Magister Artium (Child and Family Studies) - MA(CFS) / Alcohol abuse in youth is an ever growing problem in South Africa. The phenomenon leads to a variety of other problems, including the relationships that these youth have with their parents. The aim of the study was to explore the parent-child relationship in youth abusing alcohol. The first objective of the study was to explore and describe alcohol abuse in youth and the parent-child relationship from the youth’s perspective. The second objective was to explore and describe alcohol abuse in youth and the parent-child relationship from the parents’ perspective. A qualitative research approach has been used. Non probability purposive sampling has also been employed. The sample comprised of youth between the ages of 18-25 from a township area in the Western Cape, as well as a number of parents. The data collection process took place in the form of one-to-one interviews. The data analysis was done by means of coding and identification of themes. The findings revealed that factors such as family boundaries, relationships, economic factors, and problem and risk behaviour negatively influenced parent-child relationships in youth abusing alcohol. The recommendations had a strong emphasis on social work intervention that focus on strengthening family relationships. Youth were also advised to join programmes as a direct intervention for their alcohol abuse.

Magister Artium (Social Work) - MA(SW) / Early childhood development has been recognised to be the most important contributor to long-term social and emotional development. Whatever occurs in a child‘s life in the early years may be an indicator of the child‘s developmental trajectory and life-course. Therefore positive parenting is paramount to foster quality parent-child interaction. However, previous research shows that for parents to adopt a positive parenting style, some degree of parental knowledge is required. The aim of this study was to compare the relationship between knowledge of child development and parenting styles in low and high socio-economic groups of parents in early childhood development centres. The study used a mixed methods approach with a two-phased sequential exploratory design. A systematic review was conducted in phase 1 followed by a quantitative study for phase 2. The sample consisted of N = 140 parents with children between 2-5 years old from low and high socio-economic groups. The participants completed the Knowledge of Infant Development Inventory (KIDI-P) and Parenting Styles Dimension Questionnaire (PSDQ). Descriptive statistics and Pearson correlation were used to analyze the data. Findings of the study show that the authoritative parenting style is the prevalent parenting style in both low and high socio-economic groups. Furthermore the results indicate that parents are fairly knowledgeable across all subscales for both the low and high socio-economic group with a significant difference in degree of knowledge with the high socio-economic group being more knowledgeable than the low socio-economic group. The findings also show that there in no correlation between knowledge of child development and authoritative parenting styles. However correlations do exist between the other variables.

Magister Artium (Social Work) - MA(SW) / The importance of the role of fathers in the lives of their children and families has received much attention in recent years. This new focus on responsible fatherhood has led to an increase of programme interventions for responsible fathers. The aim of this study was to explore how families experienced an intervention programme for fathers, and how the intervention contributed to child and family well-being. The study made use of a qualitative research methodology. The research sample included fathers, who participated in the intervention programme, as well as their life partners and children. The sample for the study included 10 fathers, 10 spouses, as well as 10 children of the fathers, who participated in an intervention programme for fathers. The final sample of participants in this study was 30 participants. A semi-structured interview schedule was used to collect the data in face-to-face interviews. The data analysis was conducted by means of a thematic analysis. All ethical considerations were adhered to by ensuring the confidentiality and anonymity of participants. The following themes were found in the study: Understanding of family well-being, Conceptualization of fatherhood and father involvement, Communication about the programme, Parent-child relationships, Parental involvement and personal matters, Discipline and conflict management, Experience of programme intervention the father attended. The results of the study showed that (1) the intervention contributed to the well-being of children and their families; (2) the involvement of fathers in the lives of their children increased post-intervention; (3) fathers' communication skills improved; (4) fathers were more involved in unpaid care; (5) spousal relationships improved with less conflict in their relationships.

We conducted a contingency analysis to evaluate if a sequential relation between social initiations and positive social responses increased for both therapists and children with autism following a conditioned reinforcement procedure. Participants included child-therapist dyads, which were previously identified as having low rapport. These dyads were observed prior to and following an intervention designed to establish therapists' social behavior as a reinforcer. Sessions consisted of unstructured play between the therapist and child. Results from a Yule's Q analysis show that both the child and adult positive responding to the others' social initiations increased following the intervention. Findings highlight the reciprocal effects of therapist-child interactions as well as the effectiveness of establishing social attention as a reinforcer via an operant discrimination training procedure.

Autism is one of the fastest growing childhood disorders in the world, and the families that have children with autism experience frustration and stress due to many practical problems. with the increase in the prevalence of autism, it is urgent to raise awareness of autism and to provide services and support for children with autism and their parents to improve the parent-child relationship and moderate the parental stress. with regard to families with children diagnosed as autistic, the purposes of this study are to: (a) examine the group differences in parental stress and parent-child relationship between Taiwan and the United States based on racial and cultural differences; (b) identify factors, if any, that influence the parental stress and parent-children relationship; (c) investigate if there are differences in the results of child development when children are diagnosed with autism in these two countries; (d) establish the Battelle Development Inventory-II in Mandarin Chinese version for use of evaluation with development delays in Taiwan. Findings revealed that: (a) the Battelle Developmental Inventory, Second Edition (BDI-II), is highly reliable with a great value of internal consistency in the use with parents and children with autism in Taiwan; (b) there is no significant difference in child development and parent-child relationship based on geographic region (Taiwan and the United States); (c) parents of children with autism in the United States overall have a more positive parent-child relationship and parenting attitude than parents of children with autism in Taiwan; (d) Children with autism who have a positive relationship with their parents have a higher pass rate on the evaluation of child development; (e) fathers reported higher pass rate on BDI-II than mothers in one of the standard deviations of over BDI-II performance; (f) parent-child relationships are positively correlated with parental stress; (g) parents who received services and support from a government agency or school in Taiwan have significantly lower scores on the parent-child relationship inventory; (h) fathers of children with autism have higher stress level than mothers; (i) parents who received services and support from parent groups (such as PTA or parent association) and from a government agency or school feel less stress than parents that did not receive those supports in Taiwan.

Dissertation submitted in Fulfillment of the requirements for Degree Magister Educationis in the Department of Educational Psychology of the Faculty of Education at the University Of Zululand, 1992. / The objectives of the study were: - to elaborate on and elucidate the changes in society which have impeded the quality of the Hindu parent's accompaniment of his child. - to describe the life - world of the Hindu child as it reveals itself in his relations with himself, others, things/ideas and God. - in the light of the findings from the literature study, to establish certain guidelines according to which accountable support can be instituted to meet the needs of Hindu parents and their children. As an introduction a psychopedagogical perspective on parental accompaniment of their children was given, where it was stressed that the success of the child's education depended on the quality of the parent - child relationship. Parental guidance and support are also crucial in meeting the objectives of education, provided the child's basic physiological and psychological needs are met. The study found that traditional Hindu lifestyles were fast disappearing within a changing society and this had severe consequences for the upbringing of the Hindu child. The pressures of urbanization and industrialization, and the need for employment, forced Hindu families to break away from their traditional extended family systems and move towards nuclear family units. Unlike in the earlier situation, where all members of the extended family assumed responsibility for the upbringing of the children, this is now the sole responsibility of the parents themselves. This has devastating consequences for the child since, generally, both Hindu parents are being forced to seek employment - due to the high cost of living - and consequently the time spent in the accompaniment of their child is considerably reduced. Conditions for pedagogic neglect are therefore created. In addition to this the children come under the strong influence of Western culture and lifestyles, which cause them to become somewhat estranged from their own culture and way of life. The lack of proper parental supervision and control in the urban environment, makes the child also easily Influenced by factors within the environment which result in a wide range of behavioural problems. This affects the relationship between the parent and child, and also has a bearing on his education. Parents do not have the skills and training to cope with the situation or offer assistance to their children, and they are desperately in need of outside help. In the light of the findings of this research the following was recommended: - Hindu authority figures at schools. - A multi-cultural school education policy. - Hindu parents forum at schools. - Further research.

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often experience significant challenges with play, thereby affecting their development of language skills, emotional development, cognitive development, and social connections with others (Freeman & Kasari, 2013). Parent-child relationships influence many aspects of a child’s life including participation in joint play, which is when two or more individuals are playing together (Waldman-Levi, Finzi-Dottan, & Cope, 2019). There are several factors hindering parent participation in play including knowledge of play, understanding of sensory processing and its impact on play, communication during play, and mindful parenting. The following chapters discuss the evidence and theories supporting the development of the proposed program, Play 4 Parents. Play 4 Parents is an in-person group training program designed to enhance play skills of parents of children with ASD. The program uses a variety of teaching strategies, such as direct teaching, strategy practice, and at home hands-on practice. Through program participation it is anticipated that parents will gain an increase in parental sense of competence, a decrease in perceived stress, and improvements with parent-child play interactions.

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We performed an intervention program aimed at promoting a healthy relationship between teenage mothers and their babies, with 26 mothers between 15 and 19 years old, who have one son or daughter between 0 and 6 months old. They were from a poor area of Lima, Peru. The intervention was conducted in four groups, each of which had ten sessions. We assessed the interaction between mother and baby, the mother’s interpretation of emotions and the maternal representations (a description of the baby, of herself as a mother and of the relationship between them), before and after the program. The same evaluations were performed with a comparison group of 18 young mothers with the same characteristics. The article presents and discusses the results of both evaluations. / Se realizó un programa de intervención dirigido a promover un vínculo saludable entre madres adolescentes y sus bebes, con 26 madres entre 15 y 19 años de edad y con un hijo o hija entre 0 y 6 meses de edad de una zona pobre de Lima, Perú. La intervención se realizó en cuatro grupos y cada uno tuvo diez sesiones. Se evaluó la interacción entre madre y bebe, la interpretación que realiza la madre de los afectos, y las representaciones maternales (descripción del bebe, de sí misma como mamá y de la relación entre los dos), antes y después del programa. Se realizaron las mismas evaluaciones con un grupo comparativo de 18 jóvenes con las mismas características. En este artículo se presentan y discuten los resultados obtenidos en ambas evaluaciones.