The role of co-occurring intimate partner violence,alcohol use,drug use,and depressive symptoms on disciplinary practices of mothers involved with child welfare

BackgroundEvidence suggests intimate partner violence (IPV), substance use, and depression adversely affect the disciplinary practices of caregivers involved with child welfare; however, it remains uncertain whether the combined effects of these conditions are syndemic.ObjectiveThe purpose of this study was to examine the (1) associations between IPV, problematic drug use, problematic alcohol use, and depressive symptoms and self-reported disciplinary practices among a sample of mothers with child welfare contact; and (2) effect of co-occurrence of these conditions on child disciplinary practices.Participants and settingWe used data from the second cohort of the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being (NSCAW II). The analysis focused on 965 biological mothers with children who were subjects of child abuse/neglect investigations between February 2008 and April 2009 in the United States.MethodWe conducted multiple linear regression analyses.ResultsOur findings showed that IPV (B = .28; 95% CI = [.04, .53]) and depressive symptoms (B = .27; 95% CI = [.03, .52]) were independently associated with psychologically aggressive disciplinary practices. Also, IPV was independently associated with physically aggressive disciplinary practices (B = .64; 95% CI = [.18, 1.11]); and IPV (B = .21; 95% CI = [.06, .35]) and depressive symptoms (B = .22; 95% CI = [.07, .37]) were independently associated with neglectful parenting strategies. A significant effect was found for the interaction between problematic drug use and depressive symptoms with physically aggressive practices as the outcome. As the number of conditions caregivers had increased, so did their propensity for self-reporting each of the disciplinary practices (p < .05).ConclusionsThe findings highlight the need for using a more holistic/multidisciplinary approach to child maltreatment prevention research, policy, and intervention.     

Parenting styles and bullying. The mediating role of parental psychological aggression and physical punishment

Studies concerning parenting styles and disciplinary practices have shown a relationship between both factors and bullying involvement in adolescence. The scarce available evidence suggests that abusive disciplinary practices increase teenagers’ vulnerability to abuse in school or the likelihood of them becoming abusers of their peers in the same context. However, there is a lack of knowledge about the indirect effect of parenting styles in adolescents’ bullying involvement through disciplinary practices, although a relationship between parenting styles and disciplinary practices has been shown. The aim of this research was to determine the mediating role of punitive parental discipline (physical punishment and psychological aggression) between the dimensions of parents’ parenting styles and their children's involvement in bullying victimization and aggression. We used a sample comprising 2060 Spanish high school students (47.9% girls; mean age = 14.34). Structural equation modeling was performed to analyze the data. The results confirmed the mediating role of parental discipline between the parenting practices analyzed and students’ aggression and victimization. Significant gender-related differences were found for aggression involvement, where boys were for the most part linked to psychological aggression disciplinary practices and girls to physical punishment. Victimization directly correlated with parental psychological aggression discipline behavior across both sexes. In conclusion, the results seem to suggest that non-democratic parenting styles favor the use of punitive discipline, which increases the risk of adolescents’ bullying involvement. Therefore, intervention programs must involve parents to make them aware about the important role they play in this process and to improve their parenting styles.     

Understanding child directed caregiver aggression: An examination of characteristics and predictors associated with perpetration

Child physical abuse presents a substantial public health concern with lasting negative consequences for victims. Understanding the variables associated with perpetration can help inform prevention and intervention efforts. The current study examined background and clinical variables in a sample of 195 help-seeking caregivers who were at risk for or had been identified as having engaged in child directed aggression or abuse. We found that caregivers who did (vs. did not) report severe child directed aggression had poorer parenting and reported more drug use. Having a recent allegation of child physical abuse (vs. no allegation) based on official child welfare records was unrelated to parenting, drug and alcohol use, negative affect, parenting stress, or neglect. Structural equation modeling was used to examine the influence of parenting stress on child directed aggression and its effects through negative affect and positive parenting. We found that parenting stress predicted higher negative affect, which was related to greater child directed aggression. Additionally, parenting stress predicted lower positive parenting, which in turn predicted lower child directed aggression. A model including drug and alcohol use did not add to the prediction of child directed aggression. Prediction of neglect using similar variables found that only positive parenting was of import and that parenting stress and negative affect did not contribute to neglect. Implications for future prevention and treatment development efforts with abusive/aggressive caregivers are discussed.     

Gender Differences in Child Aggression: Relations With Gender‐Differentiated Parenting and Parents’ Gender‐Role Stereotypes

This longitudinal study examines the association between child gender and child aggression via parents’ physical control, moderated by parents’ gender‐role stereotypes in a sample of 299 two‐parent families with a 3‐year‐old child in the Netherlands. Fathers with strong stereotypical gender‐role attitudes and mothers were observed to use more physical control strategies with boys than with girls, whereas fathers with strong counterstereotypical attitudes toward gender roles used more physical control with girls than with boys. Moreover, when fathers had strong attitudes toward gender roles (stereotypical or counterstereotypical), their differential treatment of boys and girls completely accounted for the gender differences in children's aggressive behavior a year later. Mothers’ gender‐differentiated parenting practices were unrelated to gender differences in child aggression.     

Harsh parenting and child aggression: Child moral disengagement as the mediator and negative parental attribution as the moderator

As the negative outcomes of harsh parenting for child development have been gradually revealed, researchers become increasingly interested in the mechanisms through which harsh parenting affects child development. This study aimed to explore the mediating role of child moral disengagement and the moderating role of negative parental attribution in the relation of harsh parenting to child aggression. A sample of 397 Chinese adolescents aged from 12 to 16 years (227 boys and 170 girls, Mage = 13.98) with their parents were recruited as participants from two public schools situated in rural areas of Shandong province in China. Data were gathered from parents reporting on their harsh parenting and negative parental attribution, adolescents reporting on their moral disengagement, and peers nominating out aggressive children. Results indicated that harsh parenting was both directly and indirectly associated with adolescent aggression via adolescent moral disengagement. Negative parental attribution was found to moderate the indirect relation of harsh parenting to adolescent aggression via moral disengagement. Specifically, harsh parenting was only significantly associated with moral disengagement for adolescents with high levels of moral disengagement was more likely to induce aggression among adolescents with high levels of negative parental attribution (bsimple = of harsh parenting to adolescent aggression, adolescent moral disengagement could mediate the association between harsh parenting and aggressive behaviors for adolescents with high levels of negative parental attribution.     

Bias in child maltreatment self-reports using interactive voice response (IVR)

Few methods estimate the prevalence of child maltreatment in the general population due to concerns about socially desirable responding and mandated reporting laws. Innovative methods, such as interactive voice response (IVR), may obtain better estimates that address these concerns. This study examined the utility of interactive voice response (IVR) for child maltreatment behaviors by assessing differences between respondents who completed and did not complete a survey using IVR technology. A mixed-mode telephone survey was conducted in English and Spanish in 50 cities in California during 2009. Caregivers (n = 3,023) self-reported abusive and neglectful parenting behaviors for a focal child under the age of 13 using computer-assisted telephone interviewing and IVR. We used hierarchical generalized linear models to compare survey completion by caregivers nested within cities for the full sample and age-specific ranges. For demographic characteristics, caregivers born in the United States were more likely to complete the survey when controlling for covariates. Parenting stress, provision of physical needs, and provision of supervisory needs were not associated with survey completion in the full multivariate model. For caregivers of children 0–4 years (n = 838), those reporting they could often or always hear their child from another room had a higher likelihood of survey completion. The findings suggest IVR could prove to be useful for future surveys that aim to estimate abusive and/or neglectful parenting behaviors given the limited bias observed for demographic characteristics and problematic parenting behaviors. Further research should expand upon its utility to advance estimation rates.     

Harsh parenting and adolescent aggression: Adolescents’ effortful control as the mediator and parental warmth as the moderator

Although researchers have examined the potential contribution of harsh parenting to child aggression, they have rarely explored how one parent’s harsh discipline could interact with warmth by another parent to affect child aggression. We sought to clarify whether the impact of harsh parenting by one parent on child effortful control could be buffered by warmth of the other parent, further reducing the likelihood of child aggression. 867 adolescents were chosen from two public middle schools situated in Jinan, the provincial city in Northern China. Data were gathered with adolescents reporting effortful control, their parents reporting harsh parenting, and their classmates nominating aggressive peers. A moderated mediation model was used to test the mediating and moderating hypotheses. Results indicated that adolescent effortful control partially mediated the relation of harsh fathering to adolescent aggression and completely mediated the relation of harsh mothering to adolescent aggression. Moreover, harsh fathering was only negatively associated with effortful control among adolescents with low maternal warmth and harsh mothering was only negatively associated with effortful control among adolescents with low paternal warmth, thus lowering the risk for aggression. The main conclusion is that harsh parenting by one parent could only indirectly impact on adolescent aggression via the mediator of effortful control only for adolescents with low warmth by the other parent. Our findings add to extant understandings on how different parenting practices by both parents may interact to influence children’s aggressive behaviors.     

Similarities in siblings' experiences of neglectful parenting behaviors

OBJECTIVE: Researchers and policymakers typically assume that within families, individual children are at an equivalent risk of neglectful behaviors. There is evidence that siblings experience differential parental treatment, and some research suggests that parents may maltreat their children to differing degrees. However, because neglect is typically a family-level construct, there may be a high correlation between siblings for this type of parental behavior. Therefore, our objectives were to investigate the extent to which siblings reported similar parental neglectful behaviors, whether sibling correlations for family-level types of neglectful behaviors were greater than those for child-specific forms of neglectful behaviors, whether high-risk groups differed from lower-risk groups in similarity for sibling reports for neglectful behaviors, and factors predicting differences in sibling reports of parental neglectful behaviors. METHOD: We assessed parental neglectful behaviors using child reports for 59 sibling pairs, representing both clinical and community samples. All children completed the Multidimensional Neglectful Behaviors Scale, which measures both child-specific and family-level neglectful parenting behaviors. RESULTS: Sibling intraclass correlations for neglectful behaviors were high and significant, and there were no differences in sibling correlations between clinical and community samples. Furthermore, there were no differences in correlations for family-level and child-specific items. Opposite sex siblings reported greater differences in parental neglectful behaviors, with boys reporting more neglectful behaviors than girls. CONCLUSIONS: Siblings report similar neglectful parenting behaviors, regardless of whether the family is high-risk or not, and whether neglectful behaviors are measured as a family-level or child-specific phenomenon.     

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.     

Efficacy of the Incredible Years group parent program with families in Head Start who self-reported a history of child maltreatment

Objective

A prevention form of the Incredible Years (IY) parenting program was offered to parents who had children enrolled in Head Start, regardless of whether they reported having a history of child maltreatment. This study compared whether parenting practices and child behavioral outcomes differed in families who self reported a history of child maltreatment relative to families who did not.

Methods

A site-randomized controlled trial of the IY parenting program was conducted in 64 classrooms in seven Head Start centers in Seattle, Washington. Families of 481 children took part in the study, with 335 in the IY condition and 146 in the control condition. Parenting practices and child behavior were measured by blinded raters through in-home observations and self-report questionnaires prior to the start of the IY program, in the spring after the IY program had concluded, and 12–18 months after study enrollment when children were in kindergarten. Analyses examine the impact of the IY program on parenting practices and children's behavior, exploring whether the program had differential impacts for parents with and without a self-reported history of child maltreatment.

Results

The IY program resulted in improvements along many parenting dimensions and on characteristics of observed child behavior. Program impacts were similar for parents who did and did not report a history of child maltreatment. However, parents with a reported history of prior maltreatment had greater initial room for improvement in areas such as harsh/critical parenting, nurturing/supportive parenting, and discipline competence than parents without such a history.

Conclusions

The IY parenting program has positive impacts for parents who self-reported a history of child maltreatment. While similar benefits were observed for both groups of parents in this study, results support delivering evidence-based parenting programs of longer duration and higher intensity than often used by agencies serving parents in contact with child welfare.

Practice

Agencies serving parents referred for child maltreatment should carefully examine the characteristics of the parenting programs they deliver. Use of a parenting program that has a sound base of empirical support, such as IY, and sufficient intensity and duration, is likely to make substantial changes in parents’ child-rearing practices.     

Parenting styles of mothers with deaf or hard-of-hearing children and hearing siblings

The present study aims to determine whether rearing a deaf or hard-of-hearing (d/hh) child would differentiate the parenting and disciplinary preference of parents between the d/hh and the hearing child. The parenting styles of 30 hearing mothers from Cyprus were assessed using the Greek version of the Parenting Styles & Dimensions Questionnaire. Additionally, mothers rated sibling interactions using the sibling inventory of behavior. The results indicated that the dominant parenting style for both the hearing and the d/hh children among the participating mothers was the authoritative type and the least prevalent parental types were the permissive and the strict. Moreover, mothers' perceptions of sibling relationship were found to be a significant factor in predicting mothers' reported parenting styles in this sample. The contribution of the present findings to our knowledge of the parenting characteristics and practices of families who have a d/hh child along with their possible implications for child and family services are discussed.     

Callous unemotional traits and the relationship between aggressive parenting practices and conduct problems in Singaporean families

Research into parenting influences on child conduct problems in Asian countries has been limited compared to that conducted in Western countries, especially with regard to interplay between parenting and callous unemotional (CU) traits (e.g., lack of guilt and empathy). This study examined associations between dimensions of aggressive parenting practices (psychological aggression, mild and severe physical aggression), dimensions of child aggression (proactive, reactive), and child CU traits, in Singapore. Participants were children and adolescents with clinic-referred externalizing problems (N = 282; 87.6% boys), aged 7–16 years. Mild and severe parental physical aggression was found to be uniquely associated with children’s proactive aggression, whereas parental psychological aggression was uniquely associated with both proactive and reactive aggression. Consistent with previous evidence regarding CU traits as moderators of the relationship between negative parenting and child conduct problems, physically aggressive parenting was found to be more strongly associated with children’s proactive aggression among children with low levels of CU traits, than those with high CU traits. These findings support the need for ongoing research into CU traits in Asian cultures, focused on heterogeneous risk pathways to antisocial behavior and individual differences in response to family-based interventions.     

Child and partner abuse: self-reported prevalence and attitudes in the north of Portugal

OBJECTIVES: To determine the self-reported prevalence of child and partner physical and emotional abuse in the north of Portugal and to investigate attitudes about these forms of family violence. METHODS: Data were collected by questionnaire from a representative sample of parents in two-parent families with children under the age of 18 years. A total of 2,391 parents participated (1,057 males), aged 20-67 years. Four questionnaires were used, one behavioral and one attitudinal, for each of the forms of abuse: child and partner. RESULTS: At least one act of emotional or physical abuse towards a child during the previous year was reported by 25.9% of participants (12.3% reported physically abusive and 22.4% emotionally abusive acts). Abuse of a partner was reported by 26.2% of participants; at least one act of physical abuse during the previous year was reported by 12% and of emotional abuse by 23.7%. The attitudinal data, however, showed general disapproval of the use of violence, both for disciplining children and within marital relationships. The degree of self-reported support for physical punishment was higher in participants who reported using abusive behavior. Females more commonly reported acts of child abuse, and males reported acts of partner abuse. Both forms of self-reported abuse showed an association with low educational and socio-economic status. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first study in Portugal to analyze family violence through self-report using a representative sample. The findings indicate that child and partner abuse constitute a significant problem in the region of northern Portugal. The discrepancy between the self-reported behavioral and attitudinal data may reflect conflicts in Portuguese society, which is undergoing substantial cultural changes.     

Externalizing behaviors of Ukrainian children: The role of parenting

The purpose of this study was to assess the association of positive and negative parenting with child externalizing problems. Quantitative data were collected during face-to-face interviews with 320 parents of children 9–16 years of age (50% males) in 11 communities in Eastern, Southern, and Central Ukraine. The study estimated the relationship between parenting practices and child externalizing behaviors such as aggression, delinquency, and attention problems. Results revealed that positive parenting, child monitoring, and avoidance of corporal punishment were associated with fewer child externalizing symptoms. Results also indicated that child male gender and single parenting had significant and positive association with child externalizing behaviors. This study extends international psychosocial knowledge on children and families. These findings can be used to design programs and foster dialogs about the role of family and social environments in the development of externalizing disorder among researchers, representatives of governmental and nongovernmental organizations, and mass media that work with child abuse prevention in Ukraine.     

A scoping review of evidence-based interventions available to parents of maltreated children ages 0-5 involved with child welfare services

Parents referred to child welfare services for child maltreatment often struggle against chronic risk factors including violence, substance abuse, mental health concerns, and poverty, which impinge upon their ability to be sensitive caregivers. The first line of intervention within the child welfare context is to modify parenting behavior. This scoping review comprehensively surveyed all available literature to map the extent and range of research activity around the types of interventions available within a child welfare context to parents of infants and toddlers (0–5 years of age), to identify the facilitators and/or barriers to the uptake of interventions, and to check that interventions match the risk factors faced by parents. This scoping review engaged in stringent screening of studies based upon inclusion/exclusion criteria. Sixty-five articles involving forty-two interventions met inclusion criteria. Interventions generally aimed to improve parenting practices, the relationship between parent and child, and/or attachment security, along with reducing child abuse and/or neglect. A notable finding of this scoping review is that at present, interventions for parents of children ages 0–5 involved with the child welfare system are most frequently measured via case study and quasi-experimental designs, with randomized control trials making up 26.2% of included study designs.     

Psychological and physical intimate partner violence and young children’s mental health: The role of maternal posttraumatic stress symptoms and parenting behaviors

Young children are at significant risk of exposure to intimate partner violence (IPV), and vulnerable to exposure-related psychopathology, yet few studies investigate the effects of exposure to IPV on children under the age of 5 years. The current study investigated the role of maternal PTSD symptoms and parenting strategies in the relationship between mothers’ IPV experiences and psychopathology in their young children, ages 3–6 years in a community-based cohort of 308 mother-child dyads at high risk for family violence. Data were collected from 2011 to 2014. IPV history and maternal PTSD symptoms were assessed by self-report questionnaires. Children’s symptoms were assessed with a developmentally-sensitive psychiatric interview administered to mothers. Punitive/restrictive parenting was independently-coded from in-depth interviews with mothers about their disciplinary practices. Hypothesized direct and indirect pathways between physical and psychological IPV, maternal PTSD, maternal parenting style, and children’s internalizing and externalizing symptoms were examined with mediation models. Results indicated that neither physical nor psychological IPV experienced by mothers was directly associated with children’s symptoms. However, both types of victimization were associated with maternal PTSD symptoms. Examination of indirect pathways suggested that maternal PTSD symptoms mediated the relationship between mothers’ psychological and physical IPV experiences and children’s internalizing and externalizing symptoms and mothers’ restrictive/punitive parenting mediated the relationship between mothers’ psychological IPV and children’s externalizing symptoms. In addition, there was a path from maternal physical IPV to child externalizing symptoms through both maternal PTSD symptoms and restrictive/punitive parenting. Findings highlight the importance of supporting parents in recovering from the sequelae of their own traumatic experiences, as their ensuing mental health symptoms and parenting behaviors may have a significant impact on their children’s emotional health.     

Interpartner conflict and child abuse risk among African American and Latino adolescent parenting couples

OBJECTIVE: The goal of this study was to identify links between observed conflict interactions and risk for child abuse and harsh parenting among a multiethnic sample of adolescent mothers (14-19 years) and young fathers (14-24 years). METHODS: Prior to childbirth (T1), observation-based relationship data were collected from 154 expectant adolescent couples as well as information about physical aggression between partners. Two years after childbirth (T2), data relevant to harsh disciplinary practices and child abuse-prone attitudes were collected from both young mothers and fathers. Multiple regression analyses were run to examine the correspondence between (a) couples' relationship quality prior to childbirth and (b) subsequent risk for harsh and potentially abusive parenting practices. RESULTS: Findings indicated that interpartner violence prior to childbirth predicted physically punitive parenting behavior for fathers, but not for mothers. Young mothers and fathers observed to be more warmly engaged with each other during their pre-birth couple interactions (T1) reported lower rates of physically punitive parenting behavior with their children at T2. Couples' hostility at T1 predicted fathers' level of observed hostility toward his child during a structured play activity at T2. CONCLUSIONS: Results underscore the importance of addressing the quality of couples' relations as means of preventing dysfunctional parenting practices among adolescent mothers and their partners. Adolescent mothers and their partners are at heightened risk for engaging in dysfunctional parenting, including child abuse. Focusing on pregnant adolescents and their partners, this study sought to identify interpersonal predictors of child abuse risk. Although this study did not involve administering prevention or intervention services, the goal was to test hypotheses that would inform the development of programs for young at-risk couples. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: The decision to recruit young couples prior to childbirth was based on the presumption that this period of time could provide a window of opportunity to administer couple-based child abuse prevention programs. Consistent with previous research on marital relations and parenting, results of this study support the idea that efforts to develop and administer preventive-intervention programs targeting at-risk couples could help reduce the occurrence of harsh parenting behavior and abuse.     

Trauma resilience among youth in substitute care demonstrating sexual behavior problems

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this longitudinal study was to examine the relationship between several proposed protective factors and trauma symptoms among highly vulnerable youth in the child welfare system. METHODS: Participants were 142 youth identified with a sexual behavior problem and their caregivers. Two waves of data were collected for each participant an average of 18 months apart. Foster parents reported on perceived level of support from the child welfare agency, youth involvement in club activities, and perception of youths' interpersonal and emotional competence. Youth provided self-reports of their sexual and physical abuse experiences, trauma symptoms at both time 1 and time 2, and ratings of parenting practices. RESULTS: Youth with higher rates of sexual abuse showed more negative affect and higher levels of sexual and non-sexual rumination at time 2, controlling for time 1 scores. Boys and youth who experienced better parenting practices displayed lower negative affect. Youth with higher levels of emotional and interpersonal competence showed lower levels of non-sexual rumination. Moderation analyses revealed that youth with more significant sexual abuse histories whose foster parents did not feel supported by their child welfare caseworkers had higher levels of sexually ruminative thoughts. Finally, the results revealed that only youth without sexual abuse histories experienced the benefits of club involvement in terms of lower sexual rumination scores. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrated that youth with significant vulnerabilities can still exhibit a degree of protection from trauma symptomatology in the presence of a wide range of personal and social variables. These findings support the efforts of stakeholders to promote strengths at the level of the individual, family, and broader social network and community.     

Parenting Practices and Aggressive Behavior in Chinese Children

Objective. We examined relations between parental warmth, guidance, and power assertion and child aggressive behavior in Chinese children. Design. A sample of children (N = 68), at 4 years of age, and their parents in P. R. China, participated in the study. Observational data concerning parenting and child compliance were obtained from home visits. Aggressive behavior was assessed in the context of peer interactions in the laboratory. Results. Maternal warmth and guidance were negatively associated with aggression. Parental power assertion was positively associated with aggression. The relations between parenting practices and aggressive behavior might be moderated by the child's characteristics: Whereas maternal warmth was negatively related to aggression mainly for compliant children, paternal positive parenting was negatively related to aggression for noncompliant and defiant children. Finally, maternal power assertion and paternal power assertion interacted with each other in predicting child aggression. Conclusions. The study provided valuable information about functional "meanings" of major parenting dimensions in Chinese culture.