Child Rearing in America: Challenges Facing Parents with Young Children

by Edited by Neal Halfon , Kathryn Taaffe McLearn , Mark A. Schuster

• ISBN13: 9780521813204
• ISBN10: 0521813204
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2002-08-26
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

This rich and well-researched volume comes in the wake of intense national interest in young children. Leading scholars from diverse disciplines use relevant data from the Commonwealth Survey of Parents with Young Children to present new information about the lives of families with very young children - how parents spend their time with their children, the economic and social challenges they face, and the supports they receive to improve their children's health and development. Such a broad portrait based on nationally representative date has not been attempted before. Drawing on their extensive expertise and research in the issues being addressed, the authors examine and elaborate on the survey findings. They synthesize the major themes emerging from the data and consider the family, community, and policy implications to frame and interpret the results. What emerges is a picture of the complex forces that influence families and child-rearing in the early years.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction and overview

Part I. Conditions of Families with Young Children Neal Halfon, Mark A. Schuster and Kathryn Taaffe McLearn: 2. Resources devoted to child development by families and society M. Rebecca Kilburn and Barbara L. Wolfe

3. Preparing for parenthood: who's ready, who's not? Constance T. Gager, Sara S. McLanahan and Dana A. Glei

Part II. Child Rearing Practices: 4. Meeting the challenges of new parenthood: responsibilities, advice, and perceptions Allison Sidle Fuligni and Jeanne Brooks-Gunn

6. Child discipline in the first three years of life Lawrence S. Wissow

7. Breastfeeding in the United States today: are families prepared? Wendelin M. Slusser and Linda Lange

8. Depressive symptoms in parents of children under age three: sociodemographic predictors, current correlates, and associated parenting behaviors Karlen Lyons Ruth, Rebecca Wolfe, Amy Lyubchik, Jessica Grogan and Ronald Steingard

Part III. Delivery of Health Services to Mothers and Children: 9. Prenatal care, delivery, and birth outcomes Paul H. Wise

10. Access to health care for young children in the United States Paul W. Newacheck, Miles Hochstein, Kristen S. Marchi and Neal Halfon

11. Anticipatory guidance: what information do parents receive? What information do they want? Mark A. Schuster, Michael Regalado, Naihua Duan and David J. Klein

Part IV. Future Direction and Policy Implications: 12. New models of pediatric care Barry Zuckerman and Steven Parker

13. Families with children under three: what we know and implications for results and policy Neal Halfon and Kathryn Taaffe McLearn.