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Family Context (family + context)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Psychology	47%
Humanities and Social Sciences	29%
Medical Sciences	17%

Selected Abstracts

Beyond Parenting Practices: Family Context and the Treatment of Pediatric Obesity,

FAMILY RELATIONS, Issue 1 2008
Katherine M. Kitzmann
Abstract: Many family-based treatments for pediatric obesity teach specific parenting practices related to weight management. Although youth in these programs show increases in positive health behaviors and reductions in the extent to which they are overweight, most remain overweight after treatment. A recent trend is to create tailored programs for subgroups of families. We examine the possibility of tailoring based on family context, highlighting 3 aspects of family context that have been studied in relation to pediatric obesity: parenting style, family stress, and family emotional climate. We argue that family context may moderate treatment outcomes by altering the effectiveness of health-related parenting practices and discuss the implications of this argument for designing and evaluating tailored programs. [source]

That Which Does Not Kill You Makes You Stronger: Runaway Youth's Resilience to Depression in the Family Context

AMERICAN JOURNAL OF ORTHOPSYCHIATRY, Issue 2 2010
Gizem Erdem
The present study sought to uncover the relationship between risk and protective factors for depressive symptomatology among runaway youth. To that aim, 3 models of resiliency,the compensatory, risk-protective, and challenge models,were tested separately on girls and boys. The data came from a cross-sectional survey on a sample of 140 runaway adolescents between the ages of 12 and 17 years who were recruited from the only runaway crisis shelter in a large Midwestern city. Risk factors in the proposed model included primary caretaker's depressive symptoms, family conflict, and adolescent's and primary caretaker's verbal aggression; protective factors included adolescent's report of task-oriented coping and family cohesion. Findings supported the challenge model for predicting adolescent depressive symptoms, suggesting that moderate levels of risk can be beneficial for these runaway adolescents. In addition, risk and protective factors differed by adolescent gender. Implications for preventive interventions and future research are discussed. [source]

Parental Rights in Diverse Family Contexts: Current Legal Developments,

FAMILY RELATIONS, Issue 4 2002
Denise A. Skinner
Here, we review case law as it applies to parental rights. Specifically, we examine two issues: (a) Who has been awarded the right to parent? and (b) What rights have been bestowed to parents? The review demonstrates how family law in the United States reflects and perpetuates society's ambivalence about family structure and, subsequently, parental rights and responsibilities. On the basis of this analysis, we recommend a broadened legal perspective that not only communicates society's expectation of responsible parenting but, in addition, gives legal recognition to diverse family forms in which members carry out these responsibilities. [source]

Family context and young children's responses to earthquake

THE JOURNAL OF CHILD PSYCHOLOGY AND PSYCHIATRY AND ALLIED DISCIPLINES, Issue 9 2007
Laura J. Proctor
Background:, Family context can affect children's vulnerability to various stresses, but little is known regarding the role of family variables on children's reactions to natural disaster. This prospective study examined the influence of predisaster observed parenting behaviors and postdisaster parental stress on young children's distress following an earthquake. Methods:, Participants were 117 two-parent families with a child age 4,5 at the initial assessment. The families experienced different degrees of impact from the earthquake. Pre-earthquake family context comprised observations of parents' positive and negative behaviors during a parent,child play task. Eight months after the earthquake, mothers reported symptoms of parental stress and children's distress. Results:, Earthquake impact and children's distress symptoms were moderately correlated (r = .44), but certain pre-earthquake parental behaviors moderated the relationship. The dose,response association between earthquake impact and children's symptoms did not hold for families in which fathers showed high levels of negative behaviors with daughters, or mothers showed low levels of positive behaviors with sons. In addition, results consistent with full mediation for boys (and partial mediation for girls) indicated that 86% of the total effect of earthquake impact on boys' distress (and 29% on girls' distress) occurred through the mediator of reported parental stress. Conclusions:, These findings demonstrate that young children's responses to an abrupt, negative environmental event, such as an earthquake, are influenced in part by the nature of the parent,child relationship prior to the event as well as by the responses parents exhibit following the event. [source]

The Importance of Context in Fostering Responsive Community Systems: Supports for Families in Systems of Care

AMERICAN JOURNAL OF ORTHOPSYCHIATRY, Issue 1 2010
James R. Cook
The importance of helping families of children with severe emotional disturbances (SED) connect with informal or natural supports,that is, individuals who are part of their ongoing communities and daily lives,has been widely recognized. Utilization of informal supports has thus become a core element within systems of care (SOCs) designed to improve services for children with SED and their families. However, research demonstrates that implementation of wraparound, the key practice approach within SOCs, often does not include involvement of informal supports. Using a measure of social connectedness (SC), developed to augment the instruments used for the SOC national evaluation, this study assessed parents' and caregivers' views of their connections to and support from their community within a SOC. Overall, parents and caregivers reported low levels of support across multiple sources as well as a desire for more support. Greater levels of perceived support related positively to caregiver strain, types of and satisfaction with services received, and views of their communities as supportive and safe. Greater attention to families' contexts and the identification of effective ways to connect families to their communities are recommended. [source]

Adult attachment dimensions and recollections of childhood family context: associations with dispositional optimism and pessimism

EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF PERSONALITY, Issue 3 2004
Kati Heinonen
The present study tested the theoretically inferred but not yet empirically tested association between dispositional optimism,pessimism and attachment security among 423 Finnish women and men. A second-order latent variable representing a generalized representation of attachment insecurity in close relationships that included two latent constructs, the one representing romantic adult attachment dimensions and the other representing recollections of attachment-related childhood family relationship, was associated with greater pessimism; the adult attachment dimension of high anxiety had unique and additional explanatory power, not accounted for by the generalized representation of attachment-related insecurity. The model explained 48% of the variance in pessimism. The results clearly emphasize that additional studies are needed to clarify the role of interpersonal processes in dispositional optimism,pessimism. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

Beyond Parenting Practices: Family Context and the Treatment of Pediatric Obesity,

Attachment and sensitivity in family context: the roles of parent and infant gender

INFANT AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT, Issue 4 2006
Sarah J. Schoppe-Sullivan
Abstract This study examined the role of child gender in fathers' and mothers' sensitivity to and attachment relationships with their infants from a family systems perspective. Eighty-seven 1-year-olds participated in the Strange Situation with each parent. Parental sensitivity was examined during a competing demands task. Results indicated that fathers and mothers were equally sensitive to sons, but fathers were less sensitive than mothers to daughters, and mothers were more sensitive to daughters than to sons. Although mothers and fathers within the same families were similarly sensitive to daughters and sons, daughters' attachment security with fathers and mothers was similar whereas sons' was not. Further analyses revealed that fathers were more sensitive to sons with an insecure relationship with their mothers. Results of this investigation suggest that child gender is relevant for parent,infant, especially father,infant, attachment relationships. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

When home is in jail: child development in Spanish penitentiary units

INFANT AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT, Issue 5 2003
Jesús M. Jiménez
Abstract The quality of the educational family context of children who live with their mothers in prison (N=127, age M=16.3 months) as well as how this situation affects their level of development are analysed. The assessment of these contexts was carried out using the HOME scale. The evaluation of the children's development was carried out using the Brunet,Lézine scale. The data shows that the quality of this context is extremely low, with one of the most striking features being the low score obtained in the subscales of provision of play materials and variety of experiences. Moreover, there are significant differences in the scores that are related to the mother's level of education, ethnic origins and the type of prison where they are serving their sentences. As for the scores obtained by the children in the Brunet,Lézine scale, the data shows that their level of development is similar to that of the infant population in general although we also found that the development quotients of the children in the group with the lowest scores in the HOME scale tend to drop significantly after 18 months of age. The results are discussed taking into account the interaction of context and development under the light of the canalization hypothesis, and making some suggestions about possible ways to improve these children's life conditions. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

Parent-to-Child Aggression Among Asian American Parents: Culture, Context, and Vulnerability

JOURNAL OF MARRIAGE AND FAMILY, Issue 5 2006
Anna S. Lau
We examined correlates of lifetime parent-to-child aggression in a representative sample of 1,293 Asian American parents. Correlates examined included nativity, indicators of acculturation, socioeconomic status, family climate, and stressors associated with minority status. Results revealed that Asian Americans of Chinese descent and those who immigrated as youth were more likely to report minor parental aggression; ethnicity and nativity were not associated with severe aggression. Indices of acculturation did not predict risk, but minority status stressors (perceived discrimination, low social standing) predicted risk of both minor and severe aggression. Affective climate differed markedly in families with minor versus severe aggression. Parental aggression in Asian American families may not be cultural per se, but stress associated with immigrant family context may heighten vulnerability. [source]

Family context and young children's responses to earthquake

Temperament and stress response in children with juvenile primary fibromyalgia syndrome

ARTHRITIS & RHEUMATISM, Issue 10 2003
Paola M. Conte
Objective To examine temperament, stress response, child psychological adjustment, family environment, pain sensitivity, and stress response differences between children and adolescents with juvenile primary fibromyalgia syndrome (JPFMS), children with arthritis, and healthy controls. Parental psychological adjustment was also measured. Methods Subjects included 16 children with JPFMS, 16 children with arthritis, and 16 healthy controls. Participants completed the Dimensions of Temperament Survey-Revised (DOTS-R), State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, Children's Depression Inventory, Family Environment Scale (FES), Sensitivity Temperament Inventory for Pain (STIP), and Youth Self-Report. Responsiveness to an acute stressor was assessed by measuring salivary cortisol levels before and after venipuncture. Parents were asked to complete the parent versions of the DOTS-R, FES, STIP, Child Behavior Checklist, and Symptom Checklist-90-Revised. Results Children and adolescents with JPFMS demonstrated more temperamental instability, increased levels of depression and anxiety, less family cohesion, and higher pain sensitivity compared with the other 2 groups. Parents of children with JPFMS, in rating themselves, also reported higher levels of anxiety and depression, and lower overall psychological adjustment compared with parents of children in the other groups. Conclusion These results suggest that a psychobiologic perspective may contribute to an increased understanding of JPFMS in children and adolescents, facilitating an approach to investigating the interaction of factors that appear to place a child at risk for development of a pain syndrome. Because temperamental instability, sensitivity to pain, vulnerability to stress, psychological adjustment, family context, and parental psychopathology are individual risk factors, the interaction of these factors may explain the breadth of symptoms associated with this pain syndrome, as well as its severity. [source]

The role of proxies in treatment decisions: evaluating functional capacity to consent to end-of-life treatments within a family context,

BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES & THE LAW, Issue 3 2002
Rebecca S. Allen Ph.D.
Psychology as a profession has entered the arena of palliative and hospice care later in the process than other health care professions. Through the use of Familial Advance Planning Evaluations (FAPEs), however, psychologists can assist individuals and families in facing end-of-life transitions in important ways. Hospice and palliative care philosophy treats the patient and family as the unit of care. End-of-life decision-making is therefore a family matter as well as a normative developmental transition. Yet, little is known about the decision-making process. This paper reviews the literature regarding informed consent, advance care planning, and proxy decision-making and outlines a theoretical model for familial decision-making. Previous models of end-of-life capacity evaluations and family assessments are presented and serve as the basis for a comprehensive assessment of familial decision-making at the end of life. Functional capacity evaluations of individuals at the end of life regarding decisions about life-sustaining medical treatments enable both the individual patient and one identified proxy from his or her family to discuss important issues families may face during medical crises at the end of life. The information gleaned from such evaluations has the potential to assist psychologists and other professionals in designing family-specific interventions to reduce caregiving distress, improve quality of life for dying patients, and ease the transition to bereavement for caregivers. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

The ,good' parent in relation to early childhood literacy: symbolic terrain and lived practice

LITERACY, Issue 2 2009
Sue Nichols
Abstract In this paper we consider the place of early childhood literacy in the discursive construction of the identity(ies) of ,proper' parents. Our analysis crosses between representations of parenting in texts produced by commercial and government/public institutional interests and the self-representations of individual parents in interviews with the researchers. The argument is made that there are commonalities and disjunctures in represented and lived parenting identities as they relate to early literacy. In commercial texts that advertise educational and other products, parents are largely absent from representations and the parent's position is one of consumer on behalf of the child. In government-sanctioned texts, parents are very much present and are positioned as both learners about and important facilitators of early learning when they ,interact' with their children around language and books. The problem for which both, in their different ways, offer a solution is the "not-yet-ready" child precipitated into the evaluative environment of school without the initial competence seen as necessary to avoid falling behind right from the start. Both kinds of producers promise a smooth induction of children into mainstream literacy and learning practices if the ,good parent' plays her/his part. Finally, we use two parent cases to illustrate how parents' lived practice involves multiple discursive practices and identities as they manage young children's literacy and learning in family contexts in which they also need to negotiate relations with their partners and with paid and domestic work. [source]

Understanding resilience in educational trajectories: Implications for protective possibilities

PSYCHOLOGY IN THE SCHOOLS, Issue 1 2006
Gale M. Morrison
A growing body of literature on risk and resilience, school engagement, and positive psychology offers school psychologists new perspectives with which to consider students' progress through school. This literature emphasizes the importance of monitoring student internal and external assets. In this article, a framework is reviewed that highlights student strengths and contextual protective factors, moving beyond an exclusive focus on student deficits. It offers school psychologists a systematic set of empirically derived categories for thinking about, collecting, and presenting information about the strengths of students that (a) help to focus not only on risks but on protective factors, (b) facilitate a "developmental trajectory" perspective, and (c) recognize the role of important school, peer, and family contexts. The concepts reviewed in this article are intended to provide a template for use by school psychologists interested in thinking about student development and how schools can foster protective possibilities. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 43: 19,31, 2006. [source]

Which should you use, intuition or logic?

ASIAN JOURNAL OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 4 2008
Cultural differences in injunctive norms about reasoning
Past research has shown that tendencies to engage in holistic and analytical reasoning are differentially encouraged by East Asian and Western cultures. But little is known about cultural differences in the perceived value of analytic versus intuitive reasoning. In Study 1, Koreans and Americans ranked the importance of traits including ,intuitive' and ,logical' in work and family contexts. In Study 2, Euro-Canadians and East-Asian-Canadians read scenarios of intuitive versus rule-following business decisions. Relative to Western participants, East Asians rated intuitive reasoning as more important and reasonable than analytic reasoning. Implications for the epistemic status of reasoning modes, culture's effect on values about reasoning, and multiculturalism are discussed. [source]