What has a more powerful influence on how parents raise their young children: the way they were raised or their faith? What roles do professionals and friends play in shaping parents? views on childrearing? What impact is the economic downturn having on child care arrangements for young families? These questions and more are some of the issues addressed in a new national parent survey of 1,615 parents of children from birth to 3 years conducted for ZERO TO THREE by Peter Hart Research. The survey was designed to explore the issues and challenges that parents of young children confront today,…
The Alabama Department of Child Abuse Prevention (DCAP) -- The Children's Trust Fund (CTF) has a more than 25 year history as the only state agency explicitly focused on educating our communities about child abuse and neglect and providing prevention programs. DCAP is focused on supporting family-strengthening community programs andinvesting upfront in efforts to enhance the chance that children in our state grow up in a nurturing and supportive home. A 2007 study by the Universityof Alabama revealed that child abuse and neglect costs taxpayers $520,800,290 every year.In Project Year 2007-…
Research in the last three decades has established a clear link between parental involvement and children's educational attainment. While most of what we know is based on mother-child interactions, increased attention has been paid to the specific influences fathers and other male caregivers have on their children's development. This paper briefly summarises the findings from the field of father involvement that also address the issue of children's literacy practices. Since the literature on father involvement and children's literacy outcomes is limited with significant knowledge gaps, the…
Adopting healthy and positive behaviors and avoiding risky ones are key developmental tasks of adolescence. Parents can play an important role in helping their adolescent children acquire or strengthen the behaviors, skills, attitudes, and motivation that promote physical and mental health and overall well-being. Recognizing this, a variety of programs and interventions engage parents in efforts to achieve one or more outcomes for their adolescents: academic achievement; a reduction in internalizing behaviors such as depression and anxiety, or in disruptive or delinquent behaviors; a…
This guide provides practical strategies to help you recruit teens into your MRE services. Consider the following four tips:* Know and be able to explain why teen marriage/relationship education matters* Choose a setting and/or partnership* Market your message* Consider all your recruitment options(Author abstract)
National estimates find approximately 13% of young adults ages 18-24 report that their biological father has served time in jail or prison (Foster and Hagan, 2009). Yet a recent review of existing literature by Murray and Farrington (2008) found no existing studies examining a possible link between paternal incarceration and substance abuse. Using panel data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Adolescent Health, we examine trajectories of marijuana and hard drug use from adolescence into young adulthood. Results indicate that having a father ever incarcerated (FEI) is significantly…
Data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (N=7,686) are used to determine whether racial and ethnic differences in socioeconomic stress and social protection explain group differences in the association between family structure instability and three outcomes for white, black, and Mexican-American adolescents: delinquent behavior, age at first sex, and age at first nonmarital birth. Findings indicate that the positive association between mothers' union transitions and each outcome for white adolescents is attenuated by social protection. The association of instability with…
Adolescents who experience repeated change in family structure as parents begin and end romantic unions are more likely than adolescents in stable family structures to engage in aggressive, antisocial, or delinquent behavior. This paper examines whether the link between family structure instability and behavior in adolescence may be explained, in part, by the residential and school mobility that are often associated with family structure change. Nationally-representative data from a two-generation study are used to assess the relative effects of instability and mobility on the mother-reported…
The National Center for Fathering (NCF) and the National Parent Teacher Association (PTA) partnered together to assess the degree of involvement and support that fathers provide to their school-age children. The findings of this survey expand upon a similar survey originally conducted in 1999, providing an assessment of the changes in father engagement over the last ten years. Both sets of data were collected through a single-stage, random dial, national phone survey of 1,000 individuals ages 18 and over. Key findings:* Over the last ten years, a number of key gains were made that show…
