Family well‐being, parenting, and child well‐being: Pathways to healthy adjustment

Abstract

Family well-being provides a foundation for positive parenting and child well-being. Many previous studies have outlined the possible connections between family well-being, parenting, and child well-being, yet translating research into practice continues to be problematic. The purpose of this article is to review the current literature (from 2000 to 2014) on family and child well-being in order to create a model of well-being that is useful for both researchers and practitioners. The model builds upon Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Systems Theory, and is differentiated from other prominent models of family functioning by focusing on bolstering family strengths and well-being (as opposed to ameliorating family stress, risk, or deficits) and on supporting child well-being (as opposed to treating maladjustment). The model addresses family well-being (parental well-being, family self-sufficiency, and family resiliency), developmental parenting (affection, responsiveness, encouragement, teaching, engagement, positive discipline, and co-parenting), and child well-being (physical and mental health, self-regulation, social and cognitive competence). Direct and indirect connections between model components and possible moderating factors are discussed. A theory of change model is proposed as a tool for practitioners from a variety of disciplines and fields to guide their work with families. Recommendations for clinicians, limitations of the model, and future directions are discussed.

Child physical punishment, parenting, and school readiness

“…Results indicated that more consistent parenting approaches and greater use of teaching/explaining (i.e., describing alternative ways of behaving to the child) uniquely predicted better school readiness. These findings are consistent with extensive research underscoring that pedagogy-oriented, child-oriented parenting and discipline are conducive to positive outcomes for children's overall adjustment (Newland, 2015), including school readiness (Dyer et al, 2014;Estrada, Arsenio, Hess, & Holloway, 1987). Given that early learning and literacy activities are commonly cited as direct predictors of children's school readiness (Aldoney et al, 2015;Chazan-Cohen et al, 2009), it was also unsurprising that the current study found greater engagement in these activities at 2-3 years to be predictive of stronger number competence and receptive vocabulary skills at 4-5 years.…”

The Influences Of Australian Nursing Students’ Anxiety, Depression, Personality And Family Interaction With Their Psychological Well-being And Suicidal Ideation

“…A negative relationship between psychological well-being and power assertive parenting and high levels of physical punishment was also documented [32,33].…”

“…Power assertive parenting and high levels of physical punishment also decrease psychological well-being [32,33]. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between Australian nursing student's anxiety, depression, personality and family interaction on their psychological well-being and suicidal ideation.…”

Advances on Parental Educational Styles Predictors of Internalizing and Externalizing Behaviors in Children

“…This can be explained by families that have firm parenting styles, sustained by criteria that instill autonomy for all members and promote adequate, affection-based relationships within the family. These families present the best results in the education of children (Cerezo, et al, 2018;Duncan et al, 2009;Jabagchourian et al, 2014) and it generates between parents and children a high positive effect on the relationship (Gómez et al, 2012;Newland, 2015).…”

“…Evidence has been found of how the same component of parental style can be a predictor of different internalization and externalization problems in children, for instance, the use of physical punishment (Chen et al, 2015), lack of communication (Cerezo, Ruiz-Esteban, Sánchez-Lacasa, & Arense-Gonzalo, 2018;Fite, Rubens, Preddy, Raine, & Pardini, 2014), inconsistency and ambiguity in the rules and limits (Jabagchourian, Sorkhabi, Quach, & Strage, 2014). Contrarily, some of these might be protective factors for those problems, such as cohesion, promotion of positive behaviors, emotional competencies, establishment of firm limits, communication and affection (Cenk & Demir, 2016;Gómez et al, 2012;Lakin et al, 2014;Newland, 2015). Therefore, the theoretical position on paternity that underpins the present study is proposed by Duncan, Coastworth and Greenberg (2009).…”