A Cinderella effect in the childcare assistance provided by European grandparents

Survey data from 36,771 European grandparents were analyzed with respect to childcare assistance that interviewees provided to their birth children versus stepchildren. Interviewees with current partners provided far more such assistance to adult children who were the progeny of both partners than to those who were stepchildren of either one's self or one's partner, but both husband and wife helped the wife's children from prior unions more than they helped the husband's children, supporting the interpretation of stepfathers' involvement as primarily an investment in the new partnership (“mating effort”) rather than in the grandchildren. Interviewees resided farther away from their adult stepchildren than from their birth children, on average, but discriminative care did not depend merely on residential proximity, being substantial regardless of whether proximity was statistically controlled. Grandmothers without current partners exhibited the greatest discrimination, with stepchild: birth child Odds Ratios of 0.10 or less in various analyses, whereas grandfathers without partners exhibited no significant discrimination. Interviewees of both sexes listed far more stepchildren, proportionately, if they had a current partner than if they were either widowed or divorced, however, which suggests that single respondents may have omitted former stepchildren with whom they had ceased to interact from their list of children, and hence that the degree to which single grandparents divest from them may be even larger than estimated.     

Exploration of Perceptions of Dog Bites among YouTube™ Viewers and Attributions of Blame

Dog bites are a human public health and dog welfare problem. This qualitative study is the first to use YouTube^? to examine how viewers perceive risk of, and attribute blame for, dog bites. Comments underneath 10 videos, chosen to represent a diversity of dog-bite scenarios, were analyzed inductively using thematic analysis. Six themes emerged: 1) Commentators thought that dogs are inherently good-natured but wild animals and emphasized how dogs try to avoid biting people; 2) all recognized breeds of dogs were stereotyped and breed stereotypes were used to shift the blame away from the dog and onto a bite victim, unless the dog identified in a video was a pit bull type. The dog was often blamed in such case; 3) It was argued that a breed limits the extent to which a dog can be trained and controlled; 4) Owners/handlers were often blamed for bites due to their inability to control the dog, and commentators identified the need for appropriate training and socialization in order to control dogs and reduce bite risk; 5) Bite victims were also blamed for the bites when their behavior was perceived as provoking a dog. Although children's behavior was identified as causing a risk, parents of children bitten in the videos were blamed for bites instead due to their approach to child supervision; 6) Bites in a range of contexts, such as play or when viewers thought that the victim's behavior provoked a dog, were seen as well-de-served and normal. It was concluded that although comments on publicly available videos need to be interpreted with caution due to a self-selection bias, their analysis can help to identify attitudes and perceptions towards risk around dogs that could aid bite prevention interventions and policies.     

Learning Courage: Child Labour as Moral Practice in Northeast Brazil

This article explores the moral dimensions of child labour as cultural practice in Northeast Brazil. It reveals a link between children's participation in labour and local constructions of childhood as a period of ontological uncertainty and impending transition. Through detailed ethnographic exegesis, the article reveals the symbolic dimensions surrounding children's engagement in productive endeavours, and shows how the local opposition between ‘work’ and ‘play’ arises out of an encompassing moral process. The article critiques the tendency within protectionist influenced anthropological literature to acknowledge the important contribution that children make towards material survival, while denying that contribution any deeper cultural significance.     

Facilitating the Communicative Competence of the Child Witness

Efforts to elicit reliable testimony from children are frustrated by developmental limitations on children's communicative competence. This study examines (a) how children cope when adults ask incomprehensible questions, and (b) whether interview perfonnance can be enhanced by facilitating children's comprehension monitoring and response strategies. One hundred and eighty children, half 6 and half 8-years-olds, were assigned randomly within age group to 1 of 3 treatment conditions (training, instructions, control) and I of 2 interviewer conditions (familiar, unfamiliar). Children's memories of a previously staged event were tested with interview questions varying in comprehensibility. Results suggest that when confronted with difficult-to-comprehend questions regarding easily recalled information, children in the control group tried to answer anyway but were as likely to respond incorrectly as correctly. In contrast, when children were instructed to verbalize their lack of comprehension, and given a rationale for doing so, they performed significantly better than the control group. Moreover, when children received instructions and prepared for the interview with practice detecting and coping with noncomprehension, the training group demonstrated marked improvements in interview performance compared with the other 2 groups. Results demonstrate that although children's limited communication skills present a barrier to reliable testimony, it is one that might be minimized by instructions or preparation of child witnesses.     

Exploring the Relation of Harsh Parental Discipline with Child Emotional and Behavioral Problems by Using Multiple Informants. The Generation R Study

Parental harsh disciplining, like corporal punishment, has consistently been associated with adverse mental health outcomes in children. It remains a challenge to accurately assess the consequences of harsh discipline, as researchers and clinicians generally rely on parent report of young children''s problem behaviors. If parents rate their parenting styles and their child''s behavior this may bias results. The use of child self-report on problem behaviors is not common but may provide extra information about the relation of harsh parental discipline and problem behavior. We examined the independent contribution of young children''s self-report above parental report of emotional and behavioral problems in a study of maternal and paternal harsh discipline in a birth cohort. Maternal and paternal harsh discipline predicted both parent reported behavioral and parent reported emotional problems, but only child reported behavioral problems. Associations were not explained by pre-existing behavioral problems at age 3. Importantly, the association with child reported outcomes was independent from parent reported problem behavior. These results suggest that young children''s self-reports of behavioral problems provide unique information on the effects of harsh parental discipline. Inclusion of child self-reports can therefore help estimate the effects of harsh parental discipline more accurately.     

The Role of Compassion in Altruistic Helping and Punishment Behavior

Compassion, the emotional response of caring for another who is suffering and that results in motivation to relieve suffering, is thought to be an emotional antecedent to altruistic behavior. However, it remains unclear whether compassion enhances altruistic behavior in a uniform way or is specific to sub-types of behavior such as altruistic helping of a victim or altruistic punishment of a transgressor. We investigated the relationship between compassion and subtypes of altruistic behavior using third-party paradigms where participants 1) witnessed an unfair economic exchange between a transgressor and a victim, and 2) had the opportunity to either spend personal funds to either economically a) help the victim or b) punish the transgressor. In Study 1, we examined whether individual differences in self-reported empathic concern (the emotional component of compassion) was associated with greater altruistic helping or punishment behavior in two independent samples. For participants who witnessed an unfair transaction, trait empathic concern was associated with greater helping of a victim and had no relationship to punishment. However, in those who decided to punish the transgressor, participants who reported greater empathic concern decided to punish less. In Study 2, we directly enhanced compassion using short-term online compassion meditation training to examine whether altruistic helping and punishment were increased after two weeks of training. Compared to an active reappraisal training control group, the compassion training group gave more to help the victim and did not differ in punishment of the transgressor. Together, these two studies suggest that compassion is related to greater altruistic helping of victims and is not associated with or may mitigate altruistic punishment of transgressors.     

Childhood Obesity: Do Parents Recognize This Health Risk?

Objective: This study examined parents’ understanding of excess weight as a health risk, knowledge of healthy eating habits, and recognition of obesity in their children. Research Methods and Procedures: An anonymous questionnaire was distributed during well‐care visits involving children 4 to 8 years of age at a pediatric faculty practice. Parents indicated their level of concern about excess weight and other familiar health risks using a four‐point Likert scale, answered multiple‐choice questions concerning healthy eating patterns, and communicated their perceptions about their child's weight using a visual analog scale. A parent's perception was considered “accurate” if it deviated from the child's growth chart percentile by <30 points. Results: Of the 83 parents surveyed, 23% (19/83) had overweight children (≥95th percentile of age‐ and gender‐specific BMI growth charts). These parents did not differ from other parents in their level of concern about excess weight as a health risk or in their knowledge of healthy eating patterns, but the two groups of parents did differ in the accuracy of their perceptions about their children's weight. Only 10.5% of parents of overweight children (2/19) perceived their child's weight accurately compared with 59.4% of other parents (38/64; p < 0.001). Parents of overweight children invariably underestimated their children's weight. The median difference between their perception and the growth chart percentile was ?45 points. Discussion: Given that most parents of overweight children fail to recognize that their child has a weight problem, pediatricians should develop strategies to help these parents correct their misperceptions.     

Critical Environmental Factors for Transportation Cycling in Children: A Qualitative Study Using Bike-Along Interviews

Background

Environmental factors are found to influence transport-related physical activity, but have rarely been studied in relation with cycling for transport to various destinations in 10–12 yr old children. The current qualitative study used ‘bike-along interviews’ with children and parents to allow discussion of detailed environmental factors that may influence children''s cycling for transport, while cycling in the participant''s neighborhood.

Methods

Purposeful convenience sampling was used to recruit 35 children and one of their parents residing in (semi-) urban areas. Bike-along interviews were conducted to and from a randomly chosen destination (e.g. library) within a 15 minutes'' cycle trip in the participant''s neighborhood. Participants wore a GoPro camera to objectively assess environmental elements, which were subsequently discussed with participants. Content analysis and arising themes were derived using a grounded theory approach.

Results

The discussed environmental factors were categorized under traffic, urban design, cycling facilities, road design, facilities at destination, aesthetics, topography, weather, social control, stranger danger and familiar environment. Across these categories many environmental factors were (in)directly linked to road safety. This was illustrated by detailed discussions of the children''s visibility, familiarity with specific traffic situations, and degree of separation, width and legibility of cycle facilities.

Conclusion

Road safety is of major concern in this 10–12 yr old study population. Bike-along interviews were able to identify new, detailed and context-specific physical environmental factors which could inform policy makers to promote children''s cycling for transport. However, future studies should investigate whether hypothetical changes to such micro environmental features influence perceptions of safety and if this in turn could lead to changes in children''s cycling for transport.     

Animal-Assisted Interventions in Children's Hospitals: A Critical Review of the Literature

There is a perception in the scientific and general communities that hospitalized children benefit from visits by animals. Animal-assisted interventions (AAI), including animal-assisted therapy and animal-assisted activities, usually involving dogs, are thus employed in pediatric hospitals. However, the actual prevalence of AAI in children's hospitals has been poorly documented in the literature. Furthermore, the evidence base for claims that children in hospital benefit from AAI is limited. There are nine existing research studies in the area, all with methodological challenges that make conclusive statements in either direction about the efficacy of AAI difficult. In this critical review we consider methodological considerations pertinent to evaluations of AAI interventions for hospitalized children. These include: definitions and terminology; cultural attitudes; children's receptivity to animals, including phobia, type of illness and health status of the child, familiar as opposed to unknown animals, and age of the child; animal welfare; zoonoses and allergies; and hospital staff attitudes toward AAI. We highlight the many difficulties involved in conducting research on AAI in pediatric settings. Given the limited information around AAI for hospitalized children, including the risks and benefits and the limitations of existing studies, future research is required. This should take into account the methodological considerations discussed in this review, so that our knowledge base can be enhanced and if and where appropriate, such interventions be implemented and rigorously evaluated.     

Predictors of accurate maternal perception of their preschool child's weight status among Hispanic WIC participants

Childhood obesity is a growing problem in the United States. Parental perception of their children's weight status is a key factor that needs to be considered when developing prevention programs for preschool children. Using a randomly selected sample of participants of Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) in Los Angeles County, we assessed accuracy of maternal perceptions of their children's weight status by comparing children's weight classification to the mothers' response to the question “Do you consider your child to be overweight, underweight or about right weight for (his) (her) height?” Additionally, we identified possible predictors of accurate maternal perception of their children's weight status by conducting a logistic regression model with child's gender, child's birth weight, maternal age, maternal BMI, maternal education, maternal acculturation level, and maternal language preference as potential predictors. Almost all mothers in the study classified their overweight or obese child as being about the right weight (93.6% and 77.5% of mothers, respectively). Maternal BMI and child's birth weight were the only predictors of maternal perception of their child's weight. Both were negatively associated with accuracy, with higher maternal BMI and higher infant birthweight associated with less accurate maternal perception of child weight. Parents need to be educated on the importance of childhood obesity and how to identify if their children are overweight or obese. If parents fail to recognize that their overweight child is overweight, then it is unlikely that they will recognize that interventions targeting obesity are relevant to their families.     

Weaving carpets, weaving lives: Childhood and ethnicity in downtown Kathmandu

In the developing metropolis public perceptions about caste and ethnicity are influenced by historical trends in decisions about occupations; but what does this mean for children whose families decide they work? In Kathmandu's carpet industry, a large percentage of workers are Tamang, an ethnic group who represent a small percentage of the country's population. Organisations working with Tamang child labourers have predominantly used quantitative research data to construct their intervention strategies. This has left many factors unexamined. This paper discusses qualitative and quantitative research data generated by a team of Nepali practitioners striving to address child labour issues. The purpose of their study was to examine the social and cultural factors influencing child migration and the quality of life for children in the carpet industry. The methodology included participatory indicators of children's social, economic, physical and psychological well-being. The paper will draw on children's perspectives to highlight the role of ethnicity in opportunity and exploitation.     

Parents' Socializing Behavior and Children's Participation in Math,Science, and Computer Out-of-School Activities

This study examined associations between multiple parental behaviors and children's participation in out-of-school math, science, and computer activities for children in 2nd (n = 125), 3rd (n = 123), and 5th grade (n = 200). Mothers and fathers reported how often they encouraged their children's activities, participated in activities with their child, provided activity-related materials, and participated in activities themselves, as well as how often their children participated in activities. The youth described how often they participated in math, science, and computer activities. Results indicate that parents' behavior is a strong, positive predictor of children's participation. Although there were significant mean level gender differences, relations between parents' behavior and children's participation were similar for boys and girls.     

Influence of parents' eating behaviors and child feeding practices on children's weight status

Objective : To investigate the effects of mothers’ and fathers’ eating behaviors, child feeding practices, and BMI on percentage body fat and BMI in their children. Research Methods and Procedures : Four hundred fifty‐eight parents (239 mothers, 219 fathers) were asked to complete two questionnaires: the Three‐Factor Eating Questionnaire and the Child Feeding Questionnaire, which measure dimensions of parent eating behavior and child feeding practices, respectively. Parent BMI was calculated from self‐reported height and weight; children's measures included BMI and percentage fat assessed by DXA. Regression analyses were used to analyze relationships between parents’ BMI and questionnaire scores and children's weight status. Results : One hundred forty‐three mothers and 68 fathers returned questionnaires, representing parents of 148 children 3 to 5 years old (78 boys). Children's weight was related to mothers’ BMI, but not fathers’. Girls had a greater BMI if either parent reported being overweight as a child, and both girls and boys were likely to be overweight if their mothers believed they had risky eating habits (fussiness, eating too much, etc.). Girls with fathers who were more controlling had a higher percentage fat; these fathers were also more concerned about their daughters’ future health. Discussion : Mothers exert a strong influence over their children's weight and seem to be more concerned about their children's eating behaviors; however, fathers play a role in imposing child feeding practices. Gender bias may be present in child feeding, as suggested by dissimilar effects of parent practices on the weight status of girls vs. boys. Fathers should be included in future studies analyzing parent feeding practices and children's weight outcome.     

Fathers' Influence on Their Children's Cognitive and Emotional Development: From Toddlers to Pre-K

The Color of My Skin is an instrument developed to assess children's internalized idea (abstraction) of the color of their skin; their satisfaction with that color; the desire, if any, to change the color of their skin; and their affect regarding their skin color. The assessment is part of a questionnaire utilized in a 3-year longitudinal study that examines psychosocial development, physical health, and behavioral adjustment of Puerto Rican children (N = 257) reared in the Greater Boston area. The results demonstrate that children's internalized representation of their skin color is a construct that can be reliably and validly measured. The children's ratings of their skin color were not associated with their sex, school grade, ethnic identity, the child's or the parent's nativity, or the racial or ethnic compositions of 3 social contexts: their neighborhood, their classmates, and their closest friends. Puerto Rican children did not show a preference for light-colored skin. Moreover, there were no significant differences in self-esteem based on the child's self-reported skin color. The lack of association between self-esteem and skin color was interpreted in light of a developmental tendency prevalent in early to middle childhood to place a positive value on different aspects of one's self. Whereas almost all children (96%) reported being happy or very happy with their color, 16% of the children would like to change their skin color if they could (51% to a lighter and 46% to a darker color).     

Children's ideas of animals' internal structures

Children's understanding about animal internal structure can be affected by several factors which are poorly understoodby teachers. We conducted a large sample study (n=702) of children aged 6–16 years (Grades 1-9) examining children's responses to animals of various size, species and dimensions (2D and 3D objects), and exploring factors which might affect the development of their knowledge. Each child made a drawing of what they thought was inside a specimen animal. We found that using 2D representations of an animal negatively affected the content of children drawings.The effect of animalsize was shown only in children's understanding of skeletons, but not organ systems. The effect of animal species showedclear significant effect of children's ideas on both organ systems and skeleton. Investigation showed that parents' education level, children's experiences with animal-rearing and age significantly affected their scores from organ system. Surprisingly, school books were most frequently cited as sources of children's knowledge rather than their own experience, or information from the internet, encyclopaedias, television or parents.     

Context-dependent model-based biases in cultural transmission: children's imitation is affected by model age over model knowledge state

Many animals, including humans, acquire information through social learning. Although such information can be acquired easily, its potential unreliability means it should not be used indiscriminately. Cultural ‘transmission biases’ may allow individuals to weigh their reliance on social information according to a model's characteristics. In one of the first studies to juxtapose two model-based biases, we investigated whether the age and knowledge state of a model affected the fidelity of children's copying. Eighty-five 5-year-old children watched a video demonstration of either an adult or child, who had professed either knowledge or ignorance regarding a tool-use task, extracting a reward from that task using both causally relevant and irrelevant actions. Relevant actions were imitated faithfully by children regardless of the model's characteristics, but children who observed an adult reproduced more irrelevant actions than those who observed a child. The professed knowledge state of the model showed a weaker effect on imitation of irrelevant actions. Overall, children favored the use of a ‘copy adults’ bias over a ‘copy task-knowledgeable individual’ bias, even though the latter could potentially have provided more reliable information. The use of such social learning strategies has significant implications for understanding the phenomenon of imitation of irrelevant actions (overimitation), instances of maladaptive information cascades, and cumulative culture.     

Stranger danger: Parenthood increases the envisioned bodily formidability of menacing men

Due to altriciality and the importance of embodied capital, children's fitness is contingent on parental investment. Injury suffered by a parent therefore degrades the parent's fitness both by constraining reproduction and by diminishing the fitness of existing offspring. Due to the latter added cost, compared to non-parents, parents should be more cautious in hazardous situations, including potentially agonistic interactions. Prior research indicates that relative formidability is conceptualized in terms of size and strength. As erroneous under-estimation of a foe's formidability heightens the risk of injury, parents should therefore conceptualize a potential antagonist as larger, stronger, and of more sinister intent than should non-parents; secondarily, the presence of one's vulnerable children should exacerbate this pattern. We tested these predictions in the U.S. using reactions to an evocative vignette, administered via the Internet (Study 1), and in-person assessments of the facial photograph of a purported criminal, collected on the streets of Southern California (Study 2). As predicted, parents envisioned a potential antagonist to be more formidable than did non-parents. Significant differences between parents with children and non-parents without children in the threat that the foe was thought to pose (Study 1) were fully mediated by increases in estimated physical formidability.     

Neural Activity during Natural Viewing of Sesame Street Statistically Predicts Test Scores in Early Childhood

It is not currently possible to measure the real-world thought process that a child has while observing an actual school lesson. However, if it could be done, children''s neural processes would presumably be predictive of what they know. Such neural measures would shed new light on children''s real-world thought. Toward that goal, this study examines neural processes that are evoked naturalistically, during educational television viewing. Children and adults all watched the same Sesame Street video during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Whole-brain intersubject correlations between the neural timeseries from each child and a group of adults were used to derive maps of “neural maturity” for children. Neural maturity in the intraparietal sulcus (IPS), a region with a known role in basic numerical cognition, predicted children''s formal mathematics abilities. In contrast, neural maturity in Broca''s area correlated with children''s verbal abilities, consistent with prior language research. Our data show that children''s neural responses while watching complex real-world stimuli predict their cognitive abilities in a content-specific manner. This more ecologically natural paradigm, combined with the novel measure of “neural maturity,” provides a new method for studying real-world mathematics development in the brain.     

Predictors of Children's Secondhand Smoke Exposure at Home: A Systematic Review and Narrative Synthesis of the Evidence

Background

Children''s exposure to secondhand smoke (SHS) has been causally linked to a number of childhood morbidities and mortalities. Over 50% of UK children whose parents are smokers are regularly exposed to SHS at home. No previous review has identified the factors associated with children''s SHS exposure in the home.

Aim

To identify by systematic review, the factors which are associated with children''s SHS exposure in the home, determined by parent or child reports and/or biochemically validated measures including cotinine, carbon monoxide or home air particulate matter.

Methods

Electronic searches of MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsychINFO, CINAHL and Web of Knowledge to July 2014, and hand searches of reference lists from publications included in the review were conducted.

Findings

Forty one studies were included in the review. Parental smoking, low socioeconomic status and being less educated were all frequently and consistently found to be independently associated with children''s SHS exposure in the home. Children whose parents held more negative attitudes towards SHS were less likely to be exposed. Associations were strongest for parental cigarette smoking status; compared to children of non-smokers, those whose mothers or both parents smoked were between two and 13 times more likely to be exposed to SHS.

Conclusion

Multiple factors are associated with child SHS exposure in the home; the best way to reduce child SHS exposure in the home is for smoking parents to quit. If parents are unable or unwilling to stop smoking, they should instigate smoke-free homes. Interventions targeted towards the socially disadvantaged parents aiming to change attitudes to smoking in the presence of children and providing practical support to help parents smoke outside the home may be beneficial.