An examination of risky sexual behavior and HIV in victims of child abuse and neglect: A 30-year follow-up.

Objective: This article examined links between childhood maltreatment and risky sexual behavior (early sexual contact, promiscuity, prostitution) and HIV in adulthood. Design: Using a prospective cohort design, physically and sexually abused and neglected children (ages 0-11) with documented cases during 1967-1971 were matched with nonmaltreated children and followed into adulthood. Main Outcome Measures: Early sexual contact, promiscuity, and prostitution were assessed through in-person interviews and official records (prostitution) at approximate age 29 (N = 1196). HIV tests were conducted at approximate age 41 (N = 631). Results: Child maltreatment was associated with prostitution (OR = 2.47, 95% CI = 1.35-4.50) and early sexual contact (OR = 1.73, 95% CI = 1.24-2.40). Prevalence of HIV in the abuse/neglect group was twice that in controls (OR = 2.35, 95% CI = .64-8.62), although this difference did not reach conventional levels of statistical significance. SEM provided significant support for a model linking child abuse and neglect to prostitution through early sexual contact and a marginal link to HIV through prostitution. Conclusion: These findings provide prospective evidence that maltreated children are more likely to report sexual contact before age 15, engage in prostitution by young adulthood, and test positive for HIV in middle adulthood. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Pathways from childhood abuse and neglect to HIV-risk sexual behavior in middle adulthood.

Objective: This study examines the relationship between childhood abuse and neglect and sexual risk behavior in middle adulthood and whether psychosocial factors (risky romantic relationships, affective symptoms, drug and alcohol use, and delinquent and criminal behavior) mediate this relationship. Method: Children with documented cases of physical abuse, sexual abuse, and neglect (ages 0–11) processed during 1967–1971 were matched with nonmaltreated children and followed into middle adulthood (approximate age 41). Mediators were assessed in young adulthood (approximate age 29) through in-person interviews between 1989 and 1995 and official arrest records through 1994 (N = 1,196). Past year HIV-risk sexual behavior was assessed via self-reports during 2003–2004 (N = 800). Logistic regression was used to examine differences in sexual risk behavior between the abuse and neglect and control groups, and latent variable structural equation modeling was used to test mediator models. Results: Child abuse and neglect was associated with increased likelihood of risky sexual behavior in middle adulthood, odds ratio = 2.84, 95% CI [1.74, 4.64], p ≤ .001, and this relationship was mediated by risky romantic relationships in young adulthood. Conclusions: Results of this study draw attention to the potential long-term consequences of child abuse and neglect for physical health, in particular sexual risk, and point to romantic relationships as an important focus of intervention and prevention efforts. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

School performance and disciplinary problems among abused and neglected children.

Investigated the relationship of child abuse and neglect to academic achievement and discipline problems in a school-age population. A representative community sample of 420 maltreated children in kindergarten through Grade 12 were matched with 420 nonmaltreated children in the same community. Using social service and school records as the sources of data, the authors found maltreated children performed significantly below their nonmaltreated peers in standardized tests and grades and were more likely to repeat a grade. Maltreated children also had significantly more discipline referrals and suspensions. Of the maltreated children, neglected children showed the poorest outcomes on academic performance, and physically abused children showed the most discipline problems. Variations in maltreatment effects by grade level, public assistance status, and gender are also described. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The natural history of childhood eczema: observations from the British 1958 birth cohort study

The National Child Development Study (NCDS) is a birth cohort study whose longitudinal design makes it suitable for examining the natural history of common diseases in childhood such as atopic eczema. We have analysed the age of onset and clearance rates for examined and/or reported eczema in 6877 children born during the period 3-9 March 1958 for whom linked data were available at birth and at the ages of 7, 11, 16 and 23 years. Of the 870 cases with examined or reported eczema by the age of 16 years, 66% had age of onset by the age of 7 years. Of the 571 children with reported or examined eczema by the age of 7 years, the proportion of children who were clear in terms of examined eczema or reported eczema in the last year at ages 11 and 16 years was 65% and 74%, respectively. These 'apparent' or short-term clearance rates fell to 53% and 65%, respectively, after allowance for subsequent recurrences in adolescence and early adulthood. Age of onset of community-ascertained cases of atopic eczema may be later than that reported in hospital-based studies. The long-term prognosis of childhood eczema may be worse than some previous studies have suggested, especially when subsequent recurrences are taken into account.     

An ecological-transactional analysis of children and contexts: the longitudinal interplay among child maltreatment, community violence, and children's symptomatology

Cicchetti and Lynch have conceptualized ecological contexts as consisting of nested levels with varying degrees of proximity to the individual. These levels of the environment interact and transact with each other over time in shaping individual development and adaptation. With a sample of maltreated (n = 188) and nonmaltreated (n = 134) children between the ages of 7 and 12 years, this investigation employed a 1-year longitudinal design to conduct an ecological-transactional analysis of the mutual relationships among community violence, child maltreatment, and children's functioning over time. Indicators of children's functioning were externalizing and internalizing behavior problems and self-rated traumatic stress reactions, depressive symptomatology, and self-esteem. Either full or partial support was obtained for the study's primary hypotheses. Rates of maltreatment, particularly physical abuse, were related to levels of child-reported violence in the community. In addition, child maltreatment and exposure to community violence were related to different aspects of children's functioning. Specific effects were observed for neglect and sexual abuse and for witnessing and being victimized by violence in the community. Finally, there was evidence that children and their contexts mutually influence each other over time. Results were discussed within the framework of an ecological-transactional model of development.     

Peer relationships and self-esteem among children who have been maltreated

A prospective longitudinal design was employed to assess risks associated with maltreatment in a representative community sample of 107 maltreated children and an equal number of nonmaltreated comparison children. Heightened difficulties in peer relationships and self-esteem were associated with greater severity and chronicity of maltreatment. For example, children who experienced chronic maltreatment were less well-liked by peers. Type of maltreatment was also related to specific aspects of children's adjustment. For instance, sexual abuse predicted low self-esteem, but not problems in peer relationships. Emotional maltreatment, on the other hand, was related to difficulties in peer relationships, but not to low self-esteem. Thus, the best predictions of specific aspects of children's adjustment were provided by considering timing, type, and severity of maltreatment. For some groups of maltreated children, having a good friend was associated with improvement over time in self-esteem.     

Maltreatment, competency deficits, and risk for academic and behavioral maladjustment.

Maltreatment was predicted to negatively affect children's academic and behavioral adjustment through the creation of deficits in academic engagement, social competencies, ego resiliency, and ego control. Teachers' comprehensive evaluations, school records, and camp counselors' ratings were obtained for 229 socioeconomically disadvantaged children (ages 5–12 years), 146 of whom had been maltreated. Maltreated children showed less academic engagement, more social skills deficits, and lower ego resiliency than nonmaltreated comparison children. Maltreated children manifested multiple forms of academic risk and showed more externalizing and internalizing behavior problems. The effects of maltreatment on academic maladjustment were partially mediated by academic engagement, whereas maltreatment's effects on behavior problems were mediated fully by social competencies and ego resiliency. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Height, weight and menarche in Swedish urban school children in relation to socio-economic and regional factors

During the period 1964-1973, a defined sample of 740 Swedish urban school children (360 girls and 380 boys) from 40 different urban areas all over the country were followed longitudinally. Height and weight were measured twice a year and age at menarche was recorded. Mean ages at peak height velocity (PHV) and peak weight velocity (PWV) were 11-91 years (SD 0-95) and 12-50 years (SD 1-08) for girls with average values of 8-30 cm/year (SD 1-32) and 7-37 kg/year (SD 1-94). Mean age at menarche was 13-05 years (SD 1-03). PHV and PWV in boys occurred on average at 14-09 years (SD 1-11) and 14-30 years (SD 1-11) with magnitudes of 9-84 cm/year (SD 1-40) and 9-07 kg/year (SD 2-04). No significant differences between socio-economic strata defined by father's occupation and family income were found either for height and weight or for ages at PHV, PWV and menarche. Girls but not boys in the lowest social group (III) had more weight for height during puberty than had girls in social groups I and II. Between the three main geographical regions of Sweden some differences were found. Boys in the South were at the ages of 17 and 18 on average heavier than boys from the rest of the country. Boys and girls in the South had PHV, PWV and menarche half a year later than children in Middle Sweden. In analysis of variance for age at PHV significant interaction terms were found for regions times urbanization. In the South and North age at PHV was earlier the higher the urbanization level, but in Middle Sweden the reverse occurred.     

Organizational perspective on cognitive control functioning and cognitive-affective balance in maltreated children.

Examined the relation between a history of maltreatment and cognitive control functioning in two groups of preschool and early school-age maltreated and nonmaltreated children. Administered several measures of cognitive control functioning to each child in situations that did or did not arouse aggressive fantasies and affects. Maltreated and nonmaltreated children showed differences in a developmental status of cognitive control functioning when cognitive controls were assessed in a relatively neutral, nonaggressive context, with maltreated children showing developmentally impaired cognitive control functioning on a number of tasks. Maltreated children also differed significantly from nonmaltreated children in terms of shifts observed in cognitive control functioning when coordinating aggressive compared with nonaggressive stimuli with associated fantasies and affects. Discussed findings with regard to maltreated children's regulation of emotion, their aggressive impulses, and their internal working models of relationships. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Age of onset of first alcohol intoxication and subsequent alcohol use among urban American Indian adolescents.

The objective was to assess the effect of early onset intoxication on subsequent alcohol involvement among urban American Indian youth. The data come from the American Indian Research (AIR) project, a panel study of urban Indian youth residing in King County, Washington. Data were collected annually from the adolescent and his/her primary caregiver from the 1988–89 school year to the 1996–97 school year, providing a total of nine waves of data. Early intoxication (by age 14) was related to delinquency, family history of alcohol abuse or dependence, poverty, broken family structure, less family cohesiveness, and more family conflict. The effects of these characteristics were, therefore, partialed out in testing effects of early intoxication on later alcohol involvement. Two-part latent growth models of alcohol use and alcohol problems were specified. Effects of early onset intoxication on these trajectories, as well as lifetime alcohol abuse or dependence by the transition to young adulthood, were examined. Findings indicate that adolescents who experienced their first intoxication early (by age 14), used alcohol more heavily from the ages of 16 to 18, experienced more problems related to the alcohol's use from the ages of 16 to 18, and were more likely to have a diagnosed alcohol disorder by the final wave of data collection. Congruent with similar studies in the general population, early intoxication appears to be associated with a deleterious course of alcohol involvement during adolescence and into the transition to young adulthood among urban American Indian youth. Implications for prevention are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mobility as a mediator of the effects of child maltreatment on academic performance

This study examined the role of residential and school mobility as a mediator between child maltreatment and academic outcomes. Using a sample of 711 maltreated and nonmaltreated children ranging from 5 to 15 years old matched on gender, grade, school, and socioeconomic status, path analytic techniques were employed to assess direct and indirect effects of maltreatment on recent achievement test scores, current grades, and grade repetitions. The results indicated that mobility did help account for the effects of maltreatment on each of the outcomes. For grades in English/reading, 32.7% of the effect of maltreatment was accounted for by amount of mobility, while for test scores and grade repetitions the numbers were 14.6% and 19.1%, respectively.     

Neuropharmacology of St. John''s Wort (Hypericum)

OBJECTIVE: A developmental-ecological model was used to explore the psychological adjustment and peer social competencies of maltreated preschool children. METHOD: Enhanced research methods were used that included verification of maltreatment status, multiple-variable matching of comparison children, and contextually relevant assessment. One hundred eight Head Start children, of whom 54 were maltreated, participated. Assessment of social functioning included measurement of peer play interactions, global social skills, peer sociometrics, and teacher and parent ratings of behavior problems. RESULTS: Findings indicated that maltreated children were significantly less interactive in peer play and overall exhibited less self-control and interpersonal skill in social interactions than nonmaltreated children. In addition, maltreated children were more likely than their nonmaltreated peers to receive low sociometric ratings and were found by both teachers and parents to display more internalizing behavior problems than comparison children. CONCLUSIONS: These findings indicate the importance of using developmentally sensitive research methods to inform contextually relevant interventions.     

Depression and maltreatment as predictors of social competence and social problem-solving skills in school-age children

Childhood depression and child maltreatment have been shown to be important predictors of childhood adjustment problems, including difficulties in the spheres of home, school, and peer relationships. In this study, depression and maltreatment were used to predict social competence and social problem-solving skills, as rated by self, parent, and teacher. The total sample contained 68 children (35 girls, 33 boys), most of whom were at high-risk either due to poverty, physical abuse and neglect (as determined by substantiated Protective Services reports), or exposure to negative life events. Hierarchical multivariate regression analyses were used to identify the contribution of depression and maltreatment to social competence and social problem-solving skills. Depression predicted parents' and teachers' ratings of social competence and parents' ratings of peer rejection. Additionally, depression predicted children's ratings of social competence and both measures of social problem-solving skills. Maltreatment predicted parents' and teachers' ratings of social competence. Gender predicted teachers' ratings of peer rejection and social competence. An additive effect of depression and maltreatment was found such that children who are depressed and maltreated have the lowest social competence as rated by parents and teachers. These children are, therefore, doubly at risk for problems in future relationships.     

Maternal facial behavior and the recognition and production of emotional expression by maltreated and nonmaltreated children.

20 maltreated and 20 nonmaltreated children (ages?=?3–7 years) and their mothers were observed during a laboratory play session and 7 home observation visits. Ss' facial behavior was video recorded in the lab and coded live by observers in the home. Children also participated in an emotional-expression recognition task. Data analysis showed that both maltreatment status and mothers' facial behavior were predictors of children's recognition scores. Positive relationships were also found between mothers' and children's expressive behavior. Although maltreated and nonmaltreated children differed significantly in their recognition of emotional facial expressions, group differences were not found for either mothers' or children's expressive behavior. Overall, this study's findings indicate that children's recognition and production of facial expressions depends in part on the expressive environment provided by their mothers. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Maltreated and nonmaltreated preschoolers' conceptions of hypothetical and actual moral transgressions

Maltreated and nonmaltreated preschoolers' (mean age = 4 years 6 months) judgments regarding hypothetical and actual moral transgressions were examined. Thirty-six maltreated children (17 physically abused and 19 neglected) and 19 comparison nonmaltreated children judged, justified, and evaluated affective responses to 6 hypothetical moral transgressions. Perpetrators and victims also judged and evaluated affective responses to actual classroom moral transgressions. All children evaluated moral transgressions as very serious, punishable, and wrong in the absence of rules. Moral judgments and justifications differed as a function of context (hypothetical vs. actual) and type of transgression but not maltreatment status. Affective responses differed as a function of maltreatment subtype and gender. Maltreated and nonmaltreated children may differ in the organization of their affective responses rather than in their moral evaluations.     

The role of early aggressive behavior in the frequency, seriousness, and types of later crime.

This study reports on the relation between aggressive behavior at early school age and later delinquent activities of 1,027 subjects (517 boys and 510 girls) prospectively followed from late childhood to adulthood. The research group was a fairly unbiased age sample of children, covering most of the range of social and psychological upbringing conditions for 10-year-old children in a Swedish community. Aggressiveness was measured by teacher ratings at ages 10 and 13 years. Delinquency, defined as registered lawbreaking, was covered through age 26. There was a strong connection between both the aggressiveness ratings at ages 10 and 13 and adult delinquency for boys, with the majority of delinquents and recidivists being recruited from the early-aggressive boys. High ratings of aggressiveness were characteristic of boys who later committed violent crimes and damage to public property and generally of subjects with a diversified offense pattern. Aggressiveness was not predictive of later crime for girls until they reached the age of 13. For both sexes the relation between aggressiveness and crime was to a large extent independent of intelligence and family education. The possibility of making individual prognoses and the role of aggressiveness for the sexes are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of maltreatment on school-age children's socioemotional development: Assessments in a day-camp setting.

This study assessed the impact of different forms of maltreatment on the socioemotional development of 5- to 11-year-old children in a day-camp setting. Obtained measures of self-esteem and peer relations for 70 neglected, emotionally abused and/or physically abused children, and 67 demographically matched nonmaltreated comparison children. Completed counselor assessments of the children's self-esteem and provided both counselor and peer ratings of the children's prosocial, aggressive, and withdrawn behavior. Found maltreated children to score lower than the comparison children on the self-esteem and prosocial measures and higher on the withdrawn behavior ratings. Found welfare dependency to exert an independent additive negative effect, beyond maltreatment history, on the socioemotional development of the children. Results are discussed in relation to past studies of high-risk children and existing theories of developmental psychopathology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Domain specificity in relationship history, social-information processing, and violent behavior in early adulthood.

Using prospective longitudinal data, we tested 5 hypotheses: (a) that the relation between earlier developmental experiences (peer social rejection and victimization in a romantic relationship) and adult violent behavior toward peers and romantic partners is specific to relationship domain; (b) that the relation between social-information processing (SIP) biases and subsequent violence is also specific to relational domain (romantic partner vs. peer); (c) that the relation between developmental experiences and SIP biases is domain specific; (d) that domain-specific SIP mediates the impact of earlier developmental experiences on later violent behavior; and (e) that harsh parenting early in life is a domain-general predictor of SIP and later violent behavior. Harsh parenting was assessed through interviews with parents when their children were age 5 years. Classroom sociometric assessments indexing peer rejection were completed in elementary school, and self-report of victimization by romantic partners was provided at age 18 years. SIP was assessed via interview at age 22 years, and violent behavior was measured via self- and partner report at ages 23 years and 24 years. Structural equation analyses revealed specificity in the relation between developmental experiences and violence and in the prediction to and from SIP in the peer domain, but not in the romantic-relationship domain. The impact of early harsh treatment on violence toward peers was mediated by SIP biases in the peer domain. These findings provide support for domain specificity in the peer domain but for cross-domain generality in the romantic relationship domain in the development of violent behavior in early adulthood. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mother–child interactional style in abuse, neglect, and control groups: Naturalistic observations in the home.

Examined mother–child interactional patterns in an urban environment. Three groups of mothers (n?=?12/group) were included in the study: (a) Ss with a known history of child abuse, (b) Ss with a known history of child neglect, and (c) Ss with no known history of child maltreatment. Ss and their children were observed in their homes on 3 consecutive days for 90 min each day. Interactions were described via a coding system of 11 major interactional patterns; dependent variables included verbal and nonverbal behaviors as well as measures of total interaction. Results indicate that the groups differed on several variables. Dysfunctional Ss showed significantly fewer positive behaviors than did the controls on verbal and nonverbal measures. Also, the abusive Ss showed significantly higher rates of verbal and physical aggression; the neglectful mothers had the lowest overall rates of interaction. The maltreated children also exhibited fewer positive behaviors and more aggressive behaviors. Results are discussed in terms of current theories of child maltreatment and of the treatment of dysfunctional families. (24 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Childhood intellectual development of adult schizophrenics.

Intelligence test scores from the early and later childhoods of 153 schizophrenic adults, 124 with 2 childhood Stanford-Binet tests, and 29 with 2 childhood group tests, were found and analyzed. A statistically significant (.01) loss between early childhood (ages 5-8) and late childhood (ages 11-14) was found on both tests. A control group of 872 children from the same school system showed a gain in score on the 2 group tests between these same years and studies of retest performance of children on the Binet show relatively little loss for children at comparable levels of intelligence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)