Infants and toddlers who experience physical abuse and/or neglect are at a severe risk for disruptions to emotion regulation. Recent prevention and treatment efforts have highlighted center-based child care as an important setting for providing support to the needs of these children, as child care centers are already an existing point of entry for reaching high-risk families. Guided by ecological theory, this review draws on the maltreatment and child care literatures to consider the opportunity for child care centers, specifically teacher-child interactions within the classroom, to support the unique regulatory needs of maltreated infants and toddlers. Existing research on the effects of child care for children facing other types of risk, as well as research with maltreated preschool children, provides a foundation for considering the role child care may play for infants and toddlers, whose emotion regulation skills are just emerging. More research is needed regarding teachers' roles in facilitating effective emotional experiences in the classroom that meet the unique needs of maltreated children. Additionally, early childhood teacher training that focuses on infant/toddler mental health and a trauma-informed perspective of care, as well as structuring child care centers as communities of support for high risk families, all may aid child care centers in better serving this vulnerable population. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Aim of this study was to gain an understanding of how educational welfare officers reason and act when there is a suspicion of child maltreatment. An employee who regularly meets children where there is a suspicion of child maltreatment is required by law to report it to social services. Five educational welfare officers from the Kronoberg county, as well as one from an adjacent county, received vignettes with three fictive accounts of children who were being maltreated.  The educational welfare officers were then interviewed and asked questions concerning the vignettes. The results and following analysis showed that if there was a suspicion of child maltreatment, then the educational welfare officers in general reported it to the social services. However, an exception to this was when they believed it not to be in the best interest of the child to report their suspicions. The results further showed that stigma, as described by Goffman (2014), was a factor that could drive the educational welfare officers towards acting in a way that wasn´t in accordance to what was required by the law. The actions they took could further be understood by using Lipsky´s (2010) “Theory of discretion”, which in this study translated to whether they acted in a way that was either fully in accordance to the law or in a more dubious way.

This dissertation explores the education of foster care children through the perspectives of classroom teachers. Numerous studies have found that foster youth experience depressed educational outcomes relative to their peers. A meta-analysis of such studies reported depressed educational outcomes in terms of standardized test scores, grade averages, retention rates, and suspension and expulsion rates (Scherr, 2007). Foster care is most often associated with maltreatment, which in turn has been linked to depressed educational outcomes (Runyan, 1985) and to insecure attachment (Howe, 1999). Attachment theory, which emphasizes the impact of relationships in early childhood on future relationships, informed this study. Purposeful sampling was used to identify classroom teachers in a rural Vermont high school that serves a large number of foster youth relative to its size. Participants were selected based on their high degree of experience with and perceived success in supporting students in foster care. In interviews, teachers were asked to describe distinguishing characteristics of foster youth as well as their relationships with peers and adults while at school. Teachers described several characteristics of foster youth, including the perceived impact of trauma on foster youth‟s ability to attend to school and school related tasks. Teachers also characterized intense relationships between foster youth and their peers, and between foster youth and adults at school. Participants also identified several strategies they believed to be effective in supporting this population, each of which emphasized the development of caring relationships between teachers and foster youth. Teachers shared concerns about the impact of frequent placement changes on the educational experiences of foster youth. Interviewees also noted that their support of foster youth was hampered by insufficient information about changes in students‟ status. Intersections between the characteristics of foster youth and selected literature on attachment theory and traumatic stress are explored in the interpretation of the findings. Finally, this study utilizes a feminist ethic of care to contextualize relationships between foster youth in schools and effective teacher strategies.

Literature related to fathers and child physical abuse and neglect is lacking (Guterman & Lee, 2005; Lee, Bellamy, & Guterman, 2009). The purpose of this study was to better understand several pertinent aspects of fathering related to maltreatment. Three research questions were examined: 1.What are the attitudes, behaviors and contexts of fathers who have abused or neglected a child that relate to maltreatment? 2. What are the resources and capacities of these fathers which could be capitalized on? 3. How does goodness-of-fit or a poor fit between the father and child impact the parenting relationships of these fathers? Fifteen fathers in a parenting program for parents who are at high risk or who have abused or neglected a child participated in the study. In order to answer these questions, a traditional grounded theory methodology was used. Data analysis consisted of thematic analysis and constant comparative analysis. Based on data collected, a substantive theory entitled Fathering in a Context of Challenge and Complexity was developed. Results suggest that these fathers experience many challenges, but also have important strengths. Becoming a father was an important turning point for many of the fathers in this study. Fathers’ relationships with his children’s mothers, the need for social support, and the theme of change were all relevant. Implications for practice, policy, and research are discussed.

Child maltreatment has been linked to a wide range of poor child outcomes. Although children's reports of parenting are essential within clinical contexts, such as child welfare investigations or forensic interviews, children's reports of parental behaviors are not widely used within research contexts. Delineating child reports of maltreatment and parenting in the context of research could enhance methods of assessment and inform clinical practice. Thus, the present research sought to examine the utility of children's reports of deficient parenting and maternal alcohol abuse in the prediction of childhood internalizing and disruptive behaviors. Participants were 350 children aged 4 to 9 and their mothers, who were enrolled in a 3-year longitudinal study examining parenting and children's social development. A multi-method, multisource approach to data collection was used. Children's internalizing and disruptive behaviors were assessed at two time points occurring approximately 12 months apart, and were based on mothers' reports and research assistant observations. Information regarding parenting and maternal alcohol abuse was obtained from children, mothers, and direct observational measures. Structural equation modeling was used to explore the effects of deficient parenting and maternal alcohol abuse on concurrent and prospective child behavior problems. Age was included as a potential moderator of the link between deficient parenting and child behavior. A single construct conceptualization of deficient parenting was not supported by the data and the influences of each aspect of deficient parenting were examined independently. Results were varied across informants and depending on the specific aspect of parenting being assessed, providing partial support for the hypotheses. Among younger children, child-reported care neglect significantly predicted later anxiety and was marginally associated with concurrent disruptive behaviors. Current maternal alcohol abuse was marginally associated with both concurrent disruptive and internalizing behavior. Among older children, the multi-source index of care neglect significantly predicted later disruptive behaviors, while the multi-source index of harsh discipline and child-reported supervisory neglect predicted concurrent disruptive behaviors. For both age groups, mothers' lifetime history of alcohol abuse significantly predicted concurrent and later disruptive behavior, and later internalizing behavior. Children's reported exposure to maternal alcohol abuse was significantly associated with concurrent disruptive behaviors. The link between harsh discipline and concurrent internalizing problems was marginally significant. Finally, supervisory neglect was associated with internalizing behaviors, but results varied depending on the measure of supervision used. Current findings provided additional support for the utility of distinguishing between aspects of deficient parenting and examining the unique influences of aspects of parenting on child behavior. Overall, findings offer support for the predictive validity of children's reports of parenting and maternal alcohol abuse, and emphasize the importance of assessing children's experiences of parenting separately from other informants. Findings highlight the complexity of the relation between parenting and child adjustment, and suggest that the nature of these relations maybe fluid across children's development.

Despite the high prevalence of father-perpetrated maltreatment, relatively little empirical attention has been given to men who abuse and neglect their children (Dubowitz, 2006, 2009; Haskett, Marziano, & Dover, 1996). To further our understanding, the current dissertation explored father-child relational dynamics that underlie risk for child maltreatment. In the first study, data from a sample of 121 maltreating fathers were used to discern differential patterns of parenting dynamics using both theoretical and statistical approaches to classification. It was hypothesized that fathers would show problems predominantly in one of five areas: emotional unavailability; negative attribution, harshness, and rejection; developmentally inappropriate interaction; poor psychological boundaries; and exposure of a child to hostile inter-parental relations. Contrary to expectation, little support was obtained for the predominant problem hypothesis. Although methodological limitations may play a role, results indicated that men were more clearly differentiated by the degree of severity evidenced across their problematic parent-child interactions, than by differences in the specific pattern of problems they experienced. An interesting finding from Study 1 was that increasingly severe relational problems were associated with a misprioritization of parent and child needs. Study 2 further explored this dynamic by revising and re-evaluating a self-report measure of men’s ability to balance needs in the father-child relationship. Data from two samples (93 community fathers and 85 maltreating fathers) provided mixed results: Support was obtained for the internal consistency and construct validity of the image-emotional needs subscale of the measure; however, minimal support was obtained for the personal needs subscale. Furthermore, in contrast to expectation, discriminant validity was not obtained for either subscale, as maltreating fathers reported a better ability to balance needs on both scales than fathers drawn from a community sample. Social desirability was one of several factors deemed to play a key role in this finding. Each study’s contribution to the field is reviewed, along with discussion of limitations and future directions.

Although childhood maltreatment has been established as a risk factor for the development of problematic gambling, there are significant omissions in the literature regarding the investigation of mediating mechanisms underlying this etiological relationship. The purpose of the current study was to examine altered self-capacities (i.e., relationship difficulties, identity disturbances, and affect dysregulation) and gambling motives as mediating mechanisms underlying the link between childhood maltreatment and gambling, in a sample of emerging adults recruited from the community. It was hypothesized that childhood maltreatment would lead to impairments in the aforementioned self-capacities, which would subsequently predict greater endorsement of gambling motives. In turn, gambling motives were hypothesized to predict increased gambling frequency and gambling problems. The results revealed a pattern wherein altered self-capacities mediated the relationship between childhood maltreatment and gambling motives. However, gambling motives were not observed to mediate the relationship between altered self-capacities and gambling frequency or gambling problems.

Although childhood maltreatment has been established as a risk factor for the development of problematic gambling, there are significant omissions in the literature regarding the investigation of mediating mechanisms underlying this etiological relationship. The purpose of the current study was to examine altered self-capacities (i.e., relationship difficulties, identity disturbances, and affect dysregulation) and gambling motives as mediating mechanisms underlying the link between childhood maltreatment and gambling, in a sample of emerging adults recruited from the community. It was hypothesized that childhood maltreatment would lead to impairments in the aforementioned self-capacities, which would subsequently predict greater endorsement of gambling motives. In turn, gambling motives were hypothesized to predict increased gambling frequency and gambling problems. The results revealed a pattern wherein altered self-capacities mediated the relationship between childhood maltreatment and gambling motives. However, gambling motives were not observed to mediate the relationship between altered self-capacities and gambling frequency or gambling problems.

Despite the high prevalence of father-perpetrated maltreatment, relatively little empirical attention has been given to men who abuse and neglect their children (Dubowitz, 2006, 2009; Haskett, Marziano, & Dover, 1996). To further our understanding, the current dissertation explored father-child relational dynamics that underlie risk for child maltreatment. In the first study, data from a sample of 121 maltreating fathers were used to discern differential patterns of parenting dynamics using both theoretical and statistical approaches to classification. It was hypothesized that fathers would show problems predominantly in one of five areas: emotional unavailability; negative attribution, harshness, and rejection; developmentally inappropriate interaction; poor psychological boundaries; and exposure of a child to hostile inter-parental relations. Contrary to expectation, little support was obtained for the predominant problem hypothesis. Although methodological limitations may play a role, results indicated that men were more clearly differentiated by the degree of severity evidenced across their problematic parent-child interactions, than by differences in the specific pattern of problems they experienced. An interesting finding from Study 1 was that increasingly severe relational problems were associated with a misprioritization of parent and child needs. Study 2 further explored this dynamic by revising and re-evaluating a self-report measure of men’s ability to balance needs in the father-child relationship. Data from two samples (93 community fathers and 85 maltreating fathers) provided mixed results: Support was obtained for the internal consistency and construct validity of the image-emotional needs subscale of the measure; however, minimal support was obtained for the personal needs subscale. Furthermore, in contrast to expectation, discriminant validity was not obtained for either subscale, as maltreating fathers reported a better ability to balance needs on both scales than fathers drawn from a community sample. Social desirability was one of several factors deemed to play a key role in this finding. Each study’s contribution to the field is reviewed, along with discussion of limitations and future directions.

Background: Adults over 60 years of age in the United States are increasing in total percentage of the population and will continue to do so as each wave of the post-war, baby-boom generation enters older adulthood. Though elder mistreatment (EM) has undoubtedly been a public health problem for years, only recently has it been recognized as such. Violence prevention programs that focus on EM are needed to curb this rising epidemic. One such program, the At-Risk Adult Crime Tactics (ACT) Certification Training, is an at-risk, adult (elderly or disabled adults) prevention program designed to increase professional awareness of this population and equip primary and secondary responders (all mandated reporters) with the knowledge and skills to address the needs of Georgia’s at-risk adult crime victims. Methodology: In order to assess the effectiveness of the ACT training, an invitation was emailed to 482 individuals who had previously completed the ACT Certification Training, inviting them to complete an (approximately) 20 minute, 41-question, online survey. Data analyses were performed to determine if these various professionals had, post ACT training, increased knowledge regarding at-risk adult abuse, increased interagency collaboration, changed management of cases involving at-risk adults, and felt that workshop topics presented during training were helpful in their profession. The survey also collected information on seven demographic indicators, and correlation analyses were run to determine their influence on survey responses. A p-value of < .05 was used to determine statistical significance of the analyses performed. Results: Of the 482 professionals surveyed, 176 surveys were used for this research (a response rate of slightly over thirty-six percent). Results show that, post ACT training, respondents’ reported significantly increased levels of knowledge regarding all at-risk abuse topics, significantly increased interagency collaboration across all included agencies, significant change in case management of at-risk adults, significant levels of helpfulness on all workshop topics presented during ACT training. Furthermore, demographic analyses found significant negative correlations between extent of change in case management of at-risk adults and the demographic indicators of education and age. Also, a positive correlation was found between reported level of helpfulness on one workshop topic (community resources) and the service area of respondents. Conclusions: Though the results of this survey are quite positive, more surveys need to be conducted on future classes of ACT training graduates to determine the validity of this study’s results. Moreover, in order to truly substantiate claims that ACT training prevents EM and other at-risk adult abuse, research must be conducted to document the link between this prevention program and improvements in EM outcomes.