大象传媒

Parenting practices and the parent-child relationship play a crucial role in child development. As attachment theory suggests, a stable and secure parent-child relationship from infancy supports a strong sense of self and fosters positive developmental outcomes for children. Numerous factors influence parenting behaviors, including socioeconomic background, cultural background, childhood maltreatment, mental health and social support. Additionally, child characteristics also shape parenting approaches. Facing challenges in the parental role can be a significant source of stress and affect family dynamics. However, parents who perceive themselves as competent and able to successfully foster and positively influence their child (parenting self-efficacy) are more likely to view challenging situations as manageable and feel confident in their ability to resolve them. This sense of competence can lead to more positive interactions between parent and child.

This PhD project draws on data from two collaboration projects with the Stine Sofie Foundation (SSF) and aims to explore the complex experiences of parents in diverse family situations and child development stages. The SSF is a non-profit Norwegian foundation that works to uncover and protect children from violence and abuse, and to ensure children's legal rights. SSF has developed several intervention programs aimed at preventing and identifying violence and abuse against children and run a center called 鈥淪tine Sofie Senteret鈥� (The Stine Sofie Center, SSC). The SSC is a learning and coping center that offers one-week courses for children and adolescents aged 18 years or younger who have experienced maltreatment, and their caregivers.

The first and third article of this PhD project utilizes data from Evaluating the Parental Package and 鈥�10 Smart Tips鈥�, a project that aims to evaluate SSF鈥檚 intervention program for expecting and new parents. The second article draws on data from the Triple-S project that collects data from children with maltreatment histories and their caregivers. The first paper examines the psychometric properties of the Norwegian version of a tool that measures parenting self-efficacy in parents of infants aged 0-6 months. The second paper will investigate parenting practices and the parent-child relationship between non-offending mothers and their children (aged 5-11 years) who have maltreatment histories. The third and last paper will explore the association between socioeconomic status and the mental health, parental stress and parenting self-efficacy in parents of infants aged 4-6 weeks.