Jeanne M. Stolzer

Breastfeeding and WIC Participants: A Qualitative Analysis

This article describes a qualitative study designed to evaluate the obstacles to breastfeeding among Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) participants. The aims of the study presented here were to determine why participants chose particular feeding methods, to identify particular barriers to breastfeeding among low-income women, and to explore microlevel, as well as macrolevel, factors that have the potential to increase breastfeeding rates exponentially. Results of this study indicate that school and/or work requirements, familial influence, physician advice, and culturally constructed belief systems are factors that heavily influence low-income womens infant-feeding decisions.

The Risks Associated with Stimulant Medication Use in Child and Adolescent Populations Diagnosed with Attention- Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

Throughout human history, psychiatric dysfunction in child and adolescent populations has been rare. However, over the last 2 decades, psychiatric diagnoses have reached epidemic proportions—particularly in the United States. Currently, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is the most commonly diagnosed psychiatric illness in child and adolescent populations with an estimated 10–12 million children diagnosed in the United States. Over the last 2 decades, behavior patterns that were once perceived as typical, normative developmental stages have been systematically redefined by those promoting the mass labeling and drugging of children as a “chemical imbalance of the brain.” Grounded in bioevolutionary theory, this article will challenge the existing medical model and will explore in-depth the risks associated with the ADHD label and the use of stimulant medication in pediatric populations. In addition, this article will examine the cultural, physical, neurological, psychological, and social correlates as they relate to the diagnosis of ADHD in America.

Breastfeeding Education: A Physician and Patient Assessment

In the study presented here, Likert scaled surveys derived from the Surgeon General’s Blueprint for Action on Breastfeeding (2000) were mailed to 400 practicing physicians in a Midwestern state to assess medical school breastfeeding education. In addition, 500 surveys were mailed to women in the same Midwestern state who had given birth within the last year to determine what type of breastfeeding information they were receiving from their attending physicians. The purpose of this study is to analyze physician breastfeeding education and to ascertain if the data collected from the physicians is congruent with the data collected from the women who had recently given birth. Results of this study indicate that while the majority of physicians reported sufficient levels of breastfeeding education while in medical school, women participating in this study reported that they did not receive compendious breastfeeding information from their attending physicians.

An Elaboration on the Distinction Between Controversial Parenting and Therapeutic Practices Versus Developmentally Appropriate Attachment Parenting: A Comment on the APSAC Task Force Report:

Recently, a Task Force comprising scholars who are members of the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children (APSAC) published in this journal an informative report titled, “Report of the APSAC Task Force on Attachment Therapy, Reactive Attachment Disorder, and Attachment Problems” (Chaffin et al., 2006). The Task Force report reviewed controversial parenting approaches and therapies and made recommendations for assessment and treatment of attachment disorders (Chaffin et al., 2006). The report was endorsed by the American Psychological Association’s Division 37 and the Division 37 Section on Child Maltreatment. We, the founders of Attachment Parenting International (API), an organization that facilitates the formation of parent education support groups, and members of the Attachment Parenting International–Research Group (API-RG), agree with the report of the APSAC Task Force and its conclusions regarding the detrimental effects of controversial parenting practices that have been arbitrarily labeled by others as attachment parenting. However, we believe that there is significant confusion regarding the appropriate definition of the term attachment parenting and that the Task Force report may have inadvertently contributed to this confusion. We believe that clarity in this regard is central to progress in this controversial area and so wish to offer our thoughts on this important matter. THE TASK FORCE USE OF THE TERM

The Risks Associated With Maternal Antidepressant Use During the Prenatal and Postnatal Stages of Development

Over the past decade, maternal antidepressant use has skyrocketed in the United States. Maternal depression, which was once categorized as an extremely rare condition, is now the leading cause of disability in American women aged 18 to 44 (Stewart, 2005). In spite of the published data that document the risks associated with antidepressant use in maternal and pediatric populations, physicians throughout the United States continue to prescribe these drugs to pregnant and lactating women. Never before in the history of humankind have we witnessed the intentional drugging of pregnant women and nursing mothers in order to alleviate specific emotional feelings. This unprecedented drugging of maternal populations has led many in the scientific community to question the reliability of current-day depression assessments, as many scholars have pointed out that the available assessment tools are highly subjective and lack scientific validity. The goal of this article is to offer a scientifically sound alternative to the current medical model’s definition and treatment of maternal depression and to explore the historical, neurological, hormonal, familial, political, economical, and cultural correlates that have been associated with maternal depression in the United States.