Council on Contemporary Families: Sources and Story Ideas for the Holidays

CHICAGO, Nov. 21, 2011  /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Holidays are a great time for family fun. But they also pose many challenges for families, from coping with in-laws and former spouses, to fending off awkward questions about partners and children (or the lack of same), to avoiding over-indulgence in food, drinking, and gift-giving. And the lasting effects of the Great Recession pose more stress than usual, as many families face lay-offs, housing problems, or other economic pressures that make it difficult for them to celebrate in the usual ways.

CCF is already getting lots of calls from journalists reporting on how families and individuals are coping. CCF researchers and clinicians have identified topics ranging from negotiating rituals in blended or divorced families, to managing time, dealing with the stress of gift-giving and over-eating, and coping with mismatch of school holiday schedules and parental work requirements. They can offer background for stories on how families handle the absence of loved ones over the holidays, the special issues faced by immigrants and multicultural families with differing holiday traditions, and on handling tensions over holiday plans when adult children have moved back home.

Click this link for CCF experts and details for story ideas covering these topics:

· The Importance of Holiday Rituals

· It Isn't Just about the Kids: Keeping up with Couple Relationships over the Holidays

· Yours, Mine, and Ours: Divorced, Blended, and Stepfamily Relations during the Holidays

· Loss or Absence of Loved Ones During the Holidays

· Resisting Consumerism over the Holidays

· Celebrating the Holidays during Tough Times

· Same-Sex Family Issues during the Holidays

· The Holiday Season and Non-Christian Families

· How to Keep Your Sex Life Alive during Hard Economic Times and Stressful Holiday Planning

· Working Moms and Dual Earner Families during the Holidays

· Keeping Healthy During the Holidays

· Coping with Addiction and Abuse of Alcohol or Other Drug during the Holidays

· Not Home for the Holidays

· The Families We Choose – and How We Make Them Work

· Challenges and Opportunities for Adoptive Families during the Holidays

· Gifting Gaffes

· For Divorced Parents: Making your Children Feel Safe and Cherished without Engaging in a Consumerist Arms Race

· Intergenerational tensions around the holidays, including gift-giving, time, in-laws, food, arguments, sibling rivalry, and intermarriage.

· With Smaller Families and More Singles, What Are the Holidays Like for Singles?

· Aging and the Holidays

· Improving Father-Daughter Relationships during the Holidays

· Negotiating Family Rituals in Interracial and Multiethnic Families

· Negotiating Holiday Rituals in Public Spaces and Institutions

Link: http://contemporaryfamilies.org/children-parenting/ccf-holiday-experts-guide-2011.html

About CCF: The Council on Contemporary Families is a non-profit, non-partisan organization of family researchers, mental health and social practitioners, and clinicians dedicated to providing the press and public with the latest research and best practice findings about American families. It was founded in 1996 and is based at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

To join the CCF Network, or for further media assistance, please contact Stephanie Coontz, Director of Research and Public Education, at [email protected], cell 360-556-9223.

CCF Annual Media Awards Nominations are open now until January 27, 2012. We honor outstanding journalism that contributes to the public understanding of contemporary family issues, in particular the story behind the story: how diverse families are coping with social and economic change; what they need to flourish; and how these needs can best be met. For details and a submission form, visit http://www.contemporaryfamilies.org/media-awards/ccf-media-awards-call-for-submissions-and-entry-form-2011.html.

Mark Your Calendars for CCF's 13th Annual Conference. Our 13th Annual Conference, April 27-28, 2012, focuses on "Crossing Boundaries: Public and Private Roles in Assuring Child Well-Being." The conference is co-sponsored by the University-Based Child and Family Policy Consortium and held at the University of Illinois/Chicago.

CONTACT: Stephanie Coontz, [email protected], +1-360-556-9223

SOURCE Council on Contemporary Families

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