Scott T. Ronis

Research Note Individual, Family, Peer, and Academic Characteristics of Female Serious Juvenile Offenders

This study examined the individual functioning, interpersonal relations, and academic performance of 142 female adolescents who were divided into three demographically similar groups: violent juvenile offenders (n = 51), nonviolent juvenile offenders (n = 56), and nondelinquent youths (ND; n = 35). Both the violent and the nonviolent offenders had histories of serious crimes (i.e., felonies). Parents and youths completed self-report instruments, behavior-rating inventories, and a videorecorded interaction task, and teachers completed a rating measure. Results showed that violent juvenile offenders and nonviolent juvenile offenders had more behavior problems, more difficulties in family and peer relations, and poorer academic performance than did ND. However, violent juvenile offenders did not differ from nonviolent juvenile offenders on any of the measures of individual functioning, family relations, peer relations, or academic performance. Taken together, the findings suggest that girls who commit serious crimes, regardless of whether violence is involved, share a number of risk factors across key domains of individual and interpersonal functioning. The implications of these findings for research, theory, and treatment are discussed.

A Longitudinal Analysis of Predictors of Male and Female Adolescents' Transitions to Intimate Sexual Behavior

PURPOSE Determining predictors of sexual transitions is essential for developing health interventions. METHODS Adolescents (13-16 years) completed baseline and 6-month surveys assessing psychosocial factors and sexual behavior. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS Lower self-esteem for boys and higher lifetime alcohol use for girls predicted transitions to more intimate sex. These differential profiles may warrant tailored health initiatives.

The role of environmental hazard in mothers' beliefs about appropriate supervision

Understanding factors that influence mothers’ beliefs about appropriate levels of supervision for their children may assist in efforts to reduce child injury rates. This study examined the interaction of child (i.e. age, gender, and injury risk behavior) and maternal perception of environmental hazard (i.e. hazard level, injury likelihood, and potential injury severity) variables in predicting mothers’ beliefs about appropriate levels of supervision for their children. Participants were 58 mothers of 2- to 8-year-old community children who were interviewed about their beliefs regarding child injury risk and appropriate supervision. Results indicated that perceived environmental hazard level interacted with child age, gender, and injury risk behavior to predict mothers’ beliefs about supervision. Perceived injury likelihood also interacted with child injury risk behavior to predict beliefs about supervision. Findings underscore the complexity of factors influencing mothers’ beliefs about appropriate supervision and indicate the importance of environmental hazard level in such beliefs.

Sexual Development in Girls: “Normative” Development and Development of Paraphilias and Sexual Offending Behaviors

This chapter explores the extant research and theory on sexual development, including what constitutes “normative” sexual development, with a particular focus on girls. We address what is known about the ways in which sexual development can go awry by summarizing the work that examines the development of paraphilias and the prevalence, range, and characteristics of sexual offending behaviors among youth. Although there is a dearth of research on both normative and non- normative development, and much that is plagued by methodological shortcomings, we draw extensively on a few exceptional studies and extrapolate to some degree from work on adult samples. Girls in particular appear highly unlikely to experience paraphilias, as defined by standard terminology, and have relatively low rates of sexual offenses compared with their male counterparts. We summarize with directions for future research and a call to expand upon standard classifications that are based primarily on male adult populations, while outlining implications for interventions with girls based on the limited extant literature.

The emotional health and well‐being of Canadians who care for persons with mental health or addictions problems

The purpose of this project was to examine the emotional health and well-being of Canadian caregivers of persons with significant mental health or addictions problems. We assessed the emotional health of caregivers by care-receiver condition type (i.e. mental health or addictions vs. physical or other health problems), levels of caregiver stress and methods particularly for reducing stress among caregivers of persons with mental health or addictions disorders. Weighted cross-sectional data from the 2012 General Social Survey (Caregiving and Care Receiving) were modelled using weighted descriptive and logistic regression analyses to examine levels of stress and the emotional health and well-being of caregivers by care-receiver condition type. Caregivers of persons with mental health or addictions problems were more likely to report that caregiving was very stressful and that they felt depressed, tired, worried or anxious, overwhelmed; lonely or isolated; short-tempered or irritable; and resentful because of their caregiving responsibilities. The results of this study suggest that mental health and addictions caregivers may experience disparate stressors and require varying services and supports relative to caregivers of persons with physical or other health conditions.

Gender and Geographic Predictors of Cyberbullying Victimization, Perpetration, and Coping Modalities Among Youth:

Cyberbullying has become an important public health issue due to documented associations among victimization, perpetration, and greater likelihood of depression, substance abuse, anxiety, insomnia, and school-related problems for adolescents. Less is known, however, about how youth cope with cyberbullying and the types of services and supports they are likely to use based on relevant socioeconomic, demographic and geographic factors. The objective of this project was to determine whether gender and geography, in combination with mental health and socioeconomic status, predicted cyberbullying victimization, perpetration, and patterns of coping and help seeking in a sample of youth aged 16 to 19 years (N = 289). An anonymous online survey was used to gather information on cyberbullying victimization, perpetration, and methods for coping from youth from New Brunswick, Canada. The results of this study suggest that the likelihood of becoming a cyberbullying victim or perpetrator, as well as the coping modalities used to respond to bullying, are highly gendered and intersect with existing social and health inequities. Interventions aimed at bolstering resiliency should be developed in the context of the urban and rural school environments where coping skills are developed and refined.

Comparing Strategies for Providing Child and Youth Mental Health Care Services in Canada, the United States, and The Netherlands

This paper reviews how child and youth mental health care services in Canada, the United States, and the Netherlands are organized and financed in order to identify systems and individual-level factors that may inhibit or discourage access to treatment for youth with mental health problems, such as public or private health insurance coverage, out-of-pocket expenses, and referral requirements for specialized mental health care services. Pathways to care for treatment of mental health problems among children and youth are conceptualized and discussed in reference to health insurance coverage and access to specialty services. We outline reforms to the organization of health care that have been introduced in recent years, and the basket of services covered by public and private insurance schemes. We conclude with a discussion of country-level opportunities to enhance access to child and youth mental health services using existing health policy levers in Canada, the United States and the Netherlands.

Book Review: Sibling aggression: Assessment and treatment

Despite being highly pervasive throughout childhood and into adulthood, sibling aggression has received very little attention in the family relations literature. Perhaps as a result, psychotherapists and family practitioners typically have limited knowledge in dealing with this problem. Although the predominant view of sibling aggression is that it is developmentally normal, there is sufficient evidence of considerable negative psychological and interpersonal consequences. As such, Jonathan Caspi has focused his attention in this book on the theme of sibling aggression, ranging from mild conflict to physical and sexual abuse. In particular, Caspi examines the previous literature on sibling aggression and predominant theories relevant generally to sibling relationships and outlines a treatment approach for working with families with sibling aggression problems. The book includes nine chapters and five appendices. The first three chapters provide an overview of the literature on sibling aggression and highlight the applications of family systems, evolutionary, and social learning theories on sibling relational behavior. Caspi begins by defining sibling aggression as ranging from competition to abuse. He focuses on ‘‘typical’’ sibling rivalry (or competition) as well as conflict and abuse (physical, sexual, psychological, and relational). The factors that contribute to and maintain sibling aggression, such as parental differential treatment, labeling of children, one or more siblings’ limited empathy, birth order, age spacing, and gender of the siblings, are discussed. The second and third chapters focus predominately on family systems theory to explain the variety of sibling relational patterns. Specifically, enmeshed or disengaged interpersonal boundaries, violations of subsystem boundaries, and triangulation among family members are discussed as increasing the likelihood of sibling aggression. The third chapter also uses the evolutionary perspective to describe siblings’ development of niches (i.e., each sibling’s identities and associated activities) and social learning theory as a framework for how siblings learn to engage in maladaptive ways. In Chapters 4 through 7, Caspi introduces and describes the task-centered sibling aggression (TCSA) treatment approach, including its principles, approaches to identifying problems, family dynamics, assigned tasks, and problem-solving strategies. Rather than being a cookbook treatment approach, the TCSA treatment approach is an organizing framework that integrates structural techniques and behavioral strategies to be tailored to five unique family dynamics. The TCSA approach is brief and is organized into three phases: initial, middle, and ending. The primary goals of this approach are to both eliminate harmful aggression and build supportive relationships. To accomplish these goals, the therapist engages (i.e., joins) with the family and defines and prioritizes target problems with the family in the initial phase. Action-oriented tasks are subsequently assigned during and between sessions to address maladaptive patterns of interaction and overcome barriers of change. During the ending phase, the therapist reviews target problems and identifies problem-solving strategies. Chapter 8 presents a case example of a practitioner using the TCSA treatment approach with a family of a mother, father, and two boys aged 7 and 10. This family is noted as being referred for counseling because the oldest sibling increasingly has been getting into trouble at school. The practitioner works with the family over six 1-hr sessions, although the first two sessions are presented with the most detail. The therapeutic approach is described as straightforward but typical of most cases presenting with sibling aggression problems and without severe violence or abuse. The final chapter (Chapter 9) covers additional applications of the TCSA treatment approach, such as families with marital conflict, intimate partner violence or child abuse, children who are violent toward their parents, or one or more of the siblings with a mental illness or a physical disability. Although most of the book focuses on families with children, a section of this chapter covers sibling aggression themes with adults. In addition, treatment modifications are briefly discussed in relation to clinical settings, outof-home care settings, and other places where siblings reside or spend substantial time. Furthermore, Caspi highlights some treatment considerations, for example, when working with siblings where there has been abuse. The appendices of the book include a summary of the factors linked to sibling aggression, TCSA contracts, and task review forms that can be used in clinical practice. Sibling aggression offers a major contribution to the family systems literature and provides family practitioners with a valuable resource in conceptualizing their cases and in applying tasks to improve sibling (and potentially broader family) relationships. It would also be quite useful for graduate students who often have more difficulty in coming up with tasks to assign their family clients, as this book includes a number of structured tasks that can be completed in session or between sessions. As a small point of criticism, perhaps readers will come to view sibling aggression as a conclusive and comprehensive reason for individuals’ psychological and interpersonal problems. However, it appears that Caspi’s intention in narrowly focusing on sibling aggression is to provide a succinct explanation of phenomena that has been largely ignored but that should at least be considered when addressing such problems.