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Intimate partner violence (IPV) among parents impacts their child's development both directly through exposure to violence and indirectly through disruptions in parenting. In particular, use of IPV may affect how fathers respond to infant crying, including at a neurophysiological level. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether use of IPV behavior is associated with differences in fathers' neural response to infant's cries. Frontal electroencephalogram (EEG) asymmetry, as an index of motivational tendencies, was assessed in 25 fathers who used IPV in the last 12 months and 19 fathers with no history of IPV in response to videos of an infant crying, white noise as an aversive control stimulus, and a baseline (no stimulus) condition. Across all conditions, fathers with and without IPV history evidenced greater left frontal alpha asymmetry (FAA), consistent with greater approach motivation. Relative to baseline, infant cries elicited a decrease in left FAA in both groups, whereas white noise elicited different responses between fathers with and without IPV histories, namely less change in FAA from baseline in fathers who used IPV. This suggests similar shifts in motivational intensity in fathers in response to infant cries, but not white noise. Across the sample, Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) were positively associated with FAA response to white noise. Together these results reveal neural differences between fathers with and without IPV histories, potentially linked to experiences of childhood adversity., Author(s): Ellie N. Baker [sup.1] [sup.2] , Ciara McFaul [sup.1] , Jia Wu [sup.1] , Ivett Karina Sandoval [sup.1] , Michael J. Crowley [sup.1] , Helena J. V. Rutherford [sup.1] [...]

Accurate assessment of intimate partner violence (IPV) using standardized measures can be a challenge as there is often discrepancy between partner reports, with previous research indicating very poor concordance between partners using the Conflict Tactics Scale. This study examines agreement between coparent reports of IPV using the Abusive Behavior Inventory (ABI) from 282 coparent dyads referred for Fathers for Change, an IPV intervention by the Department of Children and Families (DCF). Differences in partner concordance using intraclass correlations were examined based on type of violence, marital status/cohabitation, race/ethnicity and substance misuse problems. Intraclass correlations were also calculated for eight power and control items unique to the ABI. Overall agreement between coparents was poor. However, there was greater concordance about mothers' who have used IPV toward fathers than fathers' use of IPV toward mothers. There was lower agreement between reports of physical than psychological IPV especially for white coparents. All types of coparent relationships showed low levels of agreement, but cohabiting coparents showed the highest levels of agreement when reporting fathers' IPV. In cases with one parent exhibiting substance misuse, concordance between reports of IPV increased. Results are consistent with prior findings that women report higher IPV than fathers even when assessments are done in the context of a DCF IPV treatment referral. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to identify how a learner-centered instructional perspective, the use of diverse class material, and the trainer’s cultural competency could affect training certification outcomes among child welfare protection investigator and case manager trainees. Data from 70 child welfare trainers and 1,052 child welfare trainees’ certification scores were matched. The results indicated that trainers’ higher empathy toward and trust in trainees and multicultural awareness were related to higher post-test scores. The utilization of learner-centered and culturally competent education was associated with more effective child welfare training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Competing Interests: Competing interests: We have read and understood BMJ policy on declaration of interests and have no relevant interests to declare. Provenance and peer review: Commissioned; externally peer reviewed.