Specific domains of early parenting, their heritability and differential association with adolescent behavioural and emotional disorders and academic achievement

Longitudinal pathways between maternal depression, parenting behaviors, and early childhood development: a mediation analysis

Maternal depression is a global public health concern with far-reaching impacts on child development, yet our understanding of mechanisms remains incomplete. This study examined whether parenting mediates the association between maternal depression and child outcomes. Participants included 841 rural Pakistani mother-child dyads (50% female). Maternal depression was measured at 12 months postpartum, parenting behaviors (warmth, stimulation, and harsh parenting) were measured at 24 months, and child outcomes (mental health, socioemotional development, and cognitive skills) were measured at 36 months. Maternal depression predicted increased harsh parenting, child mental health difficulties, and child socioemotional concerns; however, there was little evidence for parenting as a mediator between maternal depression and child outcomes. Sex-stratified results are discussed, and findings are situated in context.

Early-Life Temperamental Differences as Longitudinal Predictors of Unintentional Injuries

OBJECTIVE

Unintentional injuries are the leading cause of hospitalization and death among children. Compared to environmental factors, less attention in injury preventive efforts has been paid to how individual characteristics relate to the risk of injury. Using a large prospective cohort, the current study assessed the longitudinal impact of early-life temperament on the cumulative number of injuries until mid-adolescence.

METHODS

The data came from the European Longitudinal Study of Pregnancy and Childhood (ELSPAC-CZ). Temperament was evaluated by mothers when children were 3 years old (N = 3,545). The main outcome was the pediatrician-reported sum of child's injuries from age 3 to 15 (seven timepoints). Latent profile analysis (LPA) was used to determine classes based on temperamental dimensions and then extended to a mixture model with a distal count outcome. The covariates included maternal conflict and attachment, sex, family structure, and maternal education.

RESULTS

The LPA determined the existence of three classes: shy children (8.1% of the sample; lowest activity/highest shyness), outgoing children (50.8%; highest activity/lowest shyness), and average: children (41.1%; middle values). Results from a mixture model showed that the outgoing temperament was associated with the highest longitudinal risk for injuries, as both average children (IRR = 0.89 [0.80, 0.99]), and the shy children (IRR = 0.80 [0.68, 0.95]) had lower risk.

CONCLUSIONS

Early childhood temperamental differences can have long-term effects on injury risk. Highly active children showed the highest risk for future injuries, suggesting that these characteristics make them more likely to be involved in novel and potentially dangerous situations.

Parenting and parenting resources among Chinese parents with children under three years of age: rural and urban differences

BACKGROUND

Parenting is essential for children's development and preventing child abuse and neglect. Providing parenting services within the primary health care settings demonstrated effectiveness in improving parenting quality. However, little is known about the status of parenting and parenting resources in rural areas and whether they differ between rural and urban areas in Mainland China.

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to examine the rural-urban differences in parenting and availability of, utilization of, and need for parenting resources among Chinese parents with children under three years of age.

PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING

A total of 425 parents of children under three years of age participated in an online survey between March and May 2020.

METHODS

The Parenting and Family Adjustment Scale and Child Adjustment and Parenting Efficacy Scale were used to assess parenting, family adjustment, and parenting efficacy. The availability of, utilization of, and need for parenting resources were measured using self-developed questions based on literature. Chi-square tests, t tests, and Wilcoxon rank-sum test were used to examine the differences in responses between parents in rural and urban areas.

RESULTS

Compared with their urban counterparts, rural parents reported a higher level of negative parenting and more limited parenting resources. Both rural and urban parents reported low availability and utilization of parenting resources as well as a great need for parenting support services.

CONCLUSIONS

Rural parents faced more parenting challenges and limited parenting resources compared with urban parents. Both rural and urban parents with children under three years of age reported great needs for parenting resources. These findings highlight the potential of delivering accessible, sustainable, and cost-effective parenting programs via the primary health care system for public welfare in both urban and rural areas, with more attention paid to rural parents to help them improve their parenting.

Parenting interventions targeting early parenting difficulty: A scoping review

Parent and child wellbeing are reciprocal. Attentive, responsive parenting, is contingent on parental wellbeing. Insights into mechanisms of early parenting interventions that seek to improve parent and child outcomes are needed. This scoping review aimed to systematically map research reporting on parenting interventions for parents experiencing early parenting difficulty. A secondary aim was to synthesise existing research using a realist lens, to provide context, mechanism and outcome insights into elements of early parenting interventions. A systematic search was conducted across six databases within the publication period of 2010-2020, to identify evidence on interventions targeting early parenting difficulty. Using pre-determined inclusion criteria, fifteen studies were selected for review. Deductive reflexive thematic analysis identified three themes: conceptual disparities in early parenting difficulty, early parenting intervention diversity and an absence of theory to explain interventions or outcomes. Neither early parenting difficulty nor the theoretical basis for early parenting interventions were well defined. Identification of contexts, mechanisms and outcomes of early parenting interventions is a unique contribution of this study. These insights may be used to inform planning, implementation and evaluation activities to promote context-focused, early parenting interventions targeting a critical phase of child development.

Lower academic performance and dropout rates among University students with children: a prospective cohort study of nursing students in Bogotá, Colombia

Objectives

To determine the association between parenthood and academic performance and dropout among professional Nursing degree program students.

Methods

A prospective cohort was conducted. 310 students were included, 26 parents (exposed) and 284 nonparents (unexposed), who were followed up during 16 weeks. At the end of this follow-up, student records were reviewed.

Results

Academic performance in the exposed and unexposed groups was 3.51/5.0 and 3.64/5.0 respectively. Although it was higher in the latter group, i.e., with a difference of 0.13, the values were not statistically significant (p=0.058). After adjusting for confounding variables, a difference of −0.165 point was seen (p=0.037). The risk of students dropping out of college is 34 % less for exposed compared to those who are unexposed (RR: 0.66; CI: 0.075–5.78; p=0.708).

Conclusion

The results suggest that parenthood has a modest impact on the academic performance, and has no impact on the risk of dropping out.