Eating and feeding are skills learned in early childhood that are important to human survival. These activities are complex and require physical, sensory, cognitive, and behavioral skills. Understanding the nature of picky eating and addressing it in this essential developmental period is critical to establishing healthy eating habits that persist into adulthood. Educating and equipping parents and caregivers with the tools they need to support their child will create healthy, sustainable eating habits. Picky eating is a concern for parents of children at all developmental stages that is frequently associated with parent stress and mealtime disruptions. Researchers often refer to picky eating as a passing childhood phase; however, clinical studies and longitudinal results indicate that picky eating could persist into adulthood and cause obesity, cardiovascular disease, metabolic disorders, and respiratory problems. Three main factors cause picky eating: the child, the caregiver, and the mealtime climate. Together in Every Bite is a virtual hands-on parent education program that aims to educate parents and caregivers to establish healthy habits around mealtime and decrease picky eating behavior in children in their early developmental stages (6-24 months) and decrease mealtime stress and anxiety. Caregivers will engage in problem-solving and plan-building activities coinciding with the learned material, developing their self-efficacy and confidence while reducing stress and anxiety. The program director will also distribute valuable information provided through this platform to health professionals who work with parents of infants. This paper outlines the relevant literature and theory, and the evaluation, funding, and dissemination plans for Together in Every Bite.

Syftet med studien var att undersöka föräldraförmågans (parental self-efficacy) dimensioner i förhållande till den självupplevda föräldrabarnrelationen. Undersökningen genomfördes som en tvärsnittsstudie av kvantitativ design med 151 deltagare. Deltagarna rekryterades på sociala medier och besvarade en digital enkät. För att analysera data användes det statistiska programmet SPSS. Dataanalys visade att samtliga dimensioner av föräldraförmågan i mätinstrumentet TOPSE korrelerade positivt med responsvariabeln föräldrabarnrelationen. Det innebär att ju högre den subjektivt upplevda föräldraförmågan är, desto bättre relation upplever föräldrarna till sina barn. Empati och förståelse var den starkaste prediktorn av föräldrabarnrelationen följt av kontroll, känslor och tillgivenhet samt social press. Denna studie visar att den subjektivt upplevda föräldraförmågan, mätt genom de åtta dimensionerna av TOPSE-mätinstrumentet, är en viktig prediktor för den självupplevda föräldrabarnrelationen. / This study examines the relationship between dimensions of parental self-efficacy in relation to the subjectively perceived parent-child relationship. The survey was conducted as a cross-sectional study of quantitative design with 151 participants, parents of children 0-6 years. Participants were recruited on social media and answered a digital survey. The statistical program SPSS was used to analyze the data. Dataanalysis showed that all eight dimensions in the parental self-efficacy measuring instrument TOPSE correlated positively with the response variable parent-childrelationship. This means that the higher the self-perceived parental self-efficacy is, the better relationship parents experience with their children. Empathy and understanding were the strongest predictors, followed by control, emotion and affection, and social pressure. This study shows that parental self-efficacy, measured through the eight dimensions of the TOPSE measuring instrument, is an important predictor of the subjectively experienced parent-child relationship.

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Social impairments characteristic of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are evident in early childhood and often worsen as an individual matures (Rao, Beidel, and Murray, 2008). Despite the emphasis on early intervention and caregiver training, few evidence-based interventions explicitly address the development of social skills in preschool-aged children with ASD (DeRosier, Swick, Davis, McMillen, and Matthews, 2011; Reichow and Volkmar, 2010) and none appear to actively integrate caregivers into treatment (Reichow, Steiner, and Volkmar, 2012). Research indicates that generalization beyond a social skills group setting might occur by including caregivers (DeRosier et al., 2011). The PEERS® program is an evidence-based caregiver-assisted social skills program for adolescents and young adults (Laugeson and Frankel, 2010) that has recently been extended for preschoolers with ASD. An initial randomized controlled trial (RCT) indicated benefits from the PEERS® for Preschoolers (P4P) program, but did not examine caregiver or family outcomes. Researchers also suggest a bidirectional effect in which the family system is impacted by the child with ASD and in turn, the child with ASD is also affected by the family (Karst and Van Hecke, 2012). This study examined the P4P curriculum with 15 children with ASD and their caregivers and examined feasibility of the intervention as well as child social skills, caregiver competency, confidence, and parenting skills in working with their child, and family functioning in the context of the P4P intervention. Results suggest the feasibility of proof concept of applying the P4P curriculum to young children with ASD and their caregivers. Specifically, this 16-session intervention appears to improve social skills scores in children with ASD, which is maintained 4-6 weeks after treatment, increased scores were noted in caregiver confidence interacting with their children, as well as improved scores in their affect/animation and achievement orientation in interaction styles with their child, and noted improvements in their parenting styles overall score. Therefore, this intervention may have an impact both the child and caregiver in positive ways and these positive results are largely maintained at a follow-up after intervention completion. Future research will need to focus more on the entire family unit, as no changes were noted in the present study, and should examine the specific mechanisms that lead to these positive results regarding child social skills and caregiver interaction styles and confidence. Additionally, more work that adds to making P4P an evidence-based treatment must be at the forefront of future work. / Doctor of Philosophy / Social difficulties (e.g., initiating and/or maintaining social interactions, using and/or interpreting verbal and nonverbal social communication, such as eye contact or gestures, understanding others' thoughts and emotions) characteristic of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are evident in early childhood and often worsen as an individual matures (Baron-Cohen and Wheelwright, 2004; Frith, 2004; Rao, Beidel, and Murray, 2008). Despite the emphasis on early intervention or treatment for individuals with ASD and caregiver (e.g., parent, grandparent, etc.) training, few evidence-based interventions exist that purposefully address the development of social skills in preschool-aged children (DeRosier, Swick, Davis, McMillen, and Matthews, 2011; Reichow and Volkmar, 2010) and none appear to actively involve caregivers in treatment (Reichow, Steiner, and Volkmar, 2012). Research indicates that generalization beyond a social skills group setting might occur by including caregivers (DeRosier et al., 2011). The PEERS® program is an evidence-based caregiver-assisted social skills program for adolescents and young adults (Laugeson and Frankel, 2010) that has recently been extended for preschoolers with ASD. An initial randomized controlled trial (RCT) indicated benefits from the PEERS® for Preschoolers (P4P) program, but did not examine caregiver or family outcomes. Researchers also suggest that there is often an effect on the entire family unit of a child with ASD, which in turn has an impact on the child with ASD (Karst and Van Hecke, 2012). This study examined the P4P curriculum with 15 children with ASD and their caregivers, and examined feasibility of the intervention as well as child social skills, caregiver competency, confidence, and parenting skills in interacting with their child, and family functioning in the context of the P4P intervention. Results suggest that this 16-session intervention appears to improve social skills scores in children with ASD, and these improved scores are largely maintained 4-6 weeks after treatment. Increased scores were also noted in caregiver confidence in interacting with their children as well as in their affect/animation and achievement orientation in interaction styles, and may also improve their parenting style scores overall. Therefore, this intervention may have an impact on both the child and caregiver in positive ways. Future research should address the entire family unit, as no changes were noted in the present study, and should also examine the specific factors that lead to these positive results, as further research adds to P4P becoming an evidence-based treatment.

Grow Up is a collection of five short stories that explore the parentification of bourgeois youth and the concerns of growing up in a postmodern, performative culture. The characters are faced with circular situations where the causality of their feelings and actions are often obscured or scattered. Special attention is given to identity through emotion and perception where youth react against the marginalization, homogenization, or the commoditization of their experience. The stories also attempt to describe the condition of neglected youth in social situations and environments that are polarized, paradoxical, and fractured because of isolation among their many parts. The fictional characters and their environment raise the question as to whether their environment is anachronistic in its attitudes and approaches to youth and their relations, or whether youth today is becoming anachronistic in itself.

The effects of perceived mental/emotional problems (psychopathology) in the family-of-origin on adult offspring marital satisfaction was tested in a model considering the mediating variables of parental marital satisfaction, mother-child relationship quality, father-child relationship quality, and resolution of issues from the family-of-origin. The nationally representative sample (n = 802) drawn from the RELATionship Evaluation (RELATE) database included mostly college educated, lower-middle-class individuals in their first marriage. This sample was used to test a structural equation model that results showed fit the data well. Results showed that historical (distal) factors (such as psychopathology in the family-of-origin) explain only a small portion of the variance in adult offspring marital satisfaction and suggest that more contemporary (proximal) factors (such as individual characteristics) have a stronger relationship to adult offspring marital satisfaction. Results showed that 56% of the variance in achieving resolution of issues from the family-of-origin was explained by the other variables in the model with the best predictor being parental marital satisfaction. Direct, indirect, and total effects of each of the independent variables were examined. Results showed no direct effect of perceived mental/emotional problems (psychopathology) in the family-of-origin on adult offspring marital satisfaction. Only the mother-child relationship quality had a direct effect on adult offspring marital satisfaction. Clinical implications for practitioners are discussed. This study helps practitioners know how to help a client find resolution to issues stemming from perceived family-of-origin mental/emotional problems. This study also shows that focusing on current interpersonal processes and skills that may be part of achieving resolution is more likely to help a couple with marital problems than focusing on negative effects from the family-of-origin. Future research should focus on exploring the applicability of this model to different variables such as gender, race, income levels, etc. Future research models should also incorporate both historical and contemporary factors to help determine the direct effects of these variables on adult offspring relationship satisfaction.

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The study investigated the relationships between perceived contingency of parental rewarding and punishing behaviors and locus. of control. Scores on Levenson's Internal, Powerful Others, and Chance locus of control scales were correlated with scores on Yates, Kennelly, and Cox's (1975) Perceived Contingency of Rewards and Punishments Questionnaire. Few significant correlations were obtained. Maternal non-contingent reward related negatively and significantly to internality for males. Paternal non-contingent reward related positively and significantly to males' perception of control by powerful others. And paternal contingent reward related negatively and significantly to females' perceptions of control by chance. Results are discussed relative to learned helplessness research interpretations.

Dans le cadre de ce mémoire, nous tenterons de contribuer à la compréhension des processus qui régissent la relation entre le parent et l’infans, en nous intéressant plus spécifiquement au primat de l’autre en tant que constituant nécessaire de la psyché de l’infans, au sens ou l’entend la psychanalyse. Sachant que le développement de l’enfant dépend grandement de la qualité des soins psychiques et corporels qu’il reçoit, nous chercherons néanmoins à montrer comment la relation parent-enfant doit néanmoins prendre la forme d’une certaine violence. Nous baserons nos analyses sur les théories développées par Piera Aulagnier et Jean Laplanche. À partir des concepts de la violence primaire et secondaire développés par Aulagnier, ainsi que des notions d’implantation et d’intromission théorisées par Laplanche, nous tenterons de définir et déceler comment et sous quelles formes la violence décrite par les auteurs dans la relation mère/infans marque ou plutôt « signe » le développement psychique. À travers l’analyse comparative de ces théories, nous chercherons à voir les différences et les accords entre la pensée de ces deux auteurs, en vue d’en obtenir une compréhension plus riche. / In the context of this paper, we try to contribute to the understanding of the processes that govern the relationship between the parent and the infant, by focusing more specifically on the primacy of the other as a necessary component of the child’s psyche, as understood in psychoanalysis. Knowing that the child development depends greatly on the quality of the mental and physical care they receive, we try nonetheless to show how the parent-child relationship must still take the form of a « violence ». We base our analysis on the theories developed by Piera Aulagnier and Jean Laplanche. Using the concepts of primary and secondary violence developed by Aulagnier and the notions of « implantation » and « intromission » theorized by Laplanche, we try to define and identify how and in what forms the violence that takes place in the mother-infans relationship brands the psychic development of the latter. Through the comparative analysis of these theories, we will try to see the differences and agreements between the thought of these two authors in order to get a richer understanding of the phenomenon of violence.