Parenting News and Research

RSS

Fatigue, unrealistic expectations of parenthood may contribute to post-adoption depression in women

Fatigue and unrealistic expectations of parenthood may help contribute to post-adoption depression in women, according to a Purdue University study.

23 Mar 2012

CBT, PE can ameliorate treatment-induced menopausal symptoms in breast cancer patients

Researchers from The Netherlands have found that the menopausal symptoms caused by giving chemotherapy or hormonal therapy to younger women with breast cancer can be ameliorated considerably through the use of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) and physical exercise.

23 Mar 2012

Urban children more likely to be smokers

More than 75 percent of fourth-graders in urban and rural settings have measurable levels of a nicotine breakdown product in their saliva that documents their second-hand smoke exposure, researchers report.

22 Mar 2012

Babies fed on demand associated with higher IQ scores

A new study suggests that babies who are breast-fed or bottle-fed to a schedule do not perform academically as well at school as their demand-fed peers. The finding is based on the results of IQ tests and school-based SATs tests carried out between the ages of five and 14, which show that demand-feeding was associated with higher IQ scores.

21 Mar 2012

Feeding babies on demand improves their IQ: Study

A new study shows that who are fed when they are hungry – with breast milk or formula – achieve higher scores in Sats tests at ages five, seven, 11 and 14, and that by the age of eight they have an IQ four to five points higher. However, mothers who keep to scheduled feeding times score better on wellbeing measures, and report feeling more confident and less tearful.

20 Mar 2012

Infants' faces evoke species-specific patterns of brain activity in adults

Distinct patterns of activity-which may indicate a predisposition to care for infants-- appear in the brains of adults who view an image of an infant face-even when the child is not theirs, according to a study by researchers at the National Institutes of Health and in Germany, Italy, and Japan.

17 Mar 2012

Lose weight to help your child lose weight

A study by researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and The University of Minnesota indicates that a parent's weight change is a key contributor to the success of a child's weight loss in family-based treatment of childhood obesity. The results were published today in the advanced online edition of the journal Obesity.

15 Mar 2012

Small positive personality changes may lead to greater increases in happiness

People's personalities can change considerably over time, say scientists, suggesting that leopards really can change their spots.

5 Mar 2012

No link between gestational weight gain and cognitive performance of children

A child's cognitive development is not generally impacted by how much weight his or her mother gained during pregnancy, according to a study from Nationwide Children's Hospital. This is the first study to use methods controlling for the widest range of confounding factors when directly examining the association between gestational weight gain and childhood cognition.

29 Feb 2012

Childhood adversity may lead to epigenetic changes in glucocorticoid receptor gene

In a look at how major stressors during childhood can change a person's biological risk for psychiatric disorders, researchers at Butler Hospital have discovered a genetic alteration at the root of the association.

28 Feb 2012

New parent-training program effective in reducing risk of obesity in preschool Latino children

A UCLA study has found that a new parent-training program is effective in reducing the risk of low-income, preschool-age Latino children being overweight.

16 Feb 2012

State roundup: Mental health problems complicate immigrant detention hearings; Penn. hospital replacing nursing assistants with all RNs

Immigrant advocates say there are hundreds of mentally ill immigration defendants such as [Ever Martinez Rivas], left to fend for themselves without any meaningful protections in court. As with Martinez, their cases are delayed repeatedly while immigration judges struggle to deal with them fairly. A recently certified federal class action suit, filed by the American Civil Liberties Union, the Los Angeles-based pro bono law firm Public Counsel and other advocacy groups, seeks to address the issue by compelling the government to provide competency hearings, lawyers and bond hearings for defendants such as Martinez.

7 Feb 2012

Book focuses on Group Schema Therapy for BPD

Therapists, patients and families dealing with Borderline Personality Disorder now have an unprecedented guide to a way out of the misery and chaos in the form of the soon to be release book "Group Schema Therapy for Borderline Personality Disorder: Treatment Manual and Patient Workbook".

7 Feb 2012

Early parenting intervention holds promise for childhood obesity prevention

Programs that support parents during their child's early years hold promise for obesity prevention, according to a new study in the online February 6 issue of Pediatrics.

6 Feb 2012

Should smacking of children be banned?

Dr Gervase Chaney, the head of The Royal Australasian College of Physicians' Pediatric & Child Health Division, said it was no longer OK for mums and dads to argue “that it never did us any harm” and called on colleagues to stand up for children's rights. Professor Frank Oberklaid, a pediatrician from Melbourne's Royal Children's Hospital, said Australia was lagging behind other countries in outlawing smacking which, in some cases, could lead to abuse and even death.

3 Feb 2012

Link between maternal nurturing and size of hippocampus in healthy children

School-age children whose mothers nurtured them early in life have brains with a larger hippocampus, a key structure important to learning, memory and response to stress. The new research, by child psychiatrists and neuroscientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, is the first to show that changes in this critical region of children's brain anatomy are linked to a mother's nurturing.

31 Jan 2012

Comprehensive policy package based on research needed to stem abortion figures

"The astounding thing about the global abortion debate is not that some people have deeply held views about what a pregnancy is and when a human existence begins" but that "policymakers continue to ignore carefully amassed information about the actual outcome of programs and laws related to sexuality and reproduction," Marianne Møllmann, senior policy adviser with Amnesty International's International Secretariat, writes in this Guardian opinion piece.

25 Jan 2012

Study shows childhood experiences have long-term effects on health in midlife

Nurturing mothers have garnered accolades for rescuing skinned knees on the playground and coaxing their children to sleep with lullabies. Now they're gaining merit for their offspring's physical health in middle age.

24 Jan 2012

DNA may be used to predict lifespan: Study

Researchers may soon be able to predict how long a person will live based on their genetics. This could result from the discovery by a University of Glasgow team in Scotland showing that telomere length on the ends of DNA in their genes in early-life predicts life spans.

11 Jan 2012

Researchers create SketchUp program to help kids with autism

These days, we hear a lot about the disorder of autism, but researchers at the University of Utah have created a program that helps kids with autism focus on building their skills and utilizing an aptitude for visual-spatial thinking, computers and other electronic media.

10 Jan 2012