Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to P Sidebotham.
Life was sorted. With membership of the college under my belt, and my paediatric training completed, I needed a new challenge. I decided to launch into the deep waters of qualitative research. Stepping out with some trepidation into semistructured interviews and grounded theory, I soon found that the water was neither as deep nor as unknown as I had feared.
OBJECTIVE: To identify and validate factors within the parental background affecting risk of child maltreatment. METHOD: A nested case-control study based on the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children ("Children of the Nineties"), a cohort of children born in Avon in 1991 through 1992. Data on the childhood and psychiatric histories of the parents, along with other data on the social and family environments, have been collected through postal questionnaires from early antenatal booking onwards. RESULTS: Out of 14,138 participating children, 162 have been identified as having been maltreated. Using logistic regression analysis, significant risk factors within the mothers' backgrounds were age < 20; lower educational achievement; history of sexual abuse; child guidance or psychiatry; absence of her father during childhood; and a previous history of psychiatric illness. Significant factors in the fathers' backgrounds were age < 20; lower educational achievement; having been in care during childhood; and a history of psychiatric illness. Significant factors on univariate, but not multivariate analysis included a parental history of childhood physical abuse; divorce or separation of the mother's parents; a maternal history of having been in care, or separated from her mother; parental alcohol or drug abuse; and a maternal history of depression. CONCLUSIONS: This study, the first of its kind in the UK, supports the findings of others that parental age, educational achievement, and a history of psychiatric illness are of prime importance in an understanding of child maltreatment. With the exception of maternal sexual abuse, a history of abuse in childhood is not significant once adjusted for other background factors. The study suggests that psychodynamic models are inadequate to explain child maltreatment, and wider models incorporating other ecological domains are needed.
UNLABELLED: This qualitative research project, based on the principles of grounded theory, has used a series of semi-structured interviews with parents to explore parental understanding of the culture in which today's children are growing up, the influences of that culture on their parenting and the potential impact on their child. METHODS: Sixteen mothers and one father whose children are participating in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children were interviewed. The interviews covered various aspects of parenting and culture. Data from the transcribed interviews were analysed for emerging themes relating to parenting and areas where parenting can go wrong. These themes were developed further through an understanding of the literature on parenting and families. RESULTS: Analysis of the data suggested several key areas in which our culture imposes particular stresses on parents and, as such, does not support families or children. Prominent areas of stress were time pressures, particularly in the work-home arena, expectations of children to be active and achieving, financial pressures and the impact of consumerism on families. CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest that parents, although holding a very positive view of their children, do perceive parenting as being stressful. This is exacerbated by social structures and attitudes that do not value or support children and their families.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.