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Since 'mixed' was first offered as an option in the ethnicity question in the 2001 England and Wales Census, Britain's recognition of, and interest in, mixed (or 'multiracial') people and families has not abated. Recent studies have focused primarily upon how mixed people identify themselves, or how parents racially identify their multiracial children. But Britain now has a population of multiracial individuals who are themselves parents, about whom we know very little. What are the particular concerns for multiracial individuals who are parents? Do multiracial people (who are parents) want to steer their children toward a particular kind of upbringing, and if so, toward what (and why)? This paper is an in-depth exploration of the various ways in which different types of multiracial people in Britain raise their children. Our main finding is that a significant majority of multiracial parents engage in parenting practices that emphasize a cosmopolitan ethos. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper is a short overview of Japanese practices and rituals associated with each significant stage in a child's life, from the moments before birth--announcing and celebrating the pregnancy--to the ceremony that marks the beginning of life as an adult. I have borrowed Arnold Van Gennep's concept of "rites of passage" in order to emphasize the idea of transition from one age to another, each being a joyous occasion that requires formal celebration. In my description of family traditions such as Obi-iwai, Miya-mairi, Hina-matsuri, Kodomo-no-hi, Shichi-go-san, or Seijin-shiki, I try to analyze the relationship between the sacred and the community, as well as the shift from a religious practice (making offerings to appease the gods and acquire their benevolence towards the new member of the community) to social ritual--the practice that focuses on the individual, and his/her bond with the family and the community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper examines the changes in fatherhood in Lithuania, focusing on the experiences and attitudes of men, who became fathers in two different historic periods – the soviet time and in the years of societal transformations after the collapse of communist regime. The narratives of 24 men (born in 1950–1965 and 1970–1985) are explored, the data come from the qualitative research, conducted in 2012. It is maintained that the construction of fatherhood in late socialism can be described in terms of modern fatherhood metanarrative, while the features of a ‘new father' can be traced mainly among the younger males of ‘independence generation’. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Son preference is widespread in a number of developing countries despite substantial improvements in education levels and economic development. One potential explanation for the persistence of this phenomenon is that individual household members like the mother derive large non-monetary benefits from giving birth to a son and therefore prefer boys to girls. Qualitative evidence suggests that such benefits exist and may depend on the child’s age. This paper uses large nationally representative datasets from India and tests whether having a son leads to higher decision-making powers for mothers than having a daughter. Since the number and gender composition of children is likely to be non-random for families that want a son, I focus on first-born children for whom the sex ratio of girls relative to boys is normal. The main analysis also focuses on young children of up to six months, which gives parents little time to adjust desired birth-spacing intervals that could be systematically correlated with decision-making powers and child gender. The results show little evidence of consistently large female benefits shortly after birth, and any positive impacts of having a son disappear after the first six months. There are also no large benefits for adult sons. These empirical patterns do not support qualitative evidence suggesting that women benefit from the birth of a son through larger decision-making powers in the household because of increased respect by other household members. The benefits also do not heavily depend on the child’s age, which is not consistent with a channel predicting a better bargaining position for women with adult sons who start taking over the running of the household. Overall, these results extend our understanding of individual-specific incentives for son preference. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change is at the top of the world's agenda due to the major problems it creates. It is a subject that concerns all humanity and living things with its many different dimensions, from economy to social life. However, it is children who are most affected by the problems arising from climate change and will be affected in the future. Within this scope, the aim of this study is to examine the effects of climate change on children through the current literature and to interpret the studies on this subject in Turkey. The research was conducted in a qualitative way and content analysis method was used. The content of the study was limited to researches focusing individuals aged 0-12, including early and late childhood. National studies in Turkey on climate change for children and their education are included in the scope. According to the results, there has been a noticeable increase in studies on the effects of climate change on children and their education, especially in the last five years. Furthermore, most of the studies focus on examining dimensions such as knowledge, awareness, perception and attitude. However, there is a great need at the moment to teach children, who are the architects of the future, permanent environmentally and eco-friendly behaviors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Millions of children and others across the world are being dangerously exposed to tobacco smoke and toxins in their own homes. Whilst there is limited interest in laws and interventions controlling tobacco use in public places in Bangladesh, no attention has been given to preventing tobacco-use inside homes. This study explores the familial and socio-cultural factors that provide obstacles for ensuring tobacco-free homes in Bangladesh. Materials and methods: A mixed-method design was adopted and from among the 1,436 tobacco users identified in a population of 11,853, 400 (tobacco users) were selected for cross-sectional survey. This survey involved a probability proportional sampling procedure, and 24 In-Depth Interviews. Multivariate logistic regression was performed to explore the association of familial and socio-cultural factors with tobacco-use at home adjusted by other demographic characteristics. Thematic content analysis was done on the qualitative data, and then inferences were drawn out collectively. Results: This study revealed that the prevalence of tobacco-use in the home was 25.7% in urban residential areas in Bangladesh. Multivariate logistic regression analysis identified that familial and socio-cultural factors were significantly associated with tobacco-use at home: marital status (OR 3.23, 95% CI: 1.37–6.61), education (OR 2.14, 95% CI: 1.15–3.99), smoking habits of older family members (OR 1.81 95% CI: 0.91–2.89), tobacco being offered as hospitality and for entertainment (OR 1.85, 95% CI: .94–2.95) and lack of religiosity practice (OR 2.39, 95% CI: 1.27–4.54). Qualitative findings indicated that social customs, lack of religious practice, tobacco-use of older family members, and lack of family guidance were key obstacles for enabling tobacco-free homes in urban areas. Conclusion: Use of tobacco at home is continuing as part of established familial and socio-cultural traditions. If tobacco-use at home is not addressed seriously by the authorities then the emerging threat of second-hand smoke exposure and harmful consequences of tobacco- use will be exacerbated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The migration of minors unaccompanied by adults from the northern countries of Central America (El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras) to the United States has risen sharply in recent years, surpassing the numbers that migrated during the political conflicts in the region in the 1980s and early 1990s. While the migration of minors from the northern region of Central America may appear as a homogeneous flow, significant sociodemographic and regional differentials exist in their migration. A conceptual model of institutional conditions is presented to conceptualise how changing institutional conditions in communities of origin can produce 'push' effects for the unaccompanied migration of minors in the northern countries of Central America. The goal of the model is to conceptually advance the analysis of migration by the unaccompanied minors to the root level of structural change. US response to the migration of unaccompanied minors in the future is uncertain given that a new administration has taken charge of the Executive Branch, promising to further restrict unauthorised immigration at the southwest border. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the early stages of schooling, many children are exposed to different learning disabilities, usually manifest as dyslexia, dysgraphia, and dyscalculia. Those disabilities impact on the normal academic achievement of the child and may even affect its social life. Learning disorders have neurobiological origins and are often inherited regardless of the geographical region or the socio-economic status. It should not be seen as physical disorders (visual or hearing handicaps or mental retardation). They are simply a different way of acquiring new knowledge and skills. Learning disabled children only require an early intervention, adjustments in the teaching process, and compensatory efficient strategies. They need more encounters with words and more practice and revision opportunities. For the reason to follow the normal academic achievement process, either manual or electronic tools have been introduced to help children with learning disabilities (LD). Our contribution is a set of games for children with dyslexia and dysgraphia. The games delicately target Arabic learning disabilities and lend a helping hand to the child with LD to overcome his/her reading and writing complications. This set of games is evaluated and tested by 46 pupils, aged from seven to nine years old, from whom 20 pupils are considered as individuals with learning problems in general and 5 students determined as dyslexics. The results statistically reflect the system’s efficiency and its distinctive role in improving the learning process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emotional stimuli processing during childhood helps us to detect salient cues in our environment and prepares us for our social life. In early childhood, the emotional valences of auditory and visual input are salient and relevant cues of social aspects of the environment, and it is of special interest to understand how exactly the processing of emotional stimuli develops. Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) is a noninvasive neuroimaging tool that has proven valuable in studying emotional processing in children. After conducting a systematic search of PubMed, Web of Science, and Embase databases, we examined 50 NIRS studies performed to study emotional stimuli processing in children in the first 2 years of age. We found that the majority of these studies are done in infants and the most commonly used stimuli are visual and auditory. Many of the reviewed studies suggest the involvement of bilateral temporal areas in emotional processing of visual and auditory stimuli. It is unclear which neural activation patterns reflect maturation and at what age the emotional encoding reaches those typically seen in adults. Our review provides an overview of the database on emotional processing in children up to 2 years of age. Furthermore, it demonstrates the need to include the less-studied age range of 1 to 2 years, and suggests the use of combined audio-visual stimuli and longitudinal studies for future research on emotional processing in children. Thus, NIRS might be a vital tool to study the associations between the early pattern of neural responses and socioemotional development later in life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Child marriage harms girls’ health and hinders progress toward development goals. Randomized studies have shown that providing financial incentives for girls’ education can effectively delay marriage, but larger-scale interventions are needed in light of slow progress toward curbing the practice. Many sub-Saharan African countries eliminated primary school tuition fees over the past two decades, resulting in massive increases in enrolment. We measured the effect of these policies on the probability of primary school completion and of marriage before 15 and 18 years of age. Methods: We used Demographic and Health Surveys to assemble a dataset of women born between 1970 and 2000 in 16 countries. These data were merged with longitudinal information on the timing of tuition fee elimination in each country. We estimated the impact of fee removal using fixed effects regression to compare changes in the prevalence of child marriage over time between women who were exposed to tuition-free primary schooling and those who were not. Results: The removal of tuition fees led to modest average declines in the prevalence of child marriage across all of the treated countries. However, there was substantial heterogeneity between countries. The prevalence of child marriage declined by 10–15 percentage points in Ethiopia and Rwanda following tuition elimination but we found no evidence that the removal of tuition fees had an impact on child marriage rates in Cameroon or Malawi. Reductions in child marriage were not consistently accompanied by increases in the probability of primary school completion. Conclusions: Eliminating tuition fees led to reductions in child marriage on a national scale in most countries despite challenges with implementation. Improving the quality of the education available may strengthen these effects and bolster progress toward numerous other public health goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: This study aims to cross-culturally adapt the original English-language COHIP-SF 19 to Arabic culture and to test its psychometric properties in a community sample.Methods: The Arabic COHIP-SF 19 was developed and its psychometric properties were examined in a population-based sample of 876 schoolchildren who were aged 12 years of age, in Benghazi, Libya. The Arabic COHIP-SF 19 was tested for its internal consistency, reproducibility, construct validity, factorial validity and floor as well as ceiling effects. A Mann-Whitney U test was used to compare the mean scores of COHIP-SF 19 by participants' caries status and self-reported oral health rating, satisfaction and treatment need.Results: The Arabic COHIP-SF 19 was successfully and smoothly developed. It showed an acceptable level of equivalence to the original version. Overall, the internal consistency and reproducibility were acceptable to excellent, with a Cronbach's alpha of 0.84 and an intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC) of 0.76. All hypotheses predefined to test construct validity were confirmed. That is, children who had active dental caries, and who rated their oral health as poor, were not satisfied with their oral health or indicated the need of treatment had lower COHIP-SF 19 scores (P < 0.05). Floor or ceiling effects were not observed. The exploratory Factorial analysis suggested a 4-component solution and deletion of one item.Conclusion: The Arabic COHIP-SF 19 was successfully developed. The measure demonstrated satisfactory reliability and validity to estimate OHRQoL in a representative sample of 12-year-old schoolchildren. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study avoided the typical laboratory context to determine instead whether over-imitation—the disposition to copy even visibly, causally unnecessary actions—occurs in a real-world context in which participants are unaware of being in an experiment. We disguised a puzzle-box task as an interactive item available to the public within a science engagement zone of Edinburgh Zoo. As a member of the public approached, a confederate acting as a zoo visitor retrieved a reward from the box using a sequence of actions containing both causally relevant and irrelevant elements. Despite the absence of intentional demonstration, or social pressure to copy, a majority of both child and even adult observers included all causally irrelevant actions in their reproduction. This occurred even though causal irrelevance appeared manifest because of the transparency of the puzzle-box. That over-imitation occurred so readily in a naturalistic context, devoid of social interaction and pressure, suggests that humans are opportunistic social learners throughout the lifespan, copying the actions of other individuals even when these actions are not intentionally demonstrated, and their causal significance is not readily apparent. The disposition to copy comprehensively, even when a mere onlooker, likely provides humans, irrespective of their age, with a powerful mechanism to extract maximal information from the social environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research has shown a connection between negative parenting practices and child conduct problems. One of the most commonly used measures to assess parenting practices is the Alabama parenting questionnaire (APQ). The current study aimed to culturally adapt and assess the psychometric properties of a short version of the APQ for use in Arabic cultures, using a sample of 251 Qatari parents of children ages 4-12. An exploratory factor analysis proposed a five-model solution that corresponds to the original proposed model in the full version of the APQ. The five constructs of the APQ correlated in the expected direction with the Conduct Problem Subscale from the Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire. This study provides support for the utility of the 15-item short version of the APQ in Arabic cultures. More studies are needed to validate the performance of the short version of APQ in clinical settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the termination of a marriage, children involved inevitably experience dramatic changes in different facets of their lives. This article makes use of narrative accounts of divorced single parents to investigate how their marital dissolution has impacted and changed their children's lives. Empirical data was collected through semi-structured, in-depth interviews with 25 Singaporean divorced parents. Within the policy and social context of Singapore society, I highlight transformations in three specific aspects of the children's lives: one, the reconfigurations of familial relationships and formation of a new family unit; two, the creation of and adaptation to new family practices and routine; three, the adoption of new social identity following parental divorce. This article hopes to present a more nuanced understanding of the divorce experience by emphasizing both the precarious and productive aspects in the children's lives, contra to the existing divorce literature that typically focuses on the former. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Mealtimes and their associated rituals are recognised as important aspects of human socialisation; however, much of the research about mealtimes in early childhood education settings has focused on health or on adult–child discursive exchanges. The present study aimed to investigate children's interactions with each other and their influence on the structural aspects of mealtime. The participants were four toddlers and their teachers at one community-based childcare in New Zealand. Narrative data were interpreted from video observations and discussions with teachers. Findings showed that the toddlers playfully cooperated with each other in order to develop their own ritual. This ritual subverted the routine, communicated togetherness and reinforced the toddlers’ identity as separate to that of the adults. This article posits that teachers should seek to understand and respond sensitively to toddlers’ peer rituals, where such rituals engender positive effects on the children's sense of togetherness. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This study set out to examine whether Chinese parents, more than people from other nations, over-estimate the intelligence of their son (little emperor) compared to their daughter. In this study, 155 pairs of married couples from mainland China estimated their own, their partner’s and their only child’s overall intelligence and 13 “multiple intelligences.” They also completed a short measure of the Big Five personality traits. Replicating previous studies, fathers rated themselves higher than mothers for almost all types of intelligence. Results revealed, however, no parental sex differences in the estimates of children’s multiple intelligences. Both parents attributed higher overall, verbal, and musical intelligence, but lower existential intelligence to their child than to themselves. Multiple regressions indicated that estimates of verbal, logical–mathematical, spatial and intrapersonal intelligence were the best predictors of estimates of overall intelligence. Participants’ openness and neuroticism were significant predictors of self-rated intelligence. The results were interpreted in relation to specific Chinese social and cultural influences, though there seemed to be no “little emperor” effect. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]