Parental Perception of Body Weight Status of Their 8-year-old Children: Findings from the European CHOP Study

Background Maternal perception of child weight status in children with overweight or obesity has received a lot of attention but data on paternal perception of children from presumably healthy cohorts are lacking. Objective We aimed to investigate paternal and maternal perception of child weight status at the age of 8 years in a cohort of 591 children from 5 European countries. Material and Methods Included were 8-year-old children and their parents participating in the European Childhood Obesity Project (EU CHOP). Weight and height of children and parents were measured and Body Mass Index (BMI, kg/m2) was calculated. Both parents were asked to assess their perception of child weight status using Eckstein scales and their concern about child overweight. The agreement between mother and father perceptions was assessed by Cohen kappa coefficient and their relationship was analyzed by linear mixed effects models based on ordinal logistic regression, accounting for country, child gender and BMI, parental BMI, level of education, concern and type of feeding during first year of life. Results Data from children and both parents were available for 432 girls and boys. Mean BMI was comparable in boys and girls (16.7 ± 2.31 vs. 16.9 ± 2.87 kg/m2, P = 0.55). In total, 172 children (29.3%) were overweight or obese. There was a high degree of agreement between mother and father perceptions of their child’s weight status (Cohen kappa 0.77). Multivariate modelling showed that perception levels significantly increased with child BMI but were globally lower than assessed. They differed between countries, gender and types of feeding during first year of life, were influenced by education level of the father but were not related to parental BMI and concern about childhood overweight. Conclusions The study showed no overall differences between mothers and fathers in rating their child’s weight status but both parents had a propensity to underestimate their child’s actual weight, particularly in boys. The EU CHOP trial registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT00338689.

Do Social Timing and Gender Matter to Parental Depression Aroused by Traumatic Experience of Child Bereavement? Evidence from China

Child loss is a rare but traumatic life event that often has a detrimental effect on parental wellbeing. However, parents’ resources and strategies in coping with the stressful child bereavement event may depend on timing of the event. This study intends to examine how parental depression could be aroused by the occurrence and timing of child bereavement, and how the influences vary by child gender. Drawing on the theoretical framework of the stress and life course, and using three waves of data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study, we find that both the occurrence and timing of child bereavement are significantly associated with parental depression in later life. Bereaved parents are more likely to report depression than non-bereaved parents. Child bereavement in children’s young adulthood is more likely to spark off parental depression than that occurring in children’s midlife or later. Further analysis confirms that the timing effect of child bereavement differs by child gender. Parents whose son died during young adulthood are more likely to report depression than their counterparts whose daughter died. Future studies need to address how to build up a specific social welfare program targeting child bereavement groups in different life stages.

Determinants of Under-Five Child Mortality in Iran: A Systematic Review

Background: The under-five child mortality is considered as one of the indicators of development and health of a population. The death of many children during this period is preventable. This study reviewed the determinants of child death in Iran.Methods: A systematic search in seven electronic databases and two search engines of all the studies that identified determinants of child mortality in any part of Iran or in the whole country were included, without any restriction of time or language of studies. To identify the studies, a combination of hand searching, gray literatures and bibliographies was also conducted. These sources and citations yielded a total of 512 articles; nevertheless, finally 32 articles fulfilled the inclusion criteria, then were reviewed and analyzed.Results: Amongst the 32 studies published between 2000 and 2019 in Iran, 22 studies were cross-sectional and 14 published in Farsi language. The associations between several factors (n=57) and the child mortality were examined. Factors such as ‘birth weight’, ‘mother’s literacy’, ‘socioeconomic status’, ‘delivery type’, ‘gestational age’, ‘pregnancy interval’, ‘place of residence’, ‘Immaturity’, ‘type of nutrition’, ‘father’s literacy’ and ‘child gender’ were the most important determinants of child mortality.Conclusions: Effective efforts with emphasis on identifying and managing the determinants of child mortality are essential to improve their health indicators.

Development of self-regulation and academic skills: The role of child factors, socioeconomic status, and cultural context

Early childhood is a period of rapid learning and development, and research has made us increasingly aware of how crucial children’s early experiences are both for their current well-being and for their future adjustment, well-being, and academic achievement. The present thesis investigates the role of child gender and self-regulation, family socioeconomic status (SES), and cultural context for predicting children’s academic skills and self-regulation. It includes three studies, which all rely on data from a Norwegian research project. One of them — a comparative study—also relies on data from research conducted in the United States (U.S.). The thesis had four overarching goals across the three studies. The first goal was to investigate the direct and indirect pathways from early selfregulation to fifth-grade academic achievement (Study II). The results showed that Norwegian children’s early self-regulation was foundational for their later reading comprehension and mathematical achievement. The second goal was to investigate the role of child gender for predicting early-childhood academic skills (Study I) and self-regulation (Study III). Results revealed small gender differences (favoring girls) in mathematical skills and self-regulation in the spring of the last year of Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) among Norwegian children, but no such differences in vocabulary. There were no gender effects on the change in vocabulary and mathematical skills to the spring of first grade. The third goal was to examine the role of family SES (maternal education) for predicting children’s early-childhood academic skills (Study I) and self-regulation Study III). The results showed SESrelated differences in Norwegian children’s vocabulary and mathematical skills in ECEC but not in their self-regulation. Further, the change seen in academic skills from ECEC to first grade was not affected by SES. Finally, the fourth goal was to study levels of early-childhood self-regulation and the role of maternal education and child gender for predicting self-regulation in Norway and the United States (Study III). Findings showed that children’s average level of self-regulation did not differ significantly across the two samples. Norwegian girls did have higher self-regulation scores than boys while there were no such gender differences in the U.S. sample, but this difference between the samples was not significant. However, maternal education significantly predicted U.S. children’s self-regulation but not that of Norwegian children, and this difference was significant across the samples. The results are interpreted in light of the Bioecological Model of Development, previous evidence, and the social contexts from which the samples derive. Implications, especially for Norwegian ECEC, have been thoroughly discussed. The present thesis highlights the importance of conducting studies across groups and cultural contexts to understand the complexity of child development. Moreover, it emphasizes the importance of bringing self-regulation as a concept into Norwegian ECEC. In research and practice across the world, self-regulation is seen as foundational for early-childhood learning and development, but this concept is not even mentioned in the Norwegian framework plan for ECEC, which may affect pedagogical practices negatively. The international literature on these topics is considerable, but this thesis contributes to our knowledge by investigating self-regulation in a Norwegian cultural and educational context. In addition, it has a longitudinal design that enables examination of long-term direct and indirect associations between early self-regulation and later academic achievement. This thesis also contributes by investigating the role of child gender and SES for predicting academic skills across two different educational contexts, namely the play-based ECEC and the structured first-grade classroom. Finally, this thesis includes a comparative study, which sheds light on the importance of conducting studies across cultural contexts, given that results from one context may not be valid for another.

Parenting Of Parents Work In Instilling Religious Attitudes And Respectful Attitudes In Adolescents

Parents, especially mothers are responsible for instilling the value of religious and social life in children, including adolescents through proper parenting. However, many parents choose to entrust the child completely to the school because it is busy with their work. This study aims to explain the parenting of working parents in instilling religious attitudes and respectful attitudes in adolescents, explain the factors that influence parenting, and explain the obstacles and solutions parents work in foster care. This study is a qualitative descriptive field study involving ten working parents. This research data is obtained through observation, interviews, and documentation. The results of this study found that the parenting used by sources is democratic parenting. Trust factors, comparison of parenting models, child gender, parental behavior, and character of children are factors that influence parenting in instilling religious attitudes and respectful attitudes in adolescents. In addition, there are obstacles in applying parenting, such as limited time together between parents and children because parents are busy working, child characters, mobile phones, child association, and social media. The solution in overcoming these obstacles is to be a good role model, make the best use of time to get to know the child's friendship environment, not only be a parent but can be a good friend and listener, and have to check the child’s phone.

The Effect of Child Gender, Parent School Involvement, and Parent Language Use on School Functioning Among Trauma-Exposed Latinx Youth

High rates of trauma exposure can impede school functioning, which is predictive of many negative long-term outcomes. This study examined school functioning in Latinx children with clinically elevated levels of posttraumatic stress symptoms. We found that child gender, parent language use, and parent school involvement were associated with school functioning in complex ways. Interactive effects revealed that the association between parent school involvement and child school functioning depended on parent language use. Greater parent school involvement was linked with better school functioning when parents spoke more English, but parent school involvement did not improve school functioning when parents spoke more Spanish, which may reflect Spanish-speaking parents’ challenges engaging with schools. These findings have important implications for improving academic outcomes for trauma-exposed Latinx youth.

Do “Little Emperors” Get More Than “Little Empresses”? Boy-Girl Gender Discrimination as Evidenced by Consumption Behavior of Chinese Households

The phenomenon of child gender discrimination is investigated and verified using online purchase data of children’s clothing in China.

Effects of Mindfulness-Based Parallel-Group Interventions on Family Functioning and Child and Parent Mental Health: a Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Objectives Involving parents and children in mindfulness-based interventions may holistically benefit family well-being. This meta-analysis systematically reviews and synthesizes the effects of mindfulness-based parallel-group (MBPG) interventions, which simultaneously involve parent and child, on family functioning, and the mental health of parents and children. Methods A total of 20 relevant studies were identified from 14 databases. The overall intervention effect size was estimated by pooled standardized mean difference. Moderator analyses were performed to explain the variability in intervention effects. Risk of bias and publication bias were also assessed. Results MBPG interventions showed minor-to-small positive effects on family functioning (d = 0.182, 95% CI [0.045, 0.319]), parental mental health (d = 0.238, 95% CI [0.110, 0.365]), and child mental health (d = 0.325, 95% CI [0.137, 0.513]). The effects of MBPG interventions on child mental health varied significantly by child age, child gender, recruitment setting, type of parent group, other activities in child group, other activities in parent group, and study design. Conclusions MBPG interventions show promising effects in improving mental health of both parents and children as well as in improving overall family functioning. However, significant variations exist in characteristics of participants, interventions, and study designs. Given the limited evidence currently available, more studies are needed to assess the determinants of effectiveness in MBPG interventions. Protocol Registration: PROSPERO #CRD42020164927

Supporting Children Who Experience Domestic Violence: Evaluating the Child Witness to Domestic Violence Program

Impacting 1 in 4 children in the United States, childhood exposure to domestic violence predicts myriad negative sequelae. Intervening post exposure is critical to help children and their protective parent heal and avoid long-term negative consequences. Children aged 2-17 and their mothers who were victims of domestic violence participated in a 12-week group program delivered by domestic violence agency staff that provides psychoeducation on the impact of trauma and domestic violence and aims to improve parent and child well-being. The impact of the Child Witness to Domestic Violence (CWDV) program was tested in an intervention group ( n = 69 children, 33 mothers) who participated in CWDV and control group ( n = 80 children, 39 mothers) consisting of children whose mothers received adult-focused domestic violence services but were not enrolled in CWDV or other child-focused services. Multiple regression analyses controlling for child gender, child age, mother’s age, and the outcome of interest at time 1 found that participation in CWDV program significantly predicted better child functioning as indicated by less hyperactivity ( B = –.85, p = .06), fewer negative emotional symptoms ( B = –1.14, p = .01), and fewer total behavioral difficulties ( B = –2.48, p = .02) as well as higher maternal hope ( B = .57, p = .03). These data provide promising evidence of the impact of a brief, replicable group intervention that promotes healing and well-being among children and parents exposed to domestic violence. Limitations include a quasi-experimental design and reliance on maternal report.

Parental Mental Health and Hostility Are Associated With Longitudinal Increases in Child Internalizing and Externalizing Problems During COVID-19

Children are at high risk for negative COVID-19 related outcomes. The present longitudinal study assessed (1) changes in child internalizing and externalizing problems from before to during the pandemic and (2) whether parent mental health (depression, anxiety, stress) or parenting behavior during COVID-19 were associated with changes in child mental health problems. Sixty eight mother-child dyads participated in this study. Children were approximately five years-old at the time of enrollment and were between the ages of 7–9 years old at the time of the follow-up survey. Parenting behavior, parental depression, anxiety, perceived stress and child internalizing and externalizing problems were measured using validated questionnaires. Children experienced greater internalizing (t = 6.46, p < 0.001) and externalizing (t = 6.13, p < 0.001) problems during the pandemic compared to before the pandemic. After taking into account child gender and COVID-related stressors, parental hostility was uniquely associated with greater changes in externalizing problems (β = 0.355, SE = 0.178, p < 0.05), while maternal anxiety was associated with greater increases in internalizing problems (β = 0.513, SE = 0.208, p < 0.05). Findings highlight the need for mental health supports for families to limit the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on child and parent mental health.