A Lot of Warmth and a Bit of Control? How Parenting Mediates the Relationship Between Parental Personality and Their Children’s Mental Health Problems

Research has identified parental personality and parenting behaviour as important contributors to healthy child development. However, indirect associations are largely unknown. The current study aimed to investigate the mediating role of parenting dimension relations between parental personality and adolescent mental health problems. The cross-sectional sample included 4258 German adolescents (48.7% male, 11–17 years) and one parent who participated in a national health survey (KiGGS Wave 2). The results underline and extend previous indications of direct associations between parental personality and their children’s mental health problems by highlighting the adverse role of neuroticism. Furthermore, new insights are added regarding the mediating roles of parenting dimensions (i.e., warmth, behavioural control, and psychological control). Future efforts and parent-focused prevention programmes should be extended by parental personality to identify maladaptive parenting behaviour and thus contribute to the development of their children’s mental health.

Building a Predictive Model of Social-Emotional Adjustment: Exploring the Relationship between Parenting Self-Efficacy, Parenting Behaviour and Psychological Distress in Mothers of Young Children in Ireland

The purpose of this study was to generate greater understanding of social-emotional difficulties in infants and toddlers in an Irish context. This study compared rates of reported social-emotional difficulties in young children in clinical and non-clinical samples and probed a predictive model of social-emotional adjustment. Data were collected from a cross-sectional sample of 72 mothers of young children aged between 12 and 48 months. Mothers were recruited from waiting lists for child Early Intervention services (clinical sample) and community mother-toddler groups (non-clinical sample). Mothers completed a questionnaire battery which assessed parenting self-efficacy, parenting behaviour, psychological distress and child social-emotional adjustment. The results indicated that 55.5% of young children in the clinical sample and 15% in the non-clinical sample had significant social-emotional problems. Similarly, 55.5% of young children in the clinical sample and 30% in the non-clinical sample had significant delays in the acquisition of social-emotional competencies. Two hierarchical multiple regressions were carried out with social-emotional problems and social-emotional competencies as the respective criterion variables. Clinical or non-clinical group membership, parenting satisfaction and maternal psychological distress were found to be significant predictors of child social-emotional problems in a model which explained 59% of the variance. Task-specific self-efficacy was the only significant predictor of child social-emotional competencies in a model which explained 21% of the variance. The significant rates of social-emotional problems in young children in the current study and the potential negative impact on child health and wellbeing, suggest that the early assessment of social-emotional adjustment should be incorporated into routine clinical assessment for young children. For services to effectively meet the needs of children with social-emotional difficulties and their families, consideration of maternal factors is also necessary.

Pola Asuh Anak, Kesegaran Jasmani Remaja, Dan Implikasinya Terhadap Pendidikan Agama Kristen

This study is about the parenting behaviour on improving the children’s physical fitness and its implication on Christian religion education and it was done at Universitas Kristen Indonesia. The purpose of doing this study is finding out the parenting behaviour on improving the children’s physical fitness and its implication on Christian religion education. The method of the study used was library research, where the researcher is the key instruments, in collecting the data of the research, books, journal, articles and other sources related to the topic of this study were read in order to answer the question of this study. These sources were taken ofline and online. The online sources were derived directly from google scholar web. The result of this study shows that the best parenting types of all is authoritative parenting, which is a combination of authoritarian parenting and permissive parenting. Then it is concluded that in order to improve the children’s physical fitness, parents should use authoritative parenting, and when the children’s physical fitness getting better, the implication on Christian religion education is getting better.

Prolonged grief in refugees, parenting behaviour and children’s mental health

Background: Many refugees experience bereavement, and as a result they suffer elevated rates of prolonged grief disorder. Evidence also indicates that elevated rates of psychological disturbance in refugee children can be associated with parental mental health. This study examined the extent to which prolonged grief disorder in refugees is associated with their parenting behaviour and in turn with their children’s mental health. Methods: This study recruited participants from the Building a New Life in Australia prospective cohort study of refugees admitted to Australia between October 2013 and February 2014. The current data were collected in 2015–2016 and comprised 1799 adults, as well as 411 children of the adult respondents. Adult refugees were assessed for trauma history, post-migration difficulties, harsh and warm parenting, probable prolonged grief disorder and posttraumatic stress disorder. Children were administered the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. The current analyses on bereaved refugees comprise 110 caregivers and 178 children. Results: In this cohort, 37% of bereaved refugees reported probable prolonged grief disorder. Path analysis indicated that caregivers’ grief was directly associated with children’s emotional difficulties. Caregiver warmth was associated with reduced emotional problems in children of refugees with minimal grief but associated with more emotional problems in caregivers with more severe grief. More harsh parenting was associated with children’s conduct problems, and this was more evident in those with less severe grief. Conclusion: Severity of prolonged grief disorder is directly linked to refugee children’s mental health. The association between parenting style, grief severity and children’s mental health highlights that managing grief reactions in refugees can benefit both refugees and their children.

PCIT-ED seems to improve parenting behaviour and affect towards children with depression

Data from a new study show that parenting behaviour and affect improved after completing a dyadic parent–child treatment for depression in young children (aged 3-6 years).

What Influences Parenting Behaviour? The Role of Parent Self-Concept

Parenting has a strong influence on child development. However, there is minimal empirical evidence on why some parents use beneficial techniques, while others use harmful behaviours. Thus, there is a significant gap in the knowledge needed to address problematic parenting. Theories suggest that parental self-concept has a large influence on parenting behaviours. The aim of this study was to examine the relation between parent self-cognitions and parenting behaviours. One-hundred and four mothers of Grade 7 students completed questionnaires measuring their self-esteem, self-criticism, domain-specific self-concept, and parenting behaviours (support, behavioural control, and psychological control). Regression analyses demonstrated that self-cognitions largely predicted psychological control but support or behavioural control did not. These findings suggest that psychologically controlling behaviour in parents may be due to poor self-worth. With psychological control known to deeply damage children, these findings have major implications for interventions targeting harmful parenting.