Ughetta Moscardino

Posttraumatic reactions among injured children and their caregivers 3 months after the terrorist attack in Beslan

This report describes symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among a group of Beslans children (N=22) and their primary caregivers (N=20) 3 months after the children had been taken hostage in their school by a group of terrorists. Attention and memory were also measured. Children and their caretakers showed high levels of ongoing PTSD symptoms. Children also showed difficulties in sustaining attention and in short-term memory (digit span). These scores strongly indicate the need for appropriate interventions and ongoing monitoring of course of recovery.

Mixed Methods in International Collaborative Research: The Experiences of the International Study of Parents, Children, and Schools:

The power of a mixed-methods approach combining anthropological and psychological theories and methods is demonstrated through the experiences of the International Study of Parents, Children, and Schools, a collaborative project involving teams of researchers from seven Western countries. The developmental niche framework of Super and Harkness proved useful for integrating multiple methods to understand the context of children’s early development at home and at school. Several parts of the study are presented as illustrations: the development and application of a common list of descriptors for coding parents’ discourse about their children; the construction of a derived etic form of a child temperament questionnaire; the discovery and exploration of ideas and practices related to parent-child co-sleeping; and the identification of cultural themes across various kinds of data. The authors conclude that a combination of anthropological and psychological methods can enrich understanding of children’s development in various cultural settings.

Recognition of facial expressions of mixed emotions in school-age children exposed to terrorism.

This exploratory study aims at investigating the effects of terrorism on childrens ability to recognize emotions. A sample of 101 exposed and 102 nonexposed children (mean age = 11 years), balanced for age and gender, were assessed 20 months after a terrorist attack in Beslan, Russia. Two trials controlled for childrens ability to match a facial emotional stimulus with an emotional label and their ability to match an emotional label with an emotional context. The experimental trial evaluated the relation between exposure to terrorism and childrens free labeling of mixed emotion facial stimuli created by morphing between 2 prototypical emotions. Repeated measures analyses of covariance revealed that exposed children correctly recognized pure emotions. Four log-linear models were performed to explore the association between exposure group and category of answer given in response to different mixed emotion facial stimuli. Model parameters indicated that, compared with nonexposed children, exposed children (a) labeled facial expressions containing anger and sadness significantly more often than expected as anger, and (b) produced fewer correct answers in response to stimuli containing sadness as a target emotion.

Attention and Memory in School-Age Children Surviving the Terrorist Attack in Beslan, Russia

Little is known about the impact of terrorism on childrens cognitive functioning and school learning. The primary purpose of this study was to report on cognitive functioning among school-age children 20 months after a terrorist attack against their school. Participants included 203 directly and indirectly exposed children from Beslan and 100 nonexposed children from another town of the Russian Federation. All children were tested using nonverbal neuropsychological measures of attention, memory, and visual-spatial performance. Predisaster traumatic events and terrorism-related exposure factors were evaluated. Findings revealed that overall, directly and indirectly exposed children performed significantly less well than controls in all domains. In addition, direct exposure and loss of a family member were associated with poor memory performance.

Culture, Temperament, and the “Difficult Child”: A Study in Seven Western Cultures

Charles M. Super1, Giovanna Axia2, Sara Harkness1, Barbara Welles-Nyström3, Piotr Olaf Zylicz4, Parminder Parmar5, Sabrina Bonichini2, Moisés Rios Bermúdez6, Ughetta Moscardino2, Violet Kolar7, Jesús Palacios6, Andrzej Eliasz4, and Harry McGurk7 1University of Connecticut, USA 2University of Padua, Italy 3Karolinska Institute, Sweden 4Warsaw School of Social Psychology, Poland 5The Pennsylvania State University, USA 6University of Seville, Spain 7Australian Institute of Family Studies, Australia

Trauma reminders and PTSD symptoms in children three years after a terrorist attack in Beslan

As a consequence of a terrorist attack, children may experience trauma-related internal and external reminders that are directly linked to their physical and psychological health. We assessed PTSD and trauma reminders in 58 school-age children three years after the terrorist attack in Beslan, Russia in 2004, as well as their association with degree of exposure, psychological distress and coping. Findings revealed a prevalence of situational trauma reminders associated with high levels of distress in more exposed children. The presence of PTSD was predicted by level of exposure to the attack, frequency of exposure to trauma reminders, and support seeking as a coping strategy. Findings are discussed in light of the socio-political climate in Beslan and distress experienced by the population three years after the attack.

Mental Health among Former Child Soldiers and Never-Abducted Children in Northern Uganda

The present study aimed to evaluate posttraumatic stress symptoms, psychological distress, and emotional and behavioral problems in former Ugandan child soldiers in comparison with civilian children living in the same conflict setting. Participants included 133 former child soldiers and 101 never-abducted children in northern Uganda, who were interviewed about exposure to traumatic war-related experiences, posttraumatic stress symptoms, psychological distress, and emotional and behavioral problems. Results indicated that former child soldiers had experienced significantly more war-related traumatic events than nonabducted children, with 39.3% of girls having been forced to engage in sexual contact. Total scores on measures of PTSD symptoms, psychological distress, and emotional and behavioral problems were significantly higher among child soldiers compared to their never-abducted peers. Girls reported significantly more emotional and behavioral difficulties than boys. In never-abducted children, more mental health problems were associated with experiencing physical harm, witnessing the killings of other people, and being forced to engage in sexual contact.

Culture, Migration, and Parenting: A Comparative Study of Mother-Infant Interaction and Childrearing Patterns in Romanian, Romanian Immigrant, and Italian Families

This study compared mother-infant interaction and childrearing patterns across Romanian families in Romania, first-generation Romanian immigrant families in Italy, and Italian families. The relations between acculturation and maternal beliefs and behaviors were also examined. Ninety-five mothers and their infants aged between 0 and 12 months participated. Mothers were videotaped interacting with their infants during free play, and were interviewed about their childrearing beliefs and practices. Results showed that Romanian mothers placed more emphasis on values and behaviors related to interdependence/sociocentrism, whereas Italian mothers more highly valued socialization goals and interactive behaviors consonant with an individualistic/independent orientation. The migrant mothers more closely resembled Italian mothers in the importance attributed to stimulating children’s cognitive competence, autonomy, and self-fulfillment, but no homogeneous pattern for maternal behaviors was found. Maternal beliefs and behaviors were not related in either group. While the migrant mothers were significantly more oriented towards participating in the host culture than towards maintaining their own heritage culture, no association between acculturation attitudes, maternal beliefs and behaviors emerged.

Socio-ecological correlates of mental health among ethnic minorities in areas of political conflict: A study of Druze adolescents in Israel

Children and youths living in areas of political conflict are at increased risk of mental health problems, but little is known about psychosocial adjustment among ethnic minorities living in war-afflicted settings. This cross-sectional study used an ecological approach to investigate the unique contributions of child, family/social, and minority related factors as well as traumatic exposure and perceived discrimination to the mental health of 167 Druze adolescents in Northern Israel. Outcome measures included participants’ self-reported posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms, psychological distress, and emotional and behavioral problems. Adolescents reported high indirect exposure, moderate discrimination, strong ethnic identity and high religious involvement. Regression analyses showed that female gender, number of traumatic events, and perceived discrimination were associated with more severe mental health outcomes. In addition, low social support and high religious involvement predicted increased PTSD symptom severity, while stronger ethnic identity was associated with less emotional and behavioral problems. Findings are discussed in terms of the cultural characteristics of the Druze community and highlight the need to consider additional stressors, such as discrimination, when working with ethnic minority youth in conflict zones.

Dyadic adjustment and parenting stress in internationally adoptive mothers and fathers: the mediating role of adult attachment dimensions.

Previous research has shown that a positive marital functioning represents a resource in adoptive families, leading to a decrease in parenting stress, but little is known about the factors mediating such a relationship. This study aimed to explore whether adult attachment avoidance and anxiety mediate the effect of dyadic functioning on parenting stress in 90 internationally adoptive couples (mothers and fathers) who had adopted a child (aged 3–10 years) in the last 36 months. Participants completed self-report measures of dyadic adjustment, adult attachment, and parenting stress. A series of path analyses supported the mediation hypothesis, but differentially for mothers and fathers. Among mothers, there was a direct and negative relationship between dyadic adjustment and parenting stress. In addition, a better dyadic adjustment was related to lower levels of attachment anxiety, which in turn were associated with less parenting stress. Among fathers, increased dyadic adjustment was related to lower levels of attachment avoidance, which in turn were associated with reduced parenting stress. These findings suggest the importance of including both mothers and fathers in adoption research. Adoptive parents could benefit from specific interventions aimed at reducing attachment avoidance and anxiety by supporting parental sense of competence and involvement for mothers and fathers, respectively.