Children's Loss of Agency under Extreme Adversity

This study explores the notion of children's agency in situations of extreme adversity. The child participants (n=117) live in the midst of the HIV/AIDS pandemic; extreme poverty; and systemic educational malfunction. Four focus group interviews were conducted with the children to explore their experiences of potential barriers to education. The findings indicated that contextual factors had a profoundly negative impact on the children, with their agentive capacity being severely compromised through their exposure to multiple, complex layers of risk. There was very little evidence to suggest that children retain any sense of their own agency in such adversity. This has implications for their resilience and for the development of policy and intervention strategies that may meet these children's needs.     

Spillover and crossover effects of exposure to work-related aggression and adversities: A dyadic diary study

The past two decades have produced extensive evidence on the manifold and severe outcomes for victims of aggression exposure in the workplace. However, due to the dominating individual-centered approach, most findings miss a social network perspective. Consequently, knowledge of negative spillover to different life-domains or crossover to uninvolved individuals alongside a detailed understanding of the involved transmission processes remains scarce. By integrating social aggression theorizing, the present study investigated transmission routes (emphatic, behavioral) of experienced adversities and aggression at work toward perpetration of aggressive behavior and potential spillover and crossover effects into the private life domain in a diary study of 72 mixed dyads. Analyses of mediation based upon the Actor-Partner Interdependence Model revealed an association between the frequency of perpetrating aggressive behavior in the work context and a spillover into the private life domain via aggression-promoting internal states (emotions, cognitions, arousal). Based on the different patterns of mediation, it appears that adversities follow a mental transmission process, whereby experienced aggression displayed behavioral assimilation. In contrast, no crossover effects of exposure to adversities or aggression at work to a study partner at home could be detected. Practical and theoretical implications as well as limitations and ideas for future work are discussed.     

FATHER–CHILD PLAY DURING THE PRESCHOOL YEARS AND CHILD INTERNALIZING BEHAVIORS: BETWEEN ROBUSTNESS AND VULNERABILITY

Play observations with a total of 400 toddlers and preschoolers were videotaped and rated for Intensity and Quality of play with their parents. Parents were asked about perceived stress and personality characteristics (Big 5). Child's motor, cognitive skills, temperament, and internalizing behaviors were assessed. Study 1 investigated the robustness of play across child age and gender, and examined differences between fathers and mothers. Study 2 explored the vulnerability of play with fathers of children born preterm (PT‐fathers) and fathers who had experienced adverse childhoods (AC‐fathers). Study 3 investigated child internalizing behaviors. Intensity of play was maintained almost independently of child age and gender. It was similar for AC‐ and PT‐fathers, and similar to maternal Intensity. In contrast, paternal Quality of play was higher with boys and independent of fathers’ personality and perceived parenting stress whereas maternal Quality of play was higher with girls and linked to mothers’ perceived parenting competence, acceptability of the child, and neuroticism. AC‐fathers scored significantly low on Quality, as did PT‐fathers, but the Quality of their play became better with growing child age, birth weight, and cognitive (but not motor and temperament) scores. Finally, child internalizing behaviors were negatively related to paternal Quality of play.     

心理弹性儿童的压力/逆境认知

心理弹性儿童是如何看待其曾经历的或正在经历的严重压力/逆境的?解读这一问题或可促进对聚焦于儿童自身的心理弹性机制的探查。为考察心理弹性儿童压力/逆境认知特点,利用Visual FoxPro 8.0平台自编计算机程序和故事测验法,分别从压力/逆境的敏感程度、觉知到的压力/逆境严重程度、觉知到的压力/逆境影响持久程度和觉知到的压力/逆境可应对程度四个方面对心理弹性组儿童和缺乏心理弹性组儿童进行测量。结果发现:(1)心理弹性儿童的压力/逆境敏感程度高于缺乏心理弹性儿童,表现为前者在压力/逆境指标回忆量、压力/逆境再认敏感性指标和模糊情境下压力/逆境偏向性上的得分均比后者高,而且,前者的压力/逆境指标再认击中平均反应时比后者短,反应标准亦比后者宽松。(2)心理弹性儿童在觉知到的压力/逆境严重程度、影响持久程度和可应对程度上两亚类实验任务(你认为主人公如何看?和若你是主人公如何看?)上的得分与反应时,除设身处地的压力/逆境影响持久程度认知外,其余与缺乏心理弹性儿童之间差异均不显著,提示,心理弹性儿童所觉知到的严重压力/逆境影响远没有缺乏心理弹性儿童所认为的更为持久。文章探讨了儿童更为敏感的压力/逆境觉知和相对而言认为严...     

Gendered adversity and mental health of adolescents orphaned by AIDS in a rural South African community: An exploratory study

This study explored gender differences in adversity and mental health among South African adolescents orphaned by AIDS. Adolescents (N = 121; females = 45.5%; mean age 14.14 years, SD = 2.09) self-reported their childhood adversities and probable mental ill health on the Child Trauma and General Health Questionnaire. Results revealed that female participants orphaned by AIDS were significantly more likely to report childhood adversity at total score level as compared to male participants. However, both male and female participants reported comparable scores on subscales of childhood adversity (emotional abuse, physical abuse, sexual abuse, and physical neglect). Moreover, female participants displayed higher composite mental ill health and all its subscales except for social dysfunction. Our findings suggest that gender-sensitive programmes and policies to address the effect of childhood adversity and mental ill health among adolescents orphaned by AIDS, are urgently needed.     

Psychological Distress in Orphan,Vulnerable Children and Non-Vulnerable Children in High Prevalence HIV/AIDS Communities

The degree of psychological distress and access social support is investigated in children (n = 741) living in nine high prevalence HIV/AIDS communities. They comprised (i) vulnerable, maternally-orphaned (n = 319); (ii) vulnerable and not orphaned (n = 276); and (iii) typically developing (n = 146). The following psychometric tests were administered: The Trauma Symptom Checklist for Children (Townsend, 2002); the Reynolds Depression Scale for Children (Reynolds, 1989); and the Social Support Scale (Beale Spencer, Cole, Jones & Phillips Swanson, 1997). Primary caregivers completed the Conners' Parent Rating Scale (Conners, Parker, Sitarenios, & Epstein, 1998) and an Adversity Index (Killian, 2004a) to establish the vulnerability status of each child. The data were analysed to distinguish the groups from each other regarding profiles of distress. The findings suggest that vulnerable children, be they orphaned or not, manifest similar degrees of emotional distress and perceived themselves as unable to access social support. Interventions should address the needs of both orphans and other vulnerable children, without prioritising the needs of orphans over other vulnerable children.