THE FAMILIAL CONTEXT OF CHILDREN’S CREATIVITY: PARENTING STYLES AND THE CLIMATE FOR CREATIVITY IN PARENT–CHILD RELATIONSHIP

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between dimensions of a constructive parenting style, (i.e. parental acceptance and autonomy granting) factors of the climate for creativity in parent–child relationships (encouragement to experience novelty and variety, encouragement of nonconformism, support of perseverance in creative efforts, and encouragement to fantasize), and parents’ visual mental imagery. 313 parents of children between 6 and 12 years of age participated in the study. The results indicated that (a) a constructive parenting style was positively related to three of four factors of the climate for creativity in the parent–child relationships, i.e. encouragement to experience novelty and variety, support of perseverance in creative efforts, and encouragement to fantasize in the parent–child relationship; (b) parents’ level of vividness of mental imagery was positively related with both parental acceptance of child and autonomy support as well as components of climate for creativity in parent–child relationship; (c) mothers scored significantly higher than fathers in exhibiting acceptance of a child; (d) parents’ gender played an important role in the relations between dimensions of constructive parenting style and factors of climate for creativity in parent–child relationships. Findings were discussed in terms of the implications for further research and theory development in the area of family influences on the development of children’s creativity.

Sexually Transmitted Infections in Pediatrics

Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) disproportionately affect young people, with more than half of the infections occurring in 15- to 25-year-olds, although as an age group they constitute only 25% of the sexually active population. Adolescents have been considered as a key and vulnerable population; adolescents are considered as marginalized populations (i.e., poor access to adequate health services, social and parental acceptance, stigmatization, among others. Every year, 87 million new cases of gonorrhea are reported worldwide in the population from 15 to 49 years old. In 2016, the estimated global prevalence of CT in 15-to 49-year-old women was 3.8% and in men 2.7%, with regional values ranging from 1.5 to 7.0% in women and 1.2 to 4.0% in men. The worldwide prevalence of HSV-2 among 15–49-year old is 11.3% and for HSV-1 among 0–49-year-old is 67%. These numbers alert us about the increase in the frequency of these diseases among young populations; more open sexual behavior could be an important factor for this increase; the treatment of these diseases is challenging due to the difficulties with detection and treatment; in the case of gonorrhea, it could become a major public health problem due to the emerging antimicrobial resistance; in the case of Chlamydia, despite the effective treatment, reinfection is still a possibility and for genital herpes, the disease can be controlled but not cured. This chapter will describe the most important aspects of these three diseases for supporting the clinicians and researchers about the management of sexually transmitted diseases in the adolescent population.

Parental acceptance and knowledge of varicella vaccination in relation to socioeconomics in Sweden: A cross-sectional study

Varicella infection is a highly contagious disease which, whilst mild in most cases, can cause severe complications. Varicella vaccination is available privately in Sweden and is currently being reviewed for inclusion in the Swedish Public Health Agency’s national immunisation program (NIP). A cross-sectional study of parents of Swedish children aged 1–8 years (n = 2212) was conducted to understand parental acceptance, beliefs and knowledge around varicella infection and vaccination. Respondents generally viewed varicella infection as a mild disease, with only a small proportion aware of potential severe complications. While 65% of respondents were aware of the vaccine, only 15% had started the course of vaccination as of February 2019. Further, 43% of parents did not intend to vaccinate, most commonly due to lack of inclusion in the NIP, but also due to perception of mild disease. Nevertheless, if offered within the NIP, 85% of parents would be highly likely to vaccinate their child. A number of statistically significant differences in awareness and behaviours were observed between sociodemographic subgroups. In general, women were more aware of vaccination (72%) compared to men (58%). Among unemployed or respondents with elementary school education, awareness was below 43%, and among respondents with high income the awareness was above 75%. Similarly, among unemployed or respondents with a low income the vaccination rate was as low as 30% compared with at least 57% among respondents with a high income. Respondents from metropolitan areas, those with university degrees and respondents with a higher income were more likely to be aware of the varicella vaccine and to have vaccinated their child. Whilst inclusion in the NIP is clearly the main driver for uptake, these identified knowledge gaps should inform educational efforts to ensure that all parents are informed of the availability and benefits of the varicella vaccine independent of socioeconomic status.

THE INTERRELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ADOLESCENTS' SELF-ESTEEM AND PARENTAL ACCEPTANCE

Adolescent development is determined by many factors that intertwine, sometimes complementing each other and sometimes negating or cancelling each other out. One of them is the self-esteem which is conditioned by various factors. At the same time, self-esteem significantly determines the ways an individual develops and the extent to which he develops his abilities. Previous research has confirmed the importance of the relation between self-esteem and parental acceptance. This study aims to investigate the relationship between parental acceptance and adolescent self-esteem. The study was conducted on a sample of 401 students from the University of Mostar. In the study, the following instruments were used: a socio-demographic questionnaire, the Quality of Family Interaction Scale - KOBI and the Self-Esteem Questionnaire – SEI. In order to achieve the set research goal, the following methods were applied: descriptive statistics methods and Chi-square test. The obtained results confirmed the hypothesis that the higher the degree of parental acceptance is, the higher the level of adolescents' self-esteem is.

Long-Term Effects of Acceptance and Rejection by Parents and Peers on Educational Attainment: A Study from Pre-Adolescence to Early Adulthood

Acceptance and rejection by parents and peers play an important role in pre-adolescents’ educational outcomes. Prior research focused on either parents or peers, did not encompass effects into adulthood, or considered either acceptance or rejection. This study investigated the relation between parental and peer acceptance and rejection, and their interplay, in pre-adolescence and educational attainment in early adulthood. A sample of 2229 pre-adolescents (Mage T1 = 11.11, SD = 0.56; 50.7% girls) was followed to early adulthood (Mage T5 = 22.29, SD = 0.65). Ordinal logistic regression showed that pre-adolescents’ perceived parental acceptance was positively related to educational attainment in early adulthood, whereas peer rejection was negatively related, even when WISC score and socioeconomic status were considered. No interaction effects were found, revealing no “dual-hit effect” of being rejected by parents and peers, no “dual-miss effect” of being accepted by parents and peers, and no effects of acceptance in one context (i.e., parents or peers) buffering the negative effect of rejection in the other context. The findings underscore unique and long-term links of parental acceptance and peer rejection with early adults’ educational attainment, underlining the importance of not only peers but also parents in adolescence. These insights can be used in promoting long-term educational outcomes through relationships with parents and peers.

Association between Adult Vaccine Hesitancy and Parental Acceptance of Childhood COVID-19 Vaccines: A Web-Based Survey in a Northwestern Region in China

China has initiated the COVID-19 vaccination for children aged 15–17 years since late July 2020. This study aimed to determine the association between adult vaccine hesitancy and parental acceptance of childhood COVID-19 vaccines in a multi-ethnicity area of northwestern China. A web-based investigation was performed with a convenience sampling strategy to recruit the parents aged 20–49 years. In a total of 13,451 valid respondents, 66.1% had received the COVID-19 vaccination, 26.6% were intent to receive, while 7.3% were not intent, with an increasing vaccine hesitancy (p < 0.001). Moreover, vaccination uptake of four common vaccines in their children remained low (29.0% for influenza vaccine, 17.9% for pneumonia vaccine, 10.9% for rotavirus vaccine, 8.0% for Enterovirus-71 vaccine), while overall parental acceptance of childhood COVID-19 vaccines was 50.0% (32.7% for those aged 0–5, 46.6% for 6–10, 73.3% for 11–18; p < 0.001). Vaccination uptake of these four vaccines and parental acceptance of childhood COVID-19 vaccine were negatively associated with adult vaccine hesitancy. In addition, respondents mostly preferred childhood COVID-19 vaccines with weak mild common adverse events (β = 1.993) and no severe adverse events (β = 1.731), demonstrating a positive association with adult vaccine hesitancy. Thus, it warrants specific countermeasures to reduce adult vaccine hesitancy and improve strategies for childhood vaccination.