The Common Marmoset: A Highly Translatable Small Nonhuman Primate Model of Aging

The common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus) has been used in biomedical research for many years, but within the last decade its popularity has increased dramatically prompted to a large degree by their realized utility for neuroscience and aging research. Many factors make the marmoset an attractive model system including their genetic and physiological similarity to humans, relatively short lifespan (average of ~13 years, maximum of ~20 years), high fertility (highest of any primate, routine production of 2-3 offspring every 5-6 months), rapid development (reproductively competent by ~1.5 years of age, aged by 7-8 years of age), small size (~400 grams), human-like social structure consisting of cooperative breeding with shared parenting responsibilities, and lack of zoonotic diseases of concern to humans. Marmosets share ~93% sequence identity with the human genome and they develop similar age-related conditions as humans. Marmosets may strike the perfect balance between similarity to humans and abbreviated aging course.

Discoursal representation of masculine parenting in Arabic and English websites

The purpose of this study is to investigate the differences and similarities between Arabic and English parents’ role in Arabic and English parenting website texts and the linguistic exponents used to address parents and signal their roles, and to find out the socio-cultural ideologies that have given rise to variations in gender roles. To this end, a corpus of 40 articles targeting gender-neutral titles and father related ones were selected equally from English and Arabic websites. Drawing on Van Leeuwen’s (2008) framework on critical discourse analysis (CDA) and Sunderland’s (2000, 2006) framework of analysis, the data were analysed and contrasted. The English texts reflected the prevalence of ‘shared parenting’ discourse, whereas the Arabic ones revealed a ‘very traditional parenthood’ discourse. These differences can be attributed to variation in the socio-cultural practices dominant in Arab and Western societies. Such findings will hopefully provide some useful insights for family life educators and parents who resort to such websites.

Shared Parenting after Separation and Divorce in New Zealand

<p>Shared parenting after separation or divorce is an intricate, fluid process in which gender, power and ideology are implicated. The dominant focus of the literature is on sharply polarised assessments of the value of joint custody or shared parenting, and on the elaboration of the individual moral qualities ideally required by each parent which will help ensure the arrangement's success or failure. This thesis, however, addresses the systemic (individual and social) isssues, and the processes of family life which facilitate or complicate the arrangement. The conclusions indicate that it it is inappropriate to view shared parenting as that form of custody which necessarily safeguards the child's best interests. Rather, it should be viewed as one among several possible modes of custody; and that the particular outcome for any family of a choice of shared parenting after separation depends largely on the ability of those parents to manage their relationship, in which systemic, as well as personal factors are significant. The value of detailed qualitative research as a means to explore and understand areas of family life and relationships is demonstrated, in particular because of its power to reveal the complexity of family process. The crucial material evidence is the transcription of the unstructured, intensive, longitudinal interviews which generates texts suitable for a close textual reading or deconstructive analysis. Such an analysis opens for inspection the way that experience and the respondents' and researcher's textual production is constructed from and by gender, power, ideology, ambivalence, and process. It highlights the way in which elements of experience are often divided from each other and held separate as a consequence of the research act" and their interrelatedness obscured and destroyed. The use of deconstructive qualitative analysis has facilitated a further redefinition of the researcher/respondent relationship. It has emphasised the importance of creating typologies which, within a specific category, can encompass a diversity of experiences and positions. It has challenged the usual mode of sociological writing in which only the authorial voice is present, and has indicated the significance of allowing a range of voices to enter the text, thus emphasising the uncentredness of the social world.</p>

Shared Parenting after Separation and Divorce in New Zealand

<p>Shared parenting after separation or divorce is an intricate, fluid process in which gender, power and ideology are implicated. The dominant focus of the literature is on sharply polarised assessments of the value of joint custody or shared parenting, and on the elaboration of the individual moral qualities ideally required by each parent which will help ensure the arrangement's success or failure. This thesis, however, addresses the systemic (individual and social) isssues, and the processes of family life which facilitate or complicate the arrangement. The conclusions indicate that it it is inappropriate to view shared parenting as that form of custody which necessarily safeguards the child's best interests. Rather, it should be viewed as one among several possible modes of custody; and that the particular outcome for any family of a choice of shared parenting after separation depends largely on the ability of those parents to manage their relationship, in which systemic, as well as personal factors are significant. The value of detailed qualitative research as a means to explore and understand areas of family life and relationships is demonstrated, in particular because of its power to reveal the complexity of family process. The crucial material evidence is the transcription of the unstructured, intensive, longitudinal interviews which generates texts suitable for a close textual reading or deconstructive analysis. Such an analysis opens for inspection the way that experience and the respondents' and researcher's textual production is constructed from and by gender, power, ideology, ambivalence, and process. It highlights the way in which elements of experience are often divided from each other and held separate as a consequence of the research act" and their interrelatedness obscured and destroyed. The use of deconstructive qualitative analysis has facilitated a further redefinition of the researcher/respondent relationship. It has emphasised the importance of creating typologies which, within a specific category, can encompass a diversity of experiences and positions. It has challenged the usual mode of sociological writing in which only the authorial voice is present, and has indicated the significance of allowing a range of voices to enter the text, thus emphasising the uncentredness of the social world.</p>

Families facing the Italian lockdown: Temporal adjustments and new caring practices in shared physical custody arrangements

Objective: This paper investigates the impact of the 2020 Covid-19 related Spring Lockdown in Italy on families practicing shared physical custody (SPC) arrangements for their children. Background: Those family configurations partly challenge the dominant 'mother as main carer model' that characterizes Italian society. Here, we consider the lockdown as a "challenge-trial" to analyze the strategies that these families have developed to cope with lockdown, and to reveal the overarching structures that contributed to shape this experience of lockdown. Method: We draw on semi-structured interviews with 19 parents (9 fathers and 10 mothers), part of 12 families practicing SPC. Results: We propose a typology of custody re-organizations during lockdown and how this affected the division of parental involvement based on a) change/no change in sleepover calendars in favor of mother/father; and b) similar/different arrangements for siblings – a new practice that emerged and also has implications for the division of childcare between parents. Four types are identified where we emphasize new parenting practices and the role played by material housing configurations, relations and tensions between family members, as well as balancing work, school and childcare. Conclusion: We highlight the usefulness of applying a "challenge-trial" lens to the study of family life under lockdown, and the need to complexify research on gender equality in shared parenting and on sibling relationships in post-divorce families.

Domains of Ongoing Communication Between Former Spouses: Associations With Parenting Stress and Children’s Post-Divorce Well-Being

Using data from 708 divorced parents (52.4% mothers), we examined how ongoing communication (i.e., topics and frequency of communication) with former spouses was associated with parenting stress and child internalizing and externalizing behavior. Based on hierarchical multiple regression models, ongoing communication was not associated with parenting stress but was associated with child externalizing and internalizing behavior. Specifically, communicating about sex/romance was associated with more child externalizing behavior. Communication about self and family and communication about sex/romance were associated with more, but coparenting communication with less, child internalizing behavior. Overall, the results support recent suggestions by family scientists and clinicians that divorced parents should limit their communication to shared parenting issues. Discussing non-coparenting topics may lead to a post-divorce family system that undermines children’s well-being. Talking about having a sexual or romantic relationship with their former spouses may be harmful for children’s well-being.