Intervention with infants at risk for abuse or neglect

The need for direct services to infants at risk for abuse or neglect is addressed, with an emphasis on the advantages to the child of the integration of various modalities of treatment. The expertise of professionals who work with infants and young children in therapeutic and stimulation programs is required. Their experience also underscores the need for direct intervention in the parent-child interaction process. The developmental line of mastery and competence is reviewed with highlights of how this may be derailed in the at-risk infant. Finally, two suggestions are developed: that empathy might be taught to parents through an educational mode and that surrogate parenting, part-time, might be implemented routinely with mistreated children, at-risk infants, and perhaps for all infants.     

Service needs of adolescent parents in child welfare: Is an evidence-based,structured, in-home behavioral parent training protocol effective?

SafeCare is an evidence-based behavioral parent training intervention that has been successfully implemented in multiple state child welfare systems. A statewide implementation in Oklahoma established the effectiveness of SafeCare with a diverse group of parents, which included adolescent parents under 21 years of age, a particularly at-risk group. The current study examined whether SafeCare is also effective for this subsample of 294 adolescent parents with regard to child welfare recidivism, depression and child abuse potential, and attainment of service goals. Post-treatment adolescent parent ratings of program engagement and satisfaction were also examined. Among the subsample of adolescent parents, the SafeCare intervention did not result in significantly improved outcomes in terms of preventing recidivism or reduction in risk factors associated with child abuse and neglect as compared to child welfare services as usual. Further, no significant differences in program engagement and satisfaction between SafeCare and services as usual were detected. These findings shed light on the potential differences in program effectiveness between adolescent and adult parents, and the need for future research to rigorously evaluate the effectiveness of behavioral parenting programs with adolescent parents.     

Vulnerability in Research: A Developmental Perspective on Research Risk

Assessing potential risks to children who participate in developmental research is a challenging task because children are a heterogeneous population, varying in developmental competencies and in background characteristics. This essay offers a developmental perspective on research risk, emphasizing that children's vulnerability to research risk changes in complex ways: some risks decrease with increasing age, some increase as the child matures, others change in a curvilinear fashion, while some remain essentially stable with development. Because vulnerability in research does not simply decline linearly with age, assessments of research risk must entail multidimensional considerations that vary over developmental time. In a similar manner, individual characteristics of children at any age (e.g., maltreatment, at-risk status, etc.) may also heighten their vulnerability to certain risks which require special consideration by researchers. Finally, this discussion of developmental vulnerability and the principles underlying research ethics suggests that in addition to the conventional risk/benefit analysis, researchers are in an optimal position to establish and maintain standards of decent treatment of children in research that safeguard their rights as research participants. Suggestions for fostering this process in the research community are outlined.     

Attributions,affect, and behavior in abuse-risk mothers: a laboratory study

OBJECTIVE: There were two main aims: first, to assess parental attributions about child behavior in abuse-risk and nonclinic parents. Second, to assess how attributions predict affective and behavioral reactions to child behavior. METHOD: Internal-external attributions relating to the causes of child behavior were compared across mothers at-risk of child abuse (n = 40) and mothers who reported no significant parental or child conduct or behavior problems (n = 20). Mothers' attributions about the causes of the behavior of their own child and an unfamiliar child were recorded in response to the presentation of videotaped excerpts of the behavior. RESULTS: Results highlighted that compared with nonclinic mothers, abuse-risk mothers had a tendency to attribute positive child behavior to more external causes and negative child behavior to more internal causes. Differences were also found between parental cognitions about clearly positive, clearly naughty, and ambiguous child behavior. In the abuse-risk group, positive child behavior predicted coercive parenting when it elicited angry feelings in the mother; ambiguous and naughty child behavior led to coercive parenting through valence ratings of "deviant" and attributions of "internality." Analyses within the abuse-risk group showed that parental attributions are predictive of parental coerciveness for unfamiliar behavior. As behavior becomes more familiar, ratings of its valence and the affect it elicits override attributional activity. CONCLUSIONS: Parental attributions about the causes of child behavior differ according to the valence and familiarity of that behavior, and discriminate between parents at risk for child abuse. Further, attributions are predictive of the affective and behavioral responses the parent makes to the child's behavior for ambiguous or unfamiliar behavior. Evidence was found for the validity of using videotaped stimuli of the behavior of known and unknown children as a method of assessing parental attributions.     

The meaning of risk and protective factors in infancy

Recent psychological research on infants and newborns led to discoveries of early competencies in young infants hitherto unbelieved by most scientists and difficult to account for in traditional models of child development. On the other hand, accumulated empirical longitudinal evidence challenged long-held preconceptions of the enduring impacts of early experience on later development. The risk concept, adapted from pediatrics and psychiatrics, was introduced with the expectation of identifying those subgroups of infants that are of increased risk of later behavioural or developmental maladaptation. The risk concept, however, turned out to be imprecise, having too many different meanings, being too abstract, and applicable only to populations or groups, not to individuals. Combinations of the risk concept with recently developed more sophisticated models of early development, such as transactive and systemic models of development, include such concepts as vulnerability/resilience as stable personality characteristics, protection or risk as setting characteristics, and coping in the face of actual stress as situational process variables. Implications for prevention, intervention and early education are discussed with respect to some selected groups of infants considered at-risk.     

Interactive Homework: A Tool for Fostering Parent–Child Interactions and Improving Learning Outcomes for At-risk Young Children

The notion that parent involvement impacts student learning outcomes for children who are at risk for failing academically has been supported by prominent early childhood education experts. Recent attention has been given to specific ways parents can help increase student learning through their interactions with children as they complete home learning activities. It is important to note that the term parent is used interchangeably with the terms adult, guardian and family member. The term “at-risk reader” refers to readers who are at risk of failing school because of reading deficiencies. This report will examine whether parent training to increase parent–child interactions during the completion of second grade Interactive Homework Assignments (IHA) can facilitate increases in a student’s ability to draw inferences from reading selections, a skill closely aligned with proficiency in reading acquisition. The second grade level was chosen because these children were those whose teachers were concerned with preparing them to take the third grade SAT9. Third grade level was not selected because many of their professional development activities were prescribed due to their immediate concern with preparing students to take the SAT9. IHA, for the scope of this study, is homework designed to increase parent involvement and student achievement. The results indicate that specific parent training during a brief period of time, approximately four weeks, has the potential for improving academic performance for academically at-risk students.     

Physiological responses to non-child-related stressors in mothers at risk for child abuse.

Physical child abusers and adults at risk for child abuse, relative to comparison subjects, are reported to be more physiologically reactive to child-related stressors. It is not known if the reported physiological reactivity is child specific or if physical child abusers and at-risk parents are also more reactive to other types of stressful stimuli. The present study investigated changes in heart rate and skin conductance in response to four types of non-child-related stressors in at-risk and matched low-risk mothers. The four types of stressful stimuli were: a cold pressor; a stressful film depicting industrial accidents; unsolvable anagrams; and an aversive car horn. At-risk mothers, relative to low-risk mothers, had greater and more prolonged sympathetic activation during presentations of the cold pressor and the stressful film, the stimuli rated as the most stressful. The present data, combined with previous findings, support the view that generalized sympathetic activation to both child and non-child-related stressors may serve as a mediator of physical child abuse.     

论“孩奴”现象对幼儿生命成长的不良影响

"孩奴"对父母是一个辛苦而无奈的称谓,身为父母者劳其一生、倾其所有,为的是让孩子能有一个光明的未来。当父母沦为"孩奴",孩子就会承受巨大的压力,不利于他们的发展,这样的孩子走上社会反而缺乏竞争力。"孩奴"不仅是一个社会问题,更是一个教育问题,为了使更多的父母摆脱子女的"奴役",政府及相关教养机构要转变观念,给幼儿一个自由、健康的成长环境;为了使孩子健康快乐地成长,父母不妨从自身做起,做个优秀的"农夫",在关键的时刻给孩子指引,给孩子创建一个自由宽松的成长环境。     

Relationships among parental beliefs in corporal punishment, reported stress, and physical child abuse potential.

OBJECTIVE: The present study examined the extent to which parental belief in the value of corporal punishment moderates the association between level of parenting stress and physical child abuse potential. Based on existing theory, it was expected that levels of parenting stress would be positively associated with physical child abuse potential among parents who reported high levels of belief in the value of corporal punishment. METHOD: Forty-one parents (25 general population and 16 at-risk parents) were assessed for belief in the value of corporal punishment, level of parenting stress, and physical child abuse potential using self-report measures. After removal of respondents due to response distortion or missing data, the final sample consisted of 31 parents with valid and complete protocols. Based on their responses on the study measures, respondents were categorized as either high or low on belief in corporal punishment and parenting stress. RESULTS: Level of parenting stress was positively associated with physical child abuse potential. As expected, the interaction of parenting stress and belief in the value of corporal punishment was significant. Level of parenting stress was positively associated with physical child abuse potential among parents who reported high levels of belief in the value of corporal punishment. In contrast, level of parenting stress was not associated with physical child abuse potential among parents who reported low belief in the value of corporal punishment. CONCLUSIONS: The present findings are consistent social information processing and stress and coping models of the etiology of physical child abuse, and underscore the importance of considering both parental cognitions and levels of parenting stress in assessing potential for physical child abuse.     

Parenting in the Context of the Child: Genetic and Social Processes

The focus on the role of parenting in child development has a long-standing history. When measures of parenting precede changes in child development, researchers typically infer a causal role of parenting practices and attitudes on child development. However, this research is usually conducted with parents raising their own biological offspring. Such research designs cannot account for the effects of genes that are common to parents and children, nor for genetically influenced traits in children that influence how they are parented and how parenting affects them. The aim of this monograph is to provide a clearer view of parenting by synthesizing findings from the Early Growth and Development Study (EGDS). EGDS is a longitudinal study of adopted children, their birth parents, and their rearing parents studied across infancy and childhood. Families (N = 561) were recruited in the United States through adoption agencies between 2000 and 2010. Data collection began when adoptees were 9 months old (males = 57.2%; White 54.5%, Black 13.2%, Hispanic/Latinx 13.4%, Multiracial 17.8%, other 1.1%). The median child age at adoption placement was 2 days (M = 5.58, SD = 11.32). Adoptive parents were predominantly in their 30s, White, and coming from upper-middle- or upper-class backgrounds with high educational attainment (a mode at 4-year college or graduate degree). Most adoptive parents were heterosexual couples, and were married at the beginning of the project. The birth parent sample was more racially and ethnically diverse, but the majority (70%) were White. At the beginning of the study, most birth mothers and fathers were in their 20s, with a mode of educational attainment at high school degree, and few of them were married. We have been following these family members over time, assessing their genetic influences, prenatal environment, rearing environment, and child development. Controlling for effects of genes common to parents and children, we confirmed some previously reported associations between parenting, parent psychopathology, and marital adjustment in relation to child problematic and prosocial behavior. We also observed effects of childrenʼs heritable characteristics, characteristics thought to be transmitted from parent to child by genetic means, on their parents and how those effects contributed to subsequent child development. For example, we found that genetically influenced child impulsivity and social withdrawal both elicited harsh parenting, whereas a genetically influenced sunny disposition elicited parental warmth. We found numerous instances of children's genetically influenced characteristics that enhanced positive parental influences on child development or that protected them from harsh parenting. Integrating our findings, we propose a new, genetically informed process model of parenting. We posit that parents implicitly or explicitly detect genetically influenced liabilities and assets in their children. We also suggest future research into factors such as marital adjustment, that favor parents responding with appropriate protection or enhancement. Our findings illustrate a productive use of genetic information in prevention research: helping parents respond effectively to a profile of child strengths and challenges rather than using genetic information simply to identify some children unresponsive to current preventive interventions.     

Predicting child maltreatment in the first 4 years of life from characteristics assessed in the neonatal period.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the significance of neonatal risk factors from the individual, family, social, and parenting behavior domains of the ecological model of child maltreatment in predicting maltreatment reports in the first 4 years of life, and to examine the extent to which the interactions of life event stress and social support modify those risk factors. METHOD: Mothers of 708 predominantly at-risk infants were interviewed in their homes soon after their infants' discharge from the hospital. State child abuse and neglect central registry data were tracked every 6 months until the infants reached their fourth birthdays. RESULTS: The incidence of maltreatment reports was higher in households where the mothers were depressed, complained of psychosomatic symptoms, had not graduated from high school, consumed alcohol, participated in public income support programs, cared for more than one dependent child, or were separated from their own mothers at age 14 years (p < .1). In interaction models including these seven predisposing variables, there were significant interactions (p < .01) between social support, as measured by the social well-being index after the birth of the index child, and depression, and between social well-being and stress, as measured by an increase in total life events. CONCLUSION: Some predisposing risk factors measured soon after birth continue to be significant predictors of child maltreatment reports through the fourth year of life. In general, families with low levels of social support had a higher risk of a maltreatment report. For families with lower levels of maternal depression and/or life event stress, low social support significantly increased the risk of a maltreatment report by as much as a factor of four.     

Moral and civic responsibility and the commercialization of higher education

Abstract

This paper examines religious affiliation and commitment of teenagers as a function of the quality of mother‐child interaction and the mothers’ religious commitment, as an illustration of the principle that transmission of parental norms and values to their children is facilitated or inhibited by the quality of their interaction. We expected that in cases where mother‐child interaction was good, parents would be better able to impose their own values upon their children, resulting in a lower disaffiliation and higher religious commitment in high quality of family‐interaction families. This expectation was tested using data from 223 British adolescent‐mother pairs, by means of logistic and ordinary regression analysis. The results largely supported the hypotheses, exemplifying how mothers in their role of moral agents may profit from good mother‐child relationships.     

ICDP approach to awareness-raising about children's rights and preventing violence, child abuse, and neglect

In April 2011, the Committee on the Rights of the Child issued the General Comment No. 13 on the right of the child to freedom from all forms of violence. Its Article 19 declares that "protective measures should, as appropriate, include effective procedures for the establishment of social programs to provide necessary support for the child and for those who have the care of the child." One available social program that focuses on providing support for parents, caregivers and children is the International Child Development Program (ICDP), which is presented in this article. The ICDP is designed to influence and improve the quality of contact and relation between the caregivers, usually parents, and children, through the practical application of the eight themes or guidelines for positive interaction. The Convention on the Rights of the Child is a value-based legal document ratified by most countries in the world. This is a significant achievement and it gives a new basis and legitimization for a more humane treatment of children all over the world. Nevertheless, it is important to understand that there is a big gap between a legal document describing ideal conditions for children at a macro-governmental level and its implementation at the microlevel of families and communities. The ICDP is another expression of the same humanitarian spirit as it is encoded in the convention of children' rights. ICDP can be put in practice in any community to create positive conditions for the fulfillment of fundamental children's rights: the right to be protected from violence and to receive the loving care and guidance from the immediate environment which is required to ensure healthy human development. Introducing children's rights is likely to have a major impact on families (and all levels of authorities) if efforts are also made to activate awareness and deeper bonding to children as persons. Without a deep activation of a more humanized and caring relationship to children, provided by social programs such as ICDP, the advocacy for children's rights may become an empty shell without its basis in human realities.     

Modeling risk for child abuse and harsh parenting in families with depressed and substance-abusing parents

Children with substance abusing parents are at considerable risk for child maltreatment. The current study applied an actor–partner interdependence model to examine how father only (n = 52) and dual couple (n = 33) substance use disorder, as well as their depressive symptomology influenced parents’ own (actor effects) and the partner's (partner effects) overreactivity in disciplinary interactions with their children, as well as their risk for child maltreatment. Parents completed the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D; Radloff, 1977), the overreactivity subscale from the Parenting Scale (Arnold, O’Leary, Wolff, & Acker, 1993), and the Brief Child Abuse Potential Inventory (Ondersma, Chaffin, Mullins, & LeBreton, 2005). Results of multigroup structural equation models revealed that a parent's own report of depressive symptoms predicted their risk for child maltreatment in both father SUD and dual SUD couples. Similarly, a parent's report of their own depressive symptoms predicted their overreactivity in disciplinary encounters both in father SUD and dual SUD couples. In all models, partners’ depressive symptoms did not predict their partner's risk for child maltreatment or overreactivity. Findings underscore the importance of a parent's own level of depressive symptoms in their risk for child maltreatment and for engaging in overreactivity during disciplinary episodes.     

Common components of evidence-based parenting programs for preventing maltreatment of school-age children

Child maltreatment can lead to a variety of negative outcomes in childhood including physical and mental health problems that can extend into adulthood. Given the transactional nature of child maltreatment and the difficulties that many maltreating families experience, child protection services typically offer various kinds of programs to maltreated children, their parents, and/or their families. Although the specific difficulties experienced by these families may vary, sub-optimal parenting practices are typically part of the picture and may play a central role in maltreated children’s development. Hence, to deal with child maltreatment, programs that focus on parenting practices are essential, and identifying the common components of effective programs is of critical importance. The objectives of the present study were to: 1) describe the components of evidence-based parenting programs aimed at parents who have maltreated their elementary school-aged children or are at-risk for doing so and 2) identify the components that are common to these programs, using the approach proposed by Barth and Liggett-Creel (2014). Fourteen evidence-based parenting programs aimed at parents who had maltreated their elementary school-aged children (ages 6–12) or were at-risk for doing so were identified using both a review of relevant online databases of evidence-based programs (California Evidence-Based Clearinghouse for Child Welfare, Blueprints for Healthy Youth Development, Youth.gov, and the National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices). Common components were identified (operationalized as components present in two thirds of programs) and discussed. The identification of common components of evidence-based programs may help clinicians choose the best intervention methods.     

Family education, child-parent interactions and child development

We examine the influence of family educational practices on the interaction and communication competencies of four-year-old children. The child, as an active player in its own development, has to manage intra- and inter-personal conflicts in the socio-cognitive and socio-affective registers. We postulate that parental educational practices orient the relationship which each child develops with the world and with itself. Family educational practices were evaluated by means of two questionnaires (general education, specific education). The child’s communication competence was assessed on the following levels: intrapsychic dynamics (projective, tests, social competence and self-representation scales); oral and written communication competence (typological analysis (250 children and their parents). The results show that sociocultural contexts interact with family educational concepts and practices to influence the development of self-representations and the capacity for oral and written communication. General family education modulates the intrapsychic personal dynamics of young children, while specific family education is more responsible for influencing behaviours linked to school activities. A top-down hierarchical analysis was used to differentiate between these two forms of communication competence and the patterns adopted by the child within the diversity of family educational contexts.     

Nutritional deprivation and related emotional aspects in Calcutta children

In the developing countries, nutritional deprivation is a major cause of impaired child health and development and, in a wider sense, is a form of child abuse and neglect. The most common type, protein-energy malnutrition (PEM), occurs in a complex sociocultural and economic milieu which is the product of extreme poverty, precarious and unhygienic living, food shortage, large families, ignorance and an imcompatible blending of traditional and modern methods and customs of child feeding and rearing. Children with PEM are also emotionally deprived largely due to the lack of stimulation from the same environment. Parental death or serious illness and occasionally broken families become additional contributors of physical and emotional neglect of children and precipitate severe malnutrition. Some over-affectionate parents refuse to hospitalize even the moribund child or take the child back home at their own risk soon after admission. Others showing less concern, particularly for the female child, are reluctant to visit the child in the hospital, or refuse to take back the child promptly when discharged and in instances of death, leave the body unclaimed. A hospitalized child initially reacts violently to parental separation unless it is too sick. Adaptation occurs soon but in cases of prolonged stay, the hospital becomes the home and severe emotional reactions occur again on discharge. The consequences of nutritional and emotional deprivation in infancy and childhood are physical stunting and intellectual deficit in later life. National preventive programmes in the process of implementation are outlined.     

幼师学生良好专业素质的培养

幼儿教师肩负着儿童启蒙教育的重任,也直接关系着下一代人的成长,有专家认为新时代的幼儿教师应具备以下特征:丰富的教育理念和教育能力;与幼儿以及家长进行良好互动和沟通的能力;掌握孩子发展水平并尊重孩子的生长发育规律的能力以及对环境的设计和使用能力。但是,就幼师专业传统的教育教学方式来看,具有一定的缺点和闭塞性,笔者结合自己多年来的教育教学实践谈谈自己的看法。     

Parents as protectors: A qualitative study of parents’ views on child sexual abuse prevention

Although parents are essential to child sexual abuse (CSA) prevention efforts, their views on prevention and protection are not always represented in the research literature. In this qualitative study of 24 Australian parents, beliefs about CSA, its risk factors, prevention methods, and parents’ role in CSA protection, and parents' approaches to protection of their own children, are examined. Findings were condensed into five themes: (a) parents' understanding of child sexual abuse, grooming and risk; (b) parent-led CSA education; (c) parents’ beliefs about CSA education; (d) children recognizing and resisting CSA; and (e) parent responsibility for protection. Findings suggest that parents have a good knowledge of CSA and its risks. However, they do not provide their children with the comprehensive prevention messages recommended by prevention campaigns and many concentrate on abduction dangers. This gap between knowledge and parental communication with children could be due to parents' beliefs that there may be harms associated with education of children about CSA (e.g., such as inciting new fears and worries or reducing trust in others) and that the method may not be effective in protecting children from CSA. This study adds to the existing literature by presenting information that could be useful in designing programs to include parents in CSA protection and by approaching CSA research with parents as the key agents in the protection of children.     

Parents’ PTSD symptoms and child abuse potential during the perinatal period: Direct associations and mediation via relationship conflict

BackgroundPosttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms are associated with parental aggression towards children, but little is known about the relation between parents’ PTSD symptoms and their risk for perpetrating child physical abuse during the early parenting years, when the potential for prevention of abuse may be highest.ObjectiveTo examine direct associations between mothers’ and fathers’ PTSD symptoms and child abuse potential, as well as indirect effects through couple relationship adjustment (i.e., conflict and love) in a high-risk sample of parents during the perinatal period, most of whom were first-time parents.Participants and settingFrom March 2013 to August 2016, data were collected from 150 expecting or new parental dyads in which the mother was participating in a home visiting program.MethodsData were analyzed using the Actor-Partner Interdependence Mediation Model.ResultsFor mothers and fathers, there were direct associations between PTSD symptom severity and child abuse potential (βs = .51, ps <.001), and this association for fathers was stronger at higher levels of mothers’ PTSD symptoms (β = .15, p = .03). In addition, parents’ own and their partners’ PTSD symptoms were each indirectly associated with parents’ own child abuse potential through parents’ report of interparental conflict (standardized indirect effects = .052–.069, ps = .004) but not love.ConclusionsAddressing parents’ PTSD symptoms and relationship conflict during the perinatal period using both systemic and developmental perspectives may uniquely serve to decrease the risk of child physical abuse and its myriad adverse consequences.