Kathryn M. Bigelow

Safety, Health Care, and Bonding Within an Ecobehavioral Approach to Treating and Preventing Child Abuse and Neglect

This paper describes Project SafeCare, an ecobehavioral research and treatment project with families reported or at risk for child abuse or neglect. Preliminary demographic data are reviewed along with indirect assessment data. Four case studies are described to exemplify the effects of training provided to families. The implications for the current assessment data, treatment, and outcome are discussed.

Txt u ltr: using cellular phone technology to enhance a parenting intervention for families at risk for neglect.

One of the biggest challenges facing home visiting programs aimed at high-risk families is keeping families involved in the intervention. Cellular phones afford the opportunity for home visitors to maintain regular communication with parents between intervention visits and thus retain high-risk families in parenting interventions. The use of cellular phones may also increase the dosage of intervention provided to families and the fidelity with which parents implement the intervention, thus resulting in improved outcomes for parents and children. This brief report describes the development and initial testing of a parenting program, Planned Activities Training (PAT), which was enhanced through the use of cellular phones to promote the active engagement of parents. PAT is a five-session intervention aimed at improving parent-child interactions, increasing child engagement in daily activities, and reducing challenging child behaviors. To date, 19 parents have completed PAT and cell phone—enhanced PAT, and all have met the 90% correct mastery criterion and demonstrated improvements in their parenting behaviors. Parents have rated PAT and the text messaging and cellular phone call enhancements very positively.

Using Video to Reduce Home Safety Hazards with Parents Reported for Child Abuse and Neglect

Safety hazards are frequent in the homes of families reported for child abuse and neglect. The effectiveness of a videotape intervention with two families involved with child abuse and neglect was examined, using a replicated multiple probe design across settings. Data were collected using the Home Accident Prevention Inventory — Revised, and the Checklist for the Video-Trained Parents Behavior. Social validation and expert validation data are also presented.

Randomized trial of a cellular phone-enhanced home visitation parenting intervention

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Although home visiting programs have been documented to improve parenting in high-risk families, their effectiveness is diminished when parents disengage from programs. Cellular phones offer an approach to promoting parent engagement and enhancing parenting outcomes. Our objective was to examine whether mothers in a parenting intervention, Planned Activities Training (PAT), or cellular phone-enhanced version (CPAT) of the intervention would demonstrate greater use of parenting strategies after treatment and at 6 months post-treatment compared with a wait-list control (WLC). METHODS: A sample of 371 low-income mothers and their 3.5- to 5.5-year-old children were randomly assigned to condition and assessed at pre-test, post-intervention, and 6 months post-intervention. Treatment efficacy was evaluated through observations of mother-child interactions as well as maternal interviews about depression, parenting stress, and child behaviors. RESULTS: Mothers receiving PAT and CPAT demonstrated more frequent use of parenting strategies and engaged in more responsive parenting than mothers in the WLC. Mothers receiving CPAT used more PAT parenting strategies than mothers in the other 2 groups and experienced greater reductions in depression and stress. Children of mothers receiving PAT and CPAT demonstrated higher rates of positive engagement, and children of CPAT mothers demonstrated higher levels of adaptive behaviors than children in the WLC. Importantly, changes in parenting, depression, and stress predicted positive child behaviors. CONCLUSIONS: PAT and CPAT conditions improved parenting strategies and child engagement and reduced children’s challenging behaviors. The addition of cellular phones to a home visiting program enhanced maternal responsivity and reduced depression and stress.

Cultural issues in: The relation between child disabilities and child abuse

Reviewed here are cultural issues which should be included in the study of the relation between child disabilities and child abuse. Variations in child care, parenting, discipline, and health practices are noted and examples of cultural practices that could impact the perceived relation between disabilities and abuse are discussed. Two programs incorporating culturally sensitive approaches in interactions with clients in an applied setting are reviewed.

Training Parents Reported for or at Risk for Child Abuse and Neglect to Identify and Treat Their Children's Illnesses

Parents at-risk or reported for child abuse or neglect may demonstrate deficits in infant and child health care skills, placing their children at greater risk for health problems. Research assistants, caseworkers, and a nurse provided health care skills training to parents at risk or reported for child abuse or neglect. A health reference guide and other training materials were validated by health care professionals. Training involved teaching parents to follow a series of steps to identify symptoms, use reference and record-keeping materials, determine the best form of treatment, and either treat the illness at home, consult a physician, or seek emergency treatment. Skill acquisition was assessed through observations of parent behavior in simulated health care scenarios. A series of multiple baselines across parents demonstrated effectiveness of this training in the context of these scenarios. Six out of seven parents met the 100% mastery criterion. All parents provided positive ratings of the content of the training program, the training strategies, and the counselors who provided training.

Applied Research in Child Maltreatment: Practicalities and Pitfalls

Presented here is a model of applied research in child maltreatment. Applied research is defined and 3 examples from an ecobehavioral perspective are presented. The advantages of these models along with the inherent systemic, cultural, and familial difficulties of conducting applied research in this area are discussed. Particular attention is paid to problems of attrition and intervention adherence. Potential solutions are presented covering working with social service agencies, use of memoranda of understanding, and the use of focus groups.

Child abuse and neglect: Behavioral research, treatment, and theory

Abstract Described here is behavioral theory, research, and treatment of physical child abuse. A brief history is presented, along with incidence data. Some research has shown successful behavioral assessment and treatment in child abuse; many more issues remain open for additional success with this treatment refractory societal problem. These issues are explored, along with speculation as to why there has not been more research in an area of such vital social importance.

An Ecobehavioral Model for the Prevention and Treatment of Child Abuse and Neglect

The term ecobehavioral was coined in the 1970s when a dialogue was published in the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis between ecological psychologists and applied behavior analysts. The ecological psychologists suggested that while behavioral psychology had much to offer in the way of empirically based treatments, especially with children and their families, the field at that point had ignored social ecological factors between treatment and outcome (Willems, 1974). That is, although behavioral psychology had prided itself on direct Observation methodologies of assessment and treatment, as opposed to reliance on indirect measures, observations tended to be narrow in focus, restricted in environments, and temporally proximate. Thus, in examining parent-child interactions, the behavior analyst of the time might have observed mother-child interactions in a clinic setting and drawn conclusions about the parent-child relationship based upon the behavioral antecedents and consequences to each molecular interaction in that setting. A more ecological approach would be to observe the mother and child in a more natural and treatment-specific setting such as the home. Further, it was suggested that if treatment in some form was applied to parent-child interactions, data should be collected on how that treatment may have affected other aspects of the parent-child relationship.

Using a changing criterion design to teach fire escape to a child with developmental disabilities

A changing criterion design, used with shaping procedures, demonstrated the effectivenesses of this simple program in teaching fire exiting skills to a child with severe developmental disabilities. Future research should include more subjects and additional generalization measures.