Assessment of Perceived Parenting Behaviors: The Exposure to Abusive and Supportive Environments Parenting Inventory (EASE-PI)

Due to an awareness of the frequency of child abuse and lack of a single instrument to assess the extent of exposure to both the abusive and supportive environments provided by parents, a 70 item inventory (the EASE-PI) was developed that is a self-report on how both mother and father treated the respondent. A factor analysis, which was subsequently replicated, revealed three abusive factors (representing emotional, physical, and sexual abusiveness) and three supportive factors (love/support, promotion of independence, and positive modeling/fairness). The same factors emerged regardless of gender of respondent and gender of parent. The inventory provides a means to investigate the differential and interactive effects of exposure to emotional, physical, and sexual abusiveness and the possible mitigating effects of different types of supportive behaviors by each parent.     

Women who molest children

In only nine of approximately 600 cases of child molestation in New Hampshire and Vermont was the perpetrator found to be a woman. Case histories and some testing data show a history of sexual assault as a child, frequent offense in the company of a dominant male partner, and a major disinhibition as a result of severe character disorder or limited intelligence. These factors not only interfered with maternal bonding and nurturing behavior but also contributed to suspension of judgment about the appropriateness of sexual contact with children.     

Fourteen years' survival with an untreated traumatic rupture of the thoracal aorta

Untreated traumatic rupture of the aorta generally results in sudden death. A case with 14 years' survival after an unrecognized traumatic rupture of the aorta is presented. Chronic traumatic aneurysm of the aorta should be kept in mind in a patient who develops sudden symptoms of arteriosclerotic heart disease months to years after a relevant thoracic trauma.     

Sudden death by inhalation of cyclopropane

This paper reports the case of a 22-year-old white male who was found dead in a storage room as a result of a fatal ingestion of cyclopropane. Cyclopropane is a sweet-smelling, irritating gas. Autopsy findings revealed congestion and hemorrhagic edema of the lungs, congestion of the trachea, and early autolysis. Cyclopropane was determined by headspace gas chromatography and mass spectrometry. To our knowledge, this is the first reported fatality involving cyclopropane.     

The mechanism of fatal cardiopulmonary injury caused by a blow from a golf club

In the course of a scuffle, a youth of 18 years was struck a single blow across the chest with a golf club. He collapsed dead on the spot. At autopsy, a precisely located and highly distinctive patterned imprint abrasion of the precordial region was revealed providing an excellent match with the weapon. The heart showed multiple internal ruptures and there was a laceration of the lingula of the left lung. Injury to the chest wall was confined to the soft tissues, the rib cage and sternum being intact. We postulate a novel mechanism to explain the cardiac rupture.