Child Abuse Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Child Abuse, including details on family violence, examinations, long-term effects, psychiatrics disorders.

Evaluation of free to grow: head start partnerships to promote substance-free communities.

Wolfson M, Champion H, Rogers T, Neiberg RH, Barker DC, Talton JW, Ip EH, D'Agostino RB, Parries MT, Easterling D

Department of Social Sciences and Health Policy, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC, USA. mwolfson@wfubmc.edu.

Free to Grow: Head Start Partnerships to Promote Substance-free Communities (FTG) was a national initiative in which local Head Start (HS) agencies, in partnership with other community organizations, implemented a mix of evidence-based family-strengthening and community-strengthening strategies. The evaluation of FTG used a quasi-experimental design to compare 14 communities that participated in the FTG intervention with 14 matched comparison communities. Telephone surveys were conducted with two cohorts of the primary caregivers of children in HS at baseline and then annually for 2 years. The survey was also administered to repeated cross-sectional samples of primary caregivers of young children who were not enrolled in HS. No consistent evidence was found in changes in family functioning or neighborhood conditions when the 14 FTG sites were compared to 14 matched sites. However, caregivers of young children who were not in HS in three high-implementing FTG sites showed evidence of improvements in neighborhood organization, neighborhood norms against substance abuse, and child disciplinary practices. Results provide highly limited support for the concept that family and neighborhood conditions that are likely to affect child development and well-being can be changed through organized efforts implemented by local HS programs.

Published 11 May 2011 in Eval Rev, 35(2): 153-88.
Full-text of this article is available online (may require subscription).

Articles on Child Abuse published 11 May 2011:

A global perspective on child sexual abuse: meta-analysis of prevalence around the world.   Child Maltreat, 16(2): 79-101.

Our comprehensive meta-analysis combined prevalence figures of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) reported in 217 publications published between 1980 and 2008, including 331 independent samples with a total of 9,911,748 participants. The overall estimated CSA prevalence was 127/1000 in self-report studies and 4/1000 in informant studies. Self-reported CSA was more common among female (180/1000) than among male participants (76/1000). Lowest rates for both girls (113/1000) and boys (41/1000) were ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

Understanding Social Support's Role in the Relationship Between Maltreatment and Depression in Youth With Foster Care Experience.   Child Maltreat, 16(2): 102-13.

This study investigated whether more complex maltreatment experiences predicted higher levels of depressive symptomatology for young adults and examined the role of social support during late adolescence in that association. Specifically, the study tested whether social support had a direct effect on depression and whether it mediated and/or moderated the relationship between self-reported maltreatment and depression in a sample of 513 youth exiting the child welfare system. Indices of ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

The relationship of child functioning to parental physical assault: linear and curvilinear models.   Child Maltreat, 16(2): 126-36.

Previous research suggests a curvilinear relationship between child disability and physical abuse, with children with mild impairments at greater risk than both children with severe impairments and superior functioning. Using a national probability sample of families investigated for maltreatment (N = 1675), this study tested for both linear and curvilinear relationships of child functioning to parental physical assault. Linear relationships were found between problem behaviors and minor and ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

Articles on Child Abuse published 10 May 2011:

Physical Abuse Around the Time of Pregnancy Among Women With Disabilities.   Matern Child Health J.

Women with disabilities are at greater risk for physical abuse than women without disabilities. However, no previous population-based studies have examined physical abuse against women with disabilities around the time of pregnancy, a critical period for mother and child. The objective of this study was to describe the prevalence of physical abuse before and during pregnancy among a representative sample of Massachusetts women with and without disabilities. Data from the 2007-2008 Massachusetts ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

Outcomes for Children Hospitalized with Abusive vs. Non-inflicted Abdominal Trauma.   Pediatrics.

Background: Abusive abdominal trauma (AAT) is the second leading cause of child abuse mortality. Previous outcome studies have been limited to data from trauma centers. Objectives: The goals of this study were (1) to examine mortality, length of hospitalization, and hospital charges among a national sample of children hospitalized for AAT; and (2) to compare these outcomes with children with noninflicted abdominal trauma. Methods: Hospitalization data for children aged 0 to 9 years were ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

Gene environment interactions with a novel variable Monoamine Oxidase A transcriptional enhancer are associated with antisocial personality disorder.   Biol Psychol.

Monoamine Oxidase A (MAOA) is a critical enzyme in the catabolism of monoaminergic neurotransmitters. MAOA transcriptional activity is thought to be regulated by a well characterized 30base pair (bp) variable nucleotide repeat (VNTR) that lies approximately ∼1000bp upstream of the transcriptional start site (TSS). However, clinical associations between this VNTR genotype and behavioral states have been inconsistent. Herein, we describe a second, 10bp VNTR that lies ∼1500bp upstream of the ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

Inhibition of Maternal Behaviour by Central Infusion of Corticotrophin-releasing Hormone in Marmoset Monkeys.   J Neuroendocrinol.

Stress can inhibit maternal behaviour and increase rates of child abuse in humans and other animals; however, the neuroendocrine mechanisms are not known. To determine whether corticotrophin-releasing hormone (CRH) plays a role in stress-induced disruption of maternal behaviour in primates, we characterised the effects of acute intracerebroventricular (ICV) infusions of CRH on maternal and abusive behaviour in common marmoset monkeys (Callithrix jacchus). Nulliparous females were implanted with ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

Articles on Child Abuse published 9 May 2011:

A rhetoric of retribution and redemption: Burke's terms for order in the drama of child sexual abuse.   Int J Law Psychiatry.

Law consists of a series of stories, narratives that embody the values and integrity of a culture. We define crimes, and label the individuals who commit them, along a continuum that moves from the merely unacceptable to the monstrous. One of the most heinous crimes in American society is considered to be child sexual abuse. The sexual abuser of children is firmly established in the public imagination as a modern-day bogeyman, and approaches to prevention and punishment reflect this ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

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