Measuring the impact and costs of a universal group based parenting programme : protocol and implementation of a trial

Background Sub-optimal parenting is a common risk factor for a wide range of negative health, social and educational outcomes. Most parenting programmes have been developed in the USA in the context of delinquency prevention for targeted or indicated groups and the main theoretical underpinning for these programmes is behaviour management. The Family Links Nurturing Programme (FLNP) focuses on family relationships as well as behaviour management and is offered on a universal basis. As a result it may be better placed to improve health and educational outcomes. Developed in the UK voluntary sector, FLNP is popular with practitioners, has impressed policy makers throughout the UK, has been found to be effective in before/after and qualitative studies, but lacks a randomised controlled trial (RCT) evidence base. Methods/Design A multi-centre, investigator blind, randomised controlled trial of the FLNP with a target sample of 288 south Wales families who have a child aged 2-4 yrs living in or near to Flying Start/Sure Start areas. Changes in parenting, parent child relations and parent and child wellbeing are assessed with validated measures immediately and at 6 months post intervention. Economic components include cost consequences and cost utility analyses based on parental ranking of states of quality of life. Attendance and completion rates and fidelity to the FLNP course delivery are assessed. A nested qualitative study will assess reasons for participation and non-participation and the perceived value of the programme to families. By the end of May 2010, 287 families have been recruited into the trial across four areas of south Wales. Recruitment has not met the planned timescales with barriers including professional anxiety about families entering the control arm of the trial, family concern about video and audio recording, programme facilitator concern about the recording of FLNP sessions for fidelity purposes and delays due to the new UK research governance procedures. Discussion Whilst there are strong theoretical arguments to support universal provision of parenting programmes, few universal programmes have been subjected to randomised controlled trials. In this paper we describe a RCT protocol with quantitative and qualitative outcome measures and an economic evaluation designed to provide clear evidence with regard to effectiveness and costs. We describe challenges implementing the protocol and how we are addressing these

Attention Performance in an Epidemiological Sample of Urban Children: The Role of Gender and Verbal Intelligence

We administered a comprehensive attentional battery to an epidemiologically defined sample of 435 first and second-grade children to assess the influence of gender and verbal intelligence on attention. The battery included three versions of the continuous performance test (CPT), two digit cancellation tasks, three subtests from the WISC-R, and the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test. The results indicated that both gender and intelligence had an impact on attentional performance. Girls performed better than boys; they made fewer errors on the CPT and obtained higher scores on the digit cancellation task and the Coding subtest of the WISC-R. Children with higher verbal intelligence also performed better on the attentional tests, but this advantage was not observed across measures or levels of performance. For example, children with limited verbal skills performed significantly worse than their peers only in measures with high processing demands(the degraded CPT and the distraction version of the digit cancellation task)

Introducing a novel online observation of parenting behavior: reliability and validation

Objective. Observations of parents with their children are important for better understanding the critical role that parents play in their children’s adjustment, but resource limitations commonly compromise assessment. A novel online observation tool, Etch-a-Sketch Online (ESO), is introduced that allows resource-efficient observations in the family home. Design. Study 1 was a preliminary, cross-sectional study of 20 mothers with their singleton children (M = 5.96 years). Mothers were observed using both ESO (recorded via Skype) and a traditional Etch-a Sketch task recorded during a home-visit; mothers’ positive and negative parenting was coded from these observations. Study 2 was a longitudinal study of 119 mothers and their young twins. Mothers’ ESO-observed positive parenting and negative parenting at Time 1 (M = 5.51 years) were examined as predictors of children’s disruptive behavior at Time 2 (M = 6.04 years) controlling for mothers’ Time 2 self-reported positive and negative parenting. Results. Study 1 provided preliminary evidence of inter-rater reliability and convergent validity of ESO-observations. Study 2 supported this evidence of inter-rater reliability and ESO’s convergent validity as well as providing predictive validity. ESO-observed parenting at Time 1 was associated with children’s disruptive behavior at Time 2, over and above concurrent maternal reports of their own parenting. Conclusions. ESO shows promise in providing the means for detailed assessment of parenting processes in the home

Play with Me! Gender-Typed Social Play Behavior Analysis in Interactive Tag Games

Promoting social behavior is one of the key goals in interactive games. In this paper, we present an experimental study in the Interactive Tag Playground (ITP) to investigate whether social behaviors reported in literature can also be observed through automated analysis. We do this by analyzing players’ positions and roles, which the ITP logs automatically. Specifically, we address the effect that gender and age have on the amount of tags and the distance that players keep between them. Our findings largely replicate existing research, although not all hypothesized differences reached a level of statistical significance. With this proof-of-concept study, we have paved the way for the automated analysis of play, which can aid in making interactive playgrounds more engaging

The role of parental achievement goals in predicting autonomy-supportive and controlling parenting

Although autonomy-supportive and controlling parenting are linked to numerous positive and negative child outcomes respectively, fewer studies have focused on their determinants. Drawing on achievement goal theory and self-determination theory, we propose that parental achievement goals (i.e., achievement goals that parents have for their children) can be mastery, performance-approach or performance-avoidance oriented and that types of goals predict mothers' tendency to adopt autonomy-supportive and controlling behaviors. A total of 67 mothers (aged 30-53 years) reported their goals for their adolescent (aged 13-16 years; 19.4 % girls), while their adolescent evaluated their mothers' behaviors. Hierarchical regression analyses showed that parental performance-approach goals predict more controlling parenting and prevent acknowledgement of feelings, one autonomy-supportive behavior. In addition, mothers who have mastery goals and who endorse performance-avoidance goals are less likely to use guilt-inducing criticisms. These findings were observed while controlling for the effect of maternal anxiety

Infants’ behavioral and physiological profile and mother–infant interaction

This study aims to (a) identify and profile groups of infants according to their behavioral and physiological characteristics, considering their neurobehavioral organization, social withdrawal behavior, and endocrine reactivity to stress, and to (b) analyze group differences in the quality of mother–infant interaction. Ninety seven 8-week-old infants were examined using the Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale and the Alarm Distress Baby Scale. Cortisol levels were measured both before and after routine inoculation between 8 and 12 weeks. At 12 to 16 weeks mother–infant interaction was assessed using the Global Rating Scales of Mother–Infant Interaction. Three groups of infants were identified: (a) ‘‘withdrawn’’; (b) ‘‘extroverted’’; (c) ‘‘underaroused.’’ Differences between them were found regarding both infant and mother behaviors in the interaction and the overall quality of mother–infant interaction. The identification of behavioral and physiological profiles in infants is an important step in the study of developmental pathways

Women’s perception of separation/divorce in Portugal: A sociodemographic profile

This article focuses on the personal experiences of Portuguese women regarding separation and divorce. The sample included 96 women, with at least 1 child, who responded to an inventory that addressed conflict, dysfunctional conjugality, emotional experiences, social support, and adaptation to divorce. Higher levels of conflict and marital dysfunction in litigious divorces were found, as well as more conflict when different lawyers were employed. Those women who were satisfied with alimony and visiting rights reported less conflict, fewer negative emotional experiences, and greater social support. Level of education and duration of separation influenced women’s perceptions. Implications for intervention are addressed.(undefined

Extreme managers, extreme workplaces: capitalism, organizations and corporate psychopaths

This paper reports on in-depth, qualitative research carried out in England in 2013 among five organizational directors and two senior managers who had worked with other senior directors or managers who were Corporate Psychopaths, as measured by a management psychopathy measure. The Corporate Psychopaths reported on in this research displayed remarkable consistency in their approach to management to the extent that they could be called “text book examples” of managerial psychopathy. They were seen as being organizational stars and as deserving of performance awards by those above them, while the Corporate Psychopaths simultaneously subjected those below them to extreme forms of behavior, including bullying, intimidation and coercion and also engaged in extreme forms of mismanagement; such as very poor levels of personnel management, directionless leadership, miss-management of resources and outright fraud

Gender Socialization in Chinese Kindergartens: Teachers’ Contributions

Teacher-child interactions and peer exchanges were observed once a week for 10 months in four kindergartens in Hong Kong, China. A total of 206 anecdotes/scenes considered representative of the gender-related experiences of 109 4-year-old Chinese children in these kindergartens were analyzed. Descriptive codes, generated iteratively were clustered, categorized, integrated, recoded and recategorized and led to the identification of two major themes related to the socialization practices of teachers: Gendered Kindergarten Routines and Perpetuation of Gender Stereotypes. Findings indicated that these early years’ educational contexts were not gender neutral. Teachers interacted with boys significantly more than girls. They also subtly conveyed traditional Chinese gender values through their repeated use of gendered routines in the kindergartens and their behaviors reflected gender stereotypes