Knowt
Parenting
1. Introduction to Parenting
Parenting is a process
Parenting is a process of action and interaction between parent and child
Both parties change each other as children grow into adulthood
Functions of parenthood
Taking care of basic needs (food, warmth, shelter..)
Emotional care (warm, caring, nurturing environment)
Socialization (teaching of values, good habits. goal:integration into a broader social network)
Providing guidance, boundaries, and limits
Teaching life skills and mentoring (self-care, mealtime behavior, safe use of tech, financial literacy)
Supporting children’s education
Moral Guidance
Parenting tasks
there are specific tasks that parents undertake in each stage of development
Parenting tasks according to different ages
Proximal and distal influences on parenting
Broader ecological context, from proximal to distal
Within-family proximal influences: parent’s mental health, the quality of relationships btw parents, child behavior problems.
Distal influences:
interactions btw parents and schools, workplaces, and health care systems (mesosystemic influences)
larger exosystems that include influences such as economic and political systems.
all embedded within the broader community context of culture and values (macrosystem)
Proximal influences:
personal resources
parental self-regulation
the immediate couple relationship
the interactional context
attachment security
parental emotional well-being
social support
relationship w/ grandparents and extended family
work influences
physical health
access to parent education
2. Families and Family Change
Family change theories
Family theories of the 19th century
Family change in terms of social change
Social Darwinism
Cultural evolution–Promiscuity and incestuous relationships through group marriage and polygamy → Most advanced stage of monogamous marriage
savagery→barbarism→civilization
Cultural Relativism
Reject the idea that some cultures are more civilized than others
Cultures cannot be objectively evaluated as higher or lower, better or worse, right or wrong
Family and other aspects of society should be studied within the context of its culture
Economic Determinism (Marx and Engels)
Patriarchal family, based on the right of private property and the authority and power of the father, resulted in the defeat of the female and the matriarchal system in prehistoric hunting and gathering societies
Industrialization → monogamous bourgeois family → exploited by capitalist system
20th century
Functionalist perspective
Extended family structure to nuclear family structure is a positive adaptation to social change
Different family types
Two-generation family–nuclear family, one parent family
Three-generation family–extended family, at least three generations, 83% were polygamous families in the small preindustrial societies in the past
Types of families in different societies
Hunting gathering → nuclear family (mobility necessary)
Agricultural societies → extended family (many hands needed)
Industrial societies → nuclear family (more functional)
Georgas chapter
defining ‘family’
An acceptable definition of family should assume that family is a universal and necessary institution for human survival in all societies
(a) the minimal family composition is one adult and one dependent person
(b) the parents do not have to be of both sexes
(c) the couple does not have to be married
sociological family theories explained
cultural anthropology and family–Cultural anthropology differed from Western sociology in that it studied small societies throughout the world
subsistence patterns and family types
family change in Western societies
different views on family change (i.e. positive or negative change)
family change in the Majority World
modernization and globalization and family change
Kağıtçıbaşı chapter
Structurally extended and functionally extended families
Structurally extended: Three-generation family living together and sharing duties and responsibilities
Functionally extended: Nuclear family lives separately from relatives but family members share childcare duties and household chores
Value of Children study
Economic value of children
children providing material benefits to their families while young (e.g., working in family business)
providing old age security
strong in less developed countries with low levels of affluence and mostly rural lifestyles
children are expected to be obedient when young
in older ages, parents depend on their children financially
Psychological value of children
love, pride, joy that children give to their parents
Model of family change
Over three decades, profound changes took place in the values attributed to children by parents and in related family values: expectations from children, desired qualities in children, actual, desired and ideal numbers of children, son preference
Model of Family change situates the family within cultural and socioeconomic contexts and deals with socioeconomic and socio-historical change and its influence on family structure
Three different models of family:
Traditional family, characterized by overall interdependence. Mostly in rural agrarian societies in the majority world
Individualistic model, based on independence. Mostly in Western middle-class.
A synthesis of the two, involving material independence but emotional/psychological interdependence
Family supporting autonomous-related self: Increased affluence and urbanization: Material interdependencies weaken but psychological interdependencies continue, since they are not incompatible with changing lifestyles.
Autonomous-related self
Individualistic cultures–independent self (traits, abilities, values, and attitudes)
Collectivistic cultures–interdependent self (close relationships, social roles, and groups)
Autonomy–Independence; individuality, mental agency, self-worth
Relatedness–Interdependence; community, obligation, modesty/respect
! Kağıtçıbaşı argues that a change in perspectives is required: Relatedness is not incompatible with autonomy and autonomy and relatedness are two basic human needs
3. Determinants of Parenting: Focus on Child Temperament
Defining and measuring temperament
Temperament: Early emerging individual differences in emotional, motor, and attentional reactivity to stimulation, and in patterns of emotional, behavioral, and attentional self-regulation. (similar concept to personality)
Temperament dimensions:
Activity (physical activity levels)
Regularity (predictability of behavior)
Adaptability (response to changes in the environment)
Approach-withdrawal (responses to novelty)
Threshold of responsiveness (amount of stimulation necessary to evoke reaction)
Intensity of reaction (energy levels of a response)
Quality of mood (amount of positive and negative emotional reactions)
Distractibility (effectiveness of external stimuli in altering the child’s behavior)
Task persistence (length of time and maintenance of activity pursued by the child)
Child Temperament
Effortful Control
Attention focusing
Persistence
Inhibitory control
Negative Emotionality
Fearful distress
Irritability
Sadness
Surgency
Activity
Approach
Sociability
Smiling/laughter
No shyness
Measuring temperament with parental report
Measuring temperament by observation
Stability of temperament over time
Temperament shows meaningful continuity over time but there is possibility of change in temperament, through maturation or experience
Changes in our way of thinking about human development
John Locke (empiricist philosopher) Watson & Skinner (behaviorists)
Children come into the world as a tabula rasa (blank slate)
Child: passive, Environment: active
Emphasis on nurture
Henri Rousseau (philosopher) Jean Piaget (one of the central figures in developmental psychology)
Children have an innate capacity
Child: active agent
Emphasis on nature
Bidirectional Relations
Nature+Nurture→Nature&Nurture
Environment ↔ Children
Transactional Model: developmental outcomes are a result of the continuous dynamic interplay between the child’s behavior, the caregiver’s response, and the environmental variables that may influence both the child and the caregiver.
Bronfenbrenner’s Bioecological Model of Human Development: (proximal and distal processes)
Microsystem: direct interaction, family, school, friends, neighborhood, etc.
Mesosystem: Connections between systems and microsystems
Exosystem: Systems that influence the individual indirectly through micro system (economic systems, government, political systems, laws, educational systems)
Macrosystem: norms, values of the culture
Chronosystem: time and historic influences
How temperament and parenting are interrelated
The model of unidirectional effect of parent on child is not sufficient. Children’s influence on their parents should not be disregarded. From birth onwards, children differ from each other in terms of characteristics that might affect parent behavior.
Goodness-of-fit model in temperament (Thomas&Chess)
Goodness-of-fit between a child’s temperament and their social and physical environment (including parenting) is important for child development
Moderation model : In this model, the effects of parenting on child development depend on child’s temperament.
Differential susceptibility: Children with a more difficult temperament or higher negative emotionality seem to be more vulnerable to negative parenting than children with an easier temperament or lower negative emotionality, and they also seem to experience grater benefit from positive parenting.
4. Determinants of Parenting: Communities, Neighborhoods, and Housing
Models aiming to explain external and internal influences on parenting
Determinants of Parenting: Theoretical Approaches
Belsky’s theoretical proposal
Parental psychological resources, such as developmental history and personality
Child characteristics, including gender and behavior
Contextual sources of stress and social support, such as marital relations, social networks, and work relationships
One of the most often used models of parenting but it doesn’t include the broader social environment in which parents and children operate
Luster and Okagaki’s model of the ecology of parenting
Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Model
How housing characteristics are related to parenting
Human development unfolds in a physical environment
Children grow and spend the majority of their time in their house and their social relations take place in a specific neighborhood and community.
Housing characteristics that may be important for child development:
Contamination due to mold and lead paint → poor health
High-rise residence → restricted play opportunities, behavioral problems
Older housing → more accidents in children
The relationship between housing quality and child development is mediated by family and parenting practices
Poor housing limits opportunities for stimulation and creates stress and conflict among family members
Parents are less responsive and harsher in poor housing conditions
Housing characteristic related to parenting:
Crowding
Parents are less responsive
Parental monitoring is lower
Parents report greater irritability
Higher levels of social withdrawal and more behavioral problems in children
Noise
Parents are less responsive
Teachers report greater fatigue and less patience
Detrimental effects on children’s cognitive development, memory, and attention
Chaos (unpredictability and confusion in the home)
Parents are less responsive
Families have more conflict
Psychological distress in children, worse academic outcomes, and behavioral adjustment problems.
How neighborhood characteristics and community are related to parenting
Structural characteristics most often studied are:
Income or neighborhood poverty levels
Linked to quality of public and private services, school quality, and recreational areas
Families living in poor neighborhoods have to deal with greater number of daily stressors which could weaken their psychological functioning and lead to impaired parenting behavior.
Racial/ethnic diversity
The proportion of immigrant residents i the neighborhoods
Diverse social environments might induce a feeling of threat and anxiety between majority and minority group
Linked to governmental underinvestment, limiting the developmental of health, educational and recreational services in the neighborhood
Residential instability
Possibility if fewer social ties in a particular environment and less investment on collective projects to improve services
Might also have positive effects–Families do not feel trapped and powerless
Social organizational aspects
Social Control
Norms of a community and the willingness to intervene when such norms are being violated
Parents might be more likely to avoid maltreating behaviors in neighborhoods with high levels of social control for fear of being accused and reprimanded
Social Cohesion
The absence of social conflict and the presence of strong social bonds and mutual trust between neighbors
Neighbors might assist with childcare
Neighborhood social cohesion has a protective role in some acts of neglect such as in parents’ ability to meet the child’s basic needs
Findings: Both the mothers’ social network and perceptions of the level of trust in their neighborhood were associated with lowered risk of infant physical abuse.
Collective Efficacy
Social cohesion among neighbors, combined with shared values, mutual trust, and their willingness to intervene on behalf of the public good
Communities that provide social support have consistently been found to be associated with positive outcomes in children and families.
Limitations of current studies
Identifying causal effects of neighborhoods on parenting ****(conducting experimental studies is almost impossible). More research is needed to understand the causal mechanisms that produce a strong effect on parenting, family processes, and child development by housing, neighborhoods, and communities. Under which circumstances and where these effects are important.
Unmeasured characteristics associated with neighborhood residence might really account for observed neighborhood effects
it is difficult to measure the impact of interventions directed at improving wider contexts such as neighborhoods and communities.
5. Determinants of Parenting: Social Support
Parental self-efficacy
Self-efficacy: One’s belief in the capability to affect or influence the events in one’s life; it is the foundation of agency (taking action)
Parents with strong self-efficacy have a sense of well-being: they set parenting goals and have the confidence and persistence to take on and follow through with daily challenges
Parents with poor self-efficacy are more likely to feel threatened, reach impulsively, or quit when the situation becomes difficult.
Bandura’s four principle mechanisms in developing self-efficacy
mastery experiences (successfully overcoming challenges. over a series of challenges, the parent will build resilience. intimate partners, friends, and relatives may support or discourage the parent)
social modeling (parents observe other parents, and this shapes the parenting knowledge and skills)
social persuasion (people in the parent’s social network, supporting the parent’s belief that they can succeed)
emotional states to judge their capabilities (e.g., postpartum depression. particular concern for new parents who face additional socioeconomic challenges)
Challenges and support systems for parents
Parenting takes place in a broader context of challenges and support
a father being sent to prison (risk), the son losing his father (risk), the mother losing her support system (risk)
if the maternal grandmother (protective factor) moves into the family home to provide emotional social support to both the son and his mother, the adverse trajectory could be positively altered toward normal development.
Parents’ social networks
Social networks —all the family, intimate partners, friends, and neighbors that interact with a parent— bring joy, share grief, give advice, add stress, and deliver (or withhold) resources in times of need.
Social networks can strengthen a parent’s self-efficacy by offering support and encouragement to persist with plans when faced with parenting difficulties.
It is the neighborhood, culture, and conversations that shape the parent’s knowledge (cognitions) of parenting.
Grandmothers, community and neighborhood, friends, online network (social media)
The two mechanisms that explain how social networks influence parenting:
indirectly–family and friends affect the parent’s emotional well-being
directly–social networks promote parent’s self-efficacy through mastery experiences, teaching knowledge and skills, social modeling, and social persuasion.
Grandmothers’ influence on parenting
The Grandmother Hypothesis
Menopause might be an adaptation (highly rare among mammals)
Maternal grandmothers help children survive → ensuring their DNA gets passed down
Grandmothers step in to feed young children and perform other motherly duties so that mothers can focus their own energy and resources on having more children at shorter intervals
Online social networks
The power of social media in supporting parents is the parents’ perception of (1) trusted information (“rings true” because of shared beliefs
with the parent’s social media friends and family); (2) valued “lived-experiences” of peers over professional advice; (3) potential to avoid “shame and blame” by professionals; (4) delivered in a context of emotional support and encouragement.
The downside: some of the information is not scientifically supported and may be ineffectual or harmful to the child’s development.
Tend-and-befriend approach
‘Tend and Befriend’ adds an evolutionary foundation to our understanding of why neighborhood and online groups are so powerful in influencing parenting.
Tend to young and the most vulnerable & befriend; turn to social group for support
6. Determinants of Parenting: Work, Poverty, and Financial Stress
Poverty and its effects on children and parents
Exposure to poverty in childhood:
increased child stress levels
slower child development
poorer cognitive performance
poorer health
delayed language development
poorer self-regulatory skills
higher levels of internalizing and externalizing problems
Experiencing long-term poverty in childhood linked to intergenerational immobility. Children who grow up living in neighborhoods characterized by high poverty are likely to be living in similar neighborhoods as adults.
Economic disadvantage and poverty have a differential effect on children, such that some children display resilience and escape the deleterious effects, whereas others not only succumb to poorer outcomes but continue these throughout the life course and even across generations; broader contextual factors should be examined (exposure to crime, poor neighborhoods, inadequate education, poor access to health services, social support)
Effective parenting can act as a protective factor against the adversities associated with living in poverty, however, parenting is also adversely affected when living in poor and/or dangerous neighborhoods, particularly in the absence of social support.
Majority of indirect effects of economic deprivation on cognitive development can be explained by parenting variables, 40% of effects of financial hardship on internalizing and externalizing problems can be explained by parenting practices
The key point illustrated is that it is not exposure to poverty or work related pressure per se that negatively impacts family but rather the impact of these stressors on the parents’ personal experiences, which influences their parenting practices and style, and by extension child and family outcomes.
Defining and measuring socioeconomic status
Every country has a different established poverty line.
Often a combined measure of parents’ education, income, and, occupation.
In many studies, only parental education is measured as an indicator of SES because:
usually the most stable one compared to other indicators (i.e., employment and occupation)
seems to be strongly associated with parental behaviors directed towards children
easy to measure and classify
Employment and its effects on the parents
Challenges:
Parents need to balance work and family
Boundaries between work and home life are more permeable than before (e.g., flexible working hours, mobile technology)
Work-to-Family conflict: negative impact of work on family life (a mother who is distracted at home by work pressure or stress)
Family-to-Work conflict: occurs when the responsibilities associated with family and parenting interfere with work related responsibilities or demands (a father who is unable to attend an evening client meeting because he has to pick up his children form childcare)
Positive effects of workforce participation:
A sense of satisfaction and a break from family life
Having a working mother is associated with some better life outcomes such as higher pay in adult life
Work-Family Enrichment: participation or experience in one role improves performance or benefits the other
related to: + high work status or satisfaction, + higher education levels and higher social support, + flexible or nonstandard work schedule, - children’s externalizing problems
Family stress model
Financial stressors trigger financial pressure, which in turn creates psychological distress. In turn, these lead to marital conflict and distress in parents. Finally, this distress leads to less nurturing and involved parenting, and, by extension, poor child or adolescent outcomes.
Family investment model
Family economic resources, parental education, and parental occupational status is positively correlated with parental investments in children, which is positively correlated with child emotional, behavioral, cognitive, and physical well being.
7. Parent-Child Relationship and Attachment
Defining parent-child relationship
The parent-child relationship is a broad concept that has two different actors, and therefore two perspectives:
The child’s perspective: Child Attachment
Children develop internal working models and representations of a caregiver
Attachment-based representation: In cases of distress, illness, or fear, children have a model in mind of how the specific parent will react and how available the parent is when the child is distressed.
The parent’s perspective
Emotional tie from the parent to the child (bonding)
Parental representations of the child (i.e., the ideas, expectancies, and fantasies about the child and the relationship with the child)
The representational world: parent’s experiences with the child, but also fantasies, hopes, fears, dreams, and predictions.
Parents’ representations of the child and the rs with the child have roots in working models in the context of attachment rs during one’s own childhood.
Parents’ representations about rs shift from representations about being attached to their own caregivers to the caregiver’s perspective.
Types:
**************Balanced:
can provide rich and detailed info about their experiences w/ their child
these narratives are generally highly coherent
show acceptance and respect for the child’s individuality
value the rs w/ their child as meaningful and satisfying
********************Disengaged: (Logan towards Roman)
appear to be disinterested in the child
emotional distance and indifference
may ridicule or dismiss the child’s feelings
Distorted: (Logan towards Kendall)
distortion refers to internal inconsistency
often view their child primarily as an extension of themselves
often have unrealistic expectations of their child
Assessment of parental representations: Working Model of the Child Interview.
There are links btw parental representations of the child and the child’s attachment security.
In addition to the child’s and parent’s perspectives, the parent-child relationship has one more component: The observable interactions between the parent and the child
Parental sensitivity (or responsiveness) is a predictor of many developmental outcomes (social+cognitive)
Mother-child dyads with low SES or very young maternal age might deserve special attention for the risk of emotionally unavailable and undesirable interactive styles.
Defining attachment
An emotional tie that a child constructs and develops with their principal caregivers in the context of everyday interactions
Emotional bond and the strong disposition to seek proximity to and contact with a specific individual (attachment figure)
In an optimal attachment relationship, the child uses the parent as a secure base from which to explore and, when necessary, as a source of safety and comfort.
Through a process of learning, practicing, and feedback from the caregiver figures, and through daily parent-child interactions that become more and more familiar, the child develops a preference for a specific person.
A child can attach to multiple caregivers and most children are though to form more than one attachment relationship (parents, older siblings, grandparents, etc.)
Bowlby’s four-phased model of attachment
First phase: The first 2-3 months of life
The child reacts and orients to people around
Exhibits limited ability to discriminate one person from another and don’t prefer anyone
!But new evidence shows that young babies have a preference for their mother’s voice
Second phase: Between 2-3 and 6-8 months
Preferences for specific persons arise
Greater maternal sensitivity associated with familiarity preferences for mother’s face and voice in 6mo children
Third phase: 6-8 months to age 2
A clear preference for an attachment figure, often the mother
The child’s secure base behavior is more clearly observable
Children create internal working models of the relationships with their parents or other caregiver through repeated experiences with that person
These representations incorporate the child’s adaptations to and expectations about their caregiving figure
Working models are not static, but dynamic
Fourth phase: After age 2
The child now becomes aware and more insightful about the feelings and motives of their attachment figures
Internal working models are continuously being updated and revised.
Different types of attachment
Children develop a secure attachment relationship with a caregiver when a child has expectations of the attachment figure as available and responsive when needed.
In contrast, children are considered to be insecurely attached when they lack this confidence in the availability of the caregiver.
Four types of parent-child attachment:
Securely attached children do not have to worry about the availability and responsiveness of the caregiver. Opportunity to concentrate on exploration and other tasks.
Avoidant attached children retract from their caregiver, opting to control and dissolve their negative affect in a self-reliant matter. Usually have more rejecting and withdrawn caregivers.
Anxious-ambivalent attached children make inconsistent and conflicted attempts to derive comfort and support from the parent, intermingling clinginess with anger. Usually have caregivers who behave inconsistent toward them.
Disorganized attached children do not use an organized strategy for dealing with stress and negative emotions. Highest risk for developmental problems and psychopathology.
Consequences of secure and insecure attachment
Secure attachment →
Higher sociability
Better peer relationships
More compliance towards parents
More effective emotion regulation
Insecure attachment →
Risk factor for higher anxiety and aggression
Increased defensive responses such as freezing
More behavioral problems
More problems with peers
Measuring Attachment (Assessment of Attachment)
Strange Situation: Developed for use with infants in their second year of life. Whether the child uses the parent as a source of security to recover from stress after separation is observed.
Advantage: controlled setting
Disadvantages: shorter observation period, raised some ethical concerns, criticized for its lack of ecological validity.
Attachment Q Sort was devised to observe young children’s secure base behavior (balance between exploration and proximity seeking). Based on lengthy observation of parent-child interactions in the natural home setting.
Consists of cards, each describing a behavioral characteristic of children between 12-48 months.
After several hours of observation, the observer ranks the cards from the most descriptive to least.
The order is compared to a prototypical secure child as provided by several experts.
Advantages: natural setting of the parent and child, can be used for a broader age range ( 1 to 4 years), can be applied in cultures and populations in which the parent-infant separations are uncommon.
Disadvantages: data collection takes more time, fails to differentiate btw types of insecurity, its observational database usually is not videotaped for archival purposes and for review.
For adults: Adult Attachment Interview. Contains open-ended questions such as “Describe your rs with your parents” “Did you ever feel rejected” etc.
8. Effects of the Parents’ Relationship on Children
An Ecological Model: family outcomes –couple interaction and relationship satisfaction, and parent-child interaction and child adjustment– are influenced by the complex interaction of context, life events, and individual characteristics.
→ Couple interaction and paren-child interaction reciprocally influence each other. Parents who have supportive satisfying relationships have more collaborative coparenting, which in turn is associated with more positive parenting and better child adjustment. Couple communication between newlyweds prospectively predicts paren-child interaction 9 years later.
→ Context: relatively stable characteristics of the environment where families live (Culture, family law, early childcare options, support networks)
→ Life events: Chronic stressors (ex:economic strain), acute stressors (ex:daily hassles)
→ Parents’ individual characteristics: ex: adult attachment insecurity, depression
→ Child characteristics: ex: difficult child temperament.
Inter-parental conflict
Interdependence between the marital relationship and the parent-child relationships within a family. Parent-child issues are difficult to resolve unless problems i the marriage had first been addressed.
The relationship between parents has a profound effects on children.
Some parents can be highly conflictual, some frequently show love toward each other in front of their children, some are no longer together but the rs btw the separated parents often still impacts on children.
Inter-parental conflict ↔ Children’s internalizing and externalizing problems, social competence, academic achievement.
There is large inter-individual variation in parental separation’s negative outcomes for children.
Children’s adjustment following divorce is shaped by:
The relationship btw ex-spouses (inter-parental conflict)
Post-divorce parenting and the parent-child relationship quality
The availability of economic resources
Emotional security hypothesis
Marital conflict has its effects on children not so much through the simple occurrence of conflict, but rather through the ways conflictual issues are expressed and managed by parents.
Destructively managed issues reduce children’s sense of emotional security, mediating effects on children’s adjustment
The attachment lit has firmly established the importance of emotional security. However, broader social contexts are important for children’s emotional security and adjustment.
Child’s sense of emotional security not only influenced by dyadic parent-child relationship (moves beyond the dyadic focus of attachment theory)
Emphasizes the importance of the broader family context.
When children are exposed to the conditions of inter-parental conflict, effects are determined through:
Emotional regulation: How much a child feels sad or angry or other emotional reactions, and how well the child can regulate the activation of such emotions.
Cognitive representations: Children assess how much of a problem a given conflict expression constitutes. Cognitions associated with threatened family security are likely to elicit fear and helplessness.
Behavioral regulation: What children do in response to the conflict behavior demonstrated by parents:
Involvement behaviors
Avoidance behaviors
How different types of conflict are associated with child outcomes
Children growing up in the context of a low relationship quality between parents (i.e., low dyadic satisfaction, cohesion, affection, and consensus on important matters) are at similar risk for developing externalizing and internalizing problems and negative cognitive appraisals about inter parental relations as children exposed to different forms of inter parental conflict (i.e., hostile, disengaged, and un-constructive conflict)
Child-related conflict and more frequent conflicts posed a greater risk for the domains of child functioning than relationship quality.
Why can conflict frequency be a negative factor–repeated exposure to inter-parental conflict may progressively intensify children’s reactivity
Why child-related conflict be a negative factor–coparenting is more proximal and may affect children more
Hostile inter-parental conflict→risk for children’s externalizing problems
Hostile, disengaged, and un-constructive inter-parental conflict→risk for children’s internalizing problems.
Limitations of the literature: the accuracy of the children’s responses, and only older children
