Measurement of Cruelty in Children: The Cruelty to Animals Inventory

Cruelty to animals may be a particularly pernicious aspect of problematic child development. Progress in understanding the development of the problem is limited due to the complex nature of cruelty as a construct, and limitations with current assessment measures. The Children and Animals Inventory (CAI) was developed as a brief self- and parent-report measure of F. R. Ascione's (1993) 9 parameters of cruelty. The CAI emerged as a reliable, stable, and readily utilized measure of cruelty using parent and child reports. Children (especially the older children) reported higher rates of cruelty than their parents and boys reported more cruelty than girls. Self- and parent-reports showed good convergence with independent observations of cruelty versus nurturance during free interactions with domestic animals. The results indicate that cruelty to animals can be reliably measured using brief child and parent report measures.     

Index of suspicion: feeling not believing

Throughout the U.S., state laws require professionals who work with children to report cases of suspected child abuse to child protection services. Both practically and conceptually, however, significant problems arise from a lack of clarity regarding the threshold that has been set for reporting. Specifically, there is no consensus as to what constitutes reasonable suspicion, and little direction for how mandated reporters should gauge their legal and professional responsibilities when they harbor suspicion. In this paper we outline the context of the problem, discuss the nature and scope of its conceptual underpinnings, and offer recommendations for moving towards a concrete, practical solution.     

The Parents Matter! Program Interventions: Content and the Facilitation Process

The Parents Matter! Program (PMP) has developed three interventions for parents of 4th and 5th grade African-American children (9–12 years old). The overarching goal of all three interventions is to provide parents with knowledge, skills, and support for enhancing their efforts to raise healthy children. The interventions are: (1) Enhanced Communication and Parenting (five 2 -hour sessions), (2) Brief Communication and Parenting (single 2 -hour session), and (3) General Health (single 2 -hour session). This article discusses the development of these interventions, presents an overview of the content of each intervention, and discusses issues related to the facilitation/presentation of these interventions.     

Training parents to implement pediatric feeding protocols

Four different multicomponent training packages were evaluated to increase the treatment integrity of parents implementing pediatric feeding protocols. In Study 1 we exposed 3 parents to a training package that consisted of written protocols (baseline), verbal instructions, therapist modeling, and rehearsal training. Results suggested that the package was successful in increasing treatment integrity of the feeding protocols to high levels. Study 2 investigated three different parent-training packages comprised of components used in Study 1. Two parents were exposed to written protocols, verbal instructions, and modeling; 2 parents were exposed to written protocols, verbal instructions, and rehearsal; and 2 parents were exposed to written protocols and verbal instructions. Results of Study 2 showed that each parent-training package produced very high treatment integrity. Follow-up data in the clinic and home for 5 participants suggested that the results were durable for up to 3 months. These results demonstrate a first step in the transfer and application of research findings into routine clinical practice because we evaluated several methods for training parents to implement behavioral feeding protocols, and we demonstrated that these methods resulted in high levels of treatment integrity in a controlled clinical setting.     

Mothers' Overreactive Discipline and Their Encoding and Appraisals of Toddler Behavior

The relations of observed overreactive discipline with mothers' tendencies to notice negative, relative to positive, child behavior (preferential negative encoding), and mothers' negative appraisals of neutral and positive child behavior (negative appraisal bias), were examined in mothers of toddlers. The mothers rated both their own children's and unfamiliar children's behavior. Negative appraisal bias with respect to mothers' own (but not unfamiliar) children was related to mothers' overreactivity, independent of child misbehavior. Overreactivity was not related to mothers' preferential negative encoding either of their own or of unfamiliar children's behavior. However, in the case of mothers' own children, preferential negative encoding moderated the relation between negative appraisal bias and overreactive discipline, such that the negative appraisal bias-overreactivity relation was significant only in the context of high preferential negative encoding.     

Subfactors of DSM-IV Conduct Disorder: Evidence and Connections with Syndromes from the Child Behavior Checklist

Is conduct disorder (CD) as defined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV; American Psychiatric Association, 1994) a unitary entity, or do variants of CD exist? We addressed this question, using data collected from the parents of 1,669 Australian boys, aged 6–17. Parents were interviewed to assess DSM-IV Conduct Disorder (DSM-IV CD) criteria. Results revealed 2 subfactors of DSM-IV CD symptoms, made up of overt behaviors (e.g., initiating physical fights) and covert behaviors (e.g., stealing without confrontation). Ordinary least squares regressions showed the 2 CD subfactors to be significantly and uniquely predicted by Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL; T. M. Achenbach, 1991a, 1991b) syndromes labeled Aggressive Behavior and Delinquent Behavior, respectively. The results are discussed in terms of the utility of differentiating these 2 variants of CD in future editions of the DSM.     

Children Exposed to Domestic Violence and Child Abuse: Terminology and Taxonomy

Three definitional issues regarding children exposed to domestic violence are examined. First, the multiple ways in which a child can be exposed to violence is discussed. A taxonomy of 10 types of exposure is proposed. Nine key characteristics of domestic violence, as they relate to children and children's exposure, are then outlined. The third issue addressed concerns why children who are exposed to domestic violence can be considered victims of child maltreatment. These children, by nature of their experience in the home, are psychologically maltreated and are also at high risk for physical abuse and some risk for sexual abuse. Empirical questions concerning these definitions and taxonomies and their interrelations are discussed.     

Consequences of Children's Exposure to Community Violence

Much has been learned over the past decade about the way children respond to experiences of violence in their community. The goal of this paper is to review what is known about the effects of community violence on children's development. In addition to main effects, factors that mediate these effects, as well as factors that moderate children's response to community violence are discussed. Special attention is paid to developmental differences in children's responses to community violence and the factors that may promote resilient functioning.     

Dynamic analyses of mother-child interactions in functional and dysfunctional dyads: a synergetic approach

Describes the application of a new analytical approach (derived from synergetics, a complex dynamic systems theory) to home observational data of mother–child interactions in average dyads and dyads with children referred for disruptive behavior problems at home and school (n = 11 in each group). Results show that (1) the two groups differed in their daily interactions in predictable ways, and (2) the most frequent patterns of interactions observed in the two groups brought them back repeatedly to behave in similar ways toward each other. The findings are in keeping with a body of literature on mother–child interactions. However, they add to it by providing multivariate, graphical representations of these interactions and by offering a conceptual framework within which to move from an observational to an inferential level of analysis. At that level, the transactional processes that are characteristic of functional and dysfunctional relationships may become apparent.     

Influences of Marital Conflict on Child Adjustment: Review of Theory and Research

This review summarizes the literature on the relationship between marital conflict and child maladjustment with an emphasis on variables that qualify, explain the association, or both. Following a historical review, the modest findings on the strength of the association between marital conflict and child maladjustment is explored. The definition of marital conflict is clarified through specification of its various dimensions (frequency, intensity, content, resolution). The role of variables that serve to moderate and/or mediate the relationship between marital conflict and child maladjustment are elaborated. Mediating models include exposure theories (Modeling, Cognitive–Contextual effects: appraisal of threat and blame, and Emotional Insecurity) and changes in the parent–child relationship (Spillover). Variables that moderate or qualify the relationship include children's cognitions and behaviors, contextual factors, and demographic differences. A model is presented summarizing these mechanisms. Research recommendations are proposed and the clinical implications of this literature are addressed.