Little is known about how intimate partner violence (IPV) abusers perceive the effect of their violence on their children. Analyzing the attitudes and behavioral intentions of 464 partner-abusive fathers, biological fathers were found to be more likely than social fathers to express concern about the effects of their abuse on their children. However, biological fathers were no more likely than social fathers to report intentions to stop their violence or otherwise take action to mitigate the harm of IPV exposure to their children. The findings suggest that fathers' statements of concern may be poor indicators of their intentions to refrain from abusive behavior.
To evaluate the impact of a smoke-free class competition in elementary schools in Québec, Canada before widespread dissemination of the program across the province.
In a quasiexperimental study design, 843 students in 27 schools exposed to "Mission TNT.06" were compared to 1213 students in 57 matched comparison schools. Baseline data were collected in grade 6 prior to implementation of the program. Follow-up data were collected in grade 7 after students had transitioned to secondary school.
The program improved knowledge about the harmful effects of second-hand smoke, but had no impact on knowledge about the harmful effects of smoking, attitudes about the acceptability of cigarettes, beliefs about the tobacco industry, or self-efficacy to resist peer pressure to smoke. After exposure to the program, intervention students were more likely to misreport their smoking status and to report unfavourable attitudes about classmates who smoke.
Mission TNT.06 may encourage young smokers to misreport their smoking status and to marginalise classmates who smoke. These findings prompted recommendations to conduct more in-depth evaluation of the smoke-free class competition before widespread dissemination of the program across the province.
The purpose of the present research was to explore the sexual behaviors of 2- to 7-year-old children through reports of day-care personnel. An overall aim of this exploratory study was to provide information about the frequencies of child sexual behaviors. Also, the aim was to explore any age and gender differences.
A representative sample of 364 Finnish children not screened for developmental delay, sexual abuse history or psychiatric problems (181 girls and 183 boys) in 190 day-care centers were studied using the "Day-Care Sexuality Questionnaire" (DCSQ), with 244 sexual and other behavior items.
Age influenced more the extent of the 244 sexual behaviors of boys than of girls. In sexual behaviors increasing with age, girls showed behaviors with a more social character, whereas boys showed more explorative and information-seeking behaviors. Girls had a higher frequency of domestic and gender role exploring behaviors, whereas the boys tended to engage in explorative acting and information-seeking behaviors.
The results suggest that child sexual behavior reported by day-care personnel may provide useful information about the development of children's sexuality. Implications for sexual abuse investigations were discussed.
Socioemotional risks associated with nonparental care have been debated for decades, and research findings continue to be mixed. Yet few studies have been able to test the causal hypothesis that earlier, more extensive, and longer durations of nonmaternal care lead to more problems. To examine the consequences of age of entry into nonparental care for childhood aggression, we used prospective longitudinal data from Norway, where month of birth partly determines age of entry into Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) centers. In this sample of 939 children followed from ages 6 months through 4 years, ECEC teachers reported the children's aggression when they were 2, 3, and 4 years old. We found some evidence that age of entry into ECEC predicted aggression at age 2, albeit modestly and not robustly. Between the ages of 2 and 4 years, the effect of age of entry on aggression faded to negligible levels. The implications for psychological science and policy are discussed.
The effects of anger and effortful control on aggressogenic thought-behaviour associations were investigated among a total of 311 Finnish fifth and sixth graders (mean age = 11.9 years). Self-reported aggressive cognitions (i.e., normative- and self-efficacy beliefs about aggression) were expected to be associated with higher peer-reported aggressive behaviour. Teacher reported anger and effortful control were hypothesised, and found, to moderate the effects of aggressive cognitions on aggression, such that the effects were strongest for children who were high in anger and low in effortful control, as compared to other conditions. Furthermore, under the conditions of high anger and high effortful control, self-efficacy was negatively related to aggression. Thus, aggression is a result of a complex, hierarchically organised motivational system, being jointly influenced by aggressive cognitions, anger and effortful control. The findings support the importance of examining cognitive and emotional structures jointly when predicting children's aggressive behaviour.
Anthropometry, body composition and body image were studied in 122 Swedish 8-16-y-old girls and their parents. The subjects participated in a 3-y prospective longitudinal study and were selected randomly after stratification for grades from those scoring in the upper vs. the lower thirds of the Children's Eating Attitudes Test (ChEAT) score distribution. The ChEAT was completed 6 mo before the present study together with a demographic and dieting questionnaire and a questionnaire for the estimation of body size. In total 43% (n = 52) admitted ever dieting ("Dieters") and 25% (n = 30) admitted that they were currently trying to lose weight. The anthropometric and body composition data indicated that ChEAT High-scorers and Dieters were somewhat fatter than Low-scorers and Non-dieters, although this pattern was not shown among the 8-y-olds or the 14-y-olds (High-scorers). The mothers of the ChEAT High-scorers were found to be somewhat fatter than the other mothers. A current vs. ideal body shape discrepancy was shown for both High-scorers and Dieters, with a larger discrepancy for the Dieters. All groups believed that their parents were aspiring for a leaner body.
Department of Health Care and Epidemiology, University of British Columbia, 5804 Fairview Avenue, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada V6T 1Z3. jean.shoveller@ubc.ca
The paper is based on an ethnographic study conducted in a rural community in British Columbia, Canada. The study examined the impact of community culture on youth's development as sexual beings. We describe how social and geographical forces intersect to affect youth's lives and trace the ways in which deprivation of various forms of capital as well as social practices contribute to some youth being located in undesirable social positions. Our findings illustrate how the effects of stigmatisation, self-segregation, and other forms of symbolic violence can extend beyond health impacts and into the broader social realm.
The social etiology of adolescent injury remains poorly understood. The Population Health Framework suggests that the etiology of adolescent injury involves interactions between individual risk factors and the natures of adolescent environments. The purpose of this study was to apply this framework to examination of relationships between adolescent risk taking and injury, and the potential modifying effects of supportive home and school environments.
The analysis was conducted in a representative sample of 7235 males and females (10-16 years old) from Canada. Results were based on records from the 2001/02 World Health Organization Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children Survey. Individual items and factor analytically derived scales were used to describe and then model injury outcomes, risk behaviors, perceived home, and school climates, and the relationships between these variables in a theory driven etiological analysis.
Adolescents with supportive home and school environments experienced lower relative odds of engagement in risk taking behavior and lower relative odds of injury. Gradients were observed between the extent of adolescent risk taking and the occurrence of injury. Interactions were not observed between risk taking behavior, perceived support in home and school climates, and injury.
Risk taking is common among adolescents and plays a role in the etiology of injury. Supportive social climates clearly protect adolescents from engaging in these behaviors, and also the occurrence of some forms of injury. However, once an adolescent chooses to engage in risk taking behaviour, a supportive environment may not protect them from injury.
Notes
Cites: Prev Med. 1997 Mar-Apr;26(2):215-99085390
Cites: Am J Public Health. 1994 Apr;84(4):599-6058154563
Cites: Prev Med. 2005 Jul;41(1):240-615917017
Cites: J Epidemiol Community Health. 2005 Dec;59(12):1072-716286497
[Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: the role of parent and teacher questionnaire in the assessment of patient's social-psychological adaptation].
Parents and teachers of 342 school children, aged from 7 to 11 years, were questioned with the (SDQ) using non-randomized method. The following comparative analysis of SDQ items measured in parents and teachers of children with ADHD and age-matched controls was carried out. It has been shown that the spectrum of disturbances characteristic of ADHD is not confined only to main symptoms of ADHD. The results of questionnaire of both parents and teachers indicated the marked intensity of emotional disturbances, behavioral problems and difficulties in interactions with peers as well as the underdevelopment of social trends in behavior in children with ADHD compared to the controls. The data obtained confirm the necessity of treatment extension beyond the core symptoms with considering more general parameters of the patients quality of life.
[Autism and mental retardation. More attention should be paid to sibling relations when helping families with severely handicapped children in the future]
