Child abuse & neglect
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Child abuse & neglect · Jun 2015
Child maltreatment and risk patterns among participants in a child abuse prevention program.
The relationship between risk factors and Child Protective Services (CPS) outcomes in families who participate in home visiting programs to prevent abuse and neglect and who are reported to CPS is largely unknown. We examined the relationship between parental risk factors and the substantiation status and number of CPS reports in families in a statewide prevention program. We reviewed CPS reports from 2006 to 2008 for families in Connecticut's child abuse prevention program. ⋯ Families with >1 report (34.4%) versus 1 report (65.6%) were more likely to have >3 caregivers, but this was not statistically significant (OR=2.53, 95% CI [0.98, 6.54]). In a prevention program for first-time families, DV, paternal risk, maternal criminal history, and an increased number of caregivers were associated with maltreatment outcomes. Targeting parental violence may impact child abuse prevention.
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Child abuse & neglect · Jan 2015
Multicenter StudyBullying among school-age children in the greater Beirut area: risk and protective factors.
This study investigated the prevalence of bullying at schools in the Greater Beirut Area and the extent to which differences in children's sociodemographics, family and school environment, and coping strategies could account for variation in academic achievement, PTSD and emotional and behavioral disorders. Participants were 665 male and female children of mean age 13.8 years. Results indicated that a high proportion of children had been involved in bullying on a regular basis with victims having a higher prevalence ratio than bullies and bully/victims. ⋯ School bullying was not associated with academic achievement or with having difficulties in reading and math. Children who were identified as bully/victim, victim, and bully suffered from PTSD compared to those who were not identified as being involved in bullying The study showed that both bullies and victims are at-risk for short term and long-term adjustment difficulties including hyperactivity, emotional symptoms, conduct problems and peer problems. Child's gender and emotion-focused coping stood out as risk factors for the development of bullying behaviors whereas age, problem-focused coping, family environment, and school environment were significant protective factors.
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Child abuse & neglect · Jan 2015
Online social support as a buffer against online and offline peer and sexual victimization among U.S. LGBT and non-LGBT youth.
In today's technology-infused world, we need to better understand relationships youth form with friends online, how they compare to relationships formed in-person, and whether these online relationships confer protective benefits. This is particularly important from the perspective of peer victimization, given that social support in-person appears to reduce the odds of victimization in-person. To address this literature gap, data from a sample of 5,542 U. ⋯ Online social support did not reduce the odds of any type of victimization assessed. Together, these findings suggest that online friends can be an important source of social support, particularly for LGBT youth. Nonetheless, in-person social support appears to be more protective against victimization, suggesting that one is not a replacement for the other.
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Child abuse & neglect · Dec 2014
Parents' behavior in response to infant crying: abusive head trauma education.
Abusive head trauma (AHT) is still too common, and probably underestimated. It is the leading cause of death from child abuse. Crying is thought to contribute to the act of shaking. ⋯ Parents' knowledge improved significantly post-intervention. Parents found the intervention acceptable and useful. Health care professionals such as pediatricians or nurses could easily provide this brief talk to all parents during systematic newborn examination.
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Child abuse & neglect · Nov 2014
Randomized Controlled TrialPain tolerance, pain sensitivity, and accessibility of aggression-related schemata in parents at-risk for child physical abuse.
This study examined whether parents with varying degrees of child physical abuse (CPA) risk differed in pain tolerance, pain sensitivity, and accessibility of aggression-related schemata. Participants included 91 (51 low CPA risk and 40 high CPA risk) general population parents. Participants were randomly assigned to complete either an easy or a difficult anagram task. ⋯ Moreover, after completing the difficult anagram task, high-risk (compared to low-risk) parents exhibited higher pain sensitivity during the cold pressor task. Following completion of the cold pressor task, high-risk (compared to low-risk) parents exhibited greater accessibility of aggression-related schemata. Collectively, these findings indicate that under certain conditions, high-risk parents experience a confluence of aggression-related risk factors (i.e., negative affect, pain sensitivity, and aggression-related information processes) that may predispose them to aggressive behavior.