Parental Response to Only Children: Breaking the Stereotypes

While much has been written about the relationship between only child status and parents’ behavior toward children, and consequent personality and intelligence, little is known about the relationship between only child status, parental response to illness, and subsequent child illness behavior. In this study, 227 mothers of 342 children completed measures designed to assess: (a) their children’s school attendance, (b) their own psychological status, and (c) their own responses to their children’s expressions of stomach pain. Parents of only children were more likely to minimize their children’s gastrointestinal symptoms than were parents of children with at least one sibling. In addition, only children were less likely to miss school. Parental protectiveness did not differ as a function of only child status. These findings are somewhat discrepant with commonly held beliefs about parents’ patterns of responding to only children.

Living “day-by-day”

The aim of this study was to explore the experience of parents whose children are in active treatment for various types of cancer. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 11 parents. Through interpretative phenomenological analysis, five themes were derived: a) response to the diagnosis, b) parental “navigating” through the new life situation, c) “being in the hospital”, d) sources of additional “burden”, and e) those who made the process of treatment easier. The majority of parents used active coping strategies; for example, they tried to mobilise existing resources, focused on the present and lived a “day-by-day” kind of life. As aggravating circumstances of treatment, they noted inadequate physical conditions, increased costs of living, inadequate support of family members and a prejudicial environment. During the process of medical treatment, parents found the following factors helpful: child's strength, other parents’ support, community members, and the expertise of medical staff. This paper emphasises the complexities and importance of understanding parenting processes that can operate throughout the disease trajectory for families experiencing paediatric cancer. The findings on the experience of parents gives increasing insight into difficulties but also into parental protectiveness, which can contribute to defining the interventions for strengthening their parental role.

Perceived parenting and risk for major depression in Chinese women

BackgroundIn Western countries, a history of major depression (MD) is associated with reports of received parenting that is low in warmth and caring and high in control and authoritarianism. Does a similar pattern exist in women in China?MethodReceived parenting was assessed by a shortened version of the Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI) in two groups of Han Chinese women: 1970 clinically ascertained cases with recurrent MD and 2597 matched controls. MD was assessed at personal interview.ResultsFactor analysis of the PBI revealed three factors for both mothers and fathers: warmth, protectiveness, and authoritarianism. Lower warmth and protectiveness and higher authoritarianism from both mother and father were significantly associated with risk for recurrent MD. Parental warmth was positively correlated with parental protectiveness and negatively correlated with parental authoritarianism. When examined together, paternal warmth was more strongly associated with lowered risk for MD than maternal warmth. Furthermore, paternal protectiveness was negatively and maternal protectiveness positively associated with risk for MD.ConclusionsAlthough the structure of received parenting is very similar in China and Western countries, the association with MD is not. High parental protectiveness is generally pathogenic in Western countries but protective in China, especially when received from the father. Our results suggest that cultural factors impact on patterns of parenting and their association with MD.

Fear-Avoidance Beliefs and Parental Responses to Pain in Adolescents with Chronic Pain

BACKGROUND: The fear-avoidance model of chronic pain posits that fear of pain is associated with fear and avoidance of activity, which can lead to deconditioning and persistence of pain and disability. Despite being well supported in adults, little is known about the role of fear-avoidance beliefs regarding physical activity in children. Research has shown that parental protectiveness contributes to activity limitations in children; however, no studies have examined relationships between protectiveness, and fear and avoidance.OBJECTIVES: To conduct a cross-sectional study to provide additional information regarding the reliability and validity of the Fear-Avoidance Beliefs Questionnaire physical activity subscale among adolescents with chronic pain; examine fear-avoidance beliefs and depressive symptoms as concurrent predictors of physical activity limitations; and test competing models using fear-avoidance beliefs as mediators and moderators of the association between parental protectiveness and activity limitations.METHODS: Adolescents (n=42) 11 to 17 years of age with chronic pain completed questionnaires assessing pain intensity, fear-avoidance beliefs, depressive symptoms and physical activity limitations. Their parents completed questionnaires regarding protectiveness and adolescent activity limitations.RESULTS: The Fear-Avoidance Beliefs Questionnaire physical activity subscale was useful for assessing fear-avoidance beliefs in the present population. In support of hypotheses, greater fear-avoidance beliefs were associated with greater activity limitations, above pain intensity and depressive symptoms. Support was found for fear-avoidance beliefs as mediators of the association between parental protectiveness and activity limitations. Tests of moderation were not significant.CONCLUSIONS: Fear-avoidance beliefs may be an important target for interventions focused on decreasing activity limitations in youth with chronic pain. Future research should investigate these associations longitudinally.

“You Gotta Start Thinking like a Parent”: Hopes, Dreams, and Concerns of Ethnic Minority Adolescent Parents

This study explored the lived experience of parenting that may inform individual health practices and behavior of young, ethnic minority primarily Latino parents, participants in a HIV prevention intervention. Narrative accounts from parents (N = 90) were analyzed to illuminate the impact of parental protectiveness and aspirations for the child. Focus groups ( n = 23) were utilized to generate a nuanced understanding of young parenthood. Self-reflective, complex, and multidimensional perspectives on parental protectiveness emerged along themes: (a) “growing up thoughtful,” (b) “you gotta start thinking like a parent,” (c) “togetherness and bonding,” (d) “better life,” (e) “the neighborhood,” and (f) “expectations and pressure.” Implications are discussed with a focus on integrating the concept of parental protectiveness into a strengths-based perspective.