THE FAMILIAL CONTEXT OF CHILDREN’S CREATIVITY: PARENTING STYLES AND THE CLIMATE FOR CREATIVITY IN PARENT–CHILD RELATIONSHIP

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between dimensions of a constructive parenting style, (i.e. parental acceptance and autonomy granting) factors of the climate for creativity in parent–child relationships (encouragement to experience novelty and variety, encouragement of nonconformism, support of perseverance in creative efforts, and encouragement to fantasize), and parents’ visual mental imagery. 313 parents of children between 6 and 12 years of age participated in the study. The results indicated that (a) a constructive parenting style was positively related to three of four factors of the climate for creativity in the parent–child relationships, i.e. encouragement to experience novelty and variety, support of perseverance in creative efforts, and encouragement to fantasize in the parent–child relationship; (b) parents’ level of vividness of mental imagery was positively related with both parental acceptance of child and autonomy support as well as components of climate for creativity in parent–child relationship; (c) mothers scored significantly higher than fathers in exhibiting acceptance of a child; (d) parents’ gender played an important role in the relations between dimensions of constructive parenting style and factors of climate for creativity in parent–child relationships. Findings were discussed in terms of the implications for further research and theory development in the area of family influences on the development of children’s creativity.

Parenting, Pesticides and Adolescent Psychological Adjustment: A Brief Report

Pesticides used to control insects, such as pyrethroids, are neurotoxicants, yet adolescent researchers often overlook their potential role in adolescent psychological adjustment. This brief report is guided by bioecological theory and considers the possible independent and interactive effects of environmental pyrethroid pesticide exposure for adolescent depressive symptoms. Self-reported adolescent appraisals of the parent–child relationship and depressive symptoms were obtained from a convenience sample of impoverished, predominantly Latino urban youth (n = 44). Exposure to environmental pyrethroids was obtained from wipe samples using a standardized protocol. Parent–adolescent conflict was higher in households with bifenthrin than those without, and adolescent depressive symptoms were elevated in homes where cypermethrin was detected. In addition, the presence of bifenthrin in the home attenuated the protective effects of parental involvement on adolescent depressive symptoms. The current results suggest that adolescent mental health researchers must consider the synergistic combinations of adolescents’ environments’ physical and social features. Given the endemic presence of pesticides and their neurotoxic function, pesticide exposure may demand specific attention.

Parent-Child Dyads with Greater Parenting Stress Exhibit Enhanced Inter-Brain Synchrony During Shared Play

Parent-child dyads who are mutually attuned to each other during social interactions display interpersonal synchrony that can be observed overtly, in the form of joint behaviours, and biologically, such as through the temporal coordination of brain signals called inter-brain synchrony. Joint play provides ample opportunities for parent-child dyads to engage in matching interactions which not just facilitate the formation of bonds but also alleviate parenting stress in caregivers. Despite the beneficial effects of play on parents and the parent-child relationship, no study has investigated the dyadic neural mechanism by which this occurs. The present functional Near-infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) study aimed to examine the association between parenting stress and inter-brain synchrony in the prefrontal cortex of 31 mother-child and 29 father-child dyads while they engaged in shared play for 10 minutes. Shared play was miro-analytically coded into joint (i.e., in-phase matching of dyadic behaviours) and non-joint (i.e., no matching of dyadic behaviours) segments. Inter-brain synchrony was computed using cross-correlations over 15 s, 20 s, 25 s, 30 s and 35 s fixed-length windows of joint and non-joint play segments. Analyses of Covariance revealed that dyads with more parenting stress exhibited greater inter-brain synchrony in the frontal left cluster of the prefrontal cortex, but only for the 35 s fixed-length window. This finding suggests that continuous and positive instances of joint play may disproportionately benefit dyads who reported greater parenting stress, entraining underlying brain activation patterns involved in social cognition. Mother-child dyads also showed greater inter-brain synchrony than father-child dyads, alluding to possible gender differences in the effect of play on dyads. Findings present evidence of a potential dyadic neural pathway by which play benefits the parent-child relationship.

Mindfulness-Based Interventions and Parent-Child Relationship in Parents of Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder

Mindfulness has been noticed in the domain of psychology and neuroscience for the last two decades. With the plethora of studies based on interventional benefits of mindfulness-based techniques in various populations, the present review assesses if parent-child relationship studies effectively use mindfulness-based interventions on parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The children are in the age group of below 5 years. The aspects of ASD, mindfulness techniques, and parent-child relationship importance are explored, albeit briefly. One study could be reviewed and was assessed for its treatment fidelity. The conclusion was based on the need to conduct more mindfulness-based intervention studies for the parent population of children in the younger ages and with ASD. This review recommends such replication of studies on the parents of the Indian subcontinent as well.

Is There a Right Way to Parent?

The chapter focuses on bringing mindfulness into the parent-child relationship. The concept of mindfulness is discussed and its dimensions are examined as having an impact on effective parenting and a harmonious relationship between the parent and child. A model of mindful parenting emphasizing on the social context of parent-child relationship is described. The chapter highlights the significance of mindful parenting which includes being mindful to one's self as well as being mindful of the relationship between the parent and child, indicating a shift from doing mode to being mode. Thus, mindful parenting requires the parent to be mindful of the parent-child relationship itself rather than considering parenting as a task to be carried out and just doing or acting in this relationship. Infusing mindfulness into the dynamics of the parent-child relationship will usher in the well-being of both child and parent.

Difficulties Imposed on the Parent–Child Relationship Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic

The present study tested whether emotionally burdened parents due to the COVID-19 pandemic might appraise their relationship with their children more negatively. The current cross-sectional study was circulated through social media. A total of 265 respondents took part in the study. Multiple linear regression analysis was used to examine the association between predictor variables and the parent–child relationship. This study’s results report that older fathers with higher levels of COVID-19 related fear are more likely to appraise negatively their relationship with their children. Therefore, this study suggests the need for family-level strategies to address better the psychological aspects related to the pandemic outbreak.

On the Relationship Between Mothers’ and Fathers’ Parenting Behaviors and Children’s Explicit and Implicit Self-Esteem

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to clarify and elaborate the concept of implicit self-esteem by identifying parenting domains that are related to implicit self-esteem as well as by comparing the correlation between parenting behaviors and children’s explicit and implicit self-esteem (ESE & ISE). Furthermore, based on previous studies’ emphasis on the functions of self-esteem discrepancies, 4 groups of self-esteem types were included in the analysis: secure self-esteem, defensive self-esteem, damaged self-esteem and congruent low self-esteem.Methods: Participants were 279 Korean middle school students (114 boys and 165 girls). Children’s ESE and ISE were measured using the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES) and the Name-Letter Task (NLT), respectively, and the parenting behavior measure consisted of 8 domains: monitoring, reasoning, inconsistency, over-involvement, over-expectation, neglect, physical abuse, and affection. Considering the effect of gender on the parent-child relationship, analysis was conducted according to gender.Results: Comparison between the correlations revealed that among 32 factors, differences in ESE and ISE were significant in 13 factors and not significant in 19 factors. Further, most of the parenting domains were significantly related to both daughters’ and sons’ ESE, while only a few of father and mother’s parenting domains were related to ISE. Boys’ ISE was negatively related to fathers’ over-involvement and mothers’ reasoning, while girls’ ISE was positively related to both parents’ monitoring and negatively related to neglect. Additionally, the group with secure self-esteem (characterized by high ESE and high ISE) mostly reported high levels of positive parenting behaviors and low levels of negative parenting behaviors, while the group with congruent low self-esteem (characterized by low ESE and low ISE) mostly reported low levels of positive parenting behaviors and high levels of negative parenting behaviors.Conclusion: This study contributes significant findings to the understanding of ISE. Based on the current study’s results, it is plausible to conclude that ISE performs a similar function to ESE, yet weaker. Moreover, the importance of measuring mothers’ and fathers’ parenting behaviors separately could be more emphasized. Further discussions are suggested regarding areas of contention over the formation and the concept of ISE.