The impact of repeated maltreatment on behavioral trajectories from early childhood to early adolescence

Using multilevel model for change, this study examined the trajectories of both internalizing and externalizing behavioral problems from early childhood to early adolescence among a cohort of 685 children with early alleged maltreatment from age 4 through age 12. These children were recruited from five study sites using the LONGSCAN archive data. Repeated allegation of maltreatment for each child was treated as a time-varying variable and was tracked continuously and assessed at each measurement of the child behavioral problems. Child behavioral problems were measured at ages 4, 6, 8, 10, and 12 using the Child Behavior Checklist. Findings indicated that repeated maltreatment significantly predicted subsequent trajectories of both internalizing and externalizing problems. In both cases, the effect of repeated maltreatment was on the slope, rather than on the intercept which was reflected in the trajectories. Repeated maltreatment was associated with significantly steeper increases in both internalizing and externalizing problems over time. Although there were no differences in early behavioral assessments (e.g., age 4 and age 6), both internalizing and externalizing behaviors emerged later and became more pronounced over time among those with repeated maltreatment (e.g., since age 8) compared to those without. Although behavioral problems may not be seen in younger children who experience multiple maltreatment, it is prudent to be aware that the impact may likely emerge in later ages of the child. Thus, ongoing monitoring and assessment of treatment needs for children who have had multiple occurrence of maltreatment becomes imperative.     

Adverse childhood experiences and life opportunities: Shifting the narrative

Substantial research shows that early adversity, including child abuse and neglect, is associated with diminished health across the life course and across generations. Less well understood is the relationship between early adversity and adult socioeconomic status, including education, employment, and income. Collectively, these outcomes provide an indication of overall life opportunity. We analyzed data from 10 states and the District of Columbia that used the adverse childhood experiences (ACE) module in the 2010 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System to examine the association between ACEs and adult education, employment, and income. Compared to participants with no ACEs, those with higher ACE scores were more likely to report high school non-completion, unemployment, and living in a household below the federal poverty level. This evidence suggests that preventing early adversity may impact health and life opportunities that reverberate across generations. Current efforts to prevent early adversity might be more successful if they broaden public and professional understanding (i.e., the narrative) of the links between early adversity and poverty. We discuss our findings within the context of structural policies and processes that may further contribute to the intergenerational continuity of child abuse and neglect and poverty.     

Propensity to perpetrate abusive behaviors: Internet survey of the role of gender,childhood maltreatment,and perception of maltreatment in Nigeria

This article reports on propensity to perpetrate abusive behaviors and examines the role of gender, childhood maltreatment, and perception of abusive behaviors on the propensity. Findings suggest that propensity to perpetrate abusive behaviors cuts across all types of maltreatment (i.e., physical, sexual, and emotional abuse, child neglect, and child labor). Although abusive behavior with high propensity for perpetration includes corporal punishment, propensity to perpetrate abusive behaviors differed by gender. Men were more likely than women to indicate propensity to perpetrate abusive behaviors. Those who perceived behaviors as not abusive, as well as those who reported childhood experience of abusive behaviors, were more likely to intend to perpetrate abusive behaviors. Although childhood experience of sexual abuse was related to perpetration of sexual abuse, history of perpetrating sexual abuse comprised the largest effect size of the propensities to perpetrate abusive behaviors. Implications of findings for policy, practice, and services are discussed.     

Family therapy: An orientation

Conclusion The family therapist is an active, involved therapist. He must be emotionally lithe and resilient, prepared to deal with, or deal out, the unexpected. His challenge is to learn to use his own impulses and reactions in a way that the family can use to understand themselves better. He makes use also of any people and resources in the family's environment which might be of help to them. There are some basic techniques and orienting principles available to the family therapist, and it is these which it has been the task of this paper to set forth. Beyond these, the responsibility rests with each family therapist to comprehend himself and his place in his own family, and then to use his creativity to transform what he knows and what he feels into a form which can be used by the families he treats in their development.     

Family support: the roles of early years' centres

The development of children and the welfare of their parents are closely inter‐linked. The study outlined below uses a longitudinal, ecological approach to explore links between different models of early years' centres and the expansion of parents support networks. Over time, parenting stress reduced and well‐being improved. Sources of informal and formal support developed and extended. It is argued that all types of centres need to develop a comprehensive approach to child development in which child care and education, as well as family support, are explicit functions. This can promote family resilience as well as social inclusion in communities. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Types and timing of child maltreatment and early school success: A population-based investigation

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the prevalence of types of child maltreatment and co-occurring risks in an entire county population of children in public education and to examine the unique relations of the child maltreatment types and timing on children's early academic success while accounting for the children's multiple-risk context. A cohort of 11,835 second grade students who were born in the county and attended the public school district served as participants. Information on first reported experiences of substantiated physical abuse, neglect, unsubstantiated child maltreatment reports, health, maternal, and social risks, and academic and behavioral outcomes was obtained and linked through a county-wide integrated data system. Results indicated that after controlling for demographics and the set of other risks, substantiated child neglect and unsubstantiated reports were associated with poorer outcomes than physical abuse. Also, first substantiated child maltreatment and unsubstantiated reports prior to kindergarten were related to a more comprehensive set of poor outcomes than post-kindergarten first reports. The differential patterns that emerged for the association between age of first reported maltreatment by type and educational outcomes were discussed with implications for future research and policy.     

Depression,emotional states,and the experience of binge-watching narrative television

Terms like “binge-watching” and the “showhole” suggest a relationship between binge-watching and emotional health. This study sought to understand the relationship between binge-watching, unhealthy emotional traits, and regular emotional states such as sadness. The study found that emotional states experienced after binge-watching had implications for entertainment gratifications. However, the study did not find a conclusive connection between binge-watching and unhealthy emotional traits.     

Becoming metal: narrative reflections on the early formation and embodiment of heavy metal identities

Heavy metal music has long been researched as a risk factor for youth development. Over the last decade, however, there has been a significant shift towards studies that are more sympathetic to metal fans, but still we know very little about young people’s pathways to forming metal identities. What is the allure of metal as an identity choice? What can be gained from the early embodiment of metal identities? To explore these questions, this paper reports on findings from qualitative research with metal youth in Australia that captured rich, narrative reflections on ‘becoming’ metal. The results show that metal was vitally important when participants felt vulnerable to bullying and exclusion by popular peers at school. But crucially, the young ‘metalheads’ were able to disrupt power relations at school by embodying ‘chosen’ heavy metal identities as a strategic response for countering ‘unchosen’ marginal school-based identities. The politically transformative properties of subculture at the level of the individual are revealed through ways that the metal youth, as self-described outsiders, were able to act alone to challenge dominant school norms and enter into social relationships on their own terms, protecting themselves from social threats to their mental health and well-being in the process.     

Stalking perpetrators and psychological maltreatment of partners: anger-jealousy, attachment insecurity, need for control, and break-up context

Two studies of the correlates of self-reported courtship persistence, stalking-like behaviors following a relationship break-up, and psychological maltreatment of partners were conducted in samples of male (N = 46 and 93) and female (N = 123 and 110) college students. Approximately 40% (38.5% and 44.6%) engaged in at least one stalking behavior following a break-up. A total of 10.7% (study 1) and 7.6% (study 2) engaged in 6 or more stalking behaviors. Stalking was significantly related to psychological maltreatment of the partner (PMP) prior to the break-up. Being the recipient of the breakup was associated with feelings of anger, jealousy and obsessiveness and with higher levels of courtship persistence, and stalking. A replicated path model showed that anxious attachment and need for control were related to PMP and that need for control had a direct contribution to stalking. For anxious attachment, its connection to stalking was indirect, mediated by the degree of anger-jealousy over the break-up.     

The tidal model. The healing potential of metaphor within a patient's narrative

1. The human experience of growth and development is a fluid phenomenon, occurring in small, barely visible changes. 2. The Tidal Model embraces a patient's expression of his or her experience by focusing on the lived experience of the narrative and its personally meaningful metaphors and symbols. 3. To re-empower a patient, the Tidal Model assessment is written in the patient's own voice and all care planning is conducted conjointly. 4. The Tidal Model was developed from empirical studies of the perceived need for nursing and the process of empowerment in clinical nursing practice.     

Examining the relationship between child maltreatment and severity of attachment difficulties among children five years of age and older

The target population in this study were foster or adoptive parents who were caring for a child who had experienced CM and/or disruptions in a primary caregiver. Participants (N = 223) were categorized as caring for a child who had a history of CM and/or disruptions in a primary caregiver before/by age 5 or as caring for a child who had a history of CM and/or disruptions in a primary caregiver after age 5. Participants were administered the Attachment Disorder Assessment Scale-revised to assess for the presence of AD among the children that they were caring for. Two separate between groups ANOVAs were conducted to examine the differences between the scores on the ADAS-R (dependent variable) for those participants caring for a child who had 1) a history of CM before/by age 5 vs. after age 5 and/or 2) disruptions in a primary caregiver before/by age 5 vs. after age 5 (independent variable). Results indicated that those children who were older than 5 when they experienced CM and/or disruptions in a primary caregiver actually had more substantial AD than those children who had these experiences by/before age 5.     

Remaining home: Well-being outcomes and co-occurring parental substance use following a maltreatment investigation in middle childhood

PurposeThe purpose of the study is to understand differences in child well-being related to parental substance use among children ages 6–12 who were investigated for maltreatment but not removed from their homes. Children with a substance-using parent in the home are compared to those without a substance-using parent in the home.MethodsLongitudinal data from waves 1 and 3 of the second National Study of Child and Adolescent Well-Being (NSCAW II) are used. NSCAW II is a national sample of families with children and youth aged birth to 17.5 investigated by child protective services (CPS). A subset of the data (analyzed with domain analysis methods) is used for this study (n = 575). Eight well-being outcomes from four domains (cognitive development, physical health, psychological/behavioral development and social/emotional competence) are analyzed.FindingsWe hypothesized that (among children investigated for maltreatment and not removed from home) children whose parents used substances would exhibit lower mean levels of well-being at thirty-six months follow-up compared to those whose parents did not use. Unexpectedly, we found no significant differences in well-being levels between children with parents in the home using substances and those without.ConclusionsChildren with substance-using parents may be able to remain at home over an extended period after investigation, while maintaining well-being levels similar to children at home with parents not using substances. If an effective safety plan can be put in place, this option may provide a path to maintaining safety, permanency and well-being for such children without placement in out-of-home care.     

Sexual offenders' perceptions of their early interpersonal relationships: an attachment perspective

The present study examined the perceptions of early interpersonal experiences of sexual offenders (child molesters and rapists) and two criminal comparison groups. A grounded theory approach was applied to a comprehensive list of responses provided by the participants to questions about their early interpersonal experiences. The raw data was collapsed into 14 basic categories by grouping together responses of similar meanings. The categories were responsiveness, consistency, acceptance, boundaries, emotional regulation, autonomy, self-evaluation, developmental trauma, sexual abuse and deviation, physical abuse, loss, conflict, safety, and positive mediating interactions. In the second part of the study, the four groups were compared using the categories and the differences noted. All four groups experienced significantly negative early interpersonal experiences.     

Sexual offenders' perceptions of their early interpersonal relationships: An attachment perspective

The present study examined the perceptions of early interpersonal experiences of sexual offenders (child molesters and rapists) and two criminal comparison groups. A grounded theory approach was applied to a comprehensive list of responses provided by the participants to questions about their early interpersonal experiences. The raw data was collapsed into 14 basic categories by grouping together responses of similar meanings. The categories were responsiveness, consistency, acceptance, boundaries, emotional regulation, autonomy, self‐evaluation, developmental trauma sexual abuse and deviation, physical abuse, loss, conflict, safety, and positive mediating interactions. In the second part of the study, the four groups were compared using the categories and the differences noted. All four groups experienced significantly negative early interpersonal experiences.     

Southerly winds: Family therapy and Latin America

This article serves as a conversational and conceptual introduction to this special issue. It is written not in Latin America – as the other articles are – but in Australia and it is written by a Chilean who left Chile due to the ravages that the 16 year long dictatorship had on those lands. Using reflections on my experience – as a citizen and later as a student in psychology and in family therapy – both in that country and since, I touch on post-colonial issues and on epistemic violence to interrogate ‘invisibilities’ held in mainstream forms of knowledge in the field, invisibilities that come to us from the Western North. Using references to the work of Edward Said and Gabriel García Márquez, the article invites us to review core assumptions and postures in the conceptual frame of systemic work and proposes a methodology that supports alternative forms of knowledge – knowledges of the South – to forge a voice, a resistance to globalising tendencies that threaten to undermine the work we strive to do.     

Talking about violence: a microanalysis of narrative processes in a family therapy session

In this article, we look at the development in family therapy of narratives about domestic violence. We report on microanalyses of a family therapy session, using narrative research methods, including some conversation analytic tools. The main questions posed in this investigation were: How does storytelling of a highly charged and delicate topic like domestic violence develop in the session?; how do the different actors in the therapy room contribute to telling such stories?; how do actors try to put forward domestic violence as a conversational topic? and how do different actors react to these attempts? Our research illustrates how the recounting of stories of violence seems to go hand in hand with modes of interaction that discourage the telling of these stories. In the back‐and‐forth process between voices of hesitation and voices of reassurance, the participants weigh the level of safety in the session. In as far as the voices of hesitation can be reassured of the safety, it becomes gradually possible to talk about delicate, problematic experiences, such as violence in the family.     

Protective factors among families with children at risk of maltreatment: Follow up to early school years

The purpose of this study is to explore both risk and protective factors of child maltreatment among at risk elementary school children. This study used data from the Longitudinal Studies of Child Abuse and Neglect (LONGSCAN), following a cohort of 405 children from age 4 to age 8. Multivariate logistic regression revealed that children attending preschool irregularly (OR = 2.98; 95% CI: 1.08-8.26), families with a high level of life events (OR = 2.68; 95% CI: 1.12-6.41), and mothers with a history of childhood maltreatment (OR = 2.26; 95% CI: 1.07-4.76) were more likely to have a child maltreatment report. In contrast, mothers who were married (OR = 0.19; 95% CI: 0.06-0.64), mothers who attained 12 or more years of education (OR = 0.09; 95% CI: 0.02-0.34), and family with high level of social support (OR = 0.29; 95% CI: 0.11-0.80) were less likely to have a child maltreatment report. For mothers who had not graduated from high school, adequate social support reduced the risk of child maltreatment by a factor of two. The provision of adequate social support should be incorporated into child maltreatment prevention programs, particularly those targeting at risk families.     

Predictors of Chinese early childhood program quality: Implications for policies

This study explores the relationship between structural variables and program quality in early childhood programs across economic, sociocultural, and policy contexts in Zhejiang, China. Using the Chinese Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale (CECERS), researchers collected data in 162 randomly selected classrooms representative of the sociocultural and economic conditions of Chinese early childhood programs. The findings showed that a set of program structural variables accounted for 60% of the variance in overall program quality. Similar findings were shown for two specific program quality indicators: structural quality (‘Provisions for Learning’) and process quality (‘Teaching & Interaction’). Results suggest that policy makers in early childhood education in China should offer more benefits and training for teachers, recognize teachers' professional qualifications, and maintain lower child-to-teacher ratio to improve Chinese ECE programs.