Mental Health Factors and Teaching Behaviors among Low-Income Hispanic Mothers

The relationships among anxiety, depression, parenting stress, social support, and teaching behaviors were studied in a group of 101 low-income Dominican and Puerto Rican mothers with children in Head Start The two groups of mothers showed high levels of depression, anxiety, and parenting stress but did not differ significantly from each other. Puerto Rican mothers reported more social support than did Dominican mothers. Surprisingly, neither anxiety nor depression was significantly associated with social support Both groups used more directive, modeling, and visual cues than other behaviors in their teaching. Dominican mothers used more modeling than Puerto Rican mothers, who used more praise and inquiry. Anxious and depressed mothers also used more negative feedback, directives, and modeling. Those with high parenting stress used less inquiry and praise and more modeling. These findings inform clinical and educational interventions with parents and children.

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Teaching Behaviors and Styles of Low-Income Puerto Rican Mothers

Applied Developmental Science ◽

10.1207/s1532480xads0704_2 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 7 (4) ◽

pp. 229-238 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Maribel Vargas ◽

Nancy A. Busch-Rossnagel

Keyword(s):

Puerto Rican ◽

Low Income ◽

Teaching Behaviors

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Relation Between Violence and Social Support in Dating Relationships in Young Puerto Rican

PsycEXTRA Dataset ◽

10.1037/e579192012-166 ◽

2012 ◽

Author(s):

Cristina Cruz Esteves

Keyword(s):

Social Support ◽

Puerto Rican ◽

Dating Relationships

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Parenting Stress and Maternal Attachment to Infants: Examining the Moderating Effect of Social Support

The Korean Journal of the Human Development ◽

10.15284/kjhd.2016.23.4.101 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 23 (4) ◽

pp. 101-120 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Chae Jin-Young ◽

Park Youjeong

Keyword(s):

Social Support ◽

Parenting Stress ◽

Moderating Effect ◽

Maternal Attachment

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Empathy not quarantined: Association between people’s empathy to others and the COVID-19 pandemic situations based on a national survey study (Preprint)

10.2196/preprints.26834 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Zhibin Jiang ◽

Fan Yang ◽

Bu Zhong ◽

Xuebing Qin

Keyword(s):

Social Support ◽

Social Media ◽

National Survey ◽

Low Income ◽

Rural Areas ◽

Critical Role ◽

Affective Response ◽

Survey Study ◽

Income Levels ◽

The Social

BACKGROUND The Covid-19 pandemic had turned the world upside down, but not much is known about how people’s empathy might be affected by the pandemic. OBJECTIVE This study examined 1) how empathy towards others might be influenced by the social support people obtained by using social media; and 2) how the individual demographics (e.g., age, income) may affect empathy. METHODS A national survey (N = 943) was conducted in China in February 2020, in which the participants read three real scenarios about low-income urban workers (Scenario I), small business owners in cities (Scenario II), and farmers in rural areas (Scenario III) who underwent hardship due to COVID-19. After exposure to others’ difficulties in the scenarios, the participants’ empathy and anxiety levels were measured. We also measured the social support they had by using social media. RESULTS Results show that social support not only positively impacted empathy, β = .30, P < .001 for Scenario I, β = .30, P < .001 for Scenario II, and β = .29, P < .001 for Scenario III, but also interacted with anxiety in influencing the degree to which participants could maintain empathy towards others, β = .08, P = .010 for Scenario I, and β = .07, P = .033 for scenario II. Age negatively predicted empathy for Scenario I, β = -.08, P = .018 and Scenario III, β = -.08, P = .009, but not for Scenario II, β = -.03, P = .40. Income levels – low, medium, high – positively predicted empathy for Scenario III, F (2, 940) = 8.10, P < .001, but not for Scenario I, F (2, 940) = 2.14, P = .12, or Scenario II, F (2, 940) = 2.93, P = .06. Participants living in big cities expressed greater empathy towards others for Scenario III, F (2, 940) = 4.03, P =.018, but not for Scenario I, F (2, 940) = .81, P = .45, or Scenario II, F (2, 940) = 1.46, P =.23. CONCLUSIONS This study contributes to the literature by discovering the critical role empathy plays in people’s affective response to others during the pandemic. Anxiety did not decrease empathy. However, those gaining more social support on social media showed more empathy for others. Those who resided in cities with higher income levels were more empathetic during the COVID-19 outbreak. This study reveals that the social support people obtained helped maintain empathy to others, making them resilient in challenging times.

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Qualitative, longitudinal exploration of coping strategies and factors facilitating infant and young child feeding practices among mothers in rural Rwanda

BMC Public Health ◽

10.1186/s12889-020-10095-8 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 21 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Jeanine Ahishakiye ◽

Lenneke Vaandrager ◽

Inge D. Brouwer ◽

Maria Koelen

Keyword(s):

Social Support ◽

Young Child ◽

Coping Strategies ◽

Low Income ◽

Complementary Feeding ◽

Feeding Practices ◽

Personal Factors ◽

Child Feeding ◽

Young Child Feeding ◽

Infant And Young Child

Abstract Background Mothers in low-income countries face many challenges to appropriately feed their children in the first year such as poverty, food insecurity and high workloads. However, even in the lowest income families there are mothers who succeed to feed their children according to the recommendations. In this paper, we explored the coping strategies that facilitate appropriate breastfeeding and complementary feeding practices among rural Rwandan mothers from birth to one year of a child’s life. Methods This qualitative longitudinal study recruited a purposive sample of 17 mothers who followed the infant and young child feeding recommendations (IYCF). They were selected from a larger study of 36 mothers. In-depth interviews were conducted with mothers of the total group (36 mothers) within the first week, at 4th, 6th, 9th and 12th months postpartum. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim and analyzed thematically. Results Coping strategies included improving mothers’ own diet for adequate breastmilk production, prioritizing child feeding over livelihood chores, livelihood diversification and mothers’ anticipatory behaviors such as preparing child’s food in advance. Some of those coping strategies were shifting overtime depending on the development of the children. Personal factors such as breastfeeding self-efficacy, religious beliefs and perceived benefits of breastfeeding were among the facilitating factors. Additionally, social support that mothers received from family members, other mothers in the community, Community Health Workers (CHWs) and health professionals played an important role. Conclusion In challenging contextual conditions, mothers manage to follow the recommended breastfeeding and complementary feeding practices through the interplay of active coping strategies, feeling to be in control and social support. Nutrition promotion interventions that aim to improve IYCF should consider strengthening mothers’ capability in gaining greater control of their IYCF practices and the factors facilitating their appropriate IYCF practices.

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