Fatal child abuse-maltreatment syndrome. A retrospective study in Ontario,Canada, 1990-1995

Child death due to repeated episodes of physical assault or neglect has been termed the child abuse-maltreatment syndrome (CAMS). We characterized the injuries in a series of fatally abused or maltreated child to delineate objective diagnostic criteria for the CAMS for use by clinicians and pathologists. All deaths (age <17 years) investigated by the Office of the Chief Coroner for Ontario, Canada during the time period 1990-1995 were reviewed. Cases of CAMS were defined as death due to lethal recent injury or malnutrition in the presence of significant old (healing or healed) injuries indicative of repeated episode of inflicted trauma. The nature and frequency of the various injuries was determined. The frequency of the shaken baby syndrome, and the types and frequency of ano-genital injuries were also studied. Twenty-one cases of fatal CAMS were found in the study period. Most cases had significant recent head injury with intra-cranial hemorrhage (71%). Other significant recent injuries commonly observed included blunt injuries of the skin and soft tissues (67%), blunt abdominal trauma with visceral injuries (14%), and fractures (18%). Eight cases (38%) fulfilled accepted criteria for the shaken baby syndrome. Many children with fatal head injuries had evidence of older head trauma (38% of all cases). A significant minority of cases had evidence of malnutrition due to neglect (10%) or ongoing ano-genital injuries (10%). Most cases of child homicides due to repeated episodes of abuse or maltreatment involve head trauma including shaken baby syndrome. Fractures of long bone and ribs, the classical markers of child abuse, were relatively infrequent compared with head injury. A proportion of cases had ano-genital injuries due to repeated sexual abuse or punitive maltreatment. All clinicians and pathologists must recognize the wide spectrum of injuries in child abuse to ultimate protect the victim or other children in an at-risk situation.     

The efficiency of the demarking point of the femoral head as a sex determining parameter

The percentage of skeletal remains that can be sexed depends on the degree of completeness of the skeleton, the parameters that are used and the type of statistical analysis that is done. The objective of the present study was to assess the accuracy of the demarking point in sexing the femur of South African whites and blacks. One hundred pairs of femurs were randomly selected from the bone collections of each of the two racial groups. The bones were sexed by measuring the head diameters and comparing them with the corresponding demarking point values that had been previously determined. The sex that was so allocated to each bone was compared with its documented sex in the database in order to assess the accuracy of the method. The overall success rate of sex identification was 32% for both white and black populations, but the accuracy of sexing was 100%.     

Pubertal Development, Choice of Friends, and Smoking Initiation among Adolescent Males

Prior research has indicated that pubertal development and peer associations are important determinants of adolescent smoking behavior. However, more remains to be learned about why these variables matter or how they may be related to one another in ways that lead to the initiation of smoking. Using contractual data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, we consider the relationship between early pubertal development and associations with close friends who smoke, and smoking initiation among male youths. The results of the study reveal a link between advanced pubertal development and the initiation of smoking among boys, but we discover that the effect is indirect, mediated by a greater propensity of sexually mature males to forge friendships with peers who smoke. We also find that this propensity is greatest among the youngest adolescents in the sample, suggesting that the age of the respondent conditions the effects of pubertal development on the formation of friendships with peers who smoke.(Ph.D., The University of Texas at Austin), is an Assistant Professor at Washington State University at Vancouver. Her areas of interest include juvenile delinquency and substance abuse.(Ph.D., Rutgers: The State University of New Jersey) is an Assistant Professor at Westfield State College. Her area of interest is adolescent identity development.(Ph.D., The University of Texas at Austin) is an Associate Professor at the University of Portland. His areas of interest include biosocial models of adolescent problem behavior.     

Age and Gender Differences in Peer Conflict

The purpose of this study was to examine age and gender differences in peer conflict, particularly in regards to conflict issues and resolution strategies reported by children and adolescents. Students from grades 4 and 8 (60 boys, 60 girls) were asked interview questions and given 3 hypothetical scenarios to respond to. Teacher and self-reports were also gathered for each student to assess their level of adaptive ability. The results showed that adolescents tended to report higher rates of conflict and endorsed more cooperative strategies than 4th graders, who endorsed more aggressive tactics. Female students reported having more relational issues and used more conflict-mitigating strategies, while boys reported having more conflicts related to status/dominance. Finally, links were also found between effective resolution strategies and social ability. The implications and limitations of this study are discussed.M. A. Noakes received her Master's degree from the Department of Educational Psychology at the University of Alberta, Canada. Her current research interests include assessment of at-risk youth, relapse prevention programs for young offenders, and social emotional functioning of children and adolescents.C. M. Rinaldi her doctorate from the Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology at McGill University, Canada. Her current research interests include applied developmental psychology, social emotional functioning of children and adolescents, and parent-child relations.     

Epistemic Reasoning and Adolescent Egocentrism: Relations to Internalizing and Externalizing Symptoms in Problem Youth

This investigation addressed the question of how two forms of social cognitive reasoning – epistemic reasoning and adolescent egocentrism – interface with externalizing and internalizing forms of psychopathology during adolescence. Adolescents’ epistemic reasoning (i.e., types of belief entitlement, or degree of doubt, held by an individual when confronted with contradictory sides of an issue), and imaginary audience and personal fable ideation, were assessed in a sample of 29 adolescent boys with behavioral problems and 30 of their peers without behavioral problems. To assess internalizing and externalizing symptomatology, teachers completed the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL-TRF). Results revealed that, compared to those without behavior problems, boys with behavioral problems were lower in epistemic reasoning. Further analyses revealed consistent relations between dimensions of social cognitive reasoning to specific forms of psychopathology. These findings suggest that social cognitive reasoning, particularly epistemic doubt, is important in understanding problem behaviors among typical and atypical adolescents.

First-Year College Student Affect and Alcohol Use: Paradoxical Within- and Between-Person Associations

Based on 10 weekly telephone interviews with first-year college students (N=202; 63% women; M=18.8 years, SD=.4), within- and between-person associations of positive and negative affect with alcohol use were examined. Multi-level models confirmed hypothesized within-person associations between weekly positive affect and alcohol use: Higher positive affect weeks had greater alcohol consumption, more drinking and heavy drinking days in the same week, and less plans to drink the following week. However, between-person, average positive affect did not predict individual differences in alcohol use. The negative affect—alcohol use association was complex: Within-person, higher negative affect was associated with less drinking days but between-person, with more drinking days; lability in negative affect was associated with greater average alcohol use and more drinking and heavy drinking days. Health promotion efforts for late adolescent and emerging adult students are advised to recognize these paradoxical effects (e.g., promoting dry celebratory campus-events, strategies to manage negative mood swings).

A Longitudinal Investigation of Associations Between Boys’ Pubertal Timing and Adult Behavioral Health and Well-Being

To extend research linking pubertal timing and adolescent health outcomes, this study examines boys’ pubertal timing and subsequent interpersonal success and health behaviors in mid adulthood. Past research has shown that boys’ pubertal timing is associated with both positive and negative developmental outcomes in the short term, and so it is unclear how pubertal timing is consequential for adjustment across the long term. Data from 460 boys from the Terman Life-Cycle Study were examined over a 39-year period to relate age of pubertal onset to later marital success, career success, and adult health behaviors. Boys who reached puberty earlier than their peers achieved greater success in their careers and experienced more satisfaction in their marriages. Early-developing boys were not found to be more likely than their peers to smoke cigarettes or drink alcohol as adults. Findings are discussed in terms of the importance of pubertal timing for life-span development.Keiko Taga is a doctoral student at the Department of Psychology at University of California, Riverside. Her major research interests are social and psychological predictors of health and longevityCharlotte Markey is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Rutgers University. She received her Ph.D. from the University of California at Riverside in 2002. Her research focuses on social and personality influences on healthHoward S. Friedman is Distinguished Professor of Psychology at the University of California, Riverside, where he directs a large project on health and longevity across the life-span. He has authored or edited ten books, with a focus on health psychology, personality, and nonverbal charisma