Douglas Barnett

The impact of subtype, frequency, chronicity, and severity of child maltreatment on social competence and behavior problems

This investigation examined the impact of dimensions within maltreatment such as the severity, frequency, chronicity, and subtypes of maltreatment and their relationship with child outcome. Children between the ages of 5 and 11 who participated in a summer camp program were assessed on their social competence, behavior problems, and peers ratings of cooperation, disruption, and initiation of aggression. The 235 participants were all from low-socioeconomic status families; 145 children were from families with documented histories of child maltreatment, whereas 90 of the children had no record of maltreatment. The study found that severity of the maltreatment, the frequency of Child Protective Services reports, and the interaction between severity and frequency were significant predictors of childrens functioning. Additionally, the chronicity of the maltreatment in the family significantly predicted peer ratings of aggression. Subtype differences emerged as well, with children in the sexual abuse group being more socially competent than other maltreated children, and children in the physical abuse group having more behavior problems than nonmaltreated children. Regression analyses with cooccurrence of multiple subtypes of maltreatment indicated that physical neglect, physical abuse, and sexual abuse made significant unique contributions in predicting child outcomes. The advantages of exploring multiple dimensions within maltreatment, the necessity of developing better operational definitions of these dimensions, and social policy implications of the findings are discussed.

Contributions from the study of high-risk populations to understanding the development of emotion regulation.

In this chapter we shall examine the processes of emotion regulation and dysregulation. We define emotion regulation as the intra- and extraorganismic factors by which emotional arousal is redirected, controlled, modulated, and modified to enable an individual to function adaptively in emotionally arousing situations. Emotion regulation helps maintain internal arousal within a manageable, performance-optimizing range. Whereas the emotions mediate a persons adaptive functioning by providing crucial information to the self and others about internal states, emotion regulatory systems are essential to the individual in order to maintain a tolerable but flexible range of affective expressions necessary for adaptive functioning across the life span. Feedback components of the emotion system also serve a critical role in the development of self-evaluation and selfregulation (Cicchetti & Schneider-Rosen, 1986; Izard, 1977). The guiding theoretical orientation of our study of emotion regulation is based on principles derived from the organizational perspective on development (Cicchetti, 1990; Cicchetti & Aber, 1986; Cicchetti & Sroufe, 1978; Sroufe & Waters, 1976). According to this perspective, development is conceived as a series of qualitative reorganizations among and within behavioral and biological systems. Through the processes of differentiation and hierarchical integration, individuals move from a relatively diffuse, undifferentiated condition to a state of increasingly differential and hierarchically organized behavioral complexity (Werner, 1957). During this process, intrinsic or organismic factors and extrinsic, environmental factors dynamically interact to determine a persons developmental outcome on a number of unfolding stage-salient issues (Cicchetti, 1990).

Attachment organization in maltreated preschoolers

Attachment theory predicts that maltreated children will form insecure patterns of attachment to their caregivers and that attachment relationships are open to change with development. In this cross-sectional/longitudinal investigation, we examined the attachment patterns of 125 maltreated and nonmaltreated preschoolers from the low socioeconomic strata (SES). Maltreated and demographically matched nonmaltreated comparison children were assessed in the Strange Situation at 30, 36, and 48 months of age, along with a subsample of children who were observed longitudinally across a 6- to 18-month period. Attachment relations were classified using a newly developed system for assessing attachment in the preschool years by Cassidy and Marvin (1991). Results revealed that, at each age, maltreated children were significantly more likely to evidence insecure patterns of attachment to their caregivers. The specific types of insecurity demonstrated by children varied with age. Longitudinally, the high percentage of nonmaltreated children who were classified as securely attached were likely to remain securely attached at subsequent assessments. In contrast, the small number of maltreated children who evidenced secure attachments were unlikely to be classified as secure at later assessments. These data provide new information on the patterns of attachment maltreated children exhibit in the preschool years.

Report of the APSAC Task Force on Attachment Therapy, Reactive Attachment Disorder, and Attachment Problems:

Although the term attachment disorder is ambiguous, attachment therapies are increasingly used with children who are maltreated, particularly those in foster care or adoptive homes. Some children described as having attachment disorders show extreme disturbances. The needs of these children and their caretakers are real. How to meet their needs is less clear. A number of attachment-based treatment and parenting approaches purport to help children described as attachment disordered. Attachment therapy is a young and diverse field, and the benefits and risks of many treatments remain scientifically undetermined. Controversies have arisen about potentially harmful attachment therapy techniques used by a subset of attachment therapists. In this report, the Task Force reviews the controversy and makes recommendations for assessment, treatment, and practices. The report reflects American Professional Society on the Abuse of Childrens (APSAC) position and also was endorsed by the American Psychological Associations Division 37 and the Division 37 Section on Child Maltreatment.

Atypical attachment in infancy and early childhood among children at developmental risk. V. Maltreatment, negative expressivity, and the development of type D attachments from 12 to 24 months of age.

In this longitudinal follow-up study of maltreated and demographically comparable nonmaltreated children, the issue of whether child negative expressivity was related to the formation of an Insecure-Disorganized/ Disoriented, Type D, attachment pattern was examined. In addition, the stability of the Type D pattern and its influence on childrens negative expressivity over time was investigated. Developing a secure attachment predisposes children toward social and emotional well-being (Ainsworth & Bowlby, 1991; Carlson & Sroufe, 1995). Central to attachment theory is the idea that secure attachments result from infants receiving consistent, sensitive, responsive, and contingent care from their attachment figures, and not as a result of a constitutionally based child predisposition toward security (Ainsworth & Bowlby, 1991; Sroufe, 1985). Indeed, sensitive, empathic parenting repeatedly has been found to predict the development of secure attachments among infants (e.g., Ainsworth, Blehar, Waters, & Wall, 1978; Belsky & Isabella, 1988; De Wolff & van IJzendoorn, 1997). Research also has supported the notion that infant temperament variables such as difficulty and distress proneness have not consistently been found to exert a direct influence on the development of secure attachments (Goldsmith & Alansky, 1987; Sroufe, 1985).

Self-concept, motivation, and competence among preschoolers from maltreating and comparison families

Maltreated children are at risk for impaired cognitive and school functioning. In this study, the role that home environment, self-concept, and mastery motivation play in this relation was investigated. Thirty-six preschool children and their mothers, representing three family backgrounds (12 low-income maltreating, 12 low-income comparison, 12 middle-income comparison), were assessed in a preschool/home study. Children from maltreating families scored lower than their peers on several measures of cognitive and physical competence and on ratings of motivation. At the same time, these children significantly overrated their physical competence, and self-ratings of competence and acceptance tended to be higher (and less realistic) than those of their low-income peers. An overall difference in developmental quality of the home environment of maltreating families was largely accounted for by socioeconomic status (SES), but the tendency of these homes to be less clean and safe remained significant even after SES was controlled. Various aspects of the home environment were associated with superior task performance, but not with motivation or self-perceptions. Whereas the general home environment may affect competence, relationship factors implicated in maltreatment may be more important in shaping self-concept and motivation.

A Developmental Psychopathology Framework of the Psychosocial Needs of Children Orphaned by HIV

In addition to the obstacles to a successful resolution of grief normally faced by children whose parents have died, children orphaned by AIDS may face additional psychological and social challenges. However, limited attention has been paid to psychosocial and developmental needs of children orphaned by HIV/AIDS, particularly in resource-poor countries or regions. In this article the authors review the global literature on child bereavement and AIDS orphan care experiences in developing countries and present a developmental psychopathology model of the psychosocial issues facing AIDS orphans. The authors identify gaps in the literature and provide suggestions for future research on AIDS orphans in resource-poor countries and regions. They emphasize that future studies need to assess the status of behaviors and mental health of children orphaned by AIDS within a developmental framework, identify those individual and social factors associated with grief, and examine the long-term impact of quality of care, developmental maturation, and attachment with caregivers on the psychosocial well-being of AIDS orphans.

Continuing toward an operational definition of psychological maltreatment

More than any other subtype of abuse and neglect, psychological maltreatment offers a number of unique challenges to theoreticians and researchers. Although progress has been made, contention still remains over the definition of psychological maltreatment and its relation to other forms of child abuse and neglect (Brassard, Germain, & Hart, 1987; Garbarino, Guttmann, & Seeley, 1986). Thus, the definition and operationalization of psychological maltreatment continue to be important issues that require further research and explanation. In fact, the development of standardized definitions and assessment techniques for all forms of maltreatment is crucial to increase communication across laboratories, and across disciplines.

Maternal Resolution of Child Diagnosis: Stability and Relations With Child Attachment Across the Toddler to Preschooler Transition

In this longitudinal study, the authors investigated individual differences in how families adapt to a childs congenital disorder. Family impact, maternal grief resolution, and child attachment were assessed among 74 mothers and their toddlers with a neurological disorder or disfigurement. Fifty dyads were reevaluated 16 months later. For children with neurological compared with disfigurement diagnoses, there was a greater likelihood of negative impact on family, unresolved maternal grief, and insecure attachment at Time 1. Children classified as secure were significantly more likely to have mothers classified as resolved regarding their reactions to their childrens diagnosis. Maternal grief resolution was significantly stable (77%) over time and mediated the relation between type of diagnosis and child security. With time, negative impact of child condition on the family decreased and percentage of children classified as secure increased, suggesting that on average families improved. Results suggest that helping parents come to terms emotionally and cognitively with their childs condition may be a useful focus for intervention.

The Relation Between Familial Factors and the Future Orientation of Urban, African American Sixth Graders

This study examined the relations between familial and environmental factors and five dimensions of future orientation in a sample of urban, African American early adolescents from low-income families. A new multidimensional interview measure, the Future Orientation Interview, was designed for this study to expand on available measures. Hierarchical multiple regression was used to examine the unique contribution of each familial and environmental factor to each dimension of future orientation. The independent variables significantly predicted three of the five dimensions of future orientation: salience, detail, and control beliefs. The pattern of significance varied for each dimension of future orientation, with mother involvement, kinship social support, and socialization of future orientation emerging as important predictors of various dimensions of future orientation. Results are discussed in terms of theoretical issues related to future orientation and implications for intervention.