Child Maltreatment current issue

Differential Relationships Between Personal and Community Stressors and Children's Neurocognitive Functioning

Fishbein, D., Warner, T., Krebs, C., Trevarthen, N., Flannery, B., Hammond, J. — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 16:12:42 PDT

Early adversity can alter development of neurocognition, including executive cognitive and emotional regulatory functions. This is the first study to explore differential relationships between personal (physical and emotional abuse and neglect, school and parental stressors) and community (neighborhood problems and witnessing neighborhood violence) stressors and neurocognition. Predominantly Latino children ( n = 553) aged 10 to 12 years completed tasks measuring intelligence, impulsivity, problem solving, cognitive flexibility, decision making, and emotion attributions. Adjusting for age and parent education, bivariate regression analyses found exposure to personal stressors to be associated with relative deficits in at least one neurocognitive function. Community stressors were related to relative deficits in emotion attributions and problem solving. In multivariate analyses, neglect was related to misattributions of emotion and IQ deficits, and physical abuse was related to problem solving. Community stressors were not correlated with neurocognition when viewed relative to personal stressors. Stressor types were differentially associated with performance on specific neurocognitive tasks.

Pathways to Poly-Victimization

Finkelhor, D., Ormrod, R., Turner, H., Holt, M. — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 16:12:42 PDT

Some children, whom we have labeled poly-victims, experience very high levels of victimizations of different types. This article finds support for a conceptual model suggesting that there may be four distinct pathways to becoming such a poly-victim: (a) residing in a dangerous community, (b) living in a dangerous family, (c) having a chaotic, multiproblem family environment, or (d) having emotional problems that increase risk behavior, engender antagonism, and compromise the capacity to protect oneself. It uses three waves of the Developmental Victimization Survey, a nationally representative sample of children aged 2—17 years. All four hypothesized pathways showed significant independent association with poly-victim onset. For the younger children, the symptom score representing emotional problems was the only significant predictor. For the older children, the other three pathway variables were significant predictors—dangerous communities, dangerous families, and problem families—but not symptom score. Poly-victimization onset was also disproportionately likely to occur in the year prior to children’s 7th and 15th birthday, corresponding roughly to the entry into elementary school and high school. The identification of such pathways and the ages of high onset should help practitioners design programs for preventing vulnerable children from becoming poly-victims.

Childhood Victimization, Poly-Victimization, and Adjustment to College in Women

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 16:12:42 PDT

This study examines the relationships among poly-victimization (i.e., high cumulative levels of victimization), six aggregate categories of childhood victimization (property crime, physical assault, peer and sibling, witnessed and indirect, sexual, child maltreatment), and college adjustment in females. This study first examines the relative contributions of poly-victimization and individual categories of childhood victimization in predicting college adjustment. The study then examines whether poly-victimization contributes any unique variance, beyond that accounted for by the combination of all six aggregate categories. Regression analyses reveal that a) poly-victimization accounts for a significant proportion of variability in scores for college adjustment, beyond that accounted for by any of the six categories of childhood victimization alone, and b) the categories of childhood victimization contribute little to no variability beyond that accounted for by poly-victimization. Furthermore, poly-victimization accounts for a significant proportion of variability in college adjustment, beyond that already accounted for by the simultaneous entry of all six categories as predictor variables. Finally, although victimization does not predict GPA, it predicts other domains of college adjustment. Results suggest that counselors working with college students should a) assess multiple categories of victimization and poly-victimization, and b) evaluate clients' adjustment to college across multiple domains (e.g., academic, social, interpersonal).

Does Out-of-Home Placement Mediate the Relationship Between Child Maltreatment and Adult Criminality?

DeGue, S., Spatz Widom, C. — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 16:12:42 PDT

Existing research on child welfare interventions as mediators of the criminal consequences of child maltreatment has focused on juvenile delinquency rather than adult criminality. This study uses a prospective sample of 772 maltreated youth to examine out-of-home placement as a mediator of adult criminality. Arrest data were collected from official records when the full sample was a mean age of 31.8, having ample opportunity for involvement with the criminal justice system. Overall, out-of-home placement showed a neutral or slightly positive effect on adult criminality compared to no placement, consistent with earlier findings. However, prior delinquency and placement instability were significant risk factors for adult criminality. Gender, not race, was identified as a significant moderator of the relationship between placement and adult criminality, with different patterns of response to placement for males and females. Thus, whether placement experiences influence adult criminal consequences of child maltreatment might depend on prior delinquency, placement stability, and gender.

A Motivational Intervention Can Improve Retention in PCIT for Low-Motivation Child Welfare Clients

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 16:12:42 PDT

A motivational orientation intervention designed to improve parenting program retention was field tested versus standard orientation across two parenting programs, Parent—Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) and a standard didactic parent training group. Both interventions were implemented within a frontline child welfare parenting center by center staff. Participants had an average of six prior child welfare referrals, primarily for neglect. A double-randomized design was used to test main and interaction effects. The motivational intervention improved retention only when combined with PCIT (cumulative survival = 85% vs. around 61% for the three other design cells). Benefits were robust across demographic characteristics and participation barriers but were concentrated among participants whose initial level of motivation was low to moderate. There were negative effects for participants with relatively high initial motivation. The findings suggest that using a motivational intervention combined with PCIT can improve retention when used selectively with relatively low to moderately motivated child welfare clients.

Elevated Risk of Child Maltreatment in Families With Stepparents but Not With Adoptive Parents

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 16:12:42 PDT

Does child maltreatment occur more often in adoptive and stepfamilies than in biological families? Data were collected from all 17 Dutch child protective services (CPS) agencies on 13,538 cases of certified child maltreatment in 2005. Family composition of the maltreated children was compared to a large national representative sample of the Netherlands Kinship Panel Study (NKPS). Larger families, one-parent families, and families with a stepparent showed elevated risks for child maltreatment. Adoptive families, however, showed significantly less child maltreatment than expected. The findings are discussed in the context of parental investment theory that seems to be applicable to stepparents but not to adoptive parents.

Does Bruising Help Determine Which Fractures Are Caused by Abuse?

Valvano, T. J., Binns, H. J., Flaherty, E. G., Leonhardt, D. E. — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 16:12:42 PDT

To determine whether the presence or absence of bruising can be used to differentiate between abusive and nonabusive fractures, a retrospective study was conducted of patients with acute fractures referred to a child abuse team. A bruise and fracture were considered associated if both occurred on the same body site. Chart summaries, excluding information on bruising, were reviewed by 2 abuse experts to assign cause of injury. Of the 150 participants, fractures of 93 (62%) were categorized as abusive and 57 (38%) as nonabusive. Bruising associated with a fracture was found for 26% of abused and 25% of nonabused children. Most children (61%) had no bruises anywhere on the body, and this did not differ significantly by cause of injury. The sensitivity of a bruise associated with a fracture to predict abuse was only 26%. The presence or absence of bruising was not useful to differentiate between abusive and nonabusive fractures.

Medical Status of School-Age Children Reentering Foster Care

Fussell, J. J., Evans, L. D. — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 16:12:42 PDT

Medical status changes between foster care placements were investigated to determine whether medical status improves and whether medical status changes predict reentry into care. Three hundred and ninety-two school-age children reentering foster care received comprehensive medical evaluation on each foster care entry. Results indicated that students reentering care had worsened medical status. Comparison with matched students having a single foster care placement did not show medical status predictive of foster care reentry but suggested that some medical status declines were age related.

Acknowledgement of Child Maltreatment's External Reviewers

Ondersma, S. J. — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 16:12:42 PDT

Call for Applications: Graduate Student/Postdoctoral Fellow Section of Child Maltreatment Editorial Board

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 16:12:42 PDT