Parental Protection Research Articles

The myth of gender neutrality in family court: A clinician's perspective on determinations of “the best interest of the child”

AbstractMisogyny is a universal prejudice against women manifest in all areas of society. To interrogate the nature of this prejudice, the author uses the family court system as her focus. The myth of gender neutrality in family court is pervasive. Current laws are framed around the assumption that both parents are on a level playing field. The reality is that our legal system is biased against mothers. This often reveals itself in the way courts make determinations of “the best interests of the child”. Family court is a microcosm of societal attitudes about parents, especially mothers, and related beliefs about what protects children. A brief review of family law and the “best interest” standard follows as well as a review of what we know and do not know about what is protective for children. The author reviews the problems inherent in family law and mental health training and practice—forensic and clinical. Although mandated to protect children, family court decisions sometimes have the opposite impact, and at times, even endangering the most protective parent and the child. This occurs mainly by devaluing the caretaking role while requiring the more responsible parent to facilitate the other parent's relationship with the child—regardless of the impact on her and the child. There are many reasons for this, but the basic one is the misogyny built into this system. This essay describes how social science research, psychological theory, and developmental principles are misused by both the legal and mental health professions to that end.

Mothers' Psychological Control and Accommodation are Associated with More Severe Anxiety in Hispanic Youth.

Psychological accommodation and control may help explain the finding that anxiety is more severe and common in Hispanic youth. Research with White samples conceptualizes psychological control as part of an authoritarian parenting style; however, research with Hispanic families suggests that psychological control is more likely to be indicative of a protective parenting style. Based on these findings, we hypothesized that in Hispanic families, psychological control would be related to protective parenting behaviors that ultimately maintain child anxiety. We tested a cross-sectional model hypothesizing that in Hispanic families the link between ethnicity and anxiety would be mediated through psychological control and parental accommodation of child anxiety, a parenting behavior which protects the child from the aversive experiences in the moment but ultimately serves to maintain child anxiety. A sample of mothers (n = 145; 48% Hispanic) and fathers (n = 59; 48% Hispanic) of youth from 8 to 18years of age completed a survey assessing anxiety and parenting. With Hispanic mothers, the relation between ethnicity (Hispanic/non-Hispanic) and child anxiety was mediated through psychological control and accommodation. With fathers, although control was related to accommodation which, in turn, was related to child anxiety, ethnicity was not associated with control, accommodation, or child anxiety. Findings suggest that the context of parenting behavior should be considered in research, and adaptations of child anxiety treatments should consider ways to allow parents to express their desire to communicate warmth and protectiveness while avoiding negative reinforcement of child anxiety.

Tinjauan Terhadap Tindak Pidana Pencabulan pada Anak di Bawah Umur Berdasarkan Undang-Undang Perlindungan Anak

Various issues regarding criminal acts are increasingly increasing the number of cases and also the victims of criminal acts. Criminal acts that occur are caused by several factors, from the pressure of economic needs to conditions that endanger or injure victims both psychologically is sexual abuse, especially of children. Children should be a priority for parents, society and government because children who are still minors are still uder the protection of parents and the law in Indonesia, especially the Law on Child Protection which is clear in which children have their own rights, one of which is not to receive indecent treatnent such as criminal acts of decency. Sexual abuse itself has a definition as a form of action or action in expressing syahwatnya to others by force. The act of sexual abuse that is in the public spotlight today is the perpetrators who launch their actions on children. The occurrence of this act of sexual abuse is due to internal factors and also external factors. However, the acts of sexual abuse must still be processed by the law because it is included in criminal law and there must be sanstions and provisions for the verdict of the criminal case of this sexual abuse.

Inclusion of a Parental Component in a Sports-Based HIV Prevention Program for Dominican Youth.

Underprivileged youth in the Dominican Republic (DR) are at high risk of acquiring the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Protective parenting practices may inhibit sexual risk-taking. We investigated whether parental involvement in a sports-based HIV prevention program increased self-efficacy to prevent HIV and safe sex behavior among Dominican youth. The study had a quasi-experimental design with repeated measures. N = 90 participants between 13 and 24 years of age participated in the program through two different trainings, UNICA and A Ganar, both of which had an experimental (i.e., program with parental component) and a control (i.e., program without parental component) condition. Self-efficacy to prevent HIV significantly increased among participants in the experimental condition of UNICA. Self-efficacy for safe sex increased among sexually active participants in the experimental condition of A Ganar. Implications for Impact: These findings are important to meet the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goal of good health and wellbeing, as they suggest that parental involvement in sports-based HIV prevention programs can enhance their positive effects for increasing youth's self-efficacy to practice HIV-preventive behaviors. Randomized control trials and longitudinal studies are needed.

Parental-Led Sexual Abuse Education Amongst At-Risk Parents: Associations with Parenting Practices, and Parent and Child Symptomology

ABSTRACT Considering the emphasis on parent-led sexual abuse education (PLSAE) in child sexual abuse (CSA) prevention, and the imperative of prevention in families living with demonstrated risk factors, it is important to understand the extent to which this group delivers PLSAE to their children, whether this is associated with any barriers or facilitators, whether parents are engaging in other protective behaviors (such as monitoring and involvement) and the relationship between these variables and other risk factors such as parent and child symptomology. We surveyed 117 parents, with children ranging in age from 25–89 months (67% boys), attending a parenting program for assistance with a range of parenting difficulties and child behavior problems from 2020–22. A large majority of parents reported not giving their children comprehensive prevention messages, discussing body integrity and abduction dangers to a greater extent. PLSAE was significantly positively associated with child internalizing and externalizing symptoms; parent and child age; and discussion of body integrity and abduction. However, PLSAE was not associated with any other measured variables (protective parenting; CSA knowledge; parenting self-efficacy; general and own-child risk appraisal; parent burnout, stress, depression or anxiety; child diagnosis; parental education level; employment or marital status; or income). The current findings suggest that investing resources into increasing parental knowledge, risk perception and confidence may be misguided. Future endeavors should consider helping parents be protective in other ways, for example, through the creation of safe environments and reducing the risks of CSA.

Do parental protective factors matter? Predicting HIV/STI risk among a sample of justice-involved African-American girls

African American adolescent girls are overrepresented in the juvenile justice system and are disproportionately affected by human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and sexually transmitted infections (STI). Parental protection may play a critical role in the sexual behaviors of African American adolescent girls and help to inform family-based interventions. The current study investigated the impact of parental protective factors (monitoring, sex communication, and authoritarian parenting) on sexual risk-related outcomes in a sample (n = 172) of justice-involved, urban African American adolescent girls aged 13–17 years. Multiple linear regression analyses were conducted to estimate the association between parental protective factors and percentage of consistent condom use, HIV/STI knowledge, fear of condom negation, and condom self-efficacy 3 months after their release from detention centers. Baseline parental protective factors were significantly associated with sexual risk-related outcomes of African American adolescent girls. Parental monitoring was positively associated with consistency of condom use and increased HIV/STI knowledge. Parental communication about sex reduced fear of condom negotiation and increased condom self-efficacy. Authoritarian parenting predicted increased HIV/STI knowledge and fear of condom negotiation following release. Programs, policies, and interventions addressing the sexual health of African American adolescent girls should engage families to enhance protective factors to reduce their sexual risk.

The Mitigating Effects of Protective Parenting on Level of Adolescent Substance Use Risk

Background: Protective parenting clearly reduces the risk of substance use among young people, but its relationship with cumulative risk for substance use, or the number of risk factors a young person experiences, has not been examined. Objectives: The analysis explores how protective parenting is associated with cumulative risk for adolescent substance use. Methods: A nationally representative online survey of adolescents ages 12-17 (N = 965; 50.8% male; 49.2% female) explored the role of a number of protective parenting variables in predicting substance use risk among adolescents. Parenting behaviors, such as providing warmth, trust, and emotional support; spending time together; communicating about substance use; and monitoring were considered protective. Risk factors included having close friends who use substances, witnessing use, low perceptions of harm, unreliable sources of information about substances, perceived access, and lying to parents. Results: 21.7% of respondents reported 0-1 risk factors, 27.6% reported 2-3 risk factors, and 50.7% reported 4 or more risk factors. Controlling for demographics, a protective parenting composite measure of trust, warmth, and emotional support was associated with decreased risk of reporting 4 or more risk factors (0.45 RRR, p<.05) and spending time together was associated with decreased risk of reporting 2-3 and 4 or more risk factors compared to 0-1 risk factors (0.42 RRR, p<.05; 0.43 RRR, p<.05). Conclusion: These findings highlight the importance of protective parenting in mitigating the cumulative risk for youth substance use. Involving parents in prevention efforts should be a routine component of prevention practice, especially for youth at higher risk.

The fate of children who are victims of domestic violence

Even if the child is not the direct victim of domestic violence, he or she may still suffer the effects of the violence, especially when it occurs during pregnancy. This trauma has three important consequences, of which the child is both a witness and a victim: the experience of catastrophe, which follows the fear aroused by the violence, the process of identification with the victim and the process of identification with the aggressor. This affects the attachment between the supposedly protective parent, usually the mother, and the child.

Knowledge Transmission and Skills Building Relating to Child Sexual Abuse in China

ABSTRACT Parents play a key role in child CSA prevention, but the mechanisms underlying the intergenerational knowledge transmission are not fully understood. This study explores the role of two parenting practices – parent-child communication and parent’s protective behavior – as mediating factors in the relation between parents’ knowledge and their children’s knowledge and skills. Four hundred and ten dyads of early adolescents and their mother or father from rural China participated in the study. Parents were surveyed on their knowledge, protective behaviors, and parent-child communication regarding CSA, while children answered questions on relevant knowledge and skills. Results revealed that parental knowledge was positively and significantly related to communication and protective behavior, protective behavior was positively related to children’s knowledge and skills, but the coefficient between communication and children’s knowledge and skills was insignificant. The findings highlight direct parental protection as one of the most important mechanism for intergenerational knowledge transmission.

Parental protection in fathers with negative caregiving experiences: Heightened amygdala reactivity to infant threatening situations.

Parental protection is an important, yet understudied, aspect of parenting behavior. Predictors of the quality of protection and potential underlying neural mechanisms are still unknown. In this study, we examined whether negative caregiving experiences in fathers' own childhood are related to protective behavior and neural reactivity to infant threatening situations. Paternal protective behavior was measured with self- and partner-reported protective behavior and behavioral observations in an experimental set-up (auditory startling task) in 121 first-time fathers (mean age child=19.35 weeks, SD=11.27). Neural activation during exposure to videos of infant-threatening (vs. neutral) situations was measured with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). We found a significant and positive association between negative caregiving experiences and amygdala reactivity to infant-threatening situations. A history of negative caregiving experiences was not significantly related to reported or observed paternal protective behavior. Our findings suggest that fathers with negative caregiving experiences show emotional hyperreactivity to cues of infant threat.

Samoprocena prijateljstva i socijalne inkluzije odraslih osoba sa teškoćama u intelektualnom funkcionisanju

Introduction. Persons with intellectual disabilities often experience difficulties in achieving interpersonal relations and social inclusion, which are important aspects of quality of life. Objectives. This paper aims to examine the perspective of people with intellectual disabilities on friendships and social inclusion and identify factors which influence their development, with the ultimate goal of defining recommendations for improving support. Methods. A qualitative research approach was chosen to gain insight into participants' subjective experiences and views. For this purpose, an individual semi-structured interview was conducted with eight adults with mild and moderate intellectual disabilities. Results. Participants generally express satisfaction with their friendships and social involvement. They spend time with friends, mostly in the centre, where they are included in the daily program. They especially emphasize the importance of the emotional support they receive from friends. In addition to activities in the daily centre, participants play sports, but they spend most of their free time at home. The factors that negatively affect their social inclusion and friendships are overly protective parents, living conditions, and low motivation. The factors that promote both are parental support, the use of social media, and visiting different places in the community. Conclusion. Although participants are mostly satisfied with their friendships and social inclusion, they also express different needs. Being included in the daily centre has a positive impact on developing friendships and social inclusion, but at the same time, it is necessary to offer inclusive content in society and provide both formal and informal support in this area.

Implementation of Legal Protection for Economic Exploitation of Children

Numerous parents utilize or even manipulate their children for their own profit. Typically, their treatment is motivated by money or economic issues. Numerous individuals immerse themselves in the demands of their existence without thinking about what they require and require. In this study, a qualitative descriptive methodology was employed. Based on the findings of this study, it was determined that there was a legal void in the implementation of criminal acts against offenders of economic exploitation of children. Even though the child's status in the eyes of the law has been accorded special protection, as stipulated in Law No. 23 of 2002 on Child Protection, this protection is not absolute. Children entitled to parental protection, affection, and supervision are educated and cared for in accordance with their rights as children so that there are no growth phase deviations. As an institution that concentrates on incidents of violence against children, the National Human Rights Commission can also demonstrate that numerous acts of violence have been committed against Indonesian children.

Implementation of Legal Protection for Economic Exploitation of Children

Numerous parents utilize or even manipulate their children for their own profit. Typically, their treatment is motivated by money or economic issues. Numerous individuals immerse themselves in the demands of their existence without thinking about what they require and require. In this study, a qualitative descriptive methodology was employed. Based on the findings of this study, it was determined that there was a legal void in the implementation of criminal acts against offenders of economic exploitation of children. Even though the child's status in the eyes of the law has been accorded special protection, as stipulated in Law No. 23 of 2002 on Child Protection, this protection is not absolute. Children entitled to parental protection, affection, and supervision are educated and cared for in accordance with their rights as children so that there are no growth phase deviations. As an institution that concentrates on incidents of violence against children, the National Human Rights Commission can also demonstrate that numerous acts of violence have been committed against Indonesian children.Keywords: Legal Protection; Economic Exploitation; Child Exploitation

Mothers' Emotion Regulation and Negative Affect in Infants: The Role of Self-Efficacy and Knowledge of Parenting Practices.

Early in development, children rely heavily on caregivers for assistance with the regulation of negative emotion. As such, it is important to understand parent characteristics that influence caregiver ability to attenuate infant negative affect and mediating factors by which this process may unfold. This study examined the relationship between parental emotional regulation strategies (ERs) and infants' negative affect and tested the mediating effects of parenting self-efficacy and knowledge of this association. Results indicated that higher maternal reappraisal was related to higher maternal self-efficacy whereas higher maternal suppression was related to lower knowledge of parenting practices. Maternal suppression was negatively related to infant frustration; maternal self-efficacy was positively related to infant falling reactivity and negatively related to sadness. There was a significant indirect effect between maternal reappraisal and infant falling reactivity through maternal self-efficacy. The mediation result suggests that mothers with higher use of reappraisal show higher self-efficacy and have infants with higher falling reactivity. Maternal knowledge about parenting practices was related to lower infant fear. Maternal knowledge of parenting practices did not mediate any associations between maternal emotion regulation strategies and infant negative affect. These findings contribute to the understanding early protective parenting mechanisms for supporting the external regulation of negative affect in infants and also in designing and implementing preventive parenting programs focused on the emotional needs of parents and children.

The Psychological Effects of Parental Guidance in Edward Bond’s The Children (2000)

The world has witnessed various economic, social, and political problems throughout history. People could not overcome the psychological disorders that stemmed from war. Individuals growing up under these conditions surely need parental guidance to find the correct path in puberty. Correspondingly, Freud emphasises the importance of parental protection and supervision. Psychosexual developmental stages, which are part of “Psychoanalysis”, have served as a guide for parents to raise well-behaved children. In this respect, Edward Bond cleverly deals with the social problems in his plays. He touches upon the theme of violence and victimised children by exposing social issues to present solutions to the existing order for the sake of constructing a mentally healthy generation. Bond additionally believes that literary figures should shed light on the violence that people are exposed to in their early ages. For this purpose, he evidently challenges the problems that the society preferred to keep their ears deaf and eyes blind in The Children (2000). In other words, the purpose of this study is to show how Edward Bond successfully reveals the psychological problems of the younger generation by focusing on their main underlying reasons under the light of Freud’s “Psychosexual Development Theory” in The Children.

Nest-site choice by loggerhead sea turtles as a risk-management adaptation to offset hatching failure by unpredictable storms and predators

IntroductionAlong the coasts of Florida, United States, the nesting season of the loggerhead sea turtle, Caretta caretta, overlaps with the hurricane season. Nesting loggerhead females do not extend parental protection beyond depositing eggs in sandy, excavated nests in locations that provide a viable range of temperatures, moisture, and respiratory gas exchange. Thereafter, a female’s clutches are subjected to the uncertainties of desiccation, predation, flooding, or beach erosion.MethodsHere, we used data from a 1996-2004 study of 94 tagged loggerhead females nesting on a small barrier island off the Gulf Coast of south Florida, United States. We tested the hypothesis that the distribution of nest sites by loggerhead females was a randomized response to unpredictable hatching failure.ResultsWe show that nest site choice accounted for 19.2% of variation in hatching success whereas breeding year and breeding month accounted for the remaining 81.8% of variation in hatching success. We show that the emergence site along the beach-length axis, nest site choice along the beach-width axis, and distances between nest locations did not fit a uniform-random distribution or a normal distribution. Instead, we show that loggerhead females employed a “Goldilocks” distribution in which nest sites were “neither too clustered nor too dispersed.” Moreover, loggerhead females selected nest sites with limited overlap with nest sites from previous breeding seasons.DiscussionWe propose that nest site choice by this population of loggerhead females constitutes a significant maternal risk-management adaptation that deserves thoughtful consideration as we continue to assess the impacts of climate change on the future of loggerhead sea turtles.

Parental Attitudes, Intentions, Decisions, and Psychological Wellbeing Regarding COVID-19 Vaccination: Preschool, School-Age, and Adolescent Caregivers.

The vaccination of all children may be one of the most important public health measures for preventing a wider spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection in the community. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the attitude, intention, decision making, and psychological well-being among the caregivers of children who received SARS-CoV-2 vaccination in Taiwan. The caregivers of children (98 preschool children, 191 school-age children, and 154 adolescents) who received COVID-19 vaccination were invited to fill in the following questionnaires: Adopting Self-Protective Behavior Scale, Drivers of COVID-19 Vaccination Acceptance Scale, Impact of Event Scale, Chinese Health Questionnaire, and Parental Bonding Instrument. Compared to the caregivers of adolescents, the caregivers of preschool children exhibited more protective behaviors toward the COVID-19 pandemic. The caregivers of preschool children also displayed a higher emotional impact than those of adolescents and took a greater interest in the family's opinion about vaccination. Finally, we found that COVID-19 ideological invasion and protective parenting style were significantly related to the prevalence of mental illness among caregivers. The results of this study can be used as an important reference for vaccination health care and policy formulation for adolescents with regard to COVID-19.

에듀테크 활용 교육의 효과성 분석

This study is to analyze the educational effects of the edutech content support project targeting vulnerable students. In particular, it was intended to explore the self-directed learning ability among the effects of the edutech content support project. To analyze the improvement in the self-directed learning ability of the vulnerable students receiving the edutech content support, a pre- and post-test was conducted. The study results are as follows. As a result of group difference analysis of self-directed learning ability, there are statistically significant differences by gender, school, and region in the cognitive and behavioral domains. In the affective domain, there was statistically significant difference by school and region. There was no statistically significant difference in pre-post scores for each domain of self-directed learning ability. However, the mean scores were all high in the posterior test. Suggestions through this are as follows. First, a long-term support project using edutech contents is necessary. Second, it is necessary to provide an active mentor service to complement the emotional aspects of students from the underprivileged beyond learning. Third, it is necessary to support edutech services that include support from mentors or tutors for vulnerable students who do not receive active parental protection or academic support.

The roles of gratitude and mindfulness between cyberbullying perpetration and depression among children in rural China: A moderated mediation model.

Previous literature suggests that gratitude and mindfulness-based intervention could effectively abate stressful life events, while the associations with cyberbullying perpetration have not been investigated. Little is known about the mechanisms of this association, especially for children who lack sufficient parental protection. The current study aimed to examine the roles of mindfulness and gratitude in the relationship between cyberbullying perpetration and depression among children and adolescents. This study employed data from a school-based survey conducted in 2018, in which 1298 students aged 9-16 years were randomly selected from three elementary and middle schools in China. The moderated mediation effects of gratitude and mindfulness on the relationship between cyberbullying perpetration and depression were examined through PROCESS model. Results showed that mindfulness mediated the relationship between cyberbullying perpetration and depression, while gratitude moderated and weakened the relationship. The findings may offer insights into the awareness and intervention programs regarding positive psychological mechanisms to reduce cyberbullying perpetration among children and adolescents in China.

The impact of child anxiety and overinvolvement on peer relations: a moderation model

ABSTRACT Protective parenting behaviors (e.g., overinvolvement) and symptoms of anxiety have been independently linked to poor peer relationships in youth. However, it is likely that the relationship between these factors is more complex. We hypothesized that child anxiety would be inversely associated with peer relationships and that this relationship would be stronger in the context of high parental overinvolvement. Data were collected from 92 parents, and a simple moderation analysis was conducted, controlling for youth externalizing symptoms. Externalizing symptoms significantly influenced the overall model; however, no other variables were significantly related to peer relationships. Conclusions, limitations, and future directions are discussed.