Child protection cases, one size fits all? Cluster analyses of risk and protective factors

Inferential Comprehension Abilities in French-Speaking Preschoolers Exposed to Neglect in the Early Longitudinal Language and Neglect Study

PURPOSE

Using a longitudinal design, this study aimed to describe inferential comprehension abilities of neglected French-speaking preschool children from 42 to 66 months of age in comparison to non-neglected peers, to examine the association with receptive vocabulary, and to determine whether rates of change in inferential abilities over time was stable between the two group conditions.

METHOD

An inferential comprehension task and the French version of the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Fourth Edition were administered to a group of neglected children (n = 37-40) and to a group of same-age non-neglected children (n = 71-91) at 42, 54, and 66 months old, as part of the Early Longitudinal Language and Neglect study.

RESULTS

Results show that children exposed to neglect obtain significantly lower scores compared to their same-age peers on inferential comprehension and receptive vocabulary measures at all three time points (p < .001) with large to very large effect sizes and indicate moderate to strong correlations between the two variables. Children from the neglected group present difficulties in inferencing compared to same-age non-neglected peers, a disadvantage that remains stable over time.

CONCLUSIONS

This study demonstrates the significant gap in inferential comprehension abilities between neglected and non-neglected preschool children. These results reiterate the importance of early detection of language comprehension difficulties in young children coming from vulnerable environments.

Child and family characteristics in multisystemic therapy for child abuse and neglect (MST-CAN): Are there associations with treatment outcome?

Evidence-based indication for targeted interventions is a central approach in the field of child welfare and psychotherapy. This study explored the characteristics of children and families referred to Multisystemic Therapy for Child Abuse and Neglect (MST-CAN) in Switzerland and their associations with treatment outcomes. We sought to identify subgroups of children and families referred to MST-CAN and understand their specific needs and alignment with the program. We identified five distinct subgroups of children: (a) those characterized by clinically significant "social withdrawal" and "anxiety/depression," (b) with multiple clinically significant emotional and behavioral problems, (c) with predominantly externalizing problems, (d) with no pathological findings at all, with parents who were less stressed and had fewer mental health problems, and (e) with mainly internalizing problems and parents whose mental health problems deteriorated during treatment. Investigating the fit of children and families referred to treatment programs can enhance the understanding of their healthcare needs and enable more individualized interventions.

Risk Factors for Foster Care Placement in Patients with Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia

OBJECTIVE

 Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) is a major cause of morbidity in neonates and can be associated with long hospitalization and high health care utilization. This extremely stressful situation can be difficult for many families and caregivers. The high-risk situation combined with increased medical complexity can result in involvement of Department of Child Services (DCS) and even foster care placement. This study seeks to define risk factors for DCS involvement and foster care placement in children with BPD.

STUDY DESIGN

 A retrospective study of children born at less than 32 weeks of gestation born between 2010 and 2016, on oxygen at 28 days of life and discharged home from a tertiary care center.

RESULTS

 A total of 246 patients were identified. DCS was involved in 49 patients with 13 requiring foster care placement. The most common correlated risk factors that were identified for DCS involvement were maternal THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) positivity, hospital policy violations, maternal mental health diagnosis, and home insecurity. Home insecurity (p < 0.005) and amphetamine use (p < 0.005) were associated with foster care placement.

CONCLUSION

 There are numerous risk factors for both DCS and foster care placement. The identification of these risk factors is important to help establish services to help families and identify potential biases to avoid.

KEY POINTS

· There were both substance-related and non-substance-related risk factors for DCS involvement.. · Home insecurity and maternal amphetamine use were risk factors associated with foster care placement.. · This study fills the knowledge gap of risk factors for DCS and foster care placement in BPD..

Psychopathology and history of mental healthcare among male detainees transferred to a facility for managing otherwise uncontrollable in-prison violence: An exploratory study

BACKGROUND

In-prison violence by detainees is a problem worldwide, but despite evidence of a much higher prevalence of a range of psychiatric disorders than in the general population, little is known about psychopathology among violent detainees.

AIMS

Our aim was to explore the psychopathology and mental healthcare history of Dutch detainees who were transferred to the highly restrictive facility for uncontrollably violent detainees following severe in-prison violence.

METHODS

Anonymised data for all 253 male detainees incarcerated at any time between January 2016 and January 2020 in the specialist national facility for those seriously violent while in prison-'the Violence Facility'-were obtained from the Dutch Ministry of Justice together with similarly recorded data for a matched comparison group of 253 detainees admitted to an in-prison psychiatric facility-'the Psychiatric Facility'.

RESULTS

There was no record of any psychiatric assessment for 29% of the Violence Facility men. Almost all of the detainees who had been assessed were classified with at least one disorder. Compared to detainees in the Psychiatric Facility, Violence Facility men were more likely to be diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), anxiety, behavioural and personality disorders; Psychiatric Facility men were more likely to be diagnosed with psychosis or substance use disorder. Most men in both groups had previously used mental health services.

CONCLUSIONS

This first study of detainees in the Dutch in-prison facility for violent detainees raises questions about whether the extent of violence among these men may have masked mental healthcare needs and leads to questions about potential benefits from establishing more systematic mental health assessments for them, and a need for more specialist services.

Risk clustering and psychopathology from a multi-center cohort of Indian children, adolescents, and young adults

Developmental adversities early in life are associated with later psychopathology. Clustering may be a useful approach to group multiple diverse risks together and study their relation with psychopathology. To generate risk clusters of children, adolescents, and young adults, based on adverse environmental exposure and developmental characteristics, and to examine the association of risk clusters with manifest psychopathology. Participants (n = 8300) between 6 and 23 years were recruited from seven sites in India. We administered questionnaires to elicit history of previous exposure to adverse childhood environments, family history of psychiatric disorders in first-degree relatives, and a range of antenatal and postnatal adversities. We used these variables to generate risk clusters. Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview-5 was administered to evaluate manifest psychopathology. Two-step cluster analysis revealed two clusters designated as high-risk cluster (HRC) and low-risk cluster (LRC), comprising 4197 (50.5%) and 4103 (49.5%) participants, respectively. HRC had higher frequencies of family history of mental illness, antenatal and neonatal risk factors, developmental delays, history of migration, and exposure to adverse childhood experiences than LRC. There were significantly higher risks of any psychiatric disorder [Relative Risk (RR) = 2.0, 95% CI 1.8-2.3], externalizing (RR = 4.8, 95% CI 3.6-6.4) and internalizing disorders (RR = 2.6, 95% CI 2.2-2.9), and suicidality (2.3, 95% CI 1.8-2.8) in HRC. Social-environmental and developmental factors could classify Indian children, adolescents and young adults into homogeneous clusters at high or low risk of psychopathology. These biopsychosocial determinants of mental health may have practice, policy and research implications for people in low- and middle-income countries.

The impact of COVID-19 on Canadian child maltreatment workers

As cases of child maltreatment become an increasing concern during the COVID-19 pandemic, the perspectives of those charged with protecting and supporting children and families is an important area of inquiry. We sought to examine the experiences of child maltreatment workers during the first wave of the pandemic (i.e., May-July 2020). We specifically aimed to examine child maltreatment experiences related to the following: (1) their work practices during the pandemic, (2) their perceived safety during the pandemic, and (3) their perceptions on the safety of the children and families with whom they work. A total of 106 child maltreatment investigators and forensic interviewers provided responses to a national survey disseminated across Canada. Using a cross-sectional design, data were collected through a survey management program. The survey combined both open-ended and forced choice questions to gather perspectives on respondents' experiences. More than half (67%) reported a reduction in their caseloads during the pandemic (May-July 2020) and continued in-person interviews, with the use of preventative health measures (i.e., PPE, physical distancing, gloves). Most respondents reported elevated stress levels and similarly high stress levels amongst the children and families to whom they provide services. Overall, our findings highlight both how child maltreatment investigators have adapted to preventative measures and the continuing areas of weakness where further supports are required.

"Who maltreats? Distinct pathways of intergenerational (dis)continuity of child maltreatment"

BACKGROUND

Maltreatment victimization history is an established risk factor for child maltreatment across generations. However, many parents with a victimization history do not maltreat, and many parents with no victimization history do have victimized children.

OBJECTIVES

To understand differences in demographic and maltreatment risk factors across the following intergenerational patterns of maltreatment: cycle maintainers, cycle breakers, cycle initiators, and a comparison group (no maltreatment).

PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING

Data were drawn from a large population-based cohort in Queensland, Australia and included 32,574 biological parents and their children. Maltreatment experiences as a victim or person responsible for harm towards a child were obtained from the Queensland Child Protection System.

METHODS

Multinomial regression was completed with the full sample to compare the three maltreatment groups with the comparison group. Logistic regressions were conducted on all pairwise combinations of maltreatment groups. Models accounted for several demographic and maltreatment factors.

RESULTS

Compared with breakers, maintainers were more likely to be Indigenous (OR = 1.86), never married (OR = 0.34), younger at first birth (OR = 0.87), have ≥3 children (OR = 1.99), be younger at first-and older at last-maltreatment victimization (ORs = 0.97 and 1.07, respectively), and experience a higher frequency of victimization (OR = 1.05). Amongst maltreaters, males were significantly more likely to be initiators while females were more likely to be maintainers (OR = .62). There were few other differences between initiators and maintainers.

CONCLUSIONS

Meaningful differences among the three maltreatment groups were revealed suggesting that research should focus on the intergenerational discontinuity of maltreatment.

Emotional and social intelligence assessment model for student character reinforcement

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to help teachers resolve the difficulties in assessing the students' characters through the development of valid, reliable, goodness-of-fit statistic instrument of emotional and social intelligence assessment for elementary school students.

Design/methodology/approach

This study used a research and development model from Plomp with five phases, such as investigation, design, realization, testing and implementation. The research subjects were 345 students of class IV amongst 20 elementary schools in Yogyakarta. Data collection used questionnaires, documentation, interviews, Forum Group Discussion and an observation. Data analysis used descriptive analysis, Aiken's V, exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis formulae.

Findings

The research study helps solve the difficulties of teachers in assessing emotional and social intelligence, which have previously been in only one area of psychomotor. The design of emotional and social intelligence assessment instruments is made from three domains of character, namely, cognitive, affective and psychomotor. The form of the instrument is non-test in three variations. The construct of social and emotional intelligence assessment for a character reinforcement has met the validity, reliability and goodness-of-fit statistic.

Research limitations/implications

This study explains that the Emotional and Social Intelligence (ESI) model is applied for measuring cognitive, affective and psychomotor in children. This study proves that the ESI model is a comprehensive assessment model for evaluating the children's soft skills, includes (1) personal abilities: the ability to make rational decisions, the ability to design the future and (2) social skills: the ability to work together and the ability to understand other people.

Practical implications

Teachers can measure and determine the condition of children's soft skills by operating the ESI model. Based on the knowledge of the correct soft skill conditions, the teacher can adjust the teaching materials and teaching methods that would improve the child's soft skills regarding to their respective conditions. Mastering these soft skills will affect the children's capability in facing the challenge in the upcoming society's life.

Originality/value

The novelty of this study is the design model of the emotional and social intelligence assessment instrument developed comprehensively and practically as it is created from three domains of character and three forms of non-test questions, so that the assessment is not mechanical, and easily practiced by users.