It runs in the family: parental influence on adolescents’ compliance with social distancing measures during Covid-19 lockdowns

Compliance with public health measures of adolescents who are often unfairly portrayed as spreaders of the Coronavirus is essential for controlling the pandemic. But does adolescents’ compliance develop independently from their parents? Using nationally representative longitudinal data and cross-lagged Structural Equation Panel Models I study compliance with social distancing measures of 6,754 triplets that comprise the adolescent child (age 19), their mother, and father during two national lockdowns in the UK. Results show that adolescents have the lowest and their mothers have the highest levels of compliance, and compliance generally drops over time. Moreover, parents, particularly mothers have significant influence on their adolescent child’s compliance. The child also has, albeit smaller effects on their parents’ compliance. Parental influence on adolescents’ compliance documented here thus redistributes some of the responsibility off adolescents towards all generations and calls for public health policies and campaigns that consider these family dynamics.

INTENSI MENIKAH PADA MAHASISWA DI MASA PANDEMI COVID-19

ABSTRACTThis study aims to examine and describe the marriage intention in college students during the COVID-19 pandemic based on the theory of planned behavior from Ajzen (2005) with three determinant factors, namely attitude toward behavior, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control. This study used a qualitative approach with data collection in the form of interviews with primary data sources. The subjects in this study amounted to 3 female students with the criteria for will getting married and had got engaged. The data analysis technique was carried out using an interactive analysis model by Miles and Huberman, namely data collection, data reduction, data presentation/display, then conclusions or verification. The results showed that the Covid-19 pandemic did not affect the students' marriage intention. Determinants of marriage intentions are formed from attitudes towards the behavior in the form of a positive attitude towards marriage which is obtained from the belief in the positive benefits that are imagined and the description of the risks that will be faced. The next marriage intention is formed by subjective norms in the form of parental influence and the desire to imitate the positive experiences of other students who are married while studying. Furthermore, the intention to marry is formed on the determinants of perceived behavioral control factors in the form of the subject's belief in the ability to control behavior to prevent conflict and find solutions to household problems that will be faced stemming from his status as a student. Another finding in this study is that belief in religion and adherence to religious teachings are sources of information that strengthen the determinant factors so as to form a strong intention to marry.Keywords: intention, marriage, college students, covid-19ABSTRAKPenelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengkaji dan mendeskripsikan intensi menikah pada mahasiswa di masa pandemi covid-19 berdasarkan teori perencanaan perilaku dari Ajzen (2005) dengan tiga faktor determinan yaitu attitude toward behavior, subjective norm, dan perceived behavioral control. Penelitian ini menggunakan pendekatan kualitatif dengan pengambilan data berupa wawancara pada sumber data primer. Subjek pada penelitian ini berjumlah 3 orang mahasiswi dengan kriteria akan melangsungkan pernikahan dan telah menjalani proses lamaran. Teknik analisis data dilakukan dengan model analisis interaktif oleh Miles dan Huberman yaitu pengumpulan data, reduksi data, presentasi/display data, lalu kesimpulan atau verifikasi. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa pandemi covoid-19 tidak mempengaruhi intensi menikah pada mahasiswa. Determinan intensi menikah dibentuk dari sikap terhadap perilaku (attitude towards the behavior) berupa sikap positif terhadap pernikahan yang didapatkan dari keyakinan akan manfaat positif yang dibayangkan serta gambaran resiko yang akan dihadapi. Intensi menikah berikutnya dibentuk oleh norma subjektif (subjective norm) berupa pengaruh orangtua serta keinginan untuk meniru pengalaman positif mahasiswa lain yang menikah sambil kuliah. Selanjutnya, intensi menikah dibentuk atas determinan faktor persepsi kontrol perilaku (perceived behavioral control) berupa keyakinan subjek akan kemampuan mengontrol perilaku untuk mencegah konflik maupun menemukan solusi dalam permasalahan rumah tangga yang akan dihadapi yang bersumber dari statusnya sebagai mahasiswa. Temuan lain dalam penelitian ini adalah keyakinan terhadap agama serta kepatuhan terhadap ajaran agama menjadi sumber informasi yang memperkuat faktor determinan sehingga membentuk intensi yang kuat untuk menikah. Kata Kunci: Intensi, mahasiswa, menikah, covid-19.

Significance of Proficient Communication on Career Choice Among First Years in Rural South Africa

Career choice involves the selection of one occupation over another. It is very important as it gives people focus on what career to follow. However, a lack of adequate information on career choice is capable of negatively influencing career choices. Hence, this study examines the significance of the adequate information on career choice among first year students using a selected rural South African university. A quantitative research method was employed for data collection. Purposive and random sampling was used to select the institution and sample respectively. Questionnaires were administered to 375 randomly selected first year students studying in the selected rural South African university. The findings of the study show that career choice is important and can contribute to the success of students. Attempts are made to communicate about career pathways with students while in high schools through the provision in the curriculum. Various factors ranging from parental influence, teachers, presence or absence of career counsellors, amongst others affect the career choice of students. The study recommends that education stakeholders, inclusive of parents, should be informed on the need to guide students in making informed career choices. Career information centres should be made available to students in various locations in the country.

Modeling Parental Influence on Food Consumption among Chinese Adolescents through Self-Efficacy: A Path Analysis

This study aimed to investigate the associations between perceived parental control, perceived parental modeling and parent–teen co-decision making, and fruit and vegetable (F&V) and sugar-sweetened beverage and junk food (S&J) consumption among Chinese adolescents, and examine whether self-efficacy mediates the associations. Data were collected in a cross-sectional survey of Chinese adolescents carried out in the fall of 2019. The questionnaires were adapted from the Family Life, Activity, Sun, Health, and Eating (FLASHE) Study. Ordinary least-squares regressions and a path analysis were performed to evaluate the hypothesized associations. The final sample included 3595 Chinese adolescents (mean (SD) age, 14.67 (1.73) years; 52.82% (n = 1899) males). Perceived parental control was positively associated with adolescents’ F&V consumption, and was negatively associated with adolescents’ S&J consumption. Perceived parental modeling and parent–teen co-decision making were both positively associated with adolescents’ F&V consumption and negatively associated with their S&J consumption. Adolescents’ self-efficacy was positively associated with F&V consumption and negatively associated with S&J consumption. These results suggest that serving as a positive role model, having adolescents participate in the decision-making process, and increasing adolescents’ self-efficacy can be feasible and efficacious strategies to improve the nutritional quality of Chinese adolescents’ diets.

Relation between ADHD and COVID-19: A Narrative Review to Guide Advancing Clinical Research and Therapy

Objective: To cope with the COVID-19 pandemic, national health authorities temporarily closed cultural, religious, and educational institutions such as universities and schools. Children and adolescents with ADHD were challenged with the restrictions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic such as homeschooling and reduced physical activity. The present narrative review aimed to summarize the state-of-the-art regarding associations between COVID-19-related social restrictions and possible psychological and behavioral issues in children and adolescents with ADHD. Additionally, we discussed the underlying possible reasons of the association focusing on the role of parental influence and physical activity, vulnerabilities of individuals with ADHD to Covid-19 infection and to school closure and remote learning. Method: To collect data for the present narrative review, recent publications on these topics between February 1st, 2020 and January 10th, 2021 were retrieved from the most popular search engines (PubMed; Scopus; Google Scholar; Psych Info; Embase) through a comprehensive search using relevant keywords. Results: During confinement, children and adolescents with ADHD reported increased behavioral and ADHD-related symptoms and overall decreased psychological well-being. Factors negatively impacting children’s and adolescents’ behavioral symptoms and well-being were: less physical activity, adverse parental behavior, difficulties in coping with preventive guidelines, and school closure and remote learning consequences. Conclusion: Children and adolescents with ADHD and their caregivers faced both specific and general psychological issues related to the school lockdowns and homeschooling. Additionally, Individuals with ADHD seem to be more vulnerable to Covid-19 infection which highlights the need for better healthcare adaptation.

Molecular basis of parental contributions to the behavioural tolerance of elevated pCO 2 in a coral reef fish

Knowledge of adaptive potential is crucial to predicting the impacts of ocean acidification (OA) on marine organisms. In the spiny damselfish, Acanthochromis polyacanthus , individual variation in behavioural tolerance to elevated pCO 2 has been observed and is associated with offspring gene expression patterns in the brain. However, the maternal and paternal contributions of this variation are unknown. To investigate parental influence of behavioural pCO 2 tolerance, we crossed pCO 2 -tolerant fathers with pCO 2 -sensitive mothers and vice versa, reared their offspring at control and elevated pCO 2 levels, and compared the juveniles' brain transcriptional programme. We identified a large influence of parental phenotype on expression patterns of offspring, irrespective of environmental conditions. Circadian rhythm genes, associated with a tolerant parental phenotype, were uniquely expressed in tolerant mother offspring, while tolerant fathers had a greater role in expression of genes associated with histone binding. Expression changes in genes associated with neural plasticity were identified in both offspring types: the maternal line had a greater effect on genes related to neuron growth while paternal influence impacted the expression of synaptic development genes. Our results confirm cellular mechanisms involved in responses to varying lengths of OA exposure, while highlighting the parental phenotype's influence on offspring molecular phenotype.

The Effect of Parenting Styles on Children’s Familiarity with Traffic Signs

The community, and especially the family, affects children’s traffic safety. Parents influence children’s current and future traffic behaviors. Numerous studies have demonstrated a relationship between parenting style and children’s behavioral problems such as antisocial behaviors and delinquency, so the modification of parenting styles could have a positive impact on the interactions between parents and children. In the literature on children’s traffic safety, parental influence has long been recognized as an important aspect of research, but parent-related factors are mostly unknown. In particular, a factor that can affect parents’ attitudes and children’s views of road safety is parenting style. Therefore, this study aims to examine children’s knowledge of traffic signs utilizing a parenting styles’ perspective. The determining role of demographic characteristics in traffic skills is critical and is investigated in this study. In this study, 1011 preschool, first-, second-, and third-grade students were interviewed and information about parenting styles and demographic characteristics were collected from questionnaires completed by parents. Through interviews, children’s familiarity with law enforcement and informative signs was assessed. Results indicated that older children and those with higher socioeconomic status had better skills in this field. The results also showed that parents could improve their children’s understanding of signs by less use of inconsistent discipline and corporal punishments. Parental negligence, contradictory use of corporal punishment, and nonuse of positive behaviors are some factors which are most likely related to children’s knowledge of traffic signs and rules. The findings of this study can guide parents and assist relevant authorities to implement policies to more effectively train young children by developing practical and targeted resources.

Parent Contributions to the Development of Political Attitudes in Adoptive and Biological Families

Where do our political attitudes originate? Although early research attributed the formation of such beliefs to parent and peer socialization, genetically sensitive designs later clarified the substantial role of genes in the development of sociopolitical attitudes. However, it has remained unclear whether parental influence on offspring attitudes persists beyond adolescence. In a unique sample of 394 adoptive and biological families with offspring more than 30 years old, biometric modeling revealed significant evidence for genetic and nongenetic transmission from both parents for the majority of seven political-attitude phenotypes. We found the largest genetic effects for religiousness and social liberalism, whereas the largest influence of parental environment was seen for political orientation and egalitarianism. Together, these findings indicate that genes, environment, and the gene–environment correlation all contribute significantly to sociopolitical attitudes held in adulthood, and the etiology and development of those attitudes may be more important than ever in today’s rapidly changing sociopolitical landscape.