Attachment Parenting

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Kids speak out: My favorite thing about my dad is... What is your very favorite thing about your father? These children from around the world speak out about their dads, daddies, and papas.	Kids speak out: I admire my dad because... Happy Father's Day from API! Today, children from around the world speak out to let us know what they admire most about their fathers.
Struggling Moms of Teens Can Benefit from Social Support "Mothers who do not feel in control of their lives and who struggle with their teenage children can benefit significantly from having a social support network.	Connection after breastfeeding My 3-year-old daughter recently found our old nursing pillow in the closet.
My Attachment Parenting support group made all the difference How important is it to find parents to give you support, encouragement, and advice in Attachment Parenting? This mom shares her experience after dealing with her child's public tantrum.	Healthy infant sleep, Part 4: The sticking point for parents If we follow evidence-based normal human development, early independence is a fallacy.
Healthy infant sleep, Part 3: Combining adult structure with infant sleep needs Light bulbs, alarm clocks, factories, and offices are new cultural inventions that require a whole new sleep-industrial complex to maintain. Taking it all into consideration, there is no question of adaptation.	Healthy infant sleep, Part 2: The dependence of healthy infant sleep patterns If we take a holistic view of the sleep question, we have to ask how successful and beneficial it is when we discover the "normal" situation of medicated sleep and the reach of adult sleep difficulties into so many lives.
Healthy infant sleep, Part 1: Are modern sleep patterns healthier? Research has revealed that right up until the advent of electric light, humans normally experienced 2 distinct segments of sleep.	Cuddling therapy, anyone? For babies requiring long-term hospitalization, like preemies and other ill newborns, some hospitals now offer Volunteer Cuddlers to help meet their needs for nurturing touch.

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Journal Studies

New Mothers and Media Use: Associations Between Blogging, Social Networking, and Maternal Well-Being McDaniel, B. T., Coyne, S. M., & Holmes, E. K. (2012). New Mothers and Media Use: Associations Between Blogging, Social Networking, and Maternal Well-Being. Maternal and Child Health Journal, 16(7), 1509-1517. Blogging, but not social networking, fulfilled a means of social support to new mothers, providing feelings of connectedness and well-being.	First-Time Mothers: Social Support, Maternal Parental Self-Efficacy and Postnatal Depression Leahy-Warren, P., McCarthy, G., & Corcoran, P. (2012). First-time mothers: social support, maternal parental self-efficacy and postnatal depression. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 21(3-4), 388-397. Social support was associated with a new mother’s confidence, which was further related to less postpartum depression.
Social Support, Volunteering and Health Around the World: Cross-National Evidence From 139 Countries Kumar, S., Calvo, R., Avendano, M., Sivaramakrishnan, K., & Berkman, L. F. (2012). Social support, volunteering and health around the world: cross-national evidence from 139 countries. Social Science & Medicine, 74(5), 696-706. Personal health was associated with social support, which included relationships with family and friends as well as volunteer opportunities.	Parenting Style Trumps Work Role in Life Satisfaction of Midlife Women Kasimatis, M. D., & Guastello, D. D. (2012). Parenting Style Trumps Work Role in Life Satisfaction of Midlife Women. Journal of Articles in Support of the Null Hypotheses, 9(1), 52-60. Parenting style determined mothers' midlife life satisfaction while mothers' work roles did not, and authoritative parenting styles were directly linked to midlife happiness.
Social Influences on Neuroplasticity: Stress and Interventions to Promote Well-Being Davidson, R. J., & McEwen, B. S. (2012). Social influences on neuroplasticity: stress and interventions to promote well-being. Nature Neuroscience, 15(5), 689-695. More research is needed to explore brain plasticity in response to social influences. What is known is that stress affects humans and animals similarly in changing the activation and physical structure of different parts of the brain. It also appears that positive emotional qualities can be acquired through training of the mind.	Linking Maternal Warmth and Responsiveness to Children's Self-Regulation von Suchodoletz, A., Trommsdorff, G., & Heikamp, T. (2011). Linking Maternal Warmth and Responsiveness to Children's Self-regulation. Social Development, 20(3), 486-503. While maternal warmth was predictive of better behavior regulation in the child overall, maternal responsiveness to child distress was specifically related to the child’s internalization of rules of conduct.
The Relation of Harsh and Permissive Discipline with Child Disruptive Behaviors: Does Child Gender Make a Difference in an At-Risk Sample? Parent, J., Forehand, R., Merchant, M. J., Edwards, M. C., Conners-Burrow, N. A., Long, N., & Jones, D. J. (2011). The Relation of Harsh and Permissive Discipline with Child Disruptive Behaviors: Does Child Gender Make a Difference in an At-Risk Sample?. Journal of Family Violence, 26(7), 527-533. Permissive parenting intensified boys’ behavioral problems, and harsh discipline was related to child behavioral problems regardless of gender, but parent education lessened child behavioral problems, particularly for girls.	Inhibitory Control and Harsh Discipline as Predictors of Externalizing Problems in Young Children: A Comparative Study of US, Chinese, and Japanese Preschoolers Olson, S. L., Tardif, T. Z., Miller, A., Felt, B., Grabell, A. S., Kessler, D., ... & Hirabayashi, H. (2011). Inhibitory Control and Harsh Discipline as Predictors of Externalizing Problems in Young Children: A Comparative Study of US, Chinese, and Japanese Preschoolers. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 39(8), 1163-1175. Harsh discipline contributed to child behavior problems.
Parenting and Late Adolescent Emotional Adjustment: Mediating Effects of Discipline and Gender McKinney, C., Milone, M. C., & Renk, K. (2011). Parenting and late adolescent emotional adjustment: Mediating effects of discipline and gender. Child Psychiatry & Human Development, 42(4), 463-481. Harsh discipline strategies were predictive of poor emotional adjustment in emerging adults, while positive discipline predicted healthy adjustment.	Parenting and Trajectories of Children's Maladaptive Behaviors: A 12-year Prospective Community Study Luyckx, K., Tildesley, E. A., Soenens, B., Andrews, J. A., Hampson, S. E., Peterson, M., & Duriez, B. (2011). Parenting and trajectories of children's maladaptive behaviors: A 12-year prospective community study. Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology, 40(3), 468-478. Authoritative parenting—high on positive parenting and monitoring but low on inconsistent discipline—had the best long-term outcomes of all parenting styles.

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