Parenting Archives - National Wraparound Initiative (NWI)
How a Child’s Mental Health Impacts Caregiver Employment
December 11, 2022 | NWI
This new report seeks to understand the ways children’s mental health may be contributing to parents’ job changes. The reality is children’s mental health and well-being continue to impact parents’ work and influence their job decisions, underscoring the realities employers across the nation face as they balance employee well-being and corporate success. Disruptions due to children’s mental health can reportedly lead to the inability to handle job stress, focus on work goals, take pleasure in work, and more. Among the key findings from the report: One-third of working parents report changing or quitting their jobs in the past two years because of their child’s mental health.
Parental Trauma Leaves Biological Traces in Children
September 23, 2022 | NWI
Parental adverse experiences may influence the next generation through multiple pathways. The most apparent route runs through parental behavior, but influences during gestation and even changes in eggs and sperm may also play a role. And all these channels seem to involve epigenetics: alterations in the way that genes function. This article from Scientific American reviews research and implications.
Challenges for Families of Special-Needs Children Adopted from Overseas
August 7, 2022 | NWI
For years, evangelical Christians were enthusiastic supporters of adoption by sponsoring conferences, targeting adoption-friendly Sundays and staging adoption fairs in parish halls. Thousands of overseas children got new homes. Leading the way were evangelical luminaries such as recording artist Steven Curtis Chapman (three daughters from China) and then-Southern Baptist leader Russell Moore (two sons from Russia). Enthusiastic parents took up the challenge, traveling overseas for one or more children, even adopting special needs kids whose home countries were not interested in their care. More than a decade after this movement peaked, many families who went overseas are in crisis mode.
Lack of Sleep Contributes to Mental Health Difficulties
June 13, 2022 | NWI
Teen mental health is a major concern for today’s parents. More than 1 in 3 high-schoolers say they’ve felt persistent sadness or hopelessness, and roughly 1 in 5 reports having seriously considered suicide. Many are searching for answers. But one major culprit identified in in this Washington Post opinion piece could be the significant sleep deprivation of this generation of teens.
Parenting an Introverted Child
May 13, 2022 | NWI
Experts explain how to identify introversion in children, and offer parenting tips for raising an introverted child.
New Resources to Teach Children Coping Skills
April 4, 2022 | NWI
The Child Mind Institute has released a series of free, evidence-based video and print resources that caregivers and educators can use to teach their kids critical mental health and coping skills.
Parents Billed for Costs of Foster Care
January 21, 2022 | NWI
A recent investigation found that it’s common in every state for parents to get a bill for the cost of foster care. Those bills can bury parents in debt and make it harder to create the stable home they need to get their children back – and to keep them from being taken again.
What is Sensory Processing Disorder?
January 21, 2022 | NWI
Children who are deemed “sensitive” or “picky” might be struggling with a treatable condition.
Sibling Bullying Linked to Poor Mental Health Years Later
October 17, 2021 | NWI
New research finds that children who consistently bully a sibling at a young age can push their brother or sister towards a greater risk of mental health and overall well-being issues later on in adolescence.
Parenting in Racially and Culturally Diverse Adoptive Families
July 10, 2021 | NWI
This factsheet for families provides information to help families support their child in developing a healthy racial and cultural identity and live a vibrant multicultural life. It discusses the importance of examining thoughts and biases and preparing a child to live in a society where race has a major impact on individual lives.