Behavior Problems in Sexually Abused Children of Depressed Versus Nondepressed Mothers

Children's psychological adjustment following stressors, such as sexual abuse, is impacted by environmental variables. One such factor is parental support, which can be hampered when a caregiver suffers from psychopathology. The purpose of this study was to determine whether maternal depression would impact the children's adjustment to sexual abuse. It was hypothesized that depressed mothers would report more behavior difficulties for their sexually abused children than nondepressed mothers. Participants were 58 children (and their mothers) who were referred for trauma symptoms related to sexual abuse. Mothers completed the Beck Depression Inventory as a measure of their depression and rated their children's behaviors on the Revised Behavior Problem Checklist. The children completed the Children's Depression Inventory and the Revised Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale. Results revealed that depressed mothers reported more conduct problems, inattention/immaturity, and psychotic behavior than nondepressed mothers. Differences were not observed for mothers' report of depressive or anxious behaviors across groups. The children of depressed mothers reported increased levels of depression, but not anxiety, when compared to children of nondepressed mothers. Although both groups of mothers reported symptoms to be clinically significant, the children did not endorse their symptoms in clinically significant ranges.     

The Judge as 'Political Advisor': Behind the Scenes at the National Industrial Relations Court

The recent opening under the 30-year rule of official papers concerning the Industrial Relations Act 1971 makes it possible to reappraise the conventional view of this short-lived statute and also more general implications of the process of policy making at a time of acute political crisis. The papers shed new light on the relationship between the government and the judiciary, in particular the President of the National Industrial Relations Court, Sir John Donaldson. They provide empirical evidence of how the judicial and political arms of government dealt with social and industrial upheavals and they prompt reflections on the nature of the separation of powers in the United Kingdom's constitutional arrangements. It is argued that, in examining the nature and extent of judicial independence, constitutional law scholars have hitherto concentrated on executive influence on the judiciary and tended to ignore the extent to which judges may secretly influence politicians.