The association between child exposure to intimate partner violence (IPV) and perpetration of IPV in adulthood—A systematic review

Increasingly recognized as a distinct form of childhood maltreatment, children’s exposure to intimate partner violence (IPV) has been shown to be associated with an array of negative psychosocial outcomes, including elevated risk for additional violence over the life course. Although studies have identified child exposure to IPV as a predictor of IPV perpetration in adulthood, no review has critically evaluated the methodology of this quantitative work. The present study examines the association between childhood exposure to IPV and the perpetration of IPV in adulthood based on a systematic review of the literature from inception to January 4, 2016. Databases searched included Medline, Embase, PsycINFO, CINAHL, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Sociological Abstracts and ERIC. Database searches were complemented with backward and forward citation chaining. Studies were critically appraised using the Quality Assessment Tool for Observational Cohort and Cross-Sectional Studies. Of 5601 articles identified by the search, 19 studies were included for data extraction. Sixteen of these studies found that child exposure to IPV was significantly and positively associated with adult IPV perpetration; three studies reported null findings. The methodological quality of the studies was low. Work thus far has tended to focus on child exposure to physical IPV and the perpetration of physical IPV within heterosexual contexts. In addition, measures of child exposure to IPV vary in their classification of what exposure entails. We critically discuss the strengths and limitations of the existing evidence and the theoretical frameworks informing this work.     

Which skills predict computational estimation? A longitudinal study in 5- to 7-year-olds

European Journal of Psychology of Education - Computational estimation is seen as an important mathematical competence. Little is known, however, about the mathematical skills that are predictive...     

Does being assigned to a low school track negatively affect psychological adjustment? A longitudinal study in the first year of secondary school

Previous research suggests that the 1st year in secondary school for some students goes hand in hand with an increase in adjustment difficulties. One factor that might influence this process on an individual, compositional, and institutional level is the academic track a student attends. It was hypothesized that being assigned to a low-qualifying track predicts a stronger increase in adjustment problems than being assigned to higher tracks. A sample of 734 seventh-grade students from Switzerland attending 1 of 3 regular academic tracks or special educational classes participated. Pupils reported anonymously on their antisocial behavior, anger control problems, self-worth, and emotional distress. Multilevel analyses were performed, predicting end of seventh-grade adjustment by track controlling for initial adjustment and background variables. Students enrolled in the low-qualifying regular track increased significantly more than students from other tracks regarding their problems with global adjustment, antisocial behavior, and emotional distress.     

Does school satisfaction predict coping? A short‐term longitudinal examination in early adolescents

We tested the hypothesis of school satisfaction being an antecedent to social coping behaviors in early adolescents (N = 892) using a two‐wave cross‐lagged panel design. We also explored the possible bidirectional relations between school satisfaction and social coping behaviors. Four types of social coping behaviors in peer conflict contexts included social support seeking, self‐reliance, internalizing behaviors, and externalizing behaviors. The findings showed that school satisfaction significantly predicted three of the four coping behaviors (social support seeking, self‐reliance, and externalizing behaviors) in the expected directions. Among all the social coping behaviors, only social support seeking significantly predicted school satisfaction over time. Taken together, the results suggest that school satisfaction may be an antecedent that predicts most social coping behaviors in early adolescents. Furthermore, the relations between social support seeking coping and school satisfaction appeared to be reciprocal. Implications, especially the importance of monitoring students’ school satisfaction, are discussed.     

A longitudinal study of social relationships and networks in the transition to and within adulthood for vulnerable young adults at ages 24, 29 and 34 years: compensation,reinforcement or cumulative disadvantages?

This longitudinal study, spanning from 1995 through 2012, followed vulnerable youth from upper secondary school (T1) as they made the transition to their early twenties (T2), late twenties (T3) and mid-thirties (T4). We investigated their social network relationships in different phases of adult life, focusing mainly on factors that explain patterns of social adaptation. Internet-mediated relationships were also studied at T4. We found that attending special classes in upper secondary school explained the respondents’ risk of being in a small isolated and bonding network in their early twenties. In the transition from early to late twenties, the relative impact of a changed life situation, which increases the potential of network formation, is a resilience factor. Logistic regression analyses, however, showed that in the transition from T3 to mid-thirties, having intellectual disabilities was a risk factor for social isolation. In particular, males with intellectual disabilities or psychosocial difficulties at this age were isolated in small networks and less likely to be on Facebook/Twitter. A shift of factors in the explanatory model of the transition from school to adult life reflects the relative impact of contextual factors distant and closer in time, shedding light on the principle of social ties to others, linked lives and cumulative disadvantages across the life course.     

Does domestic violence jeopardize the learning environment of peers within the school? Peer effects of exposure to domestic violence in urban Peru

This study examines the peer effects of domestic violence within school classrooms. Thus, it builds on the findings of Carrell and Hoekstra (2010) and Carrell et al. (2018) and expands them in two aspects. First, we focus our attention in less extreme cases of domestic violence than those that get reported to public institutions. Second, we also study the peer effects of domestic violence over a novel set of outcomes: internalizing behaviors and forms of violence at school. We show that being in a classroom with peers exposed to domestic violence leads to increased dropout rates; increased levels of depression, victimization from bullying and attitudes towards violence at school; and lower verbal and math test scores. Our findings are mainly driven by the extensive margin of exposure to physical violence (i.e. additional students affected by average violence within the classroom).     

‘Development in reverse’? A longitudinal analysis of armed conflict,fragility and school enrolment

This paper presents a longitudinal analysis of cross-national data on armed conflict, state fragility, and enrolment in primary and secondary schooling. The study is motivated by questions raised in the 2012 Human Security Report, which challenges the widely held assumption that conflict is necessarily detrimental to educational outcomes. We use multilevel modelling techniques to determine how conflict and fragility relate to changes in enrolment. Our findings suggest that growth in enrolment is significantly lower in conflict-affected countries but that the effect is dependent upon countries' overall enrolment level. However, when we control for fragility, the effect of conflict is not significant, which is consistent with the Human Security Report's suggestion that fragility is an underlying cause of both conflict and poor educational outcomes. We conclude by discussing the relevance of our findings and challenges for future research on fragility and education.     

When is the personal professional in public child welfare practice? The influence of intimate partner and child abuse histories on workers in domestic violence cases

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this article is to examine children's services workers' (CSWs') personal histories of abuse and their influence on professional responses to allegations of domestic violence. METHOD: Using an anonymous questionnaire, data were collected from CSWs in two large urban counties in Southern California who participated in a domestic violence training program (n=303). It was hypothesized that CSWs' responses to domestic violence cases would be affected by personal histories of abuse and the degree to which the CSWs identified with battered women. RESULTS: Approximately one-half of the respondents reported experiencing physical and/or sexual violence by an intimate partner. One-third of respondents reported physical abuse, and 22%, sexual abuse during childhood. The experience of childhood sexual abuse, especially for female CSWs, was associated with increased support for removal of children whose mother is being abused. Those CSWs with a history of partner violence who identified with battered women were less likely to approve of removing children from the battered mother than were CSWs without partner abuse history or identification with battered women. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings provide support for expanded training efforts that recognize the ongoing impact of victimization on CSWs' professional functioning.     

Does war contribute to family violence against children? Findings from a two-generational multi-informant study in Northern Uganda

After 20 years of civil war in Northern Uganda, the continuity of violence within the family constitutes a major challenge to children's healthy development in the post-conflict era. Previous exposure to trauma and ongoing psychopathology in guardians potentially contribute to parental perpetration against children and dysfunctional interactions in the child's family ecology that increase children's risk of maltreatment. In order to investigate distal and proximal risk factors of child victimization, we first aimed to identify factors leading to more self-reported perpetration in guardians. Second, we examined factors in the child's family environment that promote child-reported experiences of maltreatment. Using a two-generational design we interviewed 368 children, 365 female guardians, and 304 male guardians from seven war-affected rural communities in Northern Uganda on the basis of standardized questionnaires. We found that the strongest predictors of self-reported aggressive parenting behaviors toward the child were guardians’ own experiences of childhood maltreatment, followed by female guardians’ victimization experiences in their intimate relationship and male guardians’ posttrautmatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms and alcohol-related problems. Regarding children's self-report of victimization in the family, proximal factors including violence between adults in the household and male guardians’ PTSD symptom severity level predicted higher levels of maltreatment. Distal variables such as female guardians’ history of childhood victimization and female guardians’ exposure to traumatic war events also increased children's report of maltreatment. The current findings suggest that in the context of organized violence, an intergenerational cycle of violence persists that is exacerbated by female guardians’ re-victimization experiences and male guardians’ psychopathological symptoms.     

Do race,neglect, and childhood poverty predict physical health in adulthood? A multilevel prospective analysis

Childhood neglect and poverty often co-occur and both have been linked to poor physical health outcomes. In addition, Blacks have higher rates of childhood poverty and tend to have worse health than Whites. This paper examines the unique and interacting effects of childhood neglect, race, and family and neighborhood poverty on adult physical health outcomes. This prospective cohort design study uses a sample (N = 675) of court-substantiated cases of childhood neglect and matched controls followed into adulthood (M_age = 41). Health indicators (C-Reactive Protein [CRP], hypertension, and pulmonary functioning) were assessed through blood collection and measurements by a registered nurse. Data were analyzed using hierarchical linear models to control for clustering of participants in childhood neighborhoods. Main effects showed that growing up Black predicted CRP and hypertension elevations, despite controlling for neglect and childhood family and neighborhood poverty and their interactions. Multivariate results showed that race and childhood adversities interacted to predict adult health outcomes. Childhood family poverty predicted increased risk for hypertension for Blacks, not Whites. In contrast, among Whites, childhood neglect predicted elevated CRP. Childhood neighborhood poverty interacted with childhood family poverty to predict pulmonary functioning in adulthood. Gender differences in health indicators were also observed. The effects of childhood neglect, childhood poverty, and growing up Black in the United States are manifest in physical health outcomes assessed 30 years later. Implications are discussed.     

Who are the young children for whom best practices in reading are ineffective? An experimental and longitudinal study

The primary purpose of this study was to identify student characteristics that reliably predict responsiveness and nonresponsiveness to generally effective early literacy interventions. Participants were 104 children, including 7 with special needs and Individualized Education Programs (IEPs), who were tested in kindergarten and first grade. Responsiveness/nonresponsiveness status was determined after 2 years during which children participated in best practice instruction (a) in kindergarten and first grade, (b) in kindergarten only, (c) in first grade only, or (d) in neither year. This facilitated the study of three groups. Always responsive students met responsiveness criteria in both years. Sometimes responsive students met the criteria in only one year. Nonresponsive students did not meet the criteria in either year. Multivariate analysis of variance and discriminant function analysis indicated that the three groups were reliably different from one another on measures of problem behavior, verbal memory, sentence imitation, syntactic awareness, vocabulary, naming speed, and segmentation. A combination of naming speed, vocabulary, sentence imitation, problem behavior, and amount of intervention correctly predicted 82.1% of nonresponsive students, 30.0% of sometimes responsive students, and 84.1% of always responsive students. Fifty students from kindergarten and first grade were tested again at the end of what should have been their third-grade year. All but 1 of the nonresponsive students who received intervention had been identified as requiring special education and had an IEP with reading goals.     

Do executive functions contribute to writing quality in beginning writers? A longitudinal study with second graders

Reading and Writing - Writing is an important activity that involves many demanding processes. Given the complexity and goal-directed nature of writing, this activity is heavily dependent on...     

A longitudinal study of the role of children’s altruism and forgiveness in the relation between parental aggressive discipline and anxiety of preschoolers in China

Using data collected over a 1-year period on a stratified random sample of 368 parents with children studying in nurseries (mean age = 3.97 years), this study assessed the predictive effects of parental corporal punishment, parental psychological aggression, preschoolers’ altruism, and preschoolers’ forgiveness on preschoolers’ anxiety symptoms in Hong Kong, China. Results of hierarchical regression analyses showed that parental psychological aggression, preschoolers’ altruism and preschoolers’ forgiveness at Time 1 significantly predicted preschoolers’ anxiety at Time 2, when controlling for the initial level of preschoolers’ anxiety and important demographic variables that co-vary with preschoolers’ anxiety. Moreover, preschoolers’ altruism moderated the predictive effect of parental psychological aggression on preschoolers’ anxiety symptoms. The study has several significant contributions. First, the study supports the predictive effect of parental aggressive discipline on preschoolers’ anxiety. Second, we provide evidence that preschoolers’ altruism and forgiveness negatively predict preschoolers’ anxiety symptoms. Third, preschoolers’ altruism and forgiveness are shown to protect them against parental psychological aggression. A dual-focus approach to intervention and prevention is proposed to reduce aggressive discipline by parents as well as to enhance altruism and forgiveness in children. Parent training programs could be provided to teach parents positive discipline strategies. Home-based or school-based interventions could be designed for preschool children to foster and enhance their altruism and forgiveness.     

Does basic need satisfaction mediate the link between stress exposure and well-being? A diary study among beginning teachers

An imbalance between work-related stressors and resources, which we refer to as stress exposure, is often found to impair teachers' occupational well-being. However, the psychological mechanisms that explain this relationship are mostly unknown. We assumed that satisfaction of the basic psychological needs for competence, relatedness with students, and relatedness with colleagues acts as a mediator. To test this assumption, we conducted a two-week diary study with 152 beginning teachers. A multilevel within-subject mediation analysis showed that teachers felt less work enthusiasm and more emotional exhaustion on days when stress exposure was high. Whereas the needs for competence and relatedness with students explained the association with work enthusiasm, the need for competence mediated the relationship with emotional exhaustion. Additionally, the least experienced teachers felt more emotional exhaustion when the need for relatedness with students was not satisfied. These findings add to our understanding of the daily intra-individual processes affecting beginning teachers' occupational well-being.     

Does sensitivity to orthographic regularities influence reading and spelling acquisition? A 1-year prospective study

Recent studies focused on the influence of orthographic processing on reading and spelling performance. It was found that orthographic processing is an independent predictor of reading and spelling performance in different languages and children of different ages. This study investigated sensitivity to orthographic regularities in German-speaking children (N = 31) prior and during formal reading and spelling instruction. In addition, the relationship between sensitivity to orthographic regularities and reading and spelling performance was explored. Two aspects of children’s sensitivity to orthographic regularities (sensitivity to frequent double consonants and sensitivity to legal positions of double consonants) were measured with a nonword forced choice task. The results show that sensitivity to orthographic regularities improved significantly from kindergarten to first grade. Moreover, children’s sensitivity to orthographic regularities at the end of first grade accounted for a significant amount of unique variance in their reading and spelling performance. These results suggest that orthographic sensitivity on a sublexical level is important for the development of reading and spelling skills.     

Does the Company Programme have the same impact on young women and men? A study of entrepreneurship education in Norwegian upper secondary schools

This paper asks whether a European entrepreneurship programme called the ‘Company Programme’ (CP) has an impact on young women and men with regard to career preferences, and perceptions of business skills and the likelihood of having a company. CP is taught to 270,000 students in 39 European countries, and approximately 15% of Norwegian students participate in CP during upper secondary school. The data used are from a student survey in Norway with 1160 respondents, who were 17–18 years old. The response rate was 81%. Controlling for competing explanations, CP positively influences young women and men and their perceptions of the knowledge and skills related to starting a business, increases the share of young women that prefer self-employment and increases the share of young women and men that find it probable that they will own a company. It seems that the perceived effect of CP on skills and knowledge and preference for self-employment is somewhat stronger among young women, while the perceived effect on the likelihood of owning a company is somewhat stronger among young men.     

Does growth in private schooling contribute to Education for All? Evidence from a longitudinal,two cohort study in Andhra Pradesh,India

This paper informs debates about the potential role for low-fee private schooling in achieving Education for All goals in India. It reports Young Lives’ longitudinal data for two cohorts (2906 children) in the state of Andhra Pradesh. Eight year olds uptake of private schooling increased from 24 per cent (children born in 1994–5) to 44 per cent (children born in 2001–2). Children from rural areas, lower socioeconomic backgrounds and girls continue to be under represented. While some access gaps decreased, the gender gap seems to be widening. Evidence on risks to equity strengthen the case for an effectively regulated private sector, along with reforms to government sector schools.     

Will I succeed in middle school? A longitudinal analysis of self-efficacy in school transitions in relation to goal structures and engagement

The current study aimed to explore the concept of transition self-efficacy, which is defined as individuals’ subjective evaluation of their ability to execute the actions required for a successful transition from elementary to middle school. The study followed a sample of 128 sixth-grade students for 2 consecutive years (before and after the school transition). A path analysis based on structural equation modelling revealed that the students’ perceptions of the teachers’ emphasis on mastery goal orientations predicted academic and social aspects of self-efficacy. The social aspect of self-efficacy in turn predicted changes in the students’ emotional and behavioural engagement after the transition. The results were robust when we controlled for self-reported GPA and gender. An interaction between gender and aspects of self-efficacy was also observed. The findings emphasise the importance of transition self-efficacy for adaptive school transitions and provide evidence that teachers’ goal emphases play a significant role in promoting self-efficacy.