Identifying Positive Adaptive Pathways in Low-Income Families in Singapore: Protocol for Sequential, Longitudinal Mixed-Methods Design.

BACKGROUND: This study aims to examine the adaptive process of children and mothers from multistressed low-income families in Singapore. It aims to bridge the knowledge gap left by existing poverty studies, which are predominately risk focused. Through a sequential longitudinal mixed-methods design, we will differentiate children and mothers who demonstrate varied social, developmental, and mental health trajectories of outcomes. Through utilizing the Latent Growth Curve Model (LGCM), we aim to detect the development and changes of the positive Family Agency and adaptive capacities of these families over time. The construct of Family Agency is underpinned by the theoretical guidance from the Social Relational Theory, which examines child agency, parent agency, relational agency, and the interactions among these members. It is hypothesized that positive Family Agency within low-income families may lead to better outcomes. The key research questions include whether the extent of positive Family Agency mediates the relationship among financial stress, resource utilization, home environment, and parental stress. OBJECTIVE: The study elucidates the Family Agency construct through interviews with mother-child dyads. It also aims to understand how financial stress and resources are differentially related to home environment, parent stress, and parent and child outcomes. METHODS: In phase 1, 60 mother-child dyads from families receiving government financial assistance and with children aged between 7 and 12 years will be recruited. In-depth interviews will be conducted separately with mothers and children. On the basis of 120 interviews, a measurement for the construct of Family Agency will be developed and will be pilot tested. In phase 2a, a longitudinal survey will be conducted over 3 time points from 800 mother-child dyads. The 3 waves of survey results will be analyzed by LGCM to identify the trajectories of adaptation pathways of these low-income families. In addition, 10 focus groups with up to 15 participants in each will be conducted to validate the LGCM results. RESULTS: This project is funded by the Social Science Research Thematic Grant (Singapore). The recruitment of 60 mother-child dyads has been achieved. Data collection will commence once the amendment to the protocol has been approved by the Institutional Review Board. Analysis of phase 1 data will be completed by the end of the first quarter of 2019, and the first set of results is expected to be submitted for publication by the second quarter of 2019. Phase 2 implementation will commence in the second quarter of 2019, and the project end date is in May 2021. CONCLUSIONS: Findings from this study can potentially inform social policy and programs as it refines the understanding of low-income families by distinguishing trajectories of adaptive capacities so that policies and interventions can be targeted in enhancing the adaptive pathways of low-income families with children. INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID): PRR1-10.2196/11629.

Jamaican Mothers' Perceptions of Children's Strategies for Resisting Parental Rules and Requests.

Research on Jamaican socialization of children has primarily focused on parental discipline practices. Little is known about children's responses to parental attempts to control their behavior. The present study investigated mothers' perceptions of children's strategies for resisting their rules and requests. Thirty mothers living in Kingston and St. Andrew, Jamaica, participated in a 1- to 1.5-h semi-structured, open-ended interview regarding their 8- to 12-year-old children. Mothers reported that their children's resistance strategies included assertive refusal, arguing, ignoring/avoiding, attitude, and negotiation. Most mothers disapproved of their children's actions and responded with power-assertive strategies such as physical punishment, psychological control, forced compliance, and threats. Few mothers responded with autonomy support strategies including accommodation and reasoning. The findings provided insight into the ways Jamaican children use their agency to protect their autonomy despite their mothers' greater power, and the relational nature of children's influence on their mothers' behaviors and reactions. More research is needed to expand our knowledge of child agency in Afro-Caribbean families and the various ways that parents may support their growing autonomy that is socially constructive.

Deconstructing noncompliance: parental experiences of children's challenging behaviours in a clinical sample.

PURPOSE: This study explored the phenomenon of children's nonconforming behaviours from the perspective of parents who sought clinical services for children's severe noncompliance. METHOD: Mothers from 25 families who accessed clinical services were interviewed about their relationship with their children aged 8-13 and their experiences of their children's challenging behaviours. RESULTS: Mothers distinguished two different types of challenging behaviour: normative resistance and extreme aggression. Mothers described normative resistance as an expected part of children's developing autonomy and treated resistance with behavioural management strategies. Mothers also described occasions when children displayed emotionally dis-regulated extreme aggression, which were consistent with clinical descriptions of children's difficult to manage behaviour. CONCLUSION: Contrary to clinical recommendations mothers used relational strategies to reconnect children with their agency. The distinction between two different child behaviours, and strategies for each challenging behaviours have theoretical and practical implications.

Flirting with resistance: children's expressions of autonomy during middle childhood.

PURPOSE: Developmental research suggests that children's early non-compliance can be understood as "resistance", an agentic response to parental control where children express their autonomy within a close relationship context. Research with toddlers and adolescents suggests that children's resistance strategies can be differentiated using the dimensions of assertiveness, social skill, and overt versus covert expression. This study explores children's strategies for expressing resistance during the neglected period of middle childhood. METHOD: Forty children, 9-13 years of age, participated for 1 week in a study focused on children's experiences of socialization and parent-child relationships. Procedures included a 5-day event diary, and a 1-hour semi-structured interview about the rules and expectations in their home and their strategies of resistance. RESULTS: Thematic analysis identified a rich repertoire of strategies for resisting unwelcome parental demands. These included overt resistance, such as negotiation, argument, and expressions of non-acceptance and covert resistance such as covert transgressions and cognitive non-acceptance of parental demands when compelled to comply. CONCLUSION: The findings were interpreted as reflecting children's development of assertiveness and social skill as they expressed their autonomy in the interpersonal context of the interdependent but asymmetrical relationship with their parents.

Time to re-think picky eating?: a relational approach to understanding picky eating.

BACKGROUND: Estimates of picky eating are quite high among young children, with 14-50% of parents identifying their preschoolers as picky eaters. Dietary intake and preferences during the preschool years are characterized by slowing growth rates and children developing a sense of autonomy over their feeding and food selection. We argue that the current conceptualization of picky eating defines acts of resistance or expressions of preference (acts of autonomy) by a child as deviant behaviour. This conceptualization has guided research that uses a unidirectional, parent to child approach to understanding parent-child feeding interactions. OBJECTIVES: By reviewing the current feeding literature and drawing parallels from the rich body of child socialization literature, we argue that there is a need to both re-examine the concept and parent/clinician perspectives on picky eating. Thus, the objective of this paper is two-fold: 1) We argue for a reconceptualization of picky eating whereby child agency is considered in terms of eating preferences rather than categorized as compliant or non-compliant behaviour, and 2) We advocate the use of bi-directional relational models of causality and appropriate methodology to understanding the parent-child feeding relationship. DISCUSSION: Researchers are often interested in understanding how members in the parent-child dyad affect one another. Although many tend to focus on the parent to child direction of these associations, findings from child socialization research suggest that influence is bidirectional and non-linear such that parents influence the actions and cognitions of children and children influence the actions and cognitions of parents. Bi-directional models of causality are needed to correctly understand parent-child feeding interactions. CONCLUSIONS: A reconceptualization of picky eating may elucidate the influence that parental feeding practices and child eating habits have on each other. This may allow health professionals to more effectively support parents in developing healthy eating habits among children, reducing both stress around mealtimes and concerns of picky eating.

An Exploration of Jamaican Mothers' Perceptions of Closeness and Intimacy in the Mother-Child Relationship during Middle Childhood.

Research on Jamaican mother-child relationships has had a limited focus on authoritarian parenting styles and selected discipline practices such as corporal punishment. This study examined Jamaican mothers' experiences of closeness and connectedness with their children to provide a holistic perspective on Jamaican-parent-child relationships. Thirty mothers (17 middle class and 13 lower class) living in Kingston and St. Andrew, Jamaica, participated in a 1-h to 1.5-h semi-structured, open-ended interview regarding their 8- to 12-year-old children. Thematic analyses indicated that mothers experienced closeness through intimate interactions (e.g., shared projects, shared physical affection, mutuality, and child self-disclosure) and parent-child nurturance. Both mothers and children were active in creating contexts for closeness. Mothers also reported experiences that temporarily damaged their connection with their children. The findings suggest that the construct of parent-child intimacy may be useful in teasing out the psychological meanings and interpersonal processes of parent-child relatedness in cultural research.

A Qualitative Exploration of Factors That Affect Sexual Desire Among Men Aged 30 to 65 in Long-Term Relationships.

Few empirical studies have explored men's experiences of sexual desire, particularly in the context of long-term relationships. The objective of the current study was to investigate the factors that elicit and inhibit men's sexual desire. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 30 men between the ages of 30 and 65 (average age 42.83 years) currently in long-term heterosexual relationships (average duration 13 years 4 months). Analysis was conducted using grounded theory methodology from the interpretivist perspective. A total of 14 themes and 23 subthemes were identified to capture men's descriptions of eliciting and inhibiting factors of their sexual desire. The six most integral themes are presented in the current article, all of which reflect the perspectives of the majority of participants, regardless of age or relationship duration, specifically (a) feeling desired, (b) exciting and unexpected sexual encounters, (c) intimate communication, (d) rejection, (e) physical ailments and negative health characteristics, and (f) lack of emotional connection with partner. The findings suggest that men's sexual desire may be more complex and relational than previous research suggests. Implications for researchers and therapists are discussed.

Normal and affectively ill mothers' beliefs about their children.

Normal, unipolar, and bipolar depressed women were studied to determine whether depressive cognitive schemas extend to the perception of one's own child. Depressed and well mothers reported equal satisfaction with their children, but the depressed group was less satisfied with the children's socioaffective than their cognitive development. The depressed mothers experienced a greater degree of helplessness regarding their children, and were more likely to feel that outcomes of child development were determined by uncontrollable factors.