Welcome to the Family Science 5, helping you catch up on some of the Family Science research and researchers featured in the media during August 2024.

NCFR member journal subscribers can access full text of journal articles through the NCFR website; you may be prompted to log in.

1. NCFR member Anthony G. James, Jr., Ph.D., wrote for The Conversation about research he co-led looking at whether a positive behavioral approach "emphasizing prevention over punishment" reduced chronic absenteeism in Ohio schools. The research found that "Ohio schools that implemented a positive approach to discipline had lower rates of student absenteeism than those that did not for three out of the four academic years" investigated. The piece was picked up by U.S. News & World Report and other outlets.
2. Member Cynthia L. Smith, Ph.D., was interviewed for a KCBS Radio segment on easing children back into school after summer break. Dr. Smith addressed emotions children may have about unknowns going into a new school year; how worry and anxiety can present itself differently in younger children than it might for adults; things parents can do to prepare their children for school-year routines; and more.
3. Fast Company referenced a 2021 open-access article from NCFR's Journal of Marriage and Family (JMF) about family members' time spent on housework, in its piece about further research on division of the "mental load" of household chores between mothers and fathers. The JMF article, "Mothers', Fathers' and Siblings' Housework Time Within Family Households" was referenced in the media piece to highlight how it may be more commonly known that mothers often spend more time on physical household chores. The JMF article found that "Mothers and daughters spent more time on housework in shared family households than fathers and sons."
4. Newsweek online highlighted an open-access article from the April 2024 issue of NCFR's Family Relations: Interdisciplinary Journal of Applied Family Science examining grandparents' motivations and challenges for outdoor play with their grandchildren. The article, "Motivations and Challenges for Grandparent–Grandchild Outdoor Play in Early Childhood: Perception of Canadian Grandparents," suggests "the importance of outdoor play for grandparents, especially as they develop their relationship with their young grandchildren," strengthening family bonds.
5. An article in The Conversation about fathers' struggles with workplace flexibility referenced a 2020 open-access article from NCFR's Journal of Family Theory & Review (JFTR) about fathering and flexible work arrangements in contemporary Western cultures. Findings from the JFTR article, "Fathering and Flexible Working Arrangements: A Systematic Interdisciplinary Review," suggest that "men's caring responsibilities need to become more visible in the workplace via changes to practice and policy."