Early intervention for parents at risk of child abuse and neglect: A preliminary investigation.

An early intervention program for young parents and children who have been identified as being at risk of child maltreatment was evaluated. Thirty mother–child dyads were randomly assigned to one of two conditions: (a) an information group offered by the child protection agency (which served as a control condition) or (b) a special program of behavioral parent training in addition to the agency group. Self-report measures indicated that significant improvements in parenting risk and child behavior problems at posttest and at 3-month follow-up were evident only for mothers who received parent training in addition to information groups. Home observation data were inconclusive, possibly due to the limited opportunities to observe behaviors of interest. Both groups showed improvements in their child-rearing environments and in their children's adaptive behaviors at follow-up. Caseworker ratings of clients' risks of maltreatment and abilities to manage their families at 1-year follow-up significantly favored the families who received parent training in addition to information. Methodological and treatment issues arising from this preliminary investigation of early intervention with diverse population of high-risk parents and children are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Child extrafamilial sexual abuse: predicting parent and child functioning

OBJECTIVE: This study evaluated the emotional and behavioral adjustment of parents and children within 3 months and 1 year after the discovery of child extrafamilial sexual abuse. METHOD: Ninety-two case parents (63 mothers, 29 fathers) and 56 children were compared to a nonclinical comparison group of 136 parents (74 mothers, 62 fathers) and 75 children. Parent adjustment was assessed using self-report measures while child functioning was assessed using a combination of child-, parent- and teacher-report measures. RESULTS: Mothers, fathers and sexually abused children experienced clinically significant effects both initially and at 12 months post-disclosure. Children's perceptions of self-blame and guilt for the abuse and the extent of traumatization predicted their self-reported symtomatology at 3 months and 1 year post-disclosure. Child age and gender also significantly contributed to the prediction of many of the child outcome measures. No abuse-related variable was related to any child self-report measure. Mothers' satisfaction in the parenting role, perceived support and intrusive symptoms predicted their initial emotional functioning. Avoidant symptoms, child's internalizing behavior and mothers' initial emotional functioning were significant predictors of longer-term emotional functioning. CONCLUSIONS: Results emphasize the need to address children's abuse-related attributions and underscore the need to expand our focus beyond the child victims to the traumatized families.     

Ethics, engineering, and sustainable development

The author attempts to provide the rationale for a philosophy of engineering ethics grounded in the notion of sustainable development. It is central to his thesis that this new philosophy can be best inculcated into the culture of engineering through engineering education-experience and intuition are not enough. Engineering ethicists must work more closely with engineering scientists to ensure that all facets of sustainable technology become a practical reality. While professors of engineering science can increase awareness by stimulating engineering students to build sustainable ideas into their designs, professors of engineering ethics might work to complement this by helping to transform the attitudes, values, and philosophies of the new engineer. If the engineering profession can accomplish this grand challenge through engineering ethics education, and train future engineers to become leaders in business and social policy, as well as counselors to corporate executives and citizens alike, they can finally fulfill their professional ideal as benefactor of humankind, and no longer be cast as obedient servants to corporatism.     

Electroconvulsive shocks exacerbate the heightened acoustic startle response in stressed rats.

Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) has been successfully used in the treatment of depression, particularly when the illness is refractory to pharmacological therapy. A recent study has shown that ECT is also effective in reducing both depressive and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms in patients with major depression (MDD) and co-occurring PTSD. This raises the possibility that ECT might be effective in the treatment of PTSD, a disease whose prevalence has increased substantially in recent years. A characteristic symptom of PTSD is an exaggerated reactivity to startling sounds (acoustic startle response; ASR). In the present study, we investigated the effects of electroconvulsive shocks (ECS) on the ASR, in a rat model of traumatic stress. The animals were subjected to a restraint/tailshock paradigm and then administered ECS. ASR measurements were obtained at several time points following ECS administration. Although ECS had no effect in control rats, it significantly exacerbated the already potentiated ASR in the stressed group. While ECT may prove to be an effective treatment for certain symptoms of co-occurring MDD/PTSD or PTSD alone, it may exacerbate heightened arousal associated with PTSD. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Emotionally focused marital intervention for couples with chronically ill children.

Couples with chronically ill children are at risk for experiencing marital distress. The present study was a randomized control trial that assessed the efficacy of emotionally focused therapy (EFT) in decreasing marital distress in this population of couples. Thirty-two couples with chronically ill children seen at a tertiary care pediatric hospital were randomly assigned to EFT or to a waitlist control group. EFT couples demonstrated significant decreases in marital distress at posttreatment and at a 5-month follow-up in comparison to controls. Clinical improvements in marital functioning following EFT were also demonstrated. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The separation of solid fatty acids from liquid fatty acids by the formation of acid soaps. II. Pilot plant studies

On contemplating pilot plant scale-up of the acid soap process for separating fatty acid mixtures into low and high iodine value fractions, improvements were desirable in acidifying agent used, and the method of separating the solid acid soaps. A further objective was to determine the range of applicability of the process. Studies indicated that CO₂ can be replaced by mineral acids, or by the fatty acids themselves. A continuous precoat vacuum filter is suitable for the separation of the solid acid soaps. The process is applicable to refinery foots as well as to distilled and undistilled fatty acids.     

A comprehensive human linkage map with centimorgan density. Cooperative Human Linkage Center (CHLC)

In the last few years there have been rapid advances in developing genetic maps for humans, greatly enhancing our ability to localize and identify genes for inherited disorders. Through the collaborative efforts of three large groups generating microsatellite markers and the efforts of the 110 CEPH collaborators, a comprehensive human linkage map is presented here. It consists of 5840 loci, of which 970 are uniquely ordered, covering 4000 centimorgans on the sex-averaged map. Of these loci, 3617 are polymerase chain reaction-formatted short tandem repeat polymorphisms, and another 427 are genes. The map has markers at an average density of 0.7 centimorgan, providing a resource for ready transference to physical maps and achieving one of the first goals of the Human Genome Project--a comprehensive, high-density genetic map.