Feelings of competency in the parental role, termed parenting self-efficacy, have been associated with well-being and positive parenting outcomes. Given the unique stresses inherent in raising a child with autism, parents may find it challenging to maintain a positive sense of well-being and self-efficacy. Study aims were to investigate associations between maternal self-efficacy and parenting cognitions among mothers of children with autism. Mothers (n = 170) completed questionnaires on paper or via the Internet. In a hierarchical linear regression, depression, parenting stress, agency, and guilt each accounted for unique variance in maternal self-efficacy when controlling for time since diagnosis and the presence of a second child with a disability. Autism knowledge was not associated with parenting self-efficacy. Self-efficacy appears to be associated with well-being, agency, and feelings of guilt among mothers of children with autism. Parent- and family-based interventions designed to support parental well-being and focusing on parenting cognitions may enhance parenting self-efficacy.
The current study investigated how ethnicity and gender affect changes in the self-esteem of early adolescents during the middle school years. Self-report data were collected from more than 4,000 early adolescents from three ethnic groups: European American, African American, and Hispanic and analyzed using a consecutive three-year cross-sectional design to investigate group trajectories. Distinct group trajectories of self-esteem from sixth to eighth grade were found for each ethnic group. African American adolescents had high and stable self-esteem across these years while Hispanic adolescents had low and stable self-esteem. In contrast, self-esteem among European Americans began moderately high in sixth grade but dropped precipitously by eighth grade. Girls had lower self-esteem than boys in the Hispanic and European American groups, but not in the African American group. We conclude that past studies that found a sharp decline in self-esteem during the middle school years may have been conducted in a largely white sample and thus obscure important individual ethnic factors.
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