Family Characteristics (Applied Research Bulletin) Effect of parental separation on children's behavior 13.8% of children born in experienced parental separation before age 6 years increased to 15.9% Questions 1.Do children who experience parent separation have more emotional and behavioral problems? 2. Does the type of arrangement (mother only) affect behavioral and emotional problems?

Method: Used NLSCY data of children 2-11 years of age Emotional and behavioral disorders: anxiety, emotional disorder, hyperactivity, inattention, conduct disorder, aggression, unsocial. Results: Rates of Problems More behavioral and emotional problems in children living with parental separation than those living with both parents. Small difference: 32.5% vs 28% Majority (2/3rds) of children have no problems

Results Gender, number of siblings, and SES are better predictors of behavioral/emotional problems Being male increased chance of problems Prevalence for girls 38% less than boys More siblings increases chance of problems Each additional sibling increases chance of problems by 7% Mother’s education, age, and income are strongly related to problems Those with no high school are 42% more likely to report problems in their children Each year older the mother is, the odds of her child having a problems decrease by 8% Higher income associated with less problems

Results: Custody Arrangement Custody arrangement did not have an effect on the rates of problems Conclusions Conclude that behavioral and emotional problems are the result of a number of processes Resiliency in children Time since separation is important in healing

Children in Lone-Parent Families Almost 16% of Canadian children live in single parent families Research suggests they are at risk for mental and physical health problems, poorer well being, competence, and attainment. US data indicates that they are 2x as likely to drop out of school and have kids before age 20, and 1.5x more likely to be out of work and school in late adolescence and early adulthood. But, Canadian data suggests children in single parent families grow up healthy

Canadian researchers looked at outcomes of children from single parent families Measured vulnerability (health, behavior, emotional and academic outcomes) among 2-11 yr olds. Found that the majority of children in single parent families were not vulnerable to poor outcomes Differences are due to a small number of children with extreme scores Parenting style was most related to vulnerability –More than income, parental and community resources, and family characteristics

Family Characteristics and School How do family characteristics affect school success? Researchers used NLSCY data of yr olds to see how families affect school achievement. Family School Relationships (FSR) Model: characteristics of the family that are most connected to school will have the greatest effect on school success –Child’s personal characteristics have the largest effect, then what families do at home to promote school success

SES directly positively related to achievement –Above and beyond family characteristics SES associated with positive attitudes towards school, which is related to school achievement SES associated with more social support, which is related to less depression, which decreases family dysfunction and ineffective parenting, which are associated with more positive school attitudes and higher achievement. Policy implications: improve SES –Target parents (psychological services, education programs, parenting classes)

Working Mothers and Learning NLSCY: 25% of Canadian preschoolers have some delays in vocabulary, 10% very low –At risk for school problems Researchers hypothesize that both family labor force and income both predict vocabulary –Labor force leads to more income (positive), but reduces time mothers spend with children (negative) Used NLSCY data for yr olds. –Vocabulary (PPVT), Labor (weeks a mother works per year), income (family income)  Amount a mother works has little effect on vocabulary  Those who work more have children with higher vocabulary scores

Mothers who work more read just as much to their kids as those who work less Reading correlated with vocabulary Mother’s education more important predictor of preschool vocabulary than income Mothers with more education may talk more with their children and also have innate skills that they pass on to their children Income not as strongly related to vocabulary, and mainly for the very poor, so increasing income for these individuals may make a difference

Parenting Teti & Huang For infants parenting competency can be defined by the security of the infant-mother attachment Ainsworth attachment research: parental sensitivity is the most important feature for having a secure attachment –Mother’s ability to perceive and interpret signs in her infants behavior Awareness of signals, alertness Ability to interpret the signals (empathy and no distortion) Responding to the signals promptly and appropriately

Instrumentally competent child: independent, responsible, achievement, friendly, cooperation Parenting Styles Authoritarian: high control and maturity demands, low nurturance and clarity of communication Permissive: high nurturance and clarity, low control and maturity demands Authoritative: high on all dimensions, nurturing but have firm consistent control, clear rules Children from authoritative homes are the most instrumentally competent –Independent, assertive, achievement oriented, friendly, and cooperative

Authoritarian: hostile, less achievement oriented, more dependent Permissive: dependent, poor self-control –Neither teach children how to cope with stress and adapt to life situations Control and Discipline Power assertion: threat or use of force, physical punishment, and withdrawing privileges Love withdrawal: ignoring or showing disappointment Reasoning/Explanation: communicating to the child what was done wrong and showing how it affected others rights and feelings –Best for fostering internalization, but can be used with other methods

Spanking Children (Kazdin & Benjet, 2003) Spanking children is a broad area interest in many disciplines Using corporal punishment for discipline in the home has been banned in some counties (Austria, Croatia, Denmark, Norway, Sweden) UN is against all forms of physical violence to children In the US, there are laws against being hit by others for adults, some organizations lobby for the same laws for children

In the US 74% of parents say the spank their children (aged 17 and under). Of those parents with 3-4 yr olds, 94% say they use corporal punishment What is considered spanking? –“hitting a child with an open hand on the buttocks or extremities with the intent to discipline without leaving a bruise or causing physical harm” What is Physical abuse? –“corporal punishment that is harsh and excessive, involves the use of objects (belts, paddles) is directed towards parts of the body other than extremities, and causes or has the potential to cause physical harm”

Views of Spanking Pro-corporal punishment: not supported in academic & research writings, but occurs in society –Biblical quote “spare the rod and spoil the child” –Promotes spanking and states that negative consequences result from not spanking Anti-corporal punishment: Focuses on the negative consequences of corporal punishment –“Violence begets violence”, modelling and social learning –Morality of inflicting pain Conditional corporal punishment: spanking is not negative or positive, but depends on the conditions –Spanking varies across dimensions (frequency and intensity) and contexts. Does not advocate or refute.

Gershoff (2002): conducted a meta-analysis of 88 studies on corporal punishment Looked at relation between corporal punishment and child outcomes (compliance, moral internalization, aggression, criminal and antisocial behaviour, parent-child relationship, mental health, and abuse). Spanking tended to lead to immediate compliance of the child, but –Associated with decreased internalization of morals, poorer parent-child relationships, poorer mental health of child and adult, more delinquency and antisocial behaviour. –At risk for abuse or abusing one’s child or spouse –More angry, aggressive and stressed

The review had studies with more harsh punishments or even physical abuse and these studies had more negative outcomes Another review (Larzelere, 2000) found that mild spanking, as a back up, may not be detrimental Key Issues for Research: Different definitions of spanking Most research on the effects of spanking on child outcomes are retrospective, with ratings completed by the same person (parent) Difficult to say that spanking actually preceded the ‘outcome’ (e.g. child deviance) Spanking may be a proxy for other variables related to negative child outcomes. –Parents who spank tend to do less reading, playing, and hugging with children –They have more stress and major life events, marital dysfunction, mental illness and substance abuse

Goal of discipline is to decrease some behaviors (negative) and develop others (positive) Not a lot of research to show punishment is the best strategy Positive reinforcement techniques work Child abuse has many serious negative effects (changes in the brain), but it is not clear if & how the brain distinguishes between abuse & spanking Need research on how spanking affects other psychological processes (attachment, emotion reg) Harsh frequent spanking has negative outcomes, but effects of mild occasional spanking are unclear Caution against use of spanking: other good methods and may lead to more harsh punishment