Do Social Services Matter for Child Maltreatment Prevention?: Interactions between Social Support and Parent's Knowledge of Available Local Social Services

Despite wide recognition that increased social support is associated with positive parenting behaviors, there is limited understanding regarding the mechanisms through which the neighborhood context can increase or hinder social connections. In a sample of 1,050 parents in Franklin County, OH, this study examines the role of availability of social services in child maltreatment. Through negative binomial regression, the study finds that greater availability of social services is associated with lower levels of child abuse and neglect. Additionally, the availability of social services moderates the relationship between social support and child maltreatment, such that the relationship between social support and child maltreatment is weaker for parents in neighborhoods with greater availability of services. The findings suggest that increasing services and awareness of such services might be an opportunity for child maltreatment prevention.     

Clinical Assessment of Parents in Child Protection Cases: An Empirical Analysis

We investigated the content and legal relevance of clinical evaluations of parents conducted in child abuse and neglect cases. The sample consisted of 190 mental health evaluation reports, randomly selected from major providers, that had been completed on parents involved in a large, urban juvenile court system. We coded evaluations on 170 objective and qualitative characteristics in order to assess for criteria recommended in the forensic literature. We compared evaluations across groups categorized by type (e.g., psychological, psychiatric, bonding/parenting, substance abuse) and where the assessments were performed (outside or inside the court). We found numerous substantive failures to meet those criteria for forensic relevance. Evaluations of parents typically were completed in a single session, rarely included a home visit, used few if any sources of information other than the parent, often cited no previous written reports, rarely used behavioral methods, stated purposes in general rather than specific terms, emphasized weaknesses over strengths in reporting results, and often neglected to describe the parent's caregiving qualities or the child's relationship with the parent. Some relevant differences were evident across assessment groups, pointing to examples of more thorough, parenting-specific evaluation practices. We recommend ways to improve current practices in forensic parenting assessment.     

Parents’ Potential for Child Abuse: An Intergenerational Perspective

This study examined predictors for parents’ potential for abusing their children. Two hundred and thirteen Jewish and Arab parents of children up to 6 years of age completed six questionnaires assessing child-abuse potential, childhood history of abuse/neglect, attachment style, emotional control, perceived stress, and cognitive appraisal of parenthood. Results indicated that parents who experienced childhood abuse and neglect scored significantly higher in child-abuse potential than parents without a history of abuse or neglect. A Structural Equation Model indicated that anxious and avoidant attachment mediated the experiences of abuse and neglect in childhood and emotional control; whereas emotional control deficits mediated the relationship between insecure attachment and parenthood as challenge vs. threat, leading to greater child-abuse potential. Clinical implications were discussed.     

Emotional Dysregulation and Negative Affect Mediate the Relationship Between Maternal History of Child Maltreatment and Maternal Child Abuse Potential

Risk for committing child abuse is frequently attributed to an intergenerational “cycle of violence” through which abuse as a child increases risk for committing abuse as a parent. While this hypothesis has support, more research is needed to understand the factors that account for this pattern of risk. Given literature suggesting that adults with a history of child maltreatment have increased risk for a wide range of psychopathology, this study examined the role of two behavioral endophenotypes, emotional dysregulation and negative affect, in the association between maternal experiences of childhood maltreatment and maternal child abuse potential among 83 low-income, primarily African-American mothers of elementary school age children. Results indicate that a mother’s experience of abuse as a child predicts later risk for abusive parenting as measured by child abuse potential scores. However, our data also indicate that the relationship between maternal experience of child abuse and later child abuse potential is mediated by maternal emotional dysregulation and negative affect.     

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.     

Parenting Stress,Parenting Behavior,and Children’s Adjustment in Families Experiencing Intimate Partner Violence

Children exposed to intimate partner violence are known to experience a number of negative outcomes, including behavioral and emotional problems; however, possible mechanisms accounting for this relationship are unclear. There is considerable evidence that parenting stress has a direct effect on child adjustment problems and on parenting behaviors; parenting behaviors, in turn, have been repeatedly shown to be related to child outcomes. The hypothesis that parenting mediates the relationship between parenting stress and child behavioral and emotional problems according to Abidin’s (Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 21:407–412, 1992) model was tested in a sample of 190 battered women and their 4-to12-year-old children. No support for mediation was found for either mother- or child-reported outcomes. Parenting stress had a strong direct effect on child behavioral and emotional problems. These findings have implications for the viability of Abidin’s model, as well as for interventions with battered women that address parenting stress. The authors would like to thank the women, children, and staff at the shelters for battered women who participated in this study.     

DOES MANDATORY DIVORCE EDUCATION FOR PARENTS WORK?

In a court-mandated, child-focused class for divorcing parents, parental mastery of skills taught were evaluated both immediately after the class and 6 months later. Parents perceived the classes to be realistic and useful. Skills were effectively learned and were maintained over the evaluation period. Parents reported that they were successful in dramatically lowering exposure of their children to parental conflict. Relative to a comparison group of parents divorcing the year before the classes were initiated, parents completing the class were better able to work through how they would handle difficult child-related situations with their ex-spouses and were willing to let their children spend more time with the other parent. Few gender differences were observed—mothers perceived the class as more realistic; fathers showed greater improvement on some skills. Similarly, interest level in further training was not predictive of class benefits, suggesting that enthusiasm for parenting training is probably not essential.     

The father in the adolescent pregnancy at risk for child maltreatment. I. Helpmate or hinderance?

Concern regarding the risk of child maltreatment in adolescent parent-child dyads has moderated in recent study. Concern persists, however, in those relationships where demographic or dynamic aspects of the relationship predict greater stress. While the majority of research targeting these high-risk adolescent parent-child dyads has focused on the adolescent mother, there has been little attention directed to the possible role played by the father in the adolescent parenting situation. This paper examines the characteristics of 145 fathers in adolescent mother-child relationships previously determined to be “high-risk” for child abuse. The hypothesis that the fathers in these high-risk relationships may bring elements to the environment and relationship which exacerbate the existing risk (e.g., occupational, educational, and financial problems) was supported. In addition, speculation was off ered that certain personal characteristics of the fathers such as alcohol/substance abuse and criminal records would serve to predict greater rates of ultimate relationship failure.     

Alcohol Use,Drinking Venue Utilization,and Child Physical Abuse: Results from a Pilot Study

A positive relationship between parents’ drinking and child physical abuse has been established by previous research. This paper examines how a parent’s use of drinking locations is related to physical abuse. A convenience sample of 103 parents answered questions on physical abuse with the Conflict Tactics Scale-Parent Child version (CTS-PC), current drinking behavior, and the frequency with which they drank at different venues, including bars and parties. Ordered probit models were used to assess relationships between parent demographics, drinking patterns, places of drinking, and CTS-PC scores. Frequent drinking, frequently going to bars, frequently going to parties in a parent’s own home, and frequently going to parties in friends’ homes were positively related to child physical abuse. The number of drinking locations was positively related to child physical abuse such that parents who report attending and drinking at more of these venues were more likely to be perpetrators of physical abuse. This suggests that time spent in these venues provides opportunities to mix with individuals that may share the same attitudes and norms towards acting violently.     

The Parent Opinion Questionnaire and Child Vignettes for Use with Abusive Parents: Assessment of Psychometric Properties

Psychometric properties of the Parent Opinion Questionnaire (POQ) and the Child Vignettes (CV) were examined. Participants included 78 abusive and 77 comparison mothers and fathers. Scores on the POQ were very low, and there were no differences between abusive and comparison parents on any of the six rationally-derived scales of the POQ or the full scale. Results of factor analysis and assessment of internal consistency did not support the six scales. Full scale scores were associated with parental psychopathology, parenting stress, self-reported discipline practices, and IQ, but were unrelated to observed parenting behavior. On the CV, abusive parents indicated more negative attributions and harsher intended punishment for children's aversive behavior than did comparison parents. Negative attribution ratings and intended punishment ratings on the CV were related to parental psychopathology and parenting stress; scores on intended punishment were related to parents’ perceptions of their children's adjustment, self-reported disciplinary practices, and observed negative parenting behavior.     

Personality Disorders in a Sample of Parents Accused of Physical Abuse or Neglect

The objective of this study was to provide a psychological profile of parents who have been formally accused of child maltreatment. A clinical group of 16 parents accused of physical abuse and 22 parents accused of neglect were compared with 18 parents from a control group. The MCMI-III was administered individually for each parent. Both groups of maltreatment showed significant differences on different scales of the MCMI-III. No difference was seen between the parents of both groups of child maltreatment. Many parents of both child maltreatment groups reported at least one form of abuse during their childhood, suggesting that a childhood marked by abuse or neglect on the part of a parent could result in personality disorders and that these disorders may have something to do with the intergenerational transmission of abuse.     

Child abuse and chronic pain in a community survey of women

This study examined the relationship between a self-reported history of child physical and sexual abuse and chronic pain among women (N = 3,381) in a provincewide community sample. Chronic pain was significantly associated with physical abuse, education, and age of the respondents and was unrelated to child sexual abuse alone or in combination with physical abuse, mental disorder (anxiety, depression, or substance abuse), or low income. Number of health problems and mental health disorders did not mediate the relationship between physical abuse and chronic pain. Despite considerable evidence from the clinical literature linking exposure to child maltreatment and chronic pain in adulthood, this may well be the first population-based study to investigate this relationship for child physical and sexual abuse independently. The significant association between childhood history of physical abuse and pain in adulthood calls for a greater awareness of the potential for chronic pain problems associated with this type of maltreatment. Further research is needed to understand the mechanism for this complex relationship.     

Dispositional empathy in neglectful mothers and mothers at high risk for child physical abuse

This study investigates whether mothers who are neglectful and at high risk for child physical abuse present a deficit in empathy. Participants were neglectful mothers (n=37), mothers at high risk for child physical abuse (n=22), and nonmaltreating mothers (n=37). The Interpersonal Reactivity Index, a self-report measure assessing specific dimensions of empathy, was used to assess dispositional empathy. No differences between neglectful and non-neglectful mothers were found for perspective taking, empathic concern, and personal distress. High-risk mothers reported less perspective taking and more personal distress than nonmaltreating mothers. No difference between groups was found for empathic concern. The present study supported the hypothesis that parents at high risk for child physical abuse show a deficit in particular aspects of dispositional empathy: personal distress and perspective taking. However, no differences were found between neglectful and nonmaltreating mothers in any dimension of dispositional empathy.     

EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS OF REFERRAL ISSUES AND “ULTIMATE ISSUE” RECOMMENDATIONS FOR PARENTS IN CHILD PROTECTION CASES*

Mental health professionals frequently respond to requests for clinical information on parents in child protection cases; however, little data exist on the issues precipitating requests or on the controversial practice of offering “ultimate issue” recommendations in forensic clinical reports. We investigated 243 requests for clinical information on parents and 204 clinician reports submitted for use in child abuse and neglect proceedings in a large, urban juvenile court system. We coded 56 objective and qualitative characteristics regarding referral questions, pending legal issues, and four levels of recommendations. We found that the most common referral questions related to service planning, parenting ability, and/or parents' mental health functioning, and the most common pending legal issues were selection or change of a permanency goal and visitation arrangements. Levels of recommendations varied with type of legal decision, in that clinicians always offered direct recommendations for narrow, statute‐based issues (e.g., termination of rights, adoption) and less so for other issues. Community‐based evaluators were more likely to offer direct recommendations than court‐based clinicians. Based on the findings, we offer practice recommendations and directions for further research in forensic parenting assessment.     

Cross-cultural Validation of the Child Abuse Potential Inventory in Belgium (Flanders): Relations with Demographic Characteristics and Parenting Problems

This study examined the reliability and the validity of the Dutch CAP Inventory, a screening instrument that measures parents’ potential for child physical abuse (Milner, The Child Abuse Potential Inventory: Manual (2nd ed.), Psytec, Webster, NC, 1986). The CAP Inventory and measures on parenting stress and parents’ emotions and attributions with regard to childrearing were administered in a nonclinical sample of randomly selected mothers (N = 362) with a 4-to-11-year-old child. The CAP Inventory Abuse scale showed high internal consistency and split-half reliability. Twenty-four CAP Inventories (6.6%) were invalid, because mothers tended to present themselves either as too good or too bad. Sixteen valid CAP Inventories (4.4%) were indicative of high potential for abuse. Scores on the Abuse scale were significantly predicted by an external locus of control with regard to childrearing and by high levels of parenting stress. Results supported the cross-cultural generalizability of the CAP Inventory Abuse scale.     

MAGELLAN'S DISCOVERIES

In 1998, the Family Court of Australia introduced an interagency, multidisciplinary pilot program for managing parenting disputes that involved allegations of child abuse. The program, known as Project Magellan, is an example of the trend in judicial administration toward specialized court programs. It involved one hundred families and several state and federal agencies and human service organizations. This article presents the findings of an evaluation of the new program and considers the implication of those findings and the potential for the success of similar programs in other jurisdictions. It points to the contribution the pilot program made to the development of knowledge about child abuse in the emotive and complex circumstances of parental separation and suggests that the interrelationship between child abuse and relationship breakdown should be acknowledged as a legitimate matter of serious concern.     

The Infant Injury Database: A Tool for the Study of Injury Patterns in Medicolegal Investigations of Child Abuse

In 2012, the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences began prospectively collecting injury data from pediatric autopsies. These data and associated case information from 635 pediatric cases are archived in the Infant Injury Database (IID). This paper introduces the IID to the forensic community and demonstrates its potential utility for child abuse and infant fatality investigations. The database is intended to be a source of evidence‐based research for coroners/medical examiners and clinicians in the recognition and diagnosis of child abuse. RR estimates were employed to quantify the relationship between individual autopsy findings to trauma‐related and nontrauma‐related causes of death. For example, unsurprisingly, the RR of trauma cases with multiple injury types is significantly greater than other causes of death, but the RR results provide a quantitative representation of the relationship. ROC curve modeling of the presence/absence of various injury types performed well at discriminating trauma from other causes of death (AUC = 0.96).     

Filial Therapy with Victims of Family Violence: a Phenomenological Study

This research study examined the perceptions of parents, and victims of domestic violence, after receiving filial therapy. Specifically, parents were trained in a 10-week filial therapy model, Child–Parent Relationship Training. At the completion of the study, parents were given a semi-structured, open-ended style interview to gather information about their experiences. Themes emerged from the data participants provided, such as: experiencing increased warmth and trust in the child–parent relationship, changed parenting style, and decreased parental stress. Additionally, narratives reflect the positive influence the training had on parents’ perceptions of violence. A summary of the essence of the parent’s experiences is included.     

The parental problem-solving measure: Further evaluation with maltreating and nonmaltreating parents

Inability to solve problems related to parenting and other aspects of daily living is hypothesized to result in frustration or inability to cope, and contribute to the occurrence of problematic parental behavior such as physical abuse or neglect. The present investigation evaluated the Parental Problem-Solving Measure (PPSM), a procedure for measuring parental problem-solving skill of maltreating and nonmaltreating parents. Subjects were 60 parents with at least one child between the ages of 2 and 12. Subjects belonged to one of three groups: (a) physically abusive and/or neglectful parents (n=27); (b) nonmaltreating clinic parents seeking help for child behavior problems (n=12); and (c) nonmaltreating, non-help-seeking community parents (n=21). Results demonstrated the interrater reliability, internal consistency, and temporal stability of the PPSM and its five subscales. Support is also provided for the convergent and discriminant validity of the measure.     

CHILD‐FOCUSED AND CHILD‐INCLUSIVE DIVORCE MEDIATION: COMPARATIVE OUTCOMES FROM A PROSPECTIVE STUDY OF POSTSEPARATION ADJUSTMENT

This study compared outcomes over 1 year for two groups of separated parents, who attended two different forms of brief therapeutic mediation for entrenched parenting disputes. The two interventions each targeted psychological resolution of parental conflict, enhanced parental reflective function, and associated reduction of distress for their children. The child‐focused (CF) intervention actively supported parents to consider the needs of their children, but without any direct involvement of the children, while the child‐inclusive (CI) intervention incorporated separate consultation by a specialist with the children in each family, and consideration of their concerns with parents in the mediation forum. Repeated measures at baseline, 3 months, and 1 year postintervention explored changes over time and across treatments in conflict management, subjective distress, and relationship quality for all family members. Enduring reduction in levels of conflict and improved management of disputes, as reported by parents and children, occurred for both treatment groups in the year after mediation. The CI intervention had several impacts not evident in the other treatment group, related to relationship improvements and psychological well‐being. These effects were strongest for fathers and children. Agreements reached by the CI group were significantly more durable, and the parents in this group were half as likely to instigate new litigation over parenting matters in the year after mediation as were the CF parents. The article explores the potential of CI divorce mediation to not only safely include many children in family law matters related to them, but also to promote their developmental recovery from high‐conflict separation, through enhanced emotional availability of their parents.