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Parenting and health in mid-childhood : a longitudinal study
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Waylen, Andrea, Stallard, Nigel and Stewart-Brown, Sarah L. (2008) Parenting and health in mid-childhood : a longitudinal study. European Journal of Public Health, Vol.18 (No.3). pp. 300-305. doi:10.1093/eurpub/ckm131
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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/eurpub/ckm131
Abstract
Background: Parenting and parent-child relationships influence children's emotional and social development and evidence exists that they may be life-course determinants of health. This study tests the hypothesis that adverse parenting in the early years predicts poor health in mid-childhood. Methods: A prospective study using data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children cohort. Health data on over 8000 children (60% of those recruited) were available for analysis at 6.9 and 7.7 years. Exposures: self-reported maternal hostility, resentment and hitting/shouting in early childhood. Outcomes: maternal report of child's health in general and number of health problems when the child was 6.9 and 7.7 years, adjusting for socioeconomic factors. Results: Sub-optimal parenting, as measured here, was observed among 62, 80 and 83% of families for hostility, resentment and hitting/shouting, respectively. Resentment was more common among older mothers in owner-occupied housing. Resentment and hostility predicted health at both ages independently of socioeconomic circumstances. 'Hitting/shouting' was weakly predictive of number of health problems. A greater proportion of variance was explained by parenting variables than by socio-economic variables. Conclusions: Parenting and parent-child relationships in the early years predict health in mid-childhood in a way consistent with a causal role. If further studies replicate this finding, policies to improve parenting could be expected to have a modest beneficial impact on health as well as emotional and social development. As some aspects of sub-optimal parenting show reverse social class distribution, initiatives targeted at those living in social deprivation may not achieve the optimum impact on health.
| Item Type: | Journal Article | ||||
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| Subjects: | R Medicine > RA Public aspects of medicine > RA0421 Public health. Hygiene. Preventive Medicine R Medicine > RJ Pediatrics > RJ101 Child Health. Child health services |
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| Divisions: | Faculty of Medicine > Warwick Medical School > Health Sciences Faculty of Medicine > Warwick Medical School > Health Sciences > Mental Health and Wellbeing Faculty of Medicine > Warwick Medical School |
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| Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): | Parenting , Parent and child -- Research, Children -- Health and hygiene -- Research | ||||
| Journal or Publication Title: | European Journal of Public Health | ||||
| Publisher: | Oxford University Press | ||||
| ISSN: | 1101-1262 | ||||
| Official Date: | June 2008 | ||||
| Dates: |
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| Volume: | Vol.18 | ||||
| Number: | No.3 | ||||
| Number of Pages: | 6 | ||||
| Page Range: | pp. 300-305 | ||||
| DOI: | 10.1093/eurpub/ckm131 | ||||
| Status: | Peer Reviewed | ||||
| Publication Status: | Published | ||||
| Access rights to Published version: | Restricted or Subscription Access | ||||
| Funder: | Great Britain. Dept of Health (DoH), University of Warwick |
Data sourced from Thomson Reuters' Web of Knowledge
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