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• Recognition that carers' experience both affiliative and threat-based emotions in their relationships with birth parents; • Carers who share First Nations' cultural identities with parents find that these can provide a basis for affiliative emotional responses; • There is limited formal support for carers to manage the strong emotions, particularly threat-based emotions, that can complicate their relationships with birth parents; • We provide five recommendations for improving support for carers in building and sustaining relationships with birth parents and in realising their potential to support children's rights to family connections during the out-of-home care journey. Children in foster and kinship care have a right to relationships with their parents. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) asserts children's right to contact with their parents and families during periods of separation, except where this is proven not to be in the child's best interests. Foster and kinship carers can play a pivotal role in children's opportunities for, and experiences of, connection to parents and other family. Yet, the relationship between carers and parents is often characterised by ambivalence and tensions. Emerging research suggests that training and support to carers can help them to navigate their own and children's relationships with their families. However, such support is not routinely available, and the evidence-base for supporting carers to manage complex relationships with parents is not well-developed. In this paper, we report on a study with 113 foster and kinship carers in Queensland (Australia). We explore carers' perceptions of the emotional aspects of their relationships with parents. A novel feature of our study is our exploration of carers' perceptions of affiliative and threat-based emotions in their relationships with birth parents. We report that carers experience a wide spectrum of emotions in their relationships with parents, some of which strengthen these relationships while others create distance. We find also that carers receive little, if any, formal support in building relationships with parents and for supporting children's opportunities for, and experiences of family contact. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander carers report being unsupported in meeting their cultural obligations in developing relationships with children's parents and families. We discuss the implications for formal support to improve carers capacities to build and maintain their own, and children's, relationships with parents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Research has indicated that empathy and prosocial responding are associated with numerous emotional, psychological and social benefits. However, although adolescence is recognised as a key period for prosocial development, knowledge about the factors that facilitate the development of empathy and prosocial responding among adolescents is limited. A narrative systematic review was conducted of studies examining the significant social and psychological correlates of empathy and prosocial behaviour in adolescents. Empirical research papers focusing on typically developing adolescents, aged 13-18 years were identified and assessed for quality. Findings from a total of 168 papers were extracted and subjected to a narrative synthesis. Results indicated that a number of different contextual and psychological factors significantly influence the levels of other-oriented (empathy and prosocial) responding expressed by adolescents. However, findings indicate that differential relationships may be observed depending on how empathy and prosocial responding are operationalised. Overall, results from this review have important implications for future research and policy. Highlights • Greater understanding about the development of empathy and prosocial responding during adolescence is warranted • Youth empathy and prosocial behaviour are associated with numerous different social/individual factors. • Greater consistency in how empathy and prosocial behaviour are conceptualised and measured in independent research studies is needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Care-experienced young people experience high levels of mental health problems. • System resources, cultures and stakeholder values, impact interventions. • Care-experienced young people valued meaningful relationships in interventions. • Carers felt interventions often overlooked their expertise and experiences. • Future interventions should support carers' time and emotional commitment. The mental health and well-being of care-experienced children and young people remains a concern. Despite a range of interventions, the existing evidence base is limited in scope, with a reliance on standalone outcome evaluations which limits understanding of how contextual factors influence implementation and acceptability. The Care-experienced cHildren and young people's Interventions to improve Mental health and wEll-being outcomes Systematic review (CHIMES) aimed to synthesise evidence of intervention theory, outcome, process and economic effectiveness. This paper reports the process evaluation synthesis, exploring how system factors facilitate and inhibit implementation and acceptability of mental health and wellbeing interventions for care-experienced children and young people. Sixteen databases and 22 websites were searched between 2020 and 2022 for studies published from 1990 and May 2022. This was supplemented with contacting experts in the field, citation tracking, screening of relevant systematic reviews and stakeholder consultations. We drew on framework synthesis of qualitative data and incorporated a systems lens, taking account of contextual influences across socio-ecological domains. Quality appraisal assessed reliability and usefulness. Confidence in synthesised findings was assessed with the GRADE-CERQual tool. We report the review in accordance with relevant elements of both the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA), and the Enhancing transparency in reporting the synthesis of qualitative research (ENTREQ) checklist. Searches retrieved 15,068 unique study reports, and 23 of these were eligible for process evaluation synthesis, reporting on sixteen interventions. Studies were published between 2003 and 2021. Nine interventions were from the UK and Ireland, six interventions were from the USA, and one was from Australia. They were largely classified as interpersonal, where the aim was to modify carer-child relationships. Five key context factors were identified that supported and prohibited intervention delivery: (1) lack of system resources; (2) intervention burden, which encompasses the time, cognitive, and emotional burden associated with implementation and participation; (3) interprofessional relationships between health and social care professionals; (4) care-experienced young people's identity; and (5) carer identity. We identified several supportive and restrictive factors across social and health care systems that may impact intervention implementation and acceptability. Key implications include: the importance of involving diverse stakeholders in intervention development and delivery; the need to better resource and support those involved in interventions, particularly training and support for carers; and ensuring future evaluations integrate process evaluations in order to optimise interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Social work is an inherently mobile and spatial profession; child protection social workers travel to meet families in diverse contexts, such as families' homes, schools, court and many more. However, rising bureaucracy, managerialism and workloads are all combining to push social workers to complete increasing volumes of work outside their working hours. Such concerns lead to the perception that social workers are increasingly immobilised, finding themselves desk-bound and required to spend much of their working day navigating time-consuming computer systems. This immobilisation of social workers has considerable implications, restricting professionals' abilities to undertake the face-to-face work required to build relationships with families. However, until now, the actual movements of social workers, and how (lack of) movement affects ability to practice, remain unknown. In this paper we report on innovative research methods using GPS [Global Positioning System] devices that can trace social workers' mobilities and explore the use of office space, home working and visits to families in two English social work departments. This article presents unique findings that reveal how mobile working is shaping social care practitioner wellbeing and practice. Highlights • Mobility is often prized in social work and there are concerns that practitioners are increasingly immobilised. • Mobilities in social work are complex and nuanced however, and encompass significant emotional implications. • Mobile working can be detrimental to social care practitioners' wellbeing as work can permeate domestic spaces. • Seemingly 'sedentary' practitioners in the office are often intensely active and mobile. • Journeys and distances to and from families are rarely reflected upon but can impact child protection practice. • Mapping techniques using GPS can help to reveal the emotional implications of social care practitioner mobilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract In the complex decisions involved in foster care, the needs of adult caregivers and the needs of children may sometimes reflect competing priorities. Foster children can be negatively impacted by adult-centered decisions that cause trauma beyond that which led to their entrance into the system. Though dictated by laws and policies meant to increase a child's well-being, foster care decisions often prioritize adult-centered concerns over a child's attachment needs. Utilizing case examples, this discussion paper examines foster care decisions that disrupt important child-caregiver relationships. Considerations for child-centered decision-making may help to reduce emotional trauma in foster children. Highlights • Examines foster care decisions that influence child-caregiver relationships. • Advocates a child-centered approach to reduce toxic stress in foster children • Case studies describe differences between child- and adult-centered decisions. • Proposes considerations to mitigate the effects of toxic stress [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The Strategies for Enhancing Early Developmental Success (SEEDS) Preschool Program aims to promote school readiness in families connected to the child welfare system by enhancing children's self-regulation, parents' engagement in their children's early learning experiences, and parent/child/teacher relationships. Given high levels of prenatal alcohol exposure and early adversity in welfare-connected children, the SEEDS Program integrates evidence-based interventions for fetal alcohol spectrum disorders and early childhood stress and trauma. From an early education perspective, an innovative aspect of the program is the conceptualization of school readiness as occurring at the family level; in SEEDS, parental participation is as intensive as children's participation, both during dyadic activities and in a separate but highly coordinated parent group curriculum. To illustrate design and implementation of the program, the current paper uses parent- and teacher-reported data to summarize the progress of three participating families with diverse histories and presenting issues. Each individual family's response to intervention was examined (1) by calculating individual reliable change index scores using pre- and post-intervention reports on standardized measures of child adjustment and parental stress, and (2) by plotting the time series of teacher-reported progress on family goals over the course of the program. Although emotional, behavioral, and executive functioning difficulties appeared to initially interfere with children's engagement in learning material, enhancing social-emotional functioning at the level of the parent, child, and the dyad addressed many of the parent- and teacher-identified intervention goals. Consideration of mixed outcomes in one of the three cases highlights areas of improvement for future implementations of the SEEDS Program. Highlights • The feasibility of a family school readiness program for children with prenatal alcohol exposure and early trauma was supported. • Case examples illustrate child and family progress on parent- and teacher-identified social-emotional intervention goals. • Some mixed outcomes among three families suggests ways that the program could be improved for future implementations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The spatial impact of socioeconomic determinants on the macro-level early developmental vulnerability of children was analyzed in this paper using Local Government Areas (LGAs) as samples. Five domains of developmental outcomes: physical, social, emotional, language and cognitive, and communication have been addressed as ordinal outcomes, and fitted by the proportional odds model. Areas with a high percentage of low-income, welfare dependent and single parent families significantly increased the proportion of vulnerable children in all five domains. Other factors that significantly affect some aspects of developmental vulnerability in children are participation of women in the labor market, availability of home Internet and unemployment rate in the locality. The macro-level results match with previous micro-level assessments showing the relationship between household socioeconomic features and childhood vulnerability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Foster care youth graduate from college at rates far below their peers. Attention is now shifting to identifying modifiable risk factors that influence their chances of completing college. One explanation is that past traumatic experiences have an enduring impact on youths' psychosocial functioning, which in turn compromises their ability to succeed in college. This paper investigates avoidant attachment, which is characterized by emotional guardedness and reluctance to rely on others for support. Secondary analyses were conducted on data collected from a longitudinal study that followed several hundred foster youths in three Midwestern states for nearly 10 years. Information on college outcomes were obtained from National Student Clearinghouse records. Binary logistic regression analyses investigated whether avoidant attachment was associated with the odds that foster youth persisted in college and completed a degree. Results found that higher avoidant attachment decreased the odds of both college persistence and degree attainment after controlling for a wide range of potential confounders. The relationships between avoidant attachment and the college outcomes were mediated in part by the perceived amount of social support foster youth reported around the time they were in college. Addressing the psychosocial consequences of past maltreatment and relational instability may be an important component of interventions designed to increase college success for foster youth. This may require programs to develop strategies to recruit difficult-to-engage students, normalize help-seeking, address underlying trauma, and provide opportunities to develop connections to resourceful adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Care leavers' social support networks have often been theorized as having a salient role in explaining youths' functional outcomes and the way these relate to their adverse pasts. The goals of the present study are to examine the association between childhood adversity and adult functioning among youth aging out-of-care, and to explore how attributes of their social support networks mediate this association. The sample consisted of 345 Israeli care leavers (ages 18 to 25), formerly placed in residential or foster care. Standardized self-report questionnaires were administered to assess various attributes of youths' support networks (e.g., network size or adequacy) vis-à-vis three types of social support (emotional, practical, information and guidance), indices of childhood adversity, and markers of adult functioning (adjustment to post-school settings, economic well-being, and housing difficulties). Structural equation modeling indicated that a significant portion of youths' functioning outcomes was attributable to childhood adversity. This relationship was fully or partially mediated by social support, across the various types of support and outcomes examined. Network size and network adequacy were the most prominent predictors of functioning; the latter more consistently so. Whereas emotional, practical, and information and guidance supports all significantly contributed to greater adjustment to post-school settings and economic well-being, only practical support was related to fewer housing difficulties. The differential effects of the attributes and functions of care leavers' support networks on functioning outcomes are discussed in reference to social network literature. The paper also presents recommendations for practice and policy with a focus on social network intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Mothers have experienced a significant amount of stress during the COVID-19 pandemic stay-at-home orders in the US, which can have major implications for children's health and development; attention should be paid to developmental timing and unfolding of developmental trajectories following this pandemic. • Mothers have used a variety of strategies to cope; as more parents navigate social disruptions, they may benefit from additional resources and supports, such as innovations in childcare modalities, paid leave policies, and strengthening whole family processes using adaptive coping mechanisms. • Mothers with low income and/or children with special needs may experience more vulnerability to the sequalae of the pandemic; it is important to provide financial security, mental health, and educational and social support to relieve stress during the pandemic. This paper presents the results of a qualitative study of mothers' lived experiences during the COVID-19 lockdown in the United States. An analysis of open-ended interviews with 44 mothers who had children ages zero-to-five identified two main themes: (1) increased stress among mothers; and (2) resilience through the use of coping mechanisms. The findings indicate that the COVID-19 pandemic has led to higher stress among mothers due to issues of work-family life balance, family and children's needs, decision-making about getting sick, concerns for children's development, and lack of clarity from government officials. Mothers described using a variety of problem-focused and emotion-focused methods to cope with this stress. The lived experiences of mothers during the pandemic highlights the need for innovations in childcare modalities, paid leave policies to relieve stress, and strengthening whole family processes and resilience through the use of coping mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on findings from the first study into the role of self-conscious emotions in child protection social work practice. This ethnographic case study employed constructionist grounded theory methods to develop a conceptual understanding of the emotional experiences of the social workers. Integrating data from 246.5 h of observations, 99 diary entries, 19 interviews, and 329 pages of documents, a conceptual framework is presented to understand the emotional experiences of the social workers, before using this framework to analyse the case organisation and experiences of those within it. Pride, shame, and humiliation can be considered to be strategically used as a mechanism of control by constructing contextually specific boundaries for shameful and praiseworthy behaviour. By policing these boundaries the actions of the organisation and the social workers could be regulated to ensure they developed institutionally acceptable identities, enabling the organisation to gain legitimacy. While the analysis that has been provided here is specific not only to the organisation that the research took place in, but also to the time in which the data were collected within the organisation, case studies provide important insights into one context that can be useful to understand the processes in others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is well known, based on previous research, that adolescents' thoughts and feelings about their future are related to the risk of delinquency, alcohol use as well as health. However, other well-known facts are that adolescents' actions are substantially shaped in interaction with peers and that, during adolescence, individuals spend a considerable amount of the day at school, in interaction with classmates. Despite this, there is an almost complete lack of studies exploring to what extent the school climate, as measured by thoughts and feelings about the future, can influence individual adolescents. The aim of the current study is to investigate whether the future orientation (FO) climate, measured at the school class level, is related to delinquency, alcohol use and internalizing problems at the individual level, among a sample of Swedish students 14–15 years of age. The data used come from the Swedish part of the Youth in Europe (YES!) study, which is part of the larger project Children of Immigrants - Longitudinal Survey in Four European Countries (CILS4EU). In the present paper, we use data from the first wave, collected among 8th grade students in 2010/11 (n = 4119–4364). The method used was multilevel modeling (linear probability models (LPM) and linear regression analysis). The results showed that, in school classes where a high proportion of students had a positive future orientation, the risk of heavy alcohol use at the individual level was lower, also after adjusting for individual FO and for individual- and class-level socioeconomic conditions. A similar, but not statistically significant, tendency was found for delinquency. In addition, having a high proportion of students with a positive FO in a school class was associated with fewer internalizing problems, also after controlling for individual FO and socioeconomic conditions at the individual and school class level. We conclude that the surrounding school class, in terms of its general future orientation climate, may play a role for individual outcomes in the form of problem behaviors and mental health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research suggests that children with involved and engaged fathers tend to have more positive outcomes relative to physical, cognitive, and social emotional health. Of children who become involved in the child welfare system, involving multiple parents in the case (e.g. mother and father) often results in a greater chance of a child returning home, fewer placement episodes, and reduced trauma that may be caused by separation anxiety. With the rise of single parenting homes (which are mostly maternal) in the United States, child welfare agencies are examining the efficacy of engaging multiple caregivers (esp. fathers) in the child welfare process. Research suggests that in order to involve fathers in child welfare processes, practices and policies must be intentional in implementing systems and protocols that encourage involvement of all parents regardless of relationship status of the parents. However, few child welfare agencies are required to inquire about fathers or involve fathers in the child’s case. The purpose of this paper is to highlight efforts of the Connecticut Comprehensive Outcome Review (CCOR) process and discuss challenges and lessons learned from interviews and listening forums/focus groups that included social workers and fathers who are involved in the child welfare system in the state of Connecticut. Recommendations and considerations on engaging and involving fathers are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Emotion work sheds light on the active agency in parenting children with autism. • Emotional needs include support for struggle for social recognition. • Challenges encountered by parents with children with autism are complex. • Neurodiversity can be an alternative for working with people related to autism. This paper examines how and why parents with children with autism perform emotion work and illuminates the implications for social work. Based on qualitative data, this paper identifies five domains of emotion management strategies, including managing shame and loss, mediation and negotiation in the families, surviving social stigma, surviving institutional barriers, and negotiating socially acceptable identities. This paper contributes to the literature of parenting children with disability by introducing the sociological construct of emotion work (Hochshild, 1984; DeVault, 1999) to the social work literature to highlight the active agency of parental work and broaden the understanding of emotion in the social work context. First, it argues that significance of parents' emotion work should be acknowledged as including their struggle to survive in a predominantly unfriendly environment. Second, the emotions of these parents are not necessarily associated with negative experiences and the pathological features of their children but can also be linked to a positive and empowering process. Moreover, this paper illuminates the complexity of challenges encountered by parents in relation to the disability discourses and recommends the alternative approach of neurodiversity which is in line with the social work values of social justice and diversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper assesses the utility and effectiveness of a foster care model designed to improve youth transitions to adulthood. The model engages the youth's social network, helps youth to develop supportive, ongoing relationships with adults, and is heavily focused on youth empowerment. A three-year evaluation of 88 foster youth revealed that youth exposed to the model felt they had more power over their lives, had a wider variety of supportive adults in their lives, and could better regulate their emotions than those in a comparison group. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The aim of the current paper is to explore the ways in which drawings facilitate children's narratives in investigative interviews regarding alleged sexual abuse. Although children often lack appropriate words or the ability to pinpoint the effects they experience, some children find drawing to be a natural, accessible language they can use for emotional expression. The use of three case studies and an analysis of children's narratives before, during and after drawing facilitated an assessment of the way in which drawing aided children's retrieval process. The discussion presents the contribution of using drawings when interviewing children about experiences of trauma. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Using the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study — Kindergarten Cohort (ECLS-K), this paper examines Latino children''s socioemotional trajectories from kindergarten to fifth grade, paying particular attention to children''s language proficiency. Results from the growth-curve analysis indicate that most Latino children who spoke a non-English language were doing as well as, if not better than, their White English Monolingual peers on socioemotional well-being. By fifth grade, Fluent Bilingual and Non-English-Dominant Bilingual children were surpassing every other group with the highest levels of approaches-to-learning, self-control, and interpersonal skills and the lowest levels of internalizing and externalizing behavior problems. English-Dominant Bilingual children had similar levels and trajectories of socioemotional well-being as those of White English Monolingual children. Non-English Monolingual children, however, had the lowest self-control and interpersonal skills and the highest level of internalizing problems by fifth grade, as rated by their teachers. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• Parental investment and skill mediate caregiver mental health and child development. • Caregiver depression are more harmful to parenting practices and child development. • The variety of play material has significant mediation effect on child development. • Coercive parenting mediate caregiver mental health and child development. Parenting practices are associated with early childhood development (ECD), and some evidences suggest that mental health might affect parenting practices. However, the interrelationships of mental health, parenting practices, and ECD outcomes have not yet been well documented in developing contexts like rural China. This paper aims to investigate the interrelationships between the caregiver's mental health, parenting practices, and the child's ECD outcomes in rural China. A total of 1787 sample households in an undeveloped rural area of western China are enrolled in the study. A socioeconomic questionnaire, the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale, the Family Care Indicators, the Parent and Family Adjustment Scales, and the Bayley Scales of Infant Development version III were used to measure the socioeconomic characteristics of sample households, the caregiver's mental health, parental investments and parenting skills, and the child's development outcomes, respectively. Mediation model was then applied to estimate the interrelationships. The results showed that parental practices significantly mediated between the caregiver's mental health and the child's cognition, language, motor, and social–emotion development. Through parental investments, one standard deviation increases in the caregiver's mental health test score was associated with the decline in the child's four development scores by 0.6% standard deviation, respectively. Through parenting skills, one standard deviation increases in the caregiver's mental health test score was associated with the decline in the child's language and social-emotional score by 2% and 5% standard deviation, respectively. Different dimensions of caregiver mental health, parental investments and skills played heterogeneous roles in the interrelationships. Early interventions aimed at improving the caregiver's mental health, parental investments and skills are important and might be effective to improve early childhood development in rural China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Little research exists about young fostered children and their education. • Fewer fostered children attend centre based early childhood education. • Attachment theory focus may have led to 'security first' thinking by foster carers • Foster carers are often carrying out educational practices in their homes. • A large scale study of foster carers' educational roles and their impacts is needed. While the education of looked after children has attracted considerable policy attention in Europe and North America, and globally the early education of preschool aged children is the subject of substantial investment, the early education of young children in foster care is neglected in both research and policy. This paper is a cross-national think piece to stimulate research and debate about young children in foster care. We present findings from two studies, one in England and one in Sweden, exploring foster carers' views and practices with young children. We argue that there is a perceived tension, in foster care policy and practice, between education and emotional wellbeing such that young children's attachment relationships and sense of security is privileged over their engagement in educational practices. Attachment relationships are a necessary but insufficient condition for optimal development of fostered children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Intergenerational transmission of parenting styles exists in rural China. • The transmissible parenting style emphasis the role of father in parenting. • There is intergenerational transmission of rejective, hostile parenting style. • The transmission of parenting style is mediated by caregiver's mental health. The quality of parenting is associated with both early childhood development and lifelong negative adult outcomes, and there is evidence to suggest that some aspects of parenting show patterns of intergenerational transmission. However, the mediating mechanisms of the intergenerational transmission of parenting style are not fully understood. This study aims to examine whether intergenerational transmission of parenting style occurs among caregivers in rural China, and whether the mental health of caregivers is a critical mediator in the transmission process across generations. The sample consists of 194 caregivers who were recruited from an investigation in rural Jiangxi Province, China. Parenting style of both father and mother of the caregiver were self-reported by the caregiver using the simplified version of Egna Minnen av Barndoms Uppfostran (s-EMBU) inventory. The current parenting style of the caregiver is assessed by using the Parenting Practice Questionnaire (PPQ). We use multivariate regression to predict the intergenerational transmission of parenting style and examine the potential mediation effects. We found that 'emotional warmth' and 'rejective' parenting style of caregiver's parents are positively and significantly associated with 'warm' and 'hostile' parenting style of the caregiver, respectively. The transmission of rejective, hostile parenting style across generation is fully mediated by the mental health status of the caregiver. Specifically, the mediation effect of caregiver's depression, anxiety, and stress are all statistically significant. Findings in this paper support the existence of intergenerational transmission of parenting styles in rural China. Caregiver's mental health mediate the transmission process of rejective, hostile parenting style. This raises the possibility that parenting services may benefits across generations, and provides empirical evidence for preventive services aimed at improving caregiver's mental health and parenting styles at the early stage of child development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Moral injury is of increased concern to child welfare professionals and scholars. • Akan widows and their children are an exemplary case study to consider the cultural shaping of moral injury and healing. • Participants described morally injurious events and responses consistent with western literature. • Women's vulnerability to morally injurious events was enhanced due to culturally-based practices. • The Akan cultural context also provided resources for healing. The experience of moral injury is of increased concern to child welfare professionals. This ethnographic study uses Akan (Ghanaian) women who are widowed and their children as an exemplary case study to consider the cultural shaping of moral injury, and implications for culturally-sensitive child welfare practice. We conducted in-depth, semi-structured, audio-recorded interviews. Twenty-one widows, 14 religious professionals providing services to widows, and one secular professional participated. Participants identified some morally injurious events and responses consistent with the Western literature, for example, events involving betrayal of widows and their children were associated with feelings of intense sadness, rage, and spiritual or existential crises. Other events and responses were culturally nuanced. Women's vulnerability to morally injurious events was enhanced due to culturally-based gender roles, widowhood rituals and customary laws involving inheritance. In addition, these events were interpreted and experienced through Akan spirituality in which the self is comprised of the soul, spirit and body; and moral injury, or "soul killing," involves the dissolution of this trinity and embitterment of the soul. The Akan cultural context also provided resources for healing. Akan women who were widowed articulated the empowerment and restoration they felt from coming together in a community both to address a common challenge (supporting themselves and their children financially), and to receive spiritual and psychosocial support from peers and professionals. This paper provides both a conceptual framework for the empirical examination of the cultural shaping of moral injury, and empirical data within a non-Western cultural context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China has 55 ethnic minorities with 114 million population. As a piece of the worldwide picture of child abuse in ethnicity, the study on child abuse in Chinese ethnic regions is significant but insufficient currently. Therefore, this study examined the prevalence, negative effects, and risk factors of child abuse involving girls in Chinese ethnic regions. A multi-stage cluster sampling procedure and paper-and-pencil questionnaire survey were used to conduct the study in 126 classes in three counties of Southwest China, which includes a total sample of 2899 girls. The rates of physical abuse, emotional abuse, and neglect to girls in ethnic minority areas were significantly higher than those in the Han areas. Moreover, all types of child abuse negatively affected girls' mental health at different levels. However, the effects of abuse were more severe for girls in Han than for ethnic minorities with similar abuse severity. In addition, academic performance and parent-child relationship were correlated with child abuse for girls in the ethnic regions, and the risk was especially higher for girls in rural towns and those of younger age. Findings from this study indicated that the prevalence of child abuse of girls in ethnic regions was high. Although with lower prevalence of child abuse, girls in Han should be intervened for their more severe mental health problems with abuse than the peers in ethnic minority areas. Great attention should be paid to girls in ethnic regions with poor academic performance, bad parent-child relationship, especially in rural towns and in young age, to prevent the risk of child abuse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]