Ecological Predictors of Disciplinary Style and Child Abuse Potential in a Hispanic and Anglo-American Sample

Recent attention to multicultural issues has sparked recognition that parenting is also a culturally construed phenomenon. The present study involved a diverse sample of 90 Anglo-American and Hispanic parents examining predictors based on distal/proximal levels as conceptualized in the ecological model. The study examined background characteristics (e.g., minority status, educational level, income), intrapersonal (anger, parenting competence, parenting satisfaction), and extrapersonal (social support) factors in the prediction of child abuse potential and dysfunctional disciplinary style. Parents participated anonymously in an in-home assessment. Neither minority status nor income predicted abuse potential or parenting style beyond what was accounted for by educational level. The pattern of findings for the sample suggests the relative importance of anger expression, parenting self-efficacy, and social support satisfaction in both abuse potential and disciplinary style for both Hispanic and Anglo-American parents. Future research directions with diverse samples are considered, including the need for measures specifically designed to assess parenting issues in diverse cultural groups.     

A Multimodal Study of Childhood Trauma and Distress Tolerance in Young Adulthood

Individuals with a history of childhood trauma experience deficits in emotion regulation. However, few studies have investigated childhood trauma and both perceived (i.e., self-report) and behavioral measures of distress tolerance. The current study evaluated associations between childhood trauma (i.e., physical abuse, sexual abuse, and witnessing family violence) and measures of perceived (Distress Tolerance Scale) and behavioral distress tolerance (i.e., Paced Auditory Serial Addition Test, breath-holding). Participants were 320 undergraduate students with a history of interpersonal trauma (e.g., sexual/physical assault). Structural equation modeling was used to evaluate associations between frequency of childhood trauma type and distress tolerance. Greater childhood physical abuse was associated with higher perceived distress tolerance. Greater levels of witnessing family violence were associated with lower behavioral distress tolerance on the breath-holding task. No significant effects were found for Paced Auditory Serial Addition Test performance. Associations between childhood trauma and emotion regulation likely are complex and warrant further study.     

Child Maltreatment,Emotion Regulation,and Posttraumatic Stress: The Impact of Emotional Abuse

This study examined the relationship of emotion regulation to multiple forms of child abuse and subsequent posttraumatic stress. Particular consideration was given to emotional abuse, which has received less attention in the literature. Results from a survey of 912 female college students revealed that women who reported a history of sexual, physical, or emotional abuse endorsed greater emotion regulation difficulties compared to women without abuse histories. Notably, emotional abuse was the strongest predictor of emotion deregulation. Mediation analyses indicated that emotion dysregulation partially explained the relationship between physical and emotional abuse and symptoms of posttraumatic stress, suggesting that intervention efforts aimed at improving emotion regulation strategies might be beneficial in decreasing posttraumatic stress among women with child maltreatment histories.     

Exploring the Relationship Between Child Maltreatment,Intimate Partner Violence Victimization,and Self-Injurious Thoughts and Behaviors

Child maltreatment is considered a significant risk factor for young adult self-injury; however, the mechanisms that underlie this relationship are not yet understood. To elucidate this association, the mediating role of intimate partner violence victimization in the relationship between child maltreatment and self-injurious thoughts and behaviors was investigated. The sample consisted of 406 young adults (346 females; M_age = 19.87 years; SD = 1.72) involved in a couple relationship. Results of bootstrapping procedures demonstrated that intimate partner violence victimization mediated the relationship between child maltreatment and self-injurious behaviors but did not mediate the association between child maltreatment and self-injurious thoughts. Results suggest that young adults with a history of child maltreatment may be more likely to be exposed to IPV victimization, which, in turn, is associated with the use of self-injurious behaviors, but not the use of self-injurious thoughts. Findings highlight the utility of examining models that incorporate distal and proximal factors contributing to self-injury, and provide direction toward better understanding the relationship experiences of self-injuring young adults.     

Cumulative Contribution of Child Maltreatment to Emotional Experience and Regulatory Intent in Intimate Adult Interactions

This study examined the link between experiencing multiple types of child maltreatment and intentions to control emotion during charged discussions with intimate partners in adulthood, and whether the link is mediated by intensity of negative emotions. Using video recall, 97 couples rated their levels of emotions and intentions to control emotion during charged discussions with partners. Number of types of child maltreatment reported was linked with effort to control emotion, and the relationship was partially mediated by intensity of participants’ feelings of hostility. For men, the link was also partially mediated by self-reported sadness and anxiety. Findings underscore the importance of attending to abuse survivors’ experiences of and attempts to manage intense emotions in treatment, particularly in couples therapy.     

心理虐待对儿童认知情绪调节策略的影响：人格特质的中介作用

采用儿童认知情绪调节问卷、儿童版艾森克人格问卷、儿童心理虐待量表对405名8～12岁儿童进行研究,考察人格特质在心理虐待对认知情绪调节策略关系中的中介作用。结果发现：(1)儿童心理虐待与不适应性认知情绪调节策略呈显著正相关;儿童神经质与不适应性认知情绪调节策略呈显著正相关儿童内外倾与适应性认知情绪调节策略呈显著正相关(2)儿童神经质在心理虐待与儿童不适应性认知情绪调节策略关系间起到完全中介作用（3）该中介模型具有性别和年龄的测量等值性。研究结果显示,儿童心理虐待可以通过神经质的中介作用影响不适应性认知情绪调节策略。     

The Stability of Self-Reported Physical Symptoms in African American Mothers and Their Impact on Children

Self-reported physical symptoms are an important marker of health and well-being, particularly among African American women. The stability of African American women’s physical symptoms or the impact of their symptoms on their children, however, has yet to be examined. This longitudinal study examined the stability of maternal self-reported physical symptoms, as well as their role in shaping child-reported physical symptoms, among 137 low-income African American families. Findings revealed that mothers’ self-reported physical symptoms were stable over 2.5 years. Mothers who reported higher levels of physical symptoms were more likely to have children who concurrently reported higher levels of symptoms. Physical symptoms reported by mothers at the first assessment also predicted child-reported physical symptoms 2.5 years later, but only for boys. Physical symptoms appear to be an important, yet understudied, symptom domain that may have significant implications for the health and well-being of African American families.     

5岁半幼儿掌控动机、气质及入学准备能力的关系探析

通过对51名5.5岁幼儿掌控动机的问卷评估、入学准备能力的情境测验以及气质的教师评定,考察了幼儿多领域掌控动机与入学准备各领域能力之间的关系及气质在两者关系中的调节作用。结果发现,对于专注倾向(高专注性-低活动性和情绪性)幼儿,物体掌控动机正向预测了精细动作技能和学习方式,大动作掌控动机正向预测了感觉运动技能;对于反应倾向(高反应性-低抑制性)幼儿,同伴社会掌控动机正向预测了精细动作技能;而对于抑制倾向(低反应性-高抑制性)幼儿,同伴社会掌控动机则负向预测了精细动作技能、感觉运动技能和学习方式。     

Assessment and Implications of Social Withdrawal Subtypes in Young Chinese Children: The Chinese Version of the Child Social Preference Scale

The authors’ goals were to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Chinese version of the Child Social Preference Scale (CSPS; R. J. Coplan, K. Prakash, K. O'Neil, & M. Armer, 2004) and examine the links between both shyness and unsociability and indices of socioemotional functioning in young Chinese children. Participants included of two samples recruited from kindergarten classes in two public schools in Shanghai, China. Both samples included children 3–5 years old (Sample 1: n = 350, M_age = 4.72 years, SD = 0.58 years; Sample 2: n = 129, M_age = 4.40 years, SD = 0.58 years). In both samples, mothers rated children's social withdrawal using the newly created Chinese version of the CSPS, and in Sample 2, teachers also provided ratings of socioemotional functioning. Consistent with previous findings from other cultures, results from factor analyses suggested a 2-factor model for the CSPS (shyness and unsociability) among young children in China. In contrast to findings from North America, child shyness and unsociability were associated with socioemotional difficulties in kindergarten. Some gender differences were also noted. Results are discussed in terms of the assessment and implications of social withdrawal in early childhood in China.     

Prevention of Child Maltreatment: Evaluation of a Parent Education Program for Teen Mothers

We conducted an evaluation of a parent education program for the prevention of child maltreatment that served urban teen, unmarried mothers at risk for child maltreatment. Three to five years after the birth of their children, program graduates (n = 125) were significantly less likely than controls (n = 410) to have founded reports of maltreatment in the state database. On the basis of a follow-up phone call to a subset of 80 program graduates and 40 controls, mothers who enrolled in the 12-week parent education/support program showed trends toward being more likely to have completed high school, taken some college courses, and delayed subsequent pregnancies until after age 21.     

The Relationships among Childhood Maltreatment,Emotion Regulation,and Sexual Risk Taking in Men from Urban STD Clinics

This study sought to examine the relationships among emotion regulation difficulties, childhood maltreatment, and risky sexual behavior in a sample of 320 heterosexual men recruited from urban sexually transmitted disease clinics. Overall childhood maltreatment and several specific types of child abuse were significantly associated with emotion dysregulation, number of sexual partners, and sexually transmitted infection (STI) diagnosis. There was evidence of an additive effect of multiple forms of maltreatment on difficulties with emotion regulation and sexual risk taking. Impulse control difficulties and access to emotion regulation strategies, two components of emotion dysregulation, were related to measures of risky sexual behavior. Furthermore, limited access to emotion regulation strategies mediated the relationship between frequency of childhood sexual abuse and a greater number of lifetime sexual partners. This study has important implications for developing effective interventions to reduce the spread of STIs and HIV by expanding affect regulation and distress tolerance strategies among men who have experienced childhood maltreatment.     

Protection of Children from Physical Maltreatment in Canada: An Evaluation of the Supreme Court's Definition of Reasonable Force

In 2004, the Supreme Court of Canada set out seven criteria to distinguish reasonable from abusive corrective force with children. We tested the validity of those criteria by mapping them onto a nationally representative data set of substantiated cases of physical abuse. The court's criteria defining reasonable force actually characterized the majority of cases of child physical maltreatment in Canada. These cases were more likely to be characterized by the use of spanking in the family than by each of the criteria set out by the Supreme Court. One in five cases was not characterized by any of the court's criteria, and virtually none were characterized by all of them. The findings provide stronger support for abolishing physical punishment than for legal attempts to narrow its definition.     

Attitudes Toward Parenting Strategies,Potential for Child Abuse,and Parental Satisfaction of Ethnically Diverse Low-Income U.S. Mothers

Abstract

Among a sample of 176 low-income mothers from 3 ethnic groups in the United States, the authors investigated ethnic differences in attitudes toward preferred parenting strategies, or styles; ethnic differences in the potential for child abuse; and the relationship between parenting strategies, the potential for child abuse, and parental satisfaction. They distributed the Maternal Reactions to Child's Deviant Behavior subscale (K. M. Rickard, W. Graziano, & R. Forehand, 1984), a shortened version of the Child Abuse Potential Inventory (CAPI; J. S. Milner & R. C. Wimberley, 1979), and a Parental Satisfaction Scale (N. P. Medora, S. M. Wilson, & J. Larson, 1996) to the participants. The results indicated no significant ethnic differences in preferred parenting styles. Mothers from all 3 ethnic groups ranked praise and reasoning as the 1st and 2nd preferred parenting strategies. There were no ethnic differences in the perceived potential for child abuse. Parental satisfaction was negatively related to 2 of the CAPI subscales-Loneliness and Problems. The parenting strategy reasoning was positively correlated with parental satisfaction.     

Gender Differences in Reporting Psychological Abuse in a National Sample

Understanding the nature and impact of psychological abuse for males and females is crucial because it might be the precursor of other forms of violence. This study examines reported gender differences in psychologically abusive acts using a national sample of U.S. citizens. The data were collected anonymously from an online administration of the Measure of Psychological Abuse (MPAB). Other measures were included to assess outcomes that might occur due to psychological abuse. Results indicate that there are more similarities than differences in the gender reports of psychological abuse. Compared to males' reports, differences include female reports of certain behaviors leading to more negative emotional and behavioral impact and more negative outcomes due to being in a psychologically abusive relationship.     

Child, Family and Case Characteristics: Links with Service Utilization in Physically Abused Children

We investigated the relationships between child, familial, and case characteristics and mental health and medical health care service utilization by physically abused children. Participants included 26 parents or caregivers of 37 Medicaid-eligible children who had substantiated cases of physical abuse. Children whose female caregivers reported a greater number of stressors were more likely to receive mental health care. Furthermore, children not living with the maltreating caregiver were more likely to receive medical health care services. Results are discussed in terms of factors that may account for these links, and the similarities of these findings with those of service utilization in general and clinical child samples.     

Validation and Standardization of the Dutch Trauma Symptom Checklist for Young Children in a Normative and Clinical Sample

The study aimed to describe the psychometric properties of the Dutch version of the Trauma Symptom Checklist for Young Children (TSCYC) in normative and clinical populations in the Netherlands. Caregivers’ ratings on the TSCYC were obtained for 1,802 children from the normal population, and for 515 children from a clinical population of traumatized children. In the clinical sample, additional measures were taken. The internal consistency and test-retest reliability of TSCYC scales were adequate. Confirmatory factor analysis showed acceptable fit on the putative scale structure. Regarding criterion validity, the clinical sample scored significantly higher on all clinical scales when compared to the normal population sample. Within the clinical sample, significant associations were found between TSCYC scales and convergent scales of other instruments. The Posttraumatic Stress-Total subscale demonstrated excellent discriminative ability between traumatized children and children from the normal population. The Dutch version of the TSCYC proved a valid and reliable instrument to measure trauma symptoms in young children through caregiver report, similar to the original American version. Further comparisons with diagnostic interviews are warranted.     

Effects of Concerns About Child Care Among Single, Employed Black Mothers with Preschool Children

This study investigated whether differences in child care arrangements and mothers' attitudes about leaving their child in nonmaternal care were associated with maternal psychological well-being and perceptions of children in a sample of single, employed, low-income, Black mothers who were former welfare recipients. Feelings of discomfort with regard to nonmaternal care were associated with higher levels of maternal depressive symptomatology, which, in turn, predicted more negative perceptions of children. Preference for employment and increased working hours were associated with greater life satisfaction. Maternal education and the gender of the child were important moderating variables. Type of child care arrangement was nonsignificant. Policy implications are discussed.     

The Relationship Among Child Maltreatment,Parental Bonding,and a Lifetime History of Major Depressive Disorder in Latino College Students

This study examined the relationship among child maltreatment, parental bonding, and a lifetime history of major depressive disorder (MDD) in a sample of 119 Latino students. Forty-five students reported a lifetime history of MDD and 74 reported not having a lifetime history of MDD. The results indicated that emotional abuse and maternal overprotection were significantly associated with having a lifetime history of MDD. The findings support the importance of examining these factors among depressed Latinos. Future research should continue to explore both the role of child maltreatment and parental bonding in relation to a lifetime history of MDD in this population.