Search

• Diverse types of organizations involved in family support provision across Europe are systematically mapped. • Low representation of front-line practitioners in national family support networks. • Inter-country differences in networking building progress. • Development of the family support field by nurturing family support infrastructures both locally and globally, building hybrid evidence intermediary networks. Research has proven that family is the context for the development and well-being of the new generation, and parents need support in order to fulfill children and young people's physical, cognitive, emotional, and social needs. Most EU policy relating to children and young people is mediated through family even if this is not explicitly named. At a national level, European countries have been encouraged to offer family support initiatives through local authorities that promote positive parenting and guarantee children's rights. The current challenge in the family support landscape consists of engaging the European level with the local and national structures, in order to support the delivery of quality family support systems and services across Europe. This article reports on the progress in this area by the European Family Support Network (EurofamNet). EurofamNet was created with the purpose of establishing a pan-European family support network to inform family support policies and practices in order to contribute with global actions to face current challenges in family support agenda at European level. This paper introduces the mapping exercise performed by the network to identify key family support actors for research, policy, and practice at the European, local and national level. For this purpose, an expert-targeted approach was followed. Two experts identified 83 key family support actors at the European level, and a panel of 22 experts jointly identified 326 key actors and organizations in 17 European countries. The analysis of this mapping exercise offers an interesting mosaic of family support provision in different European countries that reflect both intra- and inter-network diversity in nature, scope, and sectors of family support actors and organizations. At the same time, this mapping exercise contributes to creating social fabric with the potential to facilitate knowledge mobilization of quality standards to be implemented for the guarantee of quality provision in family support in Europe. Practical implications for the development of the family support and wider services fields of this novel initiative of connecting the efforts of key actors in family support throughout Europe are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Parents of trans children hold a body of knowledge about supporting trans children. • Families interact with a wide range of services and agencies in their journey to affirm their children's gender. • Parent knowledge and advocacy extends far beyond the medicalised pathway. • Parent knowledge can be used to inform services and agencies to provide more integrated, affirming services. The childhood and adolescence of transgender and gender diverse children and young people (trans children) is contested in many areas, such as media, education, health, and increasingly in the political sphere. Parents and carers of trans children navigate services and societal relations in their journey to affirm their children, from happy childhood to trans adults. This paper reports on the accounts of parents of trans children in Australia. Semi-structured interviews with 18 parents of 15 trans children in four states were analysed to understand the journey holistically, and interactions with services and institutions on this journey. Children ranged in current age from 8 to 21 years, and were 2 to 16 years when they first expressed their trans identity. These journeys highlight moments of gender euphoria, and points of both positive and negative interactions with a range of services such as GPs, specialist healthcare, trans healthcare, schools, foster care, government records, and sporting environments. This research demonstrates that parents have a collective body of knowledge on supporting and affirming trans children that should be drawn on to inform child and youth services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The use of technology by children and adolescents to communicate has numerous advantages, but it is also associated with cyberbullying and cybervictimization. Risk and protective factors are numerous and interact with each and are important to reduce such behaviors. Among these factors, parental online involvement can reduce cyberbullying or cybervictimization. The parental role can be positive by actively supervising and monitoring online activities or by restricting what their children are doing. Monitoring, supervising or even controlling what their children do online will enable them to see and whether they are involved in some way in cyberbullying. This was the focus of our study. Parents can also control and then limit use of technology and online access. Both approaches are beneficial; however, controlling and limiting can make the child-parent relationship distant, with children not sharing their online problems, and parents not knowing what their children might be doing. This paper looks at the relationship of these online parental roles with adolescent's involvement in cyberbullying and cybervictimization, to help parents and adults in general, to equip them most efficiently to protect their children from avoidable harm and problems. A total of 4390 Italian adolescents aged 13–20 years completed a paper and pencil self-report questionnaire, with results indicating that risk factors for cyberbullying include being a boy, being older, and spending more hours online, as well as parental control of online activities which is a very broad concept but could facilitate parents be aware of whether their children are involved in cyberbullying or cybervictimization. Concerning cybervictimization, risk factors were being older, spending more hours online, and inadequate parental supervision. Differences emerged between boys and girls. Highlights • 1 boy in 3 is involved in cyberbullying and similarly in cybervictimization. • 1 girl in 4 is involved in cyberbullying and 1:3 in cybervictimization. • Half of the adolescents reported their parents not having any information or access to their online activities. • Cyberbullying boys reported almost three times more than cyberbullying girls' poor parental online supervision. and almost twice poorer parental control of online activities and social network supervision. • Cybervictim girls reported more than twice higher poor parental online supervision, boys reported twice poorer parental control of online activities and psocial network supervision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Exposure to harmful online content increases cyberbullying perpetration. • Parental support decreases cyberbullying perpetration. • Parental support moderates the effect of exposure to harmful online content on cyberbullying perpetration. • Parental support increases cyberbullying perpetration for at-risk students. Cyberbullying has grown into a global issue with the Internet becoming a readily accessible commodity around the world. During the outbreak and spread of novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), most personal and professional activities shifted to the virtual environment, increasing the time children spent online and the opportunities to engage in deviant behavior such as cyberbullying. In this paper, we analyzed cyberbullying data drawn from a nationally representative survey of South Korean adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic. Correlates of cyberbullying perpetration were examined in addition to the moderating impact of parental support. Policy implications and future research directions were discussed based on the findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Adaptation and validation the scale of Positive Parental Practices for children 0- to 3 years. • Exploratory and Confirmatory Factor Analysis were performed with 950 participants. • This study provides the standardization of the Spanish scale scores in parental competences. • The final version for the Spanish population is composed of 27 items and 7 subscales. • This scale is considered useful for assessing parental competences in parents of young children. This study aims to adapt and validate the scale of Positive Parental Practices of the Caregiver (SP + C), in the version for children from 0 to 3 years. First, the process of cross-cultural adaptation was performed. Subsequently, for the validation of the scale, we analyzed a sample of 950 participants, with children aged between 0 and 3 years. The participants' native language was Spanish or it was the language spoken at home. Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) was performed with Sample 1 (n = 483 participants), yielding 7 factors: Daily Involvement, Mentalization, Sensitivity, Promoting Learning, Attention and Organization of Daily Life, Monitoring of Parental Activity, and Parental Self-Care. Confirmatory Factory Analysis (CFA) was performed with Sample 2 (n = 467), which confirmed the factor structure of the scale. Reliability analysis showed that the scale had an adequate internal consistency. To determine criterion validity, bivariate correlations were calculated with other variables that evaluate parental competence, expecting to find significant positive relationships between them. This paper provides the standardization of the Spanish scale scores. In conclusion, the final validated scale is composed of 27 items and 7 subscales, with adequate psychometric properties. It is considered useful for the evaluation of parental competences in parents of young children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Socialization in East Germany is a protective factor against corporal punishment in the family. • Younger mothers and older fathers are more likely to use corporal punishment in child-rearing. • Legal regulations regarding the violence-free education have a measurable influence on educational methods of parents. Due to the division of Germany into the German Democratic Republic and the Federal Republic of Germany following the Second World War, large parts of the population of today's Germany were socialized under different socio-economic, political, and legal conditions, which could possibly lead to different experiences with corporal punishment as a method of education. In this paper, we investigate whether being socialized in East or West Germany, respectively, had an influence on childhood experience of corporal punishment. The evaluation is based on a representative German survey (n = 2331) carried out in 2020. In order to investigate the dimensionality of the experience with corporal punishment, we used the method of multiple correspondence analysis. The structures which were discovered using multiple correspondence analysis were subsequently verified using confirmatory factor analyses. We then examined the influence of explanatory variables on different parental punishment styles in a structural equation model. Three main parental punishment styles were identified: non-corporal punishment, mild punishment, and severe punishment. Respondents who were socialized in East Germany had a lower probability of having experienced severe punishment and non-corporal punishment compared to those socialized in West Germany. Our analysis also showed that corporal punishment tended to be more frequently practiced by younger mothers and older fathers. The results of this study indicate that legal regulations regarding non-violent child-raising are not just symbolic, but do indeed have a measurable influence on the educational methods of parents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Community-based group intervention appears acceptable for high-risk families. • Intervention appears feasible to implement. • Self-reported anxiety, depression, and experiences of IPV decreased. • Increasing motivation to change at outset may improve outcomes. Intimate partner violence (IPV) is associated with several negative outcomes for victims and their children and is often considered a form of child maltreatment by child protection services (CPS). Despite this, there is a gap in the literature regarding IPV interventions for higher-risk families involved with CPS. This paper describes preliminary effectiveness, feasibility, and acceptability of a parenting/IPV intervention provided to an underserved and socioeconomically disadvantaged community sample of women, many of whom were referred by CPS. This group intervention was implemented within a community agency serving low-income families. Seventy-nine women participated in the intervention, 67 of whom also participated in the research component of the study. Participants completed self-report questionnaires at pre- and post-intervention to obtain quantitative measures of IPV, parenting, and mental health. Participants also completed a semi-structured interview to obtain qualitative data regarding acceptability and feasibility of the intervention. Reduced depression (t (41) = 3.53, p <.01, d = 0.52), anxiety (t(41) = 2.70, p <.05, d = 0.39), and frequency of exposure to IPV (t(36) = 2.94, p <.01, d = 0.28) were observed from pre- to post-intervention. Qualitative data suggests participants found the intervention to be acceptable and feasible. Additionally, participants reported increased recognition of their own experiences with IPV and its impact on them, their parenting, and their children. Results suggest this intervention is feasible to implement and acceptable to participants and the community agency in which it was implemented. Future directions for research and program development are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evidence-based treatments (EBTs) for childhood disruptive behavior disorders, such as Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT), have limited availability in community settings. Recent research highlights the importance of implementation support models to ensure full adoption and sustainability of an EBT. Although other EBT protocols have been disseminated using the learning collaborative (LC) model, these methods are only now being applied to PCIT. This paper will describe the first PCIT learning collaborative conducted in the US. Community clinicians successfully completing the program demonstrated high levels of treatment fidelity and coding reliability, and families who completed treatment through the program reported significant improvements in child internalizing and externalizing behaviors and parenting behaviors and stress. These preliminary results suggest community clinicians are successful in implementing PCIT with the support of the LC. • Community clinicians learning PCIT show high levels of fidelity and reliability. • Children exhibit improved internalizing and externalizing behavior problems. • Parents show improved interactions with children and reduced parenting stress. • Training completion varied with clinician comfort with EBTs and coaching parents. • Treatment completion did not vary by client or community characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract In child welfare, family meeting models are an important social innovation designed to develop individualized case plans through a family-centered and collaborative approach. Effective teamwork and parent engagement are key elements of family meetings. Previous studies report mixed results about the practical impacts of family meetings, perhaps due to a failure to elucidate how the key elements of the models are associated with the intended outcomes. This study utilized administrative data that reviewed child welfare cases in a Midwestern state in the U.S. to examine interactions between teamwork and parent engagement associated with the permanency of children in out-of-home care (n = 1450). Results indicate that teamwork is positively associated with permanency. Although both mother engagement and father engagement did not show significant main effects, father engagement significantly strengthened the positive relationship between teamwork and permanency. Additionally, a significant three-way interaction between teamwork, father engagement, and mother engagement was found. This interaction suggests that the strength of the positive relationship between teamwork and permanency was dampened when both mothers and fathers engage highly in family meetings. This paper concludes with implications for informing a clear theory of change to advance and diffuse the social innovation of family meeting models. Highlights • Teamwork and parent engagement are key elements of innovative family meeting models • The positive impact of teamwork on permanency is strengthened when fathers more actively engage in family meetings. • The positive impact of teamwork is dampened when both parents engage highly in family meetings. • Family meetings may benefit from ensuring safe and democratic team processes to promote parent engagement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract This paper reports a qualitative study of parents' experiences of participating in an Australian adapted trial of the Strengthening Families Program (SFP). The SFP is an internationally recognised family-based prevention intervention found to be effective in improving child mental health. The study explored parents' perceptions of how the Australian adapted program influenced parent, child and family functioning. A purposive sample of 15 parents who had taken part in the program in 2015 were interviewed, and thematic analysis was undertaken using a general inductive approach. Parents reported benefits experienced through the program based around eight major themes: (1) the anger diminished; (2) making a connection; (3) a shift towards positive dialogue within the family; (4) greater understanding of parenting and the child; (5) "the clouds lifted a little bit"; (6) engagement in school; (7) my child's behaviour improved; and (8) coping and resilience. Themes relating to parent-child connectedness and communication appeared central to improved child behaviour and family functioning. Collectively, the findings are promising, and themes encapsulated familial factors found to be protective of child psychosocial health. Highlights • Parents felt a stronger connection with their child after participating in the SFC program. • By parents' accounts, there was improvement in parent-child communication. • Themes indicated reduced parent and child anger and improved child behaviour. • Parents reported increased awareness and adjustment in parenting expectations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Current political rhetoric and some media commentaries suggest there is a yawning gap of understanding between policymakers and the reality of families living in poverty in 21st century Britain. A key reason identified for the disconnect between policymakers and families is the absence of the voices of the families in public discourse. In this paper accounts of the lived experiences of parents in poverty are examined in four UK qualitative studies published in the period 1998–2016. Their accounts highlight how problems of disadvantage can be cumulative, compounding and enduring. The struggle to provide the basics of family life and the role of supportive communities and relationships are explored. The impact on parents of financial stress, the sense of shame and stigma often experienced and the consequences for their physical and mental health are highlighted. Under the government's austerity policy, there is an increase in poverty even in working families, an increase in homelessness and considerable evidence emerging on the damaging consequences of food and fuel poverty on the health of children and parents. Listening to the lived realities of individual families provides a much greater understanding of family poverty and its causes and consequences, provides a corrective to the critical pejorative rhetoric and lays the foundation for the provision of appropriate government support. Highlights • A significant gap exists between the understanding of policymakers and the reality of families living in poverty in 21st Century Britain. • A key reason for this disconnect is the absence of the voices of the families in public discourse. • Accounts of the lived experiences of parents in poverty highlight how problems of disadvantage can be cumulative, compounding and enduring. • The impact on parents of financial stress, sense of shame and stigma as well as physical/mental health consequences are highlighted. • Under the government's austerity policy, there is an increase in poverty even in working families and an increase in homelessness. • Considerable evidence is emerging on the damaging consequences of food and fuel poverty on the health of children and parents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract This paper presents themes from qualitative analysis of interviews with parents and practitioners, aiming to consider how families benefit, or do not, from services' intervention. Eleven London families in contact with child protection services were followed for five years. In-depth, repeat interviews were conducted with mothers and with practitioners they nominated as helpful. The families had originally been referred to a therapeutic parenting programme because their child was considered to be at risk for future antisocial behaviour due to their conduct problems, and additional risk factors in the family. However not all families completed, or even began that programme. The interviews explored families' interactions with all services over the five years including social work, mental health and family support provision. The analysis suggested a number of changes in parenting which appeared to be related to improved outcomes for children and their families. For example, changes in mothers' conceptualisation of their child's behaviour, brought about through therapeutic intervention, could transform parent-child relationships and thereby improve longer-term outcomes. However, other mothers could bring about change without these cognitive shifts, through use of strategies to manage children's behaviour or improve mothers' own wellbeing. Services sometimes played an important role in these changes. The analysis also suggested features of provision which prevented intervention with families being effective. Services' focus on parenting, and the associated perceived blame, can sometimes undermine parents and be counter-productive, whereas empowering parents through developing shared goals seems more useful. Highlights • Changing parenting is focus when services see families of conduct disordered children. • This can be helpful when trusting relationships with service providers develop. • Family functioning can improve when parents change attitudes to the child's behaviour. • Parents find implementing consistent behaviour management helps. • Much intervention does not help but is seen as burdensome and judgemental. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract In recent years, the study of parental sense of competence has become increasingly relevant in the field of family intervention. However, despite the importance of the protective task carried out by foster carers, research into parental competences is still scarce among non-kin foster families. The main purpose of this paper is to explore non-kin foster carers' sense of parental competence and analyze its determinants and predictors in non-kin foster families. The sample comprised 48 Spanish non-kin foster families and the children in their care. The results indicate that non-kin foster carers perceive themselves as highly competent and moderately efficient, and feel very satisfied with their parental role. Variables related to parental competence were identified among the characteristics of non-kin foster carers, foster children and some circumstances related to the way the foster care was constituted. The regression analysis identified the predictors of parental sense of competence, role satisfaction and perceived effectiveness among non-kin foster carers. The regression data identified carers' responsiveness, children's behavioral problems, and evolution during foster placement as the main determinants of parental sense of competence in the non-kin foster families in our study. In addition to opening up new perspectives in fostering research, in terms of intervention, the results reported here will also help improve and adapt the support and professional advice given to non-kin foster families. Highlights • Non-kin foster carers' perception of parental competence and satisfaction are high, and their perceived efficacy moderate • The way the foster care was constituted is related to carers' sense of competence • Characteristics of non-kin carers and foster children are associated to parental sense of competence in carers • Carer's responsiveness and children's problems and evolution predict parental sense of competence in non-kin foster carers • Improve and adapt the support and professional advice given to non-kin carers [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Childhood obesity is a formidable public health issue in the United States. Although childhood obesity risk is complex and influenced by multiple systems and individual domains, there is increasing appreciation for the impact of the family environment generally, and parent-child interactions specifically, on children's levels of risk. Longitudinal research has identified parenting style and quality of parent-child interactions as important targets for reducing child obesity risk. Although, obesity prevention programs have attempted to change general parenting practices to prevent obesity (Haines et al., 2016; Harvey-Berino & Rourke, 2003; Østbye et al., 2012), no prevention efforts, to date, have attempted to change the parent-child relationship to reduce young children's obesity risk. In this paper, we describe the rationale for and development of an innovative prevention program: Parent-Child Interaction Therapy-Health (PCIT-Health). First, we review the risk factors for the onset of obesity during childhood and assess current approaches to preventing child obesity, including limitations. Next, we articulate the theoretical links and empirical evidence that make PCIT a logical model to reduce the risk for childhood obesity. Finally, we describe the adaptation of the standard PCIT model into the PCIT-Health model and conclude with next steps for evaluating the adaptation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Treatment foster care (TFC) is an appealing approach for treating youth with emotional and behavioral disorders because it combines the potential for intensive interventions with opportunities for growth and development in a family-based setting. To accomplish this, TFC requires treatment foster parents to simultaneously play roles of both substitute caregiver/parent and front-line professional. This requires that treatment foster parents excel at both the behaviorally focused elements of an interventionist while simultaneously enacting the more relationally-based aspects of a parent. To date there has been little in the literature to explore the extent to which practicing treatment foster parents actually utilize both behavioral and relational approaches in their work with youth. This paper uses baseline data from a randomized trial ( n = 247) to explore eight potential approaches that treatment foster parents might use (including: monitoring/supervision, approaches to discipline, consistency of responses to behaviors, time together, adult-child conflict, positive affect towards the child, perspective taking/empathy building, and communication) as well as a measure of their own assessment of their role. Results show that treatment foster parents recognize the complexities of their role, and most view themselves more as parents than as treatment providers. Substantial variation was evident on all examined dimensions of the treatment parent role (except supervision/monitoring). Variations in treatment parent approaches were most significantly related to child's age and their own view of their role. The paper concludes with discussion of implications and directions for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• New attention has been focused on strengthening family connections and.expanding the community-based service array focused on preventing maltreatment and out-of-home placement. • Describe preliminary outcomes from a pilot evaluation of a new curriculum teaching parents trauma-informed strategies to address and resolve their own trauma while supporting healthy attachment with their children. • Demonstrates feasibility of conducting a large-scale study of the Breakthrough Parenting Curriculum (BPC). Unresolved trauma can negatively impact parenting and increase chances of child maltreatment. With the passing of the Family First Prevention Services Act (FFPSA) in 2018, new attention has been focused on strengthening family connections and expanding the community-based service array focused on preventing maltreatment and out of home placement. The purpose of this paper is twofold: (1) to describe preliminary outcomes from a pilot evaluation of a new curriculum teaching parents trauma-informed strategies to address and resolve their own trauma while supporting healthy attachment; and (2) assess the feasibility of conducting a large scale study. Forty parents involved in the state child welfare system were recruited to participate. Statistical analyses included T-tests, propensity score analysis, and repeated measures MANOVA. Assessments, which occurred at Pre and Post for the intervention group and comparable times for the quasi-waitlist group, indicated the following: A high retention rate (72%) for the intervention group, an increase in parent knowledge of trauma, skills to address trauma behavior, and parent well-being for the intervention, relative to the waitlist comparison group; and a decrease in child problem behavior in the intervention, relative to the waitlist group. Fidelity data was strong, with trainers completing 100% of activities for each module. Parental satisfaction in the intervention group was also high and costs to implement the training were reasonable. The findings of this pilot study provide strong support for evaluating the BPC in a large-scale outcome investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Becoming parents implies redefining the complex relationships with birth families. • This process opens up to care-experienced parents new relational adjustments, but also several challenges. • Care-experienced parents are able to cope in part by using skills learned within the Child Protection System. • The key role of positioning/protecting vis-à-vis the birth family. • The need to assuage concerns about the lack of an extended family for their children. This paper studies how care-experienced parents, i.e. parents with a looked-after background, represent their relationship with the birth family. This relationship appears to be crucial in the intergenerational transmission of maltreatment and may enable an understanding of the dynamics that mediate its reproduction. Constructivist Grounded Theory approach was used in this qualitative study. I conducted online in-depth semi-structured interviews with 17 care-experienced parents in Italy from May to November 2021. The interviews were analysed using open, focused and theoretical coding with the support of NVivo12 and the analysis itself was discussed with a board of care-experienced parents. The relationship with the birth family is an aspect that frequently emerges in the interviewees' narratives. Birth family is represented through the more physical dimension of its presence in everyday life, as well as in the more symbolic one linked to one's inner experience. This means that birth family is crucial even when contacts are sporadic or no longer possible. Interviewees see parenting as an opportunity to create new relational adjustments, particularly in reference to their relationship with birth families. In fact, an internal daily dialogue and renegotiation with their own complex family history appears to take place. New parents compare their own childhoods with their children's, with this placing further pressure on the actual relationship with the birth family. In this process parents show interesting resources, possibly acquired within the child protection system. This study highlights relevant aspects of the relationship between the birth family and care-experienced parents. It represents a promising approach to a better understanding of the links affecting the intergenerational transmission of maltreatment, also vis-à-vis the role of the child protection system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Latino infants and toddlers are rapidly becoming the most represented ethnic group within the overall U.S. child population, underscoring the importance of a comprehensive conceptual framework informed by the factors that affect their well-being, including their lived environments. Research that explores parenting among Latino families is limited or tends to portray a homogenized Latino experience, without accounting for within-group differences. This paper presents a contextual parenting framework for Latino infants that incorporates a more nuanced understanding of culture as well as its complex and reciprocal relationship with environment. It highlights the multi-level, multisystemic, contexts affecting these families on the present day. This framework hypothesizes that cultural beliefs around family and child rearing, as well as the environment -- constituted of physical environment and social opportunities -- influence parenting. Further, institutional and structural inequalities can significantly affect the environmental conditions that Latino families experience and are therefore examined in the model. The way parenting behaviors are understood and interpreted by researchers and practitioners has serious consequences for parents engaged in the child welfare system. This paper explores how vulnerable Latino families with young children engaged in this complicated system experience the factors described by the parenting framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Single motherhood has long been linked to the risk for child maltreatment. However, little is known about the role of fathers in buffering mothers' risk for child maltreatment. Using data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, this paper investigates (1) the ways in which non-resident fathers' economic contributions and involvement in parenting may moderate associations between mothers' transitions to being single and the risk for child maltreatment, and (2) whether these processes vary by race/ethnicity. Results indicate that mothers' transitions to being single are not strongly associated with the risk for child abuse. However, mothers' transitions to being single are associated with an increase in the risk for child neglect, and this is moderated by non-resident father involvement. Last, Black but not other mothers' transitions to being single are associated with the risk for child abuse, and are largely not moderated by non-resident father involvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The family context exerts notable influence on many domains of adolescent development and well-being. Recent research indicates that the family has the power not only to help youth get back on course after problems emerge, but that the family can also play a critical role in preventing problems for youth by reducing the severity of a problem or mitigating its occurrence. The purpose of this paper is to outline the promise and challenges of family-based approaches to prevention in social work practice. Research and theory have identified numerous risk and protective factors in the family. Prevention programs that address these risk and protective factors have shown strong evidence of reducing youth risky behavior. Program effects vary based on the strength of program implementation. Agencies often face barriers to implementation including maintaining model fidelity, engaging families, and sustaining funding. Implications for practice and policy are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• We apply generalized propensity score matching method and instrumental variable method to explore the relationship between breastfeeding duration and child development. • The relationship is relatively stable and presents a U shape, with the optimal breastfeeding duration (6–10 months) promoting children's early behavior performance. • Breastfeeding longer than the optimal duration delays child development. • The optimal duration of breastfeeding had a greater positive effect on children from disadvantaged backgrounds. • The conclusions of this paper have obvious practical value for the policy of child development strategies and parenting practices. Based on a large-scale survey in China, we use the generalized propensity score matching method and instrumental variable method to explore the effect of breastfeeding duration on child development, and find that there is a relatively stable "U" relationship between breastfeeding duration and children's early behavioral performance, with the optimal breastfeeding duration (6–10 months) promoting children's early behavioral performance. However, more than the optimal breastfeeding duration will delay child development. We further find that the effect of breastfeeding duration on child development varies among different groups. There is evidence that the optimal breastfeeding duration has a greater positive effect on children from disadvantaged backgrounds. The conclusions of this paper have obvious practical value for the policy of child development strategies and parenting practices. Given the importance of early child development, there should be a reasonable breastfeeding duration, and the feeding interventions for disadvantaged children can bring higher returns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Examining adolescent perceptions of their parents influence on their access and use of mental health services. • Use qualitative face to face interviews. • Parents were highlighted by adolescents as prominent influences in adolescent mental health journeys, however this influence could be positive and negative for the adolescent. • Highlights the complexity of the involvement of parents in their child's mental health service use. To explore adolescent experiences of accessing and utilising mental health service in Perth, Western Australia. This paper focusses on the adolescent identified influence of parents in accessing and using mental health services. Qualitative semi-structured face-to-face interviews with 22 adolescents aged 14–18 years old in Perth, Western Australia. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and analysed thematically. The influence of parents on adolescents' experiences within the mental health system were grouped under three themes: parental involvement in accessing and continued use of mental health services for their children; parental understanding and awareness of child's mental health problems; parent–child relationship. It was common for adolescents to report that the influence and involvement of their parents could create facilitators and barriers to mental health care. This research highlighted the complexities in how parents can be both supportive and hindering influences in their child's mental health care. Adolescent experiences highlight the need for parents to be a key area of focus for mental health services and future reforms to support and improve adolescent mental health service use. Additional research is needed to explore how to effectively increase parental mental health literacy in the community and what factors are needed to create trusted parent-adolescent relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The scarcity of caregivers and the unique vulnerability of teens involved with the child welfare system necessitate effective strategies for ensuring that caregivers are prepared and supported in the important role they play with children and youth within the child welfare system. They are in a position, through the establishment of a strong, positive, supportive connection with the youth, to potentially minimize the impacts of recent trauma and interrupt a negative trajectory by preventing the youth's initiation of high-risk behavior. In this paper we describe the process used to systematically adapt Staying Connected with Your Teen™, an evidence-based, prevention-focused parenting program found in other studies to reduce the initiation of teens' risky behaviors, for use with foster teens and their relative or foster caregivers. This work has been guided by the ADAPT-ITT framework developed by Wingood and DiClemente (2008) for adapting evidence-based interventions. Qualitative work conducted in Phase 1 of this study identified the need for the development of a trusted connection between foster youth and their caregivers, as well as tools for helping them access community resources, social services, and educational supports. This paper describes the process used to develop new and adapted program activities in response to the needs identified in Phase 1. We conducted a theater test with dyads of foster youth and their caregivers to get feedback on the new activities. Findings from the theater test are provided and next steps in the research are discussed which include examining program usability, fidelity and feasibility, and testing this new prevention program that has been tailored for child welfare involved youth and their caregivers. This intervention program has the potential to fill an important gap in the availability of preventive programming for caregivers of teens in foster care. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• The paper explores the treatment effect associated with a placement prevention program. • Novel methodological approaches are undertaken to address selection bias. • Intercept prevented placement with a sustained effect 12 months after services ended. In this paper, we describe our assessment of whether Youth Villages' Intercept program had a demonstrable impact on the likelihood a young person will be placed in out-of-home care given the young person was at risk of placement by virtue of having been the subject of an investigation for maltreatment. Intercept is an integrated approach to intensive in-home parenting skill development that offers a variety of evidence-based and best practices to meet the individualized needs of a family and young person. Intercept staff work with families with children who are at risk of entry into state custody (i.e. foster care) to prevent placement. Using a quasi-experimental design with exact matching, we found that Intercept did reduce the risk of placement into foster care following a maltreatment report. In addition, we found that the treatment effect was particularly strong during the first six months after maltreatment report was made. We also found sustained effects after treatment ended. The findings are considered alongside other evidence that speaks to the efficacy of placement prevention programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Substance use among Latino adolescents continues to be a growing concern for researchers and clinicians. This paper reviews relevant literature regarding the impact of inter-parental conflict (IPC), deviant peer associations (DPA) and parenting behaviors, namely as parental support, psychological control, and parental monitoring knowledge on substance use among Latino adolescents. Although mediating models of IPC and similar parenting behaviors on adolescent externalizing behaviors have been represented in empirical studies, none have included the influence of peer associations or have analyzed these factors with substance use among Latino adolescents in the U.S. This study investigated direct relationships of IPC and DPA with adolescent substance use, and tested parental support, psychological control and parental monitoring knowledge as mediators between those relationships in Latino adolescents. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze direct and indirect relationships of the variables mentioned among 744 Latino adolescents. Results indicated that DPA was positively associated with substance use, parental monitoring knowledge was negatively associated with substance use and that parental monitoring knowledge partially mediated the relationship between DPA and substance use. Implications of the findings are discussed in terms of areas of focus for interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses data from the Global School-based Student Health Survey to investigate the prevalence of health risk behaviors—in particular, substance use, risky sexual behavior, and violence—among adolescents in 15 Latin American and Caribbean countries. Using logit regressions and meta-analysis, we find that having parents engaged in raising their children is associated with significantly reduced problem behaviors in adolescents. That said, in the Caribbean the prevalence of health risk behaviors in adolescents is higher and engaged parents is lower than in Latin America, and the correlation between engaged parenting and reduced risk behaviors is generally weaker. Nonetheless, for both subgroups of countries, engaged parents do appear to make a difference. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the association between the Great Recession and four measures of the risk for maternal child abuse and neglect: (1) maternal physical aggression; (2) maternal psychological aggression; (3) physical neglect by mothers; and (4) supervisory/exposure neglect by mothers. It draws on rich longitudinal data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, a longitudinal birth cohort study of families in 20 U.S. cities ( N = 3177; 50% African American, 25% Hispanic; 22% non-Hispanic white; 3% other). The study collected information for the 9-year follow-up survey before, during, and after the Great Recession (2007–2010). Interview dates were linked to two macroeconomic measures of the Great Recession: the national Consumer Sentiment Index and the local unemployment rate. Also included are a wide range of socio-demographic controls, as well as city fixed effects and controls for prior parenting. Results indicate that the Great Recession was associated with increased risk of child abuse but decreased risk of child neglect. Households with social fathers present may have been particularly adversely affected. Results also indicate that economic uncertainty during the Great Recession, as measured by the Consumer Sentiment Index and the unemployment rate, had direct effects on the risk of abuse or neglect, which were not mediated by individual-level measures of economic hardship or poor mental health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Parentification is common in high-risk families and situations. • Although parentification has pervasively been associated with long-term adverse effects in children, there is increasing evidence that it may also promote positive child well-being. • Parentification experience can be beneficial, adaptive, and empowering to children. The literature suggests that some children at increased risk of parentification, which includes children of chronically ill or substance-misusing parents and children of divorced or migrant parents. Despite the necessity for some children to assume adult roles, parentification is potentially harmful. This paper aims to: (i) investigate the parentification concept and outcomes and (ii) summarize the components that render parentification adaptive in children. Articles were retrieved from Scopus, PubMed, Dimensions AI, Google Scholar, and reference list tracking using the keywords "parentification" and "parentification AND children". A critical review was performed with a narrative approach to synthesize the 61 included studies to determine the existing knowledge and identify research priorities within the field of parentification. The findings were reported based on the Literature Review Synthesis Process and the Scale for the Assessment of Narrative Review Articles (SANRA). The experience of parentification could be adaptive and empowering for children. The potential components of adaptive parentification included emotional support, supportive and positive relationships with siblings and grandparents, parents openly delegating the roles to each child, having age-appropriate roles, parental support and validation, and children's positive appraisal and perception of the role-taking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Objectives: Adolescents who have a history of being detained report rates of STI that are 8 to 10 times higher than peers without such histories. Over the last decade, an increasing number of studies have identified multiple factors that are associated with STI risk behaviors and acquisition among detained youth. However to date, no reviews of this literature have been conducted, which is the aim of this paper. Method: We conducted a review of the published literature to identify correlates of risky and STIs among detained youth. PsycINFO, PubMed, MEDLINE and Googlescholar were searched for English-language publications from 1999 to present. These dates represent the time period when the majority of research was conducted among this population. Results: This paper utilizes an ecological model to review risk and protective factors related to STIs among this population. Findings indicated that individual factors (i.e., age, gender, substance use, and mental health); micro factors (i.e., parental monitoring, family violence, and peer influences); meso factors (i.e., school enrollment, student-teacher connectedness, and community violence exposure); and macro factors (i.e., race/ethnicity, cultural norms, gender violence and health care policies) were related to risky sex and STIs. Conclusion: We discuss conceptual and theoretical mechanisms that may account for such relationships and conclude with recommendations for advancing future research and service delivery with this population. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper presents findings from the third phase of a longitudinal study, entitled Care Pathways and Outcomes, which has been tracking the placements and measuring outcomes for a population of children ( n = 374) who were under the age of five and in care in Northern Ireland on the 31st March 2000. It explores how a sub-sample of these children at age nine to 14 years old were getting on in the placements provided for them, in comparative terms across five placement types: adoption; foster care; kinship foster care (with relatives); on Residence Order; and living with birth parents. This specifically focused on the development of attachment and self-concept from the perspective of the children, and behavioural and emotional function, and parenting stress, from the perspective of parents and carers. Findings showed no significant placement effect from the perspective of children, and a statistically weak, but descriptively compelling, effect from the perspective of parents. The findings challenge the notion of adoption as the gold standard in long-term placements, specifically from the perspective of children in terms of their parent/carer attachments and self-concept, and highlight what appears to be the central importance of placement longevity for delivering positive longer-term outcomes for these children, irrespective of placement type. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Concern with the impact on children of discontinued parent-child relationships following parental separation or divorce has resulted in a depth of empirical knowledge in the maintenance of those relationships through the medium of ‘contact’. While research consistently demonstrates that post-separation/divorce parenting arrangements work best when they are informally arranged between two parents who are committed to making those plans work in the interests of their children, the emotive nature of the separation/divorce experience for many families may demand formal and legal regulation. Research with families involved in post-separation/divorce contact fails to identify a solitary magic ingredient that makes contact work or not work; rather a wide range of factors which operate interactively, interdependently and dynamically, with the attitudes, actions and interactions of the key family players shaping contact and determining its quality. This paper provides a critical review of the international literature on post-separation/divorce contact, identifying and reflecting on the key ingredients or factors central to the successful occurrence of ‘quality contact’. Drawing on the literature reviewed, a framework consisting of four separate yet interrelated layers is presented in order to both identify and explore these dynamic factors that quality contact is dependent upon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper first discusses the theoretical approaches regarding the choice of participating in post-secondary (or "higher") education, starting with a presentation of the standard neoclassical economics approach, and then adding concepts taken from the emerging behavioural economics literature to take into account “cultural” factors that affect access. The paper then presents the results of an empirical analysis based on a very rich Canadian dataset, the Youth in Transition Survey, which follows youth from age 15 through to age 25 and includes remarkably detailed information on family and other background factors as well as schooling experiences, which provides evidence that points to the importance of cultural influences on PSE choices. Policy implications for children in care are then discussed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper investigates the time caseworkers spend supporting long-term foster care and adoption placements. Undertaken in Australia through collaboration between university and non-government agency researchers, the ‘Cost of Support Study’ tracked the hours that caseworkers spent supporting twenty-seven children and their carers over a nine month period. 3 [3] The research also tracked the time taken by carers for tasks related specifically to the placement — i.e. above and beyond ‘ordinary parenting’. See full report of the research at http://www.buseco.monash.edu.au/ebs/pubs/reports/cost-of-support-final-report.pdf; and Research Report Summary (). Further papers on the carer findings and the methodology itself are in preparation. The placements were part of a ‘Find-A-Family’ program for ‘hard to place children’, many of whom had previously experienced multiple placement breakdowns. The program has a history of 78% stability on the first placement (over the young person''s time in the program) and 93% by the second, with the type of support provided by this accredited agency''s program detailed here. The weekly worker diaries reveal an average of 3hours 32minutes of worker time per week per placement; however wide variation is apparent in the time given to each placement, and depends on the characteristics of the child involved. Further, the resources required to support each placement are found by multiplying worker hours by the hourly cost per worker, using New South Wales government costings. The paper contributes to the important debate regarding the link between worker time and stability in care, by deepening our understanding of the costs involved in providing high quality support and supervision of casework. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Given the raised profile that parenting support and education is currently receiving on government family policy agendas in many nations, this paper reviews the ways in which parenting support and education policies are embedded within eight OECD countries. Drawing out the similarities and differences of policy and practice, and comparing the financial support each country affords to parenting support, it assesses the effectiveness of parenting support programmes in relation to national expenditure and links parenting policy to child outcomes. The paper concludes with some recommendations for policy makers and programme developers. The countries reviewed are: The UK, Netherlands, Canada, Ireland, the US, Finland, Australia and New Zealand. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• Despite an immense lack of publications on parenting capacity assessment and childhood disability, literature can provide some important insights for practitioners in this area. • Intersectionality is an effective way of understanding how multiple identities come together to both increase and lessen the risk posed to children. • The way that identities can come together to create disadvantage is complex. • Practitioners may use socio-demographic data to help them to understand disadvantage associated with various identities. Recent international literature review identified an immense lack of publications on parenting capacity assessment and childhood disability. This is problematic given the established and substantially higher risk of neglect and abuse that disabled children encounter. This heightened risk is also compounded by multiple barriers to effective professional safeguarding practice. This paper particularly focuses on one complex aspect of these capacity assessments. Specifically, the convergence of identities such as gender, ethnicity and disability are considered through an intersectionality lens rather than dealing with these identities in a separate way. Specifically, Crenshaw's theory of intersectionality is applied to existing research evidence to derive themes. These themes are presented in the paper as a means of informing critical thinking, for practitioners seeking to address convergent identities, within existing parenting capacity assessment frameworks and disability supplemental tools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• During COVID-19, care leavers in Wales looked to their corporate parents for support. • Social care workers sought to provide continued support despite lockdown restrictions. • Some young people felt supported, but others felt neglected and forgotten. • Corporate parenting responses had the potential to mitigate or compound adversities during COVID-19. • Evidence from this study supports on-going efforts in Wales to strengthen corporate parenting. This paper considers the support available to care leavers during the Covid-19 pandemic from their corporate parents. The paper contributes to a developing evidence base concerned with social work efforts to adapt and maintain support provision during the unprecedented circumstances, and provides insight into how such support was perceived and experienced. Funded by Voices from Care Cymru and Cardiff University, a qualitative, mixed method study was conducted which included a survey of Welsh Local Authority professionals (n = 22) and interviews with Welsh care-experienced young people aged 17–24 (n = 17). The findings of this paper show the propensity of corporate parents to provide protection against the adversities of the pandemic, or to compound difficulties. While some young people reported being both practically and emotionally supported, for others corporate parenting support was perceived as unavailable, unhelpful and / or uncaring. The Covid-19 pandemic provides a unique lens to consider the strengths, flaws and future opportunities for corporate parenting. The findings emphasise the need for parity of support for young people leaving care and consideration of national, local and individual responses is included. Yet consistent with findings pre-dating the pandemic, the findings reaffirm the enduring importance of both relationships and resources in ensuring good support for care leavers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper reports the results of research about fathers and child welfare conducted in a mid-size Canadian city. The overall study uses a variety of modalities to assess the current state of child welfare policy, practice and discourse with fathers of children who come to the attention of child protection authorities, with particular attention to fathers of the children of mothers who were adolescent at the time of at least one child''s birth. Our research includes birth/biological fathers, stepfathers and men providing emotional, financial or social support to a child or children. This paper reports on the first phase of the study, in which we reviewed a random sample of child protection case files utilising both quantitative and qualitative methods. Our analysis and discussion is informed by a review of recent child welfare literature related to fathers and by related research team members have completed or are currently engaged in, including studies about young mothers in care, kinship care, risk assessment, failure to protect and the narratives of child welfare workers. Our intention is to contribute to reframing child welfare practice, policy and discourse in ways that are more inclusive of fathers and less blaming of mothers. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• The Just Beginning parenting intervention combined instructional videos and father-child play sessions with the aim of improving the quality of father-child interactions. • Using video-recordings of 152 father-child play sessions, we find a pattern of improvement across Just Beginning sessions on one indicator of positive father-child interaction quality, but we did not find statistically significant changes on several other indicators. • For non-resident fathers, the intervention was associated with growth in three indicators of parenting behaviors that are associated with healthy child development. The Just Beginning intervention aims to improve the quality of interactions between fathers with low income and their young children. This intervention was implemented at a fatherhood program site in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Fathers participated in up to five sessions of the Just Beginning program, which included unstructured play sessions with their young child. In this paper, we use growth curve models to estimate patterns of change across the five sessions in the quality of the father-child interactions, drawing on 152 video observations from 53 father-child dyads. We find that fathers' positive regard toward their children increased across JB sessions, but do not find statistically significant changes in other indicators of fathers' positive parenting behaviors or in fathers' negative parenting behaviors. Estimating results for non-resident and resident fathers, we find that improvements in positive parenting behaviors appeared to be larger and more widespread for non-resident fathers than they were for fathers who lived with their focal children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Computer-mediated family service provision holds the promise of equal efficacy, lower cost, and higher accessibility than traditional parent education groups that require parents to travel to a service venue, thereby alleviating often-cited pragmatic barriers to participation in parenting programs. Hence, examinations of which populations are attracted to particular service modalities are a necessary step in building a reliable evidence base. The scant computer-mediated parent education literature indicates that online parenting programs are beneficial to indicated or secondary prevention programs seeking to bolster specific parent, child, or dyadic outcomes; it is reasonable to ask, then, if this service provision mechanism would be equally effective for all parents, outside of targeted intervention designs. The current paper describes the provision of computer-mediated parenting services to a large sample of parents (N = 192, 89.6% female, average age 40 years; 27% racial/ethnic minority) with no shared prevention indicator through an employer-based program. Our research questions on service provision and utilization include: Who is served by primary prevention programs like this? Do participants report satisfaction with computer-mediated services commensurate with traditional face-to face services? In addition to significant differences in perceived social support by gender, marital status, and number of children younger than 18 living in the home, results from three measures of parenting attitudes and behaviors (e.g., discipline style, sense of competence, and locus of control), indicate that this sample has some confidence in their general abilities as parents, but struggle to feel an internal sense of control over their children's behavior, with the greatest number of parents tending towards overreactive discipline. Associations between these indicate a consistent pattern such that dysfunctional parenting practices tend to co-occur, and parents who do employ dysfunctional strategies feel less competent as parents. Participants report high satisfaction with these services, at equal or better rates than reported in the parent education literature. This work provides evidence that computer-mediated parenting services can attract and exceed expectations of participants with clinical and subclinical but moderate parenting needs, indicating that this service delivery mode has the potential to reach a wide number of individuals ideally situated for prevention services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Children with histories of child abuse and neglect, particularly children residing in foster or adoptive homes, are commonly considered by many professionals to need “attachment therapy” in order to address emotional and behavioral needs. However, evidence-based treatments rarely utilize an attachment-based justification outside of the infancy through preschooler age range. In actuality, many evidence-based treatments can be understood through the lens of attachment theory. This paper reviews the tenets of an attachment-based approach to treatment and describes how one evidence-based treatment, Parent–Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT), conforms to all expectations and requirements prescribed by attachment theory and research. Next, pilot data from an open trial of PCIT with a sample of adopted children and their adoptive caregivers ( n = 85) are provided. Results demonstrate significant improvements in positive parenting techniques, reductions in parenting stress, and reductions in externalizing and internalizing concerns among the children. These results are discussed in the context of improving the quality of care for children often described as in need of “attachment therapy.” [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many countries are struggling to reconcile the conflicting demands of heightened risk aversion cultivated by a reactionary public and media, and recognition of the rights of parents and children to family maintenance where possible. One approach that seeks to grapple with these demands is the signs of safety (SoS) approach (Turnell & Edwards, 1999). This article is a theoretical paper discussing the SoS approach, drawing on a qualitative empirical study of decision-making in a context where the SoS was used. As practice tools affect knowledge production, the SoS approach is analysed using the social constructionist concepts of positioning and investment, Bernstein's codes, and Foucault's knowledge/power and discretion/surveillance ideas. It is argued that the SoS approach offers morally attractive subject positions to parents which may contribute to client engagement and personal change. This is achieved by focussing on future safety, implying future parental competence, and including parents in decision-making processes. The SoS approach uses both corrective and appreciative ‘codes’ in its approach to knowledge production. That is, it allows clients some input into constructing problems and finding solutions and thus de-privileges the social worker's ‘expert’ view, reflecting an appreciative code. However, this does not extend to ‘bottom-line’ concerns that the social worker defines as essential for the case to close, thus reflecting corrective elements. In terms of knowledge/power and discretion/surveillance, the approach helps social workers to differentiate between when to lend discretionary power to clients and include them in knowledge production, and when to retain control over knowledge production. Importantly, it is underpinned by a traditional ‘respect for persons’ ethic that assumes the potential for parental functioning, and parental right to autonomy, in an environment that has traditionally begun from the opposite premise. However, while it holds much potential for humanising responses to risk that are productive in terms of personal change, client engagement and child safety, its focus on the micro context of client's lives only may omit significant structural causes of risks to children, or overstate social worker's power within organisational and wider political policy contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Parental belief is associated with Child social-emotional development. • Parental investments mediate parental belief and child development. • The mediation effects vary across investments and developmental outcomes. • The varieties of play materials and activities are the strongest mediators. Parental investments are associated with early child outcomes, and some evidences outside China suggest that parental belief might affect parental investments. However, the interrelationships of parental belief, parental investments, and early child development has not been well documented in China. This paper aims to study the interrelationships between the caregiver's parental belief, the caregiver's parental investments, and the child's early developmental outcomes in rural China. A total of 1787 sample households in an undeveloped rural area of western China are enrolled in the cross-sectional study. A parental belief questionnaire, the Family Care Indicators (FCI), the Bayley Scales of Infant Development version III (BSID-III), and a socioeconomic questionnaire were used to measure the caregiver's parental belief on parenting practices, the caregiver's parental investments, the child's early developmental outcomes, and the socioeconomic characteristics of sample households, respectively. The mediation model was then applied to estimate the interrelationships. The results find that the caregiver's parental investments significantly mediate in the relationships between the caregiver's parental belief and the child's early developmental outcomes. Through parental investments, one standard deviation (SD) increase in the caregiver's parental belief is corresponding to 3% of one SD increase in the child's four developmental outcomes (cognition, language, motor, and social–emotion) respectively. For future studies aimed at designing targeted interventions on early child development in rural China, the key findings of this paper might be informative. Early interventions aimed at strengthening the caregiver's subjective belief on parenting practices and increasing the parental investments in the household might be effective to improve the development of rural children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Emotion work sheds light on the active agency in parenting children with autism. • Emotional needs include support for struggle for social recognition. • Challenges encountered by parents with children with autism are complex. • Neurodiversity can be an alternative for working with people related to autism. This paper examines how and why parents with children with autism perform emotion work and illuminates the implications for social work. Based on qualitative data, this paper identifies five domains of emotion management strategies, including managing shame and loss, mediation and negotiation in the families, surviving social stigma, surviving institutional barriers, and negotiating socially acceptable identities. This paper contributes to the literature of parenting children with disability by introducing the sociological construct of emotion work (Hochshild, 1984; DeVault, 1999) to the social work literature to highlight the active agency of parental work and broaden the understanding of emotion in the social work context. First, it argues that significance of parents' emotion work should be acknowledged as including their struggle to survive in a predominantly unfriendly environment. Second, the emotions of these parents are not necessarily associated with negative experiences and the pathological features of their children but can also be linked to a positive and empowering process. Moreover, this paper illuminates the complexity of challenges encountered by parents in relation to the disability discourses and recommends the alternative approach of neurodiversity which is in line with the social work values of social justice and diversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In response to the high levels of unmet need among historically underserved young children with conduct problems, this paper outlines some of the key issues involved in incorporating natural helpers into the delivery of parenting interventions for the treatment of conduct problems among historically underserved children. Strategies for the selection and training of natural helpers are discussed along with challenges that might be encountered in these processes. Directions for future research are also highlighted. With appropriate selection and training procedures in place, natural helpers may increase the accessibility of services for children and families and foster the reduction of service disparities. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• UI benefits are positively associated with child support payments and compliance. • Wage withholding from UI may be an effective child support enforcement tool. • Referrals to UI programs may be beneficial for unemployed noncustodial parents. This paper investigates the relationship between receipt of unemployment insurance (UI) benefits and formal child support payments and compliance among low-income parents experiencing employment difficulties. In theory, receipt of UI benefits may help noncustodial parents experiencing employment difficulties continue to meet their child support obligations. Under federal law, child support agencies can collect child support from unemployment insurance benefits received by noncustodial parents on IV-D cases. In practice, take-up of UI is quite low, particularly among low-income workers. In order to learn more about the relationship between unemployment insurance and child support payments, this paper uses survey and administrative data from a federally funded eight-state intervention for noncustodial parents. Findings from individual-level fixed effect models indicate that UI receipt is associated with increases in child support payments and compliance. These findings suggest that UI can be an important source of economic support for children living apart from the parent receiving benefits. These findings also highlight the potential for service connections between child support and UI agencies to support noncustodial parents in meeting their child support obligations and the continued importance of expanding economically disadvantaged workers' access to the UI program. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Internationally, there is growing interest in the adoption of alternative responses that divert families, when safe to do so, away from the courts and out-of-home care system. However, it is widely recognised that the crisis-driven nature of statutory child protection in conjunction with the dominance of risk-adverse practice can inhibit practitioners' abilities to implement such interventions. In Queensland (Australia), 'intervention with parental agreement' (IPA) is an alternative response that allows the statutory child protection authority to work with families without a court order. Drawing on the perspectives of 30 practitioners recruited from the statutory child protection authority and tertiary non-government family support services, this paper explores the local factors that shape how IPA policy is implemented in practice. In particular, the paper considers the mechanisms that the leadership team within a statutory child protection office can use to shape a local practice culture that supports and is conducive to collaborative IPA practice. • Local practice context and culture contributes to inter-site variations in the implementation of parental agreements • Attitudes towards the nature and scope of non-government tertiary family preservation services in parental agreement cases vary • Branch office leaders from the child protection authority play a key role in creating local practice cultures towards the parental agreements • The attitudes and preferred practice approaches of those in leadership positions have implications for if and how parental agreements are used • When branch office leaders support family preservation, local practice cultures can challenge the dominance of risk-adverse practice [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is concerned with outcomes for young parents in and leaving care and draws on findings from a post-doctoral fellowship study conducted within the Children's Social Care Research and Development Centre (CASCADE) at Cardiff University. Over the course of the research, 258 parents in and leaving care were identified aged between 16 and 21 were identified by 20 out of the 22 local authorities in Wales. These parents had a total of 238 children and there were 44 on-going pregnancies. 74% of children were living with at least one biological parent, however 26% of children identified in the study were separated from their parents at the time of data collection; 10% of children were in the care of local authority carers, 9% with adoptive carers and a further 7% living with friends and family. Interviews with social care professionals suggested that success in parenthood is possible for young people in and leaving care if they are prepared to do 'whatever is required'. Typically, this meant engaging with professionals, evidencing personal responsibility and demonstrating a commitment to positive parenting. Yet despite such emphasis on individual choice and determination, a wide range of support needs were identified by professionals and it was acknowledged that young people had limited control over key factors influencing parenting success. • Paper provides a snapshot of the parenting population in and leaving care in Wales. • Study finds comparatively high levels of separation for parents and children. • Professionals highlight importance of engaging with professionals and proving parenting ability • Additional challenges are faced by parents and there are opportunities to improve state support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper is one in a series of three that reports detailed findings from a larger study that simultaneously explored individual, family and neighborhood level predictors of victimization and offending among youth. The current study aims to identify which family level factors have better predictive power with regard to type of victimization and offending over time so that effective prevention and intervention efforts can be developed and implemented. Methods: Path analysis was conducted using data from a multi-wave, panel study (N=625) of young men ages 16–19 at Wave 1 to determine the best fitting model showing causal pathways from family-level factors, including parental monitoring, parental support, family structure, and socioeconomic status (SES), to both victimization and offending. Findings: Parental monitoring was a significant predictor of personal victimization and offending at Wave 1 and Wave 2. Single parenthood significantly predicted offending at Wave 1. Father support and SES significantly predicted vicarious victimization through exposure to violence. Implications for practice are discussed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper, through the vignette of a three-year old boy''s case, examines how child welfare workers in three countries, Norway, England and the United States (California), decide whether to recommend forced adoption. Legislation and policy recommendations for the termination of parental rights and adoption vary among these three countries, but they all regard permanency for the child as the overarching goal for children in care. We find that a majority of the workers suggest forced adoption, and their main justifications were related to parental behaviour and their failure to fulfil visitation arrangements, followed by arguments about how adoption would provide both permanency and solid attachment for the child. It was Norwegian workers (41%) that decided against forced adoption, and their main objections were the lack of parental consent and the fact that forced adoption is uncommon in Norway. The findings of this study show that the reasoning of child welfare workers clearly reflects the policies and guidelines of their respective countries, which demonstrates the impact of each country''s policy instruments. The workers'' reasoning also reflects their knowledge of the basic premises for promoting adoption and permanency for children in care. As such, the state power that child welfare workers exercise rests on a rationale that is evidence oriented and extends beyond a mere reflection of policy guidelines and instructions. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: When evidence-based parenting programs are implemented in real-world settings they often fail to produce the results shown in efficacy trials. One reason for this is difficulties in engaging parents. This paper identifies lessons from a review of literature on engaging parents in parenting programs and presents a case study of the implementation of the Incredible Years BASIC program in the context of a randomized controlled trial. It examines the challenges encountered and efforts to overcome them. Key recommendations include: a clear recruitment process; good communication and liaison with stakeholders; incentives for recruitment and retention; active and creative outreach work; investment in building relationships with parents; making programs easily accessible; and having realistic expectations. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]