Blog

By Melinda Wenner Moyer, Photo: robbie jack/Corbis/Getty, The Atlantic, January 20, 2022 Last Thursday, a group of 20 mothers in Boston met up outside a local high school. Their goal wasn’t to socialize, drink wine, or even share COVID-related tips. They were there for one reason and one reason only: to stand in a circle—socially distanced, of course—and scream. “I knew that we all needed to come together and support each other in our rage, resistance and disappointment,” Sarah Harmon, the...

By Jason DeParle, Photo: Olga Koric/Alamy, The New York Times, January 24, 2022 A study that provided poor mothers with cash stipends for the first year of their children’s lives appears to have changed the babies’ brain activity in ways associated with stronger cognitive development, a finding with potential implications for safety net policy. The differences were modest — researchers likened them in statistical magnitude to moving to the 75th position in a line of 100 from the 81st — and...

By Vanessa LoBue, PhD, Psychology Today, January 10, 2022 Between the global COVID-19 pandemic, the associated economic downturn, and widespread protests over racism , the last few years have been difficult for everyone. Many people are struggling, consumed with anxiety and stress , and finding themselves unable to sleep or focus. As a developmental psychologist and researcher on anxiety and fear in infants and young children, I have been particularly concerned about the impact of the...

By Alyssa Lukpat, Photo: Alice Rouse, The New York Times, Jan. 23, 2022 The pandemic has been relentless for mothers, many of whom have been stuck in an endless cycle of work and child care. Some Massachusetts mothers gathered to do something about it. In Boston, many mothers were exhausted. The pandemic had been so draining that they wanted to scream. But they had to hold it in because they had children to raise, careers to build and chores to finish. For nearly two years, they have been...

Fathers, children, and their families benefit from healthy coparenting and romantic relationships. Healthy relationships can improve fathers’ mental health and the quality of their involvement with their children, and can support positive health and developmental outcomes for children. In accordance with legislation authorizing Responsible Fatherhood (RF) programming, the Office of Family Assistance (OFA) within the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) requires relationship...

In Canada, 1/6 youth are exposed to a parent's addiction, and stigma prevents many parents from recovery. This stigma has detrimental consequences on the health and well-being of impacted youth. As such, we are excited to introduce Starlings Community Youth Advisory Committee . Vision: It is the vision of the Starlings Community Youth council to represent the voices of youth who have been impacted by the stigma of a parent’s substance use within the provincial and federal supports and...

By Elissa Strauss, Photo: Getty Images, January 14, 2022 The fight for universal paid parental leave has been dominated by women. It's mostly women who birth and feed babies, and therefore it is mostly women who are too often left to choose between healing from birth and adequately caring for their newborn, or a paycheck. It's a choice few would want to make, and yet the vast majority of new moms are put in that position and suffer. As a result, women are more likely to get angry, and then...

By Emily Henderson, Photo: Unsplash, Medical News, January 19, 2021 Researchers know that experiencing a high number of adverse events in childhood correlates with worse health outcomes in adulthood. These studies have led to an emphasis on trauma-informed practice in schools and workplaces in an attempt to mitigate the harm of early adversity. At the other end of the spectrum, focusing on wellness, Darcia Narvaez, emerita professor of psychology at the University of Notre Dame, has helped...

By Jill Suttie, Greater Good Magazine, January 18, 2022 Living through the COVID-19 pandemic has had a severe impact on people’s mental health and well-being. Restricted movement, loss, and isolation have led to increases in depression, anxiety disorders, stress, sleep disorders, and more. The effects have been even harsher for teens. How can we help protect our well-being during this particularly difficult time? Though a public health response is definitely called for, one way we might try...

By Jessica Grose, The New York Times, January 12, 2022 I’ve been talking to parents about pandemic stress for nearly two years , and I haven’t heard the level of despair that I’ve heard over the past week since the spring of 2020. Some of the words parents used to describe their January 2022: “devastating,” “disgusting” and “at a breaking point.” The difference with the Omicron surge is that the upset is more concentrated among parents of children under the age of 5. Most American children 5...

By Pooja Lakshmin, Photo: Csilla Klenyánszki, The New York Times, February 4, 2021 As a psychiatrist specializing in women’s mental health, nearly every mother I have treated during the pandemic fights through decision fatigue, rage and a feeling of powerlessness every day. This isn’t breaking news. Burnout among parents, in particular moms, has been a defining principle of this global disaster. Clinical-level burnout is defined by a triad of symptoms: exhaustion, a sense of futility and...

This website aims to help increase family acceptance of LGBTQ+ youth, community building, and well-being. It includes a national searchable map of community support services that affirm LGBTQ+ young people, along with multilingual and multicultural evidence-based resources to increase family support for LGBTQ+ children and youth. Created by the Institute for Innovation and Implementation, in collaboration with the Family Acceptance Project. Click here to access LGBTQ Youth and Family Resources