Quality Of Parental Care Research Articles

Parental behaviors towards preschool age children in Croatia

This article investigates the frequency of what we define as supportive and unsupportive parental behaviors and whether there is a statistically significant difference in the frequency of parental behaviors in reference to different parental characteristics (level of education, employment status, socio-economic status). This research involved a sample of 3500 parents of children aged 5 and 6. The results show that such supportive parental behaviors are used more frequently than unsupportive ones. Still, approximately 25% of parents implement modes of behavior that the literature suggests hinders children’s optimal development, whereas for 10% the frequency of such behaviors is very high. The results confirm that the level of education, employment status, and socio-economic family status represent significant factors in the quality of parental care. Moreover, these can enhance the risk factors in given familial contexts. In the process of creating support programs and finding ways of strengthening family resilience, and other public policies and strategies to prevent risks of social exclusion caused by familial factors, it is important to bear in mind the heterogeneity of the risks of social exclusion within the family and to respond to the specific needs and challenges of different parents and children. When it comes to developing policy, a one-size-fits all approach should, be avoided.

The impact of childhood maltreatment on telomere length in cocaine use disorder

ABSTRACT Background Several studies suggest that child maltreatment (CM) is a risk factor for a wide range of adverse biological and psychological outcomes, such as cocaine use disorder (CUD). CM and CUD are independently associated with altered telomere length (TL), but the mechanisms that underpin this relationship remain unknown. The aim of this study was to examine TL changes in cocaine-addicted individuals with and without CM. Methods This study comprised 29 cocaine-addicted individuals with a DSM-5 diagnosis of CUD and 29 healthy controls. All subjects completed questionnaires to evaluate the presence of CM (CTQ-SF) and their perceived parental care quality (PBI). Based on the responses, the CUD sample was divided into subgroups, while the control group was selected based on the absence of CM. Blood was collected from all participants, DNA was extracted, and TL was measured using quantitative real-time PCR. Results CUD patients with a history of CM had the shortest TL among subgroups. Further, we observed a linear relationship between “paternal care” levels experienced in childhood and TL. Conclusion These results support the association between telomere shortening with CM and drug addiction and suggest that greater parental care is a protective factor against stressors that affect TL.

Treating Vulnerable Mothers, Infants and Young Children Living in Poverty: Co-Creating a Psychoanalytic Playground in Various Alternative Settings

ABSTRACT The families referred to the Anni Bergman Parent Infant Program (ABPIP) Home-Visiting Project often face multiple, overwhelming stressors embedded within the market-oriented system of poverty and exploitation. These stressors compromise the quality of parental care, which in turn negatively impacts the infant’s well-being. These financially vulnerable families are usually in an urgent crisis that needs immediate attention. The author describes the innovative model of this outreach program based on psychoanalytic infant observation that encourages interventions on multiple levels simultaneously. Another unique aspect of the program is its reshaping of the analytic frame. Considering the ever-changing nature of the physical settings, the analyst’s internal setting becomes a vital, anchoring, and facilitating factor of therapeutic change. Through two detailed case examples, the author shows how these outreach analysts place themselves in between external and internal realities, recognizing the interdependent nature of both, while also maintaining a psychoanalytic attitude and frame that is primarily situated within the analyst. The author also reflects on her own precarious status as an international, temporary visa holder in the US and the ways this external reality entered into the playground of therapy that allowed the author to understand and help a child in a deeper, more personal way based on the dyad’s shared preoccupation with the notion of home.

The Effect of a Virtual Educational and Supportive Intervention on the Mothers’ Resilience with Preterm Infants: A Quasi-experimental Study

Background: Infants’ admission to neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) leads to the psychological vulnerability of their mothers. Providing education and implementing supportive interventions can improve the quality of parental care of premature infants and empower parents. The presence and participation of parents in the care of preterm infants may improve parents’ resilience. Objectives: This study aimed to examine the effect of a virtual educational and supportive intervention on the mothers’ resilience with preterm infants admitted to NICUs in 2020. Methods: This quasi-experimental study was conducted on 100 mothers with preterm infants admitted to Afzalipour Hospital in Kerman in 2020. The participants were selected by purposive and convenience sampling and were divided into intervention and control groups using a random number table. The educational and supportive training intervention program was implemented for 2 weeks in the intervention group. However, the control group only received routine care. The data were collected using a demographic information questionnaire and the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC). The collected data were analyzed using SPSS version 22 at a significance level of 0.05. Results: Resilience and all its dimensions showed significant improvements in the intervention group compared to their resilience before the intervention. The mean resilience scores in the intervention group were 57.62 ± 13.95 and 76.96 ± 08.07 before and after the intervention (P < 0.05). The mean resilience scores in the control group were 60.40 ± 14.41 and 62.70 ± 11.09 before and after the intervention (P > 0.05). Overall, the mean scores of resilience and its dimensions increased significantly in the intervention group than in the control group (P < 0.05). Conclusions: Implementing a virtual educational and supportive intervention improved the resilience of mothers with preterm infants. Overall, this program can be used by nursing managers and nurses to provide supportive care for parents of premature infants to improve the quality of care in these wards. Further research can be done to examine the attitudes and experiences of health care workers in this field.

The Role of Maternal Personality Organization and of the p Factor in Predicting Parental Distress, the Quality of Parental Care, and Offspring's Dysregulation Symptoms.

It has been posited that parental distress, the quality of maternal care and offspring's dysregulation can be predicted by maternal maladaptive characteristics. However, only a few studies have considered mothers' personality organizations and features of the p factor in mothers as possible predictors of symptoms in their children. In a sample of N=524 subjects, this study evaluated the effect of mothers' personality organization and of the p factor on parental distress, parental care and offspring's dysregulation symptoms. Mothers filled out the IPO, the ASR, and the PSI-SF; children's teachers filled out the TRF; children were administered the PBI. We found that different mother groups (neurotic, borderline, psychotic organization) have distinct impact on parental distress, quality of care, and children's dysregulation, mediated by the p factor. This study can contribute to the understanding of the key factors underpinning mothers and children's psychopathology.

OXTR polymorphisms and parental bonding modulate alexithymia: The main effects and interaction

Alexithymia is a subclinical personality disorder characterized by difficulties in identifying and expressing one's own emotion. Individual differences in alexithymia are influenced by both genetic and environmental factors. However, the interplay between these factors and their influences on alexithymia are unclear. Considering that oxytocin plays important roles in emotion processing and that parental bonding influences the development of alexithymia, we explored the associations between OXTR polymorphisms and alexithymia and examined whether the potential associations are moderated by parental bonding. To this end, we genotyped the OXTR polymorphisms (rs53576 and rs1042778) and scored alexithymia and parental bonding with the Toronto Alexithymia Scale and the Parental Bonding Instrument. Results indicated that: (1) the characteristics of alexithymia were negatively associated with parental care and positively with parental overprotection; (2) the OXTR rs53576 was significantly associated with the characteristics of alexithymia, such that the AA genotype was associated with fewer difficulties in identifying feelings and describing feelings than the AG/GG genotypes; and (3) the OXTR rs1042778 interacted with parental care in alexithymia with the vantage sensitivity model: the GG genotype was related to less severity of alexithymia than the AG/GG genotypes only in individuals with higher parental care. Overall, these findings suggest that the OXTR is related to alexithymia and that the quality of parental care influences the relationship. However, considering that the evidence from this study is weak, more research is needed to understand the roles of OXTR in alexithymia.

Sex ratios and the city: Secondary offspring sex ratios, parental corticosterone, and parental body condition in an urban-adapted bird

The Trivers–Willard hypothesis states that mothers should adjust their offspring sex ratio according to their own condition and the environment they face during breeding. Past tests of this hypothesis have focused on how natural variation in weather, food availability, or predation pressure shapes sex allocation trade-offs. However, anthropogenic activities, such as urbanization, can alter all of the above characteristics presenting animals with novel challenges in optimizing their brood sex ratio. Previous research has examined how urban living influences individual body condition in several bird taxa, but few have explored subsequent impacts on secondary offspring sex ratio. One likely mediator of the link between environmental conditions, parental condition, and sex ratios is corticosterone (CORT), the primary glucocorticoid in birds. Research on CORT’s influence on sex ratios has focused solely on maternal CORT. However, for species with biparental care, paternal CORT or the similarity of maternal and paternal phenotypes may also help ensure that offspring demand matches parental care quality. To test these hypotheses, we explore offspring secondary sex ratios in European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris). We did not find an effect of site or parental body condition on the production of the more costly sex (males). Instead, we found preliminary evidence suggesting that the similarity of maternal and paternal CORT levels within a breeding pair may increase the likelihood of successfully fledging sons. Maternal and paternal CORT were not significant predictors of secondary sex ratio, suggesting that parental similarity, rather than parental CORT alone, could play a role in shaping secondary offspring sex ratios, but additional work is needed to support this pattern. Starlings are considered an urban-adapted species, making them a compelling model for future studies of the relationship between urbanization, parental body condition, and sex ratios.

The effect of simulation-based education on parental management of fever in children: a quasi-experimental study

BackgroundFever is a sign of illness in children and parents should receive educational interventions based on their needs to provide effective care for children. Simulation-based education provided by nurses for managing children’s fever can help improve the quality of parental care. Accordingly, this study aimed to explore the effectiveness of simulation-based education in the management of children’s fever by parents.MethodsThis quasi-experimental study was conducted using a pretest-posttest design with two groups on 90 parents of children with fever who visited Afzalipour Teaching Hospital in Kerman, Iran. The participants were randomly divided into two groups. The members of the intervention group received simulation-based fever management education and the parents in the control group received routine interventions. A demographic information form and the Parental Fever Management Knowledge and Practice Scale were completed by the participants in both groups before and after the intervention. The collected data were analyzed with SPSS 21 at a significant level of 0.05 (P = 0.05).ResultsThe results of the study showed that there was a statistically significant difference between the mean scores of fever management knowledge in the intervention group before and after the intervention (30.51 ± 1.50 vs. 54.79 ± 2.55) (p < 0.05), while the control group showed no statistically significant difference before and after the intervention (29.81 ± 4.1 vs. 29.95 ± 2.80) (p > 0.05). Furthermore, there was a significant difference between the mean scores of fever management practice in the intervention group before and after the intervention (24.32 ± 0.89 vs. 37.51 ± 1.09) (p < 0.05). In contrast, the control group showed no statistically significant difference before and after the intervention (23.03 ± 0.90 vs. 21.98 ± 0.02) in terms of fever management practice (p > 0.05). The results of the independent samples t-test also showed that the mean scores of fever management knowledge and practice were not significantly different between the two groups before the intervention (p > 0.05) while there were significant intergroup differences after the intervention (p < 0.05).ConclusionThe results of the study showed that simulation-based education was effective in improving the parents’ child fever management knowledge and practice. Accordingly, professional care teams can prepare simulation-based education packages to improve parental care at home for children’s fever management.

Internet Addiction: The Role of Parental Care and Mental Health in Adolescence.

Internet addiction in adolescence is a social issue which is being increasingly discussed worldwide. Hence, deepening the knowledge of its development is necessary to prevent short- and long-term negative outcomes. This study involving 266 adolescents (mean age = 16.1 years, SD = 1.4) aimed at analyzing the relationship between quality of parental care, Internet addiction and adolescents’ mental health, by means of the following self-report tools: the Parental Bonding Instrument, the Internet Addiction Test, and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. The findings, collected through structural equation model analyses, showed that perceived care from both father and mother had significant indirect effects on Internet addiction problems through adolescents’ mental health problems. Furthermore, Internet addiction problems were demonstrated to be negatively associated with maternal care but not with paternal care. The study provides empirical support to the need of family-based prevention and intervention programs to take care of Internet addiction.

Kontribusi Muhasabah dalam Mengembangkan Resiliensi Pada Orang Tua Anak Berkebutuhan Khusus

The phenomenon of the poor quality of parental care for children with disabilities makes resilience one of the psychological capital that contributes to improving the quality of care. This study describes how through a muhasabah intervention in Blimbingrejo Village, Nalumsari District, Jepara Regency. The purpose of this study was to provide information for parents of children with special needs about muhasabah interventions in developing the resilience abilities of parents when carrying out their care. The urgency of this research is to reduce parenting stress experienced by parents because of the developmental barriers of their children. This research is qualitative with a case study approach through in-depth interviews and observation techniques. The study results explain that the condition of children with special needs is often a stressor for their parents. However, parents can live with complete steadfastness as a form of their resilience. The pattern of resilience formed is supported mainly by thinking about what they are trying to do. There are indications of the meaning of resilience factors in the practice of muhasabah in the form of the ability to regulate emotions, develop optimism and empathy, control impulses and causal analysis, good self-efficacy and take wisdom as an indication of aspects of the reaching out process. The results of this study are helpful information in developing the concept and practice of caring for children with special needs.

Parental stress around ophthalmological health conditions: a systematic review of literature protocol

BackgroundParents can be psychologically impacted when their children are diagnosed with eye diseases, such as blindness, strabismus, and eye cancer. Stress can reduce the quality of parental care and may be linked to the deterioration of parents’ and children’s mental and physical health and family dynamics. No systematic literature review on parental stress in ophthalmology has been found to provide evidence synthesis capable of stimulating and defining new studies and thereby promoting research in this field. To address this important gap, the present review aims to synthesize evidence about approaches, methods, instruments, and results from research regarding ophthalmology-related parental stress.MethodsPrimary epidemiological observational studies should be original in addressing parental stress caused by ophthalmological health conditions in children. They should present the characteristics of the study population and the clinical and ophthalmic characterizations of children.MEDLINE (via Ovid), EMBASE, PsycINFO, Google Scholar, and gray literature (PsycEXTRA, NTIS, and OpenSINGLE) will be searched. Controlled vocabulary, Boolean operators, and defined search strategies will be used. There will be no restrictions on the studies’ publication language, which will be selected in two screening stages. Two reviewers will independently retrieve full-text studies, assess methodological quality, and extract data. Data available through December 2021 will be considered for inclusion.DiscussionThe socioeconomic characterization of the participants, the identification of which ophthalmological diseases have been studied in relation to parental stress, and the knowledge of each instrument and methodology peculiarities potentially contribute to this study. The results may promote the development or enhancement of public policies focused on this specific theme, thereby providing the means for potential improvement of the physical and mental health of parents and children with eye diseases.Systematic review registrationPROSPERO CRD42018094972

Parental morph combination does not influence innate immune function in nestlings of a colour-polymorphic African raptor

Conditions experienced during early life can have long-term individual consequences by influencing dispersal, survival, recruitment and productivity. Resource allocation during development can have strong carry-over effects onto these key parameters and is directly determined by the quality of parental care. In the black sparrowhawk (Accipiter melanoleucus), a colour-polymorphic raptor, parental morphs influence nestling somatic growth and survival, with pairs consisting of different colour morphs (‘mixed-morph pairs’) producing offspring with lower body mass indices, but higher local apparent survival rates. Resource allocation theory could explain this relationship, with nestlings of mixed-morph pairs trading off a more effective innate immune system against somatic growth. We quantified several innate immune parameters of nestlings (hemagglutination, hemolysis, bacteria-killing capacity and haptoglobin concentration) and triggered an immune response by injecting lipopolysaccharides. Although we found that nestlings with lower body mass index had higher local survival rates, we found no support for the proposed hypothesis: neither baseline immune function nor the induced immune response of nestlings was associated with parental morph combination. Our results suggest that these immune parameters are unlikely to be involved in providing a selective advantage for the different colour morphs’ offspring, and thus innate immunity does not appear to be traded off against a greater allocation of resources to somatic growth. Alternative hypotheses explaining the mechanism of a low nestling body mass index leading to subsequent higher local survival could be related to the post-fledgling dependency period or differences in dispersal patterns for the offspring from different morph combinations.

Affectionless control: A parenting style associated with obesity and binge eating disorder in adulthood.

Obesity is rising globally with a heavy health and economic burden. Early attachment experiences are relevant to the development of obesity. The purpose of this study was to investigate if parental care and attachment style experienced in childhood is associated with obesity, with or without binge eating disorder (BED), in adulthood. Parental style, personality traits, and psychopathology were assessed in 810 clinically referred adults with obesity, of whom 357 with BED and 453 without BED (non-BED), and 463 healthy subjects (HS). Assessments included the Parental Bonding Instrument, Temperament and Character Inventory, Eating Disorder Inventory-2, Symptom Checklist-90 and Beck Depression Inventory-II. Both BED and non-BED reported lower maternal and paternal care and higher overprotection than HS. BED reported worse levels of parental care than non-BED and HS. 'Affectionless control' parenting style was more frequently reported by both BED and non-BED than HS. No significant differences in parenting style emerged between BED and non-BED. Perception of parental 'affectionless control' was associated with obesity in adults, and lower quality of parental care was more frequently reported by participants with BED. Parental style may constitute an important target for early interventions to prevent obesity.

Quality of Parental Care and Traumatic Experiences in Childhood Related to Schizophrenic Disorders.

In recent times, an increasing interest in the role of childhood adversities in schizophrenia can be seen. In this study, 37 schizophrenic patients were compared with 25 individuals from the general population with regard to the quality of parental care and traumatic experiences in childhood. Two self-report scales for retrospective measurement of these variables were used that differentiate between maternal and paternal rejection, emotional warmth and control on the one hand, and trauma subtypes on the other. The schizophrenic patients scored lower regarding both parents' emotional warmth and higher regarding emotional and physical abuse and neglect. Group membership was correctly predicted with these childhood variables in 83% of cases, with the mother's emotional warmth being the best predictor. The findings underline the relevance of childhood adversities in schizophrenic diseases in adulthood, with special emphasis on the role of emotional acceptance from the primary caregiver.

Dissecting major depression: The role of blood biomarkers and adverse childhood experiences in distinguishing clinical subgroups

BackgroundThe syndromic diagnosis of major depressive disorder (MDD) is associated with individual differences in prognosis, course, treatment response, and outcome. There is evidence that patients with a history to adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) may belong to a distinct clinical subgroup. The combination of data on ACEs and blood biomarkers could allow the identification of diagnostic MDD subgroups. MethodsWe selected several blood markers (global DNA methylation, and VEGF-a, TOLLIP, SIRT1, miR-34a genes) among factors that contribute to the pathogenetic mechanisms of MDD. We examined their level in 37 MDD patients and 30 healthy subjects. ACEs were measured by the Parental Bonding Instrument and the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire. ResultsWe found significant differences between patients and healthy subjects in three biomarkers (TOLLIP, VEGF-a, and global DNA methylation), independently from the confounding effect of parental care received. By contrast, SIRT1 differences were modulated by quality of parental care. The lowest levels of SIRT1 were recorded in patients with active symptoms and low maternal/paternal care. miR-34a and SIRT1 levels were associated with MDD symptoms especially in early-life stressed patients. LimitationsSmall sample size, no information on personality comorbidity and suicidal history, cross-sectional definition of remission, and lack of follow-up. ConclusionsOur findings suggest that the levels of global DNA methylation, TOLLIP, and VEGF-a reflect pathophysiological changes associated with MDD that are independent from the long-term effects of low parental care. This study also suggests that SIRT1 may be an additional variable distinguishing the ecophenotype that includes MDD patients with exposure to ACEs.

Foster rather than biological parental telomere length predicts offspring survival and telomere length in king penguins.

Because telomere length and dynamics relate to individual growth, reproductive investment and survival, telomeres have emerged as possible markers of individual quality. Here, we tested the hypothesis that, in species with parental care, parental telomere length can be a marker of parental quality that predicts offspring phenotype and survival. In king penguins (Aptenodytes patagonicus), we experimentally swapped the single egg of 66 breeding pairs just after egg laying to disentangle the contribution of prelaying parental quality (e.g., genetics, investment in the egg) and/or postlaying parental quality (e.g., incubation, postnatal feeding rate) on offspring growth, telomere length and survival. Parental quality was estimated through the joint effects of biological and foster parent telomere length on offspring traits, both soon after hatching (day 10) and at the end of the prewinter growth period (day 105). We expected that offspring traits would be mostly related to the telomere lengths (i.e., quality) of biological parents at day 10 and to the telomere lengths of foster parents at day 105. Results show that chick survival up to 10days was negatively related to biological fathers' telomere length, whereas survival up to 105days was positively related to foster fathers' telomere lengths. Chick growth was not related to either biological or foster parents' telomere length. Chick telomere length was positively related to foster mothers' telomere length at both 10 and 105days. Overall, our study shows that, in a species with biparental care, parents' telomere length is foremost a proxy of postlaying parental care quality, supporting the "telomere - parental quality hypothesis."

Chen A, ed. Stress Resilience: Molecular and Behavioral Aspects. London, England: Academic Press; 2020.

Chen A, ed. Stress Resilience: Molecular and Behavioral Aspects. London, England: Academic Press; 2020.

Beyond Early Adversity: The Role of Parenting in Infant Physical Health.

Although ample evidence indicates that child health is compromised by early adversity (e.g., abuse and poverty), less is known about the contribution of parenting in low-stress contexts to child health, especially in infancy. This longitudinal study extends previous research on early adversity to ask the question: Does quality of parental care predict infant health in a low-risk community sample? Participants were 187 healthy mothers and their full-term infants (86 girls) from the Netherlands, followed from birth to age 1. Home observations of mothers' behavior were conducted during a naturalistic task (bathing session) when infants were 5 weeks old. Trained researchers interviewed mothers about the infants' health and prescribed antibiotic use every month for 12 months. Infant health problems were categorized into 4 domains according to the International Classification of Primary Care to capture a range of outcomes: respiratory, digestive, skin, and general illnesses and symptoms. Controlling for health-related covariates (e.g., maternal smoking and breastfeeding), maternal sensitivity predicted reduced rates of infant respiratory symptoms and skin conditions and marginally lower prescribed antibiotic use over the first year. Maternal behavior was unrelated to infant digestive and general illnesses. Even in the absence of adversity, quality of maternal care may have implications for the development of physical health, beginning as early as the first year of life. That such findings emerge in a low-risk sample helps rule out potential confounders and underscores the importance of parenting for physical and psychological health outcomes.

Differences in Breeding Success between Neighbouring Streaked Shearwater Subcolonies Correlate with Egg Size and Quality of Parental Care

Differences in Breeding Success between Neighbouring Streaked Shearwater Subcolonies Correlate with Egg Size and Quality of Parental Care

Tick parasitism as a cost of sexual selection and male parental care in a Neotropical frog

AbstractSexual selection can drive variation in conspicuous traits, providing signals to females about overall male health including their ability to fight parasites. Trait–parasite relationships have been extensively studied in fish and birds, but few records exist for amphibians. Here, we focused on a direct‐developing frog (Eleutherodactylus cooki) that exhibits variation in the extent of yellow coloration on the venter of males, a sexually selected trait that is correlated with reproductive success and parental care. We quantified the relationship between the color trait and the prevalence of two parasites, a tick (Carios undescribed sp.) and a fungal pathogen (Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis), across hosts, populations, and environmental contexts. We found that tick larvae were carried more frequently by males than females. Among males, ticks parasitized more those with a greater extent of yellow coloration. We did not detect any patterns associated with sex, habitat use, or male coloration with fungal infections. Co‐infections were low (5%) and predominantly occurred in males (71%). Our findings highlight the reproductive cost of tick parasitism for males and suggest that females may assess both the quality of parental care and overall health in areas of high tick exposure. Thus, yellow coloration in males of this nocturnal amphibian may have evolved as an honest signal of health and quality of parental care.