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ABSTRACT: Objectives. Our objective was to examine the relationship between low- and high-level depressive symptoms in mothers' and children's risks in the areas of home and car safety, monitoring, and exposure to violence. Methods. Participants included 978 mothers of preschool-age children who were interviewed about their home environment and screened for maternal depression. Results. Whereas only 5.7% scored at high depressive levels on the screen, another 21.3% scored at low depressive levels. Logistic regression analyses controlling for demographics revealed that children were significantly more likely to experience home safety risks in 6 of 7 areas when mothers reported either low or high levels of depressive symptoms. Conclusions. Results suggest that children whose mothers experience even low-level depressive symptoms are at increased risk for safety problems in the home environment, pointing to the need for screening and interventions to reduce the risk of injury.
Clinical Pediatrics 02/2013; 52(2):171-7. · 1.15 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: We examined the impact of parenting behaviors on preschool children’s social development in low-income families from three
cultural groups: European American (n=286), African American (n=399), and Hispanic American (n=164) using Spanish as the primary language in the home. Observed parenting behaviors of stimulation, responsivity, and
acceptance of the child in European American and African American families showed positive impacts on children’s social development
with notable exceptions discussed. Corporal punishment had a negative impact on children’s social development. With the exception
of corporal punishment, none of the parenting behaviors predicted social development outcomes for Hispanic children.
Journal of Child and Family Studies 04/2012; 18(1):48-60. · 1.12 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Much is known about how to provide safe environments for preschool children (3–5years-of-age); however, many preschool children
still experience preventable injuries—particularly children living in poverty. This study examined the use of an assessment
tool used to identify children at risk for unintended injury in two large, federally funded Head Start programs during home
visits. Families of preschool children in two multi-center Head Start programs (N=499 and N=228) were screened by teachers for risks related to safety in their home and parenting environment during mandatory Head
Start home visits in the fall and spring. The safety screening tool was part of an established, broader interview assessment
called the Family Map, which was designed to help Head Start programs meet mandatory performance standards related to the
identification of risk and strengths in the family. Study results indicated that a large number of preschool children from
low-income backgrounds were at risk for a variety of risks related to unintentional injury. Further, in some areas Head Start
families increased their safety related parenting behaviors by the second assessment with different areas noted in the two
programs. This study demonstrated that, beyond the use of the tool to identify families in need of intervention services,
it can be used by childcare providers to effectively monitor family need and for program self-assessment.
KeywordsUnintentional injury-Poverty-Preschool children-Preschool childcare-Parenting-Health-Safety-Preschool-Head Start
Early Childhood Education Journal 04/2012; 38(1):33-41.
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ABSTRACT: This study examined the moderating effects of family conflict and gender on the relationship between community violence and psychosocial development at age 18. The study sample consisted of 728 children and families who were part of the Infant Health and Development Program study of low-birth-weight, pre-term infants. In this sample, adolescent psychosocial outcomes were predicted by community violence differently for male and female children and based on their experiences of conflict at home. For male children, being in a high conflict family as a child exacerbated the negative effects of community violence such that internalizing problems (depression and anxiety) and risk-taking behaviors increased as community violence increased, while being in a low conflict family protected the child against the negative impacts of the community. For female adolescents, there were no moderating effects of family conflict on the relationship between community violence and externalizing problems. Moderating effects for internalizing problems demonstrated that being in low conflict families did not serve as protection against community violence for girls as was demonstrated for boys. These findings demonstrate the long-term effects of community violence on child development, highlighting the importance of gender and family context in the development of internalizing and externalizing problems.
Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology 01/2011; 39(1):95-107. · 3.09 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: The Infant Health and Development Program is a two-generation early education model designed to improve parenting competence and child well-being. As part of an 8-site randomized clinical trial involving low birthweight premature children, assessments of children and parents were gathered at the time of program completion (age 3), with follow-up at ages 5, 8, and 18. Two key parenting processes were assessed at age 18 based on theory stipulating the centrality of parenting to long-term development in children. Analyses based on 283 control group and 178 Infant Health and Development Program treatment group participants revealed that treatment group mothers scored higher on one, the provision of enriching experiences. Evidence of sustained impacts on parenting suggests that carefully structured two-generation early education programs may prove good investments for promoting competence and adaptive functioning in high-risk children.
Journal of Family Psychology 08/2010; 24(4):478-84. · 1.66 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: This study examines the usefulness of a screening process implemented in the context of a Head Start home visit and compares families who screened positive for substance abuse with those who did not on an array of child and family indicators important for healthy child development. The sample included 1,105 low-income families with preschool-age children enrolled in Head Start programs. Families were interviewed using the Family Map, an interview tool used to screen on a wide range of areas important for healthy child development. Children identified as having a positive screen for family problems with alcohol and other drugs (9.1%) were more likely to be at risk on 10 of 11 additional areas assessed.
NHSA Dialog. 07/2010; 13(3):168-184.
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ABSTRACT: To examine the impact of early educational experience at age 8 years on child growth status. The Infant Health and Development Program has shown positive impacts to age 8 years on intelligence and adaptive functioning of larger preterm infants.
Randomized controlled trial.
Home and center based.
Three hundred seventy-seven intervention (INT) and 608 nonintervention (NI) children, stratified by birth-weight categories 2001 to 2500 g and 2000 g or less. Intervention Educational intervention from nursery discharge until age 3 years.
Eight-year weight, height, head circumference, and body mass index.
Complete data were available for 313 INT children and 491 NI children. Adjusting for child birth weight, birth-weight category, treatment group x birth-weight category interaction, sex, race, and Neonatal Health Index; maternal education and preconception weight; and site, the INT children at age 8 years were significantly taller (127.6 vs 126.6 cm; P = .02) and had a larger head circumference (52.5 vs 52.1 cm; P < .001) than the NI children. The prevalence of both overweight (9%) and underweight (4.5%) was the same in both treatment groups. Lighter low-birth-weight INT children had greater 8-year weight (28.0 vs 26.8 kg; P = .02), larger head circumference (52.6 vs 52.1 cm; P < .001), and larger height (127.6 vs 126.5 cm; P = .05) compared with their counterparts in the NI group.
Low-birth-weight preterm children, specifically the lighter low-birth-weight group, who received the Infant Health and Development Program educational intervention were heavier and taller and had greater head circumference compared with NI children in the same birth-weight category.
Archives of pediatrics & adolescent medicine 11/2009; 163(11):1046-53. · 3.73 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Family conflict is known to have detrimental impacts on the social development of young children. An important issue in counseling parents and the development of intervention for children is the extent to which other family environmental conditions are the path through which conflict impacts children's development. This study examined two maternal parenting behaviors (harsh discipline and warmth) that may alter the impact of interpartner conflict on child social development and behavior in a large (n = 440 girls, n = 451 boys) sample of ethnically diverse, low-income families of preschool children. Interpartner conflict was associated with poorer child social development and behavior problems. This study found that interpartner conflict increased harsh discipline, which resulted in poorer child social development. This study, however, found no evidence that interpartner conflict impacted child development through its impact on maternal warmth in that mothers experiencing conflict did not alter the level of warm parenting practices. These findings suggest that, when encountering families experiencing interpartner conflict, clinicians should not only direct families to interventions to lessen family conflict but also counsel them on the mechanism (harsh discipline) by which children are impacted by the conflict.
Journal of pediatric nursing 10/2009; 24(5):389-400.
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ABSTRACT: This article focuses on exposure to violence and violence-related activities (i.e., crime and drug use) in 70 children whose mothers are addicted to alcohol or other drugs and explores maternal characteristics associated with violence exposure. Results suggest that exposure to violence is relatively common for these children, with many exposed to repeated violence in both the home and community. Findings also suggest higher levels of exposure to violence among children whose mothers reported fewer symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder and held beliefs and attitudes about child rearing that have been associated with abusive and neglectful parenting. Levels of violence exposure were also higher when mothers reported more severe drug use in the recent past. These findings point to the need for assessment and treatment for children whose mothers abuse alcohol and other drugs.
Journal of pediatric nursing 10/2009; 24(5):360-8.
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ABSTRACT: This study examines the degree to which support from parents and teachers buffers the level of depression for four groups of children involved in bullying (victim, bully, bully-victims, or not involved children). Nine hundred and seventy-seven 5th-, 9th-, and 11th-grade students in the rural South completed questionnaires on bullying, social support, and depression. Children who were not involved in bullying reported less depression and more social support than children involved in bullying, and bully-victims were the most at-risk group. Furthermore, results indicate that in all four bully status groups, children reported fewer symptoms of depression when support from parents was high compared to when it was low. For all groups except victims, when parental support was low, support from teachers was associated with fewer symptoms of depression. When parental support was high, the impact of support from the teacher was not significant. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Psychology in the Schools 07/2009; 46(7):593 - 604. · 0.72 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: This study examined the impact of family conflict on internalizing and externalizing behavior at age 8 for children born low birth weight (LBW) and preterm (PT), with specific attention to the moderating role of early temperament.
The sample included 728 families enrolled in the longitudinal study of the Infant Health and Development Program. The study relied on maternal reports of child temperament at age 1, family conflict at age 6(1/2) years and 8 years, and child behavior at age 8 years.
Children exposed to high levels of family conflict had more internalizing problems. Child temperament assessed in infancy moderated the impact of family conflict on externalizing but not internalizing problem behavior.
LBW/PT children with a difficult temperament are more at risk for poor developmental outcomes, such as externalizing behavior problems, when exposed to family conflict than children with a less difficult temperament.
Journal of Pediatric Psychology 11/2008; 34(4):396-405. · 2.91 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: This article examines the treatment outcomes of 305 women enrolled in a comprehensive, residential substance abuse treatment program for pregnant and parenting women and their children. The women were assessed at intake and three times in the year after discharge. Analyses focused on change in client functioning over time, and investigating the impact of length of stay in treatment on client outcomes. Comparisons of clients' functioning before and after treatment suggest significant improvements in a number of domains, including substance use, employment, legal involvement, mental health, parenting attitudes, and risky behaviors. For most outcome domains, results suggest that longer treatment stays are associated with more positive outcomes.
Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment 01/2007; 31(4):447-56. · 3.14 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: The objective of this study was to assess the 8-year growth, cognitive, behavioral status, health status, and academic achievement in low birth weight preterm infants who had failure to thrive only, were small for gestational age only, had failure to thrive plus were small for gestational age, or had normal growth.
A total of 985 infants received standardized evaluations to age 8; 180 infants met the criteria for failure to thrive between 4 and 36 months' gestational corrected age. The following outcome variables were collected at age 8: growth, cognitive, behavioral status, health status, and academic achievement. Multivariate analyses were performed among the 4 growth groups on all 8-year outcome variables.
Children who both were small for gestational age and had failure to thrive were the smallest in all growth variables at age 8, and they also demonstrated the lowest cognitive and academic achievement scores. The children with failure to thrive only were significantly smaller than the children with normal growth in all growth variables and had significantly lower IQ scores. Those who were small for gestational age only did not differ from those with normal growth in any cognitive or academic achievement measures. There were no differences among the 4 groups in behavioral status or general health status.
Low birth weight preterm infants who develop postnatal growth problems, particularly when associated with prenatal growth problems, demonstrate lower physical size, cognitive scores, and academic achievement at age 8. There does not seem to be an independent affect of small for gestational age status on 8-year cognitive status and academic achievement when postnatal growth is adequate.
PEDIATRICS 10/2006; 118(3):1078-86. · 4.47 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: The field of child protection needs reliable and valid methods of assessing the potential for child abuse and neglect. The purpose of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of the Adult Adolescent Parenting Inventory--2 (AAPI-2), Form B, using a sample of 309 low-income, rural families in a southern state.
The AAPI-2 is a 40-item survey designed to assess the parenting and child rearing attitudes of adult and adolescent parent and pre-parent populations. Each of the five AAPI-2 scales was (a) examined using factor analysis in order to determine the unidimensionality of the scale, (b) evaluated based on estimates of the scales reliability in order to determine the consistency with which the construct was measured, and (c) when possible, examined to determine if it is related to other constructs in meaningful and expected ways.
While the factor structure reported by the developer was not fully confirmed in this sample, there is some evidence that the instrument is measuring at least two of the constructs it purports to measure and that the total score may be useful. Correlations with other instruments measuring parenting behavior and child behavior were significant, and in the expected direction, offering some support for the validity of the AAPI-2.
While the AAPI-2 appears to measure attitudes related to harsh or neglectful parenting, caution should be used in the interpretation of the individual AAPI-2 scales.
Child Abuse & Neglect 02/2006; 30(1):39-53. · 2.47 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Participants were women (N = 16) living with their children in a residential substance abuse treatment facility. In this within-subjects repeated measures study, a 1-week baseline was followed by a 4-week intervention and a 2-week follow-up (same as the baseline). The intervention consisted of exposure to an educational video and a smoking cessation workbook, brief individual support meetings, and an escalating schedule of voucher-based reinforcement of abstinence. Throughout the study, three daily breath samples (8 a.m., noon, and 4 p.m.) were collected Monday through Friday to determine carbon monoxide (CO) concentration. In addition, urine cotinine (COT) was assessed on Monday mornings to monitor weekend tobacco use. Participants received vouchers of escalating value for CO-negative breath and COT-negative urine samples. Positive samples reset the voucher value. Significantly more negative tests were submitted during the intervention than during baseline and follow-up. The intensive behavioral intervention evaluated in this study produced a substantial reduction in cigarette smoking, and 25% of participants remained abstinent 2 weeks after the intervention was suspended. Nevertheless, the percentage of CO-negative samples submitted during the follow-up returned to baseline levels. While retaining many real-world characteristics, residential treatment facilities provide important opportunities for smoking cessation treatment and research.
Nicotine & Tobacco Research 03/2005; 7(1):111-7. · 2.58 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: This study examines the life circumstances and experiences of 4084 children affected by maternal addiction to alcohol or other drugs. The paper will address the characteristics of their caregivers, the multiple risk factors faced by these children, their health and development, and their school performance. Data were collected from mothers at intake into 50 publicly funded residential substance abuse treatment programs for pregnant and parenting women. Findings from this study suggest that children whose mothers abuse alcohol or other drugs confront a high level of risk and are at increased vulnerability for physical, academic, and social-emotional problems. Children affected by maternal addiction are in need of long-term supportive services.
The American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse 02/2004; 30(1):85-100. · 1.55 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: This paper examines treatment needs of the children of women served in the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment's Residential Women and Children and Pregnant and Postpartum Women (RWC/PPW) program. It integrates statistical information from CSAT's cross-site evaluation of the program and clinical insights obtained from one RWC treatment site, the Arkansas CARES project. The cross-site data provide broad-based information about the extent to which clients' children experience various risk factors, while the project data provide concrete information about major administrative and clinical challenges to the provision of needed child services in a parent-focused residential treatment setting. Data from both perspectives suggest that many children admitted into residential treatment with their mothers need an array of long-term supportive services, requiring a new focus and a commitment of resources from substance abuse treatment providers.
Evaluation and Program Planning. 02/2004;
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ABSTRACT: This study examined the cross-racial comparability of maternal quality of assistance and supportive presence coded from a video protocol using data from the Infant Health and Development Program for low-birth-weight, premature 30-month-olds and their mothers. Evidence of equivalence of measures is necessary before comparisons can be made across groups. Multiple-group mean and covariance structures analysis was used to demonstrate the invariance of the measures and make comparisons for Anglo American and African American treatment and comparison groups of dyads. Comparisons across groups indicated similar variances and correlation between child and maternal behavior. Differences were found between the mean scores, with Anglo American treatment families scoring the highest.
Journal of Marriage and Family 07/2001; 63(3):767 - 778. · 2.03 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: In this paper we review literature on the use of the HOME Inventory across cultures. We address issues pertaining to measurement equivalence and validity. Specifically, we focus on: (a) changes in the content of HOME made by researchers, (b) distributional properties of HOME scores, (c) the factor structure of HOME, and (d) correlations between HOME, family characteristics, child characteristics and environmental conditions. In most affluent, western countries, with their individualist orientations, HOME was used essentially as it was originally constructed. Researchers in less industrialized, more collectivist countries tended to express greater scepticism about the appropriateness of some HOME items, and several teams of researchers made modifications in the instrument. The HOME total score showed theoretically meaningful (and similar) correlations with family structure, family status and child outcome measures across many cultures. Evidence attesting to the cultural equivalence (and validity) of HOME subscales was far less plentiful and compelling. In general, there seemed greater cross-cultural equivalence for items assessing cognitively stimulating aspects of the environment than for items assessing socioemotional support. The usefulness of the Inventory in other cultures and for cross-cultural comparisons depends on the purposes one has for using a measure of the home environment. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Early Development and Parenting 01/1999; 5(4):251 - 269.
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ABSTRACT: The purpose of this chapter is to examine what poverty means in the lives of children. Because poverty has been defined variously for research and policy analysis, and has been used interchangeably with employment status, SES, and a number of other concepts indicative of economic well-being, it is first necessary to define poverty in a way that delineates its role in the lives of children. The process of defining poverty will lead directly to the ecological and psychological factors related to poverty, followed by a discussion of the impact of economic hardship on health and development and the mechanisms through which its negative impacts are achieved. The chapter closes with sections that briefly look at resilience and at interventions that may be efficacious in reducing both poverty and its consequences. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
10/1997;
