Assessing Children’s Exposure to Intimate Partner Violence

Child exposure to intimate partner violence (IPV) is widely acknowledged as a threat to the psycho-social and academic well-being of children. Unfortunately, as reflected in the literature, the specific link between such exposure and childhood outcomes is ambiguous. Based on a review of the literature, this article suggests that this state of affairs is due, in part, to the manner with which exposure to IPV is operationally defined. After reviewing the dominant strategies for operationally defining exposure to IPV and the problems associated with those strategies, this article reports original data contrasting three measures derived from maternal reports, three measures derived from child reports, and the limited concordance among those different indices of exposure to IPV. The implications of these findings for research on child outcomes and the clinical assessment of children who might have been exposed to IPV are discussed.     

Differences in caregiver behaviors of infants at-risk for autism and typically developing infants from 9 to 15 months of age

During an object sharing paradigm, we compared infant-caregiver interactions between two groups: i) infants at high-risk (HR) for being diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and ii) low-risk (LR) infants, observed at 9, 12, and 15 months of age. 16 HR infants (14 infants with an older sibling diagnosed with ASD and 2 preterm infants that received a diagnosis of ASD at 2 years) and 16 LR infants (typically developing infants without older siblings diagnosed with ASD) were included in the study. At each visit, infants played with objects in the presence of their caregivers as crawlers or walkers. Previously, we found that HR infants are less likely to share their object play with caregivers at walker ages. The present study found that caregivers of HR infants used greater directive bids including being more proximal to infants and using greater verbal and non-verbal bids to sustain their infant’s attention and to ensure their compliance during the task compared to caregivers of LR infants. Our study emphasizes the bidirectional and dynamic nature of infant-caregiver interactions. Our findings have implications for caregiver training programs that teach parents appropriate strategies to promote early social communication skills in at-risk infants.     

A Prospective Longitudinal Study of High School Dropouts Examining Multiple Predictors Across Development

Prior studies report a variety of demographic, school, individual, and family characteristics that are related to high school drop out. This study utilizes data from a 19-year prospective longitudinal study of “at-risk” children to explore multiple predictors of high school dropouts across development. The proposed model of dropping out emphasizes the importance of the early home environment and the quality of early caregiving influencing subsequent development. The results of this study demonstrate the association of the early home environment, the quality of early caregiving, socioeconomic status, IQ, behavior problems, academic achievement, peer relations, and parent involvement with dropping out of high school at age 19. These results are consistent with the view of dropping out as a dynamic developmental process that begins before children enter elementary school. Psychosocial variables prior to school entry predicted dropping out with power equal to later IQ and school achievement test scores. In our efforts to better understand processes influencing dropping out prior to high school graduation, early developmental features warrant further emphasis.     

The PHQ-9 assesses depression similarly in men and women from the general population

Gender-based differential item functioning occurs when men and women respond differently to an item despite being similar on the trait assessed by that item. The Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) is a prominent screening tool for depression. Researchers exploring whether the PHQ-9 exhibits gender-based differential item functioning have used only specialized samples (e.g., individuals with cancer or vision loss). We explored gender bias in the PHQ-9 by means of differential item functioning analyses in a population-based sample.We made use of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES, 2008), a population-based sample of the USA including 5995 participants. Differential item functioning was assessed using the Mantel-Haenszel chi-square test and by comparing item characteristic curves between men and women.All items exhibited negligible differential item functioning as demonstrated by the Mantel-Haenszel test, with absolute standardized mean differences ranging from 0.00 to 0.06. Item characteristic curves were similar between genders for all but one item. Item 5 (i.e., changes in appetite) exhibited very minor non-uniform differential item functioning, wherein extremely depressed women endorsed higher response options on this item compared to equally depressed men.Researchers can use the PHQ-9 without concern of gender biases, particularly in epidemiological research.     

Parents, children, and trauma: Parent role perceptions and behaviors related to the 9/11 tragedy

The trauma associated with 9/11 affected and continues to influence children, families, and other groups of people. While research is cataloging the various coping difficulties experienced, few studies specifically address issues related to parenting perceptions and related activities or behaviors. We examined individuals employed in close proximity to Ground Zero and considered these individuals’ perspectives regarding their parenting perceptions and behaviors. In addition to capturing parenting subsequent to 9/11, the researchers also asked participants about their parenting beliefs and behaviors prior to and immediately after 9/11. Additional variables, such as directly viewing 9/11 and participating in the evacuation, parent age and gender, child age and gender, and ethnicity, were considered in light of parenting beliefs and practices. The retrospective questions, while not ideal methodologically, reveal that some parent characteristics and behaviors changed immediately following 9/11 and subsequently returned to pre-9/11 levels, others changed and remain altered, while others stayed relatively stable over time. Implications of this research for further study as well as mental health practice related to children and families are presented.     

Parental satisfaction in child abuse and neglect: A review of standardized measures

Low levels of parental satisfaction have been implicated in parents' utilization of harsh disciplining strategies and perpetration of child abuse and neglect. Although measures of parental satisfaction have been present for more than 3 decades, the employment of these instruments in child maltreatment populations has been limited, perhaps due to a lack of empirical evaluation. This paper reviews extant studies that demonstrate the need to examine the relationship between parental satisfaction and child maltreatment, and provides a critical examination of existing measures of parental satisfaction, including their psychometric support and application to child maltreatment. Recommendations are offered regarding the utility of these measures in child maltreatment.     

Targeted Prevention of Childhood Anxiety: Engaging Parents in an Underserved Community

Selective prevention programs hold the promise of alleviating child anxiety symptoms, decreasing the risk for emotional problems across the lifespan. Such programs have particular public health import for young children of poor, underserved communities. Identifying factors related to parent engagement, and methods to improve engagement, are paramount in the effort to develop anxiety‐focused, community prevention programs. This feasibility study investigated the effect of an enhanced recruitment strategy to maximize parent engagement, as well as factors related to attendance in a single session focused on anxiety prevention. Participants were poor, ethnic minority parents of children aged 11–71 months (n = 256) who completed a survey that assessed anxiety risk according to trauma exposure, child anxiety, or parent anxiety, as well as preferences for preventive services (phase 1). Those meeting risk criteria (n = 101) were invited to a preventive group session (phase 2). Half of parents received enhanced recruitment (ER), which included personalized outreach, matching parent preferences, and community endorsement. Other parents were invited by mail. Chi square analyses indicated that ER was associated with planning to attend (49 vs. 6 % of control). Parents receiving ER were 3.5 times more likely to attend. Higher sociodemographic risk was correlated with higher child anxiety symptoms but not attendance. Results highlight the need for improved strategies for engaging parents in preventive, community‐based interventions.     

A Balancing Act: Integrating Evidence‐Based Knowledge and Cultural Relevance in a Program of Prevention Parenting Research with Latino/a Immigrants

Family therapists have a unique opportunity to contribute toward the reduction of widespread mental health disparities impacting diverse populations by developing applied lines of research focused on cultural adaptation. For example, although evidence‐based prevention parent training (PT) interventions have been found to be efficacious with various Euro‐American populations, there is a pressing need to understand which specific components of PT interventions are perceived by ethnic minority parents as having the highest impact on their parenting practices. Equally important is to examine the perceived cultural relevance of adapted PT interventions. This qualitative investigation had the primary objective of comparing and contrasting the perceived relevance of two culturally adapted versions of the efficacious parenting intervention known as Parent Management Training, the Oregon Model (PMTO). According to feasibility indicators provided by 112 Latino/a immigrant parents, as well as findings from a qualitative thematic analysis, the core parenting components across both adapted interventions were identified by the majority of research participants as relevant to their parenting practices. Participants exposed to the culturally enhanced intervention, which included culture‐specific sessions, also reported high satisfaction with components exclusively focused on cultural issues that directly impact their parenting practices (e.g., immigration challenges, biculturalism). This investigation illustrates the relevant contributions that family therapy scholars can offer toward addressing mental health disparities, particularly as it refers to developing community‐based prevention interventions that achieve a balance between evidence‐based knowledge and cultural relevance.     

The family empowerment program: an interdisciplinary approach to working with multi-stressed urban families

The family empowerment program (FEP) is a multi-systemic family therapy program that partners multi-stressed families with an interdisciplinary resource team while remaining attached to a "traditional" mental health clinic. The rationale for this model is that far too often, families presenting at community mental health centers struggle with multiple psychosocial forces, for example problems with housing, domestic violence, child care, entitlements, racism, substance abuse, and foster care, as well as chronic medical and psychiatric illnesses, that exacerbate symptoms and impact traditional service delivery and access to effective treatment. Thus, families often experience fragmented care and are involved with multiple systems with contradictory and competing agendas. As a result, services frequently fail to harness the family's inherent strengths. The FEP partners the family with a unified team that includes representatives from Entitlements Services, Family Support and Parent Advocacy, and Clinical Staff from the agency's Outpatient Mental Health Clinic practicing from a strength-based family therapy perspective. The goal of the FEP is to support the family in achieving their goals. This is accomplished through co-construction of a service plan that addresses the family's needs in an efficient and coherent manner-emphasizing family strengths and competencies and supporting family self-sufficiency.     

Predicting adolescents' parent–child relationship quality from parental personality,marital conflict and adolescents' personality

Longitudinal influences on the relationships between parents and their adolescent children in 175 Austrian families were analysed with data from three measurement points over a time span of 18 years. We investigated the influences of parental personality, marital conflict and adolescents' personality on the father–child and mother–child relationships separately. Inconsistent with previous theories and empirical findings, we found almost no associations between parental personality and parent–child relationships. Marital conflict was associated with only the father–child relationship. Children's personality showed the most consistent associations with the parent–child relationship. Our data support the theory of dynamic interactionism, which postulates an interdependency of personality factors and social relationships.