Divorce is a stressful process for families. One parent being incarcerated further complicates several aspects of the family relationship, such as communication, custody arrangements, child support, and relationship maintenance. This guide is part of a series aimed at helping families in which parents are separated or divorcing and who share parenting responsibilities for children.
Fathers’ involvement in and influence on the health and development of their children have increased in a myriad of ways in the past 10 years and have been widely studied. The role of pediatricians in working with fathers has correspondingly increased in importance. This report reviews new studies of the epidemiology of father involvement, including nonresidential as well as residential fathers. The effects of father involvement on child outcomes are discussed within each phase of a child’s development. Particular emphasis is placed on (1) fathers’ involvement across childhood ages and (2…
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Journal Article The parent–infant relationship begins during pregnancy as parents prepare psychologically for the birth of their child. Father involvement, beginning in pregnancy, is associated with positive maternal and infant outcomes. Less is known about fathers’ experiences as they prepare to parent a new baby, especially fathers who are parenting in contexts of risk. The current study interviewed 44 expectant fathers to gain a deeper understanding of their thoughts and experiences during the prenatal period. Fathers described the importance of preparing their children to be productive citizens and…
This chapter describes the Family Life Project, a large-scale longitudinal study that chronicles the lives of African American and non-African American children and their families living in two poor rural areas of the US: Appalachia and the Black South. The breadth of the Family Life Project data allows us to expand the previous literature on rural poverty and to highlight the notion that the effects of poverty are not limited to low levels of income, but are rather fused with several “correlated constraints” that co-occur with poverty: low maternal education, low job prestige, non-standard…
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Journal Article The aim of the present study was to investigate the pathways through which fathers’ warmth influences adolescents’ grades. We investigated the positive beliefs of optimism and academic self-efficacy, and the motivational construct of determination, as possible mediators. Questionnaire data were collected from a sample of 183 sixth-graders (78 male, 105 female) from low-income families: 133 Mexican Americans, 36 African Americans, 11 European Americans, and 3 other ethnicity. Multigroup SEM path analysis was used to test two path models and investigate variations in these models by adolescents…
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Journal Article Exposure to community violence is a risk factor for internalizing and externalizing problems; however, resources within the family can decrease the likelihood that adolescents will experience internalizing and externalizing problems as a result of such exposure. This study investigates the potential moderating effects of kinship support (i.e., emotional and tangible support from extended family) and parental involvement on the relation between exposure to community violence (i.e., witnessing violence and violent victimization) and socioemotional adjustment (i.e., internalizing and…
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Raising a child is one of the greatest jobs you will ever have — and one of the hardest. We are challenged every day with a wide range of issues that are often hard for children to understand, and for adults to explain. This guide will offer some tools and tips to help get the process started. It will help you talk easily and openly with your children about love, sex and relationships. This guide does not have an answer to every question so we hope you look to other sources such as www.notrightnowsc.org - to build your comfort level for talking with… red dot icon
Journal Article In the families of the new cohort of war veterans now entering the civilian population in the United States are over two million young children (Cozza,Haskins & Lerner, 2013; Institute of Medicine, 2013). Several noteworthy studies have shown that children exposed to separation from a parent due to combat-related deployment are at elevated risk for a variety of negative consequences (Lester & Flake, 2013). Cozza et al. (2013) argue that existing studies of military children focus too much on the stresses or deficits they experience, failing to give sufficient attention to their…
Parents and caretakers want to ensure that their children are safe, respected, and able to learn when they are at school. But many parents and caretakers feel that they don’t know what happens inside school walls. When parents and school leaders talk together about what the school is doing to create a safe and caring community, everyone can learn and engage in positive change efforts. To help parents and teachers communicate better, we’ve developed a short list of questions parents can ask principals and teachers. (Modified Author Abstract)
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Training Materials 100 Conversations is a website that was created to help parents and responsible adults have sensitive conversations about relationships and sex with young people ages 13-24. It is based on feedback from young people, including those who have been estranged from their families, that learning about sex and safety from family is the best way to get important information. The website offers guides for 100 conversations on: boundaries and values, friends and family, relationships, sex, consent and laws, LGBTQ, bullying and violence, bystanders and resources, media, and technology, and provides…
