Cognitive Pretesting and the Developmental Validity of Child Self-Report Instruments: Theory and Applications

OBJECTIVE: In the context of the importance of valid self-report measures to research and evidence-based practice in social work, an argument-based approach to validity is presented and the concept of developmental validity introduced. Cognitive development theories are applied to the self-report process of children and cognitive pretesting is reviewed as a methodology to advance the validity of self-report instruments for children. An application of cognitive pretesting is presented in the development of the Elementary School Success Profile. METHOD: Two phases of cognitive pretesting were completed to gather data about how children read, interpret and answer self-report items. RESULTS: Cognitive pretesting procedures identified validity problems with numerous items leading to modifications. CONCLUSIONS: Cognitive pretesting framed by an argument-based approach to validity holds significant potential to improve the developmental validity of child self-report instruments.     

Social service purchasing in China: Rationale,features, and risks

As part of a broader program of market reform, China's local governments are progressing an agenda of purchasing child welfare and other social services from the nongovernment sector, primarily to expand capacity and address vast unmet need. This paper draws on current research evidence to explore the approaches to purchasing emerging in China, examining the rationale for purchasing and models of supply, competition, and regulation. While some approaches are modeled on direct service contracting, direct purchasing of social service “posts” is also used, aimed at achieving goals of professionalization alongside service expansion. Overall, the review shows purchasing is helping to rapidly expand service scale and capacity; however, regulatory strategies for managing and mitigating risks to quality and access appear lacking. This highlights the need for further scholarship aimed at developing the robust risk management strategies which are required to support high quality, sustainable provision of purchased services.     

The differential gender effect of internalized racism on abdominal obesity in KwaZulu-Natal,South Africa

This research examined the effect of a psychosocial variable, internalized racism, on abdominal obesity, as measured by waist circumference. Results show that the effect of internalized racism on waist circumference persists net of other controls among women, but not among men. Also, among women who had high levels of internalized racism and high educational levels, a positive relationship to abdominal obesity is evident despite the tendency of education to be protective of abdominal obesity. This study supports other research findings that internalized racism is related to waist circumference among adult women but not among men in Western Hemisphere blacks. It also supports past research findings of a gendered reaction to psychosocial stress. It also illustrates that this relationship occurs on the continent of Africa, an area where research on this phenomenon is scarce.     

"Couples as Partners and Parents over Children's Early Years"

We used data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study to examine how couple relationship quality and parental engagement are linked over children's early years-when they are infants, toddlers, and preschoolers. Our sample included 1,630 couples that were coresident over years 1 to 3 and 1,376 couples that were coresident over years 3 to 5 (1,196 over both periods). Overall, we found that better relationship quality predicted greater parental engagement for both mothers and fathers-especially in the infant to toddler years; in contrast, we found little evidence that parental engagement predicted future relationship quality. Married and cohabiting couples were generally similar in how relationship quality and parenting were linked.     

“Don't Leave Me Hanging”: Homeless Mothers’ Perceptions of Service Providers

ABSTRACT

Few interventions have been developed for substance-abusing homeless mothers. Among those interventions, high dropout rates (up to 85%) are consistently reported. Understanding homeless mothers’ experiences with service providers may be an important first step to understanding ways to increase treatment engagement. Therefore, the current study used qualitative methods to gain a better understanding of homeless mothers’ perceptions of service providers. A total of 28 mothers who were currently residing at a homeless shelter in a Midwestern city participated in three focus groups. Overall, mothers held negative perceptions of service providers related to understanding, support, and fear. Based upon this study's findings, recommendations are offered to improve service delivery and guide future research.     

Social Inclusion and Sport: Culturally diverse women's perspectives

Sport and recreation can help communities to build social inclusion and celebrate diversity. Yet some sport and recreation activities require conformity to social and cultural norms, risking suppressing difference and reinforcing inequality and exclusion. This paper explores these tensions by examining access and barriers to sport and recreation for a large group of Australian women: those from culturally diverse backgrounds. Qualitative data shows that while sport industry representatives justify catering primarily for a mainstream participant base, culturally diverse women identify barriers requiring strategic and targeted policy and program intervention. Implicating the spatial organisation of sport and recreation as sources of marginalisation, culturally diverse women highlight how access‐enhancing initiatives in public, commercial and community sport facilities can play key roles in promoting social inclusion.     

Substance Abusing Mothers with a History of Childhood Abuse and Their Children's Depressive Symptoms: The Efficacy of Family Therapy

This study examined the associations among maternal history of childhood abuse, substance use, and depressive symptoms and the change in children's depressive symptoms in therapy. Mothers (N = 183) were randomly assigned into either a family or an individual treatment condition. Mothers were assessed for their childhood abuse retrospectively, baseline depressive symptoms, and substance use, whereas their children's depressive symptoms were measured five times during 1.5 years. Maternal childhood abuse was associated with a slower decline in child depressive symptoms through elevated maternal depressive symptoms, only in individual treatment. Maternal substance use further moderated this mediation pathway. This study supports the efficacy of family therapy in protecting children of mothers with a substance use disorder and a history of childhood abuse.