This study examined the role of parenting, family routines, family conflict, and maternal depression in predicting the social skills and behavior problems of low-income African American preschoolers. A sample of 184 African American mothers of Head Start children completed participant and child measures in a structured interview. Results of regression analyses revealed that mothers who utilized more positive parenting practices and engaged in more family routines had children who displayed higher levels of total prosocial skills. Positive parenting and lower levels of maternal depressive symptoms were predictive of fewer externalizing and internalizing child behavior problems. Lower family conflict was linked with fewer externalizing problems. Implications of the study for future research and intervention are discussed.
An increasing number of young adults identify with nonbinary gender identities. Yet health providers and therapists often lack understanding of such identities. In this mixed-methods study of 506 transgender undergraduate and graduate students, most of whom (75%) had nonbinary gender identities, we aimed to understand participants’ mental health and health care experiences, and factors related to misgendering and less affirming treatment by providers. Eighty-five percent of participants reported mental health challenges, and named fear of violence and nonsupport as distal stressors. Experiences with therapists and health providers were mixed. Salient features of negative interactions were invalidation, avoidance, or overemphasis in regard to participants’ nonbinary identities. Participants viewed counseling services as more affirming than health services. Nonbinary students reported more misgendering by therapists and health providers, and less trans-affirming care by health service providers, compared to binary students. Undergraduate students reported more misgendering by therapists and health providers than graduate students.
The presence of a trans* family member can challenge existing theoretical notions about the development of gender in families. Emerging knowledge about trans* identities consolidates around 5 primary challenges to existing theoretical notions of gender: (a) non‐dimorphic sex, (b) nonbinary gender, (c) the biological and social construction of gender, (d) gender identity development, and (e) family meaning making about transgender identity. These challenges structure an examination of hetero‐ and cisnormative expectations within family theory and help unpack long‐standing tensions between essentialist and social constructionist views of gender development. This can play out in family theory through a recognition of the tension between upholding and decentering cisnormativity within families. This article pinpoints locations where current family theories require reexamination and expansion to accurately conceptualize the flexibility and variability of families with trans* members.
Little research has explored the experiences of transgender or gender-nonconforming (TGNC) students in higher education. Further, only 1 study has included the perspectives of TGNC graduate students (McKinney, 2005), and the experiences of students who identify with nonbinary gender identities (e.g., genderqueer, agender) are scarce in the literature (Nicolazzo, 2016a(Nicolazzo, , 2016b. This study aims to address these gaps. Ninety-one graduate students completed an online survey aimed at understanding the perspectives of TGNC students in higher education. Of these 91 students, 27 (30%) identified as binary trans (e.g., trans man, trans woman) and 64 (70%) identified as nonbinary trans (e.g., genderqueer). Most respondents had concerns about their physical or emotional safety that impacted their gender presentation on campus (e.g., students presented as more masculine or feminine than they would prefer, to avoid negative treatment). Misgendering by peers, faculty, and advisors was a common stressor, the nature and meaning of which differed somewhat for nonbinary and binary identified students. Interactions with faculty advisors were identified as salient contexts for experiencing affirmation versus invalidation of one's gender identity. Findings highlight the need for institutions of higher education to better anticipate, support, and meet the needs of TGNC graduate students.
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