Family Sciences

The ‘Parents as Partners’ (PasP) coparenting programme was delivered to heterosexual parents of infants they described as showing a highly reactive temperament (HRT) following the completion of the Infant Behaviour Questionnaire–Revised (IBQ-R) during a standard post-natal visit in their local Health Centre Well Baby Clinic in Malta. Fifty-two participating Maltese couples, all coparenting a highly reactive infant of 8 to 12 months, were randomly assigned into an experimental (n = 30 couples) or control group (n = 25). The IBQ-R, Coparenting Relationship Scale (CRS), and Parental Stress Index (PSI-4 SF) at pre- and post-intervention periods were filled out by randomised participants. Intervention group couples followed the 16-week PasP programme. All randomised couples were followed by a case manager monthly. Post-intervention results compared with controls showed reduced couple conflict occurring in front of the child, reduced parent–child dysfunctional interaction, and a reduction in negative child reactivity. Implications point to the importance of including fathers and reducing coparenting conflict in interventions designed to reduce behavioural difficulties in infants and young children. Full article

Recurring themes in domestic violence literature have exposed hidden psycho-social-spiritual aspects accompanying the devastating reality of the many harms, disappointments, and life changes endured by domestic violence survivors. This is not just due to the actual abuses from intimate partners but also from others in near proximity. This article describes the accompanying devastation, whether intentional or not, and from both individuals and institutions, as collateral damage—the additional emotional and social consequences experienced by survivors of domestic violence. Through qualitative responses in a discussion of betrayal, loss, and grief, new insight is brought to the overlap, seriousness, and overall toll of these consequences. In recognizing that collateral damage exists in cases of domestic violence, helping professionals, community partners, and policymakers can repair harm, offer education, strengthen safety measures and protective strategies, and thereby support both the individual survivor and the family system subjected to abuse. This exploratory study aims to expand inquiry within the domestic violence literature and offer avenues of recognition of the compounding issues faced by many survivors and their children. Full article

There have been many evaluations of specific parent programs, but there is minimal evidence of evaluation of the broader landscape of established advice or support services for parents of children under 18 years old. This paper investigates parent/carer perceptions of support services in their case study city. We explore and examine their perspectives on existing support services and how far they are meeting their needs. Through a thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews with parents and carers from across the city, a range of key themes emerged. These included the supportive environment and positive ethos of services accessed, lack of trust in some professionals, and perceived gaps in provision, highlighting the need for more activities, support, and accessible information, especially for families with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). These findings underscore the complexity of navigating the landscape of support services and advocate for more coordinated, accessible, and trustworthy support systems for parents and carers. Full article

This study examines how Caribbean families visually represented resilience and emotional coping before and after the onset of COVID-19 pandemic. Using an arts-based research methodology, 25 English-speaking families created visual artworks depicting their strategies for managing stress across these two periods. Visual and thematic analyses identified four central themes of resilience: emotional expression, shifting family dynamics, wellness practices, and enduring cultural traditions. While spiritual and familial values remained foundational over time, the pandemic prompted new forms of emotional expression, as well as greater reliance on nature-based healing practices. These findings highlight resilience as a dynamic, relational, and culturally embedded process of creative adaptation. By integrating creative methodologies with family resilience theory and multisystemic resilience frameworks, this study advances understanding of non-verbal, culturally relevant forms of coping in underrepresented contexts. The use of visual storytelling further demonstrates its potential as both a methodological tool for capturing emotional complexity and a practical resource for fostering intergenerational dialogue and family well-being. Full article

This study explores how family background shapes children’s cognitive and logical thinking abilities within the context of contemporary China, using nationally representative data from the 2013–2015 China Education Panel Survey (CEPS). Recognizing the increasing stratification of educational outcomes, this research examines the dual roles of economic and cultural capital in influencing children’s development. Employing multivariate regression models and mediation analysis, we assess both direct effects of family background—measured by household economic status and parental education—and indirect effects through educational investments, including school choice, tutoring participation, academic support, and parental literacy habits. The results reveal that both economic and cultural capital have significant positive effects on students’ cognitive and logical thinking outcomes. However, cultural investment, particularly parental reading and engagement in children’s education, shows a more enduring and pronounced influence. Notably, children from the wealthiest families do not consistently perform better, suggesting that excessive reliance on material resources may crowd out effective parental engagement. In contrast, even the poorest families demonstrate strong educational aspirations, though constrained by limited resources and inadequate guidance. These findings highlight the critical role of cultural capital in mitigating intergenerational inequality and call for policies that support educational involvement across all socioeconomic groups to foster more equitable learning opportunities. Full article

Intensive mothering is a widespread cultural ideology positioning mothers as uniquely responsible for their children’s optimal development through emotionally and cognitively intensive caregiving. A key belief within this framework is maternal essentialism, which asserts that mothers are biologically and morally best suited for parenting young children. Guided by the Family Stress–Proximal Process (FSPP) model, this study examined whether maternal essentialist beliefs act as distal sociocultural stressors influencing children’s executive functioning indirectly through parenting stress and positive parenting behaviors. Data were collected via self-report from 255 U.S. mothers of 3- to 5-year-old children. Path analyses showed that stronger maternal essentialism was associated with increased parenting stress, which predicted lower engagement in positive parenting and greater reported difficulties in children’s executive functioning. The indirect effect of maternal essentialism on children’s executive functioning was statistically significant. These findings suggest that internalized cultural ideologies, often viewed as aspirational, may inadvertently increase parenting stress and reduce caregiving quality, which is associated with diminished child cognitive outcomes. This study extends prior research by linking maternal essentialist beliefs to child developmental outcomes through specified psychological and relational processes, supporting the usefulness of the FSPP framework in understanding how sociocultural pressures influence family dynamics and child development. Full article

This paper presents the first exploration of young carers in early childhood (YCEC), in the context of whole family support, through the application of the Power Threat Meaning Framework (PTMF). Existing contributions to young carer research have shaped social policy, legislation, and practice concerned with whole family approaches to the identification, assessment, and support for young carers globally. To date, the literature has predominantly focused on young carers in middle childhood to young adulthood, contributing to socially constructed Eurocentric ideologies of who young carers are likely to be. As such, YCEC remain disempowered in broader young carer and family science discourse. This qualitative exploration centers upon the experiences of three families. Primary data collated retrospective accounts of two adult siblings supported by documentary data obtained by participants through a subject access request (SAR). Secondary data derived from two case studies, drawn from the lead author’s master’s dissertation, offering experiences of families each with a young carer aged four years old. Participants lived in England, United Kingdom (UK). Deductive analysis utilized dual methodological approaches, offering nuanced insight. Thematic codes were synthesized into predetermined themes. ‘Power,’ ‘threat,’ ‘meaning,’ ‘threat responses,’ and ‘strengths’ to explore the application of the PTMF beyond individual experience. Findings show systemic and structural powers held within the lives of YCEC. This disempowers the ethos of whole family support, which should serve to endorse integrated working and foster the autonomous functioning of family life. Findings consider threats, worsening vulnerabilities, and exposure to harm. Meaning is deduced from findings offering recommendations for future research, practice, and policy decisions. In conclusion, opportunities for the prevention of inappropriate caring roles, early identification, and intervention have been missed. This study adds to the growing exploration of the PTMF. It harnesses its potential application as a holistic assessment tool and qualitative data analysis framework, helping to bridge structural and developmental viewpoints which typically frame the current understanding of family functioning and related social policy. Full article

Economic challenges place lower-income, economically marginalized families at heightened risk for experiencing financial stress, which is associated with a host of adverse family outcomes. Among lower-income families raising young children, existing economic challenges are often exacerbated by the added needs of children, including child-specific expenses (e.g., childcare) and decreased parental earning capacity. In these families, financial stress may strain the coparenting alliance; however, scant research has explored the association, particularly in families with young infants. Informed by family systems theory and the family stress model, the present study utilized an actor–partner interdependence model to explore the relationship between financial stress and the quality of the coparenting alliance within a sample of 214 lower-income opposite-sex couples with or expecting a new baby. This study further examined potential differences between (a) mothers and fathers, (b) cohabiting and married parents, and (c) those in different parenting contexts (i.e., new vs. established parents, recent vs. anticipated births). Results indicated that mothers’ and fathers’ perceptions of financial stress were negatively associated with their own report of coparenting alliance but not their partner’s coparenting alliance. This association was consistent across couple relationship structures and parenting contexts. Implications for policy and practices are provided. Full article

Although religiosity is commonly linked to marital satisfaction in sociological research, few studies have examined how it strengthens marital commitment among women of faith. This study explored the perspectives of religious, heterosexual married women using interviews in the United States from 196 highly religious couples with successful marriages. Three core themes emerged: (1) personal commitment—including the decision to marry, religious beliefs and practices, and the need for effort and sacrifice; (2) moral commitment—highlighting sexual relations before marriage, promises made before God, family, and friends, and views on fidelity and divorce; and (3) structural commitment—emphasizing the role of a religious institution and faith community, belief that God is part of the union, and the importance of the family unit. Participants consistently described their religious beliefs as central to strengthening their personal commitment, their vows before others as reinforcing moral commitment, and their religious community and family as sustaining structural commitment. When combined, these three forms of commitment, deeply informed by lived religiosity, interact to foster marital resilience and flourishing. Full article

Over recent decades, China has experienced considerable economic and cultural change, as economic growth has led to increased materialism and individualism. Among young women and men, the traditional obligations of filial piety include becoming married, having children, and continuing the family lineage. Using recent survey data (2015 through 2024) drawn from young Chinese adults, this study examines the changes in marriage and childbearing aspirations. The results show a clear decline in marriage aspirations among both sexes, and a strong decline in the childbearing aspirations of young women. Multivariate analyses reveal that more individualistic desires (e.g., wishing to cohabit, having sex) yield substantial associations with marriage and childbearing aspirations. There also appears to be a strong tendency for both young women and men to draw a clear separation between becoming married and having children, which is quite contrary to traditional cultural norms. The findings and implications thereof are discussed within the developmental paradigm. Full article

Prosocial behavior—children’s capacity to empathize, share, and cooperate—is essential for healthy emotional and social development. While family context plays a critical role in fostering these behaviors, the influence of overall family functioning remains underexplored. This study examines the association between perceived family functioning and prosocial behavior in school-aged children. A cross-sectional design was employed with a sample of 127 parents of children aged 6 to 12 years. Family functioning was assessed using the General Functioning Subscale of the McMaster Family Assessment Device (FAD), and child prosocial behavior was measured via the parent-reported Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). Analyses included Pearson correlations, linear regression, and group comparisons by gender, education, employment status, and subjective socioeconomic status. Higher family functioning (i.e., lower FAD scores) significantly predicted higher prosocial behavior scores (β = −1.48, R² = 0.12, p < 0.001). A significant difference in prosocial behavior was found between socioeconomic groups, with children from high-income families scoring significantly higher than those from middle-income families. However, family functioning accounted for a greater proportion of the variance than socioeconomic status. These findings underscore the role of family relational quality in shaping children’s social development and highlight its importance in early interventions. Full article

Much U.S. research supports the effectiveness of parenting education delivered via the home visiting method. Home visitors are essential to reaching fathers in this context, but not all have favorable attitudes toward father engagement or feel confident working with fathers. Given that father involvement is important for a wide range of child and adolescent outcomes and that fathers benefit from parenting education, it is important to better understand the forces that shape home visitors’ attitudes toward fathers, and thus their subsequent efforts to include them in publicly funded programming. Using survey data from 95 home visitors in Tennessee, this study explores whether home visitors’ beliefs about fathers and attitudes toward father engagement vary as a function of home visitor or agency characteristics. Results suggest training in social work, reporting father-friendly organizational attitudes and behaviors at one’s agency, and reporting supervisor support specifically for father engagement relate to various favorable fathering attitudes. Home visitors’ strategies to engage fathers in home visiting are presented, including strategies for before, during, and after the home visit. Overall, family service agency administrators are in key positions to make decisions that can improve agency father-friendliness, home visitor attitudes toward fathers, and subsequent outcomes for fathers, mothers, and children. Full article

The ‘ring by spring’ (RBS) phenomenon entails pressures for college seniors on Christian campuses to become engaged by the spring semester of their senior year. These marital pressures often run counter to national trends in the USA as the median age at first marriage continues to climb. The social clock theory suggests that society places a normative timetable on major events such as marriage. But the social clock may not happen the same way for all people, and influences on Christian campus may represent deviations from most normative social clocks. This study investigated RBS awareness, experiences, pressures, and perceptions, along with assessing for differences in gender and religiosity across multiple universities, both Christian and not, across two different states. Results show wide awareness and experience with RBS at many universities along with some notable differences by gender and religiosity. Implications are provided for researchers and practitioners based on study findings. Full article