Reflexivity and Lived Experience of Out-of-Home Care: Positionality as an Early Parenthood Researcher

Knowledge, beliefs, identities, and emotions influence the ways in which all researchers engage in their work. Research processes are uniquely impacted when researchers share the lived experience under investigation, known as insider status. Reflexivity is an ongoing process of scrutinizing and responding to the ways in which positionality and subjectivities impact each stage of the research process. It can provide transparency, strengthen data interpretations, and increase researcher self-awareness. Broader aims of reflexivity aligned with feminist epistemologies are to shape researcher integrity and address structural inequalities. This article explores the author's engagement in reflexive practices while undertaking a PhD investigating early parenthood within the context of out-of-home care. Excerpts from interviews with 3 young mothers, a foster carer, and 11 professionals illustrate how the author's own lived experiences of out-of-home care and new motherhood assisted with building rapport and shared knowledge creation. Strategies employed to manage the risks of over-identifying with participants’ feelings of stigmatization and anxiety are also discussed to demonstrate how appropriate recognition of personal history can enhance the research process. This article concludes by arguing for meaningful opportunities to involve care-experienced people in social work research.

Association between obesity and life courses in young adulthood. Results from the KiGGS cohort study

In the last decades, young adulthood has established as an independent phase of life with important biographical transitions impacting further life course and health. In turn, health in adolescence can also affect the transitions into young adulthood. So far, for Germany there are no analyses on the association between family-related and employment-related biographies and obesity in young adults. The analysis is based on data from the KiGGS cohort study on 3,100 participants aged 23-31 at second follow-up (t2). Using BMI measurements at t0 (2003-2006) and at t2 (2014-2017), obesity groups were formed (no obesity, incidence, remission, persistence). Sequence analysis was used to retrospectively determine family-related and education/employment-related individual trajectories. Differences in life courses between obesity groups were calculated using discrepancy tests. Young adults with incident obesity were more likely to have children or to be a single parent than young adults without obesity at t2. Young adults with obesity at t0 lived longer in the parental home than those without obesity. Young adults with incident or persistent obesity were less likely to attend university and had experienced longer periods of unemployment than those without obesity at t0 and t2. The employment sequences of those without obesity at t2 were not statistically different. Both family and employment biographies were associated with obesity trajectories in young people. However, based on the analysis, it cannot be clarified whether early parenthood led to obesity or early transitions into parenthood led to interruptions in education or employment and subsequently to obesity. The finding that young adults with obesity were less likely to attend university and more likely to be unemployed could be related to disadvantages or discrimination in school, education or work. Obesity in adolescence that did not persist into young adulthood had less adverse effects on education and employment. Key messages Young people’s obesity trajectories were linked to different family/employment biographies. The life courses of young adults with obesity were more often marked by early parenthood and unemployment.

COVID-19 in Pregnancy and Early Childhood (COPE): study protocol for a prospective, multicentre biobank, survey and database cohort study

IntroductionThere is limited knowledge on how the SARS-CoV-2 affects pregnancy outcomes. Studies investigating the impact of COVID-19 in early pregnancy are scarce and information on long-term follow-up is lacking.The purpose of this project is to study the impact of COVID-19 on pregnancy outcomes and long-term maternal and child health by: (1) establishing a database and biobank from pregnant women with COVID-19 and presumably non-infected women and their infants and (2) examining how women and their partners experience pregnancy, childbirth and early parenthood in the COVID-19 pandemic.Methods and analysisThis is a national, multicentre, prospective cohort study involving 27 Swedish maternity units accounting for over 86 000 deliveries/year. Pregnant women are included when they: (1) test positive for SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19 group) or (2) are non-infected and seek healthcare at one of their routine antenatal visits (screening group). Blood, as well as other biological samples, are collected at different time points during and after pregnancy. Child health up to 4 years of age and parent experience of pregnancy, delivery, early parenthood, healthcare and society in general will be examined using web-based questionnaires based on validated instruments. Short- and long-term health outcomes will be collected from Swedish health registers and the parents’ experiences will be studied by performing qualitative interviews.Ethics and disseminationConfidentiality aspects such as data encryption and storage comply with the General Data Protection Regulation and with ethical committee requirements. This study has been granted national ethical approval by the Swedish Ethical Review Authority (dnr 2020-02189 and amendments 2020-02848, 2020-05016, 2020-06696 and 2021-00870) and national biobank approval by the Biobank Väst (dnr B2000526:970). Results from the project will be published in peer-reviewed journals.Trial registration numberNCT04433364.

Parents’ Emotional Responses to Early Parenthood

Early parenthood is a significant developmental stage that involves abrupt and dramatic changes to a new parent’s life. It is thought to be both a stressful and rewarding period, requiring significant adjustment to pre-parenthood lifestyles and routines. This study explores the emotional journey that new parents experience during the early phases of parenthood, examining these with a critical lens and giving consideration to the impacts of social constructions on early parenthood. Thirty parents were interviewed as part of a grounded theory study which uncovered parents’ experiences of significant emotional disturbance including self-doubt, isolation and loneliness. Both the role (lack of sleep, frustration) and social expectations and demands contributed to emotional disturbance. Many parents experienced a culture of comparison, competition and judgement that impacted on their emotional well-being, which we believe can be resisted with professional and social supports and the application of critical reflection.

Intergenerational persistence of family formation trajectories among teenage-mothers and -fathers in Sweden

In this paper, we address the questions of whether early family trajectories of parents are reflected in childbearing teenagers, and how socio-economic and family background factors impact these intergenerational correlations. We use within-dyad sequence analysis to examine combined marital and childbearing trajectories, up to age 30, of two generations of a representative sample of childbearing teenagers born between 1975 and 1985 and their progenitors, drawn from the Swedish population register data. We find evidence for within-family persistence of early family trajectories, with better matches across family state sequences for dyads composed of childbearing teenagers and their parents, than for dyads composed of childbearing teenagers and parents of random birth cohort peers. Regression analysis shows that these intergenerational associations are stronger and occur among later-born siblings from non-traditional family backgrounds, and among families with lower socio-economic backgrounds. This study fills gaps in the knowledge of intergenerational family life course dynamics beyond the early parenthood event.

Barriers and facilitators to mood and confidence in pregnancy and early parenthood during COVID-19 in the UK: mixed-methods synthesis survey

Background Parental well-being during pregnancy and early parenthood is critical for child development. Environmental stressors can significantly challenge parental well-being. Aims To investigate how COVID-19 and associated restrictions influence mood and parenting confidence of expectant parents and those in early parenthood, identifying barriers and facilitators. Method We used a cross-sectional online survey to collect data from 590 expectant parents and parents of infants (564 women) during the most restrictive phase of lockdown in the UK. We included a mixture of forced-choice and open-ended questions pertaining to mood, perceived social support, media use, online interactions and parenting expectations. Quantitative data were analysed with multiple linear regression and proportional odds models; an inductive thematic analysis was used for qualitative data. Quantitative and qualitative data were qualitatively synthesised. Results Since COVID-19, expectant parents and parents of new-borns reported a decrease in mood and parenting confidence. Barriers included practical difficulties (finding essentials, reliable health information), social difficulties (loss of physical contact, decreased support) and uncertainty during pregnancy. Facilitators included support from others and, for first-time parents, loss of child care resulting in greater parenting confidence. Although online resources and communication were not preferable to face-to-face interactions, technology was a helpful tool for communicating, getting support, and finding essentials and information during lockdown. Conclusions By mid-May 2020, mood and parenting confidence among expectant and parents of new-borns in the UK were significantly reduced. Consideration of barriers and facilitators in healthcare and psychological support provided is likely important for promoting parental mental health and healthy parent–child relationships.

Collectivist Discourses in Relational Intersectionality: Insights from Chinese American Christian Couples

Intersectionality espouses progressive societal dominant discourse norms that describe persons as individuals connected to a variety of social locations (e.g., gender, socioeconomic status [SES], ethnicity, sexual orientation, spirituality, vocation). This may not resonate with the cultural ideals of collectivist and bicultural communities, who are better understood when considered in context of both dominant and local intersectionality discourses. This retrospective interpretive thematic analysis examines the lived experiences of Chinese American Christian couples as they negotiate identity and roles in early parenthood. Findings indicate that the intersection of collectivist group identity markers, cultural values and spirituality guides how partners understand identity and negotiate relationship roles in marriage. Couples’ varied responses to cross-cultural and dominant discourse norms and other social location factors (e.g., vocation and SES) also account for individual differences. Implications for Chinese American Christian couples, and for the application of intersectionality theory to diverse populations, are discussed.

Two's Company, Three's a Crowd? Maternal and Paternal Talk About Their Infant Differs in Associations With Wellbeing, Couple Relationship Quality, and Caregiving Sensitivity

Problems of depression and anxiety are common in early parenthood and adversely affect parenting quality (1). Rumination is closely linked to poor wellbeing (2), suggesting that self-focus may be one mediator of the association between wellbeing and caregiving [e.g., (3)]. Framed within an international study of first-time mothers and fathers (4), the current study included 396 British mothers and fathers (in 198 heterosexual cohabiting couple relationships) of first-born 4-month-old infants. Parents reported on their symptoms of depression, anxiety and satisfaction in their couple relationship. Five-minute speech samples were transcribed and coded for parents' pronoun use (i.e., “I” and either infant- or partner-inclusive use of “We”), whilst observations in the Still-Face paradigm were coded for parental sensitivity to infants' cues. Our first goal was to test whether new parents' self-focus was associated with wellbeing and couple relationship quality. We also examined whether (i) self-focus mediated the expected association between wellbeing and caregiving sensitivity and (ii) couple relationship quality moderated the expected association between self-focus and caregiver sensitivity. Finally, we compared results for mothers and fathers. Our results illustrate gender-specific associations. First, although mean levels of self-focus and partner-inclusive talk were similar for mothers and fathers, infant-inclusive use of the “we” pronoun was higher in mothers than fathers. Second, self-focus was unrelated to either mothers' or fathers' wellbeing, but was associated with fathers' report of reduced couple relationship quality. In addition, poor perinatal wellbeing was associated with reduced partner-inclusive talk for fathers, but with reduced use of infant-inclusive talk for mothers. Third, mediation models suggest that reduced infant-inclusive talk underpins the association between poor wellbeing and reduced sensitivity in mothers, but not fathers. Fourth, in the context of good couple relationship quality, mothers' elevated partner-inclusive talk was associated with reduced caregiving sensitivity. These findings are discussed in terms of their implications for interventions to support new mothers and fathers, who may benefit from distinct strategies to foster attention to their developing infant.