Assessment of coping strategies of child abusing mothers.

OBJECTIVE: Mothers who had physically abused their children were assessed to determine whether these mothers had a general coping skills deficit. METHOD: Abusing mothers (n = 17) were compared to nonabusing mothers of conduct problem children (n = 16). Coping was measured by several methods, each designed to address the insufficiencies of the others. RESULTS: In comparison to the nonabusing mothers, independent ratings indicated that abusing mothers exhibited a pattern of coping characterized by greater use of emotion-focused coping strategies and less use of effective problem-focused strategies. Finally, using self report ratings of coping, abusing mothers perceived their coping to be more ineffective than the nonabusing mothers. CONCLUSIONS: The possibility that the observed coping skills deficit may be indicative of a deficit in emotional responding to stress was discussed and suggestions were given for therapeutic interventions with child abusing mothers.

Behavioral correlates of parental visiting during family foster care.

Frequency of visiting with biological parents during family foster care placement in two different groups of children with differing adjustments to care was found to be generally low and to be related to both the length of time the children had been in care and the number of placements they had experienced. Those children who were visited more frequently were found to exhibit fewer externalizing and internalizing behavior problems than those visited less frequently or not at all. These behavioral correlates of visiting were, however, to depend on the type of behavior focused on and the degree of adjustment the child had made to family foster care.

Correlates of therapy referral in foster children.

In order to identify the correlates of the behavioral maladjustment of children in foster care, a group of children in foster care who had been referred for therapy was compared to a group of children who had never been in therapy during their foster care placement on several relevant variables. Referred and nonreferred children differed on several important behavioral indicators: number of externalizing and internalizing behavior problems, behavioral competence, and mental age. Results of this comparison suggest that the age of the child when first placed in care, the number of different placements the child experiences during care, and the type of foster care placement (kinship vs. nonkinship) may all be related to the need for clinical services in this population. Theoretical and practical implications of these relationships are explored.