Topic avoidance and family functioning in families conceived with donor insemination

BACKGROUND: While a move away from non-disclosure and secrecy toward more openness is demonstrated in the changing practices of donor insemination worldwide, scholars and practitioners continue to debate the effects of disclosure versus secrecy. This study examines if an association exists between adult donor offspring's perceptions of their parents' use of topic avoidance to maintain secrecy, and their perceptions of their family's functioning. METHODS: Using a cross-sectional design, a convenience sample of 69 young adult donor offspring completed a demographic questionnaire, a topic avoidance scale relative to each of their rearing parents, and the Beavers Self Report Family Instrument. RESULTS: There was a moderate significant inverse correlation between family functioning and topic avoidance in general, as well as for donor insemination-related topics, for both mothers (r = -0.55, r = -0.40, respectively, P 相似文献   

Children: The European study of assisted reproduction families: family functioning and child development

Findings are presented of a European study (conducted in theUK, Italy, Spain and The Netherlands) of family relationshipsand the social and emotional development of children in familiescreated as a result of the two most widely used reproductivetechnologies, in-vitro fertilization (IVF) and donor insemination(DI), in comparison with control groups of families with a naturallyconceived child and adoptive families. Mothers of children conceivedby assisted reproduction expressed greater warmth towards theirchild, were more emotionally involved with their child, interactedmore with their child and reported less stress associated withparenting than mothers who conceived their child naturally.Similarly, assisted reproduction fathers were found to interactmore with their child and to contribute more to parenting thanfathers with a naturally conceived child. With respect to thechildren themselves, no group differences were found for eitherthe presence of psychological disorder or for children's perceptionsof the quality of family relationships. The findings relatingto the quality of parenting and the socio-emotional developmentof the children were similar in each of the four countries studied.     

Review: parent-child relationships and child development in donor insemination families

The present article reviews the empirical research regarding the parent-child relationships and the development of children in donor insemination (DI) families. Over the years, follow-up studies have appeared sporadically and, despite the varying quality of the research methods, preliminary findings have emerged. Heterosexual DI parents were psychologically well adjusted and had stable marital relationships. DI parents showed a similar or higher quality of parent-child interaction and a greater emotional involvement with their children compared with naturally conceived families. The majority of studies which investigated several aspects of child development found that, overall, DI children were doing well. Findings with regard to emotional/behavioural development, however, were divergent in that some studies identified an increase of such problems while others did not. A steadily growing group within the DI population is lesbian mother families. More recently, follow-up studies have been carried out among DI children who were raised from birth by two mothers. Despite many concerns about the well-being of these children, no adverse effects of this alternative family structure on child development could be identified. As the DI children in all investigations were still young, our knowledge about the long-term effects of DI remains incomplete.     

Lesbian couples requesting donor insemination: an update of the knowledge with regard to lesbian mother families

Although a variety of ways exist of becoming a lesbian mother, an increasing number of lesbian couples have began to visit fertility centres requesting donor insemination (DI). The practice of inseminating lesbian couples remains a controversial issue within the reproductive medicine world. Lesbian mothers offer their children a familial context, which differs on a number of important characteristics from the traditional heterosexual family. In lesbian families, a father has been absent right from the start, and the child is raised by two mothers. The present article reviews whether there is any theoretical and/or empirical evidence for the most common assumptions with regard to lesbian motherhood. It also reports on a number of studies in which the practice of counselling lesbian couples is discussed. Although many important research questions have yet to be addressed, none of the investigations carried out so far could identify an adverse effect of lesbian motherhood on child development. Counselling lesbian couples for DI should aim to provide information about the practical aspects of the treatment. The requests of lesbian couples, however, differ substantially from those of single mothers and heterosexual couples. Counsellors should respect these differences and focus upon the specific living conditions of lesbian families.     

Lesbian families and family functioning: an overview

OBJECTIVES: In the last 30 years a growing body of studies on lesbian parents and the development of children has been published. METHODS: Four computerized databases were identified studies for inclusion in this review of research on lesbian families, namely PsychInfo, Educational Resources Information Centre (ERIC), Medline, and the Social Sciences Citation Index. RESULTS: Forty-four empirical studies on lesbian families published between 1978 and 2003 were reviewed. In the research on lesbian families two phases were identified. To begin with, systematic studies on lesbian families focused on lesbian families with children who were born in a previous heterosexual relationship. More recently, studies included lesbian families whose children were born to the lesbian couple (planned lesbian families). In both phases, articles reporting results on children's development (such as sexual identity, emotional/behavioral development, social relationships and cognitive functioning), and parental functioning (such as mental psychological health and parenting skills). This paper presents and discusses major finding of the reviewed articles. CONCLUSION: Studies in both phases have emphasized that lesbian and heterosexual families are very much alike. However, it is the stigma of lesbianism that makes the family situation of lesbian families different. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: Healthcare workers should be informed about the similarities and differences between lesbian families and heterosexual families, and about the non-traditional family situation of planned lesbian families.     

Parental distress, family functioning, and social support in families with and without a child with neurofibromatosis 1

Objective To compare parental adjustment, social support, andfamily functioning between families of children with neurofibromatosis1 (NF1) and a group of demographically similar comparison families,and to examine the impact of disease severity. Methods Questionnaireswere completed at home by parents of 54 children with NF1 (54mothers and 42 fathers) and 51 comparison children (49 mothersand 32 fathers). Results Few differences between groups wereidentified for parental distress, social support, or familyenvironment. Greater neurological impairment in children withNF1 was associated with greater distress, more family conflict,less positive mealtime interactions, and less social supportfrom the perspectives of mothers. Conclusions Overall, parentsof children with NF1 appear similar to parents of comparisonchildren. Mothers who have children with NF1 characterized bygreater neurological impairment may be at risk for more difficulties.Future work exploring long-term adjustment for these mothersas well as interventions to ameliorate any potential difficultiesmay be appropriate.     

Family issues in child anxiety: attachment, family functioning, parental rearing and beliefs

Family studies have found a large overlap between anxiety disorders in family members. In addition to genetic heritability, a range of family factors may also be involved in the intergenerational transmission of anxiety. Evidence for a relationship between family factors and childhood as well as parental anxiety is reviewed. Four groups of family variables are considered: (I) attachment; (II), aspects of family functioning, such as marital conflict, co-parenting, functioning of the family as a whole, and sibling relationships; (III) parental rearing strategies; and (IV) beliefs that parents hold about their child. The reviewed literature provides evidence for an association between each of these family factors and child anxiety. However, there is little evidence as yet that identified family factors are specific to child anxiety, rather than to child psychopathology in general. Moreover, evidence for a relationship between child anxiety and family factors is predominantly cross-sectional. Therefore, whether the identified family factors cause childhood anxiety still needs to be investigated. Further research that investigates mechanisms mediating the relationship between family factors and child anxiety is also called for. Finally, parental beliefs are identified as important predictors of parental behaviour that have largely not been investigated in relation to child anxiety disorders.     

Planned lesbian families: their desire and motivation to have children

BACKGROUND: There is no information about the desire and motivation for children among planned lesbian families. The overall aim of this research was to examine whether planned lesbian families differ from heterosexual families in desire and motivation to have a child. The reason for studying this is that desire and motivation to have children are characteristics that are supposed to effect parenting and the parent-child relationship. METHODS: A total of 100 lesbian two-mother families were compared with 100 heterosexual families. All data were collected by means of questionnaires. RESULTS: Lesbian parents and heterosexual parents rank their parenthood quite similarly; however, happiness is significantly more important for lesbian mothers than it is for heterosexual parents and identity development is less important for lesbian mothers than it is for heterosexual parents. Furthermore, compared with heterosexual parents, lesbian parents had spent more time thinking about their motives for having children, and their desire to have a child was stronger. CONCLUSIONS: Lesbian parents especially differ from heterosexual parents in that their desire to have a child is much stronger. The study's findings may be helpful for counsellors in their work to inform and assist lesbian couples in their decision to have a child.     

Pathways between profiles of family functioning, child security in the interparental subsystem, and child psychological problems

This study was designed to delineate pathways between systems profiles of family functioning, children's emotional insecurity in the interparental relationship, and their psychological adjustment in a sample of 221 children and their parents. Consistent with family systems theory, cluster analyses conducted with assessments of marital, coparental, and parent-child functioning indicated that families fit into one of four profiles: (a) cohesive families, characterized by warmth, affection, and flexible well-defined boundaries in family relationships; (b) disengaged families, reflected in high levels of adversity and low levels of support across family subsystems; (c) enmeshed families, evidenced by high levels of discord and weak maintenance of relationship boundaries in the family unit; and (d) adequate families, defined by elevated parental psychological control within a larger family context of low discord and high warmth. In comparison to children in cohesive families, children in enmeshed and disengaged families exhibited greater signs of insecurity in the interparental relationship concurrently and internalizing and externalizing symptoms both concurrently and 1 year later. Structural equation models revealed that a latent, multimethod measure of insecurity in the interparental relationship partially mediated associations between family enmeshment and disengagement and children's psychological symptoms 1 year later. Results are discussed in relation to how they inform and refine a family-wide model of the emotional security hypothesis.     

Longitudinal relations between parental drinking problems, family functioning, and child adjustment

Relations between maternal and paternal problem drinking symptoms and destructive marital conflict, parenting problems, and children's internalizing and externalizing problems were investigated. Participants were community families with a child in kindergarten who completed questionnaire measures at baseline (N=235), 1 year later (N=227), and 2 years later (N=215). Structural equation modeling revealed that paternal problem drinking at Time 1 was associated with greater destructive marital conflict 1 year later. In turn, destructive marital conflict was related to decreased parental warmth and increased parental psychological control; these parenting problems were associated with greater child internalizing and externalizing problems at the third time point. Further analyses revealed that the indirect effects of paternal drinking on children's adjustment were significant, and that relations remained even after including autoregressive effects. Findings are discussed in terms of family process models for relations between parental drinking and child adjustment problems.     

Observation of family functioning at mealtime: a comparison between families of children with and without overweight

OBJECTIVE: To examine differences between families of children with and without overweight on parental control and support. METHODS: Twenty-eight families with an overweight child and a control group of 28 families with a normal weight child (age range 7-13 years) participated in the study. Observations and self-reports of mealtime family functioning were administered and analyzed. RESULTS: Parents of children with overweight reported to exert more control on their children's feeding behavior and an equal amount of parental support in comparison with parents of children without overweight. However, observations at mealtime indicated that in families with an overweight child, maladaptive control strategies were twice as prevalent, and less parental support was displayed. CONCLUSIONS: Self-reports and observations provide complementary information on how parents interact with their overweight children. Family-based treatment programs should include discussions on the adequate amount of parental control and support.     

Intrauterine donor insemination in single women and lesbian couples: a comparative study of pregnancy rates

The outcome of intrauterine donor insemination (IUI-DI) with frozen spermatozoa was analysed retrospectively in 675 cycles in single women (n = 122; 536 cycles) and lesbian (n = 35; 139 cycles) couples. The lesbian patients were younger at the initiation of treatment (mean 34.5 years; range 26-44) than the single women (mean 38.5; range 29-47) (P = 0.005). Clinical pregnancy rate was 36% in single women and 57% in lesbians (P < 0.05), the cumulative pregnancy rate after six cycles being 47% and 70% respectively, although the outcome was similar when related to age. The miscarriage rate was higher (35%) in single women than in lesbians (15%; P < 0.05), the rate being independent of maternal age. There were no apparent differences seen between the two groups with respect to the possible effect of parity, duration of infertility, causes of infertility and type of treatment at initiation of treatment; the sole exception was that the age of lesbian women was statistically significantly younger than that of single women (P < 0.005). When corrected for age, the pregnancy rates and complications were lower and higher respectively in single women but these differences did not reach statistical significance. However, the disparity between the treatment outcomes of single women and lesbian patients of similar ages may also reflect the fact that single women are likely to have failed to conceive for a period of time prior to referral to a specialist centre for treatment.     

Hepatitis viruses: mother to child transmission

The infection by the hepatitis viruses, when appearing during the pregnancy, could result in damages for the infant. However, risks differ according to the implicated virus.Hepatitis B virus infection, for which prevalence varies according to areas, is injurious when the mother is chronic HBsAg carrier. Risk consists of neonate's contamination during the labour, and if contaminated, the neonate becomes a chronic carrier himself in 80 to 90% of cases. When the mother is positive for viral DNA in her serum, transmission rate is estimated at 90%. In the opposite, if the mother is negative for viral DNA in the serum, transmission rate is about 10 to 30%. HBsAg screening is obligatory in France during the sixth month of pregnancy: in case of positivity, serovaccination of the neonate is systematically carried out. Protection rate is 100% if the mother had a low viral load (<150 pg/ml) at the end of pregnancy, and weaker (about 70%) if the mother had a higher level of viral DNA.Transmission risk of hepatitis C virus (HCV) is much lesser, since it is about 5% for a woman who is positive for viral RNA at the end of her pregnancy, and at least 10% if the woman is moreover positive for the HIV. Risk is more important if the woman had an important plasmatic viral load (> 10(5) copies/ml) and if the duration between membrane rupture and delivery is long. Vaginal delivery and breast-feeding are not advised. Neonates from mothers who replicate the HCV at the end of pregnancy are serologically evaluated until 12-15 months of age, in order to determine their possible contamination.Delta virus transmission from mother to infant is exceptional and could be avoided by the HBV serovaccination of the new-born.Intra-utero transmission of hepatitis A virus is very rare, but perinatal transmission could occur. Materno-fetal transmission of hepatitis E virus has been reported, but the virus is essentially dangerous for the mother, resulting in a mortality rate of 15 to 25% if the acute infection occurs during the third trimester of the pregnancy.     

The family's functioning with newly diagnosed breast cancer in the mother: The development of an explanatory model

Despite the high rates of breast cancer in the child-rearing mother, there is extremely limited research on the effects of the illness on the children, marriage, and parent-child relationship. The current study tested an explanatory model of family functioning with breast cancer based on data obtained from standardized questionnaires from 80 diagnosed mothers and partners with young school-age children. Path analysis results for data obtained from both the mothers and the partners revealed a similar pattern. More frequently experienced illness demands were associated with higher levels of parental depressed mood which negatively affected the marriage. When the marriage was less well adjusted, it negatively affected the family's coping behavior. Household functioning was positively affected by heightened coping activity and by higher levels of marital adjustment. Children functioned better when the non-ill parent more frequently interacted with them and their families coped more frequently with their problems.This research was supported by a grant from the Center for Nursing Research, National Institutes of Health (R01-NR-01000), and an American Cancer Society Oncology Nursing Professorship awarded to the senior author.     

Ethics and Society: Donor insemination programmes with personal donors: issues of secrecy

This study involved 46 recipients and donors in personal donorprogrammes interviewed anonymously by postal questionnaire andinterview: 38% (30/80) of possible recipients responded. Thetotal number of people told about the donor involvement rangedbetween two and 78, with no significant gender difference. Relationshipshad changed for half of the participants hi the programmes with75% reporting that they had developed a closer relationshipand 25% reporting a deterioration. Contact between couples anddonors was seen as being in the original role of family friendor relative rather than as donor. An equal proportion of recipients(63%) and donors (78%) agreed to the donor being identifiedto any offspring although this was qualified with regard tothe age of the child. Reasons for identification were givenas avoidance of family secrets and the rights of the child tohave information concerning their conception. Those who didnot agree said that the child was better off not knowing, orwho wished to preserve donor anonymity. The donor group wasmore likely than the recipients to say that identification tothe child was in the best interests of the social parents becauseit allowed all those involved to feel part of a single familygroup. It was found that for both recipients and donors, theadvantages given for having a personal donor was openness withinthe relationship. For the recipients, this focused on knowledgeof the donor background and, for related couples, having a commongenetic relationship. For donors, the advantages given were:knowing the child's environment, having access to a child andthe ability to choose recipients. A disadvantage for donorsand recipients was the possibility of a change hi the relationshipand for donors an added disadvantage was having to share inthe emotional stress of the treatment and negative outcomes.More men than women placed importance on having a donor witha similar genetic background.     

Bidirectional genetic and environmental influences on mother and child behavior: the family system as the unit of analyses

Family systems theory proposes that an individual's functioning depends on interactive processes within the self and within the context of dyadic family subsystems. Previous research on these processes has focused largely on behavioral, cognitive, and psychophysiological properties of the individual and the dyad. The goals of this study were to explore genetic and environmental interactions within the family system by examining how the dopamine receptor D2 gene (DRD2) A1+ polymorphism in mothers and children relates to maternal sensitivity, how maternal and child characteristics might mediate those effects, and whether maternal sensitivity moderates the association between DRD2 A1+ and child affective problems. Evidence is found for an evocative effect of child polymorphism on parenting behavior, and for a moderating effect of child polymorphism on the association between maternal sensitivity and later child affective problems. Findings are discussed from a family systems perspective, highlighting the role of the family as a context for gene expression in both mothers and children.     

Hyperactive and aggressive pathways: Effects of demographic,family, and child characteristics on children's adaptive functioning

Examined ethnic and sex differences in depressive symptoms, along with hypothesized mediators of those differences (academic achievement, peer acceptance), for a sample of African American (n = 272) and Euro-American (n = 630) children in Grades 3 to 5. Group comparisons revealed a significant Ethnicity ×Sex interaction in depressive symptoms. African American boys reported more depressive symptoms than Euro-American boys, whereas African American and Euro-American girls reported comparable levels of depressive symptoms. Sex differences in depressive symptoms differed by ethnicity: Boys were more depressed than girls in the African American group whereas girls were more depressed than boys in the Euro-American group. The Ethnicity ×Sex interaction was mediated by academic achievement, but not peer acceptance. These findings have implications for understanding the mechanisms underlying depressive symptoms in preadolescence and for developing interventions to prevent depression.     

Relationship with husband and child,interpersonal attitude,and personal development as mother

The present study examined how relationship with husband and child and interpersonal attitude affected a women's personal development as mother. One hundred forty-two mothers with a 3- to 5-year-old child completed a questionnaire that consisted of three scales: Parent Development Scale (Kashiwagi & Wakamatu, 1994); Husband and Children Attachment Scale (Ohinata, 1988); and Attachment Style Scale (Takuma & Toda, 1988). The last was used to measure the person's basic interpersonal attitude. Results indicated first that the person's close relationship with her child had an influence over various aspects of development as mother. Second, strong attachment to her husband seemed to make the person more active in her life. Third, the interpersonal attitude appeared to be related with the person's flexibility.