Sara R. Berzenski

Classes and Consequences of Multiple Maltreatment: A Person-Centered Analysis

While the overwhelming majority of research on the consequences of childhood maltreatment reports differential outcomes of specific maltreatment subtypes (e.g., physical abuse vs. emotional abuse) as though they are independent, maltreatment experiences often occur in combination. The present study evaluated multiple maltreatment experiences in a sample of 2,637 undergraduate students who reported on childhood maltreatment and current adjustment. The authors used latent class analysis to examine predominant patterns of multiple maltreatment experiences and investigated indices of psychosocial adjustment associated with those patterns. Results suggested that specific constellations of multiple maltreatment have qualitatively different associations with adjustment. Emotional abuse, alone or in combination with other maltreatment types, was especially salient for psychopathology (e.g., anxiety, depression), while a combination of physical and emotional abuse was most strongly associated with conduct-related problems (e.g., substance use, risky sexual behavior). These findings have both practical and empirical significance for understanding and classifying experiences of maltreatment.

A Developmental Process Analysis of the Contribution of Childhood Emotional Abuse to Relationship Violence

Despite indications that emotional abuse might be the core factor underlying the negative effects of child maltreatment, it has received little attention, particularly with respect to its impact on interpersonal relationships in adulthood. This study conducted a developmental process analysis of the contribution of childhood emotional abuse to relationship violence in a sample of undergraduates. Results indicated that emotional abuse was a stronger predictor of relationship violence than other maltreatment subtypes. Emotion dysregulation partially mediated this relationship, driven by its behavioral component, impulsivity. Gender and ethnicity effects were examined. Findings point to the need for increased attention to adult outcomes of emotional abuse and increased clinical awareness of emotion regulation as a key developmental mechanism of adaptation in adulthood.

A Multidimensional View of Continuity in Intergenerational Transmission of Child Maltreatment

While the past several decades of research have established a broad frame for understanding the intergenerational transmission of maltreatment (IGTM), published rates and mechanisms of transmission remain variable. In this chapter, we apply key concepts from the integrative paradigm of developmental psychopathology to inform a new approach to IGTM research that will simultaneously facilitate greater sensitivity and specificity in our understanding of patterns of maltreatment continuity and discontinuity across generations. In particular, we discuss the meaning of heterogeneity in patterns of development over time, as well as in the features of maltreatment. We encourage explicit consideration of specific types of maltreatment, and review extant evidence for IGTM with respect to distinct maltreatment subtypes (i.e., child physical abuse, child sexual abuse, child emotional abuse, child neglect). We highlight the implications of this heightened specificity for clarifying the phenomenology of IGTM and elucidating its etiology. Finally, we present recommendations to refine our terminology, empirical methodology, and clinical practice.

Externalizing Problems in Late Childhood as a Function of Prenatal Cocaine Exposure and Environmental Risk

OBJECTIVE To examine whether prenatal cocaine exposure (PCE) predicts externalizing problems in late childhood. METHODS Externalizing problems were assessed using caregiver, teacher, and child ratings and a laboratory task when children (N = 179; 74 cocaine exposed) were aged 8-10 years. PCE, environmental risk, sex, neonatal health, other prenatal exposures, and foster care history were examined as predictors of externalizing problems. RESULTS Multiple regression analyses indicated that PCE, environmental risk, and male sex explained significant variance in externalizing problems in late childhood. Models varied by source of information. PCE predicted externalizing problems for child laboratory behavior and interacted with sex because males with PCE reported more externalizing problems. PCE did not predict caregiver or teacher ratings of externalizing problems. CONCLUSIONS The effect of PCE on externalizing problems may persist into late childhood. The findings highlight the potential importance of including child-based measures of externalizing problems in studies of prenatal exposure.

Preschoolers' Emotion Knowledge and the Differential Effects of Harsh Punishment

This study examined the influence of caregiver-reported harsh physical and verbal punishment on childrens behavioral and self-system adjustment. Childrens emotion knowledge was evaluated as a heretofore unrecognized moderator of these relations. We assessed 250 preschool-aged children (50% female; Mage = 49.06 months) from diverse backgrounds (50% Hispanic, 18% African American, 10.4% Caucasian, 21.6% multiracial/other) using various instruments through teacher, caregiver, self, and observer report in the domains of harsh punishment, conduct problems, self-concept, and emotion knowledge. Emotion knowledge moderated the relation between harsh punishment and child adjustment. Harsh physical punishment was associated with conduct problems for children with higher emotion knowledge, especially for boys. Harsh verbal punishment was associated with self-concept deficits among children with higher emotion knowledge, especially for girls. These relations were also specifically applicable to non-Hispanic children. These results highlight the importance of investigating hypothesis-driven interactive effects and the specificity of experience to understand the psychosocial sequelae of parenting practices broadly, and to clarify the mixed evidence in the punishment literature specifically. Clinical implications point to the salience of emotion processes in parent-child disciplinary interventions for understanding the prevalence and pattern of child behavioral adjustment and self-concept, as well as more broadly to the role of individual differences in childrens responses to adversity and subsequent therapeutic needs.

Coping in Context Associations Between Resource Availability and Coping Effectiveness Among Emancipated Foster Youth

Emancipated foster youth face unique challenges in the context of few resources as they transition into adulthood. This investigation examined associations between resource availability and coping effectiveness in a sample of 172 emancipated foster youth (66.3% female; Mage = 19.63 years; 27.5% Hispanic, 24.0% African American, 15.8% Caucasian, and 32.7% multiracial). Regression analyses evaluated main and interactive relations between resource availability and coping as related to youths’ depressive, anxiety, and substance use symptoms. Findings showed that the effectiveness of individual coping strategies was moderated by the availability of strategy-relevant resources. Youth reported increased depressive, anxiety, and/or substance use problems if they engaged specific coping strategies in the absence of strategy-specific resources. These findings suggest that the effectiveness of coping may be qualified by the availability of strategy-relevant resources. Implications for foster youth who are at heightened risk for resource deficits during emerging adulthood are discussed.

Women’s Experiences in eSports: Gendered Differences in Peer and Spectator Feedback During Competitive Video Game Play:

Despite the growing popularity of eSports, the poor representation of women players points to a need to understand the experiences of female players during competitive gaming online. The present study focuses on female gamers’ experiences with positive and negative feedback and sexual harassment in the male-dominated space of eSports. In Study 1, gender differences were analyzed in online gamers’ experience with feedback from other players and spectators during online play. In Study 2, gender differences were analyzed in observations of real gameplay that focused on the types of comments spectators directed toward female and male gamers on Twitch (a popular video game streaming website). The findings suggest a mixed experience for women that includes more sexual harassment in online gaming compared with men.

The Differential Influences of Parenting and Child Narrative Coherence on the Development of Emotion Recognition.

The ability to recognize and label emotions serves as a building block by which children make sense of the world and learn how to interact with social partners. However, the timing and salience of influences on emotion recognition development are not fully understood. Path analyses evaluated the contributions of parenting and child narrative coherence to the development of emotion recognition across ages 4 through 8 in a diverse (50% female; 46% Hispanic, 18.4% Black, 11.2% White, .4% Asian, 24.0% multiracial) longitudinally followed sample of 250 caregiver–child dyads. Parenting behaviors during interactions (i.e., support, instructional quality, intrusiveness, and hostility) and children’s narrative coherence during the MacArthur Story Stem Battery were observed at ages 4 and 6. Emotion recognition increased from age 4 to 8. Parents’ supportive presence at age 4 and instructional quality at age 6 predicted increased emotion recognition at 8, beyond initial levels of emotion recognition and child cognitive ability. There were no significant effects of negative parenting (i.e., intrusiveness or hostility) at 4 or 6 on emotion recognition. Child narrative coherence at ages 4 and 6 predicted increased emotion recognition at 8. Emotion recognition at age 4 predicted increased parent instructional quality and decreased intrusiveness at 6. These findings clarify whether and when familial and child factors influence emotion recognition development. Influences on emotion recognition development emerged as differentially salient across time periods, such that there is a need to develop and implement targeted interventions to promote positive parenting skills and children’s narrative coherence at specific ages.