This is the Chapter 12 of the book How Children Develop (Robert Siegler, 1st Edition). Which is content for the exam of the Theory component of Module 2 (Social Behaviour) of the University of Twente, in the Netherlands.

Ch. 12: Influence of family on development children

Family structures:

Number of relationships and members of households

• Increase number of single parents --> tendency to be found below the poverty line
• Older parents --> increased financial resources
• Grandparents present household --> negative effects on development
• Decreased family size --> increase birth control, women’s work ambitions, and divorce
• Teenager pregnancies --> weak parenting skills -->
  
  • Disorganized attachment style
  • Weak impulse control
  • Delay cognitive development
  • Increased chance of delinquent behaviour and sexual behaviour

Parents same sex:

Children don’t differ in terms of adaptation, personality, relationships with peers and academic performance

• Adaptation influenced by:
  • Family dynamics
  • Parent-child relationship
  • Bond parents
  • Parents support
  • Regulated discipline
  • Degree parent stress

Divorce:

• Changes: increased financial problems, new family structure, ….
• Indirect effect on:
  
  • Decreased positive upbringing, decreased fine family interaction
• Positive when high levels of conflict prior to divorce
• Long/short term problems --> depression, decreased self-esteem, …
• Predictors of suffering:
  
  • Stress and parental conflict
  • Age of the child at time of divorce
  • Degree contact with unjustified parent (the one to “blame” for the divorce)

Step-fathers:

• Remarriage: decreased contact with real father --> difficulties of adaption to “new” family
• Stepfather’s tendency to feel less attached to their stepchildren
• Increased conflicts in stepfamilies
• Stepmothers increased difficulty with stepchildren than stepfathers
• Increased success stepfamily when:
  
  • Real parent and stepparent have a supportive relationship

Family Dynamics:

The way the family interacts with each other through different relationships --> interdependence and mutual influence

• Child-rearing function: parenting function that ensures survival of the child

Parenting style:

• Socialization: process in which individuals learn values, norms, skills, knowledge, behaviours that are seen as appropriate to your current and future role in culture
• Important aspects of upbringing:
  
  • Discipline: set of strategies and behaviours that children are thought so they can behave appropriately
    
    • Internalization: process where the child learns and accepts the desired behaviour
    • Other-oriented induction: when the child thinks about the consequences of the behaviour for others
    • Punishment: negative stimulus that follows undesired behaviour --> adds psychological pressure, which reduces the effectiveness of internalization
    • Parenting style: behaviours and attitudes in parenting which determine emotional climate for parent-child interaction (degree parental warmth, support and acceptance/ degree of parental control and demandingness)
      
      • Baumrind Parenting Styles:
        
        • Authoritative:
          
          • Increased demand, setting clear standards and limits
          • Increased support
          • Autonomy within limits
          • Attentive, responsive and supportive
        • Authoritarian:
          
          • Increased demand, being controlling, and don’t tolerate contradictions
          • Cold and not responsive
        • Permissive:
          
          • Decreased responsiveness and demandingness
          • Children usually have an inappropriate behaviour and are immature
        • Uninvolved:
          
          • Decreased responsiveness and demandingness
          • No limits nor control behaviour of the child
          • No support, since parent need go first
• Spankings: has decreased with the years
  
  • No improvement of behaviour
  • Increased risk of negative outcomes. Results found across cultures

Fathers, mothers and parenting style:

• In general:
  • Mothers: dedicate more time, as well as more physical care and emotional support
  • Fathers: play more
• Degree of parent involvement
  
  • Cultural differences
  • Time at home

Parenting Influence on Children:

• Temperament: genetic factor that sets a certain degree of reactiveness to parenting quality
• Bidirectionality: parents and children are mutually influenced by personal characteristics and behaviours

Brother/sister influence:

Source of support, instructions, safety, help, care and playmate

• When one is preferred over the other:
  • The not preferred child experiences stress, depression, …
• Families are complex, and constitute dynamic social systems, with all the members contributing to each other’s functioning

Child Abuse & Development:

• Child abuse: (intentional) abuse or neglect, that endangers children under 18 years old
  • Neglect: Most common type of abuse, and it’s about the caregivers failing to provide basic needs
  • Physical abuse: behaviour that results from non-accidental physical injury
  • Emotional Abuse: pattern of behaviour, where someone is being dismissive, demanding, repeatedly criticizing and is withholding love
  • Sexual Abuse: sexual acts involving children and exploitation
• Polyvictimization: when victim experiences multiple forms of abuse

Factors increase child abuse:

1. Knowledge child’s needs and capabilities

2. Parent negative responses to stress

3. Low income

4. Social Isolation

5. Substance use

6. Partner abuse

7. History being abused

Consequences and preventing child abuse:

• Consequences:
  • Cognitive deficits
  • Antisocial behaviour
  • Mental health problems
  • Resilience can also happen
• Interventions focused Layers Ecological model:
  
  • Strengthen economic situation
  • Use social norm to stimulate and improve parenting
  • Early quality of education for children

Socio-economic context & development:

Context:

Views of optimal child development, parenting behaviour, parenting discipline --> all are founded in culture

Economic context:

• Low income children: decreased school performance, and increased mental, behavioural and health problems
• High-income children: can have negative psychological effects due to the high pressure exerted from parents
• Homelessness:
  
  • Lack adequate food and medical care
  • Relocation
  • Internal problems (depression, reduced self-esteem)

Work:

• Positive outcomes: increased mental health
  • Sense of success
  • Provide social network
• Negative outcomes:
  
  • Stress parents
  • Night shifts --> children usually showcase aggressive behaviour and depression

Childcare:

• High quality childcare in early years -->  increased cognitive development