Volume 1 – 5-Month-Old Infants

Number 9 – Parents' Health and Social Adjustment

Parents' lifestyle habits as well as their physical and psychological well-being play a significant role in child development. The first part of this paper describes the prevalence of smoking and alcohol consomption among parents of Quebec infants and provides a profile of their health and mental status. Associations of these characteristics with various sociodemographic characteristics such as family type and age, educational level and income of the parents are then examined.

The second part of this publication presents previously unpublished data on the social adaptation of parents in Québec. Antisocial behaviors dring childhood, adolescence and/or adulthood are examined to estimate the number of parents presenting an antisocial profile. Families with mothers or fathers who themselves had conduct problems are compared to families where parents did not have a history of antisocial symptoms on a number of risk factors in the child's environment known to compromise child development. Results from this study will be useful for intervention strategies aimed at 1) reducing the inter-generational transmission of problem behavior; 2) decreasing the risk of adverse outcomes in children of parents with a history of conduct problems; and 3) promoting healthy parenting behaviors in at-risk adolescents.