• Interparental conflict after divorce escalates the risk of mental health problems in children and adolescents.
• Elevated levels of conflict between parents can also induce fear and worry in children about their future and whether they will be adequately taken care of. In turn, a greater fear of abandonment puts children at greater risk of mental health problems.
• Parents can protect their children’s mental health by adopting strategies that shield them from conflict and that assure them that they will be well cared for no matter what happens.
• Developing programs to help children and adolescents cope effectively with interparental conflicts is a pivotal step toward safeguarding their well-being.

This article on the mental health implications for children caught between highly conflicted divorced parents will cover the following key points:

1. Protecting children in the emotional storm of divorce
2. Linking conflict to children’s mental health problems
3. Exploring the role of children’s fear of abandonment
4. Does high-quality parenting reduce the negative effects of interparental conflict on fear of abandonment?
5. Reducing the harmful effects of interparental conflict on youth’s mental health by supporting both parents and children

1. Protecting children in the emotional storm of divorce

In most divorces, parents make many important decisions: How much time will the children spend with each parent? Will the children change schools? Who will make decisions about medical and educational issues? These and other issues can be very emotional, so it is natural for many separating and divorcing parents to experience conflict.

Shielding youth from parental conflict is undeniably challenging. Children might witness or overhear arguments, or they might sense tension in more subtle ways during one-on-one interactions with a parent. Simple remarks can inadvertently place children in a difficult position and make them feel torn between both sides.

Children exposed to more frequent and intense parental conflict in the first years after divorce were more than two and a half times more likely to develop a mental health disorder six years later than were peers whose parents were also divorced but who had experienced less frequent and less intense conflict.

Phrases like “I can’t believe your mom went out with her friends instead of spending time with you” can foster feelings of being caught in the middle.

Similarly, asking children and teenagers to relay messages (e.g., “Tell your dad I need to change the time I pick you up next week”) or pressing them for information about the other parent (e.g., “Who else was at your mom’s with you today?” “What did you have for dinner at your dad’s last night?”) make children feel they need to take sides.

2. Linking conflict to children’s mental health problems

There is a well-established link between high levels of interparental conflict and the development of mental health problems in children and adolescents, including anxiety, depression, and aggression.

For example, in one of our studies, of 240 nine- to 12-year-olds, we assessed patterns of child-reported conflict over six to eight years following divorce.

The study was conducted in the United States; 88% of mothers were Caucasian, 8% were Hispanic, 2% were African American, and 1% were Asian; median yearly income ranged from $20,001 to $25,000 (equivalent to approximately $45,000 to $56,000 today), and 47% of mothers reported completing some college courses.

More intense parental conflict leads to to worse mental health

Children exposed to more frequent and intense parental conflict in the first years after divorce were more than two and a half times more likely to develop a mental health disorder six years later than were peers whose parents were also divorced but who had experienced less frequent and less intense conflict.

But despite the clear connection between conflict and mental health problems, we do not yet understand how and why this link occurs. To help families navigate the process of separation and divorce and to protect children’s mental health, we must understand this process more thoroughly.

Photo: rubberduck1951. Pixabay.

3. Exploring the role of children’s fear of abandonment

One potential explanation for the link is that witnessing frequent conflicts makes children fear abandonment or worry about whether they will receive adequate care from one or both parents.

In a recent study, of 559 youth ages nine to 18 who had experienced a parental separation or divorce in the previous two years, we addressed a few important questions about conflict and fear of abandonment. Our goal was to help experts create better programs for families going through separation and divorce.

First, we asked whether children and adolescents were more afraid of being left alone or not taken care of properly when there was more conflict between parents.

Next, we explored whether a greater fear of abandonment correlated with increased mental health problems. Finally, we explored whether high-quality parenting protected children from fear of abandonment, even when there was a lot of conflict between parents.

The emergence of the fear of abandonment

Fear of abandonment emerged as a key explanation for the heightened risk of mental health problems. Exposure to elevated levels of conflict made children and adolescents more prone to fearing abandonment three months later. This heightened fear, in turn, was associated with an increase in mental health problems 10 months later.

This finding remained the same even after accounting for previous mental health problems. Fear of abandonment may get in the way of children and adolescents coping effectively with stress, distract them from developmental goals, or push them toward potentially harmful peer groups that encourage antisocial behaviors.

Fear of abandonment emerged as a key explanation for the heightened risk of mental health problems.

4. Does high-quality parenting reduce the negative effects of interparental conflict on fear of abandonment?

Research shows that high-quality parenting is a very strong protective factor for all children, especially those who experience separation or divorce.

High-quality parenting is defined as parenting that is responsive, close, accepting, supportive, and encouraging, and is characterized by a generally positive emotional relationship between parent and child.

Research also indicates that high-quality parenting can lessen the impact of divorce-related stressors on children’s mental health problems. With this in mind, we anticipated that high-quality parenting could counterbalance the adverse effects of high levels of conflict between parents.

Surprisingly, when we examined the protective role of high-quality parenting in our study, this did not happen. Even though high-quality parenting was somewhat protective for the children and adolescents we studied, it may not have been powerful enough to cancel out the harmful effects of high levels of conflict.

5. Reducing the harmful effects of interparental conflict on youth’s mental health by supporting both parents and children

How can the harmful effects of interparental conflict on children’s and adolescents’ mental health be reduced? A focus on both parents and children is important. Here are two suggestions.

Photo: Kindel Media. Pexels.

First, researchers and clinicians need to help separated and divorced parents access programs that give them the tools to reduce their children’s exposure to conflict.

In rigorous evaluations, few in-person or online programs for separated or divorced parents have reduced children’s exposure to interparental conflict. One exception is the eNew Beginnings Program (eNBP), which was developed by one of the authors (Wolchik et al., 2022).

In the eNBP, parents learn practical strategies to protect their children from witnessing interparental conflict; they also learn how to refrain from sharing negative comments about the other parent with the child and asking the child to relay messages to the other parent.

To help reduce the fear of abandonment, parents let their children know that they will always be there for them and that parents never divorce children.

Second, researchers need to develop and test programs that help children cope effectively with the difficult thoughts and feelings that arise when parents fight or say things that make children feel they need to take sides. Research funded by the National Institute of Mental Health is underway to develop a program to help children cope effectively with interparental conflict.

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• Fathers’ participation in shared book reading has important and unique contributions to children’s development.
• Fathers can successfully and effectively engage in shared reading with their children regardless of their own reading abilities or confidence with reading aloud.
• Fathers who view shared reading as part of their parental responsibility and as an opportunity to bond with their children are more likely to engage in shared book reading activities.

What is shared book reading?

Shared book reading occurs when an adult – typically a family member or caregiver – reads to and with a child. This is a common practice for many families across the world. Familial shared book reading is important for many reasons: It introduces young children to print concepts such as book orientation and reading direction, promotes a range of early language and literacy skills in children, and helps develop positive relationships between caregivers and children.

Shared book reading is uniquely important for children’s development

The types of language exchanges that occur during shared reading are typically more advanced than those occurring in everyday conversations between children and adults. Additionally, the text found in books used during shared book reading introduces children to new vocabulary words beyond what they typically hear in their daily lives.

Parents also tend to engage with their children differently during shared book reading than they do in other types of activities, such as physical play or pretend play. Specific to father-child interactions, research shows that the diversity of fathers’ vocabulary, the number of questions asked, and the length of spoken sentences is greater during shared reading than it is while playing with toys (Salo et al., 2016). This positions shared book reading as a key activity that fathers can engage in that promotes children’s development in many areas.

Fathers interact with children in positive ways during shared book reading

Recent decades have seen increases in fathers’ participation in a variety of activities with their children, including shared book reading. Although some fathers and mothers tend to read books with their children in similar ways, research has shown that Dads interact with their children differently than mothers while reading with their children (Cutler & Palkovitz, 2020). Specifically, fathers ask children more open-ended questions (who, why) – a practice that challenges children’s thinking and expands their language skills (Rowe et al., 2004). Dads also engage in more conversationally challenging interactions with their children during shared book reading than do mothers (Anderson et al., 2004; Tomasello et al., 1990).

Photo: RODNAE Productions. Pexels.

Physical interactions also differ during reading. Recent research has shown that fathers are more likely than mothers to engage in close, interlocking contact while reading with their children, a behavior that helps promote a positive reading experience between parents and children (Cutler, 2020).

What fathers say and do during shared book reading matters for children’s development

Both the quantity and quality of father-child exchanges during shared book reading predict children’s language and literacy skills, influencing what children say and understand. For example, fathers’ linguistic complexity (the types of vocabulary words used, how many overall words are spoken) is positively associated with children’s expressive language (what they say; Rowe et al., 2004; Tomasello et al., 1990). Fathers’ participation in shared book reading also positively affects children’s receptive language skills (what they understand from spoken language; Tamis-LeMonda et al., 2004).

Language input

Additionally, fathers’ language input while reading books to their children is related to children’s general academic outcomes. Children whose fathers frequently participated in shared book reading activities with them when they were two years old had more advanced social-emotional skills and higher reading and math scores in pre-kindergarten than did children whose fathers read with them less often (Baker, 2013). Furthermore, fathers’ engagement in shared book reading is positively associated with children’s attention skills and ability to regulate emotions, especially for boys (Malin et al., 2014).

Why are fathers less likely than mothers to read to children?

Yet despite the important contributions fathers make to their children’s development through shared book reading, they are less likely than mothers to consistently read with their children or to be the main reader in the household. This gap has narrowed in recent decades, though, as fathers have increased their general levels of participation in their children’s lives.

Both the quantity and quality of father-child exchanges during shared book reading predict children’s language and literacy skills, influencing what children say and understand.

For some U.S. families, a positive outcome of the COVID-19 pandemic has been the rise in family participation in reading activities, including between fathers and their children (Carlson et al., 2022; Mayol-García, 2022). Maintaining a higher level of father participation in shared book reading can have both short- and long-term positive effects on children, families, and communities. What factors may influence whether these trends continue?

Factors predicting fathers’ participation in shared book reading

Many factors influence how frequently fathers read with their children, including familial ethnic, racial, and cultural backgrounds. In cultures across the globe, views vary regarding parents’ and familial caregivers’ roles in supporting young children’s language and literacy development. Though parent-child shared book reading is common in many countries, not all cultures favor shared reading as the primary way to involve children in literacy activities.

For example, some Hispanic and Native American families view oral storytelling as more important than or equally important as reading books with their children (Janes & Kermani, 2001; Nelson-Strouts & Gillispie, 2017). Such practices benefit children’s development and can be considered complementary activities fathers can participate in with their children.

Photo: Karolina Grabowska. Pexels.

Father’s views on parenting roles

Father’s views of their parenting roles and responsibilities also play a part. Fathers who view shared book reading as part of their parenting responsibility or whose partners expect them to read with their children are more likely to do so (Ortiz, 2004; Swain et al., 2017). The overall level of engagement fathers have with their children is also associated with the likelihood that they will read with them. It makes sense that fathers who are very involved and available to their children are more likely to read with them.

Furthermore, fathers’ personal experiences with reading affect how often they read with their children. Dads who are confident readers, who enjoy reading themselves, and who have had positive experiences with reading, either at home or in school (or both), are more likely to participate in shared reading activities with their children than dads who have not had these experiences (Duursma et al., 2008; Ortiz, 2004).

The types of books available

The type of books available during shared book reading and fathers’ perceptions of the purpose of shared reading experiences can also influence how often they participate in this activity. Some Dads feel more comfortable reading informational or non-fiction books than fiction books with their children (Robertson & Reese, 2017). The availability of books in the home in fathers’ native languages also affects how likely they are to read with their children. Fathers who have limited literacy or who speak a different first language than their children are less likely to participate in shared book reading (Duursma et al., 2008; Ortiz, 2004).

All fathers can engage in shared book reading, regardless of their reading ability or familiarity with reading aloud

Attitudes matter, too. Sitting close to or holding a child while relaxing and sharing books together is often perceived as a time of emotional closeness between parents and children. Dads who view shared book reading as an opportunity to spend time with and bond with their children are more likely to participate than fathers who view the experience as a chore or as a way to teach their children a lesson (Bus & van IJzendoorn, 1992; Janes & Kermani, 2001).

Conclusion

By engaging in shared reading with their children, fathers can support children’s development while also fostering positive father-child relationships. Many fathers across the world recognize the importance of shared book reading. However, the rates at which fathers read with their children continues to lag behind that of mothers.

Highlighting the unique contributions Dads make to children’s development through reading is an important consideration for programs and policies designed to support families and communities. Supporting fathers who are hesitant to read with their children or feel less confident about reading is also important.

All fathers can engage in shared book reading, regardless of their reading ability or familiarity with reading aloud. Here are suggestions for how to ensure that all fathers feel supported in shared book reading.

Considerations for fatherhood programs and family literacy initiatives

• Normalize and promote father-child shared book reading as an important activity for fathers.
• Highlight the unique contributions fathers make to their children’s development by engaging in shared reading.
• Focus on the overall importance of sharing books and not on being a “perfect” reader. (For example, encourage the idea that stories can be shared without reading every single word on the page.)
• Ensure that messaging and marketing materials promoting family literacy activities feature fathers.
• Select books to share that are of interest to a wide range of fathers and that account for the varying literacy abilities of adult readers, such as books that feature fathers interacting with their children in positive ways, bilingual books, and wordless picture books.
• Offer books that portray fathers from varying racial, ethnic, and cultural backgrounds, as well as fathers from varying family constellations (single fathers, same-sex fathers, kin fathers, stepfathers).

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• Mind-mindedness is the ability of parents to accurately read and label their children’s thoughts, feelings, and wishes.
• Both mothers’ and fathers’ mind-mindedness in the first years of children’s lives play an important role in children developing the ability to regulate their emotions and behaviors.
• Parents can cultivate mind-mindedness by paying close attention to their children’s behavior and taking time to reflect on and label their children’s thoughts, wishes, and emotions.

What is mind-mindedness?

I have vivid memories of the first weeks of motherhood, feeling anxious and confused about why my baby was crying. I wondered: Why is she crying? How is she feeling? Does she want something other than food? Maybe she just wants to be cuddled? As time passed, I began to understand my baby’s wishes and emotions more clearly. Talking to other new parents, I realized that parents differ in how much they can understand their children’s minds.

This ability of parents to think about their children as individuals with their own thoughts, feelings, and wishes, and to label these experiences in their interactions with them is called mind-mindedness. Parents with this ability accurately read their babies’ minds and label their mental states. This might involve reflecting on a child’s emotional experiences or verbalizing their wishes.

Photo: Egidijus Bielskis. Unsplash.

For example, when a child starts crying after their toy broke, a mind-minded parent might say, “You seem upset that your toy broke. You wanted to play with this toy.” In contrast, parents who misinterpret their children’s mental states (e.g., assuming the child is crying because they are tired and do not want to play anymore) demonstrate non-attuned mind-mindedness.

How does mind-mindedness help children?

Parental mind-mindedness plays an important role in the development of children’s self-regulation. Self-regulation is a critical skill that enables children to manage their emotions and behaviors in response to what a situation demands (Eisenberg, 2000; Kochanska, 1993). As children reach the age of four or five and begin school, the demands for self-regulation increase. Starting a these ages, children need to stay focused, pay attention to learning goals, and actively participate in learning in the classroom so self-regulation becomes especially important (e.g., Nota et al., 2004).

Boosting self-regulation

Self-regulation in preschool is not only important for later academic achievement – accumulating evidence suggests that it is also essential for children’s social adjustment and mental health. Preschool-age children who can adequately regulate their emotions and behaviors have more successful relationships with others, are more socially competent, have healthier life habits, and are at a lower risk for developing mental disorders (Robson et al., 2020).

The ability of parents to think about their children as individuals with their own thoughts, feelings, and wishes, and to label these experiences in their interactions with them is called mind-mindedness.

Several studies have examined the role of parental mind-mindedness in the development of self-regulation in infants and toddlers. They have shown that mothers’ and fathers’ mind-mindedness is associated with emerging self-regulation abilities in infancy and toddlerhood (Cheng et al., 2018; Gagné et al., 2018; Senehi et al., 2018; Zeegers et al., 2019). However, it remains unclear whether parental mind-mindedness at these ages plays an important role for self-regulation in preschoolers. This is especially important to determine since self-regulation at preschool age predicts various life outcomes.

The connection between parental mind-mindedness and preschoolers’ self-regulation

My colleagues and I set out to address this question. In our recent study (Nikolić et al., 2022), we investigated whether mothers’ and fathers’ mind-mindedness in the first three years of a child’s life predicts the development of self-regulation at four and a half years.

We predicted that appropriate mind-mindedness in parents would help children develop good self-regulation because children would learn about their inner states from parents who accurately reflect on and label their mental states (e.g., when a child is sad and the parents reflect on the child’s sadness, the child becomes aware of the feeling and starts to understand it). In contrast, non-attuned mind-mindedness in parents would hinder the development of self-regulation because children whose parents misinterpret their thoughts, wishes, and feelings may feel misunderstood and would not learn to understand their mental states from their parents.

Photo: Karolina Grabowska. Pexels.

We assessed mothers’ and fathers’ mind-mindedness in the first three years on multiple occasions by observing their interactions and conversations with their children during playtime. We then measured preschoolers’ self-regulation at the age of 4.5 in several ways. First, we asked parents about their perception of their children’s effortful control, or their capacity to voluntarily focus attention and suppress an inappropriate response or activate an appropriate response to adjust to a situation (Eisenberg, 2005). For example, the ability to prioritize sitting quietly and listening to the teacher over playing with a friend is an aspect of effortful control.

Second, the children completed behavioral tasks in the lab, where we asked them to keep their hands placed on a mat on the table while choosing a prize from a box filled with small toys or a box filled with candies (Kochanska et al., 1997). This task required children to follow instructions and inhibit a dominant response (i.e., touching or pointing to a toy or candy). Finally, we measured children’s heart rate variability during rest – a bodily response related to physiological regulation (Porges, 1997).

Mind-mindedness in the first three years of a child’s life

Both mothers’ and fathers’ mind-mindedness in the first three years of their children’s lives contributed significantly to their preschoolers’ self-regulation. Fathers who were more mind-minded with their babies and toddlers had children who were better at self-regulation when they started school. In contrast, mothers and fathers who were more non-attuned and often misinterpreted their children’s mental states had children who were less able to self-regulate when they started school.

Fathers who were more mind-minded with their babies and toddlers had children who were better at self-regulation when they started school.

These findings provide the first evidence that both mothers’ and fathers’ mind-mindedness in the early years matters for children’s self-regulation in preschool. They also emphasize the role of fathers’ attunement to their children’s mental states in early years for the development of self-regulation at preschool age.

How can parents cultivate mind-mindedness?

What does this mean for parents? While it may not be surprising that a strong parent-child bond has positive effects on a child’s socioemotional development, our study’s findings highlight the unique importance of both mothers and fathers in being mindful of their children’s internal experiences to promote self-regulation early in life.

Parents can pay close attention to their children’s behavior and cues, and take time to reflect on and label their children’s thoughts, wishes, and emotions. By doing so, parents can help their children develop an understanding of their own inner life, making self-regulation easier. And the best part? It is never too early to start this practice – even talking about mental states with your child before they can speak can help them develop this important life skill.

The post Parent mind-mindedness can boost children’s self-regulation appeared first on Child and Family Blog.

• It is important for fathers to begin bonding with their baby during pregnancy; singing, reading, and talking to their baby can support this early bond.
• Fathers can also talk with their partner and trusted others about their hopes and concerns for their baby during pregnancy as a way to prepare for early parenting.
• During pregnancy, fathers are encouraged to connect with other expectant or new fathers to begin building a parenting support network.

Key takeaways for healthcare and social services programs 

Make pregnancy spaces father friendly 

• Encourage fathers to attend obstetrics and ultrasound appointments, and provide a welcoming space for addressing fathers directly, asking if they have questions or concerns, and supporting their involvement in the pregnancy process.
• Provide supportive spaces and programs for fathers to connect with each other and learn about topics related to pregnancy and early infant care.
• Include pictures of fathers and infants in obstetrics and pediatrics offices and reading material that may appeal to men in waiting rooms.

Talk with fathers directly about their past and present experiences

• Ask fathers about their own experiences with the pregnancy and their hopes and concerns for their infant.
• Include fathers in early intervention programs beginning at intake and highlight fathers’ importance for the health and well-being of their infant.
• Screen expectant fathers (and mothers) for Perinatal Mood and Anxiety Disorders, past maltreatment and trauma histories, and current exposure to adversity, and connect them with mental health services as needed.

Key takeaways for policymakers 

• Create systems that coordinate and connect fathering programs, such as state-level fatherhood commissions.
• Require early intervention programs to include fathers whenever possible as a central component of interventions rather than a suggested add-on service to families.
• Create programs and services that support fathers in bonding with their babies during the perinatal period, such as establishing ‘fatherhood navigators’ at hospitals that support fathers during prenatal visits, labor and delivery, and with post-natal infant care.

While fathers are increasingly expected to be actively involved in the pregnancy and post-natal care of their newborn, social narratives have not kept pace with these expectations.

Prenatal emotional bonds are a foundation for healthy parent-child relationships

Expecting and preparing for a baby is a time of excitement and joy for many parents. In addition to stocking up on diapers and onesies, parents-to-be are also preparing psychologically for the birth of their new baby (Dayton et al., 2020). The prenatal emotional bond parents form with their baby is essential and powerful – it prepares them to care for their newborn (Raphael-Leff, 2005).

In turn, early sensitive parenting – feeding, bathing, changing, holding, and soothing the baby – sets the stage for a strong and enduring parent-child relationship. For fathers, early infant care is associated with feelings of parenting competence (Dayton et al., 2015), and thereby supports their growing bond with their baby.

Prenatal bonding is often different for mothers and fathers

For the person carrying the baby (typically the mother), the prenatal emotional bond with the infant is supported by the biology of pregnancy – hormonal changes, the baby’s movements inside her (“quickening”), and a growing baby bump all contribute to her emotional connection with her baby.

Her growing body also alerts the outside world that she is expecting a baby and, across cultures, many social practices acknowledge, honor, and support her mothering role. The baby bump may compel passengers on the bus to give up their seat, accommodates nearby parking at the grocery store, and can inspire smiles and kind words from strangers.

In contrast, the parent who is not carrying the baby (the father or the mother’s partner) is an external observer of the baby’s prenatal growth. Expectant fathers also undergo prenatal hormonal and physiological changes that support post-natal parenting behaviors (Saxbe et al., 2017), but because these changes are not visible to others, expectant men experience fewer social acknowledgements of their status as fathers-to-be than do expectant women.

Photo: Amina Filkins. Pexels.

Prenatal bonding is also a slower process for fathers than it is for mothers. A father’s prenatal bond with his baby tends to increase as the pregnancy progresses (Habib & Lancaster, 2010) and is influenced by his own mental health (e.g., depression, anxiety; Cameron et al., 2016) and by his relationship with the mother of his baby (Ahlqvist-Björkroth et al., 2016).

Dispelling misconceptions about the importance of fathers’ early involvement

However, when expectant fathers are given time and space to talk, they have a lot to say! In addition to feelings of excitement and pride, fathers describe their growing feelings of responsibility – not just for the immediate post-natal period, but also for the care their child will need throughout life.

However, while fathers are increasingly expected to be actively involved in the pregnancy and post-natal care of their newborn, social narratives have not kept pace with these expectations. Therefore, fathers may wrongly believe that their most important parenting role does not begin until their children are older (Dayton et al., 2016). Notably, fathers who believe strongly in the importance of early fathering for the health and well-being of young children are also more likely to feel a strong emotional bond with their infant prenatally (Dayton et al., 2019), and may therefore be more prepared for post-natal infant care.

Fathers’ involvement improves babies’ development

The research is clear: When fathers are involved in the lives of their babies beginning in pregnancy, healthy outcomes for their babies are improved – prenatal, birth, and newborn health outcomes are better and per-infant health care costs are reduced (Alio et al., 2010; Salihu et al., 2014). For mothers and fathers in areas of the United States like Detroit, where maternal and infant morbidity and mortality rates constitute a public health crisis, fathers’ involvement can reduce the negative effects of systemic factors such as institutional racism that are literally killing black mothers and babies.

So how do men bond with their babies and what can be done to support them? Research is beginning to shed light on the ways in which men form prenatal relationships with their babies and this work suggests some ways to help.

Encouraging fathers’ involvement supports father-infant bonding

Research has demonstrated that the quality of the prenatal father-infant relationship is related to the quality of the post-natal father-infant relationship (Vreeswijk et al., 2014). However, research also suggests that expectant fathers’ emotional connection to their infant begins somewhat later in pregnancy than it does with mothers (Ives, 2014) – likely due to the physiological and social differences they experience. Many men say they must rely on the mother as a gatekeeper (Draper, 2002), for example, to be invited to feel the baby’s movements in utero and to be notified of obstetrics visits. These experiences may create a sense of distance from the infant.

When fathers are involved during pregnancy, outcomes for infants improve.

Mothers can support the father-infant bond by encouraging fathers to be actively involved in the pregnancy. Fathers’ involvement can include talking and singing to their babies and attending prenatal medical appointments. They can also talk with the baby’s mother about important newborn care decisions, such as whether the baby will be breast- or bottle-fed (Dayton et al., 2019). In this way, fathers can care for and bond with their baby even before the baby is born.

Fathers can also feel closer to their baby by talking about them with others. Friends and family members can provide spaces for expectant fathers to talk about their hopes and dreams for their baby, as well as their worries and concerns.

Perhaps because mothers are still perceived as the “primary” parent in infancy and early childhood, many fathers connect with the women in their lives to support them during pregnancy and early parenting (Dayton et al., 2016). But when other fathers reach out to share pregnancy expectations and answer questions, expectant fathers describe feeling a deep sense of support and connection with them (Walsh et al., 2014). Programs that encourage men to develop parenting support systems with each other may have powerful effects on improving mental health and increasing feelings of parenting confidence.

Social systems should emphasize the importance of fathers’ role and services for expectant dads

Social systems also play a role. Within the health care system, fathers often feel ignored and report feeling unwelcome at obstetrics appointments and ultrasound scans (Widarsson et al., 2015). Yet when fathers are included and involved in these appointments, they feel more connected to their baby, and they often feel a surge of pride and motivation to be good fathers and partners to the baby’s mother (Walsh et al., 2014).

To support and encourage these feelings, medical personnel can involve fathers in medical appointments by including them in conversations about the medical status of the mother and baby, and by explicitly asking fathers if they have questions or concerns. In addition, by intentionally featuring pictures of fathers and infants in obstetrics and pediatric waiting rooms and displaying magazines that appeal to fathers, health care professionals can help fathers feel welcome in the space (Albuja et al., 2019).

Health care providers’ offices are often the first (and sometimes only) place where parental well-being can be assessed. Although stigma still exists that may prevent fathers from talking about their mental health, many fathers struggle with feelings of depression and anxiety as they prepare for the birth of their baby – just as many mothers do (Dayton et al., 2017).

Photo: Justin Thompson. Pexels.

Fathers may also find that past exposure to traumatic events influences their ability to bond with their baby during pregnancy (Dayton et al., 2019). Health care providers are encouraged to screen fathers (and mothers) for Perinatal Mood and Anxiety Disorders, and to provide compassionate support and referrals to mental health services as needed (Walsh et al., 2020).

Within most social services systems, prenatal and early childhood intervention services are targeted almost exclusively to mothers. Despite increased efforts to also provide programs for fathers, services for dads are often designed and delivered as both optional and secondary to the central intervention with the mother.

This approach reinforces social narratives that fathers are less important than mothers during pregnancy and as parents to their young children. It also ignores growing evidence that interventions that target the co-parenting relationship, and therefore attend equally to both parents, yield positive effects on child outcomes (Hawkins et al., 2022).

Parenting programs should include fathers in early childhood interventions from the very beginning of the service delivery process. Ensuring that agencies are father friendly, in terms of office décor and a welcoming approach to fathers, for example, is also crucial.

Conclusions: Fathers’ involvement has a significant and enduring impact

When fathers are involved during pregnancy, outcomes for infants improve. Fathers form early, prenatal, relational bonds with their babies that support their parenting after the birth of their child. Improving services to expectant fathers, especially in communities where infant mortality and morbidity are high, can help the negative effects of racism, poverty, and violence on maternal and infant outcomes. Programs and policymakers can help support prenatal father-infant relationships by creating prenatal spaces that include fathers and by implementing early intervention programs for fathers, and by making sure dads are a part of existing programs.

The post Helping fathers bond with their babies during pregnancy appeared first on Child and Family Blog.

• The transition to fatherhood is accompanied by changes in fathers’ brains and hormones. These changes are probably related to new activities and routines that fathers are involved in and develop.
• These brain-related and hormonal changes are functional: They support fathers’ sensitive responses to their infants’ needs.
• A new study using ultrasound imaging and feedback during pregnancy indicates that positive father-child interactions can get a head start before birth.

The birth of a child is the birth of a father

The birth of the first child marks the transition to fatherhood in men’s lives. This is a developmental milestone, a new phase in adult life with unfamiliar tasks and responsibilities. The transition is more striking for most men who become fathers now than it was for their fathers and grandfathers.

Today, fathers in Western, industrialized countries are much more actively involved in child care than fathers were: a three- to six-fold increase in time over what their own fathers typically did. How are men prepared for the life-changing event of becoming a father?

Hormonal changes in new fathers

The changes in hormonal levels in women who go through pregnancy and give birth are unparalleled. These are necessary for housing and feeding a new human being. In the transition to fatherhood, men also undergo hormonal changes, although they are not as significant as those women experience.

From around four weeks before the birth of their first child to around five weeks after birth, men’s testosterone, vasopressin, and cortisol levels decrease, and their oxytocin levels slightly increase. These hormones are involved in many activities.

Photo: Tim Mossholder. Unsplash.

Testosterone is relevant when we are daring and competitive, vasopressin makes us alert, cortisol helps us respond to unexpected situations and is high when we are under stress, and oxytocin is well known as the love hormone but has more functions: It helps us recognize social signals, such as others’ emotions. These hormonal changes in fathers can be considered as functional for gentle interaction with and sensitive care for the baby.

The perinatal period

But it could also be the other way around: In the perinatal period, the new activities and routines of fathers may lead to changes in their hormone levels, which in turn support sensitive parenting.

For example, when fathers spend a few evenings a week on the couch cuddling with their baby rather than playing football, their cortisol levels probably decline and their oxytocin levels probably rise. This, in turn, may make them more patient when the baby protests during diaper changes. This idea of caregiving routines leading to change in hormonal levels is supported by new research on fathers’ brains.

Do men’s brains change when they become fathers?

There are (at least) three different ways to study human brains to measure change:

1. Brain structures
2. Activity of brain areas
3. Brain networks

1. Brain structures

The first is to look at brain structures, which can be seen as the hardware of the brain. Two studies found some change in fathers’ brain structures in the first months after the birth of the baby (Kim at al., 2014; Martínez-García et al., 2022), but another study did not find such changes (Hoekzema et al., 2016).

2. Activity of brain areas

The second way to study brains is to look at the activity of brain areas in response to child-related stimuli. Much of this research focuses on the sounds of infants crying because that is such an intense and meaningful sound. In their first period of life, it is the only way babies can attract their parents’ attention when they need something.

The transition to fatherhood is accompanied by changes in behavior, hormones, and the brain.

Indeed, many brain regions are activated when we hear crying sounds. But having children does make a difference: Adults without children show more activity in brain regions involved with cognitive processing when they hear infants crying, while adults with children show more emotional processing (Witteman et al., 2019).

3. Brain networks

While this second type of brain research focuses on separate brain regions, the third type of brain research looks at brain networks. For example, the parental brain network is a system of regions that are supposed to collaboratively support caregiving behavior.

New research shows no differences in this network between fathers during pregnancy and new fathers with a first-born baby of about 2 months, but a remarkable finding for fathers in the postnatal period emerged: The more fathers were involved in their children’s care, the stronger the connectivity in their parental brain network (Horstman et al., 2021). In other words, it does not matter whether or not men have a baby, but it matters how much caretaking they do.

Play helps fathers connect with their babies

Fathers and mothers are both similar and different in the ways they engage with their children. In general, mothers do the lion’s share of caregiving, such as feeding and bathing. When it comes to play, fathers and mothers are more similar in the amount of time they play or read stories with their child. This implies that when fathers and infants interact, it is often in the context of play (Amodia-Bidakowska et al., 2020).

Play is a perfect way for fathers to get to know their child, and to see what they like, what fears they may have, and how they overcome these fears with daddy’s help. This is as rewarding for fathers as it is for children, and it stimulates the attachment relationship (Monteiro et al., 2010).

Positive parenting in fathers starts with prenatal care

We stated earlier that the birth of a child is the birth of a father. Actually, being a parent starts before the birth of the child. Fathers are influential during pregnancy – they affect prenatal development through their own health, and they influence expectant mothers’ mental and physical health.

New research also shows that unborn babies are ready to interact with their fathers. Using ultrasound, we recorded how babies between the 21^st and 32^nd week of pregnancy responded when their fathers softly massaged mothers’ abdomen, read from a children’s book, or sang for their child (De Waal et al., 2022).

Babies can hear voices coming from outside the abdomen and can recognize their father’s voice. They can remember rhythms and music during pregnancy and even after birth when they heard them regularly during pregnancy. As pregnancy progresses, the skin of mothers’ abdomen thins, there is less amniotic fluid, and the babies’ nervous system develops, enabling them to feel and respond to touch.

Fathers’ caretaking of their baby may promote the hormonal and brain changes that support high-quality fathering.

In our research, we offered fathers three sessions with ultrasound-based interaction with their unborn baby. We saw on the screen how the babies responded when their fathers read to them from a children’s book or sang a lullaby. We used video-feedback reviewing of the ultrasound images to help them interpret their babies’ states, responses to the interaction (e.g., thumb sucking when dad read), and own initiatives (e.g., pushing against the wall of mother’s womb).

Fathers who received such prenatal video feedback were more sensitive during play with their babies after birth (Buisman et al., 2022). The video feedback may have made these dads more attuned to their babies, and may have spurred them to habitually check their baby’s face and other signals to adapt their own behavior or pace to the infant’s needs.

How to support new fathers during the prenatal period and after the birth

Fatherhood has many dimensions. The transition to fatherhood is accompanied by changes in behavior, hormones, and the brain. The intensity of these changes depends partly on sociocultural norms and expectations for fathers.

Sometimes fathers feel at a disadvantage: Prenatal and perinatal care is focused on mothers, and fathers can seem to be at some distance. While it would be a great opportunity for medical check-ups to extend the focus of ultrasounds to include possibilities for father-infant interaction, fathers can also create their own moments of togetherness at home, talking to their babies and softly massaging their babies through their partners’ skin. Getting to know each other can start before birth.

Photo: Amina Filkins. Pexels.

Societies with parental leave for fathers stimulate paternal involvement in early child care, giving fathers more opportunities to interact with their babies. In such contexts, changes in brains and hormonal levels will probably be more extensive than in contexts where fathers have few opportunities to be actively involved in child care. Paternal leave enables fathers to develop a relationship with their children from the beginning, which is just one of the arguments for paid paternal leave.

In some families, opportunities for fathers to engage are limited by mothers’ reluctance to trust fathers’ caregiving capacities. Called gatekeeping, this occurs when mothers want to take complete care of the baby themselves. It may be good to realize that fathers can be excellent caregivers, just like mothers, and that fathers’ caretaking of their baby may promote the hormonal and brain changes that support high-quality fathering.

The post Becoming a new father – The transition to fatherhood appeared first on Child and Family Blog.

• A brief, online program can help parents promote their children’s resilience following separation and divorce.
• Not all online programs for divorced and separated parents are the same. Evidence from research can help parents and practitioners identify online programs that work rather than ones that are just based on someone’s favorite approach.
• Programs that give parents simple, practical tools to strengthen parenting and reduce conflict between the parents are most likely to reduce children’s behavior problems.
• The eNew Beginnings Program provides an inexpensive but effective opportunity for court professionals and mental health practitioners to help parents promote their children’s resilience following separation and divorce.

An evidence-based online program for divorced and separated parents

Most divorced and separated parents are concerned about their children and ask themselves: “What can I do to protect my children from the problems that often follow divorce?” Although many online parenting-after-divorce programs offer advice, few are backed by solid research that show they actually work.

However, recent research provides new scientific evidence that one online parenting-after-divorce program can provide parents with the help they seek. In the first rigorous evaluation of an online program, this study showed that a brief, online parenting intervention for divorced and separated parents reduced interparental conflict and children’s behavior problems, and improved the quality of parent-child relationships and the effectiveness of parental discipline.

The online program, the eNew Beginnings Program (eNBP), was adapted by researchers Sharlene A. Wolchik and Irwin Sandler from their in-person group program for parents that reduced the mental health problems, drug and alcohol use, and risky sexual behavior of children from divorced families. The program also improved children’s self-esteem, grades, coping, and work competence. Several of the positive changes lasted up to 15 years after the program ended: When the offspring were young adults, they had lower rates of depression, substance use, and painful feelings about the divorce.

Despite the positive effects of the in-person program, few divorced parents could participate because it was expensive for agencies to offer. Moreover, parents faced practical barriers, such as travel, making time in their busy schedules, and finding child care.

Practical tools for parenting after divorce

To make the program affordable, more widely available, and easier for parents to use, Wolchik and Sandler adapted the in-person program into an online version. The eNBP is affordable, and parents can take part on their own time and in the comfort of their own homes. They need only a smartphone, computer, or tablet. The eNBP is a five-hour (20 to 30 minutes per session over 10 weeks) online program that includes all the material in the in-person version. Separate versions of the program were developed for divorced and separated fathers and for divorced and separated mothers.

The eNBP works by teaching parents practical tools to strengthen positive relationships with their children, create and use family rules that reduce the hassles often associated with discipline, and decrease the level of conflict with the other parent (i.e., the ex-partner). The program teaches these tools in a step-by-step, highly interactive way.

For example, sessions begin with a check-in when parents respond to questions about their use of the program tools and are provided with ways to address the challenges they experienced using them. This is followed by teaching a new tool using modeling videos, interactive exercises, and testimonials from prior participants.

The eNBP then prompts parents to set times to use the tool, identify barriers to using it, and select strategies to reduce these barriers. Parents receive downloadable tip sheets on how to address common challenges in using the tools, sheets to record their use of the tools, and handbooks that summarize what was covered in the session.

Photo: Tatiana Syrikova. Pexels.

Positive impacts of the online program on parents and children

The effectiveness of the eNBP was evaluated using the gold standard of program evaluation, a randomized controlled trial. One hundred thirty-one parents were randomly given access to the program or assigned to a waiting list. Parents were recruited from across the United States. Of the parents, 78% were non-Hispanic White, 8% were Hispanic, and 14% were of another race/ethnicity. Parents had various levels of education: 1% had less than GED or high school diploma, 14% a GED or high school diploma, 17% an associate degree, 29% some college or vocational training, and 39% a bachelor’s degree or higher. Annual income ranged from $10,000 to $175,000 (median = $30,001–$40,000). Parents were on average 41 years old; 60% were female. Children averaged 13 years old; 48% were female.

After completing the program, both parents and their children provided information about its effects. Parents and children reported that the program improved the quality of parent-child relationships, increased effective discipline, and reduced symptoms of anxiety and depression in the children. Both parents and children also reported reduced conflict between parents.

The program was equally effective when used by mothers and fathers. The improvements noticed by the children increase confidence in the study’s findings because the children did not take part in the program.

The improvements from the online program were as strong or stronger than those that resulted from the original in-person program, which has had remarkable effects in three randomized controlled trials. The program developers think this may be due to the high level of interactivity of the online program and the ease of using it.

The rate of program completion was also higher for the online than for the in-person program. Among the parents who completed the first session, only 16% finished the in-person version (Sandler et al., 2020), whereas 60% finished the eNBP. Parents were very satisfied with the program. Most felt that it helped them and helped their relationships with their children. And more than 80% of the parents said that family courts should recommend that divorcing or separating parents complete the eNBP.

Who can use the online divorce program?

The program is available in two formats, a 6-week program and a 10-week program. The same material is included in both formats; the 10-week program allows parents more practice and provides them with more feedback about the skills that are taught. The 6-week version is appropriate for those who are taking part in the program to fulfill a parenting class required by the court.

Family courts can use the eNBP in several ways. Family court judges, mediators, and attorneys can use the program as a tool to protect the well-being of children whose parents experience high conflict or are having difficulty developing a parenting plan.

Mental health practitioners can use the program in their work with individual clients. Parents could complete a session at home and then when meeting with the practitioner, the practitioner could address questions and help the parents solve any problems they had using the tools.

In summary, the eNBP is an effective research-based resource for fathers and mothers who want to protect their children following a divorce. It is easy to access and parents enjoy the program, as shown in these comments by parents who took part in the eNBP:

“It got me and my children closer to each other.”

“It was exactly what I needed.”

“There are several tools I used immediately that my kids are big fans of.”

Parents can directly access the program at www.divorceandparenting.com.

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A consistent theme in family adaptation is the family’s ability to make sense of their experience. When a caregiver is away at war, the stress on the family is immediate and can have lasting effects, especially on very young children.

Family Stress

Families of service members deployed to war are forced to live with both the hope and expectation of a safe return and the acute awareness of possible loss of life. During times of war, risk varies for different family members and different family systems.

“When a caregiver is away at war, the stress on the family is immediate and can have lasting effects, especially on very young children.”

Stressful life events and normative life events before notification of deployment, during separation, and after reunion contribute to the overall adaptation of the family.

Individuals who have strong connections to family and community support and can identify and use these supports adapt to the changes and continue to thrive after deployment. For others, the cumulative and chronic nature of stressors on their family system increases uncertainty about individual and family well-being.

Infants and toddlers also experience separation and loss, but their needs can be overlooked when caring adults are overwhelmed and assume that children will not remember this time. Yet the young are the most vulnerable.

Separation during deployment affects an infant’s attachment relationship with the service member. Boundary ambiguity about who is in or out of the family, as well as both visible and invisible wounds of war, represent other losses in the parent-child relationship.

Injuries sustained in war may be visible or invisible to children. Invisible injuries are more difficult for children to understand because there are no obvious physical signs.

Invisible injuries such as post-traumatic stress syndrome (PTSD), traumatic brain injury, and depression can harm the quality of the parent-child relationship because these wounds often are associated with parental irritability, rapid mood swings, emotional numbing, memory loss, and lack of behavior control.

Any of these can enhance children’s risk for disorganized attachment, psychological distress, emotion and behavior dysregulation, and poor health and well-being.

Children growing up in homes with a depressed parent are at increased risk for depression themselves, as are children raised by parents with substance abuse disorders, especially when they occur with high levels of aggression and violence. Children traumatized by parental violence may themselves develop symptoms of PTSD.

Separation during deployment affects an infant’s attachment relationship with the service member.

The nature of the invisible injury may directly harm family functioning and the quality of parent-child relationships necessary for promoting optimal child development. While all types of parental combat injuries influence various components of family functioning, evidence suggests that families are more resilient when there are visible wounds and struggle more with changes related to invisible ones.

Ambiguous Loss

The realities of stress on non-deployed parents can make it difficult for them to be emotionally present with their child during and after deployment. Uncertainty about the extent of the loss and the inability to bring closure to these losses make them ambiguous.

Psychologists describe two types of ambiguous loss: when a loved one is physically absent but psychologically present, and when a loved one is physically present but psychologically absent.

The concept of ambiguous loss became significant when research with families of U.S. military sent to fight in the Vietnam War looked at the psychological presence of a father declared missing in action.

Studies showed that the effect of the father’s absence was influenced by the mother’s adjustment in the first few years after receiving notification of the father’s missing-in-action status. Later studies revealed that ambiguous loss during a parent’s deployment changed not only children’s relationship with the deployed parent but also their relationship with the non-deployed parent.

During Deployment

Certainly, both deployed parents and children at home experience the loss of shared developmental milestones (e.g., first smile, step, word). Lengthy separations are thought to have greater implications for young children, who are developmentally unable to process the cause of the separation, time of the parent’s absence, or explanations of the parent’s return.

When the service member is absent, the non-deployed caregiver and that caregiver’s attunement to the developmental milestones of the child or the impact of stressors on the young child are critical for normal attachment and development of young children.

“Infants and toddlers also experience separation and loss, but their needs can be overlooked when caring adults are overwhelmed.”

Ongoing fear for the loved one’s safety and a fixation on the war can result in the non-deployed parent or caregiver being psychologically absent during the deployment.

While they are physically present, they may be unable to maintain normal routines or care for children. For these adults, feelings of despair can lead to ambivalence, guilt, anxiety, depression, and incapacitation.

Boundary ambiguity about who is in or out of the family unit or what roles individuals play in a family can be conceptualized on a continuum with varying degrees of psychological presence or absence, as well as changing physical presence or absence.

When a parent is deployed or absent from the home for an extended period, other family members assume their roles within the family and may not be interested in relinquishing some of those responsibilities when the service member returns.

Reunion

Community supports in place during deployment might assume that once the service member is home, life will quickly return to normal. However, when service members return, they have to deal with not only their wartime experiences but also the loss of family as they knew it prior to their deployment.

Many become acutely aware of developmental milestones missed and the ability of the family to go on without them. As the boundaries of who is in or out of the family change and the future seems uncertain, families may experience turmoil.

Building an attachment relationship is influenced by parents’ ability to be both physically and psychologically present for their child during all phases of the deployment cycle, including the reunion and reintegration of family.

When service members return, they have to deal with not only their wartime experiences but also the loss of family as they knew it prior to their deployment.

Military families and community support need to understand and normalize bodily responses to chronic stress and how these responses create ambiguity.

The stress response that activated to help the service member or at-home caregiver survive their stressful experience takes a toll on the human body. Over time, the endemic stress affects bodily functions like heart rate, blood pressure, immunity, sleep, attention, and moods.

Furthermore, thinking about negative events that happened in the past or fearing for the future can continue to hijack the stress response, making it more difficult to manage everyday relationships.

When parents are consumed with thoughts and fears, they are unable to be present and attuned to their child in the moment, that is, they might be physically present but psychologically absent. This can happen at any stage of the deployment cycle.

Family Functioning

When parents experience stress that takes them away from being attuned to and present with their children, there is strength is seeking help from professionals. Meaningful treatment focused on the injury, role changes, and loss of personal and family dreams is central in the process of healing.

A multi-level, systemic, resilience-building approach is needed to strengthen family and community resources, rather than focusing solely on individual deficits. Considering parents’ combat injuries, interventions should respect individual, family, military, and community differences.

Having strong social support facilitates better adjustment for the injured and has a buffering effect on the family. When social supports reduce the stress experienced by the military family, the parent can focus on being emotionally responsive and attuned to the needs of their child.

“When service members return, they have to deal with not only their wartime experiences but also the loss of family as they knew it prior to their deployment.”

The early life trajectory is shaped largely by infants’ relational world of family, community, and life contexts.

During times of stress, parents can provide comfort and security for their children by establishing and maintaining routines. Age-appropriate tasks may help children feel that they are contributing positively to the family.

Children need to make sense of what the stress means for their life. When adults communicate age-appropriate information, it supports children’s intuitive sense that something is wrong.

Parents can also create an environment where the child knows it is acceptable to ask questions. What children want and need to know changes as they grow. Children express a broad range of emotions, and they often need their caregivers to help them name and regulate their emotions.

Child development studies consistently promote the benefits of children maintaining a relationship with both parents. Children need the adults in their life to plan activities and rituals that help them feel connected to a parent who is physically absent.

During wartime deployments, events inevitably occur outside families’ control. Family members’ beliefs, values, goals, and perceptions of themselves in the context of their community may influence whether the family views their situation as manageable.

Community supports can focus on reducing parental stress, mitigating mental health challenges, building confidence in parents’ engagement, and supporting strategies that enable parents to live in ways that are consistent with their values.

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This finding comes from our quantitative review of 39 studies involving 1,812 children, most of whom were 4- to 5-year-olds. Only nine studies included children mainly from low SES families, and the rest focused on children from middle or high social economic status families or mixed groups. The studies were from the United States, Canada, Israel, and the Netherlands.

Digital books can offer oral narration and enhancements to replace an adult pointing, commenting, and explaining to a child. These enhancements provide background information and explain events. For example, in Elmo Goes to the Doctor, the reader can click each character in the waiting room and see why each one is at the doctor’s office. Likewise, hotspots in other digital books may elicit comments from characters that expand on the text and provide additional information to support comprehension.

However, not all digital books enhance story comprehension. A digital book that lacks enhancements – which is practically the same as the paper version – has less effect than a paper book. The most plausible reason is that the device on which the child is reading the digital book attracts the child’s attention at the expense of the story.

Our review also found that digital books can have enhancements that interfere with story comprehension. For example, many commercially published digital picture books include a dictionary. The reader can tap on individual pictures to make the name of the object or action pop up and hear the word spoken aloud. This enhancement has either no effect or a negative effect on children’s story comprehension. This is not surprising, given that focusing attention on word meanings distracts children’s attention from the storyline. Young children do not have the cognitive resources to focus on word meanings and the storyline at the same time.

Photo: Rafiq Sarlie. Creative Commons.

Digital books: An effective alternative in families where book sharing is infrequent

Books are a crucial environmental factor for children’s language skills. They expose young children to more and richer language than do conversations between caregivers and children. But many parents do not establish daily book reading routines because of reading problems, lack of time or interest in literary texts, or prioritizing other activities, such as viewing films, over reading books.

Over the years, there have been family programs to promote book reading, often with disappointing effects. Even after intensive coaching of parents, such programs have produced only moderate gains in language and literacy. This suggests that book reading is unsustainable as a daily routine for many families. Therefore, access to high-quality digital books, which can be read by children independently, can provide a safety net, compensating for missing book reading with parents and other caregivers at home, at least as far as cognitive skills are concerned.

Of course, parents need to encourage their children’s use of digital books. However, optimal use of these books requires direct input from parents since sharing digital books nurtures parent-child relationships and socioemotional development.

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Why might Latina teenagers spend more time with family? We studied data from the American Time Use Survey (ATUS) between 2003 and 2019, and found that differences in household structure, family structure, youth’s work hours, parents’ education, parents’ work, and geographic region could not fully explain differences in time Latinos’/as’ time spent with family versus with peers.

“Extra time with family, especially for Latina youth, could be due to differences in attitudes and values related to familismo and marianismo.”

Instead, we believe the extra time with family, especially for Latina youth, could be due to differences in attitudes and values related to familismo and marianismo. Familismo attitudes place a high value on family closeness, cohesion, and reciprocity. Marianismo involves the belief that girls should be nurturing and self-sacrificing for family.

Extra time with family, especially for Latina youth, could also be both an asset and a constraint. Several studies show that when familismo is strong, there is likely to be less family conflict, lower adolescent-parent conflict, more tight-knit families, and fewer suicide attempts. Yet, extra time with family could be a constraint on Latino/a youth if familismo values such as spending time together are not shared between parents and children or if time with family is burdensome or overwhelming. Additionally, extra time with family could be detrimental if it entails saying no to opportunities outside the household, such as educational or extracurricular activities, or even going to college away from home.

Other findings from our research

In our analysis of the ATUS from 2003 to 2019, we examined daily family contact patterns –  the total daily minutes spent with both nuclear and extended family – among Latino/a 15- to 18 year-olds. For the sake of comparison, we also included Black and White youth of the same age. Opportunities for family time may depend on who lives in the household, so we focused on youth who had focal family members (e.g., siblings, grandparents) living in their households.

On average, Latino/a youth spent more time with their parents than did Black youth, and more time with siblings than did both White and Black youth. Latino boys spent less time with parents, but more time with siblings, than did White boys.

“It may be time to reconsider what we think of as a “typical” U.S. teenager who distances themselves from family.”

Our analysis yielded some unexpected results: We thought Latino/a youth in immigrant households would spend more time with family than Latino/a youth whose parents were born in the United States, yet we found no such differences. Latino boys in immigrant households did spend more time with siblings but also spent less time with household adult relatives than Latino boys in non-immigrant households. We also thought Latino/a youth might spend more time with extended family than their White and Black counterparts did, but we found few racial/ethnic differences in time with extended families among the three groups.

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