Parents of children with chronic health conditions demonstrate elevated parenting stress. Literature has focused on how parenting behaviors amplify their child’s pain; less research has examined parents’ emotional needs. Using national data (USA), this study examined parent and child factors that may influence parent stress. Analyses were conducted in a sample of parents of children with/without chronic pain (N = 3080, M child age = 11.7, 55.6
Peer bullying is a significant concern for children’s social and emotional well-being. Parents may play an important role in recognizing and responding to bullying-related situations, yet their reported practices and anticipated responses require careful distinction. This study explored primary school parents’ perceptions of peer bullying, recognition processes, protective practices, intervention strategies, school-family collaboration, perceived difficulties, and prevention suggestions. Using a qualitative phenomenological design, individual semi-structured interviews were conducted with 16 parents of primary school children in Türkiye. The interviews were analyzed thematically, yielding seven themes. Parents primarily described bullying through emotional harm, exclusion, pressure, and reduced self-confidence rather than consistently articulating intentionality, repetition, and power imbalance. Recognition involved children’s disclosures and emotional or behavioral changes, although some parents reported no observed or disclosed bullying. Protective practices emphasized communication, emotional support, self-expression, confidence, empathy, and respect. Responses included listening, reassurance, problem solving, and contacting school personnel, with some accounts reflecting anticipated rather than enacted interventions. School-family communication was predominantly teacher-centered. The findings highlight the importance of distinguishing parents’ actual experiences from intended responses. Parent awareness, supportive communication, and coordinated school-family practices may inform bullying prevention efforts, although the effectiveness of these approaches was not evaluated.
Background Despite the high prevalence of mental disorders, adolescents experience significant delays in accessing treatment. Psychotherapy, as a specific treatment modality, involves unique features that elicit distinct cognitive and emotional barriers, particularly in adolescence. A psychotherapy-specific measure may better capture these barriers and improve the ecological validity of barrier assessments.Objective This study aimed to conceptualize and validate a questionnaire to assess psychotherapy-specific barriers in adolescents.Method Adolescents (14-21 years) with a minimum of one mental disorder diagnosis and psychotherapy experience participated in Study 1 (N = 267, M age = 17.1 years, SD = 2.2) and Study 2 (N = 54, M age = 16.4 years, SD = 0.9). Study 1 used Exploratory Factor Analysis to determine the scale structure. Study 2 examined the measure's reliability and validity.Results Four factors were identified: Fear of Public Stigma, Fear of Psychotherapy Setting, Problem Denial, and Help-Seeking Stigma. Internal consistency (alpha = 0.81-0.88) was good, as was split-half reliability (r tt = 0.95). Convergent and divergent validity were supported. Test-Retest reliability ranged from moderate to excellent (ICC= 0.63-0.85).Conclusions Preliminary evidence supports the reliability and validity of the ABAP as a measure of psychotherapy-specific barriers in adolescents. While promising, further validation is needed to confirm its utility across diverse populations and settings.
Conversations about children’s weight-related health are described as sensitive and challenging from the perspectives of families and health care providers. There is a need for training packages to support these critical conversations that are based on relevant scientific literature and have demonstrated feasibility, appropriateness, and acceptability in clinical practice. This practice improvement project created and tested the feasibility, appropriateness, and acceptability of a training package (training and point-of-care tool) to guide pediatric primary care providers (PPCPs) in weight-related conversations with families. An interdisciplinary team created a point-of-care tool and training informed by the literatures on weight-related conversations, weight stigma, and prevention of obesity and eating disorders. Eleven PPCPs participated in the pilot and interviews about their experience. Participants commented positively on intervention content. Despite support for its appropriateness and acceptability with clinicians, only 4 of 11 participants used the point-of-care tool for patient visits. PPCPs identified helpful elements in the training package, indicated they would reference tools before rather than during clinical encounters, and suggested ways to address barriers to increase tool use. Findings support the acceptability of the package content and training delivery. Embedding guidance in electronic practice tools commonly used in clinical encounter workflows could increase their use.
