Family Functioning among Rural Teens and Caregivers: Interactive Influence on Teen Dating Violence

Multi-informant assessment of family functioning is considered best practice in research and clinical settings. However, in the area of teen dating violence, multi-informant assessment of family functioning has received limited attention. The current study investigated whether and to what extent caregiver and adolescent perceptions of family functioning interact in their influence on adolescent dating violence. Participants were 493 adolescents and their primary caregivers from a rural southeastern community in the United States. As hypothesized, a paired-samples t test showed that adolescents’ scores on the family functioning measure were significantly lower than their caregivers’ scores. Logistic regressions revealed that adolescents’ positive views of family functioning were significantly associated with a lower likelihood of dating violence victimization but not perpetration and that caregivers’ views on family functioning moderated the impact of adolescent-reported family functioning on both dating violence outcomes. Post hoc analyses showed that adolescents with negative perceptions of family environment were most likely to be victims and perpetrators of dating violence when their parents also reported more negative views of family environment. The article concludes with a discussion of how these findings can: (a) advance our understanding of the impact of family functioning on teen dating relationships and (b) inform practical efforts aimed at preventing dating aggression among teens.     

La famille face aux violences extrafamiliales : émotions et victimisation dans la narration de parents et enfants en UMJ

The traumatic impact linked to the revelation of an assault, at the time of the announcement of the abuse, but also in the daily life of the family, disrupts the family system. This study aims to compare the perception of the parent and his child when the child has been the victim of a sexual, psychological and/or physical extra-family assault, particularly around emotions, guilt and the victimization experience. The exploratory research approach is through the qualitative analysis of the content of interviews conducted with parents and children received by the Medico-Judiciary Unit (UMJ) and the Youth Victims Reception Unit. (UAJV). Our results show the presence of a strong emotional state in parents that results in anger, as well as a difficulty in naming emotions in their children. Children have difficulty to express their emotions, but everyday life seems less difficult than parents. Despite the limitations due to the small sample and the conditions for data collection, recommendations for clinical treatment of families are proposed.     

Risk and protective factors for suicide among Guyanese youth: Youth and stakeholder perspectives

Guyana, a low-to-middle-income country (LMIC) in South America, leads the world in youth suicide. As an understanding of risk and protective factors is critical to the development of culturally informed suicide prevention efforts, research exploring these factors among youth in Guyana is needed. The current study expands on current research on adolescent suicide in Guyana and LMICs broadly by using qualitative focus groups and interviews to explore adult stakeholders' and youth's perspectives. Participants included 17 adult stakeholders and 40 adolescents in Guyana. Data were analysed using a grounded theory approach. Themes related to participants' perceptions of risk factors for suicide included demographic characteristics, pressure and expectations, adults' responses to youth, limited coping with stressful life events and exposure to suicide. Themes related to protective factors for suicide included positive social support and involvement in community activities. Findings have implications for the development and tailoring of suicide prevention efforts for Guyanese youth.     

Violence against women: Mental health effects. Part II. Conceptualizations of posttraumatic stress

A broad range of psychological aftereffects have been noted among women who have experienced male-perpetrated violence. These symptoms vary considerably among individuals, across social contexts, and across different types of violent encounters (Coley & Beckett, 1988; Goodman, Koss, & Russo, 1992; Koss, 1988; Straus, Gelles, & Steinmetz, 1980). Nevertheless, a remarkably consistent picture of the psychological sequelae of violence—particularly sexual and physical assault—emerges from the empirical and clinical literature (Koss, 1988). In this article, we use the posttraumatic stress disorder diagnosis—a frame that captures many of the disparate symptoms described by researchers—as a basis for exploring several conceptual models that have been developed to explain women's responses to violence.     

On hating to hate

Hate may be the most dangerous of all emotions for the survival of the planet. The author addresses two questions: What obscures hate when it is actually present? and What masquerades as hate but isn't? Using illustrations from a wide range of fields, the author contends that discerning hate is both essential and far trickier than we think. She concludes by asserting that overcoming hate requires imagination. We must learn to imagine a world without hate and unimagine a world with hate.     

Prisoners of hate

The terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, D.C. on September 11, 2001 as well as domestic terrorism in the United States and elsewhere in the world has prompted an analysis of the psychology of the terrorist. The perpetrators' profound sense of being wronged--their values undermined by foreign powers or a corrupt domestic power structure--has cried out for revolution and revenge. The fanatic ideology of the perpetrators has provided the matrix for a progressively more malevolent representation of the oppressors: the Image of the Enemy. Retribution against the Enemy in the form of mass murder of anonymous civilians becomes an imperative. The counterpart of the image of the Enemy is the idealized collective self-image of members of the movement, faction, or cult. The group narcissism of the white supremacists in the United States, the Aum Shinrikyo in Japan, and the Islamic extremists enhance their collective self-image as pure, righteous, and united. While the foot soldiers, as in any war, gain glory through martyrdom, the instigators and leaders have their own personal narcissistic goals (power and prestige) and plan. For the extremist Islamists the ultimate goal has been overthrow of the moderate Islamic governments; for the domestic terrorists, destabilization of the national government and reinstitution of the traditional values.     

Moral imperatives,professional interventions and resilience,and educational action in chaotic situations: the souls of children amidst the horror of war

Drawing from the research on children of war in Bogota, Beirut and Bosnia, this paper serves as a framework for dialogue about the criminalization of children by armed conflict and other forms of violence. Furthermore, it addresses the aching question of how best to care for these children so that they have every chance to become illuminated and not carbonized (Restrepo, 1999 Restrepo, L. 1999. La novia oscura [The dark bride], New York: HarperCollins.  [Google Scholar], p. 209) by the tragic circumstances of their environments. The author posits that educators everywhere bear a moral imperative to provide opportunities for children to reclaim hope, reintegrate socially, learn well, reflect deeply, and act justly. Specifically, this essay reflects on varied approaches aimed at fostering resilience, as well as cognitive and moral growth and development in children who are witness and/or victims of social, political, and violent struggles.     

School Climate and Implementation of a Preventive Intervention

Although there has been wide dissemination of research-based psychosocial prevention programs, a similarly strong research base to guide program implementation has been lacking. Program implementation has been particularly difficult for schools, due partly to insufficient understanding of how school ecologies interact with these programs. This study examined the effects of multiple dimensions of school climate on level and rate of change in implementation of a violence prevention intervention across three school years. Using multi-level modeling, the study found that teacher-reported support between staff and among teachers and students predicted higher average levels of implementation. Teacher-reported administrative leadership predicted greater growth in implementation across 3 years. Findings offer implications for an ecological model of program implementation that considers school-level contextual effects on adoption and sustainability of new programs in schools. The Metropolitan Area Child Study Research Group is a collaboration of (in alphabetical order) Leonard Eron, University of Michigan; Nancy Guerra, University of California, Riverside; David Henry, University of Illinois at Chicago; L. Rowell Huesmann, University of Michigan; Patrick Tolan, University of Illinois at Chicago; and Richard VanAcker, University of Illinois at Chicago.     

Cross-Validation of the Behavioral and Emotional Rating Scale-2 Youth Version: An Exploration of Strength-Based Latent Traits

High-quality measurement is a necessary requirement to develop and evaluate the effectiveness of programs that use strength-based principles and strategies. Using independent cross-validation samples, we report two studies that explored the construct validity of the BERS-2 Youth Report, a popular measure designed to assess youth strengths, whose conceptual structure has not yet been examined. In Study 1, an exploratory factor analysis found a four-factor solution with conceptual support, which included both internal assets associated with (a) the management of emotions and positive social interaction skills and (b) engagement in the important social contexts of family and school. In Study 2, confirmatory factor analyses found reasonable model fit for the BERS-2 five-factor structure and superior model fit for the more parsimonious four-factor solution found in Study 1. In future studies, parallel reporting of the four-factor model may provide additional insight to the nature and structure of the BERS-2 Youth Version’s clinical validity and utility when compared with the five-factor model, thus potentially contributing to a broader objective to develop a better understanding of important strength-based latent traits.     

Subjective Well-Being in Pediatric Oncology Patients

Using negative and positive measures of subjective well-being (SWB), we compared reports of 29 youth with cancer to a matched control sample of 29 youth. Youth with cancer did not differ from healthy controls on self-report measures of life satisfaction, hope, positive affect, or negative affect. Scores on measures of hope were positively correlated with time since diagnosis; none of the other SWB variables was significantly related to time since diagnosis. Except for negative affect, moderate correlations were found between parents’ reports of their own SWB and their youths’ self-reported SWB. Parents’ estimates of their youths’ SWB were also moderately associated with youth self-reports, except for negative affect. Parents of youth with cancer and their youth may use different criteria for reporting the nature and frequency of negative affect, but use similar criteria for reporting positive affect and other positive measures (hope, life satisfaction). Implications for more comprehensive assessments of the well-being of pediatric oncology patients are discussed.