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Individual and familial characteristics of youths involved in street corner gangs in Singapore.

Thirty-six youths involved in street corner gangs in Singapore were compared with 91 age-matched controls on measures of self-esteem, aggression, dysfunctional parenting and parent-adolescent communication. Results revealed that gang youths had lower self-esteem and higher levels of aggression than controls. Of note were the findings that gang youths reported a relative absence of parental abuse and indifference, and experienced less open communication and higher levels of over-control with their mothers, but not fathers. These findings diverge from anticipated familial correlates of antisocial activity in youths and were discussed with reference to cultural factors and their implications on prevention and intervention.

Adolescent↗

What makes male mice paternal?

Both copulation and postcopulatory cohabitation with pregnant females reduce infanticide and enhance paternal responsiveness in male CS1 mice. The effectiveness of copulation in this process, however, depends on the number of occasions that males have previously encountered infants. Infanticidal males which have been subordinated in brief encounters with other males are less likely to commit infanticide in subsequent tests than are those which became dominant to other males. Males which copulate and cohabit with a relatively large female are less likely to be infanticidal than are those with a relatively small female. These data suggest that males are subordinated after copulation by their mates and that this subordination is a factor in the reduction of infanticide and the initiation of paternal responsiveness.

Aggression↗

Reinventing fatherhood in Japan and Canada.

This article summarizes the findings of a transnational study of Japanese and Canadian families. Fathers' perceptions are presented for a critical developmental phase of life: pregnancy, labor, birth, the early and late postpartum periods. Using qualitative and quantitative research methods, 33 fathers and 194 mothers were interviewed: Japanese in Tokyo and Montreal, and English and French Canadians in Montreal. In addition, the study examines the impact of pregnancy and birth on the relationship of marriage. The results suggest that the social meaning of fatherhood has been transformed, legitimizing the presence of the father in the domestic sphere as a consequence of shifting extended family household structures, economic conditions and the empowerment of women. Other significant (p < 0.05) patterns were identified. (1) Canadian fathers participate in labor and delivery to a higher degree than Japanese fathers in Montreal and Tokyo do (mothers in Tokyo felt more isolated). (2) Canadian men (60%) are more likely to take time off from work during this phase than the Japanese. (3) Overall, the majority of fathers, in all four groups, cared for the child to a higher degree than expected and (4). Birth and early child rearing appears to have a significant impact on marriage in all four groups. Public policy issues are addressed and potential responses provided.

Adult↗

Parental investment and child health in a Yanomamö village suffering short-term food stress.

The 1998 El Niño significantly reduced garden productivity in the Upper Orinoco region in Venezuela. Consequently, parents were forced to allocate food carefully to their children. Nutrition data collected from village children combined with genealogical data allowed the determination of which children suffered most, and whether the patterns of food distribution accorded with predictions from parental investment theory. For boys, three social variables accounted for over 70% of the variance in subcutaneous fat after controlling for age: number of siblings, age of the mother's youngest child, and whether the mother was the senior or junior co-wife, or was married monogamously. These results accord well with parental investment theory. Parents experiencing food stress faced a trade-off between quantity and quality, and between investing in younger versus older offspring. In addition, boys with access to more paternal investment (i.e. no stepmother) were better nourished. These variables did not account for any of the variance in female nutrition. Girls' nutrition was associated with the size of their patrilineage and the number of non-relatives in the village, suggesting that lineage politics may have played a role. An apparent lack of relationship between orphan status and nutrition is also interesting, given that orphans suffered high rates of skin flea infections. The large number of orphans being cared for by only two grandparents suggests that grooming time may have been the resource in short supply.

Adolescent↗

Patterns and correlates of agreement between parent, teacher, and male adolescent ratings of externalizing and internalizing problems.

The authors examined how well 394 triads of male youths, caregivers, and teachers agreed about youth problems reported on the Achenbach checklists. Dyadic agreement was measured through difference scores (subtracting the raw score of youth self-report from the caregiver's or teacher's score for shared items), q correlations between pairs of raters across items, and D2 (generalized distance between item profiles) for both externalizing and internalizing items. Teachers reported fewer internalizing and externalizing problems than did caregivers or youths. Teacher-youth disagreement was higher for African American than European American males about externalizing criteria. Caregiver depression and stress (but not paternal antisocial behavior or maternal substance abuse) correlated with higher disagreement with other informants about all criteria. These factors appear to increase disagreement about the level of problems but not about specific symptom patterns.

Adolescent↗

The transition to parenthood among young African American and Latino couples: relational predictors of risk for parental dysfunction.

This study examined relationship factors associated with parental dysfunction among young African American and Latino couples. Parent dysfunction was defined in terms of parenting stress, child abuse potential, physically punitive behavior, and paternal disengagement. Fathers who reported positive relations with their own parents and partners before childbirth reported more positive adjustments to parenthood at follow-up. The quality of the prebirth partner relationship buffered the impact of a relationship breakup on a young father's adjustment to parenthood. The quality of a mother's relationship with her parents was the best predictor of her adjustment to parenthood. However, mothers who reported large declines in the quality of the partner relationship also reported high levels of parenting stress. Clinical and policy implications of findings are discussed.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

An intervention to increase father involvement and skills with infants during the transition to parenthood.

This study examined whether a group educational intervention during the transition to parenthood can enhance the quality of father-child interaction and increase father involvement with their children. A randomized experimental design was used to evaluate an 8-session program with 165 couples who were first-time parents, beginning during the second trimester of pregnancy and ending at 5 months postpartum. Outcomes were assessed with time diaries, coded observations of parent-child play, and self-reports of fathers and mothers. The intervention had positive effects on fathers' skills in interacting with their babies and their involvement on work days but not home days. It is concluded that a relatively brief intervention during the transition to parenthood can improve fathering, and possible reasons for differential effects on areas of parenting are explored.

Adolescent↗

True paternal care in a multi-male primate society.

Although male parental care is rare among mammals, adult males of many cercopithecine primate species provide care for infants and juveniles. This care is often in the form of grooming, carrying, support in agonistic interactions, and protection against infanticide. For these behaviours to be interpreted as true parental care, males must selectively direct care towards their own offspring and this care must result in fitness benefits. With the exception of males defending probable offspring from infanticide, male primates living in multi-male, multi-female social groups have not been shown to selectively direct care towards their own offspring. We determined paternity for 75 juveniles in a population of wild savannah baboons (Papio cynocephalus) and collected data on interventions in agonistic disputes by adult males on behalf of juveniles as a form of male care. Here we show that adult males differentiate their offspring from unrelated juveniles and selectively support their offspring in agonistic disputes. As support in agonistic disputes is likely to contribute to rank acquisition and protect juveniles from injury and stress, this can be considered true parental care.

Aging↗

Localized immediate early gene expression related to the strength of song learning in socially reared zebra finches.

Recent evidence showed that exposure of tape-tutored zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata castanotis) males to the tutor song involves neuronal activation in brain regions outside the conventional 'song control pathways', particularly the caudal part of the neostriatum (NCM) and of the hyperstriatum ventrale (CMHV). Zebra finch males were reared with a live tutor during the sensitive period for song learning. When, as adults, they were re-exposed to the tutor song, the males showed increased expression of Fos, the protein product of the immediate early gene c-fos, in the NCM and CMHV, compared with expression in two conventional 'song control nuclei', high vocal centre (HVC) and Area X. The strength of the Fos response (which is a reflection of neuronal activation) in the NCM (but not in the other three regions) correlated significantly and positively with the number of song elements that the birds had copied from the tutor song. Thus, socially tutored zebra finch males show localized neural activation in response to tutor song exposure, which correlates with the strength of song learning.

Acoustic Stimulation↗