Risk Assessments at Birth Predict Kindergarten Achievement and Involvement with Child Protective Services.

Screening for family risk factors at birth is one way that early childhood programs and practitioners can identify families who might benefit from prevention efforts. Some prevention programs currently use cumulative risk (i.e., total number of risk factors present) to determine eligibility for services. More recently, however, person-centered approaches that take into account combinations of risk (versus cumulative risk) have emerged as an approach that could complement current risk assessment methods and illuminate the extent to which classes of family risk are associated with different outcomes in early childhood. Grounded in ecological theory, we tested cumulative family risk and latent classes of family risk at birth as predictors of kindergarten outcomes and mother-reported involvement with Child Protective Services (CPS). Families in the Fragile Families and Child Well-being Study were included in this study if they had medical records data available at the child's birth as well as children's age 5 kindergarten outcomes (N = 757). Cumulative risk was positively associated with children's attention problems, letter-word recognition skills, CPS involvement, and both covariates (i.e., child's diagnosed disability status and mother's ethnicity/race), but not aggression or social skill problems. In terms of latent classes, children from higher risk classes tended to fare significantly worse on kindergarten outcomes and were more likely to have reported involvement with CPS when compared to the lower risk classes. Implications are discussed related to primary prevention, the merits of screening for risk, and comparisons between cumulative risk and classes of risk approaches.

Grandparent Caregivers' Resilience: Stress, Support, and Coping Predict Life Satisfaction.

OBJECTIVES: Do support and coping strategies moderate the link between stress and life satisfaction among grandparent caregivers? BACKGROUND: Grandparents raising grandchildren often experience stress, which may compromise their subjective well-being. Thus, it is important to understand the role of support and coping as protective or promotive factors in relation to grandparent caregivers' resilience (i.e., life satisfaction). METHODS: Grandparent caregivers (N = 74) reported their daily hassles, life satisfaction, social support, and coping. RESULTS: These grandparent caregivers are a vulnerable population in terms of stress and limited social support and coping. Structural equation modeling supported direct, promotive effects of social support and coping on life satisfaction, but not moderation. CONCLUSION: Despite high levels of stress, half of the grandparent caregivers were satisfied with their lives, which was explained by their social support and coping skills. Some grandparents who assume this role likely would benefit from interventions that promote social support and coping skills.

General and food-selection specific parenting style in relation to the healthfulness of parent-child choices while grocery shopping.

Past research has demonstrated that parenting style is related to children's health and eating patterns, and that parenting can vary across time and context. However, there is little evidence about similarities and differences between general, self-reported parenting style and observed parenting during grocery shopping. The goals of this study were to investigate links between general parenting style, parental warmth and limit setting (important dimensions of parenting style) during grocery shopping, and the healthfulness of foods chosen. Participants were 153 parent (88 mothers) - child (6-9 years old) dyads. Dyads were brought to a laboratory set up like a grocery store aisle and asked to choose two items from each of three categories (cookies/crackers, cereals, chips/snacks). Parents were observed in terms of warmth, responsiveness, autonomy granting, and limit setting; children were observed in terms of resistance and negotiation. Parents reported behaviors related to general parenting. Regression analyses were used to test study hypotheses. Observed parental limit setting was related to general parenting style; observed warmth was not. Observed limit setting (but not observed warmth or self-reported parenting style) was related to the healthfulness of food choices. Limit setting appears to be the dimension of parenting style that is expressed during grocery shopping, and that promotes healthier food choices. Implications are discussed regarding consistencies in parenting style across situations as well as contributions of parenting style to the development of children's healthy eating.

Cultural adaptation of a pediatric functional assessment for rehabilitation outcomes research.

BACKGROUND: Significant racial and ethnic health care disparities experienced by Hispanic children with special health care needs (CSHCN) create barriers to enacting culturally competent rehabilitation services. One way to minimize the impact of disparities in rehabilitation is to equip practitioners with culturally relevant functional assessments to accurately determine service needs. Current approaches to culturally adapting assessments have three major limitations: use of inconsistent translation processes; current processes assess for some, but not all, elements of cultural equivalence; and limited evidence to guide decision making about whether to undertake cultural adaptation with and without language translation. The aims of this observational study are (a) to examine similarities and differences of culturally adapting a pediatric functional assessment with and without language translation, and (b) to examine the feasibility of cultural adaptation processes. METHODS: The Young Children's Participation and Environment Measure (YC-PEM), a pediatric functional assessment, underwent cultural adaptation (i.e., language translation and cognitive testing) to establish Spanish and English pilot versions for use by caregivers of young CSHCN of Mexican descent. Following language translation to develop a Spanish YC-PEM pilot version, 7 caregivers (4 Spanish-speaking; 3 English-speaking) completed cognitive testing to inform decisions regarding content revisions to English and Spanish YC-PEM versions. Participant responses were content coded to established cultural equivalencies. Coded data were summed to draw comparisons on the number of revisions needed to achieve cultural equivalence between the two versions. Feasibility was assessed according to process data and data quality. RESULTS: Results suggest more revisions are required to achieve cultural equivalence for the translated (Spanish) version of the YC-PEM. However, issues around how the participation outcome is conceptualized were identified in both versions. Feasibility results indicate that language translation processes require high resource investment, but may increase translation quality. However, use of questionnaires versus interview methods for cognitive testing may have limited data saturation. CONCLUSIONS: Results lend preliminary support to the need for and feasibility of cultural adaptation with and without language translation. Results inform decisions surrounding cultural adaptations with and without language translation and thereby enhance cultural competence and quality assessment of healthcare need within pediatric rehabilitation.

Promotion of Civic Engagement with the Family Leadership Training Institute.

In this efficacy study, both quantitative and qualitative data were used to gauge the effects of the Family Leadership Training Institute (FLTI) on civic knowledge and empowerment, civic engagement, and community health. The sample of 847 FLTI participants and 166 comparison adults completed pretest and posttest surveys. Medium to very large short-term effects were observed in civic literacy, empowerment, and engagement. Results mapping interviews were conducted with a stratified random sample of FLTI graduates (n = 52) to assess long-term (M = 2.73 years) program impact. Most FLTI graduates (86%) sustained meaningful, sometimes transformative, levels of civic engagement after program completion. This engagement involved multiple forms of leadership, most often advocacy, program implementation, and media campaigns; 63% of graduates directed at least some of their activities to marginalized populations. Content analyses of graduates' civic (capstone) projects and results mapping story maps indicated that 81-90% of community activities aligned with public health priorities. Thus, one promising means to promote community health is to empower families to develop leadership skills, become engaged in civic life, and forge connections with diverse constituents.

Trajectories of maternal aggression in early childhood: Associations with parenting stress, family resources, and neighborhood cohesion.

BACKGROUND: The effects of family risk on parenting can be ameliorated or exacerbated depending on factors internal (e.g., appraisals, regulation) and external (e.g., resources, social support) to the role of parenting. Therefore, it is important to distinguish between sources of stress when exploring associations with parenting behaviors. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to identify trajectories of maternal aggression among families across various levels of risk, and explore associations with factors internal and external to parenting. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: Participants included children in large U.S. cities born between 1998 and 2000, followed through age 9, in the Fragile Families and Child Well-being Study with medical records data available (N = 3529). METHOD: Latent growth curve modeling was conducted to identify trajectories of maternal aggression measured through a survey at child age 3, 5, and 9. Correlates of maternal aggression (i.e., family risk for maltreatment, income-to-poverty ratios, maternal education, parenting stress, and neighborhood cohesion) were measured through medical records and maternal surveys at birth, age 1, and age 3. RESULTS: Maternal aggression similarly declined between child age 3 and 9 across low-, moderate-, and high-risk families. Across all families, neighborhood social cohesion was significantly, negatively associated with maternal aggression, (ß's = -.20 to -.28, p's < .001) and increases in parenting stress were significant predictors among Low Risk (ß = .12, p = .006) and High Risk (ß = .10, p = .02) families. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that families could benefit from supportive neighborhood environments or parenting stress reduction techniques, regardless of level of risk at birth.

Resilience as Regulation of Developmental and Family Processes.

Resilience can be defined as establishing equilibrium subsequent to disturbances to a system caused by significant adversity. When families experience adversity or transitions, multiple regulatory processes may be involved in establishing equilibrium, including adaptability, regulation of negative affect, and effective problem-solving skills. The authors' resilience-as-regulation perspective integrates insights about the regulation of individual development with processes that regulate family systems. This middle-range theory of family resilience focuses on regulatory processes across levels that are involved in adaptation: whole-family systems such as routines and sense of coherence; coregulation of dyads involving emotion regulation, structuring, and reciprocal influences between social partners; and individual self-regulation. Insights about resilience-as-regulation are then applied to family-strengthening interventions that are designed to promote adaptation to adversity. Unresolved issues are discussed in relation to resilience-as-regulation in families, in particular how risk exposure is assessed, interrelations among family regulatory mechanisms, and how families scaffold the development of children's resilience.

Community characteristics, conservative ideology, and child abuse rates.

Authoritarian ideology, including religious conservativism, endorses obedience to authority and physical punishment of children. Although this association has been studied at the level of the family, little research has been conducted on whether conservativism in the broader community context correlates with the mistreatment of children. The purpose of this study was to determine whether this relation between conservativism and physical punishment of children extends to child abuse rates at the community level. Predictors included county-level religious and political conservativism and demographic variables. Political and religious conservativism covaried, and both were inversely related to child abuse rates. Population density was strongly related to rates of maltreatment and with demographic factors controlled, religious conservativism but not political conservativism continued to predict rates of child abuse. The results suggest that community factors related to social disorganization may be more important than religious or political affiliation in putting children at risk for maltreatment.