It's that time of year again. For media working on stories about the seasonal return to school, here are the latest features and experts in the Back-To-School channel on Newswise.
Black men serve a variety of parental roles in their communities — from teaching to coaching to mentoring youth. A new study reveals how this work, called otherfathering, influences the men’s mental health.
Roughly 48% of adults who have never been married owned a home in 2021. Divorced adults comprised 59% of homeowners, with widowed individuals at 71%. Married adults contributed to the largest share of ownership at 80%.
Enthusiasm is growing for programs that provide guaranteed cash support for low-income families as a means to prevent foster care removals and decrease child maltreatment. Recent initiatives in California and New York have demonstrated promising results, and researchers like Will Schneider, a social work assistant professor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, are actively exploring the potential of cash transfers in the child welfare field.
There’s more to back-to-school season than snagging the latest notebooks, bookbags, and trendy jackets and jeans. A new routine, new teachers, and new schools signal a big adjustment period for some students. “Anxiety can be associated with the unknown, such as what will the teacher this year be like, what friends will be in my class, where will my classroom be, and likely other worries can pop into children’s minds,” said Cindy Smith, director of the Children’s Emotions Lab at Virginia Tech and an expert in child emotional development, parent-child interaction, and parenting behaviors.
UCLA Health researchers have published the largest-ever study of families with at least two children with autism, uncovering new risk genes and providing new insights into how genetics influence whether someone develops autism spectrum disorder.
Social media plays a significant role in everyday life for most teenagers. It helps them stay connected to friends, find community with others and feel a sense of belonging. But how much is too much, and is it more dangerous than beneficial?
The American Cleaning Institute (ACI) launched a new online resource that promotes the safe use of liquid laundry packets at the nation’s laundromats. The flyer, which provides information in both English and Spanish, reminds consumers to use laundry packets safely while keeping them out of the reach of children.
In 2017, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced a dramatic reversal in its approach to peanut-allergy prevention, recommending parents expose their infants as young as four months old to peanuts to prevent peanut allergy.
A research team led by medical ethicists and physician-researchers has been approved for a $6.2 million award to study strategies to bridge gaps in the healthcare system and help bereaved parents connect with existing community resources after the unexpected or traumatic death of their child.
Fathers’ as well as mothers’ psychiatric history is associated with preterm birth, according to a study published July 20th in the open access journal PLOS Medicine. The research shows for the first time that the risk of preterm birth is higher in infants whose fathers or mothers have psychiatric diagnoses, compared with those who do not, and where both parents have diagnoses, the risk is increased again.
The summer months are the busiest time on the roads and for teens with ADHD, a new driver’s license carries a lot of responsibility. Saint Louis University (SLU) researcher Annie Artiga Garner, Ph.D., is doing her part to make the roads safer not just for teens with ADHD, but for every driver.
Functional Family Therapy is a family-based intervention for youth with behavior problems, and although it’s been implemented in 45 states in the U.S and in nine other high-income countries.
The landmark United States Supreme Court ruling in Loving v. Commonwealth of Virginia abolished bans on interracial marriage in the United States in 1967, but a new academic paper from Rice University and Texas A&M University said an uptick in interracial relationships since then has not ended discriminatory tendencies, even among individuals who are in these romantic partnerships.
A research team led by Kelly Michelson, MD, MPH, FCCM, FAAP, HEC-C, and Stacy Tessler Lindau, MD, MA, has been approved for a $6,155,096 million research funding award by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) to study, “The Missing Pieces Trial: A Multi-Site Pragmatic Comparative Effectiveness Trial of Interventions to Support Parents After Their Child's Unexpected or Traumatic Death.”
Why are new voters so apathetic about politics? A new study focused on one of the most salient: parent attitudes about politics. Results show that in households where parents and adolescents are close, parents transmit political apathy to their adolescent children, which may have the unfortunate consequence of contributing to low political participation among young voters.
Just 43% of parents have set their child up for a patient portal, mainly because they don't see a need, and others may not be optimizing portal use, suggests the University of Michigan Health C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital National Poll on Children’s Health.
Researchers at the University of Chicago Medicine are calling for updated infant bathing guidelines after reviewing cases of young patients treated for bathing-related scald burns.
Regulations are urgently needed to protect children from harm in the unregulated online world, researchers at the University of Otago, New Zealand, say.
Babies and puppies have at least two things in common: aside from being newborns, they promote a positive emotional state in human mothers, leading them to articulate better when they speak.
Climbing trees, making mud pies, or simply playing outside, parents and educators know that being in nature is an important part of every childhood. But when it comes to messy or risky play, it’s a whole different story according to new research from the University of South Australia.
Mothers often share fashion photos of their children on social media, a practice which combine the traditions of family photos and the commercial symbolism of fashion images.
Dependant children of people impacted by human trafficking and modern slavery are being left unsupported and their needs overlooked, putting families at risk of intergenerational trauma.
The American Cleaning Institute (ACI) launched its “Clean First Steps: A Guide for New Parents” toolkit, providing easy-to-understand tips and guidance on adjusting moms’ and dads’ cleaning routines to welcome a new addition to the family.
Parental supply of alcohol is a relatively common practice in Australia, believed by some parents to be an effective means of teaching their children to drink responsibly. New research shows that family and peer factors each play a role in the development of excessive and risky drinking in early adulthood and associated harms. These results and others will be shared at the 46th annual scientific meeting of the Research Society on Alcohol (RSA) in Bellevue, Washington.
Evidence suggests maternal incarceration is a risk factor for adolescents’ depression and withdrawal, as well as substance abuse and delinquency. However, little work has been done to understand how it affects sleep patterns, dietary behaviors and physical activity.
While summer is a time for fun in the sun, we often hear of parents expressing their concern about the “summer slide.” It’s when the loss of learning opportunities during the break lead to regression in reading and math. Some studies suggest up to a month of learning is lost over the summer, but according to Tonya Price, a 4-H youth development extension specialist with Virginia Cooperative Extension, there are many things that can be done to keep children learning and engaged while out of the classroom.
Fathers can make a huge difference in whether an infant is breastfed and placed to sleep safely, according to a recent survey of new fathers via the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS) for Dads. This new tool is modeled on the annual surveillance system that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and public health departments have used for more than 35 years to survey new mothers. By utilizing PRAMS for Dads, this article is the first to describe father-reported rates of infant breastfeeding and sleep practices in a state-representative sample. Findings are published in the journal Pediatrics.
Conflict is unavoidable in all marriages. When it erupts in families with children, stressed or angry parents may take their pain out on the kids, projecting their anger or withdrawing emotionally or physically. In the worst cases, children’s socioemotional development can suffer. But the way parents, especially fathers, deal with marital conflict can make a difference to kids, according to a new study from researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
As we enter the summer months in the Northern Hemisphere and the possibility of extreme heat becomes more common, it’s important to stay up-to-date on the science of heat waves and take measures to protect ourselves from this growing public health threat.
As more families consider bariatric surgery a viable option to treat their child’s obesity, it is important to stay up-to-date on the latest research on weight loss. You can find the latest research on bariatric surgery and other weight loss options in the Weight Loss channel on Newswise, where journalists can find story ideas on this trending topic.
Rutgers-led study calls for public guaranteed child support programs as the rate of single-mother families increases and the instability and precariousness of labor markets continues impacting single mothers’ earnings and nonresident fathers’ ability to pay child support
In a study published today in AERA Open, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Educational Research Association, researchers David M. Houston of George Mason University and Jeffrey R. Henig of Teachers College, Columbia University, found that providing parents with achievement growth data encourages them to consider schools with greater economic and racial diversity, but only up to a point.
More states are banning gender-affirming care for minors. Conversion therapy is still legal in much of the country. New studies show why that’s a deadly combination.
For decades, people struggling with infertility had to add social stigma to problems. A Penn State Health doctor discusses the causes and treatments of infertility and how attitudes have shifted.
Have you ever wanted to convey a feeling but just couldn’t find the right words? Millions of people struggle with a personality trait known as alexithymia, which means “no words for feelings.”
A new intervention developed by a team of researchers and led by Guillermo “Willy” Prado, professor of nursing and health studies at the University of Miami, aims to curb devastating mental health trends and drug use among Hispanic youth who identify as sexual minorities.