Paul P. Goudena

Prevention of Child Sexual Abuse Victimization: A Meta Analysis of School Programs.

OBJECTIVE The aim of this article was to provide data about the effects of child sexual abuse prevention programs. A more specific aim was to estimate the contribution of potential moderator variables such as age, program duration, or sample size to effect size. METHOD A meta-analytic approach was used to calculate post-test and follow-up effect sizes of 16 evaluation studies of school programs aimed at the prevention of child sexual abuse victimization. Tests of categorical models were used in the analysis of moderator variables. Multiple regression analysis was used to determine their association with effect sizes. RESULTS Significant and considerable mean post-intervention (d = .71) and follow-up (d = .62) effect sizes were found, indicating that victimization prevention programs are successful in teaching children sexual abuse concepts and self-protection skills. Intervention characteristics such as duration and content of the program, and child characteristics such as age and SES were important moderators of effect size. CONCLUSIONS Our findings corroborate and refine the positive conclusions of traditional narrative reviews. Programs that focus on skill training, allowing sufficient time for children to integrate self-protection skills into their cognitive repertoire, are to be preferred. Future evaluation research should focus on transfer of training.

The Social Nature of Private Speech of Preschoolers During Problem Solving

Extending Vygotskys theory, young childrens private speech during problem solving is conceptualised as having a dual nature; as a reaction to the task and as, at the same time, an indirect appeal to a potentially helpful person. The interactional function of private speech is elaborated within a developmental pragmatic frame of explanation. Based on the dual nature conceptualisation of private speech, the hypothesis was tested that children would produce more private speech during problem solving following interaction with a collaborative adult than following interaction with a non-collaborative adult, the adult being non-actively present during the childs execution of the cognitive task. Twenty-two children (ages: 4 years 2 months to 4 years 10 months) participated in the experiment. Support was found for the main hypothesis. No reliable relationship was found between the amount of private speech produced and the quality of task performance. Results are discussed in relation to other studies of private speech, two of which are re-interpreted in accordance with a dual nature conceptualisation of private speech. The role of private speech in the regulation of non-verbal task performance is critically analysed. It is emphasised that private speech should be studied while taking into account the interactional framework in which the child has been functioning.

Facial EMG and heart rate responses to emotion‐inducing film clips in boys with disruptive behavior disorders

We examined aspects of emotional empathy across different physiological response systems in boys with disruptive behavior disorders (DBD) and normal controls. Heart rate (HR) and electromyographic (EMG) reactivity in zygomaticus major and corrugator supercilii muscles were monitored during sadness-, anger-, or happiness-inducing film clips. Relative to controls, DBD boys showed significantly less HR reduction during sadness, and a smaller increase in corrugator EMG activity both during sadness and anger. No significant group differences emerged in HR and zygomaticus EMG responsivity during happiness. We also examined cardiac activity at rest and found higher resting HR and lower respiratory sinus arrhythmia in DBD boys compared to controls. Findings give evidence for a selective impairment in empathy with sadness and anger (not happiness) among DBD boys who exhibit relatively high levels of anxiety and poor emotional control.

Bryant's Empathy Index: A Closer Examination of its Internal Structure

The present study examined the internal structure of Bryants (1982) Index of Empathy for Children and Adolescents, a 22-item questionnaire measure of dispositional affective empathy. Third graders (n = 817), fourth to sixth graders (n = 82), and eighth graders (n = 1,079) were studied. Factor analyses revealed that the empathy index is multidimensional, encompassing two subscales. The same two-factor solution emerged in all samples. The first factor, labeled empathic sadness, showed good reliability in the two larger samples. Sex differences were established in each sample, with girls reporting more empathic sadness than boys. The second factor, reflecting attitudes rather than feelings, showed weak reliability in all samples, and poor differentiation between the sexes in the two younger age samples. The findings seriously challenge the validity of the 22-item empathy index. Improvement of the scale as a measure of affective empathy is indicated.

Some Developmental Implications of Structural Aspects of Preschoolers' Relations with Classmates

Abstract To gain insight into childrens peer relations and their developmental significance, it is important to know not only how many relations children have but also to consider the structure of these relations. To demonstrate this, we used a multiple-study design in which we applied social network analyses to sociometric ratings and nominations from 1,082 4- to 5-year-old children in 83 school classes. Results showed that isolation in the classroom was more strongly associated with the choices that were given than those that were received. Gender plus the negative behavioral characteristics, aggressiveness and rejection, were the most important cues for social clustering. The structure of positive choices reflected the formation of friendship networks, whereas negative choices tended to be given directly to individual “problem” children. Finally, structure indices tapped aspects of childrens relations that were not reflected in the traditional two-dimensional classification system and provided additional explanatory power for predicting developmental outcomes.

A Review of Cross-Cultural Studies of Observed Peer Interaction

In the Western peer interaction literature, childrens observable social functioning is often causally related to peer acceptance and psychosocial well-being. In the present review, cross-cultural empirical support for such a relationship was investigated. By means of a PsycLIT search, cross-cultural studies of peer interaction-published in article-format-were collected that used observational methods and focused on interaction between children up to 12 years of age. The 18 studies that met these criteria could be categorized as focusing on social motives, on characteristics of social interaction, or on sex-specific behaviors. A diversity of theoretical orientations was encountered and discussed. It was concluded that in the studies reviewed here the focus was not on the analysis of observational findings in relation to peer acceptance and the quality of childrens psychosocial functioning. Clearly, such cross-cultural research is badly needed.

A Cross-Cultural Study of Observed Conflicts Between Young Children:

Young children (5 to 6 years old) from an individualistic (the Netherlands) culture and a collectivistic (South of Spain: Andalusia) culture were videotaped during leisure time on their school playground. Based on the perspective of individualism-collectivism (IND-COL), cultural differences were expected with respect to observed conflict behaviors. Conflict episodes were analyzed with respect to conflict issues, strategies, and outcomes. In Andalusia, an unexpected high number of conflicts were observed, about three times higher than in the Netherlands. As expected, Andalusian children turned out to be more concerned with control of play and behavior and Dutch children more with control of objects and space. With respect to strategy use, Andalusian children used negotiation more often than Dutch children. The latter included more often nonverbal and directive ingredients in their strategies. Dutch children ended their conflicts by means of social or physical rupture much more often than Andalusian children. The latter preferred to continue the interaction, even if this required submission to others’ wishes. Results are discussed from the perspective of IND-COL, with particular emphasis on four characteristics of studies of peer conflicts: definition of conflict, method of data collection, age of participants, and social setting of the participants.

Mother‐Child Fantasy Play and Social Status of Young Children

The socialization basis for young childrens capacity to engage in social fantasy play was investigated in relationship to childrens social status. Children (age range: 54‐80 months) of high and low social status were videotaped while engaged in fantasy play with their mothers. Extrapolating from a study by Connolly and Doyle (1984), it was expected that the high status dyads would produce fantasy play utterances in a larger amount and of a higher level of complexity than the low status dyads. The high status dyads were expected to be more characterized by positive affect and the low status dyads more by negative effect. With respect to emotional climate, the two status groups turned out to be different as expected. However, the expected differences with respect to amount and complexity of fantasy play utterances were not found. Results are discussed in relationship to mother‐child and child‐child interaction and to the role of fantasy play in the development of social skills.

Rouw en verliesverwerking door jeugdigen

SamenvattingHet verlies van een dierbare is een ontwrichtende gebeurtenis. Desondanks is nog nauwelijks onderzoek gedaan naar verliesverwerking door jeugdigen. Bij volwassenen is er overtuigende evidentie voor het bestaan van gecompliceerde rouw; het heeft een eigen fenomenologie en is te onderscheiden van depressie en posttraumatische stress-stoornis. Voorts is aangetoond dat specifieke cognitief gedragstherapeutische interventies effectief zijn in de behandeling van rouwproblematiek. Op basis van de huidige inzichten is het waarschijnlijk dat gecompliceerde rouw als aparte stoornis in de dsm-v wordt opgenomen. Onderzoek naar gecompliceerde rouw bij jeugdigen is nodig om de opgelopen achterstand in te halen.

Angst in ontwikkelingspsychopathologisch perspectief

SamenvattingDe bestudering van psychopathologie bij kinderen en jeugdigen behoeft meer evenwicht tussen het verzamelen van gegevens en theorievorming. De ontwikkelingspsychopathologie biedt hiervoor een inspirerend theoretisch kader. Angst en angststoornissen worden in deze bijdrage in ontwikkelingsperspectief geplaatst en opgevat als de uitkomst van dynamische transacties tussen kind– en contextgebonden factoren. Binnen het transactionele kader zijn de begrippen ‘ontwikkelingsopgave’, ‘bedreigende en beschermende factoren’ belangrijk voor een inzicht in de etiologie en de verschijningsvormen van angst en angststoornissen. De kwesties van stabiliteit en comorbiditeit worden ook in dit licht besproken.