Child Care Time, Parents’ Well-Being, and Gender: Evidence from the American Time Use Survey

This study used data from the ‘Well Being Module’ of the 2010 American Time Use Survey (N = 1699) to analyze how parents experience child care time in terms of meaning and stress levels. Multivariate multilevel regressions showed clear differences by gender and the circumstances of child care activities. Mothers experienced child care time as more stressful than fathers, and fathers as slightly more meaningful. Interactive child care was experienced as more meaningful and less stressful than routine child care, whereas these differences were stronger among fathers than among mothers. Mothers experienced child care with a minor child as highly meaningful, and with an adolescent as particularly stressful. Fathers experienced child care with an infant as highly stressful, and with an offspring in middle childhood as disproportionally meaningful. The spouse’s presence was moderately associated with higher senses of meaning and lower levels of stress during child care, but these differences were modest, and only visible among fathers. Paid work hours increased mothers’ stress levels during child care activities, but reduced fathers’ stress levels. Meanwhile, nonemployed fathers reported child care time as less meaningful than non-employed mothers. Overall, this study has important scientific and practical implications for `understanding the gendered nature of parents’ child care time and well-being

Risk Trajectories of Self-Destructiveness in Adolescence: Family Core Influences

The study of family factors, (namely, parenting, attachment and family functioning) that can either reduce or increase risk factors during adolescent development is crucial to the early identification of adolescents at risk for self-destructive thoughts and behaviors (SDTB). Altough several studies have highlighted the role of family factors, few have analysed the joint impact of parenting styles and attachment in SDT. This study aimed to: (1) to identify the dimensions of parenting styles and parental attachment that predict SDTB; (2) to determine the mediation effect of cohesion on the relation between these predictors and reports of SDTB; and (3) to analyze sex and age differences in the abovementioned process. Participants included 1,266 Portuguese adolescents with a mean age of 15.9 years. Structural equation modeling demonstrated that paternal and maternal rejection and paternal control were the most accurate predictors of SDTB, emphasizing their role as risk factors for maladaptive trajectories with reports of SDTB. Results clearly emphasized the relevancy of the fathers’ role in such maladaptive trajectories. Additionally, a mediation effect of cohesion and a moderation of sex were also found. This study highlights the importance of intervening with the family in preventive and therapeutic contexts regarding adolescents’ well-being and their relationship with parents

Links between perception of parental actions and prosocial behavior in early adolescence

We analyzed the links between parental styles, practices, and empathy and specific forms of prosocial behaviors in early adolescence. The Argentine scale of perception of relationships with parents for children and young adolescents, prosocial tendencies measure, parenting practices measure, and children’s perception of parental empathy were administered to a sample of 289 middle class children, aged 10–16, of both sexes, from primary and secondary schools in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Correlations and hierarchical regressions were used to examine (1) relationships between parental styles, children’s perception of parental empathy, parental practices, and children’s prosocial behavior, (2) the amount of unique prediction from parental styles, children’s perception of parental empathy, and parental practices to children’s prosocial behavior. Results indicated that different aspects of parental actions (parental styles, practice, and empathy) have a differential relation according to the type of prosocial behavior involved. When taking these three kinds of parental behavior into account, parental styles are related to public and responsive aspects especially through extreme control by the mother. Parental practices, in turn, are related mainly with anonymous and altruistic aspects, but with this latter negatively. Finally, adolescents’ perception of parental empathy explains added variance in all the cases, though to a lesser extent.Fil: Richaud, Maria Cristina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Saavedra 15. Centro Interdisciplinario de Investigaciones En Psicología Matemática y Experimental Dr. Horacio J.a Rimoldi; ArgentinaFil: Mesurado, Maria Belen. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Saavedra 15. Centro Interdisciplinario de Investigaciones En Psicología Matemática y Experimental Dr. Horacio J.a Rimoldi; ArgentinaFil: Lemos, Viviana Noemí. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Saavedra 15. Centro Interdisciplinario de Investigaciones En Psicología Matemática y Experimental Dr. Horacio J.a Rimoldi; Argentin

Families with Distinct Levels of Marital Conflict and Child Adjustment: Which Role for Maternal and Paternal Stress?

This study addresses the links between distinct levels of marital conflict and mothers\u2019 and fathers\u2019 parenting stress and their associations with children\u2019s internalizing and externalizing behaviors. Using a sample of 358 Italian father\u2013mother dyads with school-aged children, the study explores: the relationship between interparental conflict and children\u2019s adjustment; the relationship between interparental conflict and parenting stress; the potential mediating role of maternal and paternal stress in the association between interparental conflict and children\u2019s adjustment. Results show that: high levels of marital conflict negatively affect children\u2019s adjustment; in families with moderate and high levels of marital conflict is correlated to both maternal and paternal stress; and in high conflict families maternal stress mediates the relationship between interparental discord and children\u2019s internalizing behaviors, while paternal stress explains the effect of marital conflict on externalizing behaviors. Future direction of research are discusse