Effects of Inter-Parental Conflict on Children’s Social Well-Being and the Mediation Role of Parenting Behavior

Inter-parental conflicts can have devastating effects on children’s well-being and social behavior. This study explores the association between an increased frequency of inter-parental conflict and peer problems and prosocial behavior in children, and whether parents’ emotional warmth and negative communication with their children mediates this association. Data for a total of 1,157 children between the ages of 7 and 16 (4,016 observations) was drawn from the eighth to the twelfth waves of the German Family Panel so as to perform fixed-effects regressions and mediation analyses. The analyses reveal that increased inter-parental conflict is strongly related to decreased emotional warmth and increased negative communication in parents, and to increased peer problems and decreased prosocial behavior in children. The results also suggest that the association between inter-parental conflict and children’s social well-being is mediated by the parenting behavior of mothers and fathers, indicating that increased inter-parental conflict leads to less warm parenting and more negative communication in parents, which ultimately reduces children’s social well-being.

COMMUNICATIVE ATTITUDES AS A FACTOR OF SUBJECTIVE WELL-BEING OF THE INDIVIDUAL

The article is devoted to the analysis of the influence of communicative attitudes on the subjective well-being of the individual. As a result of the theoretical analysis, it is revealed that communicative attitudes are a kind of social, they are manifested in the process of communicative interaction when determining the subject-thematic interests of the partner, the attitude to the form of communication, the inclusion of partners in the system of communicative interaction. They manifest themselves in the attitude of the subject of communication to himself, to other participants in communication, to the communication process itself. Negative communication attitudes have an adverse effect on the process of interaction between people, the suppression of negative attitudes is difficult to mask, which leads to the appearance of problems in interpersonal relationships. Communicative attitudes affect the formation of subjective well-being of the individual. Negative communication experience determines the appearance of difficulties in the emotional, cognitive, and behavioral spheres of the individual, which negatively affect various levels of subjective well-being of a person.

A perinatal coparenting intervention is associated with better parent health outcomes eight years later

The transition to parenthood is a common yet stressful experience faced by many young and midlife adults when the risk of many chronic diseases also begins to rise. Consequently, the transition to parenthood represents an opportune time to intervene with adults to support their psychological and their physiological health and well-being. Here, we examine whether psychosocial benefits of the Family Foundations (FF) program, a perinatal coparenting intervention, extend to levels of systemic inflammation and self-rated health among parents. Results presented here are from a follow-up visit with 292 parents (155 mothers, 137 fathers) who, eight years prior, were either randomly assigned to the 9-session FF program (n=168) or the control condition (n=124). At follow-up, dried blood spots were collected to measure levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) and parents further reported on their overall self-rated health. Participation in FF eight years prior was associated with lower levels of IL-6 (B=-.254, p=.038) and better self-reported health (B= -.222, p=.015) specifically among parents who were observed to have more negative communication styles prior to participation in the program. There was also a marginal effect of the FF intervention on mothers’ but not fathers’ CRP levels (B=-.378, p=.055). These findings support the notion that coparenting interventions, such as FF, could be leveraged to not only support parents’ psychological well-being but also benefit their longer-term physical health, especially among mothers and expecting couples who have more negative communication styles.

Within-Couple Associations Between Communication and Relationship Satisfaction Over Time

Relationship science contends that the quality of couples’ communication predicts relationship satisfaction over time. Most studies testing these links have examined between-person associations, yet couple dynamics are also theorized at the within-person level: For a given couple, worsened communication is presumed to predict deteriorations in future relationship satisfaction. We examined within-couple associations between satisfaction and communication in three longitudinal studies. Across studies, there were some lagged within-person links between deviations in negative communication to future changes in satisfaction (and vice versa). But the most robust finding was for concurrent within-person associations between negative communication and satisfaction: At times when couples experienced less negative communication than usual, they were also more satisfied with their relationship than was typical. Positive communication was rarely associated with relationship satisfaction at the within-person level. These findings indicate that within-person changes in negative communication primarily covary with, rather than predict, relationship satisfaction.

Assume It Will Break: Parental Perspectives on Negative Communication Experiences in Pediatric Oncology

PURPOSE: Communication breakdowns in pediatric oncology can have negative consequences for patients and families. A detailed analysis of these negative encounters will support clinicians in anticipating and responding to communication breakdowns. METHODS: Semistructured interviews with 80 parents of children with cancer across three academic medical centers during treatment, survivorship, or bereavement. We analyzed transcripts using semantic content analysis. RESULTS: Nearly all parents identified negative communication experiences (n = 76). We identified four categories of contributors to negative experiences: individual (n = 68), team (n = 26), organization (n = 46), and greater health care system (n = 8). These experiences involved a variety of health care professionals across multiple specialties. Parents reported 12 personal consequences of communication breakdowns: emotional distress (n = 65), insufficient understanding (n = 48), decreased trust or confidence (n = 37), inconvenience (n = 36), medical harm (n = 23), decreased self-confidence (n = 17), decreased emotional support (n = 13), decreased engagement (n = 9), false hope (n = 9), decreased hope (n = 7), financial insult (n = 7), and decreased access to resources (n = 3). We identified five categories of supportive responses from clinicians: exploring (n = 8), acknowledging (n = 17), informing (n = 27), adapting (n = 27), and advocating (n = 18). Parents often increased their own advocacy on behalf of their child (n = 47). Parents also identified the need for parental engagement in finding solutions (n = 12). Finally, one parent suggested that clinicians should assume that communication will fail and develop contingency plans in advance. CONCLUSION: Communication breakdowns in pediatric oncology negatively affect parents and children. Clinicians should plan for communication breakdowns and respond by exploring, acknowledging, informing, adapting, advocating, and engaging parents in finding solutions.

An Exploration of Factors Contributing to Students’ Unwillingness to Communicate

One of the most challenging issues in language classes is the reluctance of learners to communicate. The term “unwillingness to communicate” (UWTC) is defined as a predisposition which represents a chronic tendency to avoid or devalue oral communication. The main aim of this study is to investigate the factors contributing to university level students’ unwillingness to communicate in English. The participants of this study were selected using the stratified sampling method and consist of 100 students from an English Language Teaching (ELT) Department. The data was collected through a questionnaire examining three dimensions, namely the affective factors, teacher-related factors and environmental factors underlying students’ negative communication behaviour. The results indicated that environmental factors such as rapport among students, class size, materials, noise and classroom atmosphere have the biggest effects with regard to students’ reluctance to communicate in English. On the other hand, affective factors including anxiety, shyness, lack of motivation, lack of vocabulary knowledge, lack of self-confidence, fear of being criticised, topic familiarity, peer pressure and fear of making mistakes have a second highest impact on students’ negative communication behaviour. When the items in the teacher-related category of the questionnaire were analysed in detail the results showed they ranked third most important in this context, with students attributing their reluctance to communicate to teacher attitudes, teacher pressure, lack of teacher support, lack of opportunity to speak English, and the use of the mother tongue and target language.

Pediatrician Referral Practices for Children Who Stutter

Purpose Given the marked increase in evidence-based information regarding the nature/treatment of stuttering, coupled with the fact that pediatricians tend to be one of the initial points of contact for parents who suspect their preschool-age child may stutter, this study explored pediatricians' (a) accuracy in identifying children who may stutter and (b) likelihood of referring children who present with a profile indicative of stuttering to speech-language pathologists. Method Pediatricians recruited nationally through professional organizations completed a 5- to 7-min online survey that probed stuttering identification and referral practices via responses to experimental case vignettes. Each vignette featured a 4-year-old boy with a family history of stuttering whose mother reported signs of stuttering and manipulation of two factors: stuttering during the pediatrician visit (or not) and negative communication attitude (or not). Results Our findings suggest pediatricians' identification and referral of children who may stutter is largely prompted by observation of overt speech behaviors and/or negative communication attitude. Participants' gender, years in practice, and experience working with children who stutter did not influence likelihood of referral. Conclusions Results indicate pediatricians are less likely to implement a “wait and see” approach with young children who stutter today than in the past. Unlike other common child onset diagnoses, however, parent report of atypical behavior does not yield pediatrician referral to a specialist. Future education and advocacy efforts directed toward pediatricians should emphasize inclusion of factors other than direct observation of stuttering behavior that may warrant referral (e.g., parent report).