Parents’ emotion coaching of children and modeling of effective emotional responses are associated with children’s positive emotional development. However, much of the research in this area has been with European American families. This study examined parents’ self-reports about their emotion regulation patterns and coaching their children about emotions, across three racial and ethnic groups (African American, European American, and Multiracial), to determine how well these parental behaviors predicted their children’s self-reports of depressive and anxiety symptoms 18 to 24 months later (N = 99). For the African American families, a higher level of coaching about anger and sadness by mothers was linked with lower depressive symptoms in their children. A higher level of anger coaching by fathers within the Multiracial group was also associated with lower anxiety and depressive symptoms. This study supports the importance of cultural values, within racial and ethnic groups, in parenting approaches associated with children’s mental health outcomes.

The purpose of this study was to gain an understanding of first-generation Somali families’ experiences of parenting in the United States to discover potential barriers to effective parenting with the goal to design supportive interventions. Using descriptive phenomenological design, 20 Somali families in Seattle, Washington, were interviewed. Interview transcripts were then analyzed using steps outlined by Colaizzi. The overarching theme that emerged was “Parenting: A Balancing Act,” which represents Somali parents trying to balance traditional cultural values and parenting traditions with dominant cultural expectations. Participants expressed fear of losing their children to American lifestyle choices, such as drugs or gangs, and misuse of the American system to turn on their parents. Parents also acknowledged the benefits of access to education and health care for children. To cope with the stressors of their new life, participants sought to preserve traditional cultural and religious values, thus strengthening their Somali community.

Perceived discrimination has been shown to be strongly associated with mental health outcomes, such as depression, anxiety, chronic stress, post traumatic stress disorder, and low self-esteem. This study (N = 88) examined the effects of perceived discrimination and its association with child mental health symptoms. African American children had a significantly stronger association between social stress and a sense of exclusion/rejection than Multiracial or European American children. Nurses need to assess and counsel families of color about their experiences with perceived discriminatory acts.

For the past several years, health care providers specializing in the treatment of neonates have been working steadily to improve the environment for premature and sick neonates in order to optimize outcomes. They have also begun to recognize that involving the family in every aspect of care not only has positive value for the family, but can improve outcomes for neonates as well. This article examines how the staff at one hospital closely utilized and married these two concepts, developmentally supportive care and family-centered care, to design a Level II special care nursery that embraces parents as partners in treatment. Each phase of design development is described, including space programming, schematic design, environmental design, and design development, as well as the successful use of a multidisciplinary team.