Skeptics Stack Exchange
Skeptics Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [parenting]

The process of promoting and supporting the physical, emotional, social, and intellectual development of a child from infancy to adulthood.

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Does drinking in moderation with parents increase the chances of alcoholism?

In this thread on Parenting Stack Exchange, a comment was made: it turned out that 'drinking with parents in moderation' increased the chances for alcoholism in later life. Is there any basis to this claim?
Tom Bowen
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Is there a negative correlation between parenthood and pet ownership?

That's what a friend of mime recently stated. I.e. if one owns a pet one is less likely to be parent and vice-versa. Are there any data available to support such a claim? I'm sceptical, because there is also the classical family + dog cliché.…
Sebastian
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Are 30% of all putative fathers who take paternity tests not the biological father of their children?

There is a 30% statistical figure quoted in several sites listed below that states almost one in three of the men tested are not the real father of the woman's child. Today 30% of DNA paternity tests, nearly one in three, prove that the man…
pericles316
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Are new parents generally unhappy?

According to this article on Vice giving birth, and raising a child for at least the first few years, makes the parent miserable/unhappy. A horrifying study published last week in the journal Demography suggests that being a new parent makes you…
Celeritas
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Do children raised by mothers who choose to conceive as single parents suffer relative to children of traditional nuclear familes?

As I side effect of my volunteer work, I run into many single mothers by choice (call them SMBC for now). These are single women who choose to conceive with the intent to raise the child as a single mother without a partner's support. I've seen…
dsollen
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Is the month of conception an important factor in a child's success?

This is a claim (or, rather, an hypothesis) made by Scott Adams in a recent blog post, "Parenting that Makes a Difference": My hypothesis is that the month you conceive is the most important factor in a child's success. And no, I don't mean…
Olivier Bruchez
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Can the current trends in 'mommy social culture' be tied to an increase in alcohol abuse?

I've recently come across an article that implies that the popularity of wine in conjunction with parenting is resulting in more mothers developing alcohol problems: “So many women I know started drinking more after they have kids,” said Stefanie…
Beofett
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Is 'elimination communication' a common traditional way to 'toilet-train' babies in non-Western countries?

('toilet-train' in the loosest sense, obviously, I didn't want to write 'avoid getting poo all over the house' in the question title...) I saw this line in an article about "elimination communication", which is basically where a parent of a baby…
user56reinstatemonica8
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Is smoking marijuana while breast feeding dangerous?

This site claims: Mothers that cannot quit smoking marijuana ( who have a marijuana dependency ) can continue to breastfeed as long as they do not expose their babies to the secondhand smoke. I would like to know if it is dangerous for a…
Thomas
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Does forcing a young child to smoke a cigarette discourage longer term use?

I have heard that giving your kid a cigarette when they are very little and forcing them to smoke the whole thing will make them have a bad memory of the event and make them less likely to smoke in the future. I was suspicious. Later, I remember…
Xitcod13
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Benefits and detriments of attachment parenting

Attachment parenting (AP) is often succinctly defined as “Parents focus on forming strong emotional bonds with their children as they grow, using techniques such as co-sleeping, baby wearing and extended nursing”, and there was recently a picture of…
Brian M. Hunt
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Do infants have fussy periods at well-established periods after birth?

This idea was shared with me tonight by the mother of a 6-month old. The Wonder Weeks is a book that describes the mental development of babies. In particular, it claims that mental development occurs in spurts ("leaps") that occur at precise…
Oddthinking
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Does taking paternity leave make you live longer?

I've just come across the following PubMed article (referenced here and here) which claims that taking paternity leave causes one to live longer: It has also been suggested that paternity leave [...] could benefit men's lifetime health. [...] The…
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Is 80% of childs intelligence acquired from mother?

Several articles on internet claim that 80% of child's intelligence is acquired from mother. however not providing any scientific publications. Is it really true? source:…
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Empirical evidence that foster children are better off with relatives than non-relative foster parents?

I'm looking into foster care policy and I'm coming across an empirical problem. There is a broad consensus that finding a relative of a foster child (often referred to as kin) leads to empirically better for outcomes for that child. For…
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