Background A newborn\'s admission into the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) is one unexpected event capable of causing much stress and anxiety among parents. The current study aims to evaluate and compare parental stress and anxiety levels between mothers and fathers. Methodology This cross-sectional study was conducted in the NICU of a tertiary care center, in Uttarakhand where a total of 306 mothers and fathers were enrolled. Data was compiled using a questionnaire consisting of demographic details of parents and infants\' clinical profiles, Parental Stressor Scale (PSS) NICU, and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) scales were used to evaluate stress and anxiety, respectively. Results Mothers mean stress levels were greater and statistically significant. The most affected subscale in both parents was the change in parental role (M: 4.4/F: 3.3; p < 0.001). Parents with high trait anxiety also had high state anxiety (M: 51.3/F: 45.5; p < 0.001). Mothers were found to have higher trait and state anxiety than fathers. Conclusion Parents of newborns admitted in the NICU experience significant stress and anxiety. Mothers had higher levels of stress and anxiety; similar findings have been recorded previously in Indian and western literature.

OBJECTIVE: Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and/or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) exhibit more executive function (EF) deficits compared to typically developing (TD) peers. EF deficits are linked to various impairments in daily functioning and increased parental stress. The first aim of the present study is to investigate EFs in children with ASD and ADHD compared to their TD peers. The second aim is to explore profiles of executive functions in children with ASD and ADHD and, finally, to determine the differences of EF profiles in relation to parental stress and children\'s functional impairments.
METHODS: The sample comprised 30 TD children, 47 children with ASD, and 34 children with ADHD, aged 8 to 12 years. Parents completed questionnaires of parenting stress, and children\'s social and daily-life functioning. Parents and teachers reported information about children\'s EF.
RESULTS: The results indicated significantly greater impairment of EFs in the clinical groups compared to the TD group. Moreover, three distinct clusters of functioning were identified based on the severity of reported EF difficulties. The significant findings showed that children with more severe EF profiles were associated with greater daily impairment and higher levels of perceived parental stress.
CONCLUSIONS: Given the impact of EF deficits on the lives of children with ASD and ADHD and their families, it is crucial that studies like this enhance our understanding and inspire future interventions aimed at improving executive functions in children with ASD and ADHD. Such interventions could help reduce parental stress and improve daily functioning.

BACKGROUND: Preterm birth and prolonged neonatal hospitalization are potential sources of stress for mothers of preterm and low birth weight infants.
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate maternal stress and its association with neurobehavioral indicators of preterm infants during hospitalization in the neonatal intensive care unit.
METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted in a neonatal intensive care unit of a hospital in Goiânia, Brazil. The study included preterm and low birth weight infants of both genders and their mothers. The Parental Stressor Scale: Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and the Neurobehavioral Assessment of the Preterm Infant were respectively applied to mothers and infants in the neonatal intensive care unit.
RESULTS: The study involved 165 premature infants and their mothers. The mean age of the mothers was 26.3 years and most had a high school education level (57.6%). Mothers perceived the experience of having an infant in the neonatal intensive care unit as moderately stressful (2.96 ± 0.81). The parental role alteration (4.11 ± 1.03) and sights and sounds (2.15 ± 0.90) subscales exhibited the highest and lowest stress levels, respectively. Significant correlations (rho < -0.3; p < 0.05) were found between maternal stress and neurobehavioral indicators of infants. In the multivariate analysis, low leg tone was a predictor of higher maternal stress. Low tone and limited arm movement were predictors of higher maternal stress in the maternal role item.
CONCLUSIONS: The experience of having a preterm infant hospitalized was considered moderately stressful for mothers. Maternal stress levels were significantly correlated with low scores on neonatal neurobehavioral indicators.

Pediatric seizure disorders profoundly impact family dynamics, often escalating stress and impairing coping mechanisms. This study aimed to longitudinally assess the impact of pediatric seizures on family stress and coping, evaluating the efficacy of multidisciplinary follow-up care in enhancing psychological resilience and adaptation. A longitudinal study design was implemented, enrolling children aged 1-18 who presented with a first seizure and received a neurologist\'s diagnosis at the Emergency Clinical Hospital for Children \"Louis Turcanu,\" Timisoara, Romania. Validated questionnaires, including the Parenting Stress Index (PSI), Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10), and Parental Concerns Questionnaire (PCQ), were employed at baseline, 6, and 12 months. Statistical analysis utilized ANOVA and t-tests to evaluate changes in stress and coping outcomes. The study involved 68 families, with significant reductions in stress and anxiety reported over the follow-up period. Initial PSI scores showed high stress levels across various domains: Emotional Stress (59.47) decreased to 50.63 at one year; Parent-Child Communication Difficulties started at 66.03 ± 20.15 and reduced to 56.92 ± 18.74; and Total Family Stress decreased from 65.55 to 55.97. The HADS scores indicated initial anxiety and depression at 8.2 ± 3.1 and 7.1 ± 2.8, respectively, with reductions to 6.8 and 5.9 by the end of the year. The overall HADS score showed a decrease from 15.4 to 12.8. PCQ results mirrored these findings, with Total Score dropping from 9.7 to 7.7. PSS-10 scores declined from 13.5 to 11.3, with a significant reduction in the positive sub-score. The proactive, multidisciplinary care approach significantly reduced stress and enhanced coping mechanisms in families dealing with pediatric seizures. The decreases in stress, anxiety, and depression scores highlight the potential for integrated care models to improve long-term outcomes in these families. These findings support the continued development of targeted interventions to aid in the management of chronic pediatric conditions.

UNASSIGNED: Externalizing behavior problems (EBPs) are common in children, with significant long-term impact on the child and family members. Parents, particularly mothers, of children with EBPs often experience heightened emotional distress. One crucial factor affecting parents\' ability to manage this distress is their level of differentiation-of-self (DOS). Differentiated parents are more likely to engage in practices that meet their child\'s psychological needs, thus supporting the self-determination theory principles vital for a child\'s well-being. This study examined the impact of parental DOS on parenting practices and subsequently on the child\'s EBPs, exploring possible differences between mothers and fathers.
UNASSIGNED: Thirty-two mother-father dyads with children aged 6-14, diagnosed with EBPs participated. Parents completed the Differentiation of Self Inventory-Short Form, the Revised Parents as a Social Context Questionnaire, and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire to assess parental DOS, practices, and child\'s EBPs, respectively. Adjusted parallel mediation models examined the mediating role of parental practices in the relationship between parental DOS and a child\'s EBPs.
UNASSIGNED: While no direct link between parental DOS and child\'s symptoms was found, a complete mediation model indicated need-frustrating practices mediating between parental DOS and a child\'s EBPs, for both mothers and fathers. Additionally, fathers\' need-supportive practices, but not mothers\', were negatively associated with the child\'s symptoms.
UNASSIGNED: These findings highlight the interaction between parental traits, need-frustrating practices, and a child\'s psychopathology. Notably, fathers\' supportive behaviors emerged as potential protective factors against child\'s EBPs, suggesting promising directions for future research and interventions targeting fathers.

Parents who have experienced cumulative childhood interpersonal trauma (CCIT, i.e., an accumulation of different types of abuse) tend to experience higher parental stress following the birth of a child. As CCIT is associated with lower levels of partner support, which is linked to increased parental stress, partner support could explain the link between CCIT and parental stress. Yet, these variables have never been studied using a dyadic approach. This study examined the role of received and provided partner support in the association between CCIT and parental stress. A randomly selected sample of 1119 couples with infants completed online questionnaires assessing CCIT, partner support, and parental stress. An actor-partner interdependence model path analysis showed that both parents\' CCIT were associated with increased paternal stress through fathers\' lower received and provided support, and with increased maternal stress through mothers\' received and provided support. Overall, the findings highlight the significance of examining the interdependence between both parents\' experience and the role of partner support as a key factor explaining the link between CCIT and parental stress, thereby emphasizing its importance as an intervention target.

BACKGROUND: Studies have revealed that Children\'s psychological, behavioral, and emotional problems are easily influenced by the family environment. In recent years, the family structure in China has undergone significant changes, with more families having two or three children.
OBJECTIVE: To explore the relationship between emotional behavior and parental job stress in only preschool and non-only preschool children.
METHODS: Children aged 3-6 in kindergartens in four main urban areas of Shijiazhuang were selected by stratified sampling for a questionnaire and divided into only and non-only child groups. Their emotional behaviors and parental pressure were compared. Only and non-only children were paired in a 1:1 ratio by class and age (difference less than or equal to 6 months), and the matched data were compared. The relationship between children\'s emotional behavior and parents\' job stress before and after matching was analyzed.
RESULTS: Before matching, the mother\'s occupation, children\'s personality characteristics, and children\'s rearing patterns differed between the groups (P < 0.05). After matching 550 pairs, differences in the children\'s parenting styles remained. There were significant differences in children\'s gender and parents\' attitudes toward children between the two groups. The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) scores of children in the only child group and the Parenting Stress Index-Short Form (PSI-SF) scores of parents were significantly lower than those in the non-only child group (P < 0.05). Pearson\'s correlation analysis showed that after matching, there was a positive correlation between children\'s parenting style and parents\' attitudes toward their children (r = 0.096, P < 0.01), and the PSI-SF score was positively correlated with children\'s gender, parents\' attitudes toward their children, and SDQ scores (r = 0.077, 0.193, 0.172, 0.222).
CONCLUSIONS: Preschool children\'s emotional behavior and parental pressure were significantly higher in multi-child families. Parental pressure in differently structured families was associated with many factors, and preschool children\'s emotional behavior was positively correlated with parental pressure.

Increased maternal mental health during the perinatal period has been widely associated with a variety of positive outcomes for both mothers and infants. However, no studies in Peru have yet focused on studying maternal mental health and related psychological variables during this stage. Thus, the aim of this study was to test a model to associate a mother\'s parental stress with infant socioemotional difficulties and maternal mental health. The sample included 988 mothers of infants aged 6 to 18 months from Peru, all from socioeconomically vulnerable settings. The findings showed that infant socioemotional difficulties were associated with poorer maternal mental health through the mother\'s parental stress (χ2(7) = 28.89, p < 0.001, CFI = 0.98, RMSEA = 0.06, SRMR = 0.03). These results provide a better understanding of the key elements associated with maternal mental health during the perinatal period in Peru and offer valuable insights for developing interventions and support strategies for socioeconomically vulnerable mothers and their young children.

BACKGROUND: The pandemic and the associated consequences have been ongoing stressors with severe impacts on the population and particularly on families. Research focusing on groups dealing well with the challenges of the pandemic is scarce. Here, we aimed to identify groups being well-adjusted during the pandemic and associated predictors.
METHODS: A representative sample of the German population (N = 2,515, 51.6% women, 50.09 years), and a subsample of persons with children or adolescents under the age of 18 (N = 453, 60.3% women, 40.08 years) was assessed from July to October 2021. As huge differences in coping with the pandemic are seen, cluster analysis was performed.
RESULTS: Persons in the \"well-adjusted cluster\" were characterized by higher quality of life, better coping with the pandemic and lower burden of the pandemic. The family subsample well-adjusted cluster was characterized by lower pandemic-associated burden, lower parental stress compared to before the pandemic and a better relationship with the child. Fewer mental health symptoms and less pandemic-associated negative impact on career predicted membership of the well-adjusted cluster in both samples. An interaction between mental health symptoms and the negative impact of COVID-19 on the career was found.
CONCLUSIONS: Our results underscore the importance of mental health and work-related factors for coping with the pandemic.

UNASSIGNED: The primary aims of our cross-sectional observational study were: (i) to determine the prevalence of depressive symptoms in children and adolescents with epilepsy compared to controls and (ii) to explore the difference in depressive symptoms in patients with epilepsy only and those with epilepsy and primary headache as a comorbidity. The secondary objective was to explore parental stress levels.
UNASSIGNED: 68 pediatric patients aged 6-18 years (44 with epilepsy only and 24 with epilepsy and headache) and 50 controls were recruited. Depressive profile and parental stress were assessed using Children\'s Depression Inventory, Second Edition (CDI-2) and Parenting Stress Index-Short Form (PSI-SF).
UNASSIGNED: The group with epilepsy showed significantly high depressive symptoms and parental stress compared to controls. The patients with headache in comorbidity experienced more depressive symptoms than those with epilepsy only.
UNASSIGNED: Depressive symptoms are more prevalent in patients who have comorbid epilepsy and primary headache; therefore, the neurological/psychological mechanisms underlying this condition should be further investigated. The simultaneous presence of epilepsy, headache and depressive symptoms impacts the quality of life of patients and their parents, increasing parental stress and family management.