Pierre McDuff

Effects of grade retention on academic performance and behavioral development.

This study examined the controversial practice of grade retention and childrens academic and behavioral adjustment using data from the Quebec Longitudinal Study of Kindergarten Children. We employed an autoregressive modeling technique to detect the impact of being held back during primary school on subsequent academic performance and behavioral development until age 12 years. The results indicate both a short- and long-term negative influence on academic performance for boys and girls. Childrens anxious, inattentive, and disruptive behaviors persisted and, in some cases, worsened after grade retention. These prospective associations were long lasting and more pronounced when grade retention occurred early in primary school. Boys were more vulnerable to the negative influence of grade retention on academic performance and classroom disruptiveness. Disruptive behavior in girls was comparatively less associated with long-term consequences than boys. Nevertheless, girls experienced both short- and long-term academic performance problems in the aftermath of grade retention. Childrens prosocial behavior appeared unaffected by grade retention. These results are independent of what would have been expected by the natural course of academic and behavioral development.

Risk factor models for adolescent verbal and physical aggression toward mothers

Contributing to the family violence and conflict literature, we examine prospective and concurrent risk factors associated with verbal and physical aggression toward mothers by 15/16 year-old adolescent sons and daughters. Data from the Quebec Longitudinal Study of Kindergarten Children is used to examine the influence of socioeconomic factors, inherent individual and family environment factors, and prospective and concurrent parenting process factors as predictors of adolescent aggression (in the last 6 months). A childhood behavioural pattern characterised by physical aggression generated the highest risk of adolescent-directed verbal and physical aggression toward mothers. Aggressive parental punishment in the last 6 months significantly predicted aggression toward mothers. A childhood life-course of violence seems to culminate in verbal and physical aggression toward mothers during adolescence. Given this building-up process from childhood, harsh parental punishment of the adolescent seems to only increase the odds of adolescent aggression. No sex differences were observed.

History of family dysfunction and perpetration of dating violence by adolescent boys: a longitudinal study

PURPOSE To examine whether there is a direct or a mediated association between dysfunctional parental behavior in later childhood and involvement in dating violence in a sample of low socioeconomic-status boys during mid-adolescence. METHODS Subjects were 717 boys who participated in a longitudinal study. Data collected at six time periods, beginning at age 10 years and covering a span of 8 years, were analyzed. Dysfunctional parental behavior patterns were defined as perceived harsh parenting practices, laxness of monitoring, and interparental conflict witnessed by the subject. Perpetrated psychological and physical abuse in dating, measured at ages 16 and 17 years, and delinquency, measured at age 15 years, served as dependent measures. All instruments were self-report questionnaires. Multiple regression analysis was used in data analysis. RESULTS Only two variables contributed independently to dating violence. Boys who perceived laxness of monitoring from their parents in their late childhood and reported antisocial behavior at age 15 years, such as delinquency and substance abuse, were at risk of becoming involved in violent dating relationships at age 16 years. Harsh parenting practices from ages 10 to 12 years were also predictors of dating violence. CONCLUSIONS A direct relationship was found between harsh parenting and antisocial behavior and later dating violence. No support was found for the mediation hypothesis of antisocial behavior, but an indirect influence was noted in association with monitoring.

Prevalence of childhood sexual abuse and timing of disclosure in a representative sample of adults from Quebec.

Objective: Our study sought to explore patterns of disclosure of child sexual abuse (CSA) in a sample of adult men and women. Method: A telephone survey conducted with a representative sample of adults (n = 804) from Quebec assessed the prevalence of CSA and disclosure patterns. Analyses were carried out to determine whether disclosure groups differed in terms of psychological distress and symptoms of posttraumatic stress, and a logistic regression was used to examine factors associated with prompt disclosure. Results: Prevalence of CSA was 22.1% for women and 9.7% for men. About 1 survivor out of 5 had never disclosed the abuse, with men more likely not to have told anyone, than women. Only 21.2% of adults reported prompt disclosure (within a month of the first abusive event), while 57.5% delayed disclosure (more than 5 years after the first episode). CSA victims who never disclosed the abuse and those who delayed disclosure were more likely to obtain scores of psychological distress and posttraumatic stress achieving clinical levels, compared with adults without a history of CSA. In the multivariate analysis, experiencing CSA involving a perpetrator outside the immediate family and being female were factors independently associated with prompt disclosure. Conclusion: A significant number of adult women and men reported experiencing CSA, and most victims attested to either not disclosing or significantly delaying abuse disclosure.

Men's and women's childhood sexual abuse and victimization in adult partner relationships: A study of risk factors

OBJECTIVES (1) Document the prevalence of childhood sexual abuse (CSA), childhood physical assault, psychological, physical and sexual intimate partner violence (IPV) in a nationally representative sample. (2) Assess the predictive value of CSA and other characteristics of the respondents and their current partners as potential risk factors for IPV. (3) Assess factors predicting IPV in adulthood in a subsample of women reporting CSA. METHODS The role of CSA as a risk factor for adult IPV was examined using data from the 1999 Canadian General Social Survey. A national stratified sample of 9170 women and 7823 men with current or previous partners were interviewed by telephone by Statistics Canada. Multiple logistic regressions were used. RESULTS CSA consistently predicted IPV for women and men, although this relationship was weaker for men. Age, current marital status and limitations due to physical or mental condition or chronic illness were also predictors of IPV for men and women. For women reporting CSA, age (being younger) or being in a more recent relationship and being limited due to either physical, mental conditions or chronic illness were predictive of adult victimization. CONCLUSIONS These findings indicate that CSA is associated with a greater risk of IPV beyond sociodemographic risk factors. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS To prevent IPV in women already at risk because of CSA, education about protective strategies seems important, particularly for women with physical or mental limitations, in the beginning stages of intimate relationships or for women with partners who drink excessively.

Prevalence and Predictors of Dating Violence Among Adolescent Female Victims of Child Sexual Abuse

The purpose of this study was to advance knowledge of dating violence behaviors among adolescent victims of child sexual abuse (CSA), first, by determining the prevalence of psychological and physical dating violence and the reciprocity of violence, and second, by investigating the influence of certain CSA characteristics to dating violence. Respondents included 126 females ages 13 to 17 years. More than 45% reported experiencing some sort of physical violence in their dating relationships. Psychological violence was reciprocal in more than 90% of the cases. Multiple regression analysis revealed a significant contribution of CSA characteristics. Multiple regression analyses revealed that the duration of the sexual abuse and the presence of violence or completed intercourse during the abuse could significantly contribute to dating violence above and beyond other known risk factors. Discussion underscores the need to gain a better understanding of CSA and other risk factors that might influence violent dating behaviors.

Intrafamilial sexual abuse: brother-sister incest does not differ from father-daughter and stepfather-stepdaughter incest

OBJECTIVE Three groups of girls who were sexually abused (by either brothers, fathers, or stepfathers) were compared. The purpose was to identify the differing characteristics of the abuse, the family environments, and the psychosocial distress of these children. METHOD Seventy-two girls aged between 5 and 16 were assigned to one of the three groups. Subjects were matched between groups on the basis of their actual age. Children completed measures of traumatic stress; their mothers completed the Child Behavior Checklist-Parent Report Form (CBCL) and other self-report questionnaires on family characteristics. Workers in child protective services completed information regarding the nature and severity of the abuse. RESULTS Results suggested few differences in the characteristics of sexual abuse between the three groups. However, penetration was much more frequent in the sibling incest group (70.8%) than in the stepfather incest (27.3%) or father incest (34.8%) groups. Ninety percent of the victims of fathers and brothers manifested clinically-significant distress on at least one measure, whereas 63.6% of stepfather victims did. Compared with father and stepfather perpetrators, brothers were raised in families with more children and more alcohol abuse. CONCLUSIONS The authors conclude that the characteristics of brother-sister incest and its associated psychosocial distress did not differ from the characteristics of father-daughter incest These findings suggest that theoretical models and clinical practices should be adjusted accordingly and that sibling incest should not necessarily be construed as less severe or harmful than father-daughter incest.

Disruptive behavior, peer association, and conduct disorder: testing the developmental links through early intervention.

We tested three competing models regarding the role of deviant friends in the trajectory linking early disruptiveness with later conduct problems through the use of a preventive intervention program. The program was implemented during the second and third grade. One model predicted that the program would positively affect later conduct problems by facilitating nondeviant peer association during early adolescence. The second model predicted a direct impact of the program on later conduct problems through the reduction of early disruptiveness. The third model predicted an interaction between postintervention disruptiveness and association with less deviant friends. The results showed that the programs effects on later conduct problems were mediated by the reduction in disruptiveness and by the association with less deviant friends. However, the positive effect of associating with less deviant friends depended on whether childrens disruptiveness had been reduced or not by their participation in the program, thus supporting the third model. We recommend using intervention studies to test developmental models.

Predictors of Maternal Support: The Point of View of Adolescent Victims of Sexual Abuse and Their Mothers.

ABSTRACT Maternal support received by sexual abuse victims is considered a key factor in coping with the aftermath of abuse. The present study looked at four groups of potential predictors of maternal support: mothers psychosocial characteristics, abuse characteristics, victims characteristics, and disclosure characteristics. A total of 120 adolescents aged 12 to 17 years and their mothers, who were recruited from Child Protective Services, completed questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. Multiple regression analyses performed separately on mother and child data sets revealed five significant predictors of maternal support in each analysis, four of which were common to both. The discussion underscores the importance of taking into account both the mothers and the victims perceptions regarding psychological adjustment and family environment.

Couples in Therapy: Actor-Partner Analyses of the Relationships Between Adult Romantic Attachment and Marital Satisfaction

This study was the first to investigate the relationship between adult romantic attachment and marital satisfaction in a clinical sample of 172 distressed couples seeking therapy. Fifty-six therapy-seeking nondistressed couples were also assessed for comparison. Analyses of variance showed that attachment avoidance was a distinctive characteristic of distressed couples. Actor-partner analyses revealed that attachment avoidance (for men and women) and attachment anxiety (for women only) were predictive of marital dissatisfaction for distressed couples. Gender-stereotype discordant partner effects were also found. Results suggest that attachment orientations (especially avoidance) are relevant predictors of marital dissatisfaction in distressed couples seeking therapy, and that couple therapists can gain important information by assessing partners’ attachment orientations.