Romantic Attachment as a Moderator of the Association Between Childhood Abuse and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms

Childhood abuse can have significant negative effects on survivors that often last into adulthood. The purpose of this study was to explore the role of romantic attachment in understanding the relationship between childhood abuse and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms in adulthood. Data for this study were taken from the first wave of a five-wave longitudinal study. The sample included 120 mothers in their third trimester of pregnancy. Regression analyses were conducted in order to examine adult romantic attachment as a possible protective or vulnerability factor. Main effects of attachment anxiety and attachment avoidance on PTSD symptoms were found, such that higher levels of attachment anxiety and attachment avoidance were related to more PTSD symptoms. Attachment avoidance moderated this relationship, such that child abuse was significantly related to greater PTSD symptoms in those with high attachment avoidance. Implications for attachment-based interventions are discussed.     

Influences of Childhood Abuse on Parenting Perspectives of Pregnant Cohabitors

Using thematic analysis, we examine the effects of childhood abuse regarding parenthood for pregnant cohabitors from qualitative interviews. Participants (N?=?18; 10 women and 8 men) recalled childhood abuse during the Adult Attachment Interview. Three themes emerged: (1) “Learning what not to do,” whereby abuse is discussed as something not to continue, and harmful toward children; (2) “Use but modify parents’ discipline,” whereby individuals state that they will employ methods of their parents, but in ways different for their children; and (3) “Ambiguous,” whereby discussions are unclear and confused about how the abuse will affect their parenting. These results suggest that even when pregnant cohabitors want to parent differently than their own parents, they may not have relevant models or skills. For practitioners, we suggest interventions aimed at providing alternative models for how to parent, and effective and appropriate disciplining methods, as ways to deter intergenerational abuse.     

Opinions about child corporal punishment and influencing factors

The use of corporal punishment has been linked to negative developmental outcomes for children. Despite this finding, Section 43 of the Canadian Criminal Code permits the use of corporal punishment by parents for children 2 to 12 years of age. Therefore, this study's first objective is to investigate opinions toward Section 43 and spanking more generally. The second objective is to investigate predictors of opinions toward Section 43 and spanking more generally. The sample consists of 818 nonparents (70.7% female, 29.0% male) who completed an online study. Results indicate that 38.6% were favorable toward upholding Section 43. However, this decreases to 25.8% when a condition is included, stating that parents would not be prosecuted for mild slaps or spankings. For attitudes toward spanking more generally, results reveal that 16.7% of the participants held favorable attitudes. Hierarchical regression analyses reveal that planning to use corporal punishment upon becoming a parent predicted having a more favorable attitude toward Section 43 as well as toward spanking more generally (after controlling for sociodemographics). In contrast, having experienced violence during one's childhood predicts having less favorable attitudes toward Section 43 and spanking more generally. Significant interactions are found between childhood experiences of corporal punishment and perceptions of parental warmth/support and impulsiveness during discipline in predicting attitudes toward spanking. Those who report experiencing more corporal punishment during childhood but also more parental warmth/support hold more favorable attitudes toward spanking and those who report experiencing more corporal punishment during childhood and also more parental impulsiveness hold less favorable attitudes toward spanking. Findings indicate that examining opinions toward Section 43 and spanking separately is important because these concepts are not synonymous. In addition, both more immediate factors and those related to one's developmental history play a role in predicting opinions toward Section 43 and spanking more generally.     

Isolating Adult Psychological Correlates of Witnessing Parental Violence: Findings from a Predominantly Latina Sample

This study examined the relationship between childhood exposure to parental violence and adult psychological functioning in a sample of predominantly Mexican American participants. Questionnaires assessing childhood maltreatment, family environment, and current psychological symptomatology were completed by 142 female undergraduates. Findings revealed that witnessing parental violence in childhood was associated with depressive symptoms, low self-esteem, and trauma symptoms in adulthood, even after controlling for child physical and sexual abuse. However, in subsequent analyses, also controlling for levels of nonphysical family conflict, previous associations between exposure to parental violence and adult symptomatology were reduced, such that trauma-related symptoms remained the sole outcome still predicted by a history of witnessing parental violence. Implications of these findings, issues related to the use of statistical control procedures in abuse effects research, and directions for future investigation are discussed.     

A TEST OF LATENT TRAIT VERSUS LIFECOURSE PERSPECTIVES ON THE STABILITY OF ADOLESCENT ANTISOCIAL BEHAVIOR*

Latent trait and life-course theories provide contrasting interpretations of the well-established finding that childhood antisocial behavior often precedes adolescent conduct problems and adult crime. Longitudinal data from 179 boys and their parents were used to test hypotheses derived from the two theoretical perspectives. The findings largely supported the life-course view. Oppositional behavior during late childhood predicted reductions in quality of parenting and school commitment and increased affiliation with deviant peers. These changes, in turn, predicted conduct problems during early adolescence. Although there was a moderately strong bivariate correlation between childhood antisocial behavior and adolescent conduct problems, there was no longer an association between these constructs when the effects of parenting, school, and peers were taken into account. Further, there was evidence that improved parenting, increased school commitment, or reduced affiliation with deviant peers lowered the probability that boys who were oppositional during childhood would graduate to delinquency and drug use during adolescence. Together, these findings suggest that the correlation between childhood and adolescent deviant behavior reflects a developmental process rather than a latent antisocial trait.     

Experiences with Parental Aggression During Childhood and Self-Concept in Adulthood: The Importance of Subjective Perceptions

That individuals' realities are subjectively constructed is a basic, fundamental concept in psychology. However, past research examining child maltreatment in relation to psychological functioning has only investigated the frequency with which parental aggression occurs. Here, adults' perceptions of the abusiveness of their parents' aggressive behaviors during childhood were investigated as a predictor of current self-concept. Participants (N = 119) completed questionnaires assessing the extent to which they experienced parental aggression during childhood, their subjective perceptions of their parents' behaviors, and their current self-concept. Results indicated that how participants perceived their parents' aggressive behaviors was a more important predictor of self-concept than was the frequency with which those aggressive parental behaviors occurred. How individuals characterize their experiences with parental aggression should be taken into account when examining the psychological effects of aggressive parental behaviors.     

Is childhood physical abuse associated with peptic ulcer disease? Findings from a population-based study

This study investigated childhood physical abuse and ulcers in a regionally representative community sample. Age, race and sex were controlled for in addition to five clusters of potentially confounding factors: adverse childhood conditions, adult socioeconomic status, current health behaviors, current stress and marital status, and history of mood/anxiety disorders. Childhood physical abuse is associated with many negative physical and psychological adult health outcomes. Two recent studies demonstrate a potential link between childhood physical abuse and peptic ulcer disease in adulthood. The authors use regional data for the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Saskatchewan from the 2005 Canadian Community Health Survey. Of the 13,069 respondents with complete data on abuse and ulcers, 7.3% (n = 1,020) report that they had been physically abused as a child by someone close to them and 3.0% (n = 493) report that they had been diagnosed with peptic ulcers by a health professional. The regional response rate is approximately 84%. Findings show that those reporting abuse had more than twice the prevalence of ulcers than did those not reporting abuse (6.6% vs. 2.7%). The fully adjusted odd ratio of peptic ulcers among those who had reported childhood physical abuse is 1.68 (95% CI = 1.22, 2.32). A significant and stable relationship between childhood physical abuse and peptic ulcers is found, even when taking into account five clusters of potentially confounding factors. Prospective studies that apply the biopsychosocial model are likely to be the most effective for identifying the pathways that connect childhood physical abuse and ulcer disease.     

Maltreatment Chronicity Defined with Reference to Development: Extension of the Social Adaptation Outcomes Findings to Peer Relations

The purpose of this study was to extend work seeking to improve research definitions of chronic maltreatment by contrasting a definition based on patterns of CPS reports across childhood developmental stages to a previously used definition based upon duration of the period including reports, using teacher-estimated peer relations to represent an extrafamilial outcome domain of social adaptation. The sample includes 387 children who are participating in a multi-site longitudinal study and had been reported for abuse or neglect to CPS between birth and age 8. CPS records from this time period provided the basis of two chronicity constructs: 1) an ordinal categories (OC) definition based upon four Eriksonian stages, and 2) a durational definition (time between first and last reports). Block-wise regression analyses were conducted to examine the relative degree to which the two chronicity definitions contributed to prediction of teacher-estimated peer relations at the age 8 interview. Chronicity characterized with reference to developmental stages significantly predicted troubled peer relations, with child age, sex, and minority status, family income, geographic location, and time of first report taken into account. The effect was pronounced with regard to aggressive peer relations. Duration of maltreatment reports also predicted aggressive peer relations, but significantly less so than did the OC definition. The findings support the view that maltreatment chronicity is usefully defined by taking children’s development into consideration to characterize patterns of maltreatment across developmental stages. Practice and research implications are suggested.     

The Imprint of Childhood Physical and Emotional Abuse: A Case Study on the Use of EMDR to Address Anxiety and a Lack of Self-Esteem

This article examines the use of Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) in helping a client address problems with persistent anxiety and a lack of self-esteem. During EMDR treatment, the client explored the dichotomous thinking that had plagued her since childhood, and correspondingly, the role of childhood physical and emotional abuse in her chronic feelings of inadequacy and anxiety. The client experienced significant improvement in her levels of anxiety and problems with self-esteem, both at the end of treatment and at 1-year follow up. Qualitative and quantitative data are utilized in this case study outlining the use of EMDR with a client diagnosed with dysthymic disorder.     

The Relationship between Self-Control in Adolescence and Social Consequences in Adulthood: Assessing the Influence of Genetic Confounds

Purpose

Assess the relationship between levels of self-control in adolescence and a variety of later-life outcomes and evaluate the confounding effects of genetic factors.

Methods

The current study employed data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) and examined whether levels of self-control in adolescence are related to economic, educational, employment, health, relationship and family, and behavioral outcomes in adulthood using DeFries-Fulker regression-based analyses.

Results

Analyses employing non-genetically sensitive methods indicated robust associations between self-control and various social consequences. After estimating genetically-sensitive analyses, however, many associations were no longer significant. Those associations which remained significant were in the reversed direction relative to the non-genetically sensitive models. Additionally, further analyses indicated that some of the remaining significant associations were influenced by nonshared genetic effects.

Conclusions

The findings indicate that even after controlling for the effect of genetic factors, levels of self-control are associated with differences in a variety of social outcomes. However, given the reduction in the number of significant associations and reversal of associations in the genetically sensitive models, analyses of the social consequences of low self-control which do not account for the effect of genetic factors are likely misspecified.     

Parental Use of Physical Punishment as Related to Family Environment, Psychological Well-being, and Personality in Undergraduates

Childhood experiences of physical punishment were examined as related to perceptions of family environment during childhood and affective and personality outcomes of college students. From the 274 respondents who participated, scores were compared for the participants with the 75 highest and 75 lowest physical discipline scores based on the Conflict Tactics Scale (CTSPC-CA). Respondents who experienced the highest level of physical punishment in their families of origin reported higher family conflict, more negative parental relationships, greater family worries, more depressive symptoms, more perceived nonsupport, greater identity problems, and more negative social relationships. Respondents in the low physical punishment group reported higher positive family affect. Results suggest that experiencing physical discipline as a child may be related to one’s family environment and psychological well-being in young adulthood.     

Harsh Discipline and Child Problem Behaviors: The Roles of Positive Parenting and Gender

This study examined harsh verbal and physical discipline and child problem behaviors in a community sample of 2,582 parents and their fifth and sixth grade children. Participants were recruited from pediatric practices, and both parents and children completed questionnaire packets. The findings indicated that boys received more harsh verbal and physical discipline than girls, with fathers utilizing more harsh physical discipline with boys than did mothers. Both types of harsh discipline were associated with child behavior problems uniquely after positive parenting was taken into account. Child gender did not moderate the findings, but one dimension of positive parenting (i.e., parental warmth) served to buffer children from the detrimental influences of harsh physical discipline. The implications of the findings for intervention programs are discussed. This research was supported by a grant from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.     

RISK AND PROTECTIVE FACTORS FOR SECONDARY GIRLS OF INCARCERATED PARENTS

In a review of the literature on child gender and gender‐specific effects for children of incarcerated parents, the present paper examines what we do and do not know about gender‐specific protective and risk factors for children of incarcerated parents. The nuanced effects of parental separation based on child gender are offered, drawn from secondary level girls in an all‐female support group operated at a secondary school in Little Rock, Arkansas for the past six years. Other programs are examined that evidence gender‐specific effects for boys and girls in those programs. A few basic statistical indices suggest that the gender of an adolescent separated from his or her incarcerated parents has differential impacts to be better studied and possibly considered in service programming. The results may enhance the outcomes for the girls, and perhaps the boys.     

Social Support and Self-Esteem Moderate the Relation Between Intimate Partner Violence and Depression and Anxiety Symptoms Among Portuguese Women

Psychological distress and alcohol abuse have been linked to intimate partner violence (IPV). However, not all victims develop these problems. This study analyses the impact of IPV severity, social support, and self-esteem on depressive and anxiety symptoms as well as on alcohol abuse, and tests social and personal resources as moderators of the abuse-psychological distress-substance abuse link in a sample of Portuguese women including victims and non-victims of IPV (N?=?209). IPV severity contributed significantly to depression and anxiety symptoms as well as to alcohol abuse, after controlling for socio-demographic factors. Both social support and self-esteem were found to moderate the relation between IPV and depression and anxiety symptoms. However, moderation did not occur for the association between IPV and alcohol abuse. This study shows the impact of IPV on mental health and on alcohol abuse, and highlights the need to design effective interventions that promote social and personal resources in victimized women.     

Child-to-parent violence: Profile of abusive adolescents and their families

This study focused on parent abuse (PA), also known as child-to-parent violence. The main aim was to examine the psychological and family characteristics of adolescents who physically and/or verbally abuse their parents, and to study gender differences of perpetrators and victims of aggression. The authors analyzed the judicial proceedings of 103 adolescents in the court of Bilbao (Spain). These adolescents were divided into three groups: those with charges of PA, those with charges of PA and other kinds of charges (PA+), and those with only other types of charges (NotPA). Results showed a specific profile of adolescents who abused their parents (PA) (lower self-esteem and empathy, and more disciplinary problems at school), as well as differential characteristics of these families (economic situation and the type of household). Finally, the relation between this phenomenon and gender violence was discussed in detail.     

Linking early ADHD to adolescent and early adult outcomes among African Americans

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to propose a mediational model for the mechanisms through which a diagnosis of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder between the ages of 10 and 12 predicts positive and negative early adult outcomes for African Americans.

Methods

The study sample (n = 211) was drawn from the Des Moines, Iowa subsample of the Family and Community Health Study. Participants were first assessed between the ages of 10 and 12, again between the ages of 12 and 18, and finally at 18 to 23.

Results

Findings indicate that a diagnosis of ADHD before age 13 indirectly predicted subsequent exclusionary school discipline and juvenile arrest in adolescence, and both arrests and educational attainment in young adulthood.

Conclusions

These findings offer support for the School to Prison Pipeline model, showing that for some African American children, a childhood diagnosis of ADHD can lead to negative school experiences that result in harsh school-based discipline, which in turn open the door to justice system involvement spanning several developmental stages.     

PROGRAMS FOR PROMOTING PARENTING OF RESIDENTIAL PARENTS: Moving From Efficacy to Effectiveness

This article reviews prevention programs that target primary residential parents as change agents for improving children's postdivorce adjustment. First, we review parental risk and protective factors for children from divorced families, including parenting quality, parental mental health problems, interparental conflict, and contact with the nonresidential parent. Following a discussion of brief informational interventions, we describe the findings of evaluations of three multisession, skill-building interventions for divorced parents. Impressive evidence is presented that parenting is a modifiable protective factor and that improving parenting leads to improvements in children's postdivorce adjustment. We then discuss, in greater detail, the New Beginnings Program, which we highlight because it has shown repeated, immediate effects on children's mental health outcomes as well as long-term effects on a wide array of other meaningful outcomes, such as diagnosis of mental disorder in the past year, externalizing problems, alcohol and drug use, and academic performance. Also, mediational analyses have shown that program-induced changes in parenting accounted for changes in mental health outcomes. The remainder of the article describes a research and action agenda that is needed to successfully implement the New Beginnings Program in domestic relations courts.     

Breaking the Cycle: Association of Attending Therapy Following Childhood Abuse and Subsequent Perpetration of Violence

Despite “cycle of violence” (Widom Psychological Bulletin, 106, 3–28, 1989, p. 4) theories prevailing for the past 30 years, few studies have looked at the empirical relationship between experiencing childhood physical abuse and becoming perpetrators of violence in adulthood. Those studies that do exist omit consideration of intervening therapeutic experiences. In the present study, archival data from an outpatient mental health clinic was used to examine whether therapeutic experiences mediate the relationship between experiencing childhood physical abuse by a parental figure and subsequent involvement as a perpetrator of physical violence. Treatment-seeking individuals (N?=?816) responded to three items about whether they had experiences of childhood physical abuse, whether they acted violently in adulthood, and whether they had ever before received counseling or therapy. Past counseling/psychotherapy treatment was a significant mediator between experiencing childhood physical abuse and perpetrating physical violence in adulthood, even after controlling for the effect of the victims’ gender. Findings suggest that psychotherapeutic experiences after experiencing childhood physical abuse may decrease the likelihood of perpetrating violence in adulthood. Limitations, implications, and directions for future research are discussed.     

Does Attentional Control Mediate the Association Between Adverse Early Experiences and Child Physical Abuse Risk?

The present study examined the extent to which attentional control mediates the relationship between adverse early life experiences (e.g., harsh discipline, low perceived support) and child physical abuse (CPA) risk in adulthood. Participants included 138 general population parents (30.4% fathers and 69.6% mothers) who completed self-report measures of early life experiences, attentional control, and CPA risk. Results revealed that attentional control partially mediated the association between adverse early environment and CPA risk scores, Sobel test = 2.65, SE = 0.86, p = .007. More specifically, individuals exposed to adverse early environments (characterized by harsh discipline and/or low perceived support) reported lower levels of attentional control, which in turn was associated with increased risk of hostile, aggressive, and abusive parenting.