Thomas L. Whitman

Optimism, Social Support, and Well-Being in Mothers of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

This study used structural equation modeling to examine the relationship between multiple sources of social support (e.g., partner, family, and friends), optimism, and well-being among mothers of children with ASD. Social support was examined as a mediator and moderator of the optimism-maternal well-being relationship. Moreover, the role of optimism as a mediator of the social support-maternal well-being relationship was also evaluated. Results revealed that family support was associated with increased optimism that, in turn, predicted higher levels of positive maternal outcomes and lower levels of negative maternal outcomes. In addition, partner and friend support were directly associated with maternal outcomes. Implications for the development of interventions directed at increasing the quality of social support networks are discussed.

Cognitive Readiness and Adolescent Parenting.

Hayes has written that about one million young women aged 15-19 become pregnant annually resulting in 500000 live births. The adverse long-term consequences associated with adolescent pregnancy include significant loss of education higher fertility rates the increased probability of single parenthood and increased dependence upon welfare assistance. Early parenthood also has critical implications for the children of young mothers who often suffer more developmental problems than children of older parents. The authors posit that due to their youth and relative inexperience adolescents knowledge of children and appropriate parenting practices is in general likely to be more limited than older mothers. Cognitive readiness for parenthood implies that mothers should be attitudinally predisposed to being a parent know how children develop and understand what constitutes appropriate parenting practices. Deficits in cognitive readiness among adolescents is thus hypothesized to predispose teen mothers to greater parenting stress as well as to less responsive parenting. The authors tested this hypothesis by comparing cognitive readiness for parenting in 171 pregnant adolescents 48 nonpregnant adolescents and 38 pregnant adults. They also assessed the relations between cognitive readiness and parenting stress and behavior to indeed find adolescents to be less cognitively prepared experiencing more stress in the parenting role and less adaptive in their parenting style than adult mothers. Relations between cognitive readiness and parenting stress and maternal interactional style were found. Additional analyses controlling for multiple demographic factors suggested that demographic variables played a role in explaining age-related differences in cognitive readiness as well as the relations between the readiness to parent and parenting behavior. Cognitive readiness however had unique and differential explanatory power in predicting parenting stress.

Behavioral staff management in institutions: A critical review of effectiveness and acceptability

Abstract Managing the work performance of institutional direct care staff has been a serious concern among researchers in applied behavior analysis and developmental disabilities. This paper reviews the research on behavioral staff management strategies with a focus on procedural effectiveness and acceptability. Four categories of management programs are discussed; antecedent, contingency management, self-control, and multi- faceted interventions. Generally, antecedent approaches appear to be the least successful in improving staff performance whereas contingency management, particularly performance feedback systems, and multi-faceted programs appear to be the most successful. However, a number of methodological problems have plagued the staff management research, including probable reactivity of the typical performance monitoring systems used in the investigations, minimal external validation regarding the effectiveness of specific management strategies, lack of data on the longterm and generalized effects of behavioral interventions, and insufficient attention given to the acceptability of the procedures as well as the social validity of effects of various programs. In addition to remedying methodological deficiencies as just noted, future research needs are discussed in respect to the development of procedures that affect more comprehensive areas of staff responsibilities, evaluations of punishment strategies commonly used by supervisors, and analyses of the day-to-day contigencies that affect attendant performance in the usual institutional work environment.

Religiosity, spirituality, and socioemotional functioning in mothers of children with autism spectrum disorder.

Religious beliefs, religious activities, and spirituality are coping resources used by many mothers of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This study examined whether and how these resources were related to maternal socioemotional functioning. Mothers of children with ASD completed questionnaires assessing religiosity, spirituality, and a wide range of outcome variables, including stress, depression, self-esteem, life satisfaction, positive affect, and sense of control. Analyses revealed that religious beliefs and spirituality were associated with better positive outcomes and, to a lesser extent, lower levels of negative outcomes. Of the two predictors, spirituality accounted for more unique variance in positive outcomes. In contrast, religious activities were related to more negative outcomes and lower levels of positive outcomes.

Adolescent mothers and child abuse potential: an evaluation of risk factors

This research examines maternal and child factors that place adolescent mothers at risk for abusing their children. Using a longitudinal design, relationships among four risk factors (social supports, maternal psychological adjustment, maternal preparation for parenting, and child temperament), maternal psychological predisposition for aggressive coping (perceptions of stress and endorsements of punitive parenting), and maternal abuse potential were examined in a sample of 75 primiparous adolescent mothers and their children. Preparation for parenting, a construct which included knowledge and attitudes about childrens development, was the strongest direct predictor of abuse potential; however, its effects were also partially mediated by the mothers psychological predisposition for aggressive coping. Similarly, the effects of child temperament on abuse were mediated by the mothers psychological predisposition for aggressive coping. Implications for designing intervention programs, and identifying at-risk adolescents, were also discussed.

Fathers' influence in the lives of children with adolescent mothers.

Little is known about the extent, nature, and impact of fathers of children with adolescent mothers. The current study measured father involvement with 134 children of adolescent mothers over the first 10 years of life. Overall, 59% had consistent father contact across the first 8 years. This contact was associated with better socioemotional and academic functioning at 8 and 10 years of age, particularly in school related areas. Children with greater levels of father contact had fewer behavioral problems and had higher scores on reading achievement; these results held after controlling for maternal risk. The findings showed the important role that fathers play in the lives of at-risk children, even if the father does not reside with the child.

The effects of cycled versus noncycled lighting on growth and development in preterm infants

Abstract Little is known about the effects of ambient lighting on infant growth and development. Although some studies suggest that cycled lighting is beneficial to infants in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), research has been needed to examine the long-term effects of lighting on infants as well as the impact of lighting on NICU staff behavior. In this study, 41 preterm infants in structurally identical critical care units were provided either cycled or noncycled lighting during a lengthy hospital stay. The study examined the relationship of lighting, in conjunction with infant birth status (birth weight, gestational age, 5-min Apgar), to multiple aspects of infant development, and staff behavior. Compared to infants in the noncycled lighting condition, infants assigned to the cycled lighting condition had a greater rate of weight gain, were able to be fed orally sooner, spent fewer days on the ventilator and on phototherapy, and displayed enhanced motor coordination. Thus, infants who were exposed to diurnally cycled lighting while in intensive care experienced both physical and behavioral developmental benefits. Findings emphasize the critical effects that the newborn ICU environment can have on the development of premature infants.

Cognitive Readiness to Parent and Intellectual-Emotional Development in Children of Adolescent Mothers.

Seventy adolescent mother-child dyads were assessed longitudinally to determine relationships among prenatal maternal knowledge and attitudes about parenting, evaluated in the 3rd trimester; postnatal maternal perceptions of parenting stress and child temperament as well as maternal inter-actional style, evaluated when children were 6 months of age; and intellectual, linguistic, and behavioral development at 3 years of age. Mothers who were more cognitively prepared for parenting had children who displayed better intellectual development and fewer internalizing and externalizing behavioral difficulties. Mothers who were less cognitively prepared for parenting prenatally perceived their parenting role as more stressful and their children as more difficult. Although maternal inter-actional style did not act as a mediator, perceptions at 6 months were found to mediate the relationship between prenatal cognitive readiness and child intelligence and internalizing behaviors.

Toward an Integrative Model of Adolescent Parenting

Although considerable research has focused on the personal and social characteristics of adolescent mothers, the literature in this area lacks theoretical integration. To organize existing research an

Autism symptom topography and maternal socioemotional functioning.

Researchers examining the relationship of autism symptomatology and maternal stress have defined symptomatology in terms of level of severity, frequency of occurrence, or symptom type. In the present study, the relationship of maternal perceptions of these dimensions, along with a fourth, symptom diversity, and negative and positive indices of maternal socioemotional functioning was evaluated. Results indicate that each of these symptom dimensions was correlated with most of the measures of negative socioemotional status, together accounting for a substantial portion of the variance in these outcomes. The dimensions were especially robust predictors of negative but not positive maternal outcomes. The need for a systematic multidimensional assessment to evaluate autism symptomatology and its social impact was discussed.