archives@tulane.edu / The current Grounded Theory study sought to develop a theory of how low-income Black mothers in the greater New Orleans area choose to communicate with their young children about police, arrest and incarceration (PAI). Parental arrest affects the lives of a significant portion of young children in the United States, and disproportionately impacts the lives of Black families, families living in poverty, and families in the Southern part of the U.S. Despite this prevalence, little research has examined what and how parents choose to communicate with their young children about their experiences with the criminal justice system and how they arrive at these decisions within the context of their lived experiences. Working from an intersectional feminist and ecological systems frame, this study used multi-stage coding of interviews with seventeen mothers, all of whom had a child between 3-7 years old, identified as Black or African American, lived in the greater New Orleans area, and had incomes near or below the poverty line, to develop a theory of maternal communication choices about PAI. The theory elucidated a 7-theme model composed of a three-step decision-making process contained within four contextualizing and intersecting themes relating to maternal identity, environment, and experiences. This model expands the body of reserach on parenting in the context of arrest, provides a framework for more grounded and culturally appropriate clinical support to families who have been impacted by arrest, and informs potential policy changes aimed at diminishing the injustices and hurt inflicted on families by the current criminal justice system. / 1 / Elsia Obus

Utilizing a two-dimension model of parenting emphasizing both 1) sensitivity and 2) exploration, consistent with a conceptual framework rooted in attachment theory, the relations between parental insightfulness and observed parenting with child cognitive and language outcomes were investigated in a low income sample of 64 caregivers and their young 3- to 5-year-old children. Specifically, parental insightfulness, assessed dimensionally as Positive Insight and Focus on Child, and observed parental sensitivity and intrusiveness were examined in relation to child language and nonverbal cognitive outcomes. Although parental sensitivity and intrusiveness during play were not associated with child cognitive outcomes, parental intrusiveness during a wordless book activity was related to child language and nonverbal cognitive scores. Parent"'s capacity to remain child-focused during the Insightfulness Assessment was correlated with observed intrusiveness and was associated significantly with child nonverbal cognitive and language scores. In this sample, Focus on Child had a direct effect on child outcomes that was not mediated by observed parenting variables. These results suggest unique contributions of caregiver insightfulness, specifically parents"' capacity to remain focused on the child"'s experience during the Insightfulness Assessment, to child nonverbal cognitive and language outcomes, with preliminary evidence supporting relations between insight, intrusive parenting, and nonverbal cognitive and language outcomes for young children. / 1 / Jessie A Gomez

During World War II and the years immediately following, a successful Sydney businessman, Lesley Owen (L.O.) Bailey, initiated a unique social experiment. Bailey formed an organisation, the Youth Welfare Association of Australia (YWAA), which took into its care 86 ‘war babies’, 43 boys and 43 girls, children who were unable, for a number of reasons, to be cared for by their natural parents. For the next 20 years, these children were cared for by Bailey and the YWAA in a number of homes throughout NSW, which he established for the purpose, the primary home being located at Hopewood House, Bowral. The children were raised entirely on a natural diet, primarily fresh vegetables and fruit. Formal medical care was limited, with medical interventions emphasising the preventative properties of the natural health diet, rather than the use of conventional medical cures. The children were subjected to regular medical, and in particular dental, surveillance and measurement, the results of which were formally published in learned medical and dental journals in Australia during the 1950s. Bailey’s stated intention was to demonstrate the virtues of his regime of diet and health, and the physical improvements which could be derived from his regime. This thesis examines the bio-political dimensions of Bailey’s project within the context of scientific modernity. Within this context, the project is examined from three major perspectives. First, the project is examined as a eugenics experiment. It is argued that Bailey’s project was eugenically motivated, with the intention in the first instance of improving the physical being of the generation of children under his control. The second major dimension examines the disciplines of bodily regulation within Hopewood, and in particular the Hopewood diet. Diet is viewed as a mode of social discipline, imposed within the framework of a total institution for purposes of bio-political enhancement of the species being. For Bailey, diet is the mode of regulation which enables the eugenic outcome of trans-generational bodily enhancement. Third, the thesis examines the implications of social contructions of childhood within the bio-political context, in particular, issues of the ownership of children and children’s bodies. Bailey’s project was an experiment enacted on the bodies of children, and it is argued that social constructions of childhood, especially the discourses surrounding innocence and socialisation, define social ownership and constrain children’s social membership. This thesis is an examination of how society views children, what society sees as the role of children, and the kinds of practices which these constructions sanction towards children. It also illuminates an episode in the history of the Australian eugenics movement, and especially the eugenics of diet. This thesis is a record of a unique Australian social experiment, and its impact on a number of individual lives / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Delaware, 2006. / Principal faculty advisor: Martha J. Buell, Dept. of Individual & Family Studies. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Delaware, 2006. / Principal faculty advisor: Aparna Bagdi, Dept. of Individual & Family Studies. Includes bibliographical references.

This dissertation consists of two studies that investigated predictors of parenting stress as they relate to child ADHD. Two main questions were explored: what is the magnitude of the association between child ADHD and parenting stress, and what are the parent and contextual predictors of parenting stress? In Study 1, meta-analyses were conducted on the association between parenting stress and ADHD. Predictors comprising child, parent, and contextual factors, and methodological and demographic moderators of the relationship between parenting stress and ADHD were examined. Findings from 44 studies were included. In Study 2, I examined parent and contextual (parental ADHD symptoms, parental education, social support, and marital status) predictors of parent domain parenting stress (parental distress) as a function of teacher-reported child ADHD symptoms. Results confirmed that parents of children with ADHD experience more parenting stress than parents of nonclinical control children, and that severity of child ADHD symptoms are associated with parenting stress. Child oppositionality was only predictive of parental distress when reported by parents (not teachers). A post-hoc analysis in Study 2 showed that child factors did not predict parental distress over and above parent and contextual factors. In Study 1, children’s co-occurring conduct problems and parental depressive symptomatology predicted parenting stress. Little difference in parenting stress was found between mothers and fathers, but lower parenting stress levels were found in samples with higher proportions of girls. Parental ADHD symptomatology was the strongest predictor of parental distress considered in Study 2. Social support was inversely related to parental distress in Study 2, whereas parental age and education were unrelated to parental distress. In Study 2, marital status was significantly correlated with parental distress, but was not a significant predictor in the regression. Marital quality was not a significant predictor of parenting stress in Study 1. The large effects observed for parent level predictors suggests that parent factors (i.e., ADHD and depressive symptoms) are critically important in parenting stress and play a primary role in the experience of elevated parenting stress. Future research should give greater consideration to factors outside of the child in increasing parenting stress.

Currently, few intervention programs for maltreating fathers exist and even fewer of them have been evaluated for effectiveness. The current study examined the effectiveness of a community-based group treatment program for domestically violent and child abusing fathers by looking at reliability, magnitude, and clinical significance of changes in variables associated with maltreatment risk mechanisms in a group of 98 participants. The intervention was found to be largely successful in producing statistically significant changes in fathers’ overreactivity to children’s misbehaviour, ability to co-parent with children’s mothers, and their ability to prioritize their children’s needs. However, a closer look at individual change (using measures of clinical significance), showed variability in fathers’ responses to treatment, with some men making changes across measures and some remaining in the clinically concerning range despite treatment efforts. The implications of these findings for intervention and maltreatment prevention are discussed.

Currently, few intervention programs for maltreating fathers exist and even fewer of them have been evaluated for effectiveness. The current study examined the effectiveness of a community-based group treatment program for domestically violent and child abusing fathers by looking at reliability, magnitude, and clinical significance of changes in variables associated with maltreatment risk mechanisms in a group of 98 participants. The intervention was found to be largely successful in producing statistically significant changes in fathers’ overreactivity to children’s misbehaviour, ability to co-parent with children’s mothers, and their ability to prioritize their children’s needs. However, a closer look at individual change (using measures of clinical significance), showed variability in fathers’ responses to treatment, with some men making changes across measures and some remaining in the clinically concerning range despite treatment efforts. The implications of these findings for intervention and maltreatment prevention are discussed.

This dissertation consists of two studies that investigated predictors of parenting stress as they relate to child ADHD. Two main questions were explored: what is the magnitude of the association between child ADHD and parenting stress, and what are the parent and contextual predictors of parenting stress? In Study 1, meta-analyses were conducted on the association between parenting stress and ADHD. Predictors comprising child, parent, and contextual factors, and methodological and demographic moderators of the relationship between parenting stress and ADHD were examined. Findings from 44 studies were included. In Study 2, I examined parent and contextual (parental ADHD symptoms, parental education, social support, and marital status) predictors of parent domain parenting stress (parental distress) as a function of teacher-reported child ADHD symptoms. Results confirmed that parents of children with ADHD experience more parenting stress than parents of nonclinical control children, and that severity of child ADHD symptoms are associated with parenting stress. Child oppositionality was only predictive of parental distress when reported by parents (not teachers). A post-hoc analysis in Study 2 showed that child factors did not predict parental distress over and above parent and contextual factors. In Study 1, children’s co-occurring conduct problems and parental depressive symptomatology predicted parenting stress. Little difference in parenting stress was found between mothers and fathers, but lower parenting stress levels were found in samples with higher proportions of girls. Parental ADHD symptomatology was the strongest predictor of parental distress considered in Study 2. Social support was inversely related to parental distress in Study 2, whereas parental age and education were unrelated to parental distress. In Study 2, marital status was significantly correlated with parental distress, but was not a significant predictor in the regression. Marital quality was not a significant predictor of parenting stress in Study 1. The large effects observed for parent level predictors suggests that parent factors (i.e., ADHD and depressive symptoms) are critically important in parenting stress and play a primary role in the experience of elevated parenting stress. Future research should give greater consideration to factors outside of the child in increasing parenting stress.

While parenting style and its relevant dimensions have long been studied in the area of child development, studies on the effects of perceived parenting behaviors on children’s/adolescents’ nutritional health status have been largely neglected. The present study examined whether perceived parenting style and its dimensions are associated with older children’s/young adolescents’ health outcomes, including self-concept, eating behaviors, physical activity behaviors, energy and nutrient intake, and body measurements. This study placed a distinct emphasis on gender differences by exploring the effects of maternal and paternal parenting behaviors on male versus female subjects’ health outcomes in separate analyses. In addition, this study extended the investigation of the roles family meal behaviors play in an environment in which general parenting behaviors exert their impact on children’s/adolescents’ health. Sources of insight from nutrition, psychology, and sociology contributed to this holistic examination of children’s/adolescents’ health. The study subjects included 123 children (9-11 years old) and 106 adolescents (13-15 years old). Data were obtained through survey questionnaires, dietary recall and records, and anthropometry. Various statistical methods were employed in this study, including multiple regression analysis, cluster analysis, factor analysis, and path analysis. Findings of this study confirmed that an authoritative style is more desirable for study subjects’ health outcomes, compared with a non-authoritative style. Generally, maternal/paternal nurturing appeared to be desirable, but maternal/paternal control was an undesirable predictor of youth health, while the subjects’ age (9-11 versus 13-15 years) and gender played critical roles in the associations. Family meal behaviors appeared to be significant predictors of youth health outcomes. Findings from path analysis suggested that the effects of maternal/paternal nurturing/control on the subjects’ health outcomes are mediated by family meal behaviors. Perception that family dinner meals are family rituals turned out to be the most important mediator of the relationship between maternal/paternal nurturing and the subjects’ health outcomes. Of interest, lack of food pressure by parents appeared to be detrimental to eating behaviors and essential nutrient intake of study subjects. Finally, this study showed that fathers play positive roles in improving male/female subjects’ as well as children’s/adolescents’ health outcomes, especially their physical activity behaviors and self-concept.