Production of temporal terms by 3-, 4-, and 5-year-old children

This study investigated changes in the production of temporal terms over the preschool years. Ninety-three parents of 3-, 4- and 5-year-old children completed a questionnaire in which they indicated their child's production, and accurate use, of a list of temporal words. The results suggest that use and command emerge at different ages for different terms. Correlation and difference analyses were conducted to document the pattern of development. Words representing the present (e.g., now) and very general temporal terms (e.g., ‘later’) were produced and used accurately by the majority of even the youngest children. Some terms describing specific timeframes (e.g., ‘yesterday’) were also produced from a young age but demonstrated more gradual acquisition of appropriate use across the preschool years. Other terms appeared in children's vocabularies only later in the preschool years, and were inaccurately used even by the oldest children (e.g., ‘hours’). These findings provide an initial survey of reported child competence with temporal words that has implications for research, education, and judicial contexts.     

Does social labelling encourage child schooling and discourage child labour in Nepal?

This paper explores the determinants of child labour vis-à-vis child schooling. It further examines the influence of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) which are engaged in social labelling, on the incidence of child labour and schooling trade-off. The empirical results show that the probability of child schooling increases as well as child labour decreases if a carpet firm has adopted a labelling scheme. It can also be shown that labelling NGOs have a significant positive influence on sending the ex-child labourers to school.     

What did schools experience from participating in a randomised controlled study (PLAY) that prioritised risk and challenge in active play for children while at school?

‘Risky’ play is an important component of play, which positively affects the cognitive, social and emotional development of children. However, a growing culture of ‘risk aversion’ may be limiting the degree of risk that children are allowed to encounter. We undertook qualitative interviews with eight schools to examine the acceptability of an intervention designed to increase risk and challenge in the school playground (e.g. more rough-and-tumble play and tree climbing). Schools were overwhelmingly positive about the approach and all enjoyed participating. Each school believed many benefits occurred from increasing risk and challenge within play, including better behaviour, improved cooperation between children and increases in physical activity. There were some challenges for schools, but these were generally research related, and all were viewed as acceptable. Indeed, schools found the process enlightening, and upon completion of the two-year intervention often viewed play in quite a different light.     

School climate and exposure to bullying: a multilevel study

This study investigates associations between aspects of school climate, measured by students’ assessments aggregated to the class level, and exposure to bullying, measured at the individual level. The data were derived from the Stockholm School Survey of 2006–2010 with information from 16,418 ninth-grade students (aged 15–16 years) distributed over 871 classes and 259 schools. Three-level binary logistic regression was applied. Two of the studied school climate aspects in particular were linked with the occurrence of bullying: In classes where a high proportion of students claimed to be aware of the school rules and in classes where a high proportion of students stated that adults intervene against bullying, fewer students reported having been bullied. The findings imply that striving toward a school climate characterized by transparent rules and clear disapproval of harassments may help to reduce bullying.     

Randomized controlled trial of a parenting program to reduce the risk of child maltreatment in South Africa

Parenting programs in high-income countries have been shown to reduce the risk of child maltreatment. However, there is limited evidence of their effectiveness in low- and middle-income countries. The objective of this study was to examine the initial effects of a parenting program in reducing the risk of child maltreatment in highly-deprived and vulnerable communities in Cape Town, South Africa. Low-income parents (N = 68) with children aged three to eight years were randomly assigned to either a group-based parenting program or a wait-list control group. Observational and parent-report assessments were taken at baseline and at immediate post-test after the intervention was delivered. Primary outcomes were parent-report and observational assessments of harsh parenting, positive parenting, and child behavior problems. Secondary outcomes were parent-report assessments of parental depression, parenting stress, and social support. Results indicated moderate treatment effects for increased frequency of parent-report of positive parenting (d = 0.63) and observational assessments of parent-child play (d = 0.57). Observational assessments also found moderate negative treatment effects for less frequent positive child behavior (d = −0.56). This study is the first randomized controlled trial design to rigorously test the effectiveness of a parenting program on reducing the risk of child maltreatment in sub-Saharan Africa using both observational and self-report assessments. Results provide preliminary evidence of effectiveness of reducing the risk of child maltreatment by improving positive parenting behavior. Further development is required to strengthen program components regarding child behavior management and nonviolent discipline strategies. Future research would benefit from a larger trial with sufficient power to determine program effectiveness.     

Parents’ Negative Relational Disclosures and Young Adult Children’s Perceptions of Appropriateness and Feelings of Being Caught

This study tested the degree to which the perceived appropriateness of parents’ negative relational disclosures moderated the association between such disclosures and young adult children’s feelings of being caught between their parents. Participants included 241 young adult children who completed online surveys. Whereas negative relational disclosures received from both mother and father positively predicted children feeling caught, the perceived appropriateness of those disclosures inversely predicted their feelings of being caught. After controlling for divorce status, the positive association between negative relational disclosures and feelings of being caught depended upon the perceived appropriateness of the disclosures for fathers but not for mothers.     

Defining reasonable force: Does it advance child protection?

Fifty-two countries have abolished all physical punishment of children, yet Canada has retained its criminal defense to ‘reasonable' corrective force. In 2004, Canada's Supreme Court attempted to set limits on punitive acts that can be considered reasonable under the law. In the present study, we examined the validity of these limits. If the court's limits provide adequate protection to children, most substantiated child maltreatment cases should exceed those limits. We operationalized each limit and applied it to a provincially representative sample of substantiated child physical maltreatment cases. We found that the majority of substantiated physical abuse cases fell within each of the court's limits. In more than one in four substantiated physical abuse cases, not even one of the court's limits was exceeded. The best predictor of whether a report was substantiated was whether spanking was typical in the child's home. The findings suggest that abolition of physical punishment would provide greater protection to children than attempts to set limits on its use.     

Neuroticism as a risk factor for child abuse in victims of childhood sexual abuse

Findings on the relationship of experienced sexual abuse and abuse behavior in adulthood are ambiguous. However, associations between experienced abuse and neuroticism as well as between neuroticism and active child abuse have been reported repeatedly. In our study, we compared pedosexual child abusers with consumers of internet child pornography and control subjects with adult-sexual preference with regard to traumatic childhood experience (Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, CTQ), personality traits (NEO – Personality Inventory – Revised, NEO-PI-R), and sexual abnormalities (Multiphasic Sex Inventory, MSI). In an initial analysis, sexual abuse experienced in childhood was not directly linked to sexual abuse behavior in adulthood. However, this relationship was mediated by neuroticism. In a second step, the CTQ scales were conflated and, using a structural equation model, direct links between the overall level of abuse experienced in childhood (generally high CTQ levels) and sexual abuse behavior in adulthood revealed again the mediation by neurotic personality. We conclude that the overall level of abuse experienced in childhood in general, and less sexual abuse experience in particular, modulates the tendency for child sexual abuse behavior in adulthood. Data suggest that, depending on the resilience of an individual, abuse experience during childhood increases the likelihood of developing neurotic personality traits in later life, which are in turn considered to increase the risk of child sexual abuse in child sex offenders.     

Credibility assessment in child sexual abuse investigations: A descriptive analysis

A major challenge in cases of child sexual abuse (CSA) is determining the credibility of children's reports. Consequently cases may be misclassified as false or deemed ‘no judgment possible’. Based on a large national sample of reports of CSA made in Israel in 2014, the study examines child and event characteristics contributing to the probability that reports of abuse would be judged credible. National data files of all children aged 3–14, who were referred for investigation following suspected victimization of sexual abuse, and had disclosed sexual abuse, were analyzed. Cases were classified as either ‘credible’ or ‘no judgment possible’. The probability of reaching a ‘credible’ judgment was examined in relation to characteristics of the child (age, gender, cognitive delay, marital status of the parents,) and of the abusive event (abuse severity, frequency, perpetrator–victim relationship, perpetrator's use of grooming, and perpetrator's use of coercion), controlling for investigator's identity at the cluster level of the analysis. Of 1563 cases analyzed, 57.9% were assessed as credible. The most powerful predictors of a credible judgment were older age and absence of a cognitive delay. Reports of children to married parents, who experienced a single abusive event that involved perpetrator's use of grooming, were also more likely to be judged as credible. Rates of credible judgments found are lower than expected suggesting under-identification of truthful reports of CSA. In particular, those cases of severe and multiple abuse involving younger and cognitively delayed children are the ones with the lowest chances of being assessed as credible.     

Maltreatment,family environment,and social risk factors: Determinants of the child welfare to juvenile justice transition among maltreated children and adolescents

This study prospectively examines the transition from the child welfare system into the juvenile justice system among 10,850 maltreated children and adolescents and explores how patterns of risks, including severity and chronicity of maltreatment, adverse family environment, and social risk factors, affect service systems transition. Almost three percent of maltreated children and adolescents had their first juvenile justice adjudication within an average of approximately six years of their initial child protective services investigation (CPS). Social risk factors, including a child’s age at index CPS investigation (older), gender (boys), and race/ethnicity (Black and Hispanic) significantly predicted the risk of transition into the juvenile justice system. Recurrence of maltreatment and experiencing at least one incident of neglect over the course of the study period also increased the risk of transition into the juvenile justice system. However, subtypes of maltreatment, including physical, sexual, and other types of abuse did not significantly predict the risk of juvenile justice system transition. Finally, family environment characterized by poverty also significantly increased the risk of juvenile justice system transition. These findings have important implications for developing and tailoring services for maltreated children, particularly those at-risk for transitioning into the juvenile justice system.