Mothers' and fathers' perceptions of the quality of coparenting – the way in which they work together in their role as parents – forms the focus of three papers that comprise this thesis. Using a novel sample of ‘intact' families with young twins, this research extends the existing coparenting literature beyond its typical focus on first-born children, to include more complex families. Participants were families who were part of the Twins, Family and Behaviour (TFaB) Study, a longitudinal, multimethod study of UK families with twins born in 2009/10 conducted by myself and my colleague over a two-year period. Paper 1 examines bidirectional associations between coparenting and the marital relationship during the transition-to-school period. Controlling for cross-sectional associations and temporal stability, parents' perceptions of higher quality coparenting were associated with their subsequent report of a higher quality marital relationship. Reciprocal associations between the marital relationship and subsequent coparenting, however, were not evidenced. These findings highlight the salience of coparenting for the marital relationship, and suggest that interventions seeking to improve the couples' marital relationship should pay close attention to their coparenting. Paper 2 focuses on parenting sense of competence (PSOC), examining the role of children's disruptive behaviour, coparenting, and their interaction. For both mothers and fathers there was a significant interaction between their perceptions of coparenting and children's disruptive behaviour such that high quality coparenting may protect the PSOC of parents dealing with high levels of children's disruptive behaviour. These findings imply that practitioners and interventions concerned with promoting PSOC should pay due attention to the quality of coparenting as an important family context. Paper 3 examines family-wide and child-specific effects of coparenting and coercive parenting on the development of children's disruptive behaviour. Mothers' perceptions of coparenting interacted with maternal overall coercive parenting such that high quality coparenting intensified the toxicity of maternal coercive parenting for children's disruptive behaviour. This novel – and unexpected – finding indicates that the influence of high quality coparenting is not necessarily always positive. Coparenting interventions aiming to improve child outcomes would therefore be well-advised to also consider parenting strategies. Further research is encouraged to explore these research questions within samples of socioeconomic diversity and across family types, as well as studies designed to examine twin and non-twin family differences.

The problem on which this study focused was the need to determine the manner and degree to which pluralistic values of the greater American Society are influencing family life and child rearing patterns of a Southwestern Indian Pueblo, The Southwestern Pueblo is not named for reasons of anonymity. The intent of the study was to determine the degree to which southwestern pueblo mothers have been affected by their education in a non-indian culture as related to child rearing practices in the pre-school years. The study tests the hypothesis that there is no significant difference in the early child rearing practices of mothers educated on the reservation and those mothers educated off the reservation in a non-Indian culture. Methodologically, a sample of 30 mothers were interviewed by the researcher: in the Fall of 1974 . Fifteen mothers were representative of the nonreservation educated mothers and 15 mothers were educated on the reservation. The instrument used in the interviews was adapted from Schroeder who did a similar study at Jemez Pueblo in 1960. Her study served as a comparative base for this research. Out of 76 items, only five showed a significant difference in the responses of the two groups of mothers at the. 05 level. Therefore the hypothesis was not rejected. Generally, the reservation educated mothers were more permissive in areas of feeding than non-reservation educated mothers. This same permissiveness for the reservation educated mothers held true in regard to toilet training practices and in the areas of discipline, the reservation educated mothers leaned toward the traditional maternal extended family pattern. More of the children in the reservation-educated group lived in their maternal grandmother's home. All mothers in both groups realized change was occurring, but most hoped their child would preserve some of the Indian culture and feel proud to be an Indian.

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between perceived child rearing practices and the moral character or pro-social behavior of students in their late teens and early twenties . A questionnaire was administered to forty - eight students to test their moral character which was the dependent variable on the following traits: ambitious, broadminded, capable, cheerful, clean, courageous, forgiving, helpful, honest, imaginative, independent, intellectual, logical, loving, obedient, polite, responsible and self-controlled. The chi l d rearing practices used by the mothers and fathers were also tested as the independent predictor variables according to the following terms: autonomy, coercion, companionship, guilt, inconsistency, love withdrawal, over protection, physical affection, positive reasoning, and support. A similar questionnaire was also sent to the parents of these students asking the mother and father to rate their student's moral character and also how they feel they raised their son or daughter. The results indicate fathers influence their daughter's moral character as much as do mothers. However, using the above moral character variables and child rearing practices variables, fathers only slightly influence their sons and mothers have no significant influence over their sons. Parental child rearing techniques influencing the females the most are: low amounts of physical affection and autonomy from both parents, low amounts of support from the mother, and low amounts of guilt from the father. Also, high amounts of companionship and inconsistency from both parents are strong influences on moral character high ratings. Those child rearing techniques promoting high moral character in males are low amounts of over protection and high amounts of love withdrawal from fathers. It also appears the way children perceive their parents rearing them is in most cases not the way parents feel they raised their children. Also, the way children view their own character traits is not the same way the parents view it in most cases.

This thesis investigates and analyses the child-rearing patterns of two groups of Japanese parents living in Perth, Western Australia. The first group, the 'Stayers have migrated to Australia as a couple with the intention of making Australia their home and occasionally visiting Japan with their children. The second group, the Sojourners' are in Australia for a fixed period of time, generally 4-5 years, as a result of the company requirements expected of the husband/father. Their time in Australia is an interlude, an experience, an opportunity for the whole family.The research compares a number of case studies of families in both groups. In depth interviews following detailed questionnaires provide the data about the child-rearing practices as expressed by mothers and fathers in the two groups. Parental expectation of children's private and public behaviour, as well as their relevance to gender and age are explored.The findings from the survey suggested that the qualities held to be the most important for the Stayer group were those qualities that would be useful for their children to be successful in Australia. Qualities such as independence, assertiveness and using initiative were rated as being more desirable to develop for the children in the Stayer group than those children in the Sojourner group. Some Stayer families with older children had socialised their children to operate successfully in both cultures. The findings also suggested that the qualities held to be important for the Sojourner group were consistent with the qualities that the Japanese view as being valued for Japanese in Japan.

Thesis (doctoral)--Jyväskylän yliopisto. / Summary in Finnish. Includes bibliographical references (p. 213-230).

Social interactions in early life influence the organization of neural and behavioural systems of developing mammalian young. Deprivation of social interactions with the primary caregiver and other immediate conspecifics (early social deprivation) has lasting consequences on behavioural functioning in later life. The purpose of this thesis was to investigate how early social deprivation affects the motivational aspects of behaviour in the context of appetitive stimuli. Rats were reared in complete isolation from the mother and litter using the method of artificial rearing (AR). Control rats were maternally reared (MR). In adulthood, rats were tested in a series of behavioural paradigms designed to assess the motivational impact of primary food reward and reward-related cues on food-seeking behaviour. AR increased the behavioural responsiveness of rats to the motivational impact of reward-related cues, but not to primary rewards themselves. Specifically, there were no significant effects of AR on food consumption or goal-directed instrumental responding for food. However, AR enhanced instrumental responding triggered by a previously conditioned reward cue. AR also increased the expression of approach behaviour towards a localizable conditioned reward cue and instrumental responding when the same cue was used as a reinforcer. An assessment of the mediating factors during development revealed that the lack of tactile stimulation normally received from the mother, but not sustained exposure to the stress hormone corticosterone, contributed to the long-term effects of AR. These findings represent a potential link between early-life social adversity and vulnerability to the development of problems with behavioural inhibition and attention in the presence of appetitive environmental cues.

Social interactions in early life influence the organization of neural and behavioural systems of developing mammalian young. Deprivation of social interactions with the primary caregiver and other immediate conspecifics (early social deprivation) has lasting consequences on behavioural functioning in later life. The purpose of this thesis was to investigate how early social deprivation affects the motivational aspects of behaviour in the context of appetitive stimuli. Rats were reared in complete isolation from the mother and litter using the method of artificial rearing (AR). Control rats were maternally reared (MR). In adulthood, rats were tested in a series of behavioural paradigms designed to assess the motivational impact of primary food reward and reward-related cues on food-seeking behaviour. AR increased the behavioural responsiveness of rats to the motivational impact of reward-related cues, but not to primary rewards themselves. Specifically, there were no significant effects of AR on food consumption or goal-directed instrumental responding for food. However, AR enhanced instrumental responding triggered by a previously conditioned reward cue. AR also increased the expression of approach behaviour towards a localizable conditioned reward cue and instrumental responding when the same cue was used as a reinforcer. An assessment of the mediating factors during development revealed that the lack of tactile stimulation normally received from the mother, but not sustained exposure to the stress hormone corticosterone, contributed to the long-term effects of AR. These findings represent a potential link between early-life social adversity and vulnerability to the development of problems with behavioural inhibition and attention in the presence of appetitive environmental cues.

Artificial rearing of infant rats is a useful method for studying the role of early experiences in neural and behavioural development because it permits precise control over key features of the early environment without maternal influence. The present thesis examined the behavioural response of artificially reared rats towards natural and drug-mediated rewards, as well as novel environments. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were separated from their mother and litter-mates starting on post-natal day five and reared artificially (AR, n = 39), or they were reared naturally with a foster mother and litter (MR, n = 43). On post-natal day 21, half the rats from each rearing group were housed in isolation and the other half were group-housed with 3-4 rats per cage. Following three weeks in their respective housing conditions, all rats were exposed to three behavioural tests in the following order: open field, elevated plus-maze and sucrose preference. Additionally, one of the two cohorts used in adolescent behavioural testing was later tested in adulthood for conditioned place preference in response to morphine injection (intraperitoneal, 10 mg/kg). Adolescent AR rats were found to be more active in the open field and in the elevated plus-maze than MR rats. Furthermore, although there were no differences between the groups in fearfulness in the open field, in their first experience on the elevated plus-maze AR rats were more anxious than MR rats in exploring the open arms. AR rats also showed increased preference for sucrose consumption relative to chow, although their overall caloric intake during the 1h test was lower than that of MR rats. In adulthood, AR rats displayed a stronger conditioned place preference response to morphine. There were no significant effects of housing condition on any of these outcome measures. These findings support the potential of this model to contribute to the understanding of the role of early experience in the development of behavioural motivation.

The distribution, behaviours, and composition of dusky dolphin (Lagenorhynchus obscurus) nursery groups off Kaikoura, New Zealand, were examined. Data were collected during January–May 2005 and December 2005–April 2006 by systematic boat based surveys, group focal follows and photo-identification techniques. A total of 99 nursery groups were encountered on survey. Nursery groups were encountered in shallow water (<20 m) significantly more often than in deeper water (>20 m). Other group types (large groups, mating groups, adult non-mating groups) were not found in shallow water significantly more often than in deeper water. By staying in the shallower water, nursery groups may be protected from aggressive conspecifics and predators. More boats, especially private recreational boats, were found in the shallower waters, indicating that nursery groups are at greater risk from encounters with boat motors or recreational fishing gear in such areas. Group focal follows of at least 30- minutes were conducted on 56 nursery groups. Calves engaged in significantly more high energy behaviours (displays and head first re-entries) than non-calves in nursery groups. These groups were predominantly resting and compactly organized (interanimal distance less than 1 adult body length). Nursery groups showed a high level of synchrony, with 44% of groups synchronizing their submergence and surfacings for most of the focal follow. Median group size was 14, with a minimum of 2 mother-calf pairs to a maximum of 50 mother-calf pairs. A total of 260 individuals were catalogued as members of nursery groups during the two field seasons. Of these, 112 individuals were seen in nursery groups on at least two different days. Some individuals photographed with young calves in nursery groups off Kaikoura were later photographed in Admiralty Bay, 275 km northwest of Kaikoura. Other individuals photographed together in nursery groups in 2005 were also together in nursery groups in 2006.

Foreign Spouses¡¦ Families on Parents¡¦ Rearing Attitude, Children¡¦s Life Adjustments and Creative Experiences Abstract This study investigated the relationship among parents¡¦ rearing attitude, their children¡¦s ¡§life adjustment¡¨ and ¡§creative experiences¡¨ in foreign spouses¡¦ families by analyzing data from questionnaire. A total of 820 participants from Kaohsiung municipal elementary school 5th and 6th grade students (337 students from foreign spouses¡¦ families and 483 from native families) were studied. Data collected by ¡§fathers¡¦ child-rearing scales¡¨, ¡§mothers¡¦ child-rearing scales¡¨, ¡§lifetime creative experiences scales¡¨ and ¡§children life adjustment scales¡¨ were analyzed with Pearson correlation analysis and one-way MANOVA methods. The results indicated: (1) A significant difference in children adjustments and creative experiences results from different parents¡¦ rearing attitudes. Major findings included: (i) The ¡§open-minded authoritative¡¨ parents rearing attitude results in best performance in children¡¦s ¡§life adjustment¡¨ whiles the ¡§neglecting indifferent¡¨ rearing attitude results in worst ¡§life adjustment¡¨. (ii) The ¡§open-minded authoritative¡¨ and ¡§permissive indulgent¡¨ parents rearing attitude results in better performance in children¡¦s ¡§creative experiences¡¨ than the ¡§neglecting indifferent¡¨ and ¡§authoritarian¡¨ rearing attitude ones. (2)Child-rearing attitudes of foreign spouses¡¦ families and native families are different. Native families tend to have ¡§open-minded authoritative¡¨ parenting attitudes while the foreign spouses¡¦ families are most likely to have ¡§neglecting indifferent¡¨ parenting attitudes. (3) The following are major factors considered contribute to parents¡¦ rearing attitude of foreign spouses¡¦ families at different degree: (i) Sex: The gender difference of children show significantly related with of parents¡¦ child-rearing attitude and their children¡¦s adjustment and creative experiences. (ii) Mothers¡¦ nationalities: The mothers¡¦ nationalities were significantly related with the fathers¡¦ child-rearing attitude. Mothers¡¦ nationalities are not significantly related with children¡¦s creative experiences. (iii) Grades: The grades of children are not significantly related with of parents¡¦ child-rearing attitude and their children¡¦s adjustment and creative experiences. (iv) Living status: Whether the children live together with their parents or not are not significantly related with the attitude styles of parents¡¦ child-rearing, and creative experiences. (4) Parents¡¦ rearing attitude and children¡¦s ¡§life adjustment¡¨ and ¡§creative experiences¡¨ are correlated. (5) There are significant differences in ¡§mothers¡¦ child-rearing attitudes¡¨ between foreign spouses¡¦ and native family. (6) There are no differences in life adjustment and creative experiences between the foreign spouses¡¦ families and native families.