Child therapy outcome in a community mental health center

Studies by the Davis Child Therapy Effectiveness Project reveal that brief therapy is the norm. A retrospective outcome study in one mental health center shows a large proportion of adjustment reactions. Outcome ratings from therapists, parents and patients show fairly high levels of outcome and significant improvement in rated impairment. The children who were more impaired at intake were found to have the most visits and numbers of visits were unrelated to success in treatment. Examples are provided illustrating the use of parent responses to modify center practices.     

Childhood sexual abuse, teenage pregnancy, and partnering with adult men: exploring the relationship

Although the mechanism by which early victimization, specifically sexual abuse, increases the risk of adolescent pregnancy is unclear, a relationship between previous victimization and adolescent pregnancy has been demonstrated. While partnering with an older man may initially offer the means necessary to escape a neglectful or violent family of origin, this protection be accompanied by an imbalance of power and control. Both adolescent mothers partnered with adult men and adolescent mothers partnered with male peers reported sexual abuse perpetrated by family members, family friends, strangers, and peers. Policies developed to protect young people from victimization, including mandatory reporting and statutory rape laws, should be evaluated for their consistent application to all children, regardless of age, race, gender, or pregnancy status.     

Female-perpetrated intimate partner violence and romantic attachment style in a college student sample

The frequency, severity, and reciprocity of female-perpetrated intimate partner violence and its consequences (i.e., injuries) were investigated in a college sample of women (N = 457). Participants were classified into one of the following four groups on the basis of self-reported physical assault perpetration and victimization against their relationship partners: nonviolent, perpetrator-only, victim-only, and bidirectionally violent. Results showed that females in the bidirectionally violent group had a reportedly higher occurrence (although not always statistically significant) of perpetration and victimization than those in the perpetrator-only and victim-only groups. Additionally, a similar degree of reciprocity was indicated by females in bidirectionally violent relationships in terms of violence severity and the occurrence of injury. Adult romantic attachment style was also examined among a subset of females (N = 328), and bidirectionally violent females were found to have the highest reported levels of attachment anxiety. Further, females high in attachment anxiety and low in attachment avoidance were more likely to report perpetrating violence than females high in both styles. Implications for prevention are discussed.     

Assessing grief and bereavement: observations from the field

The purpose of this article is to describe the evaluations involved in the Yale Bereavement Study (YBS), a three-year NIMH and NCI-funded longitudinal study conducted from January 2000 through May 2003. The quantitative and qualitative questions included in the YBS gave the respondents an opportunity to describe their most recent loss, rate and review their past losses, and assess all aspects of their current life situations. In this article, the first author describes, in a qualitative manner, the ways in which this assessment, per se, appeared helpful and not harmful to the respondents. Also, developed here is the implication for potential application of a modified version of the YBS which could be used in both research and clinical practice.     

NATIVITY DIFFERENCES IN PHYSICAL HEALTH: THE ROLES OF EMOTIONAL SUPPORT,FAMILY, AND SOCIAL INTEGRATION

U.S. immigrants are a physically healthy population, but we do not understand the explanatory factors responsible for their physical health status, particularly those related to social network support. Using data from the 2001 wave of the National Health Interview Survey, we examine multiple measures of immigrant adaptation, investigating their influence on measures of physical health. In particular, we examine how well indicators of social support and integration explain the immigrant health advantage. Results show clear evidence of an immigrant paradox in physical health, but that measures of support and integration explain almost none of the immigration effect on physical health.     

Children's and adolescents’ conversations with mothers about offenders’ and victims’ responsibility for harm in their experiences of being hurt by a peer

This study investigated mothers’ and children's constructions of meaning about responsibility for harm in conversations about two experiences when children were hurt by a peer and felt they had either contributed or not contributed to the situation. The sample included 105 Canadian mothers (75% White) and their children (53 girls, 52 boys) across three age groups (M ages = 6.92, 11.14, 15.89 years). Overall, mothers and children emphasized different aspects of responsibility; mothers made more evaluations of acts and discussed the avoidability of harm whereas children referred more to hurtful acts, consequences, reasons, and subsequent responses. Discussions of the child's and peer's responsibility were responsive to the child's perspective on events. The child's responsibility for self-protection was particularly emphasized by mothers and when the child felt they had not contributed to the situation. Children more often mitigated their responsibility as compared to their mothers, and older children referred more to their own and their peer's responsibility for harm. Findings illuminate how conversations with mothers may inform children's judgments of their own and others’ roles in peer conflict.     

Adolescents' Retributive and Restorative Orientations in Response to Intergroup Harms in Schools

This mixed-methods study examined how adolescents understand and evaluate different ways to address intergroup harms in schools. In individual interviews, 77 adolescents (M age = 16.49 years; 39 girls, 38 boys) in Bogotá, Colombia, responded to hypothetical vignettes wherein a rival group at school engaged in a transgression against their group. Adolescents reported that students who were harmed should and would talk to school authorities, but also noted they would likely retaliate. In terms of teacher-sanctioned responses to harm, youth endorsed compensation most strongly, followed by apologies, and rated suspension least positively. Youths' explanations for their endorsement of different disciplinary practices reflected varied concerns, including their perceptions of how justice is best achieved and how restoration could be attained.     

Feminist Institutional Activists: Venue Shifting,Strategic Adaptation,and Winning the Pregnancy Discrimination Act

We examine efforts of feminist institutional activists in the 1960s and 1970s as they worked to gain U.S. federal policy to combat workplace pregnancy discrimination. The success of these activists in winning policy change provides a case that allows us to develop a theoretical understanding of how feminist institutional activists can succeed in winning policy change. We find that when institutional activists strategically shifted governmental arenas and adapted their mobilization and discursive strategies to these arenas, they were able to dismantle policy‐specific barriers that impeded their goals. In taking these steps, feminist institutional activists were successful in opening up both contingent and structural opportunities, which ultimately allowed them to gain the policy change they sought.     

Susceptibility to Peer Influence,Self‐Control,and Delinquency

The significance of peers during adolescence is well established in the social science literature. However, relatively few studies have devoted attention to susceptibility to peer influence with regard to both its causes and consequences. The current study aims to add to this literature in two ways. First, it investigates the role of self‐control in the etiology of susceptibility to peer influence. Second, it examines the independent and interactive effects of these two constructs on self‐reported delinquency. Results indicate that individuals who are higher in self‐control are less likely to be susceptible to peer influence, that susceptibility is a stronger predictor of delinquency than self‐control, and that the influence of susceptibility on delinquency is moderated by one's level of self‐control. In particular, the effect of susceptibility to peer influence on delinquency is stronger for individuals with higher levels of self‐control. The implications of the findings for theory and future research are discussed.