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Objectives: The current study aimed to examine: (1.1) causal beliefs about adolescent depression in a sample of adolescents with a clinical depression and their mothers and fathers; (1.2) within‐family overlap of causal beliefs; (2.1) mothers' and fathers' reflected causal beliefs about their child's perspective; (2.2) the accuracy of mothers' and fathers' reflected causal beliefs as related to their child's causal beliefs. Design: Qualitative study using a within‐family approach. Methods: Adolescents with a current clinical depression (MDD/dysthymia; N = 34) and their parents (N = 34 mothers, N = 26 fathers) were independently interviewed about their causal beliefs about the adolescents' depression. Parents were additionally interviewed about their perception of their child's causal beliefs (i.e., reflected causal beliefs). Results: The causal beliefs most frequently mentioned by adolescents, mothers and fathers are: characteristics of the child, social factors, school and various stressful experiences. Parent–child overlap was relatively low, specifically for the themes of bewilderment, cumulative effect and stressful life events, whereas overlap was relatively high for themes of social factors, school and stressful experiences outside of the family. Parents were relatively accurate in their reflected causal beliefs, but tended to underestimate their child's insights into possible causes of their depression. Accuracy of parents' reflected causal beliefs was particularly low for the theme cumulative effect and high for social factors. Conclusions: The various causal beliefs of adolescents and their parents could be used in therapeutic setting. Future research could examine whether (guided) conversations may promote alignment within families and treatment efficacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Experiencing parental death during childhood is an adverse, potentially traumatic experience that may have substantial long‐term effects on mental and physical well‐being. The current study was based on data of the Netherlands Study of Depression and Anxiety to investigate mental health (i.e., depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, and suicidal ideation) and physical health outcomes (i.e., metabolic syndrome, telomere length, and perceived physical health) as well as health behaviour (i.e., smoking status, alcohol use, and physical activity) to provide more insight into the long‐term outcomes after experiencing childhood parental death (CPD). For individuals who experienced CPD, we also investigated the role of loss‐related factors in these associations, namely the age of the child when their parent passed away and gender of the deceased parent. Interviews and questionnaires were completed by adults between 18 and 65 years; 177 participants experienced CPD (mean age = 45.19, 61.6% female) and 2463 did not (mean age = 41.38, 66.6% female). Results showed no overall association between the experience of CPD and mental and physical health indices and health behaviour. Within the CPD group, experiencing CPD at a younger age was related to a higher likelihood of suicidal ideation. These findings seem to illustrate a general positive adjustment with regard to long‐term health functioning after experiencing such an impactful life event. Future research should focus on individual differences in terms of adaptation, especially elucidating on contextual factors after the loss, such as the kind of support that is or is not provided by the surviving parent and/or other important individuals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to investigate (a) the extent to which child maltreatment co-occurs with parental separation and (b) associations between different types of child maltreatment and various types of separation-associated interparental conflict. Professionals working with children (N = 785) reported each case of suspected child maltreatment they observed during a 3-month period and indicated whether parental divorce or separation was about to take place or had taken place. This resulted in 530 reported cases that matched the definitions of child maltreatment for which information on parental relationship status was available. Most of the maltreated children (60%) also experienced (impending) parental separation. In 69% of these cases child maltreatment was associated with parental separation. Particularly, cases of emotional neglect, and emotional abuse co-occurred with parental separation. In addition, four clusters of separation-associated interparental conflict were distinguished— No observed conflict, Non-physical conflict, Verbal and physical conflict, and Multiple conflict— which were associated with child and family characteristics and specific types of child maltreatment. The results of this study suggest that child maltreatment often co-occurs with parental separation, especially when there is a considerable amount of interparental conflict. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This study examined the relative associations of mothers'/fathers' and offspring's internalizing and externalizing problems with parent‐to‐offspring and offspring‐to‐parent warmth and negativity. Background: Psychological conditions of family members may be related to intrafamilial social interactions. Particularly, internalizing and externalizing problems may affect the quality of parent–offspring communication. Method: In this study, fathers (N = 94), mothers (N = 125) and their offspring (N = 224, age rangeoffspring = 7.5–65.5 years) from 137 nuclear families participated in a behavioral conflict interaction task during which expressed warmth and negativity were observed. Associations between parents' and offspring's psychological problems (of the past 6 months) and parent‐to‐offspring and offspring‐to‐parent communication were tested simultaneously using structural equation models separated for fathers and mothers. Based on prior findings in the study sample, our analyses were controlled for history of childhood abuse. Results: Offspring's internalizing problems were related to less negativity toward their father, whereas offspring's externalizing problems were related to more negativity toward their father and to receiving less warmth from their mother. Father's externalizing problems were linked to more negativity toward offspring. No associations were found between maternal and paternal internalizing problems and dyadic parent–offspring interactions, nor for maternal externalizing problems. Conclusion: Findings support that psychological conditions of one family member have an impact on their social interactions within the family. Implications: Supporting families with interventions to improve parent–offspring interactions and (early) treatment of externalizing problems is recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Children without disabilities in out-of-home care have a higher risk of child sexual abuse [CSA (Euser et al. 2013)]. In this study, we examined the year prevalence of CSA in out-of-home care for children with a mild intellectual disability, and compared it with the prevalence in out-of-home care for non-disabled children and children in the general population. Materials and Methods: Professionals (N = 104) from out-of-home care facilities reported cases of CSA that occurred in 2010 for the children they worked with (N = 1,650). Results: In out-of-home care for children with a mild intellectual disability, 9.8 per 1,000 children were victims of CSA. This prevalence was significantly higher than in regular out-of-home care and in the general population. Conclusion: Children with a mild intellectual disability in out-of-home care have an increased risk of CSA. Adequate education and support for both children and caregivers is necessary to recognize and prevent further sexual abuse.

Observation of parental sensitivity in a standard procedure, in which caregivers are faced with the same level of infant demand, enables the comparison of sensitivity "between" caregivers. We developed an ecologically valid standardized setting using an infant simulator with interactive features, the Leiden Infant Simulator Sensitivity Assessment (LISSA). The infant simulator resembles a real infant in appearance and crying sounds. In a previous study, we documented the LISSA's reliability and validity in a sample of 181 female undergraduate students (Voorthuis et al., 2013). In the current study, we tested the convergent validity in a sample of 34 mothers who were observed during free play with their own child as well as with the LISSA. Sensitive parenting behaviour was rated independently with the Ainsworth Sensitivity Scale (Ainsworth et al., 1974). Sensitivity with the LISSA was strongly correlated to sensitivity to the mother's own child, r?=?0.53, p?=?0.001. Mother-reported infant temperament was not associated with sensitivity to the mother's own child, and the mother's own infant's temperament did not moderate the correlation between sensitivity with the LISSA and sensitivity to the mother's own child. We discuss the potential of the infant simulator for research on sensitive parenting in parents and non-parents, for (prenatal) preventive interventions, and for clinical practices.

Background: Residential or group care social workers appear to be at increased risk for experiencing physical violence at work. However, little is known about "sexual harassment" in addition to physical victimization of social workers in "youth" residential or group care. Objective We investigated the prevalence of physical and sexual victimization of youth care workers in residential care and tested whether characteristics of the group care workers and the type of care facility influenced this prevalence. Methods: One hundred seventy-eight participants reported whether they had experienced verbal threat, physical threat, physical violence, verbal sexual harassment, and physical sexual harassment by one or more of the youth they worked with in a 1-year period. Results: Eighty-one percent of the group workers experienced violence. Most incidents were verbal threats, but about half of the participants experienced physical violence. Youth care workers from secure care were most at risk for experiencing physical and verbal violence and workers from juvenile detention facilities were most at risk for experiencing sexual harassment. Rates of violence were increased for participants working with children with a mild intellectual disability. Gender of the youth care workers was not related to the rate of victimization, but age was: younger group workers reported more incidents than older group workers. Conclusions: The high levels of violence in residential youth care indicate that residential care is not the best workplace for professionals nor the best rearing setting for youth. Alternative care settings, such as treatment in a family-type environment, should be explored.

Child maltreatment increases the risk for impaired social functioning and cortisol regulation. However, the longitudinal interplay among these factors is still unclear. This study aimed to shed light on the effect of maltreatment on social functioning and cortisol regulation over time. The sample consisted of 236 children (mean age 7.64 years, SD = 1.36; 125 maltreated children and 111 nonmaltreated children, 128 boys and 108 girls) who attended a week-long summer camp for 2 consecutive years. Saliva was collected during 5 days at 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. Means of morning and afternoon cortisol levels and cortisol change (difference between morning and afternoon levels, controlled for morning levels) were used to group the children into low-, medium-, and high-cortisol groups. Prosocial, disruptive/aggressive, and withdrawn behaviors were assessed using information from peers and counselors. Maltreated children showed less prosocial and more disruptive/aggressive and withdrawn behavior. Results of structural equation modeling analyses indicated that there were indirect effects of maltreatment on Year 2 morning cortisol via prosocial and disruptive/aggressive behavior: Lower levels of prosocial behavior and higher levels of disruptive/aggressive behavior were related to lower morning cortisol levels 1 year later. Withdrawn behavior was related to higher afternoon cortisol values 1 year later. Results of this study suggest that maltreated children are more likely to experience difficulties in social functioning, which in turn is related to cortisol regulation 1 year later. This altered hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) axis functioning may put children at risk for later psychopathology. (Contains 5 figures, 5 tables, and 1 footnote.)

How does parenting affect relational aggression in children? The goal of the present series of meta-analyses based on 48 studies (28,097 children) was to analyze and integrate the findings on the associations between various types of parenting behaviors and relational aggression, and to identify potential substantive and methodological factors that may moderate these associations. To distinguish between different parenting strategies, experts sorted the parenting measures used in the studies into 10 groups. Results of a multiple correspondence analysis revealed four separate clusters: Positive parenting, psychologically controlling parenting, negative/harsh parenting, and uninvolved parenting. The meta-analyses demonstrated that more positive parenting was associated with less relational aggression (combined effect sizes r = -0.06, p less than 0.05, for mothers, r = -0.08, p less than 0.01, for fathers). More harsh parenting (combined effect sizes r = 0.11, p less than 0.01, for mothers, r = 0.12, p less than 0.01, for fathers) and more uninvolved parenting (combined effect sizes r = 0.07, p less than 0.01, for mothers, absent for fathers) were associated with increased relational aggression. Paternal psychologically controlling parenting was positively related to relational aggression (r = 0.05, p less than 0.01), whereas maternal psychologically controlling parenting was not (combined effect sizes r = 0.04, p = 0.09). The effect of several moderators is discussed. The findings of this study suggest that dimensions of positive and negative parenting behaviors of mothers and fathers are associated with children's relational aggression and that these associations are--in case of fathers--contingent upon a number of sampling and procedural characteristics. (Contains 10 tables and 3 figures.)

The present study investigated underlying processes of the effect of maltreatment on psychopathology (i.e., internalizing and externalizing problems) in a group of 111 maltreated and 110 nonmaltreated 7-10 year-old children (60% boys). We tested the moderating and/or mediating roles of emotion regulation and the mother-child relationship quality (pattern of relatedness) using Structural Equation Modeling. Emotion regulation, but not the pattern of relatedness, mediated the relation between maltreatment and psychopathology. This mediation was moderated by the pattern of relatedness: For the group of children with an insecure pattern of relatedness, maltreatment was related to lower levels of emotion regulation, which was predictive of higher levels of internalizing and externalizing symptomatology. In contrast, for the secure relatedness group, there was no mediation by emotion regulation since the impact of maltreatment on emotion regulation was not significant. Implications of the mediating role of emotion regulation and the buffering role of the mother-child relationship quality were discussed.

Three models regarding the relation between maternal (in)sensitivity, negative discipline, and child aggression were examined in a sample of 117 mother-child pairs with high scores on child externalizing behavior: (1) Sensitivity and discipline are uniquely related to child aggression (the additive model); (2) the relation between discipline and aggression is moderated by maternal sensitivity (the moderating model); (3) the relation between sensitivity and aggression is mediated by maternal discipline (the mediating model). Parenting and child aggression were observed when the children were on average 26.71 months old (range of 13.58 to 41.91 months) and again one year later. Results supported the moderating model. More negative discipline was related to more child aggression one year later, but only when mothers were insensitive. This finding supports the idea that the affective context is important for the impact of negative discipline on child development.

Background: This study investigated the occurrence, cross-informant agreement, 1-year stability, and context characteristics of externalizing behaviors in 12-month-old children, as compared to 24- and 36-month-olds. Method: In a general population sample of 786 12-month-olds, 720 24-month-olds, and 744 36-month-olds, the CBCL/1 1/2-5 was obtained from mothers and fathers and again one year later for a subsample of 307 children. Mothers of 1,831 children also provided complete data on child, mother, and family characteristics. Results: Over three-fourths of the externalizing behaviors occurred in more than 10% of 12-month-olds, over one-third of the items in more than 25%. For almost all externalizing behaviors, the occurrence was significantly lower in 12-month-olds compared to 24- and 36-month-old children. Mother-father agreement and 1-year stability of externalizing behaviors in 12-month-old children were significant, but generally somewhat lower than in 24- and 36-month-olds. Context characteristics were related to externalizing behaviors in 12-month-olds as well as in older children. Some associations were less pronounced in 12-month-old children, but the overall pattern of correlates was similar across age groups. Conclusions: The results of this study show that externalizing behaviors in 12-month-old children merit further research and can be assessed with the CBCL in a valid way.

This study examines the prevalence, stability, and development of physical aggression, as reported by mothers and fathers, in a sample of children initially recruited at 12, 24, and 36 months (N=2,253) and in a subsample followed up 1 year later (n=271) in a cross-sequential design. Physical aggression occurred in 12-month-olds, but significantly more often in 24- and 36-month-olds. The rates of physically aggressive behaviors increased in the 2nd year of life, and declined from the 3rd birthday onward. Stabilities were moderate for 12-month-olds and high for 24- and 36-month-olds. At the ages of 24 and 36 months, boys were more aggressive than girls. The results confirm and extend R. E. Tremblay's (2004) hypothesis about the early development of physical aggression.

The aim of the present study was to examine child maltreatment prevalence rates during the first COVID-19 related national closure of schools and childcare settings (the lockdown) in the Netherlands. Based on reports of childcare professionals and primary and secondary school teachers (N = 444) the prevalence of child maltreatment during the 3 months of this first lockdown was estimated at almost 40,000 children, or 14 per 1,000 children. The prevalence of emotional neglect was found to be three times higher during the lockdown compared to a period without lockdown. This significant difference was reflected in overall emotional neglect as well as for two main subtypes of emotional neglect: educational neglect and witnessing domestic violence. No significant differences were found for other types of child maltreatment. Most of the reported cases of maltreatment were already problematic before the lockdown and became worse during the lockdown. The results of this study indicate that the closure of schools and childcare settings may have enormous negative consequences for vulnerable children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]