Parental rejection and control: Potential risks for excessive Internet usage among adolescents.

BACKGROUND: Internet addiction is an emergent health hazard among adolescents, especially after COVID19. Parenting factors in a family environment specifically, have potential roles in either causing excessive internet usage, or in protecting teenagers from internet addiction. AIM: The aim of the study was to understand factors in parent-adolescent relationship that determine low and excessive internet usage. METHODS: A total of 102 adolescents within the age group of 13 to 18 years from two different schools in urban Bengaluru, India were recruited. Data was collected using three instruments namely semi structured tool to assess socio-demographic characteristics, Young's internet addiction test for internet usage and parental bonding instrument for adolescent perception about parenting dimensions. RESULTS: Half of the participants were found to have mild to severe levels of internet addiction, and the remaining half had normal levels of internet usage. The results showed that decreased care and increased control from the mother, high autonomy from father and increased rejection from both parents as risk factors associated with adolescent internet excessive use. No other significant associations were found between adolescents' demographic, academic, peer and school profile and their internet addiction. CONCLUSION: As internet has become an inevitable part of our life, parent-adolescent relationship forms an essential moderating factor in adolescents' internet usage.

Effectiveness of structured teaching program on parents' knowledge about child physical abuse.

BACKGROUND: The issue of child physical abuse (CPA) is complex and challenging to study. According to World Health Organization fact sheets for 2020, about 3 in 4 children between 2 and 4 years of age regularly face physical maltreatment by parents or caregivers. It may cause a lifelong impact on physical and mental health. OBJECTIVE: To assess the parents' knowledge and to evaluate the effectiveness of the structured teaching program (STP) regarding child physical abuse (CPA) among parents. METHODS AND MATERIALS: The pre-experimental, "One-group Pre-test Post-test design" was adopted for this study. Parents of children who were admitted for treatment in the child psychiatry centre (CPC) of a tertiary care referral center between January 2019 and January 2020 were recruited for this study. Thirty parents were recruited with a convenience sampling technique. The study was conducted through an online platform (Zoom). Pre-test and post-tests were conducted through Google survey form. Data were collected with a self-developed knowledge questionnaire on CAP. An online structured teaching program (STP) was administered for three alternative days after the pre-test assessment. The post-test assessment was conducted at a two-point time, that is immediately after the STP and after the one-week gap. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data. "One-group Pre-test Post-test design" was adopted for this study. Parents of children who were admitted for treatment in the child psychiatry centre (CPC) of a tertiary care referral center between January 2019 and January 2020 were recruited for this study. Thirty parents were recruited with a convenience sampling technique. The study was conducted through an online platform (Zoom). Pre-test and post-tests were conducted through Google survey form. Data were collected with a self-developed knowledge questionnaire on CAP. An online structured teaching program (STP) was administered for three alternative days after the pre-test assessment. The post-test assessment was conducted at a two-point time, that is immediately after the STP and after the one-week gap. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data. RESULTS: The pre-test knowledge assessment means score regarding child physical abuse was found to be 12, with a standard deviation of 1.73. In the post-test one, 17.30 ± 1.39 and in the post-test two, 16 ± 1.55 with P < 0.001. Analysis revealed statistically significant improvement was found in the post-test knowledge regarding child physical abuse among the parents. There was no significant (p < 0.05) relationship found between the socio-demographic variables of the participants and their pre-intervention knowledge scores on child physical abuse. CONCLUSIONS: The study findings reveal that parents have a fair knowledge of CPA and the STP was effective and feasible to administer in improving the subjects' knowledge regarding child physical abuse.

Parenting toddlers: Evidences of parental needs from South India.

BACKGROUND: Quality of childcare can predict a child's emotional and behavioural adjustment throughout the life span. Furthermore, this has major implications for child development and mental health in the long-term. Parents often face major challenges while providing childcare especially during the early years of a child. AIM: This paper describes specific parental concerns in raising a toddler from a mental health developmental perspective. METHODS: The study was conducted in urban Bengaluru, India under an exploratory research design using semi-structured interviews. Ten parents participated in the study. Data was analysed using thematic analysis. RESULTS: Four major themes emerged. The first theme was related to the formation of parental beliefs about parenting which identified several sources such as parenting practices witnessed during childhood, childhood experiences and influence of culture, mass or social media. The second theme to emerge was on concerns related to toddlers which parents had difficulties in understanding as well as managing, specially navigating through sleep and feed pattern, identifying developmental needs and making a meaning of toddlers' communication styles and content. The third theme showed parental concerns which consisted of areas such as parental stress, physical exhaustion, lack of time for each other or toddler, lack of information about handling toddlers and absence of validation of parental efforts. The final theme was on their current parenting practices with their toddlers which showcased controlling styles, play time but low on quality, inappropriate responses to toddlers' emotions or behaviours and several culturally practiced measures which were not validated scientifically. CONCLUSION: The pre-existing belief among parents about parenting and toddlers' specific behaviours influence parenting practices. The understanding of the parental challenges is beneficial in developing an appropriate parenting programme focussing on strengthening psychological capacities of toddlers.

Subjective experiences of dissociative and conversion disorders among adolescents in India.

Dissociative/conversion disorders affect almost 31% of children and adolescents in a clinical setting. These children experience significant impairments in their academics, and daily functioning, with high chances of developing other psychiatric comorbidities such as anxiety and depression. However, there are no studies that explore the experiences of suffering from dissociative/conversion disorders from perspective of the sufferer. Therefore, the paper has aimed at exploring the subjective experiences of dissociative and conversion disorders among adolescents in the Indian context by examining their understanding about the illness and the reason they ascribe to the cause of their illness. The study used a qualitative semi-structured interview to understand their illness. In total, 10 adolescents of age group between 12 and 16 years participated. Eight out of the 10 participants were female and the mean age was 12 years. All of them were in-patients in the department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, NIMHANS, which is the tertiary mental health care Institute India and pioneer Institute of mental health in Asia. All participants have had at least one or more consultation history either with a traditional healer or/and physician. Thematic analysis identified vital themes such as (1) Adolescents' attributing factors of the illness, (2) Cognitive and emotional appraisal of stressful situation/s, (3) Adolescents' appraisal of different explanatory model, (4) Living with the Impact of the illness. This analysis about dissociative/conversion disorders from adolescents' perspective has a major contribution in enhancing the clinical knowledge and practice in planning and managing children/adolescents diagnosed with dissociative/conversion disorders.

Preparation for parenthood programme: experiences from southern India.

Parenting skills are critically important to ensure that children are brought up in a safe environment. Recent evidence shows that studies of parenting skills are still at a preliminary stage in low- and middle-income countries. These need to involve family practitioners and religious groups who often play a major role in preparing young people in India. There are organized programmes available in the country for Christian adults to prepare themselves for marriage and family life through various church initiatives and activities. In order to develop a programme which can be used to prepare young parents for responsibilities of parenthood, a needs assessment was carried out among 70 young adults who attended a marriage preparation course in Bangalore, India. All the participants belonged to the Christian faith. Participants consisted of 53% men and 47% women whose average age for deciding to get married was 26.8 years. All of them expressed a need for such a preparatory programme for parenthood. They considered they needed to know about normal child development, behavioural management of children, to develop adequate skills in handling children at different ages, and deal with their own past issues with their own parents when they were being parented. The results suggest that the development of a preparatory programme for young adults to support them in the role of parenthood must take their views and needs into account.

Integrated skills for parenting the adolescents (ISPA): An intervention to strengthen parent- adolescent relationship / Integración de habilidades para la crianza de adolescentes: Intervención para el reforzamiento de larelación padres-adolescentes

Parenting skills are an important aspect of child development. The training in development of these skills is a recent trend in order to enable parents to manage the child in their culture and community, with culture-specific training. Systematic presentations of evidence-based models in the field of parenting skills development are beginning to emerge in India. In this paper, we describe the development of a parenting skills development program (Integrated skill for parenting the adolescents ISPA) aimed at strengthening the parent-adolescent bond and describe its components. After an initial needs assessment from parents and their adolescent children, 13 parents were systematically given the parenting program for eleven sessions, each session focusing on different themes. The pre- and post- intervention results show statistically significant changes in parents’ attitudes in relating positively with their adolescents. We describe pros and cons of such approaches.

Las destrezas o habilidades parentales son un aspecto importante del desarrollo infantil. El adiestramiento de lospadres en la adquisición y cultivo de estas destrezas es un proceso reciente orientado a su capacitación apropiada en el manejo del niño dentro de su cultura y su comunidad utilizando principios didácticos específicos para tal cultura. En la India han comenzado a emerger una serie de presentaciones sistemáticas de modelos basados en evidencias en el desarrollo de habilidades parentales. El presente artículo describe uno de estos programas (Habilidades Integralespara padres de adolescents, ISPA, sigla en ingles) orientado al reforzamiento del vínculo padre-adolescente y a la descripción de sus componentes. Luego de una evaluación inicial de las necesidades de los padres de niños adolescents, 13 padres siguieron sistemáticamente el programa de once sesiones, cada una de ellas enfocando temas diferentes. Los resultados antes y después de la intervención muestran cambios estadísticamente significativos en las actitudes de los padres respecto a una relación positiva con sus hijos adolescentes. Se describen los “pros y contras” de tales enfoques.

Treating troubled families: therapeutic scenario in India.

India, a country of diverse cultures, languages, life styles, and ethnicities, is becoming a land of economic change, political stability, technological advancement, and changing traditional structures of relationships as well as health consciousness. Being known for its ancient traditions, rituals, religious orientation, spiritual outlook and folk beliefs, Indian families attempt to continue certain healthy and traditional elements such as warmth, strong bond, hierarchy, extended support, cultural orientation, shared values and time, tolerance, respect for the aged and inculcation of religious teachings and traditions in families. These factors, or practices, in fact have strong therapeutic value in supplementing the growth and development of individuals in the family system in spite of its transitional position. This paper deals with the review of family-based mental health services and focuses on the changing trends of those practices in India and the advancement of Indian families in their engaging ability with mentally ill members as well as with the treating team.