Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Sp681-I-Tips For Divorcing Parents, The University Of Tennessee Agricultural Extension Service

Family

Most children whose parents divorce learn to cope with the divorce and go on to lead successful and healthy lives. Yet, children of divorce are more than twice as likely as children in intact marriages to have long-term problems emotionally, mentally and socially. How you and your spouse handle your relationship with each other and with your children after the divorce will be the most important factor in how well your teens recover from this difficult experience.

New Mothers’ Psychological Experience And Behavioral Interactions With Their Infants In The First 12 Months, Timothy Page, Terri Combs-Orme, Daphne S. Cain

Social Work Publications and Other Works

We examined the psychological dimensions of parents’ perceptions of their infant children and their own abilities as parents at two observation points in a racially and socio-economically diverse sample of 174 mothers. Parenting perceptions and life circumstances were hypothesized to predict interactive behavior observed in the home. Baseline assessments were conducted in hospital, within 36 hr of delivery. Follow-up assessments were conducted in their homes when the children were 6 to 12 months old. Of five major psychological constructs studied, only parents’ perceptions of children, represented particularly by empathic responsiveness and absence of role-reversal, predicted the quality of behavioral interactions …

Resilient Parenting: Overcoming Poor Parental Bonding, W. Travis, Terri Combs-Orme

Social Work Publications and Other Works

This study identified groups of mothers with varying patterns of adaptive functioning and bonds with their own parents. These patterns were related to mothers' parenting of their own children to understand how some mothers avoid repeating the cycle of poor parenting. Data from 210 new mothers were analyzed before hospital discharge about bonding with their caregivers during childhood and six to 12 months later about adaptive functioning, life circumstances, and parenting. Latent cluster analysis identified four distinct groups of mothers with regard to parental bonds and adaptive functioning: positive-adaptive mothers (good bonding and good adaptive functioning), positive-maladaptive mothers (good bonding …

Sp681-G-Methamphetamine Awareness, The University Of Tennessee Agricultural Extension Service

Family

Meth is a powerfully addictive stimulant made by “cooking” ingredients containing ephedrine or pseudoephedrine and a variety of toxic and explosive chemicals. One miscalculation in an ingredient or cooking temperature and the volatile mixture can explode like a bomb!

This substance can be made from many different ingredients that can be purchased anywhere. Tougher laws are making it more diffifi cult to purchase one of the main ingredients, pseudoephedrine, which is found in most common cold and allergy medicines. Other ingredients commonly used to make meth include rubbing alcohol, acetone (found in fifi ngernail polish remover), gasoline antifreeze, battery acid …

Sp681-X-Communicating With Your Teen, The University Of Tennessee Agricultural Extension Service

Family

Sometimes the gulf between adults and teens seems huge and communication s seems impossible. Yet good communication with your teenage children is key to helping them make good decisions and lead healthy lives. Luckily there are ways to make communication with teens more effective. Here are some guidelines that can help parents and other adults communicate successfully with the teens they care about.

Sp681-O-Teen Relationships, The University Of Tennessee Agricultural Extension Service

Family

As parents, you want your teens to have an easy transition into adulthood. You want them to have friends and be liked at school. While you want to encourage them, you also worry that they may choose the wrong friends and be negatively influenced by them.

In addition, the teenage years bring changes in your child’s view of you: parents who once knew everything suddenly don’t understand anything. This attitude is normal, but it doesn’t make parenting easier!

Sp681-Q-Weight And Body Image, The University Of Tennessee Agricultural Extension Service

Family

Why are so many teenagers obsessed with their looks? Both males and females in today’s society are under pressure to measure up to a certain social and cultural ideal of beauty. Some of this pressure comes from the media; but unfortunately, a lot comes from family and friends, who mean to be helpful but whose comments can have a negative effect on how teens feel about themselves.

Sp681-M-Tobacco Use, The University Of Tennessee Agricultural Extension Service

Family

Every day in the United States, approximately 4,000 youths aged 12 – 17 try their first cigarette. Will your child be next?

Smoking and tobacco use among young people is a serious issue that can affect their health and life expectancy. Among high school students, 22 percent report current cigarette use while 10 percent of high school males use smokeless tobacco. Talking to your children about tobacco use and being involved in their lives will help you prevent them from becoming smokers or smokeless tobacco users. Here are some tips to help you.

Sp681-S-Cutting And Other Self-Injurious Behaviors, The University Of Tennessee Agricultural Extension Service

Family

Cutting is one of several types of self-injurious behaviors that some teens and young adults may practice. Self-injury is the deliberate mutilation of a body part with the purpose of managing emotions that are perceived as too painful to express with words.