Donna Harrington

Children in kinship care: How do they fare?

Abstract The placement of children in need of out-of-home care with relatives (i.e., kinship care) has been an increasing trend. The study summarized in this paper represents the first comprehensive assessment of the physical and mental health and educational status of children in kinship care. The anticipated high risk status of these children was supported by study findings in all areas of assessment. These findings are discussed and recommendations are offered for policy, practice and future research.

Behavior problems of children in kinship care.

ABSTRACT. An increasing number of children needing out-of-home care are being placed with relatives. Despite this pervasive policy, there has been scant research on children in this arrangement called kinship care. The objectives of this study were (1) to assess the behavior of children in kinship care and (2) to identify predictors of their behavior. The caregivers of 346 children in kinship care completed the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL). Background information was obtained from caregivers and caseworkers. Forty-two percent of boys and 28% of girls had overall CBCL scores in the clinical range, compared with an expected 10% in the general population. Logistic regressions revealed several variables significantly associated with behavior problems including: reason for placement, gender, race, caregivers perception of the child, caregivers educational level, number of contacts between caregiver and caseworker, long-term plan, and childs age. The frequent behavior problems among these high-risk children in kinship care suggest they all deserve mental health evaluations; at a minimum, periodic screening is indicated. J Dev Behav Pediatr 14:386–393, 1993. Index terms: kinship care, foster care, behavior.

A follow-up study of behavior problems associated with child sexual abuse†

The objectives of this study were to examine: (a) behavior in children evaluated for sexual abuse, (b) the stability of their behavior over 4 months, and (c) the relationship between aspects of the abuse and the childrens behavior. The Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) was completed by parents of 93 prepubertal children evaluated for sexual abuse and 80 nonabused children matched on age, gender, and race. A follow-up CBCL was completed after 4 months by 45% of parents of abused children. Sexually abused children had significantly more behavior problems than comparison children, including depression, aggression, sleep and somatic complaints, hyperactivity, and sexual problems. At follow-up, only those children who initially had externalizing behavior in the clinical range improved significantly. During the initial evaluation, behavior problems were associated with the childs disclosure of abuse and during follow-up, behavior problems were associated with abnormal physical findings. However, behavior problems were not related to characteristics of the abuse or perpetrator, likelihood of abuse, or therapeutic services. The persistence of behavior problems suggests that children suspected of having been sexually abused should receive an assessment of their psychological status and careful follow-up.

Teaching Statistics: A Comparison of Traditional Classroom and Programmed Instruction/Distance Learning Approaches

This article compares grades earned by incoming MSW students in traditional classroom-based statistics courses and those taught using software-based content and no regular classes. Traditional-lear...

Job Satisfaction and Burnout

Abstract Predictors of potential for job turnover, including job satisfaction and burnout, were examined for a national, stratified random sample of Air Force Family Advocacy Program (FAP) workers. Respondents were more likely to intend to leave if they were emotionally exhausted, had lower levels of intrinsic job satisfaction, and were dissatisfied with their salary and promotion opportunities. Implications of the findings for research and practice are discussed.

EFFECTS OF STAFF TRAINING ON STAFF KNOWLEDGE AND ATTITUDES ABOUT SEXUALITY

Residents of long-term care facilities continue to have the need for sexual expression and intimacy. Staff of these facilities often have insufficient knowledge about elderly sexuality and frequently have negative attitudes toward expression of sexuality by the elderly. Importantly, they do not understand their role in helping the residents express sexuality and meet their intimacy needs. This study evaluated staff training materials designed to improve staff knowledge and attitudes. A pilot test of each of the four modules was conducted to test the short-term effects of the programs. The study participants were 109 staff from four settings who completed one or more of the four modules. Program effects were measured by completing the Knowledge and Attitudes Toward Elderly Sexuality (KATES) as a pretest and posttest. Pretest scores were significantly related to gender (men as a group had higher scores than women) and ethnicity (whites had a higher mean score than African Americans). Results indicated significant gains in knowledge for each of the four modules.

The Secondary Traumatic Stress Scale (STSS): Confirmatory Factor Analyses with a National Sample of Mental Health Social Workers

SUMMARY The Secondary Traumatic Stress Scale (STSS; Bride, Robinson, Yegidis, & Figley, 2004) is an easy to administer 17-itemself-report measure of secondary trauma. Bride et al. (2004) reported a measure of three domains of traumatic stress specifically associated with secondary exposure to trauma: intrusion, avoidance, and arousal. The STSS was reported to have high levels of internal consistency reliability and indicated evidence of convergent, discriminant, and factorial validity. The purpose of this paper is to examine the reliability and validity of the STSS with a national, random sample of mental health social workers. To assess the fit of the data to the three-factor structure proposed by Bride et al., a confirmatory factor analysis was performed on data from 275 social workers who indicated exposure to client trauma. The model fit the data adequately although high factor intercorrelations strongly suggest a unidimensional scale. Subsequent confirmatory factor analysis of a unidimensional scale and a second order factor analysis yielded similar results. Findings indicate the need for further scale validation. Challenges remain for measuring and distinctly differentiating between secondary trauma symptoms of arousal, avoidance, and intrusion. Implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.

Sexual abuse: Developmental differences in children's behavior and self-perception

Developmental differences in behavior and self-perception were examined in a group of 44 preschool and school-age children referred for evaluation of sexual abuse and 41 comparison children with no history of sexual abuse, matched on age and gender, and from a similar socioeconomic background. Children suspected of having been sexually abused were rated by their parents as having more internalizing and externalizing problems than comparison children. When children rated their self-competence and social acceptance, there were no group differences between children based on their abuse status; however, there was significant within-group variation among the children suspected of having been sexually abused. Preschool children had elevated scores of perceived competence and social acceptance, and school-age children had depressed scores. There were no age differences among the children in the comparison group. The results suggest that among children suspected of abuse, not only does their self-perception vary by their developmental level, but preschool children may respond with elevated perceptions of themselves. Focusing on individual differences in childrens response to suspicions of sexual abuse enables us to identify risk and protective factors that contribute to the psychological outcomes of child sexual abuse.

Gender differences in the characteristics and outcomes of sexually abused preschoolers.

ABSTRACT This study examined whether sexually abused preschool boys and girls (ages 2–5) differed in terms of abuse characteristics or psychological outcomes. A retrospective chart review of 74 cases of sexually abused children (29 boys and 45 girls) treated at an urban mental health clinic in Maryland was conducted. Information was collected on: (1) demographics; (2) abuse characteristics (victims age, type of sexual abuse, relationship to perpetrator); (3) abuse discovery pattern (accidental vs. purposeful); (4) childrens symptomatology; and (5) child and familial factors. No differences were found between boys and girls in terms of the victims age at the time of abuse, perpetrators age, or the identity of the perpetrator. However, boys and girls experienced different forms of abuse; boys were more likely to experience fondling, oral and anal intercourse. The majority of boys and girls were abused by males, typically someone they knew (biological parent/parent figure or relative). No differences were evident in the type of disclosure; however, older children were more likely to self-disclose than younger children. Results indicated that boys exhibited more developmental delays and aggressive symptoms than girls. Clinical implications of these findings are discussed as well as recommendations for future research.

Prevalence of and Reactions to Fatal and Nonfatal Client Suicidal Behavior: A National Study of Mental Health Social Workers:

A majority of mental health social workers come in contact with suicidal clients during their career. As a result, social workers may experience high levels of stress that can ultimately impact their quality of and ability to practice. The present study examined the prevalence of fatal and nonfatal client suicidal behavior experienced by mental health social workers and examined their subsequent reactions. A random national sample of 697 mental health social workers from the NASW database was anonymously surveyed. Findings indicate that both fatal and nonfatal client suicidal behavior is not a rare occurrence for mental health social workers and that both types of behaviors relate to increased levels of subjective stress as measured by the Impact of Event Scale (IES);. Implications of these findings are discussed.