For a kid who studiously avoids the camera these days, Maya sure does seek it out when I’m trying to photograph Gavin.

If I play my cards right, I even get some pretty decent shots of her that way. Pity I can’t get the photos that I really want — the insane, wearing half her wardrobe and looking like she should have a shopping cart ones. Double-layered jammies will just have to do.

This stinks. I keep questioning whether it’s the right thing to do, then I realize that yes, it is.

Since I recently completed (okay, read, if not wrote about) the section on social psychology, I’m uber-aware of any tendencies toward self-serving bias. The reasons behind my delaying grad school for a year or so are both within the realm of personal (my fault) and external (circumstantial). The personal issues (major P-ness, perfectionism, etc — to blog about at length later) will still exist whenever I do a program. At least by waiting a bit, I’ll rid myself of some of the external issues (baby clinging at me and refusing to sleep unless held, lack of face-time with real, honest-to-goodness humans), and that will make the personal baggage easier to handle.

Grad school will recommence in a year or so, once Gavin is in some sort of childcare. Until then, I’ll sporadically write and — I hope — keep the critical thinking skills I’ve developed from getting rusty.

More schoolwork. Since it’s finally been graded, I’ll post it. This one was kind of fun to write, but also a bit of a pain in the rear end. I picked the Newsweek article and study just POSITIVE that I’d find Newsweek to be at fault. Instead, I ended up obsessively digging for more information about the lead researcher herself.

I write this, fully admitting that I am a parent, and that my position may be biased. That said, my four-year-old just stormed off to her room and screamed “I’m not going to be your Mommy anymore!” (I know.) My 10-month old has been whining at me as he strains and struggles with trying to break his first teeth and dealing with object permanence and the resulting separation anxiety.

Now that that’s out of the way, let the post begin.

Robin Simon and Ranae Evenson (2005) published research that rocked the popular media: parents are more depressed than the child-free. Newsweek’s “True or False: Having Kids Makes You Happy” (Ali, 2008) takes a humorous, albeit superficial, look at this study, and the pair of articles seemed perfect for this assignment. The problem is, when I read the actual research, the Newsweek article does accurately reflect Simon & Evenson’s study, at least in part. Where the Newsweek article falls short is that it only touches on one finding from an extensive analysis — that parents are, as a whole, slightly more likely to show indicators of depression than non-parents.

The bulk of this project did not actually focus on a comparison of parents and non-parents, but rather on comparisons of depression rates among various types of parents (biological, empty nest, step parents, non-custodial, etc.). That a litany of articles and interviews touched on the one non-central finding strikes me as less of an indicator of the study’s rigor, and more of an indication of one particular researcher’s search for the spotlight. This is especially true considering two pieces of evidence: the sensationalistic (and misleading) press release from the study author’s own office and the contradictory findings in research. The very title of the press release, “Depression May Be Lifelong Parent Trap,” implies a causation finding that the research does not support. Dr. Simon also misinterprets her own published research, speculating on causation where only correlation exists, saying, “Parents have more to worry about than other people do – that’s the bottom line, and that worry does not diminish over time. Parents worry about their kids’ emotional, social, physical and economic well-being. We worry about how they’re getting along in the world” (‘Depression,’ 2006, ¶4). While these comments may or may not hold truth, her research does not address the content that her press release would imply (Simon & Evenson, 2005).

Two pieces of contradictory evidence are also buried within the published study’s notes. Simon and Evenson (2005) pulled and assessed follow-up data from five years after the initial analysis sample, and discovered that those who became parents between the two surveys showed no change in their depression indicator levels. Additionally, comparisons of parents with children under age 6 at home to childless adults of similar demographic/social backgrounds also show no difference in depression levels at all.

Even how the research calculates “depression” seems suspect to me. In describing the study methodology, the authors describe the 12 items *from* the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression (CES-D) Scale included in the data, and cite this instrument’s high construct validity and internal consistency. This is good, in theory. However, in practice, the sample Simon and Evenson used includes only a selection of the instrument, not the entire 20-question instrument. The scoring for the sample is completely different (a scale of 0 to 7 days) than the tested scaling. The questions included in the Simon & Evenson sample also excluded four questions about positive mental health from the CES-D (Radloff, 1977) and did not include other survey questions that also relate to mental health (‘Well-being,’ 1987).

With my history of depression, I was fully open to the idea that I might, as a parent, experience more difficulty than my childless peers. Instead, I found myself mulling over many questions about the research findings and the highly-selective way in which the study authors communicated their findings to the media. Additional research that focuses on the parental experience versus childlessness (and that better removes numerous third variables and issues of directionality) could be enlightening. This study does not convince me.

I chose this article and corresponding peer-reviewed study not knowing that I was going to have a [expletive deleted, rhymes with itty-bitty] evening. From my whining (I am fully aware it sounds like that), you might assume that I would agree with the study authors’ findings. Yet, I do not. Yes, my daughter is being a right pill at the moment. But, this is the same kid who, earlier today as I drove in traffic, informed me that “Move it, people!” was not nice, and that I should instead say, “Move faster, cars, please.” And, as I wrote that, she emerged from time out wearing a dress as a wig and singing about how life is like a dream. These are but two of a million examples of my daughter’s upside, which contributes to my personal happiness as a parent. Sure, there are more issues and more questions. There are also more highs and moments of brilliance.

Now, pardon me please, while I go watch the baby giggle and the princess-in-training give me a dose of happiness. According to Dr. Simon, I need it.

References

Ali, Lorraine (2008). True or false: Having kids makes you happy. Newsweek (July 7-14, 2008). Retrieved January 7, 2009 from http://www.newsweek.com/id/143792

‘Depression may be lifelong parent trap’ (2006). Press release from Florida State University. Retrieved January 8, 2009 from http://www.newswise.com/p/articles/view/517861/

Evenson, R., & Simon, R. (2005). Clarifying the relationship between parenthood and depression. Journal of Health & Social Behavior, 46(4), 341-358. Retrieved January 7, 2009, from Academic Search Premier database.

Radloff, L.S. (1977). The CES-D scale: A self-report depression scale for research in the general population. Applied Psychological Measurement. 1977; 1; 385. Retrieved January 8, 2009 from Sage Journals Online.

‘SE-2 Well-being, role performance, health, social participation, social support’(1987). Questionnaire design for the 1987-88 National Survey of Families and Households. Retrieved January 8, 2009 from ftp://elaine.ssc.wisc.edu/pub/nsfh/nsfh.wp1

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I left home this morning to drop Maya at her school/daycare, and brought along a van load of toys/baby gear to donate to a local organization, the Family Strengths Network. They have a lending library, and I’d much rather give my items locally. (Besides, even if I went to Santa Fe, the Goodwill doesn’t take toys…WTF?) The gal at FSN happily accepted the toys, but suggested that I might want to take the baby gear (jumper, boppy pillow, bouncy seat) to Hope Pregnancy Center. She gave me directions, and I headed down the road. (Los Alamos is a small town. Everything is usually on Trinity, Central, or Diamond. That’s it.)

As I pulled out, it hit me: Hope Pregnancy Center. Uh-oh. I pulled up, and discovered that the center didn’t open for another half-hour, and annoyingly, their literature was in the (locked) office instead of in the building lobby. Ah, but a woman working there, saw me and rushed to the door to greet me anyway. After trying to pick up the basic literature (and saying “no thanks” to the parenting class info), I explained that no, I wasn’t “in trouble” (so she could put her worried and concerned expression away). I simply had some donation items, but I wanted to understand who they were before I decided whether to give. She tried to have me sit to visit, and I explained that I had my baby in my van, so I didn’t have time.

Yup, it’s a crisis pregnancy center. To their credit, there were no gory pictures or overtly-religious items all around. No, they don’t refer for abortions or birth control (BIG red flag to me — I can understand if they don’t refer for abortions, but birth control? Um, what?). And, no, she insisted, they weren’t judgmental toward people at all — if someone did have an abortion, they offered counseling afterward because “statistics show that abortion causes emotional trauma.”

Me: “Actually, no. Statistics don’t show that.”

Her: (Continue insistently, not cluing in that maybe I’m not the right person to give this speech to).

Me: (twice, before she stopped talking) “Um, I really think I need to leave now.”

Guess I need to keep hunting around. I think it’s wonderful that places exist that will help girls/women with unplanned pregnancies. But, if that place is going to work from a basis of misinformation (despite what their web site says), they’re not getting my donation.

Anyone need a jumper, bouncy seat, and a boppy pillow?

Full-text on the intelligence/sperm article? $31.50 for a single article. Harrumph. Walden doesn’t get that particular journal. Since my post on bio/evo psych is due today, I have to work around it. I’ll still mention/reference it, but I’ll also ensure that I’m using other full-text resources so I’m not short, I s’pose.

One of my other options for today’s W-U post was “the rise in rates in autism.” I had a topic knocking around in my head about how the Internet has allowed Aspies to create more social connections (including marriage/procreation), but discovered that it’s too touchy of a topic for me to write about it in a non-personal way. Intelligence, especially considering this fresh-off-the-press article about semen, will win the prize. Speaking of, time to get Maya off to school so I can actually work/write.

Little things like this are what I miss the most about being in an online forum for school. I keep seeing things that strike me as funny, ironic, or otherwise related (even if distantly) to the subject matter.

Damn it, I want an audience.

Fucking preference for extroversion…grumble…