ABSTRACT This study investigates the impact of women's empowerment and access to infrastructure on the well‐being of children. Specifically, it analyzes how access to infrastructure influences the well‐being of children and assesses the role of women's empowerment in this relationship. The methodology employed is the two‐stage least squares method on a comprehensive sample of 30 sub‐Saharan African countries from 2000 to 2020. The findings of the study indicate that access to education, healthcare, electricity, and sanitation significantly contributes to reducing child mortality rates and the prevalence of anaemia. Furthermore, when combined with women's empowerment, access to infrastructure exponentiates in a pivotal role in substantially decreasing child mortality and anaemia rates, thereby enhancing overall well‐being. Consequently, the article strongly encourages the construction and expansion of essential infrastructure. Additionally, public policies should improve access for children to infrastructure, including those with special needs and those residing in rural areas and underprivileged communities.
This study examined the associations of multifaceted material hardship measured cross-sectionally and longitudinally with children's wellbeing in the United States. Results from linear regression and child fixed effects models indicated that more intense material hardship had consistent, detrimental associations with child health status and internalizing and externalizing behaviors. More intense longitudinal patterns of material hardship were consistently associated with behaviors only. These findings examine new, multifaceted measures of material hardship and suggest associations between child wellbeing, particularly behavior challenges, and exposure both to multiple forms of material hardship and to more intense long-term patterns of hardship.
ABSTRACT Objective To identify parenting profiles among Singaporean mothers of young children and to examine the longitudinal implications of these profiles for children's well‐being during middle childhood. Background The universality of traditional parenting styles (e.g., authoritative, authoritarian), established in Western contexts, and their implications for child well‐being, has been called into question, with studies conducted with Asian populations suggesting these styles may not be universally applicable. Method Our sample consisted of 411 mother–child dyads drawn from a prebirth cohort in Singapore, where mothers reported on their parenting at child age 4.5 years, and children reported on their evaluation of their mothers' parenting and their own depressive symptoms at ages 9 and 10 years, respectively. Results Three latent class profiles of maternal parenting emerged at child age 4.5 years: Supportive (high use of supportive practices and low use of harsh practices), Supportive‐Harsh (high use of both supportive and harsh practices), and Unsupportive (moderate use of both supportive and harsh practices). Children of Unsupportive mothers reported greater maternal indifference at age 9 years and depressive symptoms at age 10 years compared to children of Supportive or Supportive‐Harsh mothers. Children's evaluation of maternal indifference mediated the association between early maternal parenting profiles and later child depressive symptoms. Conclusion Our findings highlight the variation in parenting profiles in Singapore from well‐established parenting styles, and the greater implications of supportive, compared to harsh, parenting practices for children's well‐being.
The article explores child well-being in Danish early childhood education and care (ECEC) during the time of COVID-19. A phased reopening of Denmark occurred in spring 2020 under strict health guidelines. Two ECEC institutions were followed first-hand to observe the impact of the pandemic on pedagogy and child well-being. Observations and interviews were conducted with follow-up interviews and an online survey a year later. The findings suggest that the pandemic caused pedagogues to work in a more child-sensitive way with elevated staff/child ratios and children in small, fixed groups; however, child well-being was not negatively affected, despite the acute situation.
Domestic violence is a pervasive public health and social issue with consequences that extend beyond survivors to affect caregiver functioning, family relationships, and child development. Children may be affected through direct exposure to violence and through disruptions in the caregiving environment, including caregiver trauma, psychological distress, parenting stress, and reduced emotional availability. This commentary examines a proposed developmental pathway linking domestic violence, parenting self-efficacy, and child well-being. Parenting self-efficacy refers to caregivers' beliefs in their ability to effectively carry out parenting responsibilities and positively influence their children's development. Domestic violence may undermine these beliefs by diminishing caregivers' emotional resources, autonomy, and confidence, potentially affecting parenting practices, parent-child relationships, and children's cognitive, emotional, behavioral, social, and physical well-being. Conversely, stronger parenting self-efficacy may support responsive caregiving, emotional security, adaptive coping, and family resilience. The commentary identifies parenting self-efficacy as a potentially modifiable target and proposes priorities for research, practice, and family-centered intervention. These priorities include expanding qualitative research on family experiences and parenting processes, strengthening parenting self-efficacy through trauma-informed and family-centered approaches, and developing developmentally responsive support for children. Addressing the interconnected needs of caregivers and children may strengthen family functioning and reduce the long-term consequences of domestic violence for children and families.
Vanisha L. Brown, Chelsei K. Granderson, Leah R. Alexander et al.
Abstract ‘Well-being’ and ‘child well-being’ are broad terms with little consensus amongst numerous definitions. Applications of the term, particularly for children aged birth to six, are vague due to the lack of conceptual clarity. The aim of this scoping review is to synthesise the recent literature on young children’s well-being, drawing on perspectives across disciplines to propose relevant considerations for promoting child well-being in Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) contexts. Using Arksey and O’Malley’s methodological framework for scoping studies, 55 articles gathered and published between 2018 and 2024 were reviewed. Two key themes emerged from qualitative analysis of the articles: (1) ambiguity in conceptualisations of the concept stemming from varied discourses guiding definitions and different approaches towards supporting and assessing child well-being; and (2) increasing consensus on the need for multidimensional conceptualisations. Main considerations for applying understandings of child well-being to ECEC were proposed, including: contemplating education as contributing towards the goal of child well-being and well-being as necessary for effective learning; adopting a balanced and multidimensional approach towards promoting children’s well-being in the present and in the future; and recognising that children’s well-being is influenced by and supported within dynamic contexts, systems and processes.
Lynn Lee-Pang, Penny A. Levickis, Lisa Murray et al.
Ecological momentary assessment study. Parent report data regarding young children's (first 3 years of primary school) use of digital technology, externalising behaviours, positive and negative affect, and parent-child interactions.
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is the most commonly diagnosed mental health disorder among U.S. children. Diagnosis can bring positives, like proper treatment, extra testing time, and social support, but may also trigger negatives, like stigmatization. Although rates of diagnosis are high across socioeconomic status (SES) groups, the balance of positive and negative consequences of diagnosis may differ by SES. In high-SES communities, mental health diagnoses are less stigmatized and parents have greater ability to connect children to support resources, suggesting greater positive effects of diagnosis for high-SES children. Alternatively, the greater academic pressure present in high-SES communities may amplify the negative effects of mental health stigma, suggesting larger negative diagnostic effects. Using the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Cohort of 1998-1999, I found that diagnosed and medicated high-SES but not low-SES children exhibit significantly poorer future self-competence and teacher-rated school behaviors than undiagnosed matches. Findings suggest that diagnosis may not always be a net positive.
Drawing on Coleman's concept of social capital, researchers have investigated how the quality of neighborhood social networks influences child development and well-being. The role of non-kin older neighbors in advancing child well-being through the enhancement of social capital, however, has been under-studied. Our objective was to delineate specific pathways through which non-kin older neighbors contribute to neighborhood quality for children and families and potentially advance child well-being. We examined open-ended interview data from 400 parents who cared for at least one child under 18 years of age and resided in 20 neighborhoods in Cleveland, Ohio. A subsample of 113 parents connected older neighbors to neighborhood quality for families and children in their narratives. Our analysis identified three primary pathways through which parents positively linked older neighbors to neighborhood quality: older neighbors support parents and children, promote neighborhood safety, and contribute to neighborhood residential stability. These contributions are evidence of intergenerational closure, reciprocated exchange, and informal social control working together to create social capital in neighborhoods for children. It is by enhancing social capital that older neighbors potentially improve child well-being. We discuss the implications of our findings for neighborhood research and practice.
Brooke V. Jespersen, Jill E. Korbin, James C. Spilsbury
OBJECTIVE: While high betrayal (HB) traumas (i.e., traumas perpetrated by close others) are associated with reduced maternal and child well-being compared to low betrayal (LB) traumas (i.e., traumas that are noninterpersonal or perpetrated by nonclose others), moderators of these relationships have not yet been examined. The aim of the present study was to examine the associations between maternal lifetime betrayal trauma and parent and child well-being while also examining attachment style and emotion regulation as potential moderators. METHOD: Australian mothers (N = 174) of school-age children (5-12 years) completed online self-report measures assessing betrayal trauma, well-being, attachment style, and emotion regulation strategies. RESULTS: HB traumas were significantly associated with greater maternal distress and trauma symptoms, reduced child well-being, greater attachment anxiety, and greater difficulties with emotion regulation but were not significantly different with regard to parenting stress, social support satisfaction, or attachment avoidance when compared with LB traumas. Emotion regulation difficulties moderated the relationship between betrayal trauma history and maternal distress. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that mothers with HB trauma histories who also have difficulties with emotion regulation may experience greater levels of distress compared to mothers with HB trauma histories who use more adaptive emotion regulation strategies. Accordingly, it may be especially important for victims of HB traumas to address trauma-related misappraisals regarding the self and others while strengthening the use of adaptive emotion regulation strategies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).
