Clinically Significant Trauma Symptoms and Behavioral Problems in a Community-based Sample of Children Exposed to Domestic Violence

This study assessed the associations of characteristics of domestic violence incidents with clinically significant levels of traumatic symptoms and behavioral problems in a socio-economically and ethnically mixed sample of 687 children participating in a community-service program for children witnessing violence. Study predictors included child/family demographic characteristics, type and chronicity of exposure, and child’s perceptions of control over the event and threat to personal safety. Outcomes consisted of traumatic symptoms and behavior problems. Results showed that perceived threat and control were associated with greater odds of clinically significant levels of several trauma symptoms (and behavior problems in the case of perceived threat) after adjusting for effects of demographic factors and violence characteristics. Child co-victimization increased odds of reaching clinically significant levels of traumatic symptoms compared to children who witnessed the event but were not victimized. Female sex and White ethnicity increased odds of specific trauma symptoms and behavior problems. Increasing age reduced odds of some trauma symptoms. Associations between predictors and one outcome measure did not generalize across the other outcome measure. Implications of study findings, and directions for future research are discussed.     

First, do no harm: the use of covert video surveillance to detect Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy--an unethical means of "preventing" child abuse

Since it was first identified in 1977, Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy has uniquely affected the way in which the medical and legal communities deal with the issue of child abuse. Inherent in the medical response to the disease are issues of suspicion, investigation, identification, confrontation, and, of course, the health of an innocent child. Given the deceptive dynamics of this disease, however, denial and disbelief naturally overshadow every action taken by medical professionals in pursuing these issues. Fortunately, as medical knowledge about the dynamics of the disease continues to develop, medical professionals become more willing and better able to identify the disease and focus their response on the safety of the child. The greatest problem in prosecuting Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy is that judges and juries remain unwilling to accept the reality of the disease. Consequently, in an effort to confirm medical suspicions and quell legal doubts, the medical community has resorted to covert video surveillance of the abuse while it is being perpetrated in the hospital. In this Article, Flannery argues that this response is an unnecessary and unethical, means of preventing Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy and protecting the child. Flannery supports the approach taken by the Family Court of New York in addressing Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy cases. The Family Court of New York recognizes the unique dynamics of this bizarre disorder, and, therefore, considers all cumulative circumstantial evidence in a Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy case, comparing the facts of the subject case to the commonly accepted features of confirmed cases. Part of the circumstantial evidence that should be considered, Flannery argues, is the dissipation of the child's condition upon temporary separation from the alleged perpetrating parent. As is done by the Flannery Court of New York, a res ipsa loquitur standard should then be applied, and an appropriate disposition for the child should be determined. By employing this standard, the court may confirm suspicions of Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy while avoiding the unnecessary harm to the child inherent in the covert video surveillance of Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy.     

Moral judgment,personality, and attitude to authority in early and late adolescence

The purpose of this study was to examine the personological features of moral judgment and to determine the extent to which principled moral reasoning is politically biased. We also attempted to determine the relation between moral judgment and attitude to authority and the developmental patterning of attitude to authority from early to late adolescence. Attitude to authority was assessed in terms of specific sources of authority (mother, father, police, government) and by the Attitude to Authority Scale, which assesses attitudes along the liberal-conservative political continuum. The conservative personality syndrome was assessed by the Conservatism Scale, while moral judgment was assessed by the Defining Issues Test. The results indicated that moral reasoning is unrelated to attitudes to specific sources of authority and negatively related to political conservatism and to conservative personality features. Attitudes toward sources of personal authority (mother, father) were more similar than attitudes toward impersonal authority (police, government), though attitudes toward Father were related to attitudes toward Government and Police. Age trends showed that younger adolescents are more politically conservative and more conforming to authority than older adolescents. Results are discussed in terms of the political and personological features of Kohlbergian moral judgment and in light of recent research on the transformation of adolescent-parent relations in adolescence.     

Ethnic and gender differences in risk for early adolescent substance use

This study examinedinterpersonal andintrapersonal risk for substance use in a sample of Caucasian and Hispanic early adolescents. A total of 1170 sixth and seventh graders, equally divided by gender, participated. Interpersonal risk was assessed by susceptibility to peer pressure, parental monitoring, peer substance use, parent-child involvement, and school adjustment. Intrapersonal risk was measured via self-efficacy, impulsivity, aggression, depression, and academic achievement. As expected, mean level of use did not differ between ethnic groups. Regression analyses indicated susceptibility to peer pressure and peer alcohol use were the best predictors of individual substance use. These findings were consistent across gender and ethnicity. In all groups, interpersonal variables accounted for more variance in predicting risk (49% for Hispanic males) than intrapersonal variables (0% for Hispanic females). Findings are discussed (1) in terms of examining mean levels vs. the underlying pattern predicting substance use, and (2) regarding implications for prevention efforts in early adolescence.This project was supported in part by BRSG S07RR07002 awarded by the Biomedical Research Support Grant Program, Division of Research Resources, National Institutes of Health, to the first author.Received Ph.D. from Ohio State University in clinical child psychology. Research interests include parent-adolescent relations, developmental psychopathology, and affective expression in interactions.