Constructions of parental authority : comparison and contrast of authoritative parenting, 1968 and 1995.

Diana Baumrind\u27s identification in the 1960s of authoritative, authoritarian, and permissive parenting styles, as well as her demonstration of correlations between optimal developmental outcomes and the authoritative style, continue to have profound influences on how child socialization is thought about and researched. But, times have changed. Cultural psychology\u27s assumption of intentional individuals and intentional cultures co-constructing each other allows for the possibility that historically mediated sociocultural differences between the 1960s and 1990s may have influenced childrearing practices and outcomes. For this study, instruments used by Baumrind were adapted to investigate cultural ideals and families today. Middle-class, urban, Northeastern families in which parents (n = 10) of preschool children appeared to meet criteria for the authoritative style were studied in depth. Although the ratios of nurturance and demandingness appear to be comparable in the two time periods among authoritative parents, 1990s parents show substantially more conformist and authoritarian attitudes than did their predecessors. Whereas attitudes of 1960s authoritative parents support children in speaking their minds, 1990s authoritative parents support children in minding their speech. This change is interpreted as a function of historical changes in parents\u27 creative intuitions that optimal developmental outcomes are now less related to the 1960s discourse of agency, and more related to the 1990s agency of discourse. As a consequence, what may appear to be a matter of authoritarianism on the parts of parents is interpreted here as greater vigilance regarding the significance of speech acts for succeeding in the 21st century

Zinc transporter 3 is involved in learned fear and extinction, but not in innate fear

Synaptically released Zn2+ is a potential modulator of neurotransmission and synaptic plasticity in fear-conditioning pathways. Zinc transporter 3 (ZnT3) knock-out (KO) mice are well suited to test the role of zinc in learned fear, because ZnT3 is colocalized with synaptic zinc, responsible for its transport to synaptic vesicles, highly enriched in the amygdala-associated neural circuitry, and ZnT3 KO mice lack Zn2+ in synaptic vesicles. However, earlier work reported no deficiency in fear memory in ZnT3 KO mice, which is surprising based on the effects of Zn2+ on amygdala synaptic plasticity. We therefore reexamined ZnT3 KO mice in various tasks for learned and innate fear. The mutants were deficient in a weak fear-conditioning protocol using single tone–shock pairing but showed normal memory when a stronger, five-pairing protocol was used. ZnT3 KO mice were deficient in memory when a tone was presented as complex auditory information in a discontinuous fashion. Moreover, ZnT3 KO mice showed abnormality in trace fear conditioning and in fear extinction. By contrast, ZnT3 KO mice had normal anxiety. Thus, ZnT3 is involved in associative fear memory and extinction, but not in innate fear, consistent with the role of synaptic zinc in amygdala synaptic plasticity

Parent smoker role conflict and planning to quit smoking: a cross-sectional study

Abstract Background Role conflict can motivate behavior change. No prior studies have explored the association between parent/smoker role conflict and readiness to quit. The objective of the study is to assess the association of a measure of parent/smoker role conflict with other parent and child characteristics and to test the hypothesis that parent/smoker role conflict is associated with a parent’s intention to quit smoking in the next 30 days. As part of a cluster randomized controlled trial to address parental smoking (Clinical Effort Against Secondhand Smoke Exposure—CEASE), research assistants completed exit interviews with 1980 parents whose children had been seen in 20 Pediatric Research in Office Settings (PROS) practices and asked a novel identity-conflict question about “how strongly you agree or disagree” with the statement, “My being a smoker gets in the way of my being a parent.” Response choices were dichotomized as “Strongly Agree” or “Agree” versus “Disagree” or “Strongly Disagree” for the analysis. Parents were also asked whether they were “seriously planning to quit smoking in 30 days.” Chi-square and logistic regression were performed to assess the association between role conflict and other parent/children characteristics. A similar strategy was used to determine whether role conflict was independently associated with intention to quit in the next 30 days. Methods As part of a RTC in 20 pediatric practices, exit interviews were held with smoking parents after their child’s exam. Parents who smoked were asked questions about smoking behavior, smoke-free home and car rules, and role conflict. Role conflict was assessed with the question, “Please tell me how strongly you agree or disagree with the statement: ‘My being a smoker gets in the way of my being a parent.’ (Answer choices were: “Strongly agree, Agree, Disagree, Strongly Disagree.”) Results Of 1980 eligible smokers identified, 1935 (97%) responded to the role-conflict question, and of those, 563 (29%) reported experiencing conflict. Factors that were significantly associated with parent/smoker role conflict in the multivariable model included: being non-Hispanic white, allowing home smoking, the child being seen that day for a sick visit, parents receiving any assistance for their smoking, and planning to quit in the next 30 days. In a separate multivariable logistic regression model, parent/smoker role conflict was independently associated with intention to quit in the next 30 days [AOR 2.25 (95% CI 1.80-2.18)]. Conclusion This study demonstrated an association between parent/smoker role conflict and readiness to quit. Interventions that increase parent/smoker role conflict might act to increase readiness to quit among parents who smoke. Trial registration Clinical trial registration number: NCT00664261