William M. McGuigan

Measuring Program Outcomes: Using Retrospective Pretest Methodology

This study used longitudinal data from 307 mothers with firstborn infants participating in a home-visitation, child-abuse prevention program. A self-report measure of specific constructs the program hoped to affect showed that the retrospective pretest methodology produced a more legitimate assessment of program outcomes than did the traditional pretest-posttest methodology. Results showed that when response shift bias was present, traditional pretest-posttest comparisons resulted in an underestimation of program effects that could easily be avoided by the retrospective pretest methodology. With demands for documenting program outcomes increasing, retrospective pretest designs are shown to be a simple, convenient, and expeditious method for assessing program effects in responsive interventions. The limits of retrospective pretests, and methods for strengthening their use, are discussed.

Sexual Abuse in Childhood and Interpersonal Violence in Adulthood A Cumulative Impact on Depressive Symptoms in Women

This study investigates the cumulative impact of sexual abuse in childhood and adult interpersonal violence in the past year on depressive symptoms in a nonclinical sample of 265 primarily African American (74%) women. The frequency of depressive symptoms, measured by the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D), was highest for women who experienced both forms of victimization. Women who reported greater stress over life’s daily hassles reported more depressive symptoms. Women with higher levels of family support and a sense of personal mastery reported fewer depressive symptoms. The final model explained 42% of the variance in CES-D scores. Implications for practitioners are discussed.

The Role of Community in Facilitating Service Utilization

SUMMARY Guided by an integrated theory of parent participation, this study examines the role community characteristics play in influencing a parents decision to use voluntary child abuse prevention programs. Multiple regression techniques were used to determine if different community characteristics, such as neighborhood distress and the communitys ratio of caregivers to those in need of care, predict service utilization levels in a widely available home visiting program. Our findings suggest that certain community characteristics are significant predictors of the extent to which families utilize voluntary family supports over and above the proportion of variance explained by personal characteristics and program experiences. Contrary to our initial assumptions, however, new parents living in the most disorganized communities received more home visits than program participants living in more organized communities. The article concludes with recommendations on how community capacity building might be used to improve participant retention.

Engagement and Retention in Home Visiting Child Abuse Prevention Programs

Two exploratory studies using different samples investigated how multiple factors impact engagement and retention in home-visiting child abuse prevention programs. To investigate engagement data came from 4057 mothers with newborns. A two-level hierarchical linear model revealed that poor community health and maternal isolation reduced the likelihood that mothers with newborns would engage in home-visiting services. A lack of engagement was defined as mothers who failed to participate in services after 90 days of creative outreach by home visitors. To investigate retention data came from 1093 mothers and 71 home visitors who resided in 12 different counties. Using a three-level hierarchical model of analysis showed that families were less likely to remain in a home-visiting program beyond 1 year if they lived in an area that had high community violence. Mothers were more likely to remain in the program if the home visitor received more hours of direct supervision. Older mothers were more likely to remain than younger mothers, and Hispanic mothers were more likely to remain than white non-Hispanic mothers. Implications for programming and study limitations are discussed.

A Single-Case Study of Resiliency After Extreme Incest in an Old Order Amish Family

This exploratory research brief presents a single case study of the resiliency of “Mary B.” She grew up in an Old Order Amish family where isolation, secrecy, and patriarchy masked repeated sexual assaults by her older brothers that began at age 7. By the age of 20, Mary alleged she had been raped on more than 200 separate occasions by members of her Amish family. After years of pleading with her mother and church officials to intervene, she sought therapy outside the Amish community. This led to three of her brothers being incarcerated. Her family disowned her and she was banned from the Amish community, leaving with an 8th grade education and little more than the clothes she was wearing. In less than 2 years, Mary had moved to a new town, completed her GED, obtained a car and driving license, maintained a small home, and worked as a certified nursing assistant. She consented to tape recorded interviews and completed several quantitative diagnostic measures. Scores on the diagnostic measures placed her within the normal range on self-esteem, competency, depression, stress, social support, and life skills. Analysis of interviews revealed Mary rebounded from her past by reframing her experiences. Themes identified within the interviews supported 6 of the 7 types of resiliencies (insight, independence, initiative, relationships, humor, and morality) outlined in the therapeutic Challenge Model.

Negative Communication Behaviors During Family Problem Solving: Cohesion as a Moderator in a Growth Curve Analysis

Using archived data a multilevel model examined change in negative communication behaviors of three family members (mother, father and preadolescent) across four sequential family problem solving sessions in the home. The sample included 756 problem-solving sessions, nested within 189 individuals, within 63 families. Basic tenets of family therapy were used to examine the effect of the occasions of measurement, revealing that communication was less negative when the adolescent selected the problem. The individual level analysis was guided by a conflict structure perspective that found adolescents (in general) showed more negative communication behaviors than parents. At the family level, scores on the Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scale (FACES III) were significantly related to changes in negative communication behaviors. A significant interaction between FACES III scores and negative communication behaviors showed negativity increased across sessions in families that scored lower on the FACES III, but decreased in families that scored higher.

Reliability and Validity of a Scale to Measure Prejudice toward Old Order Amish

Numerous studies have examined prejudice in regard to race, age, sexual orientation, and gender, among others. However, there remains a paucity of research on prejudice toward Christian religious groups. In particular, prejudice towards one of America’s fastest growing religious groups, the Old Order Amish, is rarely examined. Using social categorization theory and based on McConahay’s modern and old-fashioned racism scale, an “Attitude Toward Amish” scale is developed and tested. Factor analysis revealed one dominant component and high internal reliability. The article concludes with a discussion of implications for future research of this rapidly growing population.

Adolescent mothers: the impact of intimate partner violence on infant health and maltreatment

ABSTRACT There is a need for more research focusing on the health outcomes of infants born to the understudied group of adolescent mothers. Archivical data from four independent sources were used to answer the following research question: During the child’s first year, what adverse health factors are associated with acts of intimate partner violence (IPV) that were experienced by adolescent mothers during pregnancy, or three months postpartum. Results of chi-square analyses showed IPV was associated with 14 adverse child health outcomes including child maltreatment. Suggestions for application of these findings and recommendations for future research are included.

Physical neglect in childhood as a predictor of violent behavior in adolescent males

Research has established that childhood maltreatment experiences are associated with negative outcomes in adolescence, including violent and antisocial behavior (Chapple et al., 2005). Neglect is the most prevalent form of childhood maltreatment (U.S. DHHS, 2012), the consequences of which require further investigation. This study used archival data to explore whether childhood physical neglect increased the likelihood of violent behavior in a random sample of 85 males between the ages of 12-19 held at a long-term detention facility in the Northeastern United States. An anonymous survey gathered background information and data regarding childhood physical neglect and violent behavior in adolescence. A step-wise hierarchal regression model controlled for the effects of age, self-esteem, personal competency, depression, chemical drug use, family violence and a childhood history of physical abuse. Results showed that a history of childhood physical neglect was the strongest predictor of violent adolescent behavior in this sample when the data was tested for all moderator and mediator effects.