BEHS 343 Applied Final Project Part 3: Parenting Action Plan

BEHS 343 Applied Final Project Part 3: Parenting Action Plan

BEHS 343 Applied Final Project Part 3: Parenting Action Plan

Parenting Case Study

The present case study involves an 18-year old female adolescent who has been experiencing major mood disorder over the past four weeks. She hails from a middle class family background. She lives with her father and a grandmother following the devastating divorce between her father and the mother. The latter is not actively involved in the life of the teenager since she is married into a different family. Her father has no formal education and therefore works in a stressful job. Her sister who is pursuing a degree resides in the college hostels and therefore is not within the reach of the teenage.

Applied Final Project Part 3: Parenting Action Plan

Adolescence is a critical stage where one transitions from childhood to adulthood and can present multiple physiological and psychological changes, particularly behavioral issues that may lead to negative ideation. Adolescents are susceptible to depression due to mood swing disorder that impact their ability to look at issues in their environment objectively. Depression is a mental issue that can lead to contemplating different measures, including suicide ideation and affirmation. A case study presented in the first part of this project and an annotation on relevant study articles conducted reveals the need for a parenting action plan to intervene in the case and offer the affected teenager effective remedies and interventions. The purpose of this paper is to present the parenting action plan for the case. The paper will present the plan by addressing the problem, incorporate parenting and developmental theories, describe the possible sites of impact and an action plan based on research to address the concerns posed by the case.

Statement of the Problem

Adolescents face a myriad of challenges and new realties about life that influence their conduct and behaviors in different ways, especially in their interactions with others in society. These issues lead to mental, physiological and psychological aspects that include behavioral problems and depression. Family dysfunctionality that may lead to divorce and eventual separation of parents has significant effects on behavioral development of adolescents. As illustrated in the case study, the female adolescent from a middle class family background with divorced parents, faces challenging situation because of depression. The parents do not have sufficient time for her; both her married mother and her father who works in a stressful job and lacks formal education. The elder sister is busy with her education and it is important that the female adolescent gets sufficient advice to avoid her current mood swings and the possibility of depression. Therefore, the problem requires interventions and action plan that considers the sites of impacts, especially the school and the home environment to address the mood swings and suicide ideation affecting the 18-year-old female adolescent.  

Scholarly Sources

            Research evidence from different studies shows that adolescents deal with different challenges which require the intervention of their families; especially parents and guardians, to help them navigate the new life aspects. In their study, Peterle et al. (2022) observe that environmental conditions can expose adolescents to a myriad of behavioral issues, especially when they hinder them from effective interactions with their peers and those they value like their parents. The article asserts that adolescents experience different and difficult issues that may lead to loneliness, anxiety and sadness as well as keeping distance from others. As such, it is critical for parents and guardians to understand these issues and offer support for effective navigation of the stage. Again, Gargono et al. (2018) assert that behavioral problems in adolescence can lead to subsequent mental health challenges in their early adulthood. The study found that having positive relationships and interactions enable adolescents to navigate this stage effectively and with minimal difficulties. Insufficient support may lead to negative behaviors and ideas that include drinking and substance abuse, engaging in risky behaviors and sinking into depression among other mental health issues.

Tayebi et al. (2020) intimate that emotional and behavioral problems among teenage and adolescent girls between 9 and 18 years can have significant impact on their future, especially in the menarche age. The article also shows the relationship between adolescents suffering from mental health issues and behavioral health challenges. The findings are emphatic that social situations and the environment; especially family issues can have a profound effect on the behaviors and emotional wellbeing of adolescent girls. Therefore, it is essential to seek interventions to address such negative aspects.

Marcal (2021) asserts that different aspect can lead to emotional and behavioral issues among adolescents. For instance, the study notes that psychological aggression among parents rises an adolescent’s susceptibility to depression and behavioral issues like substance use disorder. Additionally, harsh parenting can also make these individuals susceptible to delinquency and experiencing mood swings as the current case study. Yang et al. (2019) focus on factors that lead to emotional problems among students aged six to sixteen years in Beijing. The findings are categorical that recent events life like separation of parents, negative interactions and relationships, including with parents can lead to mood swings and other aspects of poor adolescent behaviors. Therefore, parenting style plays a core role in helping adolescents navigate the delicate balance of their issues.

Credible Sources

Credible sources addressing the issue presented in the case come from different organizations and research studies dealing with adolescent development. These sources offer more information about the situation and what parents, guardians and even teachers can do to help such cases. The World Health Organization (WHO) (2021) is categorical that adolescents experience mental disorder with one in even seven ten to nineteen year-olds having a mental issue. The group accounts for about 13% of the global burden of mental health issues. According to the WHO, depression, anxiety and behavioral disorder are leading causes of not just illnesses but also disability in adolescents. Therefore, it is essential for parents and other stakeholders to address these issues to avoid poor outcomes in the future.

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In their article, the Child Mind Institute (2023) asserts that mood disorders that include different types of depression, and bipolar disorder emanate from internal and external factors like imbalances in brain chemicals and environmental factors that include unexpected life events such as divorce and subsequent separation of parents. Mood disorders can also run in families; implying the possibility of a genetic component. Further, studies are categorical that children who have relatives and parents with depression have an elevated risk for depressive condition. Family history of bipolar disorder also predisposes a child to mood disorder and bipolar disorder. The implication is that mood swings arise from a cocktail of factors that should be considered by the different stakeholders in child rearing and development.

Studies show that girls experiencing anxiety structure their lives around the need to avoid things that they fear, prefer new activities and social situations. Mood disorders affect friendship and academic success. Depression leads to low energy and poor concentration. These two factors impact the ability of the adolescent to concentrate in their activities, especially learning and their interactions with others. In their study, Vellasco et al. (2020) assert the need for adolescents to seek help due to a rise in mental health support to overcome problems that lead to mood swing. The use of interventions to correct such occurrences is critical as noted in the article by Holly (2020). The article notes the importance of having healthcare providers like nurses conduct an effective assessment of adolescents that may be susceptible to depression and other types of mood disorders. Effective assessment strategies are essential in helping to identify the causes of such disorders and their right therapeutic approaches to address them among adolescents in areas where they occur.

In their study, Filakoyska et al. (2018) note that emotional and behavioral problems among adolescents have negative effects on their overall wellbeing. The study advances that family and school protective factors are important as they help the adolescents to overcome the various issues that they face. The study shares similar aspects with Alvarez-Subiela et al. (2022) who found that family issues have a critical role in suicide behavior among adolescents. Again, Lee et al. (2020) explore the interactions between suicidal ideation and depressive moods of parents and their adolescent’s mental health. The researchers ae categorical that there is a positive correlation among daughters and mothers as well as fathers. However, there is insignificant effect on sons and parents. The implication is that family dysfunctionality has profound effects on the mental and emotional health of adolescent females. Du (2022) also found the link between family factors and adolescent depression; implying the need for parents to generate effective solutions to the issue. Again, Oppenheimer et al. (2018) found the interaction between family factors and depression as well as the resultant aspects like suicide ideation. These sources are categorical that family issues and the overall external environment have significant effects on adolescents’ mood disorders.

Summary of Research

The analysis of the over fifteen sources; both scholarly and credible, shows that mood disorders are a major source of poor relationships and interactions among adolescents. The studies also show that female adolescents are more susceptible to family factors that cause depression and other types of mood disorders. Again, research, as illustrated by the World Health Organization, shows that mental health issues among adolescent account for over 13% of the disease burden in the world. The studies are also categorical that healthcare providers, especially nurses have an effective duty to protect adolescents from harmful mental and emotional health issues. Again, a supportive school and home environments are critical components of attaining better outcomes for adolescents with emotional and mental health challenges like the case study of the 18-year-old female adolescent.

Parenting or Developmental Theories

Parenting and development theories offer are essential in understanding the handling of cases of adolescents with mood disorders as illustrated in the case study. Parenting theories like interpersonal acceptance-rejection model, family systems theory, and psychological inflexibility theory all agree that parenting style affect adolescent’s mental and emotional health. for instance, the interpersonal acceptance-rejection (IPAR) model assess that across cultures and other sociodemographic contexts, the nexus between rejection and acceptance plays a critical role in predicting the psychological and behavioral adjustment of children and even adults. The implication is that parents provide significant attachment bases for children (Peng et al., 2021). Imperatively, parental acceptance or rejection can have extremely crucial effects on the adolescent’s mental health. For instance, parental emotional warmth as a positive parenting style can lead to positive effect on adolescent mental health. However, parental rejection as a negative parenting style, has a negative and persistent effect on adolescent mental health. 

The family systems theory advances that stability, harmony and health of the entire family system have a critical influence on children’s emotional and psychological growth. Under the model, the parent-child relationship is an important subsystem of the family. Therefore, when an adolescent girl loses such a subsystem of their family interactions, they feel rejected and experience emotional turmoil at both school and home. As such, these theories are critical in understanding the negative effects of the current situation as presented in the case study (Havinga et al., 2021). The 18-year-old adolescent girl lacks effective subsystem with both the father and the mother. Again, the family system is not stable since the parents divorced and there is no attachment based for her. Imperatively, the girl feels rejected by both parents as she seems to be a source of inconvenience or intrusion in their lives.

Potential Sites of Impact

The home environment is critical in this case study because it offers support and attachment as described in the theories. Behavioral issues affecting the adolescent requires parental and family interventions. The family system offers acceptance or rejection implying that the girl’s only place for better impact is at home. Parents are gatekeepers to their children’s access to mental health wellness and services (Bernaras et al., 2019). The implication is that the home environment and parenting styles have a critical impact on the success of the developed action plan to help the girl.

Public spaces like schools where adolescents have significant amount of social interactions are also essential in this case. In this case, mood disorders affect a child’s performance in school leading to teachers and educators raising concerns. Therefore, the school environment is a critical component of this plan of action as some of the interventions will require the inclusion of teachers and school management. Positive and negative parenting styles emerge through the performance of a child in school.

Plan of Action

In this case study, an effective plan would be to focus on an effective parenting style between the two parents who are already divorced. This implies that the school counseling department and the child welfare within the community should intervene to have the parents discuss the issues at hand. While it is acknowledged that the two have separated, they should understand that they have a family duty and obligation to raise their children (Colizzi et al., 2020). The initial step is to evaluate the effects of the current status of their daughter. This means that they should know the possible effects of her current condition. Next, is the development of the intervention that involves having a discussion on how they can offer support to the adolescent as sources of attachment.

As argued in the study by Keijser et al. (2020), the effects of parenting styles on children is profound and has significant impact on girls compared to boys. Therefore, they should develop a strategy to enhance her self-esteem for her to feel a sense of belonging. The action plan will incorporate access to resources that the parents and the adolescent need to navigate their current contexts in the best way. As demonstrated by the different studies, parenting styles and emotional as well as psychological and behavioral problems of adolescents are related or impact one another. Therefore, this plan of action should involve SMART goals among the stakeholders and be led by a psychiatric mental health nurse serving at the school to help the adolescent deal with the problem.

Conclusion

Behavioral and emotional issues affect adolescents as they navigate their transitional period between childhood and adulthood. The stage makes them susceptible to different challenges that require guidance and strong parental presence. However, the case study demonstrates that lack of the attachment and parental involvement and engagement can have devastating effects, including experiencing mood disorders like depression. As such, through the proposed plan, the adolescent and her parents can address the issue and help the girl overcome mood disorder.

BEHS 343 Applied Final Project Part 3: Parenting Action Plan References

Alvarez-Subiela, X., Castellano-Tejedor, C., Villar-Cabeza, F., Vila-Grifoll, M., & Palao-Vidal,

D. (2022). Family factors related to suicidal behavior in adolescents. International journal of environmental research and public health, 19(16), 9892. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19169892

Bernaras, E., Jaureguizar, J., & Garaigordobil, M. (2019). Child and adolescent depression: A

review of theories, evaluation instruments, prevention programs, and treatments. Frontiers in psychology, 10, 543. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00543

Child Mind Institute (2023). Mood Disorders and Teenage Girls.

https://childmind.org/article/mood-disorders-and-teenage-girls/

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subsequent mental health in early adulthood: results from the World Trade Center Health Registry Cohort. Pediatric research, 84(2), 205-209. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41390-018-0050-8

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You’ve crafted your case study. You’ve done your research on the topic. Now it’s time to identify some solutions in the form of a Parenting Action Plan.

Your Parenting Action Plan should be about 2000-3000 word in length and follow APA style (7th edition). Be sure to use in-text citations and include a reference list.

Copy and paste your case study at the beginning of your document to provide the context for your research essay. (This will not count towards your word total.)

Your essay should be written in your own words and you should always cite any ideas that come from another source. Do not use quotations or copy verbatim from another author.

Your action plan can build on your existing research essay, but the action plan itself will include a few additional components (denoted with an * below). The research you have done should be carefully woven into your action plan. In other words, don’t just copy and paste your research essay and tack on more words. Use the research to justify the actions you are proposing.

Statement of the problem: A statement of the key issues that must be explored in order to resolve your case study.(This can be the same as the statement in your research essay)

Incorporation of at least 10 credible sources from within the past 10 years that can be used to support a parenting action plan. At least 5 of these sources must be scholarly social science research articles, and at least 3 of the sources must have been published within the last 2 years.

*Incorporation of parenting or developmental theories to provide a framework for the proposed action plan.

*Description of potential sites of impact (Step 6 of the Planning Table).

*Identify an action plan grounded in research that may address concerns posed by the case study (Step 7 of the Planning Table).

Correct use of in-text citations and corresponding reference list (APA 7th edition).

Use of APA 7th edition format (1” margins, standard font, double spacing, page numbers, etc.).

Demonstration of strong writing skills.

Submit your essay to the assignments folder and run the paper through Turnitin.com (You can do this from within the assignments folder. No need to use a separate account). If you submit your work before the deadline, you can use the Turnitin report to evaluate whether your paper requires additional editing.