Fabienne Glowacz

Away from Delinquency and Crime: Resilience and Protective Factors

Delinquent and criminal behaviors are often the result of adverse conditions in the family and the neighborhood, or of affiliations with delinquent peers. However, case studies as well as large surveys have shown that even in adverse conditions, many children and adolescents do not engage in delinquency; they are “resilient.” In the explanation of criminal and antisocial behaviors, resilient individuals are those who have succeeded in overcoming at-risk circumstances. Resilience is also regarded as the process through which a person adjusts to at-risk situations in a successful manner. Promotive and protective factors stem from the community, family, school, peers, and individuals, and the configurations of these factors are important. In addition, protective factors are not universal. Risk factors and consequently, protective and resilience processes, may be different for children, adolescents, and adults, as well as for males and females. Finally, it is useful to distinguish primary resilience (i.e., as a preventive force in the onset of delinquency) from secondary resilience, which refers to a return to a crime-free life after a period of serious offending activity.

Identifying maternal needs following childbirth: A qualitative study among mothers, fathers and professionals

BackgroundPregnancy and childbirth are two critical stages in a woman’s life. Various studies have suggested that psychological distress is common during the year after childbirth. The objectives of this exploratory study were (1) to explore the needs of mothers in the year following childbirth; (2) to compare these needs between mothers who did not have the feeling of living a psychological disorder or a depression and mothers who lived a psychological disorder or had the impression of living a depression; and (3) to compare the needs expressed by mothers with the perception of professionals and fathers about the mothers’ needs.MethodsFirst, we proceeded to 22 individual qualitative interviews followed by one focus group, with mothers, with and without experience of psychological distress. Then, we conducted 2 focus groups: one with professionals and one with fathers.ResultsNeeds of mothers after childbirth have been indexed in four categories: need of information, need of psychological support, need to share experience, and need of practical and material support. Women do not feel sufficiently informed about this difficult period of life. They do not feel sufficiently supported, not only from a psychological point of view but also from a more practical point of view, for example with household chores. They need to share their experience of life, they need to be reassured and they need to feel understood. It seems that some differences exist between mothers’ and professionals’ experiences but also between mothers’ and fathers’ experiences.ConclusionYoung mothers apparently feel a lack of support at different levels in the year following childbirth. This study provides ways to meet women’s needs and to try to prevent the risk of postpartum psychological distress during this period of time.

Changes in Pubertal Timing: Past Views, Recast Issues

The aim of this article is to review some common opinions on changes in pubertal timing and shed new light both on the indicators used in assessing pubertal timing and the underlying mechanisms. While emphasis is usually placed on the advancement in timing of female puberty, it appears that timing also changes in males, both towards earliness for the initial pubertal stages and towards lateness for the final stages. Such findings suggest that the environmental influences on pubertal timing are more complex than initially thought. Moreover, self-evaluated pubertal timing versus peers provides information that is not always consistent with observations at physical examination, suggesting that both approaches should be considered, especially when studying the correlation between pubertal timing and psychosocial aspects.

Finding the roots of adolescent aggressive behaviour A test of three developmental pathways

Aggressive behaviours in adolescence often originate in early development. This study tested three longitudinal pathways starting in early childhood, in a sample of 325 Belgian participants (162 girls) assessed every 1 or 2 years from birth through age 14. Structural equation models supported the “mother early dissatisfaction” pathway toward adolescent aggression, but neither the “cognitive functioning” nor the “early aggressive behaviour” pathway gained clear support. Mother’s early dissatisfaction with her child was the starting point of a series of negative perceptions of the child, which predicted physical and social aggression in adolescence. Children’s cognitive functioning and early aggression level were weakly correlated with mother’s perceptions. This finding suggests that explaining normative development to parents may improve mothers’ perceptions of their early experience as a mother, of their child, and of their subsequent interactions, which may reduce their child’s future aggressive behaviours.

Exploration of Dating Violence and Related Attitudes Among Adolescents and Emerging Adults

Young peoples romantic relationships can be marked with various forms of dating violence (DV). However, adolescents and emerging adults do not necessarily acknowledge this violence because of their attitudes toward dating violence. Our study aims to study dating violence and attitudes toward this phenomenon through two well-established questionnaires administered jointly in their entirety. Indeed, too many studies report results on some dimensions and items, neglecting the richness of available tools. The Conflict in Adolescent Dating Relationship Inventory and the Attitudes Toward Dating Violence Scale were self-administered to 1,014 participants ( M age = 18.9) attending secondary schools or a regional college. They reported the frequency of their dating violence perpetration and victimization, and their attitudes toward dating violence. Results show that relational and sexual violence perpetration rates are higher for males, physical violence perpetration rate is higher for females, and relational violence victimization is higher for males. MANCOVAs not only show the same trends for scores but also underline more frequent emotional violence perpetrated by females, physical victimization for males, and sexual victimization for females. Males show higher tolerance toward every form of dating violence; younger participants are also more tolerant. Participants are more tolerant toward male-perpetrated psychological DV than female-perpetrated ones, and more tolerant toward female-perpetrated physical and sexual DV compared with male-perpetrated physical and sexual DV. There are patterns of multiperpetration, multivictimization, bidirectionality, and multi(in)tolerance. Our paper contributes to the symmetry debate, a better understanding of the link between attitudes and violent behaviors, a further step on gendered attitudes regarding who perpetrates and who sustains.

‘Youth’s Conflict Resolution Strategies in their Dating Relationships’

Youth can experience conflicts with their dating partner and then need strategies to solve such conflicts. Research is scarce regarding positive conflict resolution strategies in a dating context. Considering research on various interpersonal relationships (e.g. friendships, dating, marriage), the present study examined how dimensions of empathy, verbal skills and impulsivity can contribute to the use of positive conflict resolution strategies in dating relationships. The sample is made up of 813 youth attending secondary schools or a regional college (71.7% female, mean age = 18.9, age range 14.2–24.9). They completed self-administered questionnaires investigating positive conflict resolution strategies, as well as dimensions of empathy (i.e., fantasy, perspective-taking, empathic concern, and personal distress), verbal skills (similarities and figurative language) and impulsivity (positive urgency, negative urgency, lack of premeditation, lack of perseverance, and sensation seeking). The results reveal sex differences and developmental improvements on several factors. The findings showed that specific dimensions of empathy and verbal skills foster the use of positive conflict resolution strategies whereas specific dimensions of impulsivity and one dimension of empathy hamper it. Both sexes shared a common correlate: the propensity toward perspective-taking fostered the use of positive conflict resolution strategies. In addition to highlighting correlates of positive conflict resolution strategies in dating relationships, this study can contribute to programs dedicated to the promotion of healthy dating relationships among adolescents and emerging adults.

Delinquency and drug use among adolescents and emerging adults: The role of aggression, impulsivity, empathy, and cognitive distortions

ABSTRACT Risk behaviors are well known to be higher in adolescents and emerging adults. Drug use and delinquency present several common predictive factors. The aim of the present study was to assess the contribution of individual factors (aggression, impulsivity, empathy, and cognitive distortions) to delinquent behaviors, alcohol use and cannabis consumption among adolescents and emerging adults. Participants were between 15 and 25 years of age (M = 18.64 years, SD = 2.61); 325 were adolescents (15–18 years of age, M = 16.56, SD = 1.11, 56.31% of women) and 283 were emerging adults (19–25 years, M = 21.03, SD = 1.62, 50.88% of women). They completed self-report validated questionnaires. Multiple regression analyses showed that all individual factors significantly predicted delinquency. Impulsivity and empathy significantly predicted alcohol use. Concerning cannabis use, impulsivity is the only significantly associated predictor. Moderation analysis showed that specific associations were stronger in adolescents, whereas others were stronger in emerging adults. All these variables explained 69% of the variance of delinquency, 31% of the variance of alcohol use, and 18% of the variance of cannabis use. This model demonstrated acceptable goodness-of-fit criteria. These results may have implications for prevention and intervention.

Pathways of Running Away Among Belgian Youth

Runaway behaviors among teenagers have been studied for some 40 years. Still, because runaway and homeless youths have often been confounded, little is known about what really defines a runaway adolescent. This study targets three objectives in a mixed-method design relying on data from official files and interviews: the descriptions of teenagers reported as missing (e.g., age, sex, runaway duration and reiteration, place left behind, type of caller reporting the child as missing, motivation for closing the file) and the understanding of runaway pathways and dynamics. These studies can contribute to prevention and intervention programs by providing new perspectives on how runaway experiences should be understood in light of the adolescent process.