"You do need to do the interaction": Mothers' perceptions of responsive parenting following a home-based parenting intervention.

Responsive parenting (also known as responsivity) is a dynamic and bidirectional exchange between the parent-child dyad and associated with a child's social and cognitive development. Optimal interactions require a sensitivity and understanding of a child's cues, responsiveness to the child's need, and a modification of the parent's behavior to meet this need. This qualitative study explored the impact of a home visiting program on mothers' perceptions of their responsivity to their children. This study is part of a larger body of research known as right@home, an Australian nurse home visiting program promoting children's learning and development. Preventative programs such as right@home prioritize population groups experiencing socioeconomic and psychosocial adversity. They provide opportunities to promote children's development through the enhancement of parenting skills and an increase in responsive parenting. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 mothers, providing insight into their perceptions of responsive parenting. Four themes were extracted from the data using inductive thematic analysis. These indicated that: (1) mothers' perceived preparation for parenting, (2) recognition of mother and child needs, (3) response to mother and child needs, and (4) motivation to parent with responsiveness, were considered important. This research highlights the importance of interventions that focus on the parent-child relationship in increasing mother's parenting capabilities and promoting responsive parenting.

La crianza con sensibilidad (también conocida como crianza con capacidad de respuesta) es un dinámico intercambio en ambas direcciones entre la díada progenitor-niño, asociada con el desarrollo social y cognitivo del niño. Las interacciones óptimas requieren de una sensibilidad y comprensión de las señales del niño, capacidad de respuesta a la necesidad del niño, y de una modificación del comportamiento del progenitor para cumplir con esta necesidad. Este estudio cualitativo exploró el impacto de un programa de visita a casa sobre las percepciones de las madres acerca de su capacidad de respuesta a sus niños. Este estudio es parte de un mayor cuerpo investigativo conocido como right@home (justo en casa), un programa australiano de visita a casa por parte de enfermeras que promueve el aprendizaje y desarrollo de los niños. Los programas preventivos tales como right@home dan prioridad a grupos de población que experimentan adversidad socioeconómica y sicosocial. Ellos ofrecen oportunidades para promover el desarrollo de los niños por medio del mejoramiento de las habilidades de crianza y un incremento de la sensibilidad en la crianza. Se llevaron a cabo entrevistas semiestructuradas con 12 madres, lo cual aportó ideas sobre sus percepciones de la crianza con sensibilidad. Se extrajeron cuatro temas de la información usando análisis temáticos inductivos. Estos indicaron que se consideraban importantes (1) el cómo las madres percibían su preparación para la crianza, (2) el reconocimiento de las necesidades de la madre y del niño, (3) la respuesta a las necesidades de la madre y del niño, y (4) la motivación a criar con sensibilidad. Esta investigación subraya la importancia de intervenciones que se enfoquen en la relación progenitor-niño para aumentar las capacidades de crianza de la madre y promover una crianza con sensibilidad.

Le parentage réactif (aussi connu comme réactivité) est un échange dynamique et bidirectionnel entre la dyade parent-enfant, et lié au développement social et cognitive d'un enfant. Les interactions optimales demandent une sensibilité et une compréhension des signaux de l'enfant, la réactivité au besoin de l'enfant, et une modification du comportement du parent pour répondre à ce besoin. Cette étude qualitative a exploré l'impact d'un programme de visite à domicile sur les perceptions des mères de leur réactivité à leurs enfants. Cette étude fait partie de recherches plus étendues connues sous le nom de de right@home, un programme de visite infirmières à domicile australien promouvant l'apprentissage et le développement des enfants. Les programmes de prévention tels que right@home privilégient les groupes de population marqués par l'adversité socioéconomique et psychosociale. Ils offrent des opportunités de promouvoir le développement des enfants au travers du renforcement des capacités de parentage et une augmentation du parentage réactif. Des entretiens semi-structurés ont été faits avec 12 mères, offrant un aperçu de leurs perceptions du parentage réactif. Quatre thèmes ont été extraits des données en utilisant une analyse thématique inductive. Ces dernières ont indiqué que (1) la préparation perçue des mères pour le parentage, (2) la reconnaissance des besoins de la mère et de l'enfant, (3) la réponse aux besoins de la mère et de l'enfant, et (4) la motivation du parent avec la réaction ont toutes été considérées comme importantes. Ces recherches mettent en lumière l'importance d'interventions qui se concentrent sur la relation parent-enfant en augmentant les capacités de parentage des mères et en promouvant le parentage réactif.

School staff wellbeing: A network-based assessment of burnout.

Burnout is commonly associated with professions that entail a high rate of close relationships with other individuals or groups. This paper explores the association between burnout and interpersonal relationships using a relational, social network framework. We collected data on advice-seeking relationships among 102 teachers and administrative staff from a secondary school in Melbourne, Australia. Burnout was measured using the Burnout Assessment Tool and we focused on four core subscales: (1) exhaustion; (2) mental distance; (3) emotional impairment; and (4) cognitive impairment. We applied a particular class of statistical model for social networks called Exponential Random Graph Models (ERGMs) to shed new light on how level of burnout relates to formation of advice relations among school staff. Results indicated that high levels of overall burnout were linked to a higher number of advice-seeking ties among school staff. Additionally, teachers who scored high in cognitive impairment (i.e., difficulties in thinking clearly and learn new things at work) tended to seek and to provide advice to a greater number of others. Finally, school staff who scored high in exhaustion (i.e., a severe loss of energy that results in feelings of both physical and mental exhaustion) tended to be sought out less as advisors to others, while those high in mental distance (i.e., psychologically distancing oneself from others) were generally less likely to seek advice from other school staff. We discuss these findings drawing on Conservation of Resource theory. Notably, our results show that burnout is not only an individual-level problem, but that burnout is associated with reduced social connectivity in specific ways that may impact on how other school staff collaborate, culminating in a staff-wide overall impact that affects how schools function.

Service use in children aged 6-8 years with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

OBJECTIVE: This study investigated prevalence, types and predictors of professional service use in families of children identified with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in the community. SETTING: children with ADHD were identified through 43 schools using parent and teacher screening questionnaires (Conners 3 ADHD Index) followed by case confirmation using the Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children Version IV. Parents completed a survey about professional service use in the last 12 months. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: data on variables potentially associated with service use were collected from parents (interview and questionnaires), teachers (questionnaires) and children (direct assessment). Logistic regression was used to examine predictors of service use in univariate and multivariable analyses. RESULTS: The sample comprised 179 children aged 6-8 years with ADHD. Over one-third (37%) had not received professional services in the last 12 months. The strongest predictors of service use were older child age (adjusted OR=3.0, 95% CI 1.0 to 8.9, p=0.05), and the degree to which the child's behaviour impacted on the family (adjusted OR=2.0, 95% CI 1.3 to 3.3, p=0.007), after controlling for ADHD subtype and severity, externalising comorbidities, academic achievement and parent-reported impairment. CONCLUSIONS: A substantial proportion of children with ADHD are not accessing professional services. Our findings suggest that the child's age and the impact of the child's behaviour on the family are the strongest predictors of service use. Given the demonstrated benefits from various interventions in ADHD, there is a need to improve case identification and referral for services.