletons in 2 population-based pregnancy cohorts (the Generation R Study, the Netherlands 2002-2006 [n = 4,682]) and the Born in Bradford study, United Kingdom 2007-2010 [n = 3,939]) with fetal ultrasound and birth anthropometric measures, parental smoking during pregnancy, and maternal genetic data. Associations with trajectories of estimated fetal weight (EFW) and individual fetal parameters (head circumference, femur length [FL], and abdominal circumference [AC]) from 12-16 to 40 weeks' gestation were analysed using multilevel fractional polynomial models. We compared results from (1) confounder-adjusted multivariable analyses, (2) a Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis using maternal rs1051730 genotype as an instrument for smoking quantity and ease of quitting, and (3) a negative control analysis comparing maternal and mother's partner's smoking associations. In multivariable analyses, women who continued smoking during pregnancy had a smaller fetal size than non-smokers from early gestation (16-20 weeks) through to birth (p-value for each parameter < 0.001). Fetal size reductions in continuing smokers followed a dose-dependent pattern (compared to non-smokers, difference in mean EFW [95% CI] at 40 weeks' gestation was -144 g [-182 to -106], -215 g [-248 to -182], and -290 g [-334 to -247] for light, moderate, and heavy smoking, respectively). Overall, fetal size reductions were most pronounced for FL. The fetal growth trajectory in women who quit smoking in early pregnancy was similar to that of non-smokers, except for a shorter FL and greater AC around 36-40 weeks' gestation. In MR analyses, each genetically determined 1-cigarette-per-day increase was associated with a smaller EFW from 20 weeks' gestation to birth in smokers (p = 0.01, difference in mean EFW at 40 weeks = -45 g [95% CI -81 to -10]) and a greater EFW from 32 weeks' gestation onwards in non-smokers (p = 0.03, difference in mean EFW at 40 weeks = 26 g [95% CI 5 to 47]). There was no evidence that partner smoking was associated with fetal growth. Study limitations include measurement error due to maternal self-report of smoking and the modest sample size for MR analyses resulting in unconfounded estimates being less precise. The apparent positive association of the genetic instrument with fetal growth in non-smokers suggests that genetic pleiotropy may have masked a stronger association in smokers. A consistent linear dose-dependent association of maternal smoking with fetal growth was observed from the early second trimester onwards, while no major growth deficit was found in women who quit smoking early in pregnancy except for a shorter FL during late gestation. These findings reinforce the importance of smoking cessation advice in preconception and antenatal care and show that smoking reduction can lower the risk of impaired fetal growth in women who struggle to quit.

Children's dietary diversity and related factors in Rwanda and Burundi: A multilevel analysis using 2010 Demographic and Health Surveys.

BackgroundOne of the reported causes of high malnutrition rates in Burundi and Rwanda is children's inadequate dietary habits. The diet of children may be affected by individual characteristics and by the characteristics of the households and the communities in which they live. We used the minimum dietary diversity of children (MDD-C) indicator as a proxy of diet quality aiming at: 1) assess how much of the observed variation in MDD-C was attributed to community clustering, and 2) to identify the MDD-C associated factors.MethodsData was obtained from the 2010 Demographic and Health Surveys of Burundi and Rwanda, from which only children 6 to 23 months from rural areas were analysed. The MDD-C was calculated according to the 2007 WHO/UNICEF guidelines. We computed the intra-class coefficient to assess the percentage of variation attributed to the clustering effect of living in the same community. And then we applied two-level logit regressions to investigate the association between MDD-C and potential risk factors following the hierarchical survey structure of DHS.ResultsThe MDD-C was 23% in rural Rwanda and 16% in rural Burundi, and a 29% of its variation in Rwanda and 17% in Burundi was attributable to community clustering. Increasing age and living standards were associated with higher MDD-C in both countries, and only in Burundi also increasing level of education of the mother's partner. In Rwanda alone, the increasing ages of the head of the household and of the mother at first birth were also positively associated with it. Despite the identification of an important proportion of the MDD-C variation due to clustering, we couldn't identify any community variable significantly associated with it.ConclusionsWe recommend further research using hierarchical models, and to integrate dietary diversity in holistic interventions which take into account both the household's and the community's characteristics the children live in.

Comparative effects of three methods of promoting breastfeeding among human immunodeficiency virus-infected women in Uganda: a parallel randomized clinical trial.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the comparative effects of three breastfeeding promotion interventions on the duration of exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) and any breastfeeding (BF) among human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected women in Uganda. Between February 2012 and February 2013, 218 HIV-infected pregnant mothers were randomly assigned to (A) standard care (n=73), (B) enhanced family/peer support (n=72) or (C) enhanced nutrition education (n=73). The prevalence (%) of EBF/BF did not differ between intervention arms at the sixth (A, 85/92; B, 84/91; C, 87/89) and ninth (A, 17/91; B, 18/89; C, 16/87) postpartum month assessments (p>0.05). However, the risk of early BF cessation differed between intervention arms depending on the mother's level of formal education (p=0.04). Among women with no formal education, the risk of early BF cessation was 88% (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR] 0.12 [95% confidence interval {CI} 0.05-0.30]) and 93% (aHR 0.07 [95% CI 0.03-0.18]) lower in arms B and C, respectively, than in arm A (p<0.01). HIV status disclosure to a partner was associated with a higher risk of early EBF (p=0.03) and BF (p=0.04) cessation. In resource-limited settings, enhanced (vs standard care) EBF promotion interventions may not differentially influence EBF but reduce the risk of early BF cessation among women with no formal education. Targeted enhanced interventions among women with no formal education and a mother's partner may be critical to reducing the risk of early EBF/BF cessation.

Depressive Symptoms and Influencing Factors in Low-Risk Mothers

ABSTRACTIntroduction: Depressive symptoms burden not only postpartum women, but can also compromise partner relationships and mother–infant interactions. With approximately 15% of women affected by perinatal mood and anxiety disorders (PMADs) each year, maternity care providers must be sensitive to personal characteristics and complaints that influence women's potential to develop postpartum depression (PPD). The purpose of the study was to identify personal characteristics and modifiable factors associated with depressive symptoms in low-risk postpartum women. Methods: A descriptive, correlational design was used to identify predictors of depressive symptoms among mothers who were considered to be at low risk for PPD. Self-report data related to mood, stress, sleep disturbance, and fatigue were collected near the sixth week post-delivery from women (N = 62) in a southern US state. Results: The levels of stress and reports of sleep disturbance approached clinical concern in the low-risk sample (n = 62), in addition to being positively correlated depressive symptoms. Cesarean delivery was also associated with increased depressive symptoms and predictive of depression symptoms when combined with perceived chronic stress, sleep disturbance, and fatigue. Discussion: The findings underscore the importance of assessing maternal mental health and adjustment during the postpartum period. While some mothers may not report depressive symptoms at post-delivery visits, they may be experiencing symptoms that predispose them to a mood disorder. Using a more holistic approach to postpartum care, with concern for both physical and mental well-being, may be a necessary shift to promote health in new mothers and families.

Qualitatively Understanding Mother Fault After Childhood Sexual Abuse.

Socially constructed images of motherhood suggest that a "good" mother is caring, nurturing, and selfless-the perfect maternal figure. When these standards are not met, mother blaming (i.e., assigning fault to mothers) occurs even in child sexual abuse (CSA) cases. We collected 312 open-ended responses in total from 108 community-based participants to understand contextual factors that increase and decrease in mother fault in a CSA-related vignette depicting the mother's partner as the perpetrator. Thematic analysis revealed five main themes. Three themes were associated with decreased blame: Lack of Overt Knowledge (i.e., the mother had no direct knowledge of the CSA and thus cannot be blamed), Physical Act (i.e., the mother was not the actual perpetrator; only the perpetrator is responsible for the CSA), and Trust (i.e., the mother should be able to trust her partner). Two themes were associated with increased blame: Covert Knowledge (i.e., the mother was expected to have covert, intuitive knowledge of the CSA) and Mistrust (i.e., the mother should have known better than to trust her partner). Faulting mothers for the CSA of their child may reduce reporting of, and help seeking for, CSA, due to fear of being blamed.

The Effect of Intra- and Intergenerational Caregiving on Subjective Well-Being--Evidence of a Population Based Longitudinal Study among Older Adults in Germany.

ObjectiveTo examine whether intra- and intergenerational caregiving affect subjective well-being (SWB) of the caregivers longitudinally.MethodsData were drawn from the German Ageing Survey (DEAS), which is a population-based longitudinal study of individuals living in Germany aged 40 and over. The waves in 2002, 2008 and 2011 were used (with 10,434 observations). SWB was examined in a broad sense, covering affective (AWB) and cognitive well-being (CWB), positive (PA) and negative affect (NA) as well as functional and mental health. While intragenerational caregiving was defined as providing care for spouse/partner, intergenerational caregiving was defined as providing care for mother, father, mother-in-law, father-in-law, partner’s mother or partner’s father.ResultsFixed effects regressions adjusting for sociodemographic factors, social network, self-efficacy and morbidity showed that intergenerational informal care did not affect the various SWB outcome measures. Intragenerational caregiving affected CWB (women) and mental health (total sample and men), whereas it did not affect the other outcome variables.ConclusionOur findings highlight the importance of intragenerational caregiving for mental health (men) and cognitive well-being (women). Consequently, interventions to avoid mental illness due to intragenerational caregiving are urgently needed.

Adverse childhood experiences: Prevalence and related factors in adolescents of a Brazilian birth cohort

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) can affect people's health and wellbeing not only at the time the ACE is experienced, but also later in life. The majority of studies on ACEs are carried out in high-income countries and little is known about its prevalence in low and middle-income countries. Thus, the aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of ACEs, associations between ACEs and sociodemographic factors, and the interrelationship between types of ACEs in adolescents of a Brazilian birth cohort. Data from 3,951 adolescents (78.4% of the original cohort) from the 1993 Pelotas Cohort were analyzed. Seven types of ACEs were assessed in those up to 18 years old: physical abuse, sexual abuse, physical neglect, emotional neglect, domestic violence, parental separation and parental death. The most common ACE was parental separation (42%), followed by emotional neglect (19.7%) and domestic violence (10.3%). Approximately 85% of the adolescents experienced at least one ACE, and females reported a higher number of adversities. Several socioeconomic, demographic and family-related characteristics were associated with the occurrence of ACEs, e.g. non-white skin color, low family income, low maternal schooling, absence of mother's partner, maternal smoking, and poor maternal mental health. A strong interrelationship was observed among the ACEs, indicating clustering of risk. These aspects should be considered by health and social care professionals in the prevention and identification of childhood adversities.

Partner smoking and maternal cotinine during pregnancy: Implications for negative control methods

BackgroundComparison of the associations of maternal and mother's partner smoking with offspring outcomes is, in theory, a useful method for assessing whether there may be an intrauterine effect of tobacco exposure on these outcomes. However, this approach assumes that the effects of passive smoking from exposure to partner smoking during pregnancy are minimal. We evaluated this assumption using a biochemical measure of tobacco exposure in pregnant women. MethodsCotinine levels taken during the first trimester of pregnancy were measured in a sample of 3928 women from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children. Median cotinine values were compared across categories of smoking heaviness (cigarettes per day) of the women during the first trimester and in non-smoking women by the smoking heaviness of their partner. ResultsCotinine levels were substantially higher in women who smoked compared to non-smokers (range of medians across smoking heaviness categories: 900–5362ng/ml versus 20ng/ml, interquartile range (IQR) (0–63) for non-smokers). In contrast, cotinine levels in non-smoking women were only very weakly related to partner smoking status (range of medians in women with smoking partners: 34–69ng/ml versus 12ng/ml, IQR (0–48) in women with non-smoking partners). ConclusionsLevels of tobacco exposure from partner smoking, as assessed by cotinine, were low in non-smoking pregnant women. This suggests that using mother's partner's smoking as a negative control for investigating intrauterine effects is valid.

Inpatient mother-and-child postpartum psychiatric care: Factors associated with improvement in maternal mental health

Purpose This study assessed the underexplored factors associated with significant improvement in mothers’ mental health during postpartum inpatient psychiatric care. Methods This study analyzed clinical improvement in a prospective cohort of 869 women jointly admitted with their infant to 13 psychiatric Mother-Baby Units (MBUs) in France between 2001 and 2007. Predictive variables tested were: maternal mental illness (ICD-10), sociodemographic characteristics, mental illness and childhood abuse history, acute or chronic disorder, pregnancy and birth data, characteristics and mental health of the mother's partner, and MBU characteristics. Results Two thirds of the women improved significantly by discharge. Admission for 25% was for a first acute episode very early after childbirth. Independent factors associated with marked improvement at discharge were bipolar or depressive disorder, a first acute episode or relapse of such an episode. Schizophrenia, a personality disorder, and poor social integration (as measured by occupational status) were all related to poor clinical outcomes. Discussion Most women improved significantly while under care in MBUs. Our results emphasize the importance of the type of disease but also its chronicity and the social integration when providing postpartum psychiatric care.

Facialmetric similarities mediate mate choice: sexual imprinting on opposite-sex parents

Former studies have suggested that imprinting-like processes influence the shaping of human mate preferences. In this study, we provide more direct evidence for assessing facial resemblance between subjects' partner and subjects' parents. Fourteen facial proportions were measured on 312 adults belonging to 52 families, and the correlations between family members were compared with those of pairs randomly selected from the population. Spouses proved to be assortatively mated in the majority of measured facial proportions. Significant correlations have been found between the young men and their partner's father (but not his mother), especially on facial proportions belonging to the central area of the face. Women also showed resemblance to their partner's mother (but not to their father) in the facial characteristics of their lower face. Replicating our previous studies, facial photographs of participants were also matched by independent judges who ascribed higher resemblance between partners, and subjects and their partners' opposite-sex parents, compared with controls. Our results support the sexual imprinting hypothesis which states that children shape a mental template of their opposite-sex parents and search for a partner who resembles that perceptual schema. The fact that only the facial metrics of opposite-sex parents showed resemblance to the partner's face tends to rule out the role of familiarity in shaping mating preferences. Our findings also reject several other rival hypotheses. The adaptive value of imprinting-related human mating is discussed, and a hypothesis is made of why different facial areas are involved in males' and females' search for resemblance.

Mothers’ protection of their children after discovering they have been sexually abused: An information-processing perspective

Objective The purpose of this study was to understand why some non-offending mothers did not protect their children consistently after they knew they were sexually abused. Methods The sample included 85 mothers who were involved with child protective services: 48 mothers who protected their children consistently were compared to 37 mothers who did not. Results Several variables explained 47% of the variance in the multivariate analysis. If the mother did not ask the abuser whether the abuse occurred, attributed responsibility to the abuser, believed consistently that the abuse occurred, and was not a victim of domestic violence, then she was more likely to protect her child consistently. Conclusions Some maternal characteristics believed to affect protectiveness, such as mothers’ mental health and substance abuse, were not related to whether they protected their children consistently, whereas other variables, such as domestic violence, were. Researchers need to continue to examine these and other variables simultaneously, so that practitioners can better understand which children are most likely to receive inadequate protection. Practice implications Practitioners should ask mothers whether they believe the abusers’ behavior was sexual and abusive. If mothers do not perceive sexual abuse, then they will not believe abuse occurred or attribute responsibility to the abusers. Helping mothers understand the nature of sexual abuse may change their beliefs and attributions. If the abuser is the mother's partner and he has physically assaulted her, practitioners need to assess her willingness and ability, with adequate services and support, to restrict his access to her child.

Maternal smoking, social class and outcomes of pregnancy

Exposure to tobacco during pregnancy is an important risk factor for infant health. Recently the prevalence of smoking during pregnancy has declined in our area. The objective of this study was to analyse the association between several social variables and the fetal exposure to smoking, as well as the association between maternal smoking and some adverse gestational outcomes. Data collection was cross-sectional. The study population were women in the city of Barcelona (Catalonia, Spain) delivering a child without birth defects. The sample corresponded to the controls of the Birth Defects Registry of Barcelona, 2% of all pregnancy deliveries in the city from 1994 to 2003 (n = 2297). Information sources were hospital records and a personal interview of mothers. The analysis measured first the association between independent variables (instruction level, social class, occupation, nationality, planned pregnancy, parity, hospital funding and smoking status of the mother's partner) with two dependent variables: smoking at the initiation of pregnancy and quitting during pregnancy. Second, the persistence of smoking over pregnancy and all independent variables were studied with three variables indicating adverse outcomes of pregnancy: low gestation, low birthweight and intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR). Finally, the joint association between the persistence of smoking over pregnancy and social class taken as independent variables was determined with the three variables indicating adverse outcomes of pregnancy. Logistic regression models were fitted, adjusting for maternal age. Results are presented as odds ratios with their 95% confidence intervals. The prevalence of smoking at the onset of gestation was 41%, and 40% of these women quit during pregnancy, so that 25% delivered as active smokers. Fewer women with higher educational levels and from families with non-manual jobs smoked, as did immigrants, those planning pregnancy and women whose partner did not smoke. Smoking immigrants quit more frequently than nationals, as did those planning pregnancy, primiparae, and women whose partner did not smoke. Low gestation, low birthweight and IUGR were more frequent among smokers and women with a manual occupation, but manual occupation lost its significance when adjusting for smoking. The association between smoking and adverse results was higher for IUGR. In conclusion, the prevalence of smoking and quitting during pregnancy varied according to social factors. The influence of social factors on the outcome of pregnancy was mediated strongly by smoking in a country that provides access to health care free of cost. A priority in reducing inequalities in health is to help women from manual work backgrounds quit smoking.

Maternal Partner Criminality and Cannabis use in Young Adulthood: Prospective Study

The present study examined whether the experience of the arrest or incarceration of a mother's partner before a child reached 14 years of age was associated with use of cannabis in early adulthood and, if so, whether this association was confounded or mediated by other factors. Data were from the Mater Hospital University of Queensland Study of Pregnancy, a prospective birth cohort study in Brisbane, Australia. The history of partner arrest and incarceration was reported by mothers at the 14 year follow up. Mothers were divided into four groups: mothers whose partner had no history of arrest or incarceration, mothers reporting partner arrest, mothers reporting partner incarceration, and unpartnered mothers. Young adults' cannabis use was assessed at 21 years. Other covariates were prospectively measured between birth and 14 years. After controlling for potential confounding and mediating factors, frequent use of cannabis at age 21 was more likely among young adults with a history of maternal partner arrest (odds ratio=2.3; 95% confidence interval: 1.4-3.8). There was no significant association between maternal partner incarceration or single motherhood, and cannabis use at age 21. Arrest of the mother's partner before the child is 14 is associated with that child's increased cannabis use at age 21 but this does not appear to be the case for children whose fathers have been imprisoned. It appears that for children whose fathers have been arrested, the father's ongoing presence in the family may result in worse outcomes for the child, including an increased risk of cannabis use in young adulthood.

The Role of Men in Chronic Supervisory Neglect

This study investigates whether parents' child care demand and resources, their capacity to provide adequate supervision, and their understanding of the supervision problem predict chronic supervisory neglect. A case-comparison design was used to compare families who had one isolated incident of supervisory neglect, who were involved with child protective services (CPS) because of a persistent supervision problem (2 years or less), and who were involved with CPS because of a chronic supervision problem (more than 2 years). When the mother's partner was not the father of her children or had a drug, alcohol, or mental health challenge, and when no one understood that there was a supervision problem or took responsibility for it, the problem was more likely to persist or become chronic. Therefore, when predicting whether a family will continue to provide inadequate supervision, it is important to also assess the mother's partner.

Pre- and postnatal antecedents of a home-visiting intervention and family developmental outcome.

This is a study of the pre- and postnatal antecedents of select indices of 6 to 24 months mother-child and child social-emotional development. The following hypotheses guided the study: 1. That a mother who is secure before the birth of her child will be more involved in the work of the home-visiting intervention, and will by child age 24 months be more responsive to the needs of her child, encourage the autonomy of her child, and use verbal and positive forms of control. In this relationship context, the 2 year-olds would expect to be cared for, show more autonomy, and respond positively to the mother's control. 2. That in a regression mode of analysis, the following five antecedents will be additional predictors of the 2 year outcome: (a) the 1-month mother responsiveness and the infant irritability, (b) the 6 month mother's partner and family support, and (c) the mother's involvement in the work of the intervention in the 7-to 12-months period. Repeated measures analysis of variance and stepwise regression analysis showed that the mother's prebirth secure/autonomous state was associated with the outcome in the 6- to 24-month period and her involvement in the work of the intervention, and that the latter was consistently a significant antecedent of the 24-month outcome. The implications of outcome being anticipated by both family characteristics and the mother's involvement in the intervention are discussed.

Non-resident fathers’ relationships with their secondary school age children: Determinants and children's mental health outcomes

Data from 520 British secondary school age children were used to explore determinants of and mental health outcomes (measured with the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire) from their non-resident fathers’ relationships (child-reported father's involvement and frequency of contact) with them. Frequency of contact was negatively related to time elapsed since parents separated, and was higher if fathers were single than partnered. Compared to White, non-White adolescents reported lower frequency of father's contact but not lower father's involvement. Father's involvement was related positively to mother's involvement and negatively to interparental conflict. As a whole, non-resident father's involvement and frequency of contact did not improve the regression models predicting children's total difficulties or pro-social behaviour. Even after controlling for other factors non-resident father's involvement did not predict child's difficulties or pro-social behaviour, although frequency of contact was negatively associated with child's emotional symptoms. Neither child's ethnicity or gender nor mother's partner status moderated the link between child's mental health outcomes and non-resident father's involvement or frequency of contact.