Co-Parenting

2017 ◽  
pp. 774-778
Author(s):  
Annette Rotter
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Children’S Mental Health ◽  
Children's Mental Health ◽  
Parental Conflict ◽  
Parenting Skills ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Professional Advice ◽  
Niche Area

Co-parenting therapy is a niche practice area that focuses on providing parents with tools to diminish conflict and develop their co-parenting skills before, during, and after divorce. Co-parenting therapists work to fortify parental cooperation with the goal of diminishing the long-term negative effects of parental conflict on children’s mental health. Few clinicians are trained in this area. The author describes this niche area of practice and how she became interested in this challenging and impactful area. She covers the joys and challenges of a practice focused on co-parenting therapy, discusses the business aspects of this niche area, and offers professional advice about pursuing this specialty. Resources are listed to assist interested clinicians.

scholarly journals The Acute Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Children’s Mental Health in Southwestern Ontario

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandra Mactavish ◽  
Carli Mastronardi ◽  
Rosanne Menna ◽  
Kimberley A. Babb ◽  
Marco Battaglia ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Social Support ◽  
Psychological Distress ◽  
Psychological Impact ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Children’S Mental Health ◽  
Children's Mental Health ◽  
Children And Parents ◽  
The Impact

Objective: COVID-19 is an unprecedented global crisis. Research is critically needed to identify the acute and long-term impacts of the pandemic to children’s mental health including psychosocial factors that predict resilience, recovery, and persistent long-term distress. The present study collected data in June-July 2020 to enumerate the acute impact of the pandemic on children’s mental health, including the magnitude and nature of psychiatric and psychological distress in children, and to evaluate social support as a putative psychosocial correlate of children’s distress.Method: 190 families of children aged 8 to 13 from the Windsor-Essex region of Southwestern Ontario reported on the impact of the pandemic on children’s well-being (e.g., worry, happiness); irritability; social support; and symptoms of anxiety, depressive, and posttraumatic stress disorder at baseline assessment of an ongoing longitudinal study of the COVID-19 pandemic.Results: Children and parents reported worsened well-being and psychological distress during the pandemic compared to retrospective report of pre-pandemic well-being. Children and parents also reported higher depressive and anxiety symptoms, but fewer PTSD symptoms, compared to epidemiological samples that used the same measures prior to the pandemic. Finally, child-perceived social support from family and friends was associated with lower symptom severity.Conclusions: Study findings indicate broad psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and are consistent with prior research that indicates a protective role of social support to mitigate the negative psychological impact of the pandemic.

A narrative review of stability and change in the mental health of children who grow up in family-based out-of-home care

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 273-294 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Tarren-Sweeney ◽  
Anouk Goemans
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
General Population ◽  
Home Care ◽  
Children’S Mental Health ◽  
Children's Mental Health ◽  
Meaningful Improvement ◽  
Out Of Home Care ◽  
Family Based ◽  
Children In Care

The present review sought to address the following questions: What evidence is there that long-term, family-based out-of-home care (OOHC) has a general, population-wide effect on children’s mental health such that it is generally reparative or generally harmful? Does entry into long-term OOHC affect children’s mental health, as evidenced by prospective changes over the first years in care? And, is the reparative potential of long-term, family-based OOHC moderated by children’s age at entry into care? Fourteen studies were identified for review. We found no consistent evidence that family-based OOHC exerts a general, population-wide effect on the mental health of children in care; or that entry into care has an initial effect on children’s mental health; or that children’s age at entry into care moderates their subsequent mental health trajectories. Instead, several longitudinal studies have found that sizable proportions of children in care manifest meaningful improvement in their mental health over both short- and long-term time frames and that similarly sizable proportions experience meaningful deterioration in their mental health. Rather than asking whether long-term, family-based care is generally reparative or harmful for the development of previously maltreated children, future investigations should instead focus on identifying the systemic and interpersonal characteristics of care that promote and sustain children’s psychological development throughout childhood—and those characteristics that are developmentally harmful (i.e., for which children is the experience of care beneficial, and for which children is it not?). The review concludes with recommendations for the design of improved cohort studies that can address these questions.

scholarly journals Enhancing Teaching Recovery Techniques (TRT) with Parenting Skills: RCT of TRT + Parenting with Trauma-Affected Syrian Refugees in Lebanon Utilising Remote Training with Implications for Insecure Contexts and COVID-19

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (16) ◽  
pp. 8652
Author(s):  
Aala El-Khani ◽  
Kim Cartwright ◽  
Wadih Maalouf ◽  
Karin Haar ◽  
Nosheen Zehra ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Controlled Trial ◽  
Children’S Mental Health ◽  
Children's Mental Health ◽  
Refugee Children ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Parenting Skills ◽  
Waitlist Control ◽  
Recovery Techniques ◽  
Remote Training

Child psychosocial recovery interventions in humanitarian contexts often overlook the significant effect that caregivers can have on improving children’s future trajectory. We enhanced the well-established, evidenced-based child trauma recovery programme Teaching Recovery Techniques (TRT) intervention with parenting sessions, i.e., TRT + Parenting (TRT + P), which aims to improve parent mental health and their ability to support their children’s mental health. We describe the findings of a three-arm randomised controlled trial comparing enhanced TRT + P vs. TRT and waitlist. The primary aim was to test if children in the enhanced arm of the programme show improved child and caregiver mental health. We recruited 119 Syrian refugee children and one of their caregivers in Beqaa Valley in Lebanon. They were randomised to the TRT, TRT + P, or waitlist control group. Data were collected at baseline and 2 weeks and 12 weeks post intervention. Training of facilitators was via remote training from the United Kingdom. Results showed a highly consistent pattern, with children in the enhanced TRT + P group showing the greatest levels of improvement in behavioural and emotional difficulties compared to children in the TRT or waitlist control groups. Caregivers in the TRT + P group also reported significant reductions in depression, anxiety, and stress. Findings indicate that the addition of the evidence-based parenting skills components has the potential to enhance the effects of interventions designed to improve children’s mental health in contexts of trauma, conflict, and displacement. Implications for COVID-19 remote learning are also discussed.

scholarly journals Mother–Child Reminiscing About Emotionally Negative Events and Children’s Long-Term Mental Health

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessie Bee Kim Koh ◽  
Qi Wang
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Behavioral Problems ◽  
Externalizing Problems ◽  
Chinese American ◽  
Children’S Mental Health ◽  
Children's Mental Health ◽  
European American ◽  
Negative Events ◽  
Social Self

The present study examined the longitudinal relation between mother–child reminiscing of emotionally negative events and children’s mental health. European-American and Chinese-American mothers discussed with their 4.5-year-old children an event that was emotionally negative to the child. At age 7, children’s mental health was assessed, including measures for externalizing problems, internalizing problems, negative social self (an Asian-salient dimension of depression), behavioral problems, and socially adaptive behavior. Independent of culture, maternal reference to negative emotional terms was related to fewer externalizing, internalizing, and behavior problems in children. Maternal attribution of emotions to children was associated with lower negative social self in children. Maternal explanation of children’s emotions was linked to fewer externalizing problems and lower negative social self in children, and maternal reconfirmation of the explanations was related to fewer externalizing and behavioral problems in children. In contrast, maternal attribution of emotions to other people was associated with more externalizing problems and higher negative social self in children of both cultures. Some important cultural differences emerged. Chinese-American mothers’ mention of negative emotional terms was linked to lower negative social self in children, and Chinese-American mothers’ reconfirmation of explanation was related to more socially adaptive behaviors in children. No such relations were found in the European-American sample. The findings underscore the importance of family emotional reminiscing for children’s long-term well-being and the role of culture in shaping the process.

scholarly journals Mother-Child Reminiscing about Emotionally Negative Events and Children’s Long-Term Mental Health

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessie Bee Kim Koh ◽  
Qi Wang
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Behavioral Problems ◽  
Externalizing Problems ◽  
Chinese American ◽  
Children’S Mental Health ◽  
Children's Mental Health ◽  
European American ◽  
Negative Events ◽  
Social Self

The present study examined the longitudinal relation between mother-child reminiscing of emotionally negative events and children’s mental health. European-American and Chinese-American mothers discussed with their 4.5-year old children an event that was emotionally negative to the child. At age 7, children’s mental health was assessed, including measures for externalizing problems, internalizing problems, negative social self (an Asian-salient dimension of depression), behavioral problems, and socially adaptive behavior. Independent of culture, maternal reference to negative emotional terms was related to fewer externalizing, internalizing, and behavior problems in children, maternal attribution of emotions to children was associated with lower negative social self in children, maternal explanation of children’s emotions was linked to fewer externalizing problems and lower negative social self in children, and maternal reconfirmation of the explanations was related to fewer externalizing and behavioral problems in children. In contrast, maternal attribution of emotions to other people was associated with more externalizing problems and higher negative social self in children of both cultures. Some important cultural differences emerged. Chinese-American mothers’ mention of negative emotional terms was linked to lower negative social self in children, and Chinese-American mothers’ reconfirmation of explanation was related to more socially adaptive behaviors in children. No such relations were found in the European-American sample. The findings underscore the importance of family emotional reminiscing for children’s long-term well-being and the role of culture in shaping the process.

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