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• Mutual escalation that ends by one person giving in or giving up is coercive conflict. • Coercive conflict is implicated in aggression and relationship and health problems. • Three specific micro-interventions reduced coercive conflict. • We may be able to use micro-interventions in health care to reduce coercive conflict. Coercive conflicts between parents and children and between couples are implicated in the pathogenesis of a variety of psychological and physical health problems. Despite its seeming importance to population health, there are no widely available, easy-to-use methods with demonstrated efficacy to engage coercive conflict and reduce it. Identifying and testing potentially efficacious and disseminable micro-interventions (i.e., interventions that can be delivered in under 15 minutes via computer or paraprofessional) for targets with cross-cutting health implications, such as coercive conflict, is the focus of the National Institutes of Health Science of Behavior Change initiative. We experimentally tested four micro-interventions targeting coercive conflict in couple and parent–child dyads in a within-between design. There were mixed but supportive findings for the efficacy of most of the micro-interventions. Attributional reframing, implementation intentions, and evaluative conditioning all reduced coercive conflict as assessed by some but not all measures of observed coercion. No findings indicated any iatrogenic effects. Interpretation bias modification treatment improved at least one measure of coercive conflict for couples, but not for parents and children; additionally, it increased self-reported coercive conflict. Overall, these results are encouraging and suggest that very brief and highly disseminable micro-interventions for coercive conflict are a fruitful direction for inquiry. Optimizing micro-interventions and deploying them across the health care infrastructure could tremendously enhance family functioning and, in turn, health behaviors and health (ClinicalTrials.gov IDs: NCT03163082, NCT03162822). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This phase of the NIH Science of Behavior Change program emphasizes an “experimental medicine approach to behavior change,” that seeks to identify targets related to stress reactivity, self-regulation, and social processes for maximal effects on multiple health outcomes. Within this framework, our project focuses on interpersonal processes associated with health: coercive couple and parent-child conflict. Diabetes and poor oral health portend pain, distress, expense, loss of productivity, and even mortality. They share overlapping medical regimens, are driven by overlapping proximal health behaviors, and affect a wide developmental span, from early childhood to late adulthood. Coercive couple and parent-child conflict constitute potent and destructive influences on a wide range of adult and child health outcomes. Such interaction patterns give rise to disturbed environmental stress reactivity (e.g., disrupted sympathetic nervous and parasympathetic nervous systems) and a wide range of adverse health outcomes in children and adults, including dental caries, obesity, and diabetes-related metabolic markers. In this work, we seek to identify/develop/validate assays assessing coercion, identify/develop and test brief interventions to reduce coercion, and test whether changes in coercion trigger changes in health behaviors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Purpose: (1) To assess prevalence of physical dating aggression and victimization among high school students; (2) to assess prevalence of mutual and exclusive aggression; (3) to determine whether aggression differs across ethnic groups and relationship type; and (4) to ascertain the likelihood of injury and breakup in individuals who reported that they were the recipients of physical aggression. Methods: Students (N = 2363) from seven multiethnic high schools participated. Because males in high school date females younger than they and the reverse for females, and because males and females may underreport aggression, only within gender comparisons were conducted. Results: More females reported engaging in physical aggression (40%) than reported being victims of aggression (30%). Fewer males reported engaging in physical aggression (24%) than reported being victims of physical aggression (31%). If physical aggression occurred, typically both partners were aggressive. For females, exclusive engagement in physical aggression (perpetration) was reported at higher rates than exclusively being the recipient of physical aggression (victimization) and vice versa for males. Dating aggression was less prevalent among male Asian students than other ethnic groups. Engaged males and females reported the highest rates of physical aggression. Injury was reported by over 25% of males and females who reported being the recipients of physical aggression. Conclusions: Dating aggression intervention programs should address physical aggression of both males and females. Because approximately 30% of the high school males and females reported being the recipients of physical aggression by their partners, primary prevention efforts should occur before high school. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Discusses the co-occurrence of partner and parent aggression within the same family. Definition of aggression and abuse; Evidence for the co-occurrence of partner and parent physical aggression; Implications of an integrated approach to spouse and child abuse research; Attempts at integrating services for child and parent abuse.

Concerns surrounding electronic addictions, an umbrella term including any clinically significant technology-based addictive problem, have increased as technology has advanced. Although researchers and clinicians have observed detrimental effects associated with excessive technology use, there is no agreed-on definition or set of criteria for these problems. The lack of a consistent understanding of electronic addictions has led to a lack of consistency in both assessment and treatment studies, precluding strong recommendations for effective screening and clinical intervention. This meta-review integrates findings from 22 systematic reviews and meta-analyses of electronic addictions to determine which measures and interventions may effectively measure and treat electronic addictions. We conducted a meta-review using Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. Findings suggest that although some measures may have good internal consistency and reliability among college students, there was a general lack of consistency in how measures were used across studies, making comparison difficult. Psychological and exercise-based interventions were shown to reduce symptoms of electronic addictions short-term, but no treatment was superior to others in overall symptom reduction. Most included reviews raise serious concerns about the lack of consensus on what constitutes an electronic addiction. Consequently, it was not possible to draw conclusions about the overall efficacy of any measurement tools or interventions. We provide suggestions for next steps to establish the phenomenology of electronic addictions before additional research on assessment and intervention is conducted. • Electronic addictions, broadly defined, are an area of increasing interest with no unifying definition. • Without standardization of terms and symptoms, it is not possible to judge assessment tool adequacy or treatment efficacy. • Foundational work is needed to determine if electronic addictions are primary disorders before conducting future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In child welfare, caseloads are frequently far higher than optimal. Not all cases are created equal; however, little is known about which combination and interaction of factors make caseloads more challenging and impact child and family outcomes. This study aims to identify which case, provider, and organizational factors most strongly differentiate between families with favorable and less-than-positive treatment outcomes. Participants were 25 family advocacy program providers and 17 supervisors at 11 Department of the Air Force installations. Following informed consent, participants completed demographic and caseload questionnaires, and we collected information about organizational factors. Providers were sent a weekly case update and burnout questionnaire for seven months. We used linear mixed-effects model tree (LMM tree) algorithms to determine the provider, client, and organizational characteristics that best distinguish between favorable vs. unfavorable outcomes. The LMM tree predicting provider-rated treatment success yielded three significant partitioning variables: (a) commander involvement, (b) case complexity, and (c) % of clients in a high-risk field. The LMM predicting client-rated treatment progress yielded seven significant partitioning variables: (a) command involvement; (b) ease of reaching tenant unit command; (c) # of high-risk cases; (d) % of clients receiving Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention and Treatment services; (e) ease of reaching command; (f) % of clients with legal involvement; (g) provider age. This study is a first step toward developing a dynamic caseload management tool. An intelligent, algorithm-informed approach to case assignment could help child welfare agencies operate in their typically resource-scarce contexts in a manner that improves outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's web-based behavioral parent training (BPT) program, Essentials for Parenting Toddlers and Preschoolers (EfP), uses a psychoeducational approach to promote positive parenting and address common parenting challenges. The purpose of this study was to assess the effects of EfP on parenting behavior and whether implementation format impacted behavioral outcomes. A sample of 200 parents of 2- to 4-year-old children were recruited via Internet advertising. Using a repeated single subject, multiple baseline design, parents were randomly assigned to guided navigation (GN; n = 100) or unguided navigation (UN; n = 100) study conditions. Parents were provided secure access to the EfP website and completed 18 weekly surveys. Latent growth curve modeling was used to determine intervention effectiveness on behavioral outcomes. Latent growth curve modeling indicated both GN and UN study conditions significantly increased use of praise (β = 0.19, p = 0.038) and commands and consequences (β = 0.17, p < 0.001), and decreased corporal punishment use (β = −0.01, p = 0.017) and attitudes promoting corporal punishment (β = −0.01, p < 0.001) over the study period. The UN condition exhibited a significant initial decrease in time-out use that increased over time to match the GN condition. This study provides evidence for the effectiveness of EfP in promoting non-violent parenting behavior and increasing positive parenting techniques. The format of EfP implementation made no difference in parenting behaviors over time. Digital BPT programs like EfP provide access to evidence-informed parenting resources and can enhance positive parenting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]