Biological Children (biological + child)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Psychological Differences Between HIV-Positive Mothers Who Disclose to All, Some, or None of Their Biological Children

JOURNAL OF MARITAL AND FAMILY THERAPY, Issue 2 2009
Robin Ostrom Delaney
This study explored the psychological differences between HIV-positive women who disclosed their serostatus to all, some, or none of their biological children. Data from this project come from a larger, longitudinal investigation of the disclosure process of HIV-infected women. Data were obtained regarding the disclosure processes and the psychological adjustment of women with children (n = 90) based on measures of depression, anxiety, and stress. Results suggest that women who disclose to all, some, or none of their children are not significantly different with regard to emotional well-being. Implications for marriage and family therapists are provided. [source]


Parents' feelings towards their adoptive and non-adoptive children

INFANT AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT, Issue 3 2010
Marshaun B. Glover
Abstract In the current study, we examined parent gender differences in feelings (negativity and positivity) and perceptions of child behavioural and emotional problems in adoptive and biological parent,child dyads. In a sample of 85 families, we used a novel within-family adoption design in which one child was adopted and one child was a biological child of the couple, and tested whether the links between parent feelings and child maladjustment included effects of passive gene,environment correlation. Parents reported more negativity and less positivity as well as higher levels of externalizing behaviour for the adopted child compared to the non-adopted child, although effect sizes were small and no longer statistically significant after correcting for multiple comparisons. Fathers and mothers did not differ significantly in their reports of positive and negative feelings towards their children or in regard to child externalizing and internalizing behaviours. The correlations between parental negativity and positivity and child externalizing and internalizing were similar for fathers and mothers, and for adopted and non-adopted children. The findings suggest similar parent,child relationship processes for fathers and mothers, and that genetic transmission of behaviour from parent to child does not account for the association between parental warmth and hostility and child-adjustment problems. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


SPERM DONOR OR THWARTED FATHER?

FAMILY COURT REVIEW, Issue 2 2009
HOW WRITTEN AGREEMENT STATUTES ARE CHANGING THE WAY COURTS RESOLVE LEGAL PARENTAGE ISSUES IN ASSISTED REPRODUCTION CASES
In recent years, the use of assisted reproduction has risen dramatically in the United States, allowing individuals who face various reproductive challenges, including infertility or absence of a heterosexual partner, to conceive biological children. While assisted reproduction has expanded to meet the needs of these parents, the legal system remains years behind, often leading to complicated child custody disputes between the parties. State legislatures have responded to the call for increased regulation of legal parentage in assisted reproduction in varying ways, although one popular statutory approach requires a known sperm provider to preserve his intention to parent in a written agreement with the woman. This article will argue that written agreement statutes are an effective means for resolving parentage disputes because of their ability to protect pre-insemination intent and encourage private ordering of conflicts among the parties. These issues will be explored through the lens of a recent case decided by the Kansas Supreme Court, In Re K.M.H., where the court enforced a written agreement statute against a sperm provider despite his equal protection and due process challenges. [source]


Reduced risk of prostate cancer in men who are childless as compared to those who have fathered a child: A population based case-control study

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CANCER, Issue 6 2005
Aleksander Giwercman
Abstract Androgens are believed to play a major role in the etiology of prostate cancer, but studies of sex-hormone exposure in relation to risk for prostate cancer have been inconclusive. Male fertility may be an indicator of long-term androgen status. To study the role of testicular function in prostate cancer development, we have assessed number of biological children in relation to risk for this malignancy. We carried out a population-based case-control study with retrospective ascertainment of cases occurring in Sweden between 1958,98. In total, 48,850 cases of prostate cancer were identified through the nation-wide Cancer Registry. For each case, one control, matched by year of birth, was randomly selected from the Swedish population. Information on offspring was obtained from the Swedish Multi-Generation Registry. We estimated odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for the association between number of offspring and risk for subsequent prostate cancer. Being childless or having fathered one child only were associated with reduced risks for prostate cancer compared to having fathered 2 or more children (OR = 0.83; 95% CI = 0.81,0.86 and OR = 0.93; 95% CI = 0.90,0.96, respectively). There was no further change in risk associated with fathering of more than 2 children. The risk for prostate cancer is reduced among childless men. A dysfunctioning reproductive apparatus fueling to a lesser extent prostatic growth, could be a plausible mechanism of this association. © 2005 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]


Psychological Differences Between HIV-Positive Mothers Who Disclose to All, Some, or None of Their Biological Children

JOURNAL OF MARITAL AND FAMILY THERAPY, Issue 2 2009
Robin Ostrom Delaney
This study explored the psychological differences between HIV-positive women who disclosed their serostatus to all, some, or none of their biological children. Data from this project come from a larger, longitudinal investigation of the disclosure process of HIV-infected women. Data were obtained regarding the disclosure processes and the psychological adjustment of women with children (n = 90) based on measures of depression, anxiety, and stress. Results suggest that women who disclose to all, some, or none of their children are not significantly different with regard to emotional well-being. Implications for marriage and family therapists are provided. [source]


Mother,Child Conflict and Sibling Relatedness: A Test of Hypotheses From Parent,Offspring Conflict Theory

JOURNAL OF RESEARCH ON ADOLESCENCE, Issue 2 2010
Gabriel L. Schlomer
Parent,offspring conflict theory (POCT) has been underutilized in studies of human family dynamics. An implication of POCT is that the presence of siblings will increase conflict in biological parent,child dyads, and that half siblings will increase that conflict more than full siblings. Evidence consistent with this prediction was found in a longitudinal study of 236 early adolescent children and their mothers. Following parental disruption, the entry of younger maternal half siblings into the home was uniquely associated with elevated conflict between mothers and their biological children, independent of the effects of family size, socioeconomic status, and maternal depression. As predicted by the model, the effect of parental disruption on mother,child conflict was partially mediated by the entry of half siblings (but not stepfathers) into the home. [source]


Infant Skin Microstructure Assessed In Vivo Differs from Adult Skin in Organization and at the Cellular Level

PEDIATRIC DERMATOLOGY, Issue 2 2010
Georgios N. Stamatas Ph.D.
The purpose of this study was to examine infant skin microstructure in vivo and to compare it with that of adult skin. The lower thigh area of 20 healthy mothers (ages 25,43) and their biological children (ages 3,24 months) was examined using in vivo noninvasive methods including fluorescence spectroscopy, video microscopy, and confocal laser scanning microscopy. Stratum corneum and supra-papillary epidermal thickness as well as cell size in the granular layer were assessed from the confocal images. Adhesive tapes were used to remove corneocytes from the outer-most layer of stratum corneum and their size was computed using image analysis. Surface features showed differences in glyph density and surface area. Infant stratum corneum was found to be 30% and infant epidermis 20% thinner than in adults. Infant corneocytes were found to be 20% and granular cells 10% smaller than adult corneocytes indicating a more rapid cell turnover in infants. This observation was confirmed by fluorescence spectroscopy. Dermal papillae density and size distribution also differed. Surprisingly, a distinct direct structural relationship between the stratum corneum morphology and the dermal papillae was observed exclusively in infant skin. A change in reflected signal intensity at ,100 ,m indicating the transition between papillary and reticular dermis was evident only in adult skin. We demonstrate in vivo qualitative and quantitative differences in morphology between infant and adult skin. These differences in skin microstructure may help explain some of the reported functional differences. [source]