Child maltreatment and protective assets in the development of internalising and externalising problems: A study of youth offenders.

INTRODUCTION: An emerging trend in child maltreatment research focuses on identifying protective assets that contribute to youth resilience. Extending the trend, this study examines not just whether but also how protective assets in various domains (e.g., the individual, family, and schools) are associated with internalising and externalising problems among youth offenders, which is a population that typically reports a high prevalence of child maltreatment experiences. METHODS: This study used the baseline data of 790 youth offenders (85% male) aged between 12 and 19 years old from the EPYC project, a national longitudinal study in Singapore. Structural equation modelling was conducted to test the direct effects and interactive effects of protective assets and child maltreatment on internalising and externalising problems. RESULTS: For direct effects, maltreated youth offenders reported higher levels of internalising and externalising problems than their non-maltreated counterparts. Higher levels of peer assets were directly related to lower levels of externalising, but not internalising problems. For interactive effects, overall protective assets, school/work assets and internal assets had significant buffering effects against physical/emotional abuse on externalising problems, whereas peer assets showed significant buffering effects against sexual abuse on internalising problems. CONCLUSION: An overall level of protective assets, as well as assets from specific domains (peer, school/work, and internal assets) could provide protective effects on problematic behaviours among youth offenders. Interventions seeking to address youth internalising and externalising problems should focus on reducing child maltreatment incidence and enhancing protective assets within these domains.

The Role of Peer Support in the Growth Trajectory of Pathological Internet Use Among Youth: A Protective Factor.

Despite the escalating public concern about pathological use of the Internet among youth, little research has investigated the longitudinal trajectory of the problem and the role of peer support in it. This study aimed to determine the growth trajectory of pathological Internet use (PIU), identify latent subgroups presenting heterogeneous growth trajectories of PIU, and examine the initial status of and the rate of change in peer support as predictors of the growth trajectory of PIU among children and adolescents. Using four-wave longitudinal data from 3,079 Singaporean youth at ages 7-19, we performed Latent Growth Curve Modeling, Latent Class Growth Analysis and Latent Growth Mixture Modeling. Results revealed a downward trajectory of PIU among youth. We identified six latent subgroups, three of which were in pathological status for at least a year. The more rapid improvement in peer support, but not the initial level of peer support, predicted the faster reduction of PIU symptoms during the 3-year period. Findings suggest that although the symptoms of PIU among children and adolescents would decline over time, improving peer support could further alleviate youth PIU. We recommended that intervention programs include a peer support component to mitigate PIU among youth.

Comparing Long-Term Placement Outcomes of Residential and Family Foster Care: A Meta-Analysis.

This study presents findings from three separate meta-analyses investigating differences between children placed in residential care and in family foster care with regard to three outcomes: internalizing behaviors, externalizing behaviors, and perception of care. Based on publications from the last 20 years, a total of 23 studies were included. The total sample consisted of 13,630 children in care, with 7,469 from foster care and 6,161 from residential care. The results from this study indicated that children in foster care had consistently better experiences and less problems across the three outcomes as compared to children in residential care. Analyses did not reveal evidence of publication bias, and sensitivity analyses also suggested that results were not influenced by individual studies. Additionally, moderation analyses revealed that the differences between foster and residential care could vary depending on certain factors such as the publication year, the gross domestic product of the country, and the length of care. The implications of differences in outcomes between the two placements are discussed.

Predicting recidivism among youth offenders: Augmenting professional judgement with machine learning algorithms.

SUMMARY: Offender rehabilitation seeks to minimise recidivism. Using their experience and actuarial-type risk assessment tools, probation officers in Singapore make recommendations on the sentencing outcomes so as to achieve this objective. However, it is difficult for them to maximise the utility of the large amounts of data collected, which could be resolved by using predictive modelling informed by statistical learning methods. FINDINGS: Data of youth offenders (N = 3744) referred to the Probation Service, Ministry of Social and Family Development for rehabilitation were used to create a random forests model to predict recidivism. No assumptions were made on how individual predictor values within the risk assessment tool and other administrative data on an individual's socio-economic status such as level of education attained and dwelling type collected in line with organisational requirements influenced the outcome. Sixty per cent of the data was used to develop the model, which was then tested against the remaining 40%. With a classification accuracy of approximately 65%, and an Area under the Curve value of 0.69, it outperformed existing models analysing aggregated data using conventional statistical methods. APPLICATION: This article identifies how analysis of administrative data at the discrete level using statistical learning methods is more accurate in predicting recidivism than using conventional statistical methods. This provides an opportunity to direct intervention efforts at individuals who are more likely to reoffend.

Family profiles of maltreated children in Singapore: A latent class analysis.

Children who enter the child protection system often have complex family problems and have experienced early adverse experiences. Using latent class analysis, this study aimed to identify family classes of child protection cases in Singapore, to ascertain the prevalence of these family classes, and to test the association of family class membership to subsequent recurrence of harm. A sample of 440 cases who entered the Child Protective Service in Singapore was analyzed based on eight familial factors on the household and caregiver levels. A four-class solution was found to demonstrate the best fit: (a) the large household group was intergenerational and majority lived with extended family members, (b) the harsh parenting group showed high levels of parenting problems and the caregiver justifying his abuse/neglect, (c) the high criminality group had high levels of caregiver substance abuse and caregiver arrest and incarceration history, and (d) the low disadvantage group rated low on all the familial factors. A Cox Regression revealed that in comparison to the low disadvantage group, the harsh parenting group was twice as likely to have recurrence of harm. There were also differences across family classes with regard to age at entry into child protection, gender composition and abuse types. The findings and practice implications are discussed.

The role of strengths in anger and conduct problems in maltreated adolescents.

Despite multi-type maltreatment, some individuals demonstrate positive adaptation and continue to develop in a healthy way. A multitude of strength factors have been linked to adaptive functioning and resilience, but this has not been adequately examined in maltreated adolescent's psychosocial functioning. This study sought to examine the role of strengths such as having talents/interests, family relationships, educational support, the role of the recognition and application of these strengths, and the role of multi-type maltreatment on anger control and conduct problems. One hundred and thirty participants (61 males; 69 females) aged 13-19 years old were rated using the Singapore version of Child and Adolescent Needs and Strengths (CANS) tool. The results revealed that certain strengths were associated with anger and conduct problems, but the recognition and application of strengths emerged as a consistently significant predictor for both outcomes. Hence, to understand and apply one's strengths may be equally as important as merely possessing those strengths. This study extends current understanding of the importance of strengths with a group of maltreated adolescents in an Asian context. Adopting a person-centered and strength-based approach will further enhance the effectiveness of interventions and improve outcomes for maltreated adolescents living in residential care.

A Latent Class Analysis of Family Characteristics Linked to Youth Offending Outcomes.

OBJECTIVES: There were two aims to this study: firstly, to identify family subtypes of Singaporean youth offenders based on eight family variables. Secondly, the associations of these family subtypes with youth offending outcomes were tested. METHODS: With a sample of 3,744 youth, a latent class analysis was first conducted based on eight family variables. Multivariate analyses and a Cox regression were subsequently performed to analyze the associations of the family classes with age at first arrest, age at first charge, and recidivism. RESULTS: A three-class solution was found to have the best fit to the data: (1) intact functioning families had little family risk; (2) families with criminality had higher probabilities of family criminality, of drug/alcohol abuse, and of being nonintact; and (3) poorly managed families received the poorest parenting and were more likely to be nonintact. Youth offenders from the latter two classes were arrested and charged at younger ages. Additionally, they reoffended at a quicker rate. CONCLUSIONS: Family backgrounds matter for youth offending outcomes. Interventions have to be multifaceted and targeted at the family in order to mitigate the risk of young offenders from developing into pathological adult criminals.

Moderating effects of the family environment for parental mediation and pathological internet use in youths.

Pathological Internet use (PIU) occurs when excessive Internet use results in addictive symptoms that exert detrimental consequences on one's overall functioning and well-being. Poor family functioning has been found to be associated with youths' addictive Internet use, and parental use of active and restrictive mediation has been found to reduce online risk. The current study aims to test if parental active and restrictive mediation strategies are negatively associated with youths' PIU. Additionally, it also tests the effectiveness of these strategies as a function of the broader family environment with measures of parent-child attachment, family communication, and the youth's comfort with living at home. The data of 3,079 students in Singapore were analyzed through a series of logistic regressions. The results revealed that the family environment for students with PIU was significantly less positive. Only restrictive mediation was found to be negatively associated with PIU. This relation was stronger for higher levels of attachment, communication, and comfort at home, implying that the effectiveness of restrictive mediation varies with the degree of warmth and support in the general family environment. The implications are discussed.

Parental mediation and cyberbullying - a longitudinal study.

Parents use active and restrictive mediation strategies to guide and regulate children's online participation and the online risks they encounter. However, changes in parental mediation do occur over time and the effectiveness of these strategies on cyberbullying demands for further empirical investigation. The current study addresses these issues with a sample of 1084 students (49% girls) in a longitudinal, three-wave design. Gender differences were tested via multi-group analyses. Longitudinal growth models showed that parental use of both active and restrictive mediation decreased over time. For both types of mediation, the mean rate of change had a significant effect on boys' engagement in cyberbullying, but not for girls. Initial levels of restrictive mediation, but not active mediation, were found to be significantly predictive of cyberbullying in both genders. Girls had higher initial levels of both parental mediation types in comparison to boys. The results reveal that the effectiveness of active and restrictive mediation in relation to students' cyberbullying differs and informs us on gender differences. The implications of these results for parental education in online mediation are discussed.