News, Advice, and Tips for Parenting Teenagers

The more children a mother has, the less likely she is to commit suicide, according to a study of Taiwanese mothers.

• Researchers followed 1.3 million women from 1987 to 2007.
• The researchers found that women with two children had a 39 percent lower chance of committing suicide.
• Mothers with three or more had a 60 percent lower likelihood of suicide than women who had just one child.
  

This study appeared in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

Labels: mothers, parenting, suicide

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A study that was conducted by the British think tank Demos suggests that the children of mothers who experience significant stress, illness or substance abuse while pregnant are both more likely to be helped by good parenting and harmed by poor care.

A Nov. 9 article on the BBC website provided the following information about the study:

The report says its analysis suggests "the situation of at-risk children may be both graver and more hopeful than previously assumed".

"In the case that differentially susceptible children are subjected to poor quality childcare, poor parenting, or the detrimental effects of poverty itself, their risk is increased substantially - it is risk squared.

"On the other hand, if interventions occur in the right way and at the right time, children with a poor start in life have every opportunity to make up for lost ground and even exceed their more advantaged peers: differential susceptibility may be one of the factors in what helps certain kids to 'buck the trend'."

The BBC article quoted Demos Director Richard Reeves, who co-authored the report, as describing parenting as "the final frontier for issues of social justice and social mobility."

Labels: mothers, parental influence, at-risk_youth

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Mothers who are depressed are more likely to physically abuse their children, according to a new study in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine.

Dr. Keith Conron and his colleagues at the Harvard School of Public Health evaluated data on 5,500 families involved in child abuse investigations, measuring mothers for depression at the beginning of the study, 18 months later and then three years later. About one in four of the mothers had major depression.

• In each of the three surveys, if a mother developed depression over the course of the study, she was more likely to use threats, name-calling and other forms of aggression against her children by an average of two extra incidents the year.
• If a mother's partner abused her, she was more likely to be physically abusive and neglectful of her children.
• If she moved in with a non-abusive partner, she was more likely to do to decrease aggressive her behavior toward children.

Labels: mothers, depression, abuse

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Mothers of autistic children are under more stress than are mothers of developmentally disabled children, according to a new study from the University of Washington.

Processor Annette Estes compared 51 mothers of children with autism to 22 mothers whose children had developmental delay. All the children in the study were about three years old. Although many of the developmentally delayed children needed high levels of care, the study indicated that the autistic children caused their parents more psychological stress.

"If a child has more needs in getting dressed and in other daily living skills that means the parents are working harder and seemingly would be under stress," Dr. Estes wrote. "But it is not the hard work that is stressing the mothers. Our findings really pointed to the behavioral problems that can occur with autism. Children with autism had significantly higher levels of problem behaviors than children with developmental delays."

This study appeared in the journal Autism.

Labels: autism, mothers, parents

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Mothers may be partly to blame for childhood obesity, because many of them are overfeeding their infants, according to a study from Rutgers University that appeared in appeared in the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior.

Dr. John Worobey and his colleagues monitored 96 mothers of babies at ages three months, six months, and twelve months old. The mothers tended to overfeed the children between six and twelve months old because they could not tell when the children were full. They fed them too frequently or did not slow the pace of feeding, which can lead to overweight and obesity.

Dr. Worobey said that such practices interfere with the childrens ability to self-regulate their own eating habits because their body gets used to the feeling of excessive amounts.

Weight-loss experts and other health professionals note that making
healthy food choices and eating appropriately sized portions are two important steps in the effort to achieve and maintain a healthy weight.

Labels: mothers, overweight, chilhood_obesity, eating habits

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With seven kids ranging in age from 26 years to 18 months old, Barbara Cox has had her share of experience navigating the tumultuous teenage years. Though several of her children have made it through that difficult time and are now adults, she says each situation was a little different - forcing her to adapt her parenting style.

"Oldest daughter Melissa sometimes cried or yelled during disagreements, saying things that hurt Cox's feelings. Second child Nick was quieter and began spreading his wings earlier than his sister had. Matt came next and often liked to say things simply for shock value."

With each child, Barbara learned something new. She's learned how to communicate and really listen to her kids, and how to include them in decisions about things like curfews and consequences. Read more at TheOlympian.com.

Boarding and residential schools can help for parents who feel overwhelmed and want the best education for their child. Boarding high schools can help teens learn new skills and grow emotionally and academically. Learn more about residential boarding schools at BoardingSchoolsInfo.com.

Labels: parenting_tips, mothers, parenting_styles

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Teenagers whose mothers smoke are three times more likely to smoke cigarettes themselves, compared to children whose mothers abstain, according to a new study from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

• Only 9 percent of teenagers smoke tobacco.
• However, among teens whose mothers smoke, that rate is almost 17 percent.
• Teens whose mothers do not use cigarettes have an 5.8 percent smoking rate.

"We were a little surprised that the results were that high,"  said Fran Harding, director of the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention. "The percentages of teen smoking have been going down and this is showing us a recent increase."

Teens whose mothers suffered from a major episode of depression within the last year are twice as likely to take up smoking compared to teenagers not in that situation. The rate of smoking among teens with depressive mothers is 14.3 percent.
 

Labels: mothers, tobacco, influences, smoking

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In the 1980s doctors were identifying "crack babies," infants who had been affected by their mothers' use of cocaine during pregnancy. Today's doctors are seeing more babies that have been affected by their mothers' prenatal abuse of prescription painkillers.

• Symptoms experienced by the infants include stiff arms and legs, tremors, vomiting, diarrhea, insomnia, and incessant crying, according to the St. Petersburg Times.
• Babies often have to go through withdrawal from these drugs, which can take three weeks to two months. Some doctors give the babies doses of morphine to ease their symptoms.

"We are seeing oxycodone, Vicodin, methadone and a lot of Xanax," said Dr. Mary Newport, medical director of Spring Hill Regional Hospital's neonatal intensive care unit. "I'm amazed at the number of girls on antidepressants, anti-anxiety drugs, even during pregnancy."

Treatment centers report admitting more pregnant women with addictions to prescription painkillers, and many of the women are in their teens or 20s.

 

Labels: infants, mothers, pregnancy, prescription_drugs

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Mothers of children with autism are more likely to work fewer hours or not to have jobs outside their homes, according to a new study from Washington State University in Vancouver.

• Researchers looked at 326 families with children with autism.
• About 60 percent of the mothers did not work outside the home, and the ones that did tended to work fewer hours than average.
• About 25 percent had taken leave of absence, and had refused promotions.
• The majority (60 percent) of the families had financial problems.

The study appeared in Social Science Journal.
 

Labels: autism, mothers

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