Suzanne R. Smith

The Role of Discipline in Hutterite Child Rearing

The Hutterian Brethren are an Anabaptist religious group who live communally and have flourished since coming to North America in the 1870s. Colony life is structured so as to resist the modernizing influences of the greater society and to instill conformity to traditional values and behaviors in their children. The authors examine the role of discipline in the child-rearing behaviors of the Hutterites over time in the context of overall family change in recent years via qualitative ethnography. The Hutterites have only been able to slow the rate of change but not to completely avoid the values and practices of the outside culture. Generational changes in parental discipline, and what that means for the Hutterites, is discussed.

The role of partner support in the physical and mental health of poor, rural mothers.

Previous research suggests that poverty and rural location can lead to stressors and poorer outcomes related to physical and mental health. Given an additional stressor of parenthood, mothers are at particular risk of poorer physical and mental health. It is important to determine which factors might help buffer these stressors. This study examined the physical and mental health of poor, rural mothers, and examined the role that having a partner, and the quality of the parenting relationship, might play in buffering these life stressors. Measures of body mass index, physical health, mental health, presence of a partner, and parenting relationship characteristics were obtained for a sample of 444 low income, rural mothers. Results suggest that physical health was not impacted by partner status, but both having a partner and the quality of the parenting relationship appeared to play a role in the report of depressive symptoms for poor, rural mothers.

Teaching University Students About Evidence-Based Perinatal Care: Effects on Learning and Future Care Preferences

ABSTRACT U.S. university students hold generally medicalized views on childbirth, which contrast with evidence indicating that low-intervention birth is safest for most. Therefore, intentional efforts are needed to educate childbearing populations on perinatal care evidence. Toward that aim, this study involved teaching university students in an introductory class (N = 50) about evidence-based perinatal care. Students completed a “future birth plan” and an essay on how their learning affected care preferences. Analyses revealed that students selected evidence-based care components up to 100 times more frequently than what the national data indicate they are used. Students based care selections on evidence, costs, and personal views. Their interest in physiologic birth has important implications for advancing education on perinatal care, practice, and policy.

Psychosocial Service Needs of Children of Parents With Kidney Disease

To provide information on specific difficulties faced by, and service needs of, families with a parent affected by kidney disease, we conducted a needs analysis with dialysis and transplant patients (N = 123) whose children were under 18 years old. Because treatment (dialysis vs. transplant) has not been explored as it relates to service needs, we examined effects by treatment type. Significantly more difficulties in providing for childrens needs were found for low-income families. Compared to transplant patients, dialysis patients reported significantly more child care-related difficulties. Significantly more dialysis patients reported difficulty supporting their children financially, and significantly more transplant patients reported difficulties paying for medications. Findings are discussed as they relate to specialized supports for dialysis and transplant patient families, including policies aimed at improving transplant donor recruitment and access to adequate childrens health care.