Exploring the changes in economic hardship and children's well-being over time: The “linked lives” of parents and children

2008 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
pp. 321-341 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anastasia S. Vogt Yuan
Keyword(s):  
Well Being ◽  
Economic Hardship ◽  
Parents And Children ◽  
Linked Lives ◽  
Over Time

A Decade of Love and Hate

2016 ◽  
Vol 38 (3) ◽  
pp. 336-357 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica Penn Lendon
Keyword(s):  
Growth Models ◽  
Life Stage ◽  
Social Contexts ◽  
Birth Cohorts ◽  
Parents And Children ◽  
Linked Lives ◽  
Intergenerational Ambivalence ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Over Time ◽  
Parent Child

The intergenerational ambivalence paradigm is a critical lens for understanding the complexities of aging families, and researchers have begun to explore the potential changes and implications of ambivalence over the life course. This study is one of few to examine trajectories of ambivalence over 13 years and is the first to include two birth cohorts of reciprocal parent–child dyads. This research uses five waves of the Longitudinal Study of Generations to assess changes in ambivalence and reciprocal influences among 903 parent–child dyads using latent growth models. Primary findings show an overall decline in ambivalence over time with different patterns by generation, cohort/life stage, and gender. Children experienced greater levels of ambivalence than parents. There is a reciprocal influence of ambivalence in parent–child dyads; parents and children have similar trajectories of ambivalence and the older generation of parents’ ambivalence exerted influence on the change in their children’s ambivalence over time. This study highlights the importance of using longitudinal data and reciprocal dyads in intergenerational research and adds to theory about the important influences of life stages, social contexts, and linked lives on intergenerational ambivalence.

scholarly journals The Stepparent Role: How It Is Defined and Negotiated in Stepfamilies in New Zealand

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Rebecca Kate Graham
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Full Time ◽  
Biological Parent ◽  
Role Negotiation ◽  
Parents And Children ◽  
Biological Parents ◽  
Gate Keeping ◽  
And Control ◽  
Over Time

<p>Many children in New Zealand spend at least part of their lives growing up in stepfamilies. Yet despite the prevalence of stepfamilies and indications that they are increasing, there is little certainty regarding the parenting role stepparents should adopt to benefit their stepchildren the most. This ambiguity is further reflected in the law; with stepparents having few legal responsibilities to their stepchildren. This research sought to identify how individuals define and negotiate the stepparent‘s role in newly formed stepfamilies in New Zealand. Previous research and clinical practice indicates that how this role is defined is closely tied to stepfamily well-being. However there is still a great deal we do not understand about how stepfamily members construct this role, the nature of change over time, and how it is negotiated among stepfamily members. One hundred and five stepfamilies that had been cohabiting full-time for less than four years completed questionnaires assessing individual perceptions of stepparent roles and stepfamily functioning. Three stepfamily members completed questionnaires at two points in time, twelve months apart– a target stepchild between the ages of seven and eleven, the resident biological parent, and stepparent. Results suggest that stepparents, parents and children perceive stepparents to play active roles in both the warmth and control aspects of the stepparent role and these perceptions change minimally over a twelve-month period. When discrepancies between actual and ideal role scores were examined (intra-role discrepancies), all stepfamily members reported wanting the stepparent to be more involved in warmth behaviours than they actually were. However, although parents and stepparents reported ideally wanting stepparents to be more involved in control behaviours as well, children wanted them to be less involved in control behaviours than they were currently. Role discrepancies at time 1 were associated with aspects of stepfamily functioning at time 2, particularly for children.There was some evidence that role discrepancies reduced over time. In particular, stepparents and children reported lower inter-role discrepancies (higher role agreement) and stepparents and children both reported lower intra-role discrepancies over time. When role discrepancies between stepfamily members were examined (inter-role discrepancies), stepchildren reported wanting stepparents to be less involved in warmth and control dimensions than either parents or stepparents. Regression analyses revealed that children‘s inter and intra role discrepancies were significantly associated with their reports of stepfamily functioning twelve months later, after taking into account the stepparent‘s actual involvement. Adults in stepfamilies used various strategies to negotiate the stepparent role; including partner discussions, talks with children, checking in for feedback with children and biological parents, and gate keeping behaviours by the biological parent. Role negotiation was more likely to occur in the following twelve months when stepfamily functioning was more problematic at time 1, and there was some evidence that this led to improvements in functioning over time. This was not the case for gate keeping behaviours—while these were reported to be more frequently used when stepfamily functioning was problematic; they had a detrimental effect on the quality of the stepparent-stepchild relationships. These findings have important implications for organisations that work with, and make decisions affecting stepfamilies.</p>

scholarly journals The Stepparent Role: How It Is Defined and Negotiated in Stepfamilies in New Zealand

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Rebecca Kate Graham
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Full Time ◽  
Biological Parent ◽  
Role Negotiation ◽  
Parents And Children ◽  
Biological Parents ◽  
Gate Keeping ◽  
And Control ◽  
Over Time

<p>Many children in New Zealand spend at least part of their lives growing up in stepfamilies. Yet despite the prevalence of stepfamilies and indications that they are increasing, there is little certainty regarding the parenting role stepparents should adopt to benefit their stepchildren the most. This ambiguity is further reflected in the law; with stepparents having few legal responsibilities to their stepchildren. This research sought to identify how individuals define and negotiate the stepparent‘s role in newly formed stepfamilies in New Zealand. Previous research and clinical practice indicates that how this role is defined is closely tied to stepfamily well-being. However there is still a great deal we do not understand about how stepfamily members construct this role, the nature of change over time, and how it is negotiated among stepfamily members. One hundred and five stepfamilies that had been cohabiting full-time for less than four years completed questionnaires assessing individual perceptions of stepparent roles and stepfamily functioning. Three stepfamily members completed questionnaires at two points in time, twelve months apart– a target stepchild between the ages of seven and eleven, the resident biological parent, and stepparent. Results suggest that stepparents, parents and children perceive stepparents to play active roles in both the warmth and control aspects of the stepparent role and these perceptions change minimally over a twelve-month period. When discrepancies between actual and ideal role scores were examined (intra-role discrepancies), all stepfamily members reported wanting the stepparent to be more involved in warmth behaviours than they actually were. However, although parents and stepparents reported ideally wanting stepparents to be more involved in control behaviours as well, children wanted them to be less involved in control behaviours than they were currently. Role discrepancies at time 1 were associated with aspects of stepfamily functioning at time 2, particularly for children.There was some evidence that role discrepancies reduced over time. In particular, stepparents and children reported lower inter-role discrepancies (higher role agreement) and stepparents and children both reported lower intra-role discrepancies over time. When role discrepancies between stepfamily members were examined (inter-role discrepancies), stepchildren reported wanting stepparents to be less involved in warmth and control dimensions than either parents or stepparents. Regression analyses revealed that children‘s inter and intra role discrepancies were significantly associated with their reports of stepfamily functioning twelve months later, after taking into account the stepparent‘s actual involvement. Adults in stepfamilies used various strategies to negotiate the stepparent role; including partner discussions, talks with children, checking in for feedback with children and biological parents, and gate keeping behaviours by the biological parent. Role negotiation was more likely to occur in the following twelve months when stepfamily functioning was more problematic at time 1, and there was some evidence that this led to improvements in functioning over time. This was not the case for gate keeping behaviours—while these were reported to be more frequently used when stepfamily functioning was problematic; they had a detrimental effect on the quality of the stepparent-stepchild relationships. These findings have important implications for organisations that work with, and make decisions affecting stepfamilies.</p>

The Therapist’s Reaction to a Patient’s Suicide

Crisis ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 99-105 ◽  
Author(s):  
Friedrich Martin Wurst ◽  
Isabella Kunz ◽  
Gregory Skipper ◽  
Manfred Wolfersdorf ◽  
Karl H. Beine ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Emotional Responses ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Emotional Reaction ◽  
Emotional Reactions ◽  
Analog Scale ◽  
General Hospitals ◽  
Item Questionnaire ◽  
Retrospective Nature ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Over Time

Background: A substantial proportion of therapists experience the loss of a patient to suicide at some point during their professional life. Aims: To assess (1) the impact of a patient’s suicide on therapists distress and well-being over time, (2) which factors contribute to the reaction, and (3) which subgroup might need special interventions in the aftermath of suicide. Methods: A 63-item questionnaire was sent to all 185 Psychiatric Clinics at General Hospitals in Germany. The emotional reaction of therapists to patient’s suicide was measured immediately, after 2 weeks, and after 6 months. Results: Three out of ten therapists suffer from severe distress after a patients’ suicide. The item “overall distress” immediately after the suicide predicts emotional reactions and changes in behavior. The emotional responses immediately after the suicide explained 43.5% of the variance of total distress in a regression analysis. Limitations: The retrospective nature of the study is its primary limitation. Conclusions: Our data suggest that identifying the severely distressed subgroup could be done using a visual analog scale for overall distress. As a consequence, more specific and intensified help could be provided to these professionals.

Emotional Impact Feedback Changes How We Remember Negative Autobiographical Experiences

2010 ◽  
Vol 57 (5) ◽  
pp. 354-359 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melanie K. T. Takarangi ◽  
Deryn Strange
Keyword(s):  
Well Being ◽  
The Other ◽  
Personal Perspective ◽  
Emotional Impact ◽  
Potential Mechanism ◽  
Negative Experiences ◽  
Negative Memory ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Negative Memories ◽  
Over Time

When people are told that their negative memories are worse than other people’s, do they later remember those events differently? We asked participants to recall a recent negative memory then, 24 h later, we gave some participants feedback about the emotional impact of their event – stating it was more or less negative compared to other people’s experiences. One week later, participants recalled the event again. We predicted that if feedback affected how participants remembered their negative experiences, their ratings of the memory’s characteristics should change over time. That is, when participants are told that their negative event is extremely negative, their memories should be more vivid, recollected strongly, and remembered from a personal perspective, compared to participants in the other conditions. Our results provide support for this hypothesis. We suggest that external feedback might be a potential mechanism in the relationship between negative memories and psychological well-being.

Feasibility study of technology-enabled prevention intervention for children and families (Preprint)

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nikki Theofanopoulou ◽  
Katherine Isbister ◽  
Julian Edbrooke-Childs ◽  
Petr Slovák
Keyword(s):  
Emotion Regulation ◽  
Pilot Study ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Digital Camera ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
Object A ◽  
Intervention Delivery ◽  
Parents And Children

BACKGROUND A common challenge within psychiatry and prevention science more broadly is the lack of effective, engaging, and scale-able mechanisms to deliver psycho-social interventions for children, especially beyond in-person therapeutic or school-based contexts. Although digital technology has the potential to address these issues, existing research on technology-enabled interventions for families remains limited. OBJECTIVE The aim of this pilot study was to examine the feasibility of in-situ deployments of a low-cost, bespoke prototype, which has been designed to support children’s in-the-moment emotion regulation efforts. This prototype instantiates a novel intervention model that aims to address the existing limitations by delivering the intervention through an interactive object (a ‘smart toy’) sent home with the child, without any prior training necessary for either the child or their carer. This pilot study examined (i) engagement and acceptability of the device in the homes during 1 week deployments; and (ii) qualitative indicators of emotion regulation effects, as reported by parents and children. METHODS In this qualitative study, ten families (altogether 11 children aged 6-10 years) were recruited from three under-privileged communities in the UK. The RA visited participants in their homes to give children the ‘smart toy’ and conduct a semi-structured interview with at least one parent from each family. Children were given the prototype, a discovery book, and a simple digital camera to keep at home for 7-8 days, after which we interviewed each child and their parent about their experience. Thematic analysis guided the identification and organisation of common themes and patterns across the dataset. In addition, the prototypes automatically logged every interaction with the toy throughout the week-long deployments. RESULTS Across all 10 families, parents and children reported that the ‘smart toy’ was incorporated into children’s emotion regulation practices and engaged with naturally in moments children wanted to relax or calm down. Data suggests that children interacted with the toy throughout the duration of the deployment, found the experience enjoyable, and all requested to keep the toy longer. Child emotional connection to the toy—caring for its ‘well-being’—appears to have driven this strong engagement. Parents reported satisfaction with and acceptability of the toy. CONCLUSIONS This is the first known study investigation of the use of object-enabled intervention delivery to support emotion regulation in-situ. The strong engagement and qualitative indications of effects are promising – children were able to use the prototype without any training and incorporated it into their emotion regulation practices during daily challenges. Future work is needed to extend this indicative data with efficacy studies examining the psychological efficacy of the proposed intervention. More broadly, our findings suggest the potential of a technology-enabled shift in how prevention interventions are designed and delivered: empowering children and parents through ‘child-led, situated interventions’, where participants learn through actionable support directly within family life, as opposed to didactic in-person workshops and a subsequent skills application.

Early human relations set the foundation for adult health and working life

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan Sinclair ◽  
Tam Baillie
Keyword(s):  
Well Being ◽  
Early Years ◽  
Adult Health ◽  
Human Relations ◽  
Rights Of The Child ◽  
Parents And Children ◽  
Evidence Analysis ◽  
Before School ◽  
Child Health Research ◽  
Early Human

Investing in early years is close to magic, without being magic. The United Nations has given greater prominence to the early years through a General Comment on the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Health research is gravitating to a view that adult physical and mental conditions have their origins in the womb and the earliest months and years of life. More than any other skills, employers want people who can talk, listen, and work with others: attributes that are largely picked up before school. Economists have demonstrated that the best return on investment in ‘education’ is in supporting parents and children, in the years before school. While evidence, analysis, and experience, which we review, points in one direction, it leads to three questions. Where are we now in child well-being and supporting parents and their very young children? Why are we not doing better? What can be done?

Structured well-being assessments in public child welfare: Observations across two states

2021 ◽  
pp. 251610322110046
Author(s):  
Crystal Collins-Camargo ◽  
Jessica Strolin-Goltzman ◽  
A. Nathan Verbist ◽  
Alison Krompf ◽  
Becky F. Antle
Keyword(s):  
Child Welfare ◽  
Behavioral Health ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Child Welfare System ◽  
Welfare System ◽  
Health Needs ◽  
Functional Improvement ◽  
Public Child Welfare ◽  
Case Planning ◽  
Over Time

Children entering custody within the child welfare system have been found to have high levels of trauma and significant behavioral health needs. In this paper, authors demonstrate how a structured functional well-being assessment can be used with the custody population to promote an understanding of behavioral health needs, inform case planning, and measure functional improvement over time. Specifically, this paper will: (a) briefly describe how two states implemented a common standardized assessment of functioning to inform case planning and measure well-being progress of children in the custody of a public child welfare system (b) examine what this common assessment tool reveals about the strengths and needs of children entering custody across two sites and (c) describe the magnitude of change in functional improvement measured across 6 months. This paper will contribute to the existing knowledge by sharing possible themes in functioning related to children entering custody while examining changes in functioning over time. Implications for practice, policy, and future research will be discussed.

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