Moral emotions in early childhood: Validation of the Chinese moral emotion questionnaire

Moral emotions such as pride, guilt and shame play an important role in the social-emotional development of preschool children. However, there are not many instruments available for measuring moral emotions in the preschool age. Moreover, relatively few research had examined cross-cultural validity of measures for moral emotions. The present study tested the Chinese version of the Moral emotion questionnaire (MEQ) upon a group of (N = 182) Chinese preschool children aged from 2 to 6 years. The Chinese MEQ is a parent-report translated from Dutch, assessing behavioural responses of pride, guilt and shame in preschool children. Confirmatory factor analysis showed satisfactory goodness-of-fit indexes for a three-factor structure (Pride, Guilt, Shame) with 15 loading items. For concurrent relations, the results suggested an adaptive role of pride and guilt and a maladaptive role of shame in the social-emotional development of preschool children. We could conclude that the 15-item Chinese MEQ is a valid and reliable instrument for measuring pride, guilt, and shame in 2–6-year-old children in the Chinese context.     

Research Review: Risk and resilience in cases of emotional abuse

This paper examines risk and resilience in relation to emotional abuse. Research has identified numerous child and family factors that may increase the risk of emotional abuse occurring and has also identified numerous ways in which an experience of emotional abuse can enhance vulnerability to negative outcomes. However, relatively little is known about the factors that determine the extent to which an experience of emotional abuse predicts later psychosocial functioning. Factors that may determine risk and resilience in children who experience emotional abuse are discussed. These include predisposing factors such as early caregiving experiences; precipitating factors such as the frequency, intensity and duration of the abuse; factors intrinsic to the child such as working models of the self and others, internal or external attributions, behavioural and coping strategies, self‐esteem, and disposition; and external factors such as school and availability of supportive relationships. The need to pay attention to the particular vulnerabilities and protective factors pertaining to each emotionally abused child in order to most effectively enhance resilience is highlighted.     

Psychosocial Interventions for Maltreated and Violence-Exposed Children

Child sexual, physical, and emotional abuse as well as child neglect and domestic violence, community violence, and Childhood Traumatic Grief may result in significant and long-lasting emotional and behavioral difficulties. This article reviews randomized controlled studies that have assessed child mental health outcomes for maltreated and violence-exposed children. Key points of this review include the following: (1) maltreated and violence-exposed children typically experience more than one of these types of traumas; (2) effective psychosocial treatments are available to address Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), depression, anxiety, and behavioral problems in these children; (3) it is likely that treatments which effectively reduce mental health symptoms in children exposed to one type of child maltreatment or violence exposure will also be effective for other or multiple types; and (4) mental health outcomes are not the only important outcomes to address in future treatment or intervention efforts. These future directions for treatment intervention research are addressed.     

Associations between family structure and social-emotional development among school-aged children in mainland China

ABSTRACT

This study examines the associations between family structure and social-emotional development among school-aged children in mainland China. Data were drawn from a survey administered in Tianjin, China, which included 431 single-parent and 544 two-parent samples. Overall, children from two-parent families scored significantly higher on measures of social-emotional development. However, these associated were attenuated when controlling for protective factors. The protective factors buffered the majority of effects in a mediation analysis. These findings provide direction for developing targeted social work policies and interventions.     

Intimate partner violence and preschool self-regulation: Examining the role of maternal emotion socialization in Black families

The ways that parents respond to children's negative emotions shape the development of self-regulation across early childhood. The objective of this study was to examine child self-regulation in the context of intimate partner violence (IPV) exposure in a sample of Black, economically marginalized mothers and their young children (aged 3–5 years, N = 99). The study investigates the conditional effects of emotion socialization practices that (1) encourage expression of and problem-solving around negative affect (“supportive”), and (2) encourage suppression of affective displays (“suppressive”) on children's self-regulation. We found a significant association between higher child self-regulation and supportive parental reactions in the context of psychological IPV. We also found a significant association between higher child self-regulation and suppressive parental reactions in the context of psychological IPV. Our findings are consistent with prior research suggesting Black parents who teach varied strategies for emotional expression may promote children's adaptation in high-stress family environments. Macrosystem factors such as systemic racism and discrimination as well as the threat of family violence may shape how parents approach emotion socialization and the teaching of affective self-expression and self-regulation.     

Between the maternal and the professional: the impact of being a child welfare officer on motherhood

Child welfare officers experience stress from exposure to child neglect and abuse and the burden of responsibility for children's well‐being. This qualitative study addresses the question: How do social workers who are child welfare officers perceive and cope with the influence of their professional occupation on their relationships with their own children? The research is based on in‐depth interviews with a purposive sample of 10 child welfare workers who are mothers (of 2–4 children aged 2–23 years). The data analysis illustrates how the professional identity and the maternal identity of the child welfare officer fluctuate between two positions. The first is ‘anxious motherhood’ in which anxiety is the prism through which the welfare officer views the world as dangerous for her children, stimulating protective, control‐enhancing actions. The second position is reflective motherhood in which the welfare worker struggles with her own stresses and conflicts as a mother and searches for an experience of meaningful, positive motherhood. The findings reinforce the need to raise the consciousness of child welfare officers regarding the impact of encountering distress and trauma on their own well‐being as parents. In this way, they can prevent secondary traumatization and enhance professional and maternal growth.     

Parent–Child Emotional Communication and Children's Coping in Middle Childhood

Parent–child communication regarding children's negative emotions and coping were examined in a sample of 75 5th graders (53% boys) and their mothers and fathers. We predicted that emotionally open communication between a parent and his or her child would be related to children's use of constructive coping strategies. Parents reported on how they react to their child's negative emotions, and children reported on how much they share their negative feelings with each parent. Additionally, emotional communication was measured during a parent–child discussion task involving an event that was upsetting to the child. The results indicated that emotional communication, as reported by mothers, fathers, and children, as well as mother–child observed communication, were related to children's coping strategies. The findings point to a need to assess emotional communication using multiple measures that tap both the child's and the parents’ perspectives and that use different methodologies.     

The importance of clinician courtroom testimony for children exposed to domestic violence

Children exposed to domestic violence account for as many as a third of all children in the United States. Many of these children will seek mental health treatment for symptoms of trauma. The clinicians who provide their treatment are often called as witnesses in family law proceedings, especially child protection and custody cases. Clinicians are often anxious when they receive subpoenas to testify and prefer to avoid testimony. Training about court proceedings, subpoenas and how to prepare for testimony would be beneficial for clinicians and will help clinicians be more confident in the courtroom. Additionally, becoming designated as expert witnesses can only help mental health clinicians provide a greater understanding of the issues encountered by children experiencing domestic violence, and these clinicians can provide recommendations that will take into account child safety without exacerbating trauma symptoms.     

Are dual and single exposures differently associated with clinical levels of trauma symptoms? Examining physical abuse and witnessing intimate partner violence among young children

A significant portion of children living in the United States have experienced trauma. Informed by the developmental traumatology model, we explored the effects of physical abuse and witnessing intimate partner violence (IPV) on childhood trauma symptoms. This study utilizes a convenience sample of 580 high‐risk children between 3 and 12 years who received services from one‐child advocacy centre during a 12‐month period. We performed a series of binary logistic regression analyses to examine if physical abuse, exposure to IPV, and dual exposure (i.e., both physical abuse and IPV) are distinctly associated with six trauma symptoms, including anxiety, depression, posttraumatic stress (PTS), dissociation, anger, and sexual concerns. The results indicated that dual exposure was predictive of all trauma symptoms, except for dissociation. Additionally, physical abuse was associated with PTS, anger, and sexual concerns, whereas exposure to IPV was associated with depression, PTS, and sexual concerns. Research and implications for practitioners working with young children are discussed.     

Psychologists’ contribution to the prevention of youth violence

Psychologists began their scientific study of violence and aggression during the first half of last century. Since then, much psychological knowledge has been assembled regarding the causes of violence as well as its prevention. This paper will provide an overview of the contribution of psychology to our present understanding of the causes of youth violence as well the contribution of this discipline to the development of effective prevention strategies. The first section will briefly review current epidemiological data regarding youth violence in the U.S. and the consequences of such violence for the individual and society. The second section will address the major psychological theories of youth violence, as well as provide an overview of the various individual and contextual factors that may influence the expression of violence. A third segment of the article will review some promising and effective preventive interventions emanating from the psychological research literature. In addition, we will provide a brief overview of our own applied research and discuss how these studies contribute to the gradually increasing armamentarium of effective solutions to this hugely significant societal problem.     

Broadening constructions of family violence: mothers' perspectives of aggression from their children

This qualitative study used feminist insights to explore experiential aspects of the phenomenon of child‐to‐mother violence from the perspectives of six women survivors. Participants took part in conversational style audiotaped interviews lasting between two and four hours. Feminist analysis revealed that fear and violence had become a feature of mothering for these women. Three themes were identified: It was only a matter of time: feeling intimidated and under threat; He just punched me: physical violence from child to mother; and Other men in the house: violence directed to the mothers by friends and associates of their children. Currently the literature overwhelmingly constructs family violence as elder abuse, spousal/partner violence, or child abuse, and generally fails to acknowledge, or address, violence from children to parents. However, findings from this study suggest that the discourse about family violence needs to be broadened to include child‐to‐mother violence. Implications of this study for practice and research are discussed.     

Predicting chronic neglect: Understanding risk and protective factors for CPS‐involved families

Child neglect continues to receive less attention in research literature compared to other forms of maltreatment, despite accumulating evidence of serious negative impacts on child well‐being. Chronic neglect is also poorly understood. Although such cases comprise a relatively small percentage of workers' caseloads, they represent accumulation of harm that impacts the cognitive and social development of children. These cases can also disproportionately utilize protective service resources. This study contributes to the literature by examining risk and protective factors of chronic neglect. We utilized administrative data (N = 2,074) from a midsize city in the Northeast to examine the use of existing risk assessment tools to distinguish families with and without chronic neglect, including an analysis of the predictive capacity of risk and protective factors. We found that families with chronic neglect were younger, had more children, were more likely to have children under age one, and had higher rates of domestic violence, mental health problems, and cognitive impairment. None of the assessed protective factors differed significantly. The overall predictive value of the assessment was low. Implications include the need to expand risk assessment tools to incorporate patterns over time and identify early indicators specific to chronic neglect.     

Positive affect regulation in youth: Taking stock and moving forward

This article summarizes the four articles in the Social Development quartet focused on positive affect regulation in youth. Each article in the quartet shows that parents’ socialization of youth positive affect (e.g., encouraging, enhancing, savoring, or dampening responses) is associated with youth positive affect regulation and depressive symptoms. Further, three of the studies provide novel evidence for an indirect relationship whereby parental socialization predicts youth depressive symptoms through youth positive affect regulation. The studies include samples of youth across mid‐childhood and adolescence (7–18‐year‐olds) from three countries (the United States, Belgium, and India), and utilize several methods of assessing youth positive affect regulation or parental socialization (parent‐reported surveys, youth‐reported surveys, coded parent–child discussions). This integrative article also identifies several ways in which the study of youth positive affect regulation can be advanced. We address the conceptualization of positive affect regulation and the socialization of children's positive affect, constraints on the adaptiveness of upregulating positive emotions, methodological directions, potential moderated effects based on child characteristics such as sex or temperament, and the importance of studying outcomes beyond depression.     

Cocreating a Social Work Apprenticeship with Disadvantaged African American Youth: A Best-Practices After-School Curriculum

Cocreating an after-school program with disadvantaged African American youth (2006–2011) resulted in a social work apprenticeship. In a participatory action, youth-led evaluation process, youth (N = 203) prioritized positively impacting their communities, especially mentoring community children and promoting alternatives to community violence. Starting from the strengths perspective and self-determination theory, topics youth valued included human rights, peace-building, trauma and stress management, and mentoring. Knowledge about human development and interviewing helped youth experience the fulfillment of being mentors. A subsample (n = 133) described what they learned about social work, and 43% of those reported an interest in pursuing a social work career.     

A comparison of youth resilience across seven South African sites

The resilience of children and youth is an increasingly important area of research. Young people growing up in distressed communities, characterized by poverty, crime and family troubles, are particularly vulnerable. Resilience can assist these young people in navigating through these challenges towards independent living, particularly as they transition out of adolescence and into young adulthood. Children in South Africa are almost universally vulnerable, but children growing up in residential care facilities and children from poverty‐stricken communities are particularly in need of resilience. This quantitative study of 575 South African children compared their resilience in terms of individual, family and community protective factors across seven sites, including child and youth care centres, schools in poor communities and schools in middle‐class suburban communities. Contrary to expectations, the study found that children in one of the children's homes and one of the poor communities had the highest levels of resilience. Moreover, all but one of the sites scored very high on at least one of the resilience variables, suggesting unique profiles of resilience across the sites. Practice implications for child and family social work are discussed.     

How does family homelessness impact on children's development? A critical review of the literature

Family homelessness is a key social issue across many European countries and is associated with uncertainty, a lack of safety and increased risks for children which can trigger the involvement of child welfare services. Living in homeless accommodation during the early years of a child's life also has the potential to impact on a child in many ways, for example, academically, physically, emotionally and socially. In the current paper, the authors review existing literature regarding the impact of family homelessness on children's development in order to identify key messages for social work practitioners working with children and families experiencing homelessness, for example, in the field of child protection and welfare. Findings reveal that family homelessness impacts on various aspects of a child's world and ultimately on their development, as a result of reduced social networks, inappropriate space to facilitate play, increased school mobility and school-dropout rates and increased levels of behavioural challenges and mental health concerns. These findings are discussed with relevance to social work practice when working with children and families who experience homelessness and how social work professionals can address the developmental needs of children who experience homelessness. Implications regarding future research and the education and training of social workers are also explored.     

Empathic Action and Family Resilience: A Narrative Examination of the Benefits of Helping Others

ABSTRACT

Empathy is identified as a protective factor that has been helpful for children considered at high risk for poor mental health and social functioning due to experiencing stressful circumstances such as family violence, substance abuse of a parent, or poverty. Yet, little is known about its relevance to a family's ability to overcome adversity. This study examined the narratives of 20 resilient families who maintained family functioning despite experiencing a multitude of risk factors including poverty, death of a child, significant health problems, or substance abuse problems. Narrative analysis was used to identify the ways families situated empathic actions within their stories of resilience. Findings suggest families developed increased compassion for others as a result of their own experiences with loss, trauma, or stress and discussed how helping others increased their ability to cope with the challenges they faced. Future research and practice implications are outlined and support the usefulness of strengths-based concepts and interventions.     

Preliminary support for the use of narrative exposure therapy in a child protection context: Collective case-study narratives

The present paper attempts to provide preliminary support for the use of narrative exposure therapy (NET) in a child protection context. The prevalence of violence, abuse and neglect (VAN) within New South Wales is outlined as well as the current perspectives in trauma definition and symptomology, and the prevalence of trauma symptomology among birthparents and young people within child protection services. NET is introduced including its theoretical background, methodology, applications and research. Four applications of NET within a child protection context are presented, including lifelines and narrative excerpts. Specific themes presented included experiences of physical abuse, domestic and family violence, parental drug use, suicidal ideation and child removal. Statistical analysis including reliable change, clinical and statistical significance of pre- and post-PCL-5 outcomes measures are presented to infer preliminary support for NET within a child protection context. Limitations and future considerations for future research are discussed.     

Ontario child protection workers' views on assessing risk and planning for safety in exposure to domestic violence cases

The use of standardized tools to assess risk for children is mandatory in the child protection sector in Ontario. Factors that can be used specifically to assess the risk of lethality in exposure to domestic violence (DV) cases, however, are largely missing from these tools. Using data from an online survey of 138 child protection workers in Ontario, the current study examines practitioners' risk assessment and safety planning practices with DV cases. Findings provide an overview of the frequency of risk assessment and management strategies within various environmental contexts (e.g., urban and rural) and populations (e.g., indigenous and immigrants/refugees). According to the practitioners sampled, assessing and managing risk are frequently and consistently completed across the province, although specific strategies and challenges vary. Although mandatory provincial child protection tools are commonly used, some workers report using other specific DV risk assessment tools to complement their own measurement of risk and planning for safety. Respondents emphasized the importance of working collaboratively with families and professionals in other sectors to address risk. Implications for future research include exploring the barriers and challenges of using DV‐specific risk assessments in child protection and factors contributing to these challenges as identified by practising child protection workers.     

Emotional kinship care and neutral non‐kinship care — the struggle between discourses

In this paper, social workers' ideas of kinship care and non‐kinship care as foster placement alternatives for vulnerable children are analysed and discussed. The study is based on group interviews with Swedish social workers, using a discourse analytic approach. The interviews took two vignettes of children who needed an immediate and long‐term placement because one of the parents had killed the other parent, as their point of departure. Domestic violence is a common social problem across countries, and controversies about placement alternatives become even more apparent when discussing lethal violence. The analysis revealed three main discourses: ‘emotional kinship care’, ‘neutral non‐kinship care’ and ‘a real family’. The emotional kinship care discourse also revealed two competing sub‐discourses: ‘emotions as glue that binds’ and ‘emotions as obscuring a child perspective’, displaying a struggle concerning the advantages and risks that social workers connected to kinship care. In this paper, the results and their implications for vulnerable children are discussed.