The Influence of Race and Income on Community Mothers’ Acceptance of Child Management Methods

The consideration of diverse family factors on parents’ acceptance of behavioral parent training (BPT) components aids in the development and delivery of culturally sensitive parenting programs. Perceptions of acceptability are particularly important to investigate among low-income and racial-minority families, as they are less likely to engage in nonadapted BPT programs. Therefore, the current study examines the synergistic effects of race and income on mothers’ acceptance of five common child management methods relevant to BPT. The relationship between mothers’ acceptability ratings and self-reported parenting practices was also explored. Participants were 106 White and Black mothers from different income levels who completed measures related to the acceptability of response cost, positive reinforcement, time-out, spanking, and medication. The results indicated that mothers from varying backgrounds differed in their acceptance of child management methods, particularly with regard to corporal punishment. Additionally, a relationship was found between parents’ acceptability ratings and their self-reported parenting behavior. The findings support the consideration of parents’ perceptions of child discipline methods when recommending and delivering BPT programs to diverse parents.     

Implementing Trauma-Focused Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) With Preteen Children Displaying Problematic Sexual Behavior

Problematic sexual behavior (PSB) is a fairly common presenting concern among preteen children with histories of trauma. Unfortunately, relatively little information about these concerns are provided in training programs and clinicians often report lacking the skills and confidence to intervene when PSB is present. Trauma-Focused Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT), on the other hand, is a well-known and well-validated intervention for children who experienced maltreatment and trauma. Current evidence-based treatment techniques for PSB are primarily cognitive-behavioral in nature and easily delivered within the standard TF-CBT protocol. This paper reviews the empirical and theoretical premises of evidence-based treatment techniques for PSB and discusses how the clinician can implement them within the context of TF-CBT, while maintaining fidelity to the TF-CBT protocol. Conducting an assessment to determine the appropriateness of this form of treatment is examined as well as recommendations on addressing safety issues that may be identified during assessment.     

Predicting the use of corporal punishment: Child aggression,parent religiosity,and the BDNF gene

Corporal punishment (CP) has been associated with deleterious child outcomes, highlighting the importance of understanding its underpinnings. Although several factors have been linked with parents’ CP use, genetic influences on CP have rarely been studied, and an integrative view examining the interplay between different predictors of CP is missing. We focused on the separate and joint effects of religiosity, child aggression, parent's gender, and a valine (Val) to methionine (Met) substitution in the brain‐derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) gene. Data came from a twin sample (51% male, aged 6.5 years). We used mothers’ and fathers’ self‐reports of CP and religiosity, and the other parent's report on child aggression. Complete data were available for 244 mothers and their 466 children, and for 217 fathers and their 409 children. The random split method was employed to examine replicability. For mothers, only the effect of religiosity appeared to replicate. For fathers, several effects predicting CP use replicated in both samples: child aggression, child sex, religiosity, and a three‐way (GxExE) interaction implicating fathers’ BDNF genotype, child aggression and religiosity. Religious fathers who carried the Met allele and had an aggressive child used CP more frequently; in contrast, secular fathers’ CP use was not affected by their BDNF genotype or child aggression. Results were also repeated longitudinally in a subsample with age 8–9 data. Findings highlight the utility of a bio‐ecological approach for studying CP use by shedding light on pertinent gene‐environment interaction processes. Possible implications for intervention and public policy are discussed.

     

Help-Seeking Behaviors in Non-Offending Caregivers of Abused Children in the Philippines

The help-seeking process among non-offending caregivers (NOCs) of abused children particularly in the non-Western context has yet to be elucidated. The objective of the current study was to investigate what proportion of Filipino NOCs of abused children sought professional support services within 12 months following child abuse disclosure (T1) and at 12 months (T2) follow-up in the Philippines. Two further aims were to investigate NOCs’ preferred service providers and settings and to explore barriers to help-seeking. A comparison group of Filipino parents without an abused child were also recruited to compare preferences and potential barriers to help seeking for child and family problems. A total of 47 NOCs and 70 comparison parents/guardians completed questionnaires, which assessed help-seeking preferences and barriers as well as parental stress. The majority of NOCs reported seeking help, which was perceived to be helpful. Almost two thirds of NOCs indicated preference for in-person counseling relative to the comparison group of parents. The majority of NOCs preferred seeking help from social workers and psychologists. Almost one third of both parental samples reported being judged as an unfit parent as a key barrier to seeking help for family problems. The findings have implications for psychological and allied health service providers in facilitating the adjustment for families of recently abused children.     

Psychopathic Traits in Boys With and Without Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: Concurrent and Longitudinal Correlates

To investigate the role of psychopathic traits in a clinical and comparison sample, we obtained dimensional California Child Q-Set (CCQ) personality profiles for 66 preadolescent boys with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and 56 comparison boys during naturalistic summer programs and correlated each boy's CCQ profile with an expert-derived CCQ psychopathy prototype. These scores, representing each boy's degree of similarity to the prototype, were significantly associated with concurrent externalizing diagnoses and symptoms and, with statistical control of these externalizing features, concurrent measures of objectively observed noncompliance, overt and covert antisocial behavior, and peer sociometric nominations indexing peer rejection. Psychopathic traits were not associated with peer acceptance. CCQ psychopathy dimension scores also predicted severity of delinquency at a 5-7-year prospective follow-up, with statistical control of age, baseline externalizing diagnoses and symptoms, and baseline objective observations of antisocial behavior. Predictions held when overt behavioral items from the CCQ, which may have overlapped with the delinquency outcome criterion, were eliminated. Despite these strong effects, a plethora of false positives were evident in the prospective predictions to delinquency status. We discuss research and clinical implications of measuring psychopathic traits in childhood.     

The psychotherapy of parenthood: towards a formulation and valuation of concurrent work with parents

This paper explores the process and value of concurrent work with parents when their child is being treated in individual psychotherapy. The position taken is that psychoanalytic understanding generally and the specific formulations presented in this paper have a broader applicability in other aspects and approaches in child and adolescent mental health practice. The central issues are the interweaving of knowledge of family processes, child development and psychopathology, and the uses that can be made of an understanding of transference and countertransference. A particular formulation is presented in relation to aspects of the work that constitute ‘child guidance’ and those that may be considered as ‘psychotherapeutic’ in relation to parental psychopathology. We have coined the term ‘the psychotherapy of parenthood’ to give this work the status it deserves and to define a boundary within which to explore the areas and levels of this complex work. Some practice and training implications are considered.     

Classroom context,teacher expectations,and cognitive level: Predicting children's math ability judgments

Classroom practices that make ability differences salient communicate differential teacher expectations for students. This study reports on a new observational tool for measuring Classroom Ability-based Practices (CAP) and explores how young children's self-perceptions of ability in mathematics are related to their teachers' expectations for them and to their cognitive reasoning skills in classrooms that vary in usage of such ability-differentiated practices. The sample consisted of 193 children and their teachers in 15 first grade classrooms. The CAP was a reliable measure of ability-based differential teacher treatment and showed criterion validity as a moderator variable in predicting children's ability perceptions. In highly ability-differentiating classrooms, children's self-ratings were more congruent with teachers' expectations of students' mathematics ability. Also in highly ability-differentiating classrooms, higher cognitive levels predicted lower self-ability ratings in math. These findings extend our understanding of the social and cognitive factors that shape young children's self-judgments of math competence.     

A Jumping Box for Cats

Forty-eight 4- to 6-year-old children were randomly assigned to one of three maternal modeling treatment groups: MC–mother exhibits tactual curiosity with the experimental stimuli; MNC–mother stares ahead and exhibits no tactual curiosity with the stimuli; and C–mother interacts with another adult and exhibits no tactual curiosity with the stimuli. Results revealed that imitative tactual curiosity occurred significantly more frequently among MC children, particularly the boys. Further, nonimitative curiosity (other tactual encounters with the stimuli) occurred significantly less frequently among C children, particularly the girls. Interpretation of these and other findings emphasized the potential problem of familiar models exhibiting atypical behaviors and the assumption that girls would more readily detect such atypicality in their mother's behavior than would boys.     

Children's Personal Narratives and Their Mothers' Responsiveness as Covariates of the Children's Compliance

Twenty-six mother–child dyads volunteered to be observed interacting at home, and the children agreed to participate in interviews designed to elicit their personal narratives. Observers coded the children's compliance with mother instructions and the mothers' responsiveness to their children's prosocial behaviors. Other raters coded the children's narratives for coherence of story structure. Correlational analyses of the data sets confirmed hypotheses that mother responsiveness and child coherence scores would account for separate variance in the children's willingness to comply with their mothers' instructions. These results were interpreted within the literature on child–mother synchrony and functional aspects of children's personal narratives.