Children's fingernail cortisol among BaYaka foragers of the Congo Basin: associations with fathers' roles

Author(s):  
Lee T. Gettler ◽  
Sheina Lew-Levy ◽  
Mallika S. Sarma ◽  
Valchy Miegakanda ◽  
Martha Doxsey ◽  
...  

Children and mothers’ cortisol production in response to family psychosocial conditions, including parenting demands, family resource availability and parental conflict, has been extensively studied in the United States and Europe. Less is known about how such family dynamics relate to family members' cortisol in societies with a strong cultural emphasis on cooperative caregiving. We studied a cumulative indicator of cortisol production, measured from fingernails, among BaYaka forager children (77 samples, n = 48 individuals) and their parents (78 samples, n = 49) in the Congo Basin. Men ranked one another according to locally valued roles for fathers, including providing resources for the family, sharing resources in the community and engaging in less marital conflict. Children had higher cortisol if their parents were ranked as having greater parental conflict, and their fathers were seen as less effective providers and less generous sharers of resources in the community. Children with lower triceps skinfold thickness (an indicator of energetic condition) also had higher cortisol. Parental cortisol was not significantly correlated to men's fathering rankings, including parental conflict. Our results indicate that even in a society in which caregiving is highly cooperative, children's cortisol production was nonetheless correlated to parental conflict as well as variation in locally defined fathering quality. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Multidisciplinary perspectives on social support and maternal–child health’.

Author(s):  
Deirdre David

In the mid- to late 1950s, Pamela emerged as a critically acclaimed novelist, particularly after the family returned to London. In perhaps her best-known novel, The Unspeakable Skipton, she explores the life of a paranoid writer who sponges on English visitors to Bruges. The novel was hailed for its wit and sensitive depiction of the life of a writer. She also published a fine study of a London vicar martyred in marriage to a vain and selfish wife: The Humbler Creation is remarkable for its incisive and empathetic depiction of male despair. The Last Resort sealed her distinction as a brilliant novelist of domestic life in its frank depiction of male homosexuality. While continuing to publish fiction, Pamela maintained her reputation as a deft reviewer. In 1954, she and Charles travelled to the United States—the first of many trips that were to follow.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefanos Mastrotheodoros ◽  
Lauren M. Papp ◽  
Jolien Van der Graaff ◽  
Maja Deković ◽  
Wim H. J. Meeus ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
pp. 016402752110188
Author(s):  
Yifei Hou ◽  
Marissa Rurka ◽  
Siyun Peng

As Chinese households are becoming smaller with increasing numbers of adult children and older parents living apart, the extent to which patterns of parental support reflect traditional gender dynamics is under debate. Integrating theories of sibling compensation with ceremonial giving, we tested whether helping non-coresident parents in China is affected by sibship size and how these patterns depend on own and sibling(s)’ gender using a sample of 4,359 non-coresident parent-child dyads nesting within 3,285 focal adult children from China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study 2013. Opposite to patterns in the United States and Europe, we found substitutions of daughters with sons—having more brothers was associated with daughters’ reduced probabilities and hours of helping. Sons’ patterns of helping were independent of number of brothers and sisters in the family, consistent with the theory of ceremonial giving. These findings reflect the dominance of traditional family dynamics despite changes in family structure.


2020 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-66
Author(s):  
Susan M. Hunter Revell ◽  
Mary K. McCurry

Mental illness is an epidemic in the United States, and there is a gap in care due to minimal integrated programs and transitional community resources. This paper reports the development of a conceptual framework to identify challenges facing families living with mental illness and the integral role nursing plays to positively impact health. An inductive, bottom-up approach was used to develop the Nursing Science, Mental Illness and Family model. Concepts clustered around family health, cycle of suffering, improving outcomes, healthcare policy, and nursing science. Successful, goal-directed interprofessional collaborations are essential for individual-, family-, and system-level interventions to be effective.


2021 ◽  
Vol 58 (9) ◽  
pp. 754-763

Background: In 2016, the Norwegian family counselling service implemented differentiated mediation to give cumstomized help. The differentiation tool (i.e., questionnaire) has never been evaluated. Method: Using a sample of 761 parents, we compared parent responses given over the phone to the family counselling service and anonymously to an electronic version of the questionnaire. Results: One-third of the parents underreported their challenges to the family counselling service, and only 15% of parents who, in the electronic questionnaire reported substanse abuse or violence in the relationship, revealed this to the service. Underreporters had higher interparental conflict and more symptoms of anxiety and depression. Parents who underreported problems with substanse abuse and violence had more physically violent conflicts. Conclusions: There is a need to improve the validity of the differentiation tool. We suggest that parents need information and a safe environment when completing the questionnaire. Electronic administration of the questionnaire may serve this purpose. Keywords: parental mediation, differentiated mediation, parental conflict, partner violence


1978 ◽  
Vol 23 (7) ◽  
pp. 433-439 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Krell

In Canada and the United States there are over one million divorces annually involving at least that number of children. Divorce frequently involves matters of access and custody. Lawyers acting on behalf of their clients may request psychiatric consultation as to the emotional stability of the client. In custody cases, the child or children may be evaluated by a child psychiatrist. In a divorce action between two adults, it may be valid for the psychiatrist to see one party to the dispute and offer a psychiatric opinion. In custody matters, a psychiatrist must see both parties to the dispute as well as the children. If only one parent is seen it is almost impossible to offer expert testimony. Divorce proceedings result from marital incompatibility. The deficits attributed to each spouse in the marital relationship do not necessarily bear upon the ability to be a parent. Yet in custody contests, frequently the two qualities of suitability for marriage and suitability for parenting are confused. When a child psychiatrist is involved, he or she is asked to comment not only on the emotional stability or problems of the child but also on the fitness of the parents. If each parent has a child psychiatrist involved in the evaluation, the adversary position is fortified and the possibilities for compromise are jeopardized. Since the children are invariably traumatized, guilt-ridden and insecure, it is important that the child psychiatrist attempts to minimize the vindictiveness and anger which are inherent in some custody disputes. By acting in the child's interests, and guiding the lawyers to allow one child psychiatrist to perform the total evaluation, some loosening of an adversarial stance is likely, and new possibilities for negotiation and compromise are created. The structuring of such an evaluation must be completed before any member of the family is seen. A case illustration is provided to point out the nature of the requests made of the lawyers and techniques used in negotiations. The child psychiatrist, in remaining child-focused, is in a unique position to avoid representing one side to the conflict and to provide the court with an evaluation which will aid the judge to make an informed decision.


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