Resident Parents Research Articles

Leave entitlements, time off work and the household financial impacts of quarantine compliance during an H1N1 outbreak

BackgroundThe Australian state of Victoria, with 5.2 million residents, enforced home quarantine during a H1N1 pandemic in 2009. The strategy was targeted at school children. The objective of this study was to investigate the extent to which parents’ access to paid sick leave or paid carer’s leave was associated with (a) time taken off work to care for quarantined children, (b) household finances, and (c) compliance with quarantine recommendations.MethodsWe conducted an online and telephone survey of households recruited through 33 schools (85% of eligible schools), received 314 responses (27%), and analysed the subsample of 133 households in which all resident parents were employed.ResultsIn 52% of households, parents took time off work to care for quarantined children. Households in which no resident parent had access to leave appeared to be less likely to take time off work (42% vs 58%, p=0.08) although this difference had only borderline significance. Among parents who did take time off work, those in households without access to leave were more likely to lose pay (73% vs 21%, p<0.001). Of the 26 households in which a parent lost pay due to taking time off work, 42% experienced further financial consequences such as being unable to pay a bill. Access to leave did not predict compliance with quarantine recommendations.ConclusionsFuture pandemic plans should consider the economic costs borne by households and options for compensating quarantined families for income losses.

The Strains and Gains of Caregiving: An Examination of the Effects of Providing Personal Care to a Parent on a Range of Indicators of Psychological Well-Being

This study explores the effect of providing regular help with personal care to a resident or non-resident parent or parent-in-law on different aspects of psychological well-being. We use cross-sectional data from the Norwegian Life Course, Ageing and Generation (LOGG) study (N ~ 15,000, age 18–79) and two-wave panel data from the Norwegian study on Life course, Ageing and Generation (NorLAG) (N ~ 3,000, age 40–79). We separate outcomes into cognitive well-being (life satisfaction, partnership satisfaction, self-esteem), affective well-being (happiness, positive and negative affect, depression, loneliness) and sense of mastery. Caregiver status is largely unrelated to these aspects of well-being, both in cross-section and longitudinally. One notable exception is that caring for a resident (but not a non-resident) parent relates to lower affective well-being among women, also longitudinally. This effect is more marked among unpartnered and lower educated women. In addition, caring for a non-resident parent is associated with a positive change in sense of mastery among women. The results reviewed and presented indicate that caregiving has less detrimental effects in the Nordic countries than in other countries, highlighting the role of social policies and care systems in shaping the impact of caregiving on well-being.

Health and Medical Care among the Children of Immigrants

Using data spanning 1996-2009 from multiple panels of the Survey of Income and Program Participation, this study investigates children's (average age 8.5 years) physical health, dental visits, and doctor contact among low-income children (n=46,148) in immigrant versus native households. Immigrant households are further distinguished by household citizenship and immigration status. The findings show that children residing in households with non-naturalized citizen parents, particularly those with a nonpermanent resident parent, experience worse health and less access to care even when controlling for important demographic, socioeconomic, and health insurance variables.

Age-Specific Seroprevalence of Anti-Hepatitis A Antibody Among 1-30 Years Old Population of Savadkuh, Mazandaran, Iran With Literature Review

To determine age-specific seroprevalence rates of hepatitis A virus (HAV) immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibody in Savadkuh district, Mazandaran province, north of Iran, as well as to compare the collected data with earlier seroprevalence studies in the region and Iran in order to draw a proper epidemiological pattern for HAV infection in the country. This study aimed to assess an age-specific HAV seroprevalence among 1- to 30-yearold people in Savadkuh, a less developed district of Mazandaran province, north of Iran. The study participants were 984 subjects who aged from one to 30 years and were residents of rural and urban areas of Savadkuh. They were selected using cluster sampling method and divided into five age groups: 1-2.9 (316 cases), 3-6.9 (254 cases), 7-10.9 (201 cases), 11-17.9 (115 cases), and 18-30 (98 cases). Anti-HAV antibody was measured by ELISA method. Seroprevalence rates among different age groups and their relationship to residency, educational levels of parents, water supply, and waste water disposal system was analyzed using chi-squared test. Overall seroprevalence rate was 19.20 % with no significant difference between rural and urban residents. The seroprevalence rates increased significantly with age: from 5.7 % in age group 1-2.9 year to 34.8 % in adolescents, and to 68.4 % among young adults (P < 0.0001); regardless of significant differences in educational levels among parents of residents in two areas it did not affect seroprevalence rates. Findings of this study and reviewing other reports from the region and the country suggest an epidemiological shift towards lower rates of anti-HAV antibody seroprevalence. It appears that anti-HAV antibody seroprevalence rate has been declining among Iranians and thereby more children would be susceptible to this infection. This would necessitate revising current strategies of preventative measures in Mazandaran and Iran.

Children's sleep quality in hospital

Background Wound healing and immunity are impaired by poor quality or inadequate sleep. Furthermore children and their parents are at risk of mood instability, lapses in attention and irritability when sleep deprived. It follows that optimising sleep for both children and resident parents is an important goal during a hospital admission. There has been no prior research to our knowledge of sleep quality in children9s medical wards compared with sleep quality at home. Methods Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a parent five days after their child9s discharge from hospital. Question stems sought to identify the quality of sleep the child and parent experienced during their stay, the factors which contributed to sleep quality, the impact the quality of sleep had on day-time functioning and suggestions for ways to improve the sleep environment. Analysis of interviews identified key themes, constant comparative methods were used to enable theoretical inferences to be drawn. Results Key themes from 17 parent interviews included: reduced sleep quality experienced by both parents and to a lesser extent children during hospital admission in comparison to home. Every parent interviewed identified noise levels as a significant contributory factor and all noted adverse effects on their ability to function during the day. The source of noise was from other patients, staff and monitoring equipment. The administration of medications and routine nursing observations also caused disruption throughout the night. Children had later bedtimes in hospital compared to home and visiting hours did not encourage early bedtimes. Conclusion Participants did not sleep as well in hospital as at home and reported that maintaining good sleep hygiene for their child was problematic. There are simple environmental factors which could be adapted to improve the hospital sleep environment. For example the timing of nursing care and drug administration, reducing the level of noise on the ward and dimming the lighting during the night. Intervention trials could usefully establish the benefit of such changes to child wellbeing and recovery, as well as parental wellbeing.

Judith A. Colbert: Welcoming Newcomer Children: The Settlement of Young Immigrants and Refugees: A Resource for Teachers and Others with an Interest in Supporting the Settlement of Young Children from Birth Through Age Eight

With so many families moving from country to country, many permanently, a book that acknowledges shifts in population, especially including young children, is a welcome contribution to early childhood development literature. This book’s purpose is to describe ‘‘settlement in the twenty-first century and, in particular, the settlement of immigrant and refugee children, especially children under the age of eight. Settlement programming for young children is not necessarily custodial or educational. It is not the same as child care or early childhood education...’’ (p. 2). Written primarily for the teaching staff of early childhood programs in Canada for children from birth to age eight, it provides information about newcomer children from various countries moving to a new country. Both resident adults and immigrant parents and children must address major changes within the process of developing as a young human being in a family, a new community, and a strange nation. The book also will be useful to parents, social workers, psychologists, and administrators working closely with young children. The author’s proposed training program to be designed for centerand home-based programs for young children will support this complex process. With children and adults moving to a new country for many reasons, the need for receiving countries to understand the settlement process for young children is critical. Western countries especially need to understand the cultural variations both in other Western and non-Western nations. The book’s strong points include:

HIGH-CONFLICT CONTACT DISPUTES: EVIDENCE OF THE EXTREME UNRELIABILITY OF SOME CHILDREN'S ASCERTAINABLE WISHES AND FEELINGS

This article challenges an increasing orthodoxy regarding the weight which courts might place upon the expressed views of children in a specific situation—high-conflict contact disputes. I am a child psychiatrist who acts as an expert witness within the family courts of England & Wales. I have conducted a statistical analysis of cases in which I have conducted assessments of children caught in such disputes between their separated parents. Fifty-eight children met the criteria for inclusion in the study—the child's consistent opposition to contact with the non resident parent (NRP), despite the court having determined that there was no good reason to constrain contact. My assessment routinely included attempted observation of the child at a visit with the NRP. Despite their stated views most children had a positive experience in those visits that took place, and despite the fact that most had not seen the NRP for a long time. Overall there was a statistical association between increased resistance to contact and the greater age of the child and the longer the time during which no contact had occurred. However, the responses of children and young people were unpredictable and it was impossible to conclude that apparent maturity or intelligence was a guide to the reliability of their expressed resistance. The possible reasons for this unreliability are discussed. I emphasize that my sample of children is unusual as many of the cases had involved serious, though unfounded, allegations of abuse. In addition most of the children showed indications of having become “alienated” from the NRP. I conclude that courts might exercise caution when evaluating the views of children and young people in this situation, and emphasises that assessors should consider including at least one observation of the child at a prolonged visit to the NRP. Because of the new orthodoxy some parents may be tempted to misuse their child's right to a “voice” in court in order to achieve their own ends. Practitioners who advise courts may need to be more aware of these difficulties.

Incarcerated Parents and Health: Investigating Role Inoccupancy Strains by Gender

This article elaborates research on parenthood, gender, and health by considering the context of incarceration using the stress process paradigm. The chronic strain of non-participation in a desired role, or “role inoccupancy,” in the form of non-resident parenthood on arrest is associated with psychological distress at time of lockup among women but not men, indicating a gendered strain. However, for both incarcerated men and women, anticipated resident parent role inoccupancy upon release (or expectations not to live with their minor children) is generically associated with current subjective mental health problems net of distress prior to lockup. Role inoccupancy strains are further associated with subjective physical health problems among women but not men, indicating more pervasive associations among the former.

Your shout too! Children's views of the arrangements made and services provided when courts adjudicate in private law disputes

Government reports and research studies from several countries, going back over several years, have highlighted the harm suffered by children caught up in their parents' conflict about where they should live and who they should see. This article adds to the still-small body of research presenting children's views about the sources of support available to them around the time of court hearings and subsequently. A questionnaire was sent, via the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass) and through their resident parent, to the majority of children in England aged 10 or over about whom a court welfare report had been written during a six-month period. Responses were received from 141 children and demographic data are provided on these respondents. More of the respondents expressed broad satisfaction with their residence arrangements than was the case for contact arrangements. Whilst more than half of the respondents were broadly satisfied with the services they had received, others evidenced very real causes for complaint. Others valued the service provided but considered it to be ‘too little, too late’. For an important minority, the complexity of their situations and the deep-seated problems of one or both parents made it very difficult for even the most skilled and sensitive professionals to arrive at a conclusion that met the child's needs and accorded with their wishes. The findings support those from studies focusing on the views of parents as well as children, which show that, whilst a skilled court welfare service continues to be essential for a minority of the most vulnerable children trapped in these conflictual situations, it is essential that such children be considered as ‘children in need’ who can benefit from the family support services available to all vulnerable children.

Family structure and child outcomes: a high definition, wide angle “snapshot”

Using data from the National Survey of America’s Families (NSAF), this research investigates the relationships between a highly defined set of family structures and a broad set of child outcomes at a particular point in time in a child’s life. A detailed classification of family structures is constructed that clarifies key differences among various types of diverse families, and facilitates equivalencies testing and pairwise comparisons across nontraditional family structures. The NSAF contains a large number of observations for less common, but growing, family structures such as single-father families, grandparent-headed households and cohabiters, which makes such detailed analyses feasible and allows further stratification by child age, gender and race. The data also contains information on child behavioral, educational and physical health outcomes, as well as extensive household characteristics, economic resources and parental behaviors and inputs. Results suggest that differences across nontraditional family structures are particularly prominent for child health outcomes and that the gender of the resident parent is empirically important, more so than the presence of a cohabiting or married step-parent. Children in single father families have lesser access to health care yet enjoy better health outcomes than those in other families, even after controlling for economic resources (and inputs). In contrast, few differences are found between grandparent-headed families and other non-parent families. While we explore alternative explanations for these results, our cross-sectional data and complex set of family structure variables preclude isolating causal relationships; instead, our analyses yield empirically important distinctions that point to promising avenues for future research.

Stepparents' and nonresidential parents' relational satisfaction as a function of coparental communication in stepfamilies

Using interdependence theory, this study tested a series of actor–partner interdependence models of coparental communication and relational satisfaction among stepparents and nonresidential parents in stepfamilies. Participants included 40 residential stepparent/nonresidential parent dyads ( N = 80). Results revealed significant actor and partner effects for stepparents' and nonresidential parents' reports of supportive and antagonistic coparental communication and relational satisfaction. A second set of models examined stepparents' and nonresidential parents' coparental communication with the residential parent and revealed that nonresidential parents' supportive and antagonistic coparental communication predicted their own satisfaction with the stepparent, as well as the stepparent’s satisfaction with them (i.e., a partner effect). Importantly, the findings demonstrate the interdependence of coparenting relationships in stepfamilies, as nonresidential parents' coparental communication with their ex-spouses predicted meaningful variance in stepparents' satisfaction with the nonresidential parent.

Who are the missing parents? Grandparentage analysis identifies multiple sources of gene flow into a wild population

In order to increase the size of declining salmonid populations, supplementation programmes intentionally release fish raised in hatcheries into the wild. Because hatchery-born fish often have lower fitness than wild-born fish, estimating rates of gene flow from hatcheries into wild populations is essential for predicting the fitness cost to wild populations. Steelhead trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) have both freshwater resident and anadromous (ocean-going) life history forms, known as rainbow trout and steelhead, respectively. Juvenile hatchery steelhead that 'residualize' (become residents rather than go to sea as intended) provide a previously unmeasured route for gene flow from hatchery into wild populations. We apply a combination of parentage and grandparentage methods to a three-generation pedigree of steelhead from the Hood River, Oregon, to identify the missing parents of anadromous fish. For fish with only one anadromous parent, 83% were identified as having a resident father while 17% were identified as having a resident mother. Additionally, we documented that resident hatchery males produced more offspring with wild anadromous females than with hatchery anadromous females. One explanation is the high fitness cost associated with matings between two hatchery fish. After accounting for all of the possible matings involving steelhead, we find that only 1% of steelhead genes come from residualized hatchery fish, while 20% of steelhead genes come from wild residents. A further 23% of anadromous steelhead genes come from matings between two resident parents. If these matings mirror the proportion of matings between residualized hatchery fish and anadromous partners, then closer to 40% of all steelhead genes come from wild trout each generation. These results suggest that wild resident fish contribute substantially to endangered steelhead 'populations' and highlight the need for conservation and management efforts to fully account for interconnected Oncorhynchus mykiss life histories.

Promising Antipoverty Strategies for Families

AbstractA large percentage of poor children live with just one parent, usually their mother, and single‐parent families are more vulnerable to economic downturns than are two‐parent families. Living arrangements also affect the optimal design of policies related to income support and child support. In this paper we briefly review changes in family structure and the relationship between family structure and employment, and then focus on policies that are essential to reducing poverty in the context of the current work‐based safety net, in which low‐income families with children rely increasingly on mothers' earnings. We argue that economically vulnerable families will benefit the most from policies that support resident parents' efforts to balance work and caretaking, and that support and enforce nonresident parents' contributions. We highlight key policies that help resident parents balance responsibilities, including support for access to child care and preschool, family‐friendly workplace policies, and earnings supplements (e.g., the EITC). We also outline a set of policies designed to support and require nonresident parents' contributions, including reforms aimed at creating a child support enforcement system clearly focused on improving child well‐being, rather than government cost recovery, and policies supporting nonresident parents' ability to work and pay support.

The implications of child support for housing after relationship dissolution

In this article we investigate the associations between the payment and receipt of child support and housing circumstances of both resident and non-resident parents. We do so by analysing data from Wave 4 of the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey. The final analytic sample comprised 1,043 separated parents (637 resident parents, 406 non-resident parents). Our findings indicate that for resident parents the receipt of child support payments above $75 per week was significantly associated with better housing circumstances. By contrast, the payment of child support was not significantly related to housing outcomes for non-resident parents. Overall, our results suggest that resident parents in receipt of child support, particularly above the median amount, live with their children in better housing circumstances than resident parents receiving little or no child support. While this finding makes intuitive sense – money matters – the way in which child support appears to be differentially related to the housing circumstances of resident and non-resident parents warrants further investigation.

The distributional and financial impacts of the new Australian Child Support Scheme: A ‘before and day-after reform’ comparison of assessed liability

Sweeping changes to the Australian Child Support Scheme were recently introduced, featuring a dramatically different system for the calculation of child support. The reforms were intended to respond to ongoing concerns about equity and changes in social expectations and practices in gender, work and parenting. The extent to which the new Scheme is ‘fairer’ and will improve the wellbeing of children and their families needs to be tested. Drawing on published Government data, this article examines the initial distributional impacts of the new Scheme and discusses key policy and research issues arising from these data. At a general level, non-resident parents (mostly fathers) were more likely than resident parents (mostly mothers) to experience net gains under the new Scheme. Low-income families, and resident parents with part-time or casual employment, appear to be among those most likely to have been hardest hit by the recent reforms, though the government modelling suggests that net losses are likely to be $20 or less a week in absolute terms. While the paper does not assess behavioural changes resulting from the child support reforms, it is important to keep a watching brief of how the new Scheme is evolving on the ground.

Relocation following parental separation

Each year many families relocate to live in new places, but disputes will not usually arise over this when the family is intact because the two parents, and perhaps the children, will reach the decision about shifting together. Nevertheless the move will mean these children are likely to experience the loss of familiar surroundings and close friendships, need to change (pre)schools and start afresh with many aspects of their lives. It is when the parents are already living apart that a proposed relocation by one of them might mean the Courts are called upon to examine the interests at stake and determine the outcome. Relocation in this context has particular poignancy for the children involved because, if their parent's application to relocate is approved by the Court, this might marginalise the role of their other parent in their life.It is not, of course, uncommon for separated parents to have to move in the aftermath of their relationship breakdown as they re-establish themselves in separate households and negotiate their children's care and contact arrangements. However, when the proposed relocation by the resident parent involves moving such a distance from the non-resident parent that contact visits become problematic, then the potential for a major dispute exists. This is particularly so when there has been a pattern of frequent contact and the non-resident parent refuses to acquiesce in the move. While these cases can be very difficult to resolve by agreement, some separated parents are able to negotiate the relocation without seeking recourse to the legal system.

Supporting parent–child communication in divorced families

Divorce affects a significant number of children and parents worldwide. We interviewed 10 parents and five children to get a qualitative understanding of the challenges faced by these families and the role of technology in maintaining contact. We found that both parents had a strong need to maintain autonomy in raising the child, though the residential parent had more opportunities to be instrumentally involved. Both parents and children sought to manage tensions between the two households—parents by reducing interruption of the other household, children by trying to keep contact with the other parent as private as possible. Our participants used the telephone as the primary means to stay in touch while apart but expressed dissatisfaction with the limits of audio-only communication. It was difficult to keep a phone conversation engaging—both parents and children instead sought ways to maintain contact through shared activities and routines but found little technological support to do so while separated. Situated in these results, we present implications for design that may aid in creating technologies for communication between parents and young children in divorced families.

The Continued Importance of Quality Parent–Adolescent Relationships During Late Adolescence

The quality of adolescents' relationships with residential parents has been found to predict many different health and behavioral youth outcomes; strong associations have also been found between these outcomes and family processes, and between relationship quality and family processes. Data from Rounds 1–5 of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, 1997 were used to examine hypotheses about the influence of the parent–adolescent relationship on subsequent adolescent mental well‐being and delinquency, as mediated by family processes. Using structural equation modeling, we found that the influence of a positive residential parent–adolescent relationship on better mental well‐being and fewer delinquency was entirely mediated by family routines, parental monitoring, and parental supportiveness, net of sociodemographic controls.

Parents’ and nurses’ attitudes to family‐centred care: an Irish perspective

To examine the attitudes of parents and nurses to the model of care delivery on an in-patient children's unit in a regional general hospital. A review of the literature uncovered research studies relevant to the area under investigation, in addition to many discussion articles. This descriptive survey of parents' and nurses' attitudes regarding the implementation and practice of a partnership approach to care was undertaken in 2003 on a children's unit in an Irish regional general hospital. The survey consisted of a self-designed questionnaire, which was posted to the sample. The scoring system for the questionnaire format was analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (version 11.0). The sample consisted of parents (n = 100) and nursing staff (n = 44) from the children's unit. the findings did not suggest major differences between the attitudes of the two groups on the care delivery on the unit. The outcomes of the study showed that, while both parents and nurses viewed family-centred care as appropriate, there were differences between what parents and nurses saw as their roles on the unit. Both groups acknowledged the overall philosophy of care and commented on the actual application of a family-centred, partnership approach to care in practice on the unit. Both groups agreed that there was a need for improvement of the facilities for resident parents on the unit. The findings of the research could act as a catalyst for change and development of the service and service providers. It is hoped that it will also contribute to the improved satisfaction of the service provided to sick children and their families by parents and by the nurses who provide the care.

Overnight Stays and Children's Relationships With Resident and Nonresident Parents After Divorce

This study focuses on adolescents' overnight contact with their nonresident parents. Sixty young people ages 12 to 19 and their resident parents were interviewed as part of a nationally representative study in Australia. The likelihood of overnight stays was lower when there was conflict and lack of trust between the parents. Adolescents who stayed overnight with their nonresident parents reported greater closeness and better quality relationships with their nonresident parents than did those who had daytime-only contact, an association that remained significant after taking account of the overall frequency of contact and the level of conflict between the parents (as reported by the resident parent and the child). The findings suggest that overnight stays may both reflect and change the nature of the relationship between children and their nonresident parents, with no apparent downside in this regard for the relationship between children and their resident parents.