Parenting preschoolers with autism: Socioeconomic influences on wellbeing and sense of competence

BACKGROUND Previous research suggests that parents raising a child with autism experience higher levels of psychological distress than parents of typically developing children and parents of children with other developmental disorders. Little is known, however, about the intersection between the effects of socioeconomic status(SES) on the wellbeing and sense of parental competency of parents of preschoolers with autism and how it relates to child symptom severity.AIM To examine the relationship between their child's symptom severity, SES, as measured by neighbourhood advantage and occupational status, on the psychological wellbeing and perceived parenting competence among parents of preschoolers with autism.METHODS Parents of 117 preschool-aged children with a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder(ASD), 107 mothers and 54 fathers, completed questionnaires about their child's symptoms of ASD and functioning, their own perceptions of their wellbeing and parental competence on entry to an early intervention program in Sydney, Australia. Parents also provided demographic information pertaining to their occupation, level of education attained and address(postcode). All children were also assessed for their severity of symptoms using the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule. The Australian Socioeconomic Index of occupationalstatus as a measure of familial SES and the Index of Relative Socio-economic Advantage and Disadvantage as a measure of neighbourhood advantage were used to examine the impact of SES on parental sense of competence and wellbeing.RESULTS Compared to normative populations, both mothers and fathers in our sample reported significantly higher levels of parenting sense of efficacy but lower levels of interest in the parenting role. Mothers also displayed higher levels of satisfaction. Both mothers and fathers displayed higher levels of depression than normative populations with mothers also reporting greater levels of stress and anxiety. Child symptom severity was associated with maternal parenting competency with these relationships amplified among mothers with higher familial SES and who lived in areas of greater neighbourhood advantage.Increased adaptive functioning was associated with better maternal wellbeing,particularly among mothers who lived in areas of greater neighbourhood advantage. Contrastingly, paternal parenting competence was generally not influenced by child adaptive functioning or symptom severity, although for those in higher familial SES brackets, children's symptom severity and maladaptive symptoms were negatively related to paternal sense of parenting efficacy. There was a trend towards moderate relationships between lower familial SES and greater depression, stress and anxiety among fathers, but no relationship with their child's ASD symptom severity or functioning.CONCLUSION SES differentially impacts wellbeing and sense of parenting competence and its relationship to the impact of child symptoms for mothers and fathers of preschoolers with autism.

Fathers’Parenting Practices and the Children’s Approaches to Learning From Three Through Five Years;A Case of Mityana District,Uganda

The Approaches to Learning addresses how children learn-this includes children’s attitudes and interests in learning.This domain reflects behaviours and attitudes such as curiosity,problem-solving,maintaining attention and persistence.The research study focused on examining the fathers’parenting practices and the children’s approaches to learning from three through five years.The study used a cross sectional research design and data was generated using focal group discussions,interview guides and child behaviour rating scale on how fathers’parenting practices contribute to children’s approaches to learning.Results revealed that,Fathers’parenting practices and Children’s curiosity were found to have a very positive relationship(r=0.396,p<0.05).Fathers’parenting practices and children’s learning were found to have a significant positive relationship(r=0.420,p<0.05).Findings also indicated that fathers’parenting practices and children’s creativity were found to have an average positive relationship(r=0.379,p<0.05).Arising out of the findings,the study recommended that fathers’parenting programs be put in place to help them up bring the child in holistic manner.

Schizophrenia knowledge and attitudes toward help-seeking among Japanese fathers and mothers of high school students

The prodromal symptoms of schizophrenia are nonspecific and include social withdrawal, sleeplessness, decreased desire, and loss of concentration. Schizophrenia outcomes might be improved if greater therapeutic effort was focused on people with prodromal symptoms. To hasten help-seeking for schizophrenia, we developed a schizophrenia education program for families of patients. Help-seeking and schizophrenia attitudes and knowledge were analyzed among Japanese parents (666 fathers and 613 mothers) of high school students by using the Social Distance Scale-Japanese version, the Link Devaluation-Discrimination Measure and our own questions on help-seeking and schizophrenia knowledge. Statistical analysis included cross-tabulation, the χ2 test, and multiple regression analysis. Most (97.5%) fathers were aged 40 - 59 years;most (78.3%) mothers were aged 40 - 49 years. There was a significant difference between fathers and mothers in basic knowledge of schizophrenia (P < 0.001);however, fathers and mothers did not significantly differ in their attitudes toward schizophrenia (P > 0.05). When asked what treatment they would seek for a child with sleeplessness or social withdrawal, fathers and mothers significantly differed in seeking help medical care at a department of psychosomatic medicine (P < 0.05) and in seeking help from the nurse at their child’s school (P < 0.001). Fathers and mothers also differed in relation to the decision not to seek help (P < 0.001). Multiple regression analysis revealed that basic knowledge significantly differed between fathers and mothers (P = 0.001). In an analysis of parental response to a child with sleepiness and social withdrawal, multiple regression analysis revealed that fathers and mothers significantly differed in the likelihood of seeking help at a department of psychosomatic medicine and from a school nurse and in the likelihood of not seeking help (P < 0.05, P = 0.001 and P = 0.001, respectively). In conclusion, help-seeking behavior differed between Japanese fathers and mothers. These findings should assist in developing schizophrenia education programs that aim to hasten intervention.

Public health nurse observations of behavioral characteristics of fathers who contribute to the emotional instability of mothers, as presented in cases of infant abuse

The objective of this study is to look at the understanding and perceptions of public health nurses (PHNs) related to behavioral characteristics of fathers that contribute to emotional instability in mothers by reviewing abuse cases involving infants and very young children. A qualitative descriptive design was applied to the data analysis, based on a semi-structured interview administered to three experienced PHNs who had been in charge of maternal and child health services for at least five years at a public health department or health center;with the data obtained in the interview narratives analyzed. In the observations of the experienced PHNs, the behavioral characteristics of fathers who are instigators of child abuse can be classified into five categories, fathers who are: “Talking to others about marital problems without attempting to solve these by themselves”, “Working on learning about childcare seeking to correct childcare methods”, “Taking the initiative in childcare at cross purposes with mothers”, “Stressing the effort they (the fathers) put into childcare”, and “Failing to notice the own family situation and problems”. The findings of the study suggest the necessity for PHNs to understand fathers, to be aware of the difficulty of building a supportive relationship with fathers, and to improve skills enabling the PHNs to help fathers form good relationships with other family members.

My Beloved Has Gone ...-Deeply touched on Father’s Day

有一种思念可以很长,有一种记忆可以很久,有一双手始终舒适,有一种情永远延续……It is a peaceful night again,everything is quiet.The moonlight shines brightly,which looks like pour-ing water and the cool wind flows through the window,

The Association between Home Literacy Environment and Children Literacy Outcomes: Fathers' involvement

Home Literacy Environment(HLE)is an important factor to influence children’s literacy abilities.The study was to look into previous studies on HLE and to propose the future direction on the relationship between fathers’involvement in HLE and children’s literacy outcomes.

Story of My Father Soinam Benjor

ＳｔｏｒｙｏｆＭｙＦａｔｈｅｒＳｏｉｎａｍＢｅｎｊｏｒＴｈｅｌａｔｅＭｒ．ＳｏｉｎａｍＢｅｎｊｏｒ，ｆｏｒｍｅｒｄｅｐｕｔｙｃｏｕｎｃｉｌｃｈｉｅｆｏｆｔｈｅＣｈｉｎａＮａｔｉｏｎａｌＣｅｎｔｅｒｆｏｒＴｉｂｅｔａｎＳｔｕｄｉｅｓ，ｗａｓａｆａｍｏｕ...

Father Prepared, Committed, and Involved in His Child’s Birth: The Experience of Early Father-Child Skin to Skin Contact at Birth

Although the figure of the father has progressively gained a place in birth, it is still displaced and in the mere role of a companion. Objective: To understand the experience of fathers who have prepared to get actively involved in birth and to undergo the experience of early physical contact with their newborns. Method: A qualitative Action-Research (AR) design was carried out, which considered the antenatal educational intervention of 12 fathers together with their pregnant partners. After delivery, individual interviews were conducted in depth to collect the paternal experience at birth. Results: The central emerging theme developed during AR was “Paternal role and early bonding with the child”, whereas the experience was comprehended in two central themes related to the meaning of the father-child encounter-contact: “The impact of the face-to-face encounter with the child”;“The first physical contact with the child, a key moment”. Conclusion: The fathers who were prepared and involved from pregnancy and at birth attribute a special meaning to the father-child relationship which generated since the first encounter, allowing them to feel, enjoy and commit to care.

The Relationship between Social Support and the Parenting Sense of Competence of Preschoolers’Fathers:The Mediator Role of Psychological Capital

Social support is an essential source of support for preschool children’s fathers to alleviate parenting anxiety,deal with parenting pressure,improve parenting methods,and enhance parenting sense of competence.Psychological capital serves as a critical psychological resource for preschoolers’fathers,helping them cope with parenting stress and enhancing parenting efficacy.To explore the mediating mechanism of psychological capital between social support and the parenting sense of competence of preschoolers’fathers,this study employs stratified sampling to survey 678 fathers from three cities of Henan province in China.The survey instruments mainly consist of the Social Support Rating Scale,Psychological Capital Questionnaire,and Parenting Sense of Competence Scale.Research findings show that social support,psychological capital,and fathers’parenting sense of competence are at the middle level.Significant positive correlations exist among social support,psychological capital,and parenting sense of competence.Social support can positively predict fathers’parenting sense of competence,while psychological capital partially mediates between social support and parenting sense of competence.Therefore,it is possible to increase social support for preschool children’s fathers and improve their psychological capital to relieve their parenting pressure,enhance their parenting participation,and strengthen their parenting sense of competence.

Parental Involvement in Child’s Development: Father vs. Mother

This study aims to investigate on Malaysian young adults’ perceived father and mother involvement. A questionnaire survey with Father Involvement Scale, and Mother Involvement Scale was carried out on 100 male and 100 female local university and college student aged 18 and 25 years old. The findings show that mothers engaged more in expressive and mentoring/advising involvement as compared to fathers. However, there is no difference between fathers and mothers in instrumental involvement. This study gives us a better understanding on the pattern of parental involvement in Malaysia and hence helps to promote better parent-child relationship.

Knowledge of Fathers’ Support during Labor: From Arabic Fathers’ Perspective

Aim: The aim of this study was to assess the kind of labor support Arab fathers could offer their wives. Design and Method: An interpretative phenomenological approach was used to reveal the meaning attributed by Arabic fathers regarding their support during labor. Individual, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 19 Arabic fathers. The analysis was done by using Smith’s model of interpretive phenomenological analysis (IPA) together with software package NVivo7. Findings: The analysis of the interviews illustrated the types of labor support offered by Arabic fathers to their wives. Three main themes emerged from the data: physical support, emotional support, and spiritual support. Conclusion: The support offered by Arabic fathers was in the minimal degree and missing practical support. Socio cultural issues and health policies prevented fathers from playing an active role during labor. There is a need to develop policies and regulations that enhance more inclusion of fathers in maternity services including the labor room.

The unexpected emotional similarities and behavioral differences of Japanese men experiencing parenthood in Japan and the USA

The purpose of this study was to understand the impact of childbirth and the experience of fatherhood on Japanese men in Japan and a foreign country. Descriptive phenomenology was used to study a total of 14 Japanese men who attended childbirth and experienced parenting in the United States and Japan. The Colaizzi method of data analysis was used to analyze responses to open-ended questions. Responses to these questions showed several similarities between the two groups of men. First, men in both countries felt closer to with their spouses having gone through the experience of childbirth together. Second, both groups nevertheless recognized a strong bond between mother and the baby, leading them to feel at times isolated. Third, both groups were concerned about their wives’ emotional swings during pregnancy and child rearing. Finally, both groups were more focused on their wives and babies than themselves. There were also several interesting differences. Japanese men who were living in Hawaii were more involved in taking care of their children and in helping with household chores than those living in Japan. This was due to living in a more family-oriented society, as well as a result of limited support from their extended families back in Japan. A result of spending more time with their wives and babies was that Japanese men in the United States understood more fully the stress of childcare. On the other hand, due to Japan’s work-oriented society, men in Japan relied more on support from their extended families, leaving them less time with their wives and children. This study clearly shows that social support systems alter gender roles and behavior, leading to significant differences in the experience of parenthood in Japan and a foreign country.

Awareness of Fathers Regarding Newborn Danger Signs: Evidence from a Tertiary Level Hospital of Kathmandu, Nepal

The neonatal period is a critical period of childhood carrying the highest risk of mortality per day than any other period during the childhood. In Nepal, a country where a neonatal mortality rate is high, raising awareness among fathers regarding newborn danger signs is crucial. This research aims to measure the awareness of fathers regarding newborn danger signs. A hospital based cross sectional descriptive study was done in maternity ward and birthing center of Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital (TUTH) hospital. Non-probability purposive sampling technique was used to select fathers of neonate. The study was conducted on 103 fathers having newborn baby up to 7 days admitted in Maternity Ward and Birthing Center. Respondents were selected without any discrimination of education, ethnicity, economical status, marital status, religion, etc. The findings of the study showed that out of 103 respondents, most of the respondents had moderate level of awareness (63.1%), 28.2% had low level and minority of the respondents had high level of awareness (8.7%). The researcher concluded that most of the respondents had a moderate level of awareness and minority of the respondents had a high level of awareness on newborn danger signs. The findings show greater need of health education to increase awareness about newborn danger signs among fathers.

The Knowledge and Participation of the Father in Breast Feeding, Salvador, Brazil

The most fundamental influence in the breastfeeding process is the father’s support. The mother feels safer in breastfeeding when she has her partner’s support and a more active and effective participation. This study aimed at evaluating the father’s knowledge about breastfeeding in a quantitative approach through a transversal cohort study, interviewing 78 fathers in a public maternity in Salvador. The average age of the interviewees was 29.9 years and 53.8% had an incomplete fundamental schooling. Regarding knowledge of the subject, 10.3% believed that breastfeeding can be substituted. All fathers interviewed answered that they support breastfeeding for their children and believe in its benefits;39.7% reported that their opinion could interfere their partner’s decision to prolong the process. Moreover, 69.2% of the males attended their partner’s antenatal meetings, and of these, over a third had no intervention on the subject. Of all the participants, 80.8% confirmed that they had participated in the breastfeeding process and emphasized their gratification during this phase. About the paternal opinion, 39.7% believed that there is a degree of influence over the partner’s decision to breastfeed, and for that reason 50% told the mother their opinion. The study widened the knowledge about the role of the father in breastfeeding, ratifying the importance of their support towards the mother in this process, ultimately contributing to improving the practice and benefiting the mother-child relationship. Therefore, we conclude that those interviewed have some knowledge about breastfeeding, recognize its importance during the process and would like to know more.

This Marriage Had to Be ‘Fay-ted’

The touching story of how our father and mother met has always been precious to us five children. Over the years, we asked to hear it again and again; always hoping to glean2 a few more details about our parents’ unusual romance.

Grandfather The Doctor Saved My Life

When my mother and sister Dorothy visited my grandfather in Kentuckyduring the spring of 1931,they didn’t know Mother was bringing a third guest.Me.I was born during that visit on May 4...3 months ahead of schedule.

How to Spell Success

My 11-year-old daughter was having trouble at school. 'She may not be up to what we’re trying to accomplish,' the head of her private school said to me. He was really saying she didn’t have the intelligence. *I got mad because I knew she was smart, just as my father had known I was smart when I was failing school.2We had her tested and found that the troubles my daughter was having were the same as those I had had.

Birth experience of fathers in the setting of teenage pregnancy:Are they prepared?

AIM To explore the birth experiences of teenage fathers and determine the extent to which they are prepared for childbirth.METHODS A mixed methods observational study was undertaken comparing the birth experience of 50 fathers in the setting of teenage pregnancy(teenage) compared to a group of 50 older fathers. Fathers were recruited in the antenatal period and completed structured questionnaires following the birth of their child. Quantitative and qualitative analysis was undertaken.RESULTS Teenage fathers were younger, less educated and less likely to attend prenatal childbirth education classes(P < 0.0001). During birth, they were less prepared and consulted by attending staff(both P < 0.05). They reported limited roles in intrapartum decision-making(< 20%). In multivariate analysis being a father in the setting of teenage pregnancy remained significantly associated with feeling unprepared for birth. The major themes in qualitative analysis were feeling unprepared,shock, fear, a sense of detachment, happiness, pride, love of the baby and satisfaction with fertility.CONCLUSION Teenage fathers are less prepared for the birth of their child and this results in shock, fear and detachment that may impact on the early father-infant relationship.

My Father's Motto

Teacher:“My children,remember this motto,‘Give others more and leave foryourself less.’”Jack:“It’s my father’s motto.”Teacher:'How noble your father’s quality is.

A True Story——A Vote for a Beard

Grace sat in her little room,writing a letter by the light of an oillamp.It was very late.In the upper right-hand corner of the page,shewrote her address and the date: Westfield,Chautauque Co