CE/CME Parenting, Parental Mental Health, and Child Functioning in Families Residing in Supportive Housing (original) (raw)
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Families experiencing homelessness face a number of risks to their psychosocial health and well-being, yet few studies have examined the topic of parenting among homeless families. The purpose of this multimethod, descriptive study was to acquire a better understanding of the psychosocial status and life experiences of homeless parents residing in transitional housing. Quantitative data were collected from 69 parents and primary caregivers living in a transitional housing community, with a cohort of 24 participants also contributing qualitative data. The quantitative results suggest risk associated with depression, parenting stress, and negative parenting practices. The qualitative findings highlight five themes that convey both the challenges faced by homeless parents as well as the resilience they display in spite of such adversity. These results extend current scholarship on homeless families with children and can better inform how couple and family therapists work with this at-risk population.
The social interaction learning framework was used to explore whether positive parenting practices (noncoercive discipline, clear expectations , and praise and incentives) mitigated any effects of parent mental health (psychological distress and parenting stress) on child externalizing behaviors in a predominantly African American sample of homeless parents residing in transitional housing (N = 52, 79.6% female). The results showed that the positive relationship between psychological distress and child behavior was attenuated when parents provided high levels of praise and incentives. In addition, a positive relationship between parenting stress and child behavior existed only when parents transmitted low levels of praise and incentives. No significant findings existed for noncoercive discipline and clear expectations. The results suggest the need to further understand the positive aspects of parenting in the context of homelessness that can promote child adjustment even if parental mental health is compromised.
This article tested a model of parenting stress as a mediator between maternal depressive symptoms, emotion regulation, and child behavior problems using a sample of homeless, substance-abusing mothers. Participants were 119 homeless mothers (ages 18-24 years) and their young children (ages 0-6 years). Mothers responded to questions about their depressive symptoms, emotion regulation, parenting stress, and child behavior problems. A path analysis showed that maternal depressive symptoms were positively associated with child behavior problems through increased parenting stress whereas maternal cognitive reappraisal was negatively associated with child behavior problems through decreased parenting stress. Moreover, maternal expressive suppression was negatively related to child externalizing problems. Findings support the parenting stress theory and highlight maternal parenting stress as a mechanism associated with homeless children's mental health risk. This study has significant implications for understanding the parenting processes underlying child's resilience in the context of homelessness and maternal substance use.
Personal and Social Resources as Predictors of Parenting in Homeless Families
Journal of Family Issues, 2002
This research examined predictors of positive and negative parenting behaviors in homeless families. Personal and social resources were tested as predictors of parenting in an ethnically heterogeneous sample of 38 homeless children between the ages of 6 and 12 and their parents. Parents' social support networks included few familiar intimates. Social support did not predict positive or negative parenting. Stressors predicted negative but not positive parenting. Parental physical health and self-esteem mediated the relationship between stressors and negative parenting. Stressors significantly predicted parents' mental health, but mental health was not a significant mediator of negative parenting.
Parenting and homelessness: Overview and introduction to the special section
American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 2009
This overview of parenting and homelessness includes the characteristics and needs of families who are homeless, with a focus on the unique challenges faced by mothers, fathers, and children. In addition, the authors discuss how homeless families are narrowly defined based on the family members who present at shelters and other service programs. In order to fully support parents and their children as they exit homelessness, homeless service programs should consider the broader context of the nontraditional family system and support networks. The overview also includes common challenges to parenting while homeless, a summary of the articles in the Special Section, and recommendations for research, practice, and policy.
American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 2017
Research has neglected the potential role of perceived parental control as a moderator between stressful life events (SLEs) and child internalizing symptoms. Using secondary data from the Early Risers "Skills for Success" Program, this study examined the impact of perceived parental control on the association between SLEs and child internalizing symptoms in formerly homeless families. The sample consisted of 137 families with 223 children between 4 and 12 years of age (M = 8.1, SD = 2.3) living in supportive housing sites in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Participants completed measures assessing the number of SLEs experienced (e.g., unemployment of parent, death of loved one, serious illness, homelessness, etc.), perceived parental control, and child internalizing symptoms. In this sample, 65% of children (n = 144) experienced at least one SLE with an average experience of two events (M = 2.0, SD = 1.9, Range: 0-7 SLEs). A regression analysis found that experiencing more SLEs and a perceived absence of parental control over child behavior were positively associated with child internalizing symptoms. A significant interaction between SLEs and perceived absence of parental control over child behavior in predicting child internalizing symptoms was also found. These findings suggest that children of parents who model appropriate control are more likely to experience fewer internalizing symptoms in response to SLEs. Keywords children; families; homelessness; internalizing symptoms; perceived parental control In 2014, nearly 600,000 people were homeless in the United States (National Alliance to End Homelessness, 2015). This estimate includes more than 360,000 individuals and 240,000 families. The average homeless family in the United States consists of a single mother in her mid-to late-twenties with two children (HUD; Department of Housing and Urban Development, 2015). While the causes of homelessness vary, they include stressful life events (SLEs) such as unemployment, loss of a family member or friend, and personal injury (
Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 2010
This study reports psychosocial characteristics of a sample of 111 children (K to 2nd grade) and their mothers who were living in urban supportive housings. The aim of this study was to document the various types and degree of risk endemic to this population. First, we describe the psychosocial characteristics of this homeless sample. Second, we compared this homeless sample with a grade-matched, high-risk, school-based sample of children (n = 146) who were identified as showing early symptoms of disruptive behaviors. Third, we compared the parents in both samples on mental health, parenting practices, and service utilization. Results showed that children living in supportive housing were in the at-risk range and had comparable levels of externalizing problems, internalizing problems, school problems and emotional strengths with the school-based risk sample receiving prevention services at a family support community agency. Mothers in supportive housing reported significantly higher psychological distress, less optimal parenting practices and greater service utilization. These findings are among the first to provide empirical support for the need to deliver prevention interventions in community sectors of care.
Parenting and Homeless: Profiles of Young Adult Mothers and Fathers in Unstable Housing Situations
Families in society-The journal of contemporary social services, 2016
Young adults who are pregnant or parents are a vulnerable subgroup of the homeless population, yet there is limited research about their specific service needs. To fill this gap, we used data from a survey of homeless and unstably housed young adults, ages 18-24, collected over 4 weeks in Houston, Texas, to examine the characteristics, risk factors, and protective factors of homeless parents (n = 109) compared to other homeless young adults (n = 243), then differences between mothers (n = 61) and fathers (n = 48). Unique risk and protective profiles for homeless parents were identified, as well as differences between mothers and fathers. Implications for service delivery targeted to the unique needs of young adult homeless mothers and fathers are discussed. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE • Parenting is one aspect of a complex picture of service needs and should be assessed in the context of its intersection with other risk and protective factors. • Risk profiles for fathers particularly support the need for concurrent assessment of substance use and criminal justice involvement along with parenting needs Y oung adult homelessness in the United States is a complex issue. Of the 578,424 individuals deemed homeless in the United States during the January 2014 point-in-time count, more than 10% were unaccompanied young adults ages 18-24 (U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development [HUD], 2014). This number likely underestimates the actual number experiencing homelessness, as young adults are difficult to enumerate given that they tend to use shelters and services at lower rates than older adults and thus hide in plain sight (Santa Maria, Narendorf, Bezette-Flores, & Ha, 2015). Of particular concern among the broader population of young adults experiencing homelessness is a vulnerable subgroup-those who are not only homeless but also pregnant or parenting. According to the National Extranet Optimized Runaway and Homeless Youth Management Information System (NEO-RHYMIS, 2014), 25% of homeless individuals under age 21 were currently pregnant or had children. Compared to housed adolescent females, runaway and homeless adolescent females are four times more likely to become pregnant and are more likely to experience multiple pregnancies (Whitbeck & Hoyt, 1999). A multicity study of youth ages 14-17 found that 48% of street-living youth and 33% of youth living in emergency shelters reported at least one pregnancy during their lifetimes, a rate much higher than the 10% among the general population the same year (Greene & Ringwalt, 1998). In spite of the prevalence of the issue among homeless young people, research on pregnancy and parenting in homeless young adults is lacking.