"Review of The parent-child connection": Erratum.

Reports an error in "Review of The parent-child connection" by Charlotte Johnston (Canadian Psychology Psychologie Canadienne, 1989[Oct], Vol 30[4], 697-698). Arnold Rincover's affiliation with the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education was incorrectly given as Associate Professor. He has been an Extramural Instructor at O.I.S.E. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 2007-09101-001.) Reviews the book, The parent-child connection by Arnold Rincover (1988). The Parent-Child Connection is a well written book that offers valuable advice to help parents of young children evaluate and understand their children's behaviour. It also offers useful suggestions on managing child behaviour, although these parenting tips are most likely to be useful to those parents who least need them (i.e., those with numerous personal and social resources, whose children are presenting only minor behavioural difficulties). The two general themes of the book, child behaviour as communication and developmental norms as guidelines for deciding if behaviour is problematic, are well-suited to the purposes of a parent reference book. They offer an appropriate framework for discussing specific child behaviours and helping parents to determine if these behaviours are problematic in their children. This book is a welcome addition to the list of available parenting books, and may prove particularly useful for younger parents in need of accurate and understandable information about normal child development and behaviour. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Helping the Noncompliant Child: A Clinician's Guide to Parent Training.

Reviews the book, Helping the Noncompliant Child: A Clinician's Guide to Parent Training by Rex L. Forehand and Robert J. McMahon (1981). Clinicians working with families will find Helping the noncompliant child an invaluable book. The six chapters and four appendices provide a comprehensive program for training parents to engage in behaviours that will improve parent-child relationships. The treatment program consists of two phases. In the first phase parents are taught to increase their child's appropriate behaviours through the use of differential attention and rewards. This phase has two main purposes: teaching appropriate behaviours and increasing the "quality" time between parents and their children. These effects should increase the positiveness of the parent-child relationship, and help prevent a return to a coercive relationship. The second phase teaches parents to reduce the frequency of inappropriate behaviours through the use of appropriate commands and the use of time-out. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Parenting children with anorectal malformations: implications and experiences

Parents play a crucial role in the life of a child suffering from an anorectal malformation (ARM), since their guidance contributes to the degree to which the child learns to cope with his or her disability. We investigated whether they experience stress in parenting such a child and also attempted to identify somatic or behavioral characteristics in the child that influence the stress of parenting. The parents of 109 children (69 males, 40 females; median age 5.9 years, range 1-18 years) with an ARM (58 low, 10 intermediate, 41 high) were studied. The Nijmegen Questionnaire on Child-rearing Situations (NQCS) was used to investigate the existing parenting situation. Behavioral characteristics of the children were studied by means of the Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL) and the Teacher Report Form (TRF). In a semi-structured interview, we investigated how parents experienced the implications of the disability in everyday life with their child. Our study showed that as far as the perception of parenting stress is concerned, parents of children with an ARM do not differ from those with healthy primary-school children. Within the group of parents with ARM-afflicted children, the parents of older, incontinent children experienced relatively more stress, especially when the child concerned was male. With regard to the children's behavior, the parents and teachers under investigation did not report a higher than normal incidence of deviant behavior. However, when individual parents observed difficult behavior in their child, they found it harder to deal with than the incontinence for feces. Regarding the implications of the disorder for their everyday lives, parents were concerned and indicated a need for specific counselling. We conclude that having a child with a somatic affliction, in this case an ARM, does not automatically imply that the parents experience child-rearing problems. However, certain groups of parents are more at risk, i.e., parents with older, incontinent sons and parents with children exhibiting behavioral problems. In addition, our study shows that parents do have difficulties in coping with the implications of the disorder and express a need for support. We feel that patient care can be improved if aid is tailored to these specific problems.     

A preliminary study of parental stress and child behaviour in families with twins conceived by in-vitro fertilization

This paper reports on a preliminary study of parenting quality, parental stress and child behaviour in families with twins conceived by in-vitro fertilization (IVF) in comparison with families with naturally conceived twins. No differences were found between the types of family in parenting quality or child behaviour. However, parents whose children were conceived by IVF reported greater stress associated with parenting than parents with naturally conceived twins.     

The forgotten parent: understanding the forces that influence incarcerated fathers' relationships with their children

Fathers who are in prisons and jails are not just convicts--they are parents as well. The family roles and responsibilities of incarcerated fathers, however, are seldom the focus of institutional policies, scholarly research, or child welfare services. This article examines the issues that must be addressed in designing policies and providing services that promote the maintenance of parent-child bonds and responsible parenting when fathers are incarcerated. It describes the family roles and structures of men in prison and looks at differences between public perceptions and the real-life experiences of prisoner parents. The ways in which correctional policies and child welfare practices influence and shape fathers' parenting abilities and father-child relationships are discussed, and strategies for creating a supportive environment for fathers and their children and families are proposed.     

The impossibility of parental licensure.

Comments on an article by by D. T. Lykken (see American Psychologist, 2001, Vol 56, 885-894) which called for parental licensing, which would require prospective parents to meet legislatively defined criteria before they could conceive or adopt children. The current author commends Lykken's proposal for putting the needs of children--to be raised by fit and able parents--above the desires of prospective parents. However, the author argues that courts would find Lykken's proposal for parental licensure to be unconstitutional on equal protection and substantive due process grounds. Rather than pursuing the path of parental licensure, which is neither legally nor politically viable, the author argues that psychologists should support mandatory parenting education classes in the schools, tougher child abuse laws, improved child protective services, and more research on the effectiveness of public policies and intervention programs aimed at enhancing parent-child relationships and decreasing the rates of divorce and father absence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Conducting child custody evaluations: A comprehensive guide.

Reviews the book, Conducting child custody evaluations: A comprehensive guide by Philip Michael Stahl (see record 1994-98484-000). In this book, the author details how the courts benefit from custody evaluations, how the family benefits, when evaluations could actually be harmful, and offers some particularly unique and useful suggestions on evaluator biases. He brings up the interesting issue of who is the real client/consumer. He understands that the client really cannot be the child independent of his/her family, even though we all mourn the cliche, "best interests of the child," as if this phrase were some operationally clear "guideline." A main author bias is "the best parenting is achieved with two parents" (p. 25). There is at least some research evidence (and clinical experience) that would dispute this in more cases than the author might care to acknowledge. A second bias is that children must perceive that their parents can develop a post-divorce relationship free of hostility in which each parent is a champion for the other. Stahl displays a keen understanding of the dynamics of the post-divorce world. In his heart, he seems more a therapist than an "objective evaluator" and harbors a strong bias to help people move productively through the crises that are everywhere in evidence in post-divorce situations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Children of depressed parents: An integrative review.

Reviews the literature on the adjustment of children of depressed parents, difficulties in parenting and parent–child interaction in these families, and contextual factors that may play a role in child adjustment and parental depression. First, issues arising from the recurrent, episodic, heterogeneous nature of depression are discussed. Second, studies on the adjustment of children with a depressed parent are summarized. Early studies that used depressed parents as controls for schizophrenic parents found equivalent risk for child disturbance. Subsequent studies using better-defined samples of depressed parents found that these children were at risk for a full range of adjustment problems and at specific risk for clinical depression. Third, the parenting difficulties of depressed parents are described and explanatory models of child adjustment problems are outlined. Fourth, important gaps in the literature are identified, and a consistent, if unintentional, "mother-bashing" quality in the existing literature is noted. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Fathers' and Mothers' Parenting Behavior and Beliefs as Predictors of Children's Social Adjustment in the Transition to School.

The current study focuses on the association between children's social adjustment in the transition to school and the early elementary school years and their fathers' and mothers' parenting behaviors and beliefs and quality of marital relationship. The authors found that the most competent and least problematic children from the teachers' perspectives are those whose fathers are sensitive and supportive of their children's autonomy, whose mothers' parenting beliefs support self-directed child behavior, and whose parents maintain an emotionally intimate relationship. These findings have implications for efforts to prevent early school problems in children and support the children's transitions into formal schooling. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Discovering the moments of movement in filial therapy: A single case qualitative study.

This study examines the process of change in filial therapy, a type of play therapy, which engages parents as therapeutic agents in working with troubled children. Outcome studies have supported the efficacy of this approach in building parent-child relationships, reducing parenting stress, and reducing child behavior problems. The purpose of this qualitative study is to examine the process in order to understand how these changes occur. The researchers compare the viewpoints of the therapist, the parents, and an independent observer, noting the points in therapy which are deemed facilitative or inhibitive of change. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A model of mastery motivation for at-risk preschoolers.

The authors empirically tested a theoretical model of mastery motivation with 169 4-year-old African American at-risk children and their parents. The authors hypothesized that (a) parent characteristics (exogenous variables of education, income, and global self-efficacy) would predict parenting beliefs and parent-child relationships, (b) parenting beliefs and parent-child relationships would predict children's mastery, and (c) children's mastery would predict academic gains from pretest to posttest. The results showed that parents' education predicted parenting beliefs, parents' global self-efficacy predicted parenting beliefs and parent-child relationships, parenting beliefs predicted parent-child relationships, parent-child relationships predicted children's mastery, and children's mastery predicted children's performance on achievement tests controlling for pretest differences. This research provides support for the contention that motivational patterns develop early as a function of family variables and have the potential to influence academic success. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Parenting Infants Conceived by Gamete Donation.

In recent years, concerns have been raised regarding the potentially negative consequences of gamete donation for parent-child relationships. Findings are presented of a study of families with an infant conceived by gamete donation. Fifty donor insemination families and 51 egg donation families were compared with 80 natural conception families on standardized interview and questionnaire measures of the psychological well-being of the parents, the quality of parent-child relationships, and infant temperament. The differences that were identified indicated more positive parent-child relationships among the gamete donation than the natural conception parents, accompanied by greater emotional involvement with the child. Comparisons were also carried out between the donor insemination and the egg donation parents on their experiences of gamete donation. In contrast to the findings of earlier investigations, the donor insemination and egg donation parents appeared to be more open toward disclosing the donor conception to the child. It was concluded that infants conceived by egg or sperm donation did not appear to be at risk for parenting difficulties. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Helping the noncompliant child: Family-based treatment for oppositional behavior (2nd ed.).

Reviews the book, Helping the noncompliant child: Family-based treatment for oppositional behavior (2nd ed.) by R. J. McMahon and R. L. Forehand (see record 2004-00004-000). Positive outcomes of parent training programs have been well documented in the literature (Lonigan, Elbert, & Johnson, 1998). These programs are often recommended for young children exhibiting disruptive behaviors (Kazdin, 1997). The efficacy of parent training programs for families who are able to complete treatment is documented for both short-term and long-term goals (Brestan & Eyberg, 1998; Lonigan et al., 1998). Helping the Noncompliant Child: Family-Based Treatment for Oppositional Behavior is the second edition of a successful parent training program that promises to deliver results similar to those of the earlier program. In their book, McMahon and Forehand present an intervention treatment program designed for children ages 3 to 8 years who present as "excessively noncompliant." The treatment program is based on the premise that "the child's noncompliant, inappropriate behavior is shaped and maintained through maladaptive patterns of family interaction, which reinforce coercive behaviors" (p. 28). McMahon and Forehand's HNC program provides parents with a specific and practical way to get out of the coercive cycle of negative interactions by using attention and rewards, ignoring negative behaviors, and giving clear instructions. The program falls short when it uses essentially the same time-out procedure for noncompliance for children between the ages of 3 and 8 and regardless of the function or reason for the noncompliance. To intervene effectively with a child, all of the issues at hand must be taken into consideration. In severe cases, the time-out procedure recommended could actually increase conflict between the parent and the child should the child not comply, resulting in family drop out or the need to modify the adjunctive individual therapies. Preparing parents for these exceptions and possible need for modifying the program by clarifying the populations who have been successful and unsuccessful in parent training programs would be a good addition to the book. This book can only be recommended for use with families for whom a thorough evaluation has determined that the child's noncompliant behaviors are a function of coercive family interactions consisting of unclear parenting messages. The child must evidence the ability to participate effectively in the time-out procedure. The child and family must clearly fit into the population shown to benefit from parent training programs. For these families, the HNC program may decrease noncompliant behaviors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Treatment-related changes in objectively measured parenting behaviors in the multimodal treatment study of children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

The present study examined treatment outcomes for objectively measured parenting behavior in the Multimodal Treatment Study of Children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Five hundred seventy-nine ethnically and socioeconomically diverse children with ADHD-combined type (ages 7.0-9.9 years) and their parent(s) were recruited at 6 sites in the United States and Canada and randomly assigned to 1 of 4 treatment groups for 14 months of active intervention: medication management (MedMgt), intensive behavior therapy, combination of the 2 (Comb), or a community-treated comparison (CC). Baseline and posttreatment laboratory observations of parent-child interactions were coded by observers blind to treatment condition. Comb produced significantly greater improvements in constructive parenting than did MedMgt or CC, with effect sizes approaching medium for these contrasts. Treatment effects on child behaviors were not significant. The authors discuss the importance of changes in parenting behavior for families of children with ADHD and the need for reliable and objective measures in evaluating treatment outcome. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sibling relationships in early/middle childhood: links with individual adjustment.

The overarching goal of the study was to identify links between sibling relationship quality in early/middle childhood with children's adjustment, having accounted for the effects of parent-child relationship quality. The sample consisted of 101 working and middle-class 2-parent English families with 2 children ages 4-8 years. Parents provided reports of sibling relationship quality, the parent-child relationship, and the children's prosocial and problematic behaviors. The children also provided reports of their familial relationships with a puppet interview. Results indicated that sibling relationship quality was associated with the older siblings' adjustment, controlling for the children's relationships with parents. In addition, the pattern of findings suggested that positivity within the sibling relationship was more strongly linked with child adjustment than was sibling conflict. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Families of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: a review

OBJECTIVES: 1) To review the evidence of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and other conditions in family members (siblings and parents) of children with ADHD and determine the importance of genetic and environmental factors in this condition. 2) To describe the prospective 10-year follow-up of 65 families with ADHD children and 43 families of matched normal controls. 3) To review various studies that have looked at parent-child interactions with ADHD children on and off stimulant medication, and such interactions over time. The paper thus provides an overview of family pathology and functioning of families of ADHD children over time. METHOD: The paper outlines twin, sibling, family and adoption studies with regard to possible genetic and environmental factors in ADHD. It also presents data of a prospective 10-year follow-up of 65 families with ADHD children and 43 families of normal controls. This family study evaluated sociocultural factors, child rearing practices, health of family members and relationships, as well as the parental view of the child's functioning over time. RESULTS: A review of the literature suggests that ADHD has a strong genetic component, but that environmental factors also play an important role. Families of children with ADHD have more problems than families of normal controls, but these problems improve as the child with ADHD grows up and leaves home. Families of ADHD subjects can appreciate positive as well as negative changes in their children over time. Generally, family interactions with children with ADHD are problematic but improve when the child is on medication and when the child becomes an adult. CONCLUSIONS: This condition has strong genetic underpinnings; therefore, diagnosing and treating family members (parents and siblings) as well as the child with ADHD is important in improving parent-child interactions and better long-term outcome for the child and his or her family.     

Review of Parenting Stress Index, 2nd ed..

Reviews the 120-item parent-report checklist, Parenting Stress Index, 2nd ed by Richard R. Abidin (1986). The Parenting Stress Index (PSI) is a checklist that assesses the degree of stress parents are experiencing in their childcare role. It has been described by Abidin (1987) as part of a trend away from omnibus diagnostic instruments and towards assessment strategies that are specific in their intent. The intent of the PSI is to identify parent-child pairs whose dysfunctional relationship places the child at risk for emotional disturbance. The scale yields a total parenting stress score and three separate domain scores that represent the portion of parent stress attributable to child characteristics, the portion attributable to parent characteristics, and the portion attributable to situational life events. Thus, the PSI is not a child diagnostic scale, but is intended to assess the parent-child relationship. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Children of Armageddon. Common developmental threats in high-conflict divorcing families

This article traces how parental vulnerability to the feelings of humiliation and loss (inherent in highly conflicted divorce and custody litigation) distorts parenting capacities and parent-child relationships in distinctive ways, putting children at risk for specific kinds of developmental difficulties. Pre-oedipal children often fail to achieve a complete separation from their primary caretakers. Oedipal children, already struggling with separation issues, manifest sexualized anxiety and discomfort with gender identity. By latency, these children present as fragmented within themselves and in relationships with others. Each stage-specific response is discussed and illustrated. It is argued that mental health and legal professionals can use this in-depth understanding of child responses to help parents reframe their disputing agendas in terms of the child's developmental concerns and preoccupations to produce custody settlements that are more protective of the child's best interests.     

Effects of a Family Literacy Program on Low-Literate Children and Their Parents: Findings From an Evaluation of the Even Start Family Literacy Program.

A randomized experiment was conducted to test the effectiveness of Even Start, a federally supported family literacy program providing early childhood education, adult education, parenting education, and joint parent-child literacy activities to children and parents from low-literate families. The evaluation of 18 Even Start projects followed 463 families for 2 years and found no statistically significant or educationally important impacts on Even Start families when they were compared with control families on child literacy outcomes, parent literacy outcomes, or parent-child interactions. The study concludes that Even Start projects were able to properly implement family literacy programs, and the observed lack of effectiveness is attributed to a combination of 2 factors: (a) a lack of full participation on the part of families and (b) instructional services that may be ineffective because of the curriculum content or the instructional approach. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Efferent projection from the rostral ventrolateral medulla to the area postrema in rats

Describes interim results of a study examining the effectiveness of parent-child interaction therapy (PCIT) with families of preschool-age children with oppositional defiant disorder. Following an initial assessment, 64 clinic-referred families were randomly assigned to an immediate treatment (i.t.) or a wait-list control (WL) condition. Results indicated that parents in the IT condition interacted more positively with their child and were more successful in gaining their child's compliance than parents in the WL condition. In addition, parents who received treatment reported decreased parenting stress and a more internal locus of control. Parents in the IT group reported statistically and clinically significant improvements in their child's behavior following PCIT. All families who received treatment reported high levels of satisfaction with both the content and process of PCIT. Preliminary 4-month follow-up data showed that parents maintained gains on all self-report measures.