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Biological Parents (biological + parent)
Selected AbstractsON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN FAMILY STRUCTURE AND ANTISOCIAL BEHAVIOR: PARENTAL COHABITATION AND BLENDED HOUSEHOLDS,CRIMINOLOGY, Issue 1 2008ROBERT APEL In the last several decades, the American family has undergone considerable change, with less than half of all adolescents residing with two married biological parents. Using the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997, we construct an elaborate measure of family structure and find considerable heterogeneity in the risk of antisocial and delinquent behavior among groups of youth who reside in what are traditionally dichotomized as intact and nonintact families. In particular, we find that youth in "intact" families differ in important ways depending on whether the two biological parents are married or cohabiting and on whether they have children from a previous relationship. In addition, we find that youth who reside with a single biological parent who cohabits with a nonbiological partner exhibit an unusually high rate of antisocial behavior, especially if the custodial parent is the biological father. [source] "I WANT MY MOMMIES": THE CRY FOR MINI-DOMAS TO RECOGNIZE THE BEST INTERESTS OF THE CHILDREN OF SAME-SEX COUPLES*FAMILY COURT REVIEW, Issue 2 2007Oren Goldhaber In child custody cases, courts will look to the best interests of a child to maintain visitation/custody rights only with the child's biological parent, not third parties. However, with a same-sex couple, it is inevitable that one parent will not be the biological parent. Thus, when that parent is in a mini-DOMA state, where same-sex couples from non-mini-DOMA states do not have to be recognized, that parent will be viewed as a third party and lose all visitation/custody rights if the couple separates. This note advocates that mini-DOMAs allow both the biological and nonbiological parents of a same-sex couple to have visitation/custody rights of their children if it would be in the best interest of the children to do so. [source] Parents' feelings towards their adoptive and non-adoptive childrenINFANT AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT, Issue 3 2010Marshaun 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] Stepfamily Formation: Implications for Adolescent Ties to Mothers, Nonresident Fathers, and StepfathersJOURNAL OF MARRIAGE AND FAMILY, Issue 4 2009Valarie King This study examines how the entrance of a stepfather influences adolescent ties to mothers and nonresident fathers and how prior ties to each biological parent influence the development of stepfather-stepchild ties. Data come from 1,753 adolescents in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health who lived with a single mother in Wave 1 who remained single, cohabited, or married by Wave 2, approximately 1 year later. Stepfamily formation had little consequence for adolescent-nonresident father ties. Adolescent-mother closeness, however, declined when cohabiting, but not married, stepfathers entered the household. Close ties to married stepfathers were more likely to develop when adolescents were closer to their mothers before stepfather entry. Prior ties to nonresident fathers were unrelated to stepfather-stepchild ties. [source] Mother,Child Conflict and Sibling Relatedness: A Test of Hypotheses From Parent,Offspring Conflict TheoryJOURNAL OF RESEARCH ON ADOLESCENCE, Issue 2 2010Gabriel 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] ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN FAMILY STRUCTURE AND ANTISOCIAL BEHAVIOR: PARENTAL COHABITATION AND BLENDED HOUSEHOLDS,CRIMINOLOGY, Issue 1 2008ROBERT APEL In the last several decades, the American family has undergone considerable change, with less than half of all adolescents residing with two married biological parents. Using the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997, we construct an elaborate measure of family structure and find considerable heterogeneity in the risk of antisocial and delinquent behavior among groups of youth who reside in what are traditionally dichotomized as intact and nonintact families. In particular, we find that youth in "intact" families differ in important ways depending on whether the two biological parents are married or cohabiting and on whether they have children from a previous relationship. In addition, we find that youth who reside with a single biological parent who cohabits with a nonbiological partner exhibit an unusually high rate of antisocial behavior, especially if the custodial parent is the biological father. [source] Satellite babies in transnational families: A study of parents' decision to separate from their infants,INFANT MENTAL HEALTH JOURNAL, Issue 3 2009Yvonne Bohr This study examines a practice which is characteristic of an era of intensifying globalization: As part of a transnational lifestyle, an increasing number of immigrants to North America send infants thousands of miles back to their country of origin to be raised by members of their extended families,a culturally sanctioned tradition. After several years of separation, the children return to the biological parents to attend school in the adopted country, a custom which, according to Western mental health models, could have significant sequelae for attachment relationships and other facets of development. This practice is particularly prevalent among immigrants from the People's Republic of China, but a modified version of it can be found in other groups as well. The work described here is the first phase of a longitudinal project that explores the advantages and potential repercussions, for both infants and parents, of a transnational lifestyle. The current study reviews the decision-making process of a group of Chinese Canadian immigrant parents who are considering a separation from their infants. Preliminary findings show that the expected concerns about disrupting attachment relationships are embedded in more salient considerations of economic need and cultural perspective. These exploratory data exemplify an emergent field of culture-focused research and practice in infant mental health, and support the call for innovative models to situate infant developmental pathways in global and transcultural contexts. [source] Positive Illusions in Parenting: Every Child Is Above AverageJOURNAL OF APPLIED SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 3 2008Andrew Wenger This study examined the paradox between the difficulties of parenting and the high levels of parenting satisfaction in terms of positive illusions. Results were consistent with a positive illusions model, as biological parents with a child between the ages of 2 and 5 reported unrealistically positive views of their children. They rated their own children as possessing more positive and less negative attributes than the average child. The more positively parents rated themselves, the more positively they rated their children. Parents' self-esteem scores, unrealistically positive ratings of the child, and positive illusions of parenting were related to 3 aspects of the parenting experience. This study extends the literature on positive illusions to encompass parents' positive illusions about their young children. [source] Temporal variation in glucocorticoid levels during the resting phase is associated in opposite way with maternal and paternal melanic colorationJOURNAL OF EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY, Issue 10 2010A. ROULIN Abstract Sex-dependent selection can help maintain sexual dimorphism. When the magnitude of selection exerted on a heritable sex trait differs between the sexes, it may prevent each sex to reach its phenotypic optimum. As a consequence, the benefit of expressing a sex trait to a given value may differ between males and females favouring sex-specific adaptations associated with different values of a sex trait. The level of metabolites regulated by genes that are under sex-dependent selection may therefore covary with the degree of ornamentation differently in the two sexes. We investigated this prediction in the barn owl, a species in which females display on average larger black spots on the plumage than males, a heritable ornament. This melanin-based colour trait is strongly selected in females and weakly counter-selected in males indicating sex-dependent selection. In nestling barn owls, we found that daily variation in baseline corticosterone levels, a key hormone that mediates life history trade-offs, covaries with spot diameter displayed by their biological parents. When their mother displayed larger spots, nestlings had lower corticosterone levels in the morning and higher levels in the evening, whereas the opposite pattern was found with the size of paternal spots. Our study suggests a link between daily regulation of glucocorticoids and sex-dependent selection exerted on sexually dimorphic melanin-based ornaments. [source] Paramyotonia congenita due to a de novo mutation: A case reportMUSCLE AND NERVE, Issue 2 2003Takayasu Fukudome MD Abstract A Japanese man with a negative family history of paramyotonia congenita (PMC) was evaluated for symptoms of cold-induced weakness and stiffness. Exercise testing revealed findings characteristic of PMC, and a genetic analysis was therefore performed. A well-known sodium channel mutation for PMC (T1313M) was identified in the patient, but was absent in his biological parents. These data demonstrate the occurrence of a de novo mutation, suggesting that evaluation for PMC should be performed in patients with typical symptoms even if the family history is negative. Muscle Nerve 28: 232,235, 2003 [source] Lack of association between the tryptophan hydroxylase gene A218C polymorphism and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder in Chinese Han populationAMERICAN JOURNAL OF MEDICAL GENETICS, Issue 6 2001Guomei Tang Abstract Previous studies have suggested that the serotonergic (5-HT) system might be involved in the development of Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). ADHD is frequently characterized by aggressive and impulsive behavior, a major symptom associated with reduction in serotonergic function. The tryptophan hydroxylase (TPH) gene is a reasonable candidate for ADHD because it encodes the rate-limiting enzyme in the process of 5-HT biosynthesis. In this study, we examined the relationship between the A218C polymorphism in TPH gene and ADHD. Sixty-nine ADHD patients and their biological parents were investigated. The A218C polymorphism in intron 7 of TPH gene was detected by PCR-RFLP method. No allele or genotype concerned with this A218C polymorphism was found to be associated with ADHD when analyzed with the haplotype relative risk method. Therefore, our data indicate that the TPH gene A218C polymorphism may not be a susceptibility factor of ADHD in the Chinese Han population. © 2001 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Factors Associated With the Adjustment of Foster Children in the NetherlandsAMERICAN JOURNAL OF ORTHOPSYCHIATRY, Issue 3 2009Johan Strijker PhD Information obtained from 419 case files was used to investigate the associations between the foster child's adjustment to the foster family and factors in the histories of the child and the parents, as well as factors in the relationship between foster children and their biological parents while they are placed in foster care. Problems in the foster child's prior history, particularly attachment disorders and the experience of replacements, affect the extent of adjustment to the foster family. In-home visits by the child and the absence of parental permission to stay with the foster family are two factors related to the parent-child relationship that impeded adjustment. In general, parental problem factors did not affect adjustment. The fact that many foster children come from problem-laden backgrounds raises the question of whether foster parents are always sufficiently equipped to cope with these problems. [source] Telencephalic binding sites for oxytocin and social organization: A comparative study of eusocial naked mole-rats and solitary cape mole-ratsTHE JOURNAL OF COMPARATIVE NEUROLOGY, Issue 10 2010Theodosis Kalamatianos Abstract African mole-rats provide a unique taxonomic group for investigating the evolution and neurobiology of sociality. The two species investigated here display extreme differences in social organization and reproductive strategy. Naked mole-rats (NMRs) live in colonies, dominated by a queen and her consorts; most members remain nonreproductive throughout life but cooperate in burrowing, foraging, and caring for pups, for which they are not biological parents (alloparenting). In contrast, Cape mole-rats (CMRs) are solitary and intolerant of conspecifics, except during fleeting seasonal copulation or minimal maternal behavior. Research on other mammals suggests that oxytocin receptors at various telencephalic sites regulate social recognition, monogamous pair bonding, and maternal/allomaternal behavior. Current paradigms in this field derive from monogamous and polygamous species of New World voles, which are evolutionarily remote from Old World mole-rats. The present findings indicate that NMRs exhibit a considerably greater level of oxytocin receptor (OTR) binding than CMRs in the: nucleus accumbens; indusium griseum; central, medial, and cortical amygdaloid nuclei; bed nucleus of the stria terminalis; and CA1 hippocampal subfield. In contrast, OTR binding in the piriform cortex is intense in CMRs but undetectable in NMRs. We speculate that the abundance of OTR binding and oxytocin-neurophysin-immunoreactive processes in the nucleus accumbens of NMRs reflects their sociality, alloparenting behavior, and potential for reproductive attachments. In contrast, the paucity of oxytocin and its receptors at this site in CMRs may reflect a paucity of prosocial behaviors. Whether similarities in OTR expression between eusocial mole-rats and monogamous voles are due to gene conservation or convergent evolution remains to be determined. J. Comp. Neurol. 518:1792,1813, 2010. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Substance use disorders among adolescents with bipolar spectrum disordersBIPOLAR DISORDERS, Issue 4 2008Benjamin I Goldstein Objective:, We set out to examine the prevalence and correlates of substance use disorders (SUD) in a large sample of adolescents with bipolar disorder (BP). Methods:, Subjects were 249 adolescents ages 12 to 17 years old who fulfilled DSM-IV criteria for bipolar I disorder [(BPI), n = 154], or bipolar II disorder [(BPII), n = 25], or operationalized criteria for BP not otherwise specified [(BP NOS), n = 70], via the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School-Aged Children (K-SADS). As part of the multi-site Course and Outcome of Bipolar Youth study, demographic, clinical, and family history variables were measured via intake clinical interview with the subject and a parent/guardian. Results:, The lifetime prevalence of SUD among adolescents with BP was 16% (40/249). Results from univariate analyses indicated that subjects with, as compared to without, SUD were significantly less likely to be living with both biological parents, and that there was significantly greater lifetime prevalence of physical abuse, sexual abuse, suicide attempts, conduct disorder, and posttraumatic stress disorder among subjects with SUD. Subjects with SUD reported significantly greater 12-month prevalence of trouble with police, and females with SUD reported significantly greater 12-month prevalence of pregnancy and abortion. Significant predictors of SUD in a logistic regression model included living with both biological parents (lower prevalence), conduct disorder and suicide attempts (increased prevalence). In logistic regression analyses controlling for demographic differences and conduct disorder, SUD remained significantly associated with trouble with police, whereas the association of SUD with pregnancy and abortion was reduced to a statistical trend. The prevalence of SUD was not significantly different among child- versus adolescent-onset BP subjects. Conclusions:, SUD among adolescents with BP is associated with profound hazards including suicide attempts, trouble with police, and teenage pregnancy and abortion. [source] Young people leaving care in SwedenCHILD & FAMILY SOCIAL WORK, Issue 1 2010Ingrid Höjer ABSTRACT The transition from a placement in care to an independent life can be a problematic phase for young people. In Sweden, special care-leaving services are almost non-existent. What then happens to young people when they leave a placement in out-of-home care? This paper draws on the results of a study in which 16 young care leavers between the ages of 18 and 22 years were interviewed. Telephone interviews were also performed with the young care leavers' parents, social workers, foster carers and institutional staff. The aim of the study was to investigate how young care leavers perceive the transition from care to an independent life. The Swedish welfare model, the prolonged transition to adulthood and the family-oriented welfare discourse have been used as analytical perspectives. The results show that young care leavers have a pronounced need for social, emotional, practical and financial support. Whilst such support is occasionally provided by foster carers and residential staff, it is seldom given by social services or biological parents. This group is at risk of facing severe problems in the transitional phase from care to independent life, a fact that is not acknowledged by the Swedish welfare system. [source] | ||||||||||||||||||||||