Parenting in the Face of Health Challenges: Research and Interventions Update

A special issue of Children (ISSN 2227-9067).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (10 December 2023) | Viewed by 5127

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Department of Psychology, Faculty of Arts and Humanities, University of Madeira, Campus da Penteada, 9020-105 Funchal, Portugal
Interests: parenting assessment; child protection; systemic intervention; parenting capacity; parenting skills; mental health
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Health can be considered as a major asset or a special challenge for parenting, as situations, such as mental disorders, chronic diseases, or long-term treatments, require major changes and adaptations in family life or, more specifically, in parenting functioning in order to assure children’s needs. Since parenting is an interpersonal process, the health conditions of both children and parents influence it. In addition, the health conditions of parents may also impact the quality of children’s development, being sometimes associated with a higher risk of child abuse and neglect. Gathering and mobilizing adequate internal and external resources (as parenting capacity, skills, or social support) to deal with the health conditions of parents, children, or both are a major concern for many researchers and professionals in health care, as well as in social services, education, or justice. Actual stressors such as the COVID-19 pandemic, armed conflicts and economic crises are, per se, major challenges to health on general and parenting in particular.

This Special Issue welcomes submissions from any discipline focused on universal, indicated, or specialized preventive approaches to parenting in the presence of some kind of health challenge, based on conceptual models and interventions with parents (including kinship care, foster parents, and adoptive parents) and their impact on children’s and parents’ wellbeing. We particularly welcome multidisciplinary approaches, examining  different health conditions in diverse settings (community, schools, health services) and regions of the world. Systematic reviews, pilot studies, case studies, description of innovative practices, or impact evaluations of parenting interventions and programs are welcome.

Dr. Dora Isabel Fialho Pereira
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Children is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • health conditions
  • parenting skills
  • parenting capacity
  • prevention
  • intervention
  • children well-being
  • impact studies
  • innovative practices

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

13 pages, 1006 KiB  
Article
Discrepancies in Perceived Indulgent Parenting, Relationship Satisfaction, and Psychological Well-Being of Adolescents and Parents
by Qinglan Feng and Ming Cui
Children 2024, 11(4), 393; https://doi.org/10.3390/children11040393 - 26 Mar 2024
Viewed by 687
Abstract
Indulgent parenting has been associated with adolescents’ psychological well-being problems; however, prior research has primarily relied on adolescents’ report of such parenting behavior and its association with their own well-being, often overlooking parents’ perceptions of indulgence and their own well-being. In this study, [...] Read more.
Indulgent parenting has been associated with adolescents’ psychological well-being problems; however, prior research has primarily relied on adolescents’ report of such parenting behavior and its association with their own well-being, often overlooking parents’ perceptions of indulgence and their own well-being. In this study, we address this gap in the literature by examining the agreement and disagreement between parents’ and adolescents’ perceptions of indulgent parenting and the implications for the psychological well-being of both adolescents and their parents. Further, we explore the role of adolescent–parent relationship satisfaction as a potential factor affecting these associations. Our investigation was based on data from 128 parent–adolescent dyads. Utilizing structural equation modeling with double-entry intraclass correlations (ICC_DE), our analyses revealed several main findings: (1) adolescents perceived higher levels of indulgent parenting than their parents did; (2) disagreement in perceived indulgent parenting between parents and adolescents was linked to psychological well-being problems for both adolescents and their parents; and (3) disagreement in perceptions in indulgent parenting had a stronger association with adolescents’ well-being problems when adolescents reported greater relationship satisfaction with their parents. These findings provide insights into perceptions of indulgent parenting within parent–adolescent relationships and bring psychological implications for both adolescents and their parents. Full article
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12 pages, 656 KiB  
Article
Did Inequalities in Mothers’ and Children’s Health and Well-Being in Japan Increase through the Pandemic? Evidence from Nationwide Surveys and Routinely Collected Data
by Hajime Takeuchi, Yoichi Satoh, Shanti Raman and Nick Spencer
Children 2024, 11(3), 330; https://doi.org/10.3390/children11030330 - 9 Mar 2024
Viewed by 1916
Abstract
Marginalised families faced significant challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study explores inequalities in Japanese mothers’ and children’s health and well-being and family economic stability before and during the pandemic. Data sources were as follows: nationwide surveys in 2019 and 2021 of families [...] Read more.
Marginalised families faced significant challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study explores inequalities in Japanese mothers’ and children’s health and well-being and family economic stability before and during the pandemic. Data sources were as follows: nationwide surveys in 2019 and 2021 of families with children using medical institutions across Japan; infant mortality and adolescent suicide rates between 2018 and 2021 from publicly available sources. Outcomes by poor and non-poor families were compared for 2019 and 2021 using simple descriptive statistics. Poor mothers’ part-time working increased from 41% to 61% and regular employment was reduced by two thirds. The well-being of poor mothers worsened from 39% to 55%. Employment opportunities and well-being did not change for non-poor mothers. School subsidies among poor families increased from 23% to 55%. The infant mortality rate (IMR) among unemployed families increased significantly from 12.9/1000 to 18.2/1000 between 2018 and 2021 compared with a decreasing overall IMR from 1.9/1000 to 1.7/1000. Suicide rates in 10–19-year-olds increased over the same period although no socio-economic indicators were available. Inequalities in mothers’ and children’s health and well-being indicators and family economics increased between 2019 to 2021 in Japan. This study cannot attribute causes but suggests a possible role of the pandemic. Full article
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12 pages, 619 KiB  
Article
Indulgent Parenting and the Psychological Well-Being of Adolescents and Their Parents
by Qinglan Feng and Ming Cui
Children 2023, 10(3), 451; https://doi.org/10.3390/children10030451 - 25 Feb 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1940
Abstract
Adolescence is a time for identity development and exploration. Indulgent parenting during adolescence could be developmentally inappropriate and could be associated with adolescent psychological well-being problems. Little research on indulgent parenting, however, has included and investigated both adolescent and parental well-being problems. To [...] Read more.
Adolescence is a time for identity development and exploration. Indulgent parenting during adolescence could be developmentally inappropriate and could be associated with adolescent psychological well-being problems. Little research on indulgent parenting, however, has included and investigated both adolescent and parental well-being problems. To extend the literature, the current study used both adolescent and parental reports in a dyadic context to investigate the association between indulgent parenting and the psychological well-being problems of both adolescents and their parents. This study used a sample of 128 adolescent–parent dyads. The findings from the actor–partner interdependence model (APIM) suggested that (1) the adolescent perceptions of behavioral indulgent parenting were significantly related to their own well-being problems; (2) the parents’ perceptions of relational and behavioral indulgent parenting were significantly related to their own well-being problems; and (3) no effects were found between adolescents and their parents. The findings from this study have implications for prevention and intervention programs to improve parenting practices and reduce parents’ well-being problems. Full article
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