Emotion Regulation in Sexually Abused Preschoolers: The Contribution of Parental Factors

Child sexual abuse (CSA) is associated with emotion regulation deficits in childhood. Parents play a crucial role in the development of emotion regulation in their children, especially at younger ages. 

Close to 50% of mothers of sexually abused children report having been sexually victimized themselves as children. They are consequently at risk of experiencing significant distress following the disclosure of sexual abuse of their child. Parents' distress could interfere with their ability to provide support and to foster development of emotion regulation in their children. 

The aim of the present study was to explore the relationship of parental factors (history of sexual victimization in childhood and the current level of distress) to sexually abused preschoolers' emotion regulation competencies. Emotion regulation was assessed in 153 preschoolers by their parents with the Emotion Regulation Checklist; 75 of these children were abused (14 boys); 78 were not abused (21 boys) and were part of a comparison group. Parents reported their level of distress using the Psychiatric Symptom Index. 

Results indicated that parental factors contributed to some dimensions of preschoolers' emotion regulation (namely displays of underregulation of emotion) above and beyond children's victimization status and gender (Cohen's ƒ² = .15). Identifying parental distress and history of sexual victimization as positively associated with emotional dysregulation in preschool children victims of CSA has important research and clinical implications.

Purchase full article at:   http://goo.gl/6xHvAq

By:  Langevin R1, Hébert M2, Allard-Dansereau C3, Bernard-Bonnin AC3.

• 1Department of Psychology, Université du Québec à Montréal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
• 2Department of Sexology, Université de Montréal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
• 3Child Protection Clinic, CHU Ste-Justine, Université de Montréal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
• J Trauma Stress. 2016 Feb 24. doi: 10.1002/jts.22082. 

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Reinforcement Behavior Therapy by Kindergarten Teachers on Preschool Children’s Aggression (Iran)

Background:

Aggression is a kind of behavior that causes damage or harm to others. The prevalence of aggression is 8–20% in 3–6 years old children. The present study aimed to assess the effect of training kindergarten teachers regarding reinforcement behavior therapy on preschoolers’ aggression.

Methods:

In this cluster randomized control trial, 14 out of 35 kindergarten and preschool centers of Mohr city, Iran, were chosen using random cluster sampling and then randomly assigned to an intervention and a control group. All 370 kindergarten and preschool children in 14 kindergarten were assessed by preschoolers’ aggression questionnaire and 60 children who obtained a minimum aggression score of 117.48 for girls and 125.77 for boys were randomly selected. The teachers in the intervention group participated in 4 educational sessions on behavior therapy and then practiced this technique under the supervision of the researcher for two months. Preschoolers’ aggression questionnaire was computed in both intervention and control groups before and after a two-month period.

Results:

The results demonstrated a significant statistical difference in the total aggression score (P=0.01), verbal (P=0.02) and physical (P=0.01) aggression subscales scores in the intervention group in comparison to the control group after the intervention. But the scores of relational aggression (P=0.09) and impulsive anger (P=0.08) subscales were not statistically different in the intervention group compared to the controls.

Conclusion:

This study highlighted the importance of teaching reinforcement behavior therapy by kindergarten teachers in decreasing verbal and physical aggression in preschoolers.

Full article at:   http://goo.gl/ByrXqA

By:  Shahrzad Yektatalab, PhD,1 Abdolrasool Alipour, MS,2 Mitra Edraki, MS,3 and Pouran Tavakoli, MS2

¹Community Based Psychiatric Care Research Center, Department of Mental Health and Psychiatric Nursing, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran

²Department of Mental Health and Psychiatric Nursing, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran

³Community Based Psychiatric Care Research Center, Department of Pediatric, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Shiraz University of Medical Science, Shiraz, Iran

Corresponding author: Shahrzad Yektatalab, PhD; Community Based Psychiatric Care Research Center, Department of Mental Health and Psychiatric Nursing, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Namazee Square, Shiraz, Iran Tel: +98 71 336474254; Fax: +98 71 36474250; Email:ri.ca.smus@hsatkey

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The Impact of Intimate Partner Violence on Preschool Children's Peer Problems: An Analysis of Risk & Protective Factors

It is unclear whether there is variation in the impact of intimate partner violence (IPV) on child peer problems, and which individual and environmental factors might predict such variation. 

This study uses data from 7,712 children (3,974, 51.5% boys) aged 4 from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC). Children were cross-categorized based on exposure to IPV from birth to 3 years, and mother-rated peer problems at age 4, into 4 groups: Resilient, Non-resilient, Vulnerable and Competent. Between-group differences in maternal depression, maternal life events, parenting, attachment, and temperament were analyzed, and these variables were also examined as predictors of group membership. Girls were more likely to be identified as resilient. In contrast to the non-resilient group, resilient boys were less emotional, had more secure attachment to their mothers, more interaction with their mothers’ partner, and their mothers reported fewer life events. For girls, the resilient group was less emotional, more sociable, and their mothers reported less depression. Temperament played a stronger role in resilience for girls than boys. 

There are sex differences in predictors of resilience to IPV within the peer problems outcome domain, which suggests that different approaches to intervention may be needed to foster resilience in boys and girls exposed to IPV.

...Consistent with previous research (Graham-Bermann et al., 2009, Grych et al., 2000, Howell et al., 2010,Martinez-Torteya et al., 2009), maternal depression and life events were both implicated in resilience. Children who were exposed to IPV were also more likely to have mothers who reported higher levels of both depression and life events, confirming the correlation between risk factors, and resilient children were exposed to greater levels of risk and protective factors than non-resilient children, which mirrors the findings of previous person-oriented studies (e.g. Martinez-Torteya et al., 2009). Life events were more important in differentiating boys’ resilience-group membership, whereas maternal depression was more important to girls’ membership. Martinez-Torteya et al. (2009) found that the levels of maternal life events experienced by mothers of resilient and non-resilient children did not significantly differ, although the levels reported by those who experienced IPV versus those who did not were significantly different. In the present study, the difference in maternal life events was significant between for the resilient and non-resilient groups, but only for boys. In addition, in the present study, maternal depression differentiated the resilient group from the groups not exposed to IPV but only for boys. For girls, maternal depression differentiated the resilient from non-resilient and competent groups with those exposed to IPV (resilient and non-resilient) also exposed to higher levels of maternal depression than those not exposed to IPV (competent). These subtle variations are difficult to account for. Previous studies suggest a uniform influence of maternal depression with IPV-exposed groups reporting higher levels of maternal depression than non-IPV exposed groups (e.g. Graham-Bermann et al., 2009). In the single previous study to adopt Masten's (2001) four categories of adaptation (Martinez-Torteya et al., 2009) sex differences were not examined. Therefore, it is possible that such differences did exist but were masked. The present study therefore highlights the importance of examining sex differences in relation to the predictors of risk and resilience in the context of IPV. Further research is required that includes the explicit examination of sex differences in order to develop an understanding of the potential consistency of such effects and their meaning.

Family characteristics predicted resilience for boys, whereas for girls, temperament played a greater role. Partner interaction distinguished the resilient group from non-resilient (resilient more interaction), vulnerable (resilient less interaction), and competent (resilient less interaction) groups for boys. Vulnerable and competent girls also experienced more interaction than resilient ones. Previous studies have reported that positive parenting plays a role in resilience to IPV (Kolbo, 1996). These findings show that increased positive interaction with the mother's partner is associated with better child outcomes...

Full article at:   http://goo.gl/Huxd6I

By:  Erica Bowen

Centre for Research in Psychology, Behaviour and Achievement, Coventry University, Priory Street, Coventry CV1 5FB, England, UK

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The Predictive Utility of Conduct Disorder Symptoms in Preschool Children: A 3-Year Follow-Up Study

Conduct disorder (CD) symptoms often emerge during the preschool years, but it is not clear whether they predict later symptoms. 

The present study examined whether age 3 CD symptoms predict age 6 CD symptoms beyond oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder—hyperactive/impulsive (ADHD HI) symptoms. Participants were 216 preschool children (M_Age = 44.19 months), including an externalizing sample (n = 161) and a comparison group (n = 55). Parents were administered a diagnostic interview when children were 3 years old and again three years later. 

The externalizing sample exhibited more CD symptoms than the comparison sample. In the externalizing sample, initial CD symptoms predicted later CD symptoms above and beyond ODD and ADHD HI symptoms; this relation was stronger for boys than girls. Stealing, property destruction, and fighting independently predicted later CD symptoms. CD symptoms also predicted subsequent ADHD HI symptoms and predicted ODD symptoms at level that approached significance. 

Results support the predictive validity of CD symptoms in preschool.

...First, CD symptoms significantly discriminated 3-year-old children with and without externalizing problems, and were quite rare among children without problems, suggesting these behaviors are not developmentally normative. Second, consistent with recent findings that early CD diagnosis predicts later diagnosis [13,16], CD symptoms at age 3 predicted CD symptoms three years later, even above baseline ODD and ADHD HI symptoms. This result further suggests that early CD symptoms may be of clinical concern and not merely a normative developmental phase. Third, results suggested that three symptoms were particularly useful in predicting later CD symptoms: breaking things, stealing, and fighting. These results are consistent with Loeber et al.’s finding that fighting is an important symptom in school-age children [38]. Fourth, CD symptoms appear to have utility not only in predicting future CD, but also in predicting subsequent ADHD HI and ODD symptoms. In contrast, children with more early symptoms of ADHD HI and ODD were not more likely to show later symptoms of CD. Finally, consistent with previous research [13,16], early CD symptoms more strongly predicted later problems for boys than for girls, though the relationship between early and later CD symptoms was also significant for girls.

The results of this study did not support existing theory and research on older children that suggest that either ODD or ADHD are developmental precursors to CD [3,23–24]. The findings in relation to ADHD HI are in line with a number of studies with younger [42] and older children [28] that suggest that hyperactivity may not predict future CD/aggression once early symptoms are controlled. In fact, for boys in this study, there was an unexpected negative relation between ADHD HI symptoms at age 3 and CD symptoms at age 6 once initial ODD and CD symptoms were controlled. We are not sure how to account for this surprising finding, but we propose two possibilities. First, this could be an instance of suppressor variables. That is, because initial ODD and CD symptoms were controlled for in this analysis, our finding estimates the relation between ADHD HI symptoms and later CD symptoms in boys with equivalent levels of ODD and CD. When early problem behaviors exist, perhaps it is better if these are due to impulsivity that might be somewhat outgrown, than to other, perhaps even more entrenched causes. Second, given the unexpected nature of this finding, it could simply be a Type I error. This study also does not support the notion that ODD may be a developmental precursor to CD, at least during the preschool years. Co-occurrences among these problem types may be the result of common influences, such as coercive parenting cycles or biological risk factors, rather than heterotypic continuity. If in fact ODD and CD develop in parallel, rather than sequentially, it is not clear that CD should preclude a diagnosis of ODD, as is currently specified in DSM-5 [43]. More research is needed to better understand the developmental progression of ADHD HI, ODD, and CD symptoms... 

Full article at:  http://goo.gl/wIei8A

By:  Benjamin Rolon-Arroyo, David H. Arnold, and Elizabeth A. Harvey

University of Massachusetts Amherst

Rolon-Arroyo, B. Department of Psychology (http://www.psych.umass.edu/), University of Massachusetts, 135 Hicks Way, Amherst, 01003, USA ude.ssamu.hcysp@ranolorb

Arnold, D. H. Department of Psychology, University of Massachusetts, 135 Hicks Way, Amherst, 01003, USA ude.ssamu.hcysp@dlonrad

Harvey, E. A. Department of Psychology, University of Massachusetts, 135 Hicks Way, Amherst, 01003, USA ude.ssamu.hcysp@yevrahe

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Preschool Outcomes of Children Who Lived as Infants in a Prison Nursery

This study examined long-term outcomes of children who spent their first one to eighteen months in a US prison nursery. Behavioral development in 47 preschool children who lived in a prison nursery was compared with 64 children from a large national dataset who were separated from their mothers because of incarceration. Separation was associated with significantly worse anxious/depressed scores, even after controlling for risks in the caregiving environment. Findings suggest that prison nursery co-residence with developmental support confers some resilience in children who experience early maternal incarceration. Co-residence programs should be promoted as a best practice for incarcerated childbearing women....

Empirical data on development of infants and toddlers during the prison nursery stay suggests positive or neutral short-term outcomes. Children who resided in the nurseries in New York State and whose mothers received an additional developmentally supportive nursing intervention showed motor and mental development within normal limits during the nursery stay (Byrne, 2010). Rates of secure attachment were not significantly different than those seen in low-risk community groups of children (Byrne, Goshin, & Joestl, 2010). This is the inverse of what would be expected given the disproportionately high percentage of their mothers who had insecure attachment or unresolved trauma in their own childhoods (Borelli, Goshin, Joestl, Clark, & Byrne, 2010). Infants and toddlers in Spanish prison nurseries were also found to be developing within normal limits (Jiménez and Palacios, 2003). Infants who spent their first months of life in English prison nurseries in the 1980s showed progressive declines in motor and cognitive scores during the nursery stay (Catan, 1992). Development returned to what is considered normal within a month of release.

Results appear, as would be expected, to be related to the quality of the nursery environment. Available descriptions of current US programs differ widely from those in the UK at the time of the Catan study, which were described as restrictive. The prison service of England and Wales implemented changes in the Mother-Baby Units (Her Majesty’s Prison Service, 2008), but to our knowledge no further evaluation research has been disseminated. Descriptions of current US programs suggest an enriched environment. Nurseries in the US are generally segregated away from other prison facilities, renovated specifically to house children, and staffed by civilians in addition to correction officers. Programming focuses on developing the relationship between incarcerated mothers and their infants, promoting child development, and providing parenting and life skills education (Byrne, 2010; Fearn, & Parker, 2004; Kauffman, 2006)...

Table 1

Demographic Characteristics of Former Prison Nursery Resident and Separated Families

	Prison Nursery (n = 47)			Separated (n = 64)
	%	n	M (SD)	%	n	M (SD)
Caregiver relationship
Mother	79	37		89	57
Nonmaternal caregiver	21	10		11	7
Maternal Race/Ethnicitya
Black, Non-Latina* (African, African-American, West Indian)	32	15		70	44
Latina	23	11		22	14
White, Non-Latina*	45	21		8	5
Maternal age at child’s birth, Years			28.0 (6.6)			24.8 (5.4)
Under 20 years of age	6	3		17	11
Married at child’s birth*	17	8		2	1
High school/general equivalency diploma at child’s birthb	72	34		56	36

*p ≤ .01

Table 2

Behavior problems and risks in the caregiving environment of former prison nursery resident and separated preschoolers

	%	Prison Nursery (n = 47)			%	Separated (n = 64)
		n	M (SD)	Range		n	M (SD)	Range
Behavior Problems
Aggressivea			12.4 (7.8)	0 – 27			14.2 (8.3)	1 – 33
Attention Deficit/Hyperactivea			5.7 (3.1)	1 – 12			6.3 (3.1)	0 – 11
Anxious/Depresseda*			3.2 (2.4)	0 – 8			4.4 (2.6)	0 - 10
Withdrawn*			1.6 (1.8)	0 - 6			2.3 (2.2)	0 - 9
Ecological Risks
Substance use/problem drinking
Prenatalb	35	16			36	23
Past 12 months	28	13			20	13
Public assistance	87	41			84	54
Elevated parenting distressc
	17	8			23	15
Harsh Parenting
Swore or cursed	36	17			22	14
Physical assault	77	36			80	51
Neglect	11	5			14	9
Risk Scale			3.2 (1.5)	0 - 7			3.2 (1.5)	0 – 7

aSeparated sample n = 50

bPrison nursery sample n = 49

cSeparated sample n = 63

*p ≤ .05

Note: Risk scale is the sum of maternal education at the child’s birth (1 = less than high school/general equivalency diploma), prenatal substance use, substance use in the past 12 months, current receipt of public assistance, high parenting distress, swearing or cursing, minor physical assault in the past 12 months, neglect in the past 12 months

Full article at:  http://goo.gl/tqNqO9

By:  Lorie S. Goshin, Mary W. Byrne, and Barbara Blanchard-Lewis

Columbia University School of Nursing

Correspondence concerning this article should be address to: Lorie S. Goshin, PhD, RN, Assistant Professor, Hunter-Bellevue School of Nursing, 425 East 25th Street, Room 428W, New York NY 10010. Phone: (212) 481-4377, Fax: (212) 481-8237, Email: ude.ynuc.retnuh@nihsogl

Lorie S. Goshin is now at Hunter-Bellevue School of Nursing.

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