Integration of teen pregnancy and child abuse research: identifying mediator variables for pregnancy outcome.

PIP: A review of the literature on adolescent pregnancy and child abuse, both of which are showing alarming increases in the US, suggests a strong link between these two fields as well as potential for integrated research. Numerous studies have identified a significant incidence of childhood sexual abuse in teenage mothers who neglect or abuse their own children. The experience of child abuse has been associated with psychiatric sequelae such as somatization, anxiety, depression, interpersonal sensitivity, obsessive-compulsive behavior, dissociation, and suicidality. Another study found that dissociation and depression were significant mediators between a child abuse history and negative life outcomes such as victimization and interpersonal difficulties. Also recorded has been a tendency for abuse survivors to use rapidly initiated sexual activity with multiple partners as a means of coping with feelings of depression, abandonment, and emptiness. A positive correlation has been noted between the severity of childhood abuse and the intensity of subsequent psychopathology. Also found has been considerable overlap between the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory scores of pregnant/parenting teens and abuse victims. If further research continues to substantiate the association between these two social problems, treatment of childhood trauma in high-risk teens may emerge as an important pregnancy prevention strategy.^ieng

An intervention program to build competencies in adolescent parents.

PIP: There has been a gradual decline in the number of unwanted pregnancies among sexually experienced teenagers since the early 1970s. The proportion of pregnant youths who marry before giving birth, however, is also declining. The authors describe the efficacy of a year-long peer intervention program to ameliorate stressors and enhance parent competencies among pregnant or parenting adolescent women. 57 pregnant or parenting lower-income young women were recruited for the study from two alternative education facilities for pregnant or parenting teens in the Detroit, Michigan, metropolitan area. 29 subjects of mean age 16.5 years were matched with senior-level undergraduate psychology student peer advocates at Wayne State University. The other 28 female adolescents of mean age 16.0 years served as controls. Demographic data were collected and personality inventories assessed both before and after the intervention period. It was found at post-test that mothers in the group not exposed to the intervention were significantly bothered by their infants' behaviors, but intervention group mothers were only slightly bothered. While both groups showed a decrease in the positive perceptions of their infants, the decrease was significantly greater for the control group at post-test. The authors consider the implications of these findings and offer directions for future research.^ieng

Adolescent pregnancy and parenting.

This study is an investigation of the child rearing strategies endorsed by pregnant adolescent girls. The sample consists of 124 adolescent girls drawn from suburban and center-city schools in the Detroit Metropolitan Area. Child rearing strategies were assessed using the Rickel Modified Form of the Block Child Rearing Practices Report. The study provides descriptive analyses of child rearing strategies, compares the responses of center-city and suburban adolescents, and examines the relationship of these scores to indices of stress, social support, and personality as measured by the MMPI. The implications of the findings for community-based interventions are also discussed.

Maternal coping styles and adjustment in children.

A comprehensive examination of children's social-emotional adjustment as related to maternal coping styles was performed. Subjects were 186 black mothers from lower-income families, and their children who were enrolled in the Detroit Public Schools Area F, Title I Preschool Program. Maternal nurturant and restrictive child rearing practices, life stress, locus of control and marital status were evaluated with respect to each of the child variables of school adjustment, self-concept and social problem solving skills. Maternal life stress was significantly related to children's lower self-concept, higher aggression, use of finagling and nondirective problem-solving strategies. Significant negative relationships were found between maternal nurturance and child moodiness and learning problems in school, further validating the Modified Child Rearing Practices Report. These findings provide support for expanding the current child developmental focus of preventive parenting programs to include maternal coping strategies such as improved communication and assertiveness training.

Short- and long-term effects of marital disruption on children.

The short- and long-term (5 years later) effects of parental marital disruption on the psychological adjustment of children were examined. A representative community sample of urban families (N = 1,034) in which 25-50% had experienced marital disruption constituted the sample. The effect of the presence and type of father figure in the home on children's adjustment, controlling for ethnic group and social class, was evaluated with respect to measures of psychological symptomatology (based on mother's report). Significant effects of the father figure variable on the dimensions measuring Noncompulsivity and Delinquency were found at both time periods. Children with natural fathers showed the least pathology on the Delinquency factor and those with surrogate fathers demonstrated the most disordered behavior on the Noncompulsivity factor. These findings complement previous research showing stability of antisocial behavior over time. Implications for preventive interventions and future research are discussed.

Social problem solving training: a follow-up study of cognitive and behavioral effects.

The long term effects of Spivack and Shures' social problem-solving training were assessed and compared to an attention-placebo control. Thirty-seven preschool age children were involved in this year's long intervention project and six month follow-up. All subjects received 46 sessions of intervention by specially trained assistants. Support was found for the cognitive effectiveness of social problem-solving training with aberrant children at post test in that they gained significantly in their ability to generate alternative solutions to interpersonal problems. This differential effect was not sustained at follow-up. Blind teacher ratings of behavioral adjustment and independent observers' ratings of behavior (using a naturalistic observation scale developed for this study) revealed no significant behavioral training effects at post test or at follow-up. Findings are discussed with the suggestion that behavior change in young children may not be mediated through a strictly cognitive intervention, and may more logically require an integration of behavioral and cognitive techniques.

Assessing social competencies in lower income preschool children.

This study examined social competencies in 4-year-old, lower income, nonwhite preschool children in a replication of work by Shure, Spivack, and Jaeger. Age differential interpersonal cognitive problem-solving skills were investigated, i.e., ability to generate alternative solutions to interpersonal problems, consequential thinking, and school achievement as they relate to behavioral adjustment ratings by teachers and independent observers. A teacher's rating of a child as aberrant or adjusted predicted an independent observer's rating of that child in a naturalistic setting. Children who were rated as adjusted by their teachers had significantly higher scores on an achievement inventory than those children who were rated aberrant, but the study did not find the predicted relationship between problem-solving thinking and adjustment.

A two-year follow-up study of a preventive mental health program for preschoolers.

The long-term effects of a preschool intervention program for high-risk experimental children were assessed and compared to a high-risk placebo control group and low-risk "normal" controls. Seventy first-grade children were involved in this 2-year follow-up. The experimental treatment group was superior to that of the placebo control group at follow-up on the criteria measures of behavioral adjustment and achievement. The low-risk "normal" control group was significantly different from that of the placebo control groups, but generally not significantly different from that of the experimental groups, suggesting that the intervention had boosted the high-risk experimental treatment children to the point where their performance was comparable to that of children who had not experienced behavioral or learning difficulties.

Maladapting preschool children: identification, diagnosis, and remediation.

This article evaluates a preschool intervention program conducted as a part of the Wayne State University Preschool Project. The project's aim is (a) to provide early identification of preschool age children experiencing mental health problems, and (b) to reverse the diagnosed deficiencies, particularly among high risk children. The program was evaluated with children ranging in age from 3 to 4 years, within demographically comparable regions in the Detroit School System. Pretest and posttest measures were taken on the AML Scale and the Caldwell Preschool Inventory. Pretest scores were used to establish high risk children. A prescriptive intervention program was established within one region, aimed primarily at reducing adjustment problems among high risk children. The analysis of posttest data revealed more favorable scores among experimental children when compared to control children. In addition, evidence is provided of specific benefits for high risk children in the experimental program.

Description and evaluation of a preventive mental health program for preschoolers.

A school-based model of preventive intervention is described which identified and significantly overcame school maladaptation among preschool children enrolled in a Detroit Public School Title I Program. Children were screened by teachers for learning and behavioral difficulties using the AML Scale, the Classroom Adjustment Rating Scale, and the Caldwell Preschool Inventory. Sixty-four children were identified on the basis of these instruments as exhibiting some form of school maladaptation. These children were randomly assigned to an experimental condition (N = 32) or placebo control (N = 32). Individually designed prescriptive techniques were developed for high-risk children in the experimental group and were implemented by college student aides after training by the project staff. A multivariate analysis of variance and follow-up univariate analyses, testing differences between experimental and control groups on the posttests, were performed. The difference between the groups on all three criteria measures was significant and favored the experimental children.

Community training in an urban university.

A year-long field training project comprised of university faculty and graduate students as participant-conceptualizers in developing proposals for two comprehensive community mental health centers is described. Students experienced an urban setting of high psychosocial vulnerability and a complex network of social-political agencies. Their participation in all phases of the project is discussed, from gathering demographic data to negotiating contractual arrangements for services.

Screening and remediation of preschool children from low income families.

A preschool intervention screening, diagnosis and remediation program for 100 3- and 4-yr.-olds administered by a Community Mental Health Center is evaluated. Statistically significant improvement by project children compared with non-project controls indicated prevention techniques applicable to older school age children are also applicable to 3- and 4-yr.-old preschoolers.