Anger-prone children may benefit most from maternal sensitivity, study finds
Momentary increases in mothers’ sensitivity to their toddlers’ cues and emotional needs may boost young children’s focused attention on tasks and positive engagement with their mother while lowering the children’s expressions of negative emotions, a new study found.
These links between mothers’ and children’s momentary fluctuations in behavior were particularly pronounced among children who were more anger prone temperamentally or less likely to express pleasure, researchers at the University of Illinois found.
Study shows paid paternity leave gives fathers life, job satisfaction; mothers family relationship satisfaction
URBANA, Ill. – Researchers and policymakers are increasingly looking at paternity leave for its potential positive impacts on families and societies. Changes in cultural values, including a deeper understanding of the importance of fathers’ involvement with families have prompted some countries to pursue social policies encouraging fathers to be more involved in the care and raising of children.
While the effects of maternity leave on the mother and the children have been widely studied, less research has been done on paternity leave.
Family Resiliency Center at U of I hosting Food & Family Conference Sept. 26 in Chicago
URBANA, Ill. - Join the nation's foremost experts in human nutrition, obesity research, and child and family health at the Food and Family Conference 2019 on Sept. 26, at the University Club of Chicago.
The conference is hosted by the Family Resiliency Center at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in partnership with the Christopher Family Foundation.
Study: Families spend half of their evening meal distracted by technology, tasks
URBANA, Ill. — When families gather for dinner at night, they spend nearly half of their time distracted by electronic devices, toys and tasks that take them physically or mentally away from the table, a new study found.
However, fathers’ presence at meals may have a positive impact – reducing the amount of time that young children are distracted and increasing mothers’ responsiveness to children’s eating behaviors, according to the researchers.
Federal legalization of same-sex marriage improved life satisfaction, reduced emotional distress for individuals, study shows
URBANA, Ill. – Until the U.S. Supreme Court’s Obergefell v. Hodges decision in 2015 provided federal recognition of same-sex marriage in the United States, individual state laws varied. Some states were clear on whether or not they would recognize the marriages of same-sex couples, and others were in an uncertain flux, in some instances legalizing, then backpedaling on the decision days later. Some married couples thus faced uncertainty about whether their union would continue to be legally valid.
Adolescent sleep problems linked with being bullied
URBANA, Ill. – When adolescents don’t get enough sleep or experience sleep problems over time, parents may start to see their children struggle with difficulties with emotions, behaviors, and attention. Although a number of factors are linked with sleep, new research is showing that for some kids, negative interactions with peers may be a contributing factor behind poor sleep quality.
A mother’s support helps children learn to regulate negative emotions, but what happens when mom gets distressed?
Handling a poorly timed tantrum from a toddler-such as in the middle of the grocery store-is never an easy task. It could serve as a teachable moment for a mom to help her child learn to manage his own emotions. After all, research shows that how parents react in these types of situations can play an important role in a child's emotional development.
But how does that child's negative behavior-that tantrum in the frozen food aisle-affect a mother's own stress level, and therefore, her ability to parent?
U. of I. study: As siblings learn how to resolve conflict, parents pick up a few tips of their own
When children participated in a program designed to reduce sibling conflict, both parents benefited from a lessening of hostilities on the home front. But mothers experienced a more direct reward. As they viewed the children's sessions in real time on a video monitor and coached the kids at home to respond as they'd been taught, moms found that, like their kids, they were better able to manage their own emotions during stressful moments.
Kids with strong bonds to parents make better friends, can adapt in difficult relationships
What social skills does a three-year-old bring to interactions with a new peer partner? If he has strong bonds to his parents, the child is likely to be a positive, responsive playmate, and he'll be able to adapt to a difficult peer by asserting his needs, according to a new University of Illinois study published in Developmental Psychology.
Good marriage can buffer effects of dad's depression on young children
What effect does a father's depression have on his young son or daughter? When fathers report a high level of emotional intimacy in their marriage, their children benefit, said a University of Illinois study.
"When a parent is interacting with their child, they need to be able to attend to the child's emotional state, be cued in to his developmental stage and abilities, and notice whether he is getting frustrated or needs help. Depressed parents have more difficulty doing that," said Nancy McElwain, a U of I professor of human development.