Wiley: Family Process: Table of Contents

Black Grief, Black Healing: Exploring African American Parents Grief With Cultural Implications for Treatment

Nyla Rogers, Shareefah Al'Uqdah, Denzell Brown, Briayanna Johnson — Fri, 17 Apr 2026 01:58:29 -0700

ABSTRACT

African American parents experience child loss at disproportionately high rates, yet family systems and grief literature have largely overlooked this population's grief experience. This paper examines how therapists can provide culturally responsive care to African American parents navigating the death of a child. Drawing on existing literature, this paper expounds on the historical trends within the African American family system while delineating unique African American grief practices. Practical and culturally relevant clinical practices such as facilitating robust social support networks, creating structured opportunities for public and communal mourning, and therapeutically addressing the intensity of grief-related emotional responses are provided. Family therapists are called to expand their grief frameworks and family interventions beyond individualized, Western-centric models to encompass the collective, justice-oriented dimensions of loss that shape the lived experiences of African American families.

Impact of Father Involvement and Positive Parenting on Child Mental Health: Insights From a Survey of Ugandan Households

Wed, 15 Apr 2026 04:46:12 -0700

ABSTRACT

The influence of father positive parenting and involvement on children's mental health outcomes is underexplored in many sub-Saharan African countries, such as Uganda, despite research showing that fathers play a critical role in shaping their children's mental and emotional health outcomes. Most research on father involvement in parenting has been conducted in high-income countries in Western countries, and most research from Africa relies on mothers' reports. This study surveyed 236 Ugandan fathers raising children aged 6–17 years on their parenting and their children's mental health issues. Using the Mplus software, we conducted path analysis to predict child mental health symptoms (attention, internalizing, and externalizing) with father involvement and father positive parenting as independent variables while also controlling for the covariates. Results indicated that father involvement was negatively associated with attention problems (β = −0.28, p < 0.001), internalizing problems (β = −0.11, p = 0.02), and externalizing problems (β = −0.50, p < 0.001). Conversely, father's positive parenting had a small but statistically significant association with only internalizing problems (β = −0.11, p = 0.03). Further, we conducted exploratory analyses to examine whether marital status influenced these associations. We found that father involvement was negatively associated with externalizing and attention symptoms among married and unmarried fathers. Conversely, positive parenting was not significantly associated with internalizing, externalizing, or attention symptoms in either group. These findings suggest that greater father involvement may reduce behavioral and emotional issues in Ugandan children and thus emphasize the need to involve more fathers in parenting interventions.

Actor–Partner Interdependence Between Parenting Perfectionism and Parental Stress Among Chinese Parents Over Time

Janet T. Y. Leung, Ann W. S. Hung, Xiangying Ding, Vincent W. T. Chua — Tue, 14 Apr 2026 18:48:16 -0700

ABSTRACT

In contemporary society, parents have become obsessive on achieving “perfection” in preparing their children to succeed in the competitive environment. However, the personal and inter-spousal relationships between parenting perfectionism and parental stress among Chinese couples over time have been largely overlooked in the academic literature. Additionally, the moderating effect of marital satisfaction on these relationships remains unclear. Based on a sample of 642 Chinese couples with adolescent children in Grades 7 and 8 at Time 1, Actor–Partner Interdependent Modeling (APIM) analyses were conducted to assess the patterns of father–mother interdependence in the associations of parenting perfectionism (adaptive and maladaptive) with parental stress over time, as well as the moderating role of marital satisfaction in the relationships. The findings indicated that mother-reported maladaptive parenting perfectionism was positively associated with both paternal and maternal stress over time. An actor-only pattern was identified in the association of maladaptive parenting perfectionism with maternal stress, whereas a partner-only pattern was observed in the relationship between maladaptive parenting perfectionism and paternal stress. Moreover, father-perceived marital satisfaction strengthened these associations. These results offer valuable insights for family scholars and practitioners, underscoring the importance of examining the effects of parenting perfectionism on parental well-being. This understanding is crucial for exploring the dynamics of parenthood in the modern era.

Enacting Cultural Humility With Latinx Parents of LGBTQ+ Youth: A Case Example

Néstor Borrero‐Bracero, Silvia B. Espinal — Tue, 07 Apr 2026 19:20:59 -0700

ABSTRACT

This manuscript details how a team of therapists enacted cultural humility in family therapy with Latinx immigrant parents of an LGBTQ+ adolescent living in the New York City metropolitan region. Initially, the parents' traditional, religious, and culturally embedded beliefs constrained their acceptance of their transgender and bisexual child. While research on Latinx LGBTQ+ families is expanding, there are few examples of real-time, process-oriented family therapy that address gender and sexuality, particularly when therapists share marginalized identities with clients. Grounded in liberation psychotherapy, intersectionality, and queer theory, the therapy emphasized safety, relational connection, and healing, while honoring cultural values such as familismo and respeto. Through self-reflection, engagement, and the use of Location of Self (LOS), the team fostered emotional awareness and authenticity, helping break the silence around sexual and gender identity and supporting the parents' shift from fear and silence to greater emotional openness and acceptance. We illustrate how enacting cultural humility can promote meaningful change for Latinx families with LGBTQ+ youth and offer recommendations for therapy, supervision, and training.

Unfinished Journeys: An IPA Study of the Lived Experiences of Adult Satellite Babies

Sun, 05 Apr 2026 18:44:17 -0700

ABSTRACT

Transnational families are becoming more common, although the long-term impact of early childhood separations from biological parents remains unclear. “Satellite babies” (SBs) are Chinese infants born in North America, sent to China for caregiving, and then reunited with their parents. This interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) examined the lived experiences of 10 adult SBs to address gaps in attachment theory (AT) and inform culturally sensitive therapeutic practice. IPA's iterative, in-depth approach to thematic data analysis revealed four group experiential themes (GETs): ambiguous loss, fear in relationships then and now, “how I got through it,” and change is possible. Results support key tenets from AT and ambiguous loss theory (ALT), including sensitive periods of attachment, adult attachment dimensions, and the “psychological family.” Results support negative developmental outcomes while highlighting protective factors like social support. Recommendations for practice include a call for MFTs to include ALT in culturally sensitive assessment and treatment of Chinese SB families.

Issue Information

Thu, 26 Mar 2026 17:05:30 -0700

Family Process, Volume 65, Issue 2, June 2026.

Parenting Stress and Couple Relationship Quality Among Transgender and Nonbinary Parents: The Roles of Discrepancy in Division of Childcare Labor and Gender Identity

Shixin Fang, Samantha L. Tornello, Emma Spadaro — Thu, 26 Mar 2026 17:03:11 -0700

ABSTRACT

A substantial population of transgender and nonbinary (TNB) individuals is becoming parents. However, research on how TNB parents navigate parenthood, family dynamics, and couple functioning remains limited. This study investigated the association between parenting stress and relationship quality and tested the mediating role of discrepancy in the division of childcare labor (i.e., satisfaction with the current allocation of childrearing tasks) and the moderating role of gender identity (i.e., transgender man and woman vs. nonbinary) in an international sample of 228 TNB parents primarily from the United States. Results of structural equation modeling identified a conditional indirect pathway: Higher levels of parenting stress were negatively associated with lower couple relationship quality through greater discrepancy in the division of childcare labor only among nonbinary parents rather than transgender man and woman parents. The findings of this study shed light on the understudied intricacies of TNB parents' intersectional experiences of their gender identity, intimate relationships, and parenthood. The practical significance of this study lies in its potential to inform targeted intervention programs that ultimately enhance couple relationship well-being through the development of a more desirable division of childcare labor considering the nuanced experiences of TNB parents.