Parents and child development

Previous research has shown that young children with involved fathers have better cognitive and behavioural outcomes than their peers. Research also shows that fathers who take time off work around childbirth are more likely to be involved in childcare related activities than fathers who do not do so. This paper examines whether taking leave around the time of birth is associated with father's involvement in childcare-related activities and whether their involvement translates into positive child outcomes. Using data from countries with different types of work-family policy - Australia, Canada, Denmark, the United Kingdom, and the United States - it compares children's behavioural and cognitive outcomes, the timing and intensity of maternal employment, child care arrangements, and family characteristics. Data is taken from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC), the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (NLSCY) from Canada, the Danish Longitudinal Survey of Children (DALSC), the Millennium Cohort Study (MCS) from the United Kingdom, and the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study (ECLS) from the United States.

"Extensive biological and developmental research over the past 30 years has generated substantial evidence that young children who experience severe deprivation or significant neglect - defined broadly as the ongoing disruption or significant absence of caregiver responsiveness - bear the burdens of a range of adverse consequences. Indeed, deprivation or neglect can cause more harm to a young child's development than overt physical abuse, including subsequent cognitive delays, impairments in executive functioning, and disruptions of the body's stress response. This paper explains why significant deprivation is so harmful in the earliest years of life and why effective interventions are likely to pay significant dividends in better long-term outcomes in learning, health, and parenting of the next generation."

"A substantial and growing fraction of children across Europe and the US live in single parent households. Law practices are evolving to encourage both parents to maintain contact with their children following parental separation/divorce, driven by the belief that such contact is in the best interest of the child. We test this assumption by using information on the distance between non-residential parents and their children to proxy for contact, and measuring educational, behavioral, and health outcomes for a population sample of children from nonnuclear families in Denmark. Instrumental variables techniques are employed to control for the endogeneity of residence. The results indicate that educational and behavioral outcomes are better for children who live farther away from their non-residential parent, but that distance is not related to health outcomes. Failing to control for endogeneity biases the results in favor of more proximate parents. These findings suggest that policy efforts to keep separated parents geographically closer together for the sake of the children may, in fact, not be advantageous."--Abstract

This textbook explores the interconnectedness of children, families and communities in Australia. Chapters include: The Role of Context in Children's Development, by Jennifer Bowes, Rebekah Grace, and Alan Hayes; Research About and with Children, Families, and Communities, by Linda Harrison and Sandie Wong; Developmental Disability, by Rebekah Grace; Giftedness, by Kerry Hodge; Ethnicity: Finding a Cultural Home in Australia, by Jeanette A. Lawrence, Abi Brooker and Jacqueline J. Goodnow; Family as the Primary Context of Children?s Development, by Jennifer Bowes and Wayne Warburton; Interconnections Among Family, Childcare and Education, by Linda Harrison and Elizabeth Murray; Children, Media, and Technology, by Wayne Warburton and Kate Highfield; Changing Contexts of Play: Losses and Opportunities, by Shirley Wyver, Paul Tranter, Anita Bundy and Geraldine Naughton; Relationships with Peers: The Special Case of Bullying, by Cathrine Nielsen-Hewett and Kay Bussey; Geographical and Social Isolation, by Jennifer Bowes and Maureen Fegan; Child Protection and Out-of-Home Care, by Judy Cashmore; The Stolen Generations, by Ailsa Burns, Kate Burns, Karen Menzie and Rebekah Grace; Early Childhood Education and Care Policy, by Deborah Brennan and Elizabeth Adamson; Children in Emergencies: An International Perspective, by Kathy Cologon and Jacqueline Hayden; and, Policy Support for Children, Families and Communities, by Jennifer Bowes, Alan Hayes, Judy Cashmore and Kerry Hodge.

This book argues that mothering is the most natural, healthy, and best-fit system for infant care, of benefit to the mother, child development, and society. Part one examines at the evidence on mother care and child development, part two looks at social values that disrupt mothering and the damage this can cause, and part three discusses how society can better support mothering. Chapter include: Five lines of evidence for natural, 'best fit' mothering; Our pedigree for success in mothering; Breastfeeding and its health significance; Attachment, John Bowlby, and pre-war London doctors; Mothering, hormones, brain activities, and love; Comparing some effects of mother-care and day care; How 'eco-genetic' mismatch can affect health; Early civilisations and environmental change; Are children born as Jesus saw them, or with original sin?; The fateful hoaxing of Margaret Mead; Social sciences detach from biology ; Equality feminism and mothering denied; and What can be done?

Though the adverse impact on children of witnessing domestic violence is becoming more widely recognised, such issues are yet to be properly managed in family courts in Australia. This article draws on a small study of family law proceedings in South Australia to investigate the influence of professionals in the social sciences on judicial decision making and their construction of the best interests of children in cases featuring allegations of domestic violence. The article discusses the credibility of family law reports and experts, child credibility and wishes, perceptions of child safety and best interests, perceptions of the impact of violence, and perceptions of child development and resilience. The cases highlight the marginalisation or disregard of violence and the failure to protect children. The article concludes with recommendations for case management and risk assessment in the court system.

This article identifies the predictors of mental health problems in early and middle childhood. It examines the association between externalising/behaviour problems, such as aggression and oppositional defiance, and internalising/emotional problems, such as anxiety and depression, with parent, family, and child characteristics, including family structure, parenting style, family life stressors such as conflict or financial stress, child care use, and neighbourhood socioeconomic status. Data is taken from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC), for both the infant and preschool age cohorts over 3 waves - with data available for children aged from 0/1 to 4/5 and 4/5 to 8/9 years old.

This book explains the importance of fathers on a child's emotional and cognitive development. Illustrated with anecdotes from the author's work with both parent groups and research studies, the book discusses bonding, the benefits of play, the role of the father, the value of fathers, the evolution of fatherhood, and the effects of biology, relationships, and experience on child development.

This report explores the many ways in which fathers in couple families with young children contribute to family life, through the study of their time investment with children, their supportiveness as partners, their financial contribution, their parenting behaviours and styles, and their perceptions of their own adequacy as fathers. The report draws upon data from 'Growing Up in Australia: the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children' (LSAC), a national study of children and families. This report first reviews the existing literature on fathering - considering how fathering can be conceptualised and how fathering varies across families. It then explores selected aspects of fathering, including fathers' shared time with children, couples' sharing of unpaid work and co-parenting, and the parenting practices and styles of fathers and mothers, as well as variables including fathers' and mothers' employment status, parent marital status, marital quality, fathers' education, family size, fathers' mental health, and children's characteristics.

This chapter presents selected findings from a longitudinal study on the effects of foster care on children. Participants were 59 children from Barnardos Australia's 'Find A Family Program' in New South Wales. The chapter discusses findings in the outcome areas of cohesion with foster family, relationship with birth family, emotional and behavioural indicators, parent and peer attachment, and self esteem. The chapter also features a commentary by Robert Flynn.

"The growth in labor market participation among women with young children has raised concerns about the potential negative impact of the mother's absence from home on child outcomes. Recent data show that mother's time spent with children has declined in the last decade, while the indicators of children's cognitive and noncognitive outcomes have worsened. The objective of our research is to estimate a model of the cognitive development process of children nested within an otherwise standard model of household life cycle behavior. The model generates endogenous dynamic interrelationships between the child quality and employment processes in the household, which are found to be consistent with patterns observed in the data. The estimated model is used to explore the effects of schooling subsidies and employment restrictions on household welfare and child development."

The experience of the death or divorce of a parent can have a significant affect on a child's life. Using data from the 2006-07 Family Characteristics and Transitions Survey, this chapter examines the life outcomes of adults in Australia who experienced parental divorce or separation or the death of a parent during their childhood. Brief statistics are provided for the impact on adult relationships, having children, education, employment and income. The proportion of people who had experienced parental divorce or death during their childhood varied greatly across the generations, reflecting changes in social attitudes towards divorce and improvements in life expectancy over recent decades.

This article examines pathways through which parental characteristics might affect children's cognitive and behavioural outcomes. Using the 2004 Longitudinal Study of Australian Children, the author shows that more educated and mentally healthier parents are likely to have children with better outcomes. Educated parents are more frequently engaged in education-oriented activities with their children, whereas mentally healthier parents exhibit more favourable parenting practices. To the extent that these results reflect causal relationships, they suggest that parental education and mental health affect children's outcomes through different pathways.

Infant development is inextricably linked to their attachment relationships. Providing firm, secure and functional attachment relationships through which infants can develop and thrive is critical to their current and future development. This article reports on research that looked at the issue of family contact for infants in out-of-home care, particularly those where high-frequency family contact was being ordered by the Children's Court and involved infants in a significant amount of travel away from their foster carer. It was found that there was no difference in this sample in the reunification rate when children were subject to high-frequency family contact compared to lower levels. Issues are raised about what constitutes arrangements that are sensitive to infant development and attachment needs, including not only infants in out-of-home care, but also where parents are separated and infants may be involved in travelling between their mothers and fathers. Discussion includes concern about such sensitive issues being the subject of highly adversarial proceedings, where it may be difficult to hold the infants' needs at the centre of decision-making.

A large body of international research has shown that the experiences of childhood can exert an enduring influence on an individual's life. However, there is a dearth of recent Australian research demonstrating connections between childhood experiences within the family, and outcomes in adulthood. This article provides prevalence figures for a range of childhood familial experiences (both positive and adverse), and examines the associations between these experiences and psychosocial outcomes in young adulthood. The paper uses data from the Australian Temperament Project, a longitudinal study of children's development that commenced in 1983 and has collected 14 waves of data over the first 24 years of life. Key findings suggest that positive development (or 'doing well') in young adulthood relies on the active investment of caregivers' love, affection and encouragement during childhood, rather than simply the absence of adverse experiences. They also indicate that although young adult survivors of childhood maltreatment may be faring adequately in the social sphere, they are still much more likely than others to suffer from internalising problems such as depression and anxiety.

"This interdisciplinary book offers a unique exploration of the formative effects of children's early life experiences, with an emphasis on interactions among neurodevelopmental, behavioral, and cultural dynamics. The authors draw on insights from psychobiological, clinical, and cross-cultural comparative research that maps the robustness of these developmental dynamics across species and societies. Multidisciplinary case studies focus on specific periods of development, or windows of susceptibility, during which caregiving and other cultural practices potentially have a long-lasting impact on brain and behavior."

"This book documents the first five years of life of the children of the influential Millennium Cohort Study, which is tracking almost 19,000 babies born in 2000 and 2001 in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. This book is the second in a series of books which will report on the findings from the data and follows on from Children of the 21st century: From birth to nine months (The Policy Press, 2005). It takes an extended look at the children's lives and development as they grow and begin formal education, and the implications for family policy, and service planning in health and social services. The chapters in this book are written by experts across a wide range of social science and health fields and form a unique look at the early lives of children that cuts across disciplinary boundaries."

Focusing on child development in context, the contributors to this book consider the interconnectedness of children, families and communities and the processes through which they influence each other. An understanding of children's development and measures to enhance their well being must take into account the families and communities to which they belong. The book establishes the theoretical framework for exploring the interactive influences of children and communities, and examines the contextual differences on several levels: the individual, dealing with individual characteristics that can affect well being and development; families, educational settings and local community; refugee children and their families in Australia; and issues that affect social policy. All chapters have been selected for individual indexing.

Families are a primary context for child development. Most children grow up in families and, in their early years especially, families have a major impact on children's lives, influencing their developing patterns of thinking, feeling and behaviour. They also have a critical role in instilling fundamental values in children. However, because families are complex, they influence children's development in a number of direct and indirect ways, and respond and adapt to circumstances that are within and beyond their control. This chapter focuses on the influence of families in their community contexts on the development of children by considering two theoretical models of family functioning: family systems theory, and the family life cycle approach. The chapter also highlights social trends that support the idea that 'traditional' concepts of family are now inappropriate for many Australian families. It explores the way in which external factors beyond the family unit play a part in the wellbeing and socialisation of children.

Interest in social ecological and cultural development models as applied to children's development is rising. This chapter introduces ideas concerning the interconnecting contexts of children, families and communities, and the consequences of those interconnections, that are the subject of this book. The chapter explains how the impact of context varies with the differing characteristics of each child. Families and communities form an 'ecology of childhood' that can profoundly affect children's participation and development. The chapter discusses the importance of considering consequences on all three levels - of children, families and communities - and the challenges facing each of the elements in relation to the resources available to deal with challenges. It introduces a strengths-based approach to working with individuals, families and communities that recognises the importance of understanding the consequences of different person-context interactions.

Popular culture is having an increasingly large influence on children's self-concept, and it also influences parents' notions of childhood. This book explores current popular culture affecting infants, children, tweens, teens, and their parents, focusing in particular on marketing at children, and the sexualisation of children. Is childhood being 'eroded', and is it the parents' fault? Topics include clothes and fashion, toys and play, TV, the internet, new technology and social networking, movies and censorship, books, commercialisation, and celebrities.

This paper explores changes in child wellbeing in the United States over the last decade. Using data from the Survey of Income and Program Participation, it compares child wellbeing in 1997 and 2004, and compares wellbeing in 2004 for children from working poor families and children from other families. It examines measures of how well a child is developing, how well a child will develop, and community interaction.

"The only-child phenomenon is increasing worldwide, but little attention has been given to the lived experiences and social identity of the adult only-child. How have they experienced a life without siblings? What are the social and psychological implications of this absence? Do cultural stereotypes of the spoilt, selfish only-child affect them? Are there advantages to being an only-child? Are only-children different in some way? In this ... book, Bernice Sorensen presents adult only-child experiences from around the world and offers an insight into the dilemmas and challenges faced throughout different life stages, including interpersonal relationships and self-image. Examined from both a social and psychological perspective, this book reveals the complexity and multidimensional nature of the private, personal and public worlds of the only-child."

"[This book] explores the complex relationship that kids - from tots and tweens to teens - have with popular culture. It considers the role popular culture and, most importantly, parents play in creating children's ideas of themselves, and fearlessly questions the involvement of the corporations that target kids and promote sexuality."

This investigation aimed to examine the influence of the familial environment on children's anxiety by exploring the surprising and counter-hypothetical findings of Matthewson, Burton-Smith and Montgomery (2004). This study revealed no gender difference in children's and parents' reported anxiety. Furthermore, the expected inverse relationship between parental support received and child anxiety was not found. The present study aimed to replicate this finding in a larger sample (60 families). In contrast to Matthewson et al. (2004), it was found that the more satisfied girls were with their both parents' support, the lower their anxiety. However, the more effective mothers felt as emotional support providers to their sons and the more satisfied boys were with their fathers' informational support and companionship, the greater boys' anxiety was. Furthermore, there was no significant gender difference in children's anxiety. These findings, along with Matthewson et al. (2004), suggest gender differences in children's anxiety do not lie in the anxiety report, but in the factors that predict it. Each parent appears to contribute differentially to boys' and girls' anxiety. Moreover, too much support may be counterproductive in alleviating children's anxiety.

Early disturbances of parenting have significant implications for infant development and mental health. Parents with histories of abuse and trauma and a diagnosis of borderline personality disorder frequently experience core difficulties in understanding and responding to socio-emotional information and interpersonal interactions and these have a significant impact on parenting capacity. An early intervention approach to this group should focus on improving emotional interaction and quality of the child's attachment experience. Research attention should be given to the modification of parenting programs and infant-parent psychotherapy approaches for high-risk parents.

This study examined parent cognitions and parent-infant interaction in terms of their contribution to infant development in the first 12 months. With a sample of 95 mother-infant dyads, results using structural equation modelling confirmed the expected finding that parent-infant interaction mediates the association between parent cognitions and infant development. An unexpected finding was that the direct association between parent cognitions and infant development was stronger than the direct association between parent-infant interaction and infant development. These findings are discussed with regard to the implications for preventative and early intervention models.

The detrimental effects of parental verbal and physical conflict on children are well documented. Nevertheless, it is now accepted that conflict is a normal part of interpersonal relations, so that wellbeing should not be affected by whether conflict occurs or not, but how it is conducted. To contain the fallout of disagreements, non-verbal non-physical conflict may seem an appealing alternative to arguments and aggression. However, although this is still poorly understood in the familial context, there are indications of its harmful effect on children. This paper reports a study that examined, from the perspectives of parents and children, the links between silent parental conflict and children's adjustment problems, taking into account perceptions of parent-child relationships and family functioning. The findings generally support the hypotheses of deleterious effects of silent parental conflict on young people's wellbeing and of the protective role of positive relationships with parents.