Family functioning in neglectful families.

Family functioning in 103 neglectful and 102 non-neglectful low-income families is examined using self-report and observational measures. Neglectful mothers reported their families as having more family conflict and less expression of feelings, but not less cohesive. Ratings of observed and videotaped family interactions indicated neglect families were less organized, more chaotic, less verbally expressive, showed less positive and more negative affect than comparison families. However, there were wide differences on measures of functioning among neglect families. Three distinct types of neglectful family functioning are identified and interventions for each type are suggested to improve parental-family functioning.

Loneliness, depression, stress, and social supports in neglectful families.

Comparisons of neglectful with non-neglectful low-SES parents revealed that the neglectful parents reported more life stresses, greater depression and loneliness, and weaker informal social supports. In the neglectful families, loneliness was positively associated with life stresses and negatively associated with network supports, but not with caseworker-assessed social isolation.

Maltreatment and the school-aged child: school performance consequences.

Studies of the impact of abuse or neglect on children have focused largely on maltreated infants, toddlers, or preschool children. In this study a total of 139 school-age and adolescent children participated in a multi-model, multi-source assessment; 22 of the children had been physically abused, 47 had been neglected, and the remainder served as comparison subjects. Parent and child interviews, teacher ratings, and data from school records were used to comprehensively assess children's school performance; social and emotional development in school, at home, in the community, and with peers; and adaptive behavior in areas such as motor skills, personal care skills, and community orientation. With the effects of socioeconomic status covaried out, results showed that the abused children displayed pervasive and severe academic and socioemotional problems. Neglected children differed little from children who were neither abused nor neglected on measures of socioemotional development, but they displayed severe academic delays. Both groups of maltreated children showed unexpected strengths on measures of adaptive behavior.

The Child Well-Being Scales: a field trial.

The Child Well-Being Scales [Magura and Moses 1986] were developed to evaluate programs of child welfare services. Although appealing in format, the scales have lacked adequate validation. For the field trial reported here, 17 of the scales were extracted and used to form measures of physical and psychological care of children. A comparison between families identified as neglectful and low-income control families yielded differences in the predicted direction. The composite indices showed good internal consistency. The concurrent validity of this segment of the scales was supported. The scales yielded three factors that reliably classified families externally verified as neglectful and nonneglectful control families.

The Maternal Characteristics Scale: a cross validation.

A device for organizing practitioners' observations, the Maternal Characteristics Scale has successfully identified traits distinguishing samples of Caucasian neglectful mothers from nonneglectful. This cross-validation tested the scale with new and more diverse samples of both mothers and practitioners. Relatedness, impulse control, confidence, and verbal accessibility were again found to be associated with vulnerability to becoming neglectful. The scale appears to be a promising diagnostic and prognostic tool in the prevention and treatment of child neglect.

Maltreatment and the school-age child: major academic, socioemotional, and adaptive outcomes.

Studies of the impact of abuse or neglect on children have focused largely on maltreated infants, toddlers, or preschool children and on single subsystems of development. In the study described in this article, 139 school-age and adolescent children who had been physically abused, who had been neglected, and who had no prior history of maltreatment participated in a multimodal, multisource assessment. The authors used parent and child interviews, teacher ratings, and data from school records to comprehensively assess older maltreated children's school performance; social and emotional development in school, at home, in the community, and with peers; and adaptive behavior in areas such as motor skills, personal care skills, and community orientation. With the effects of socioeconomic status covaried out, results showed that the abused children displayed pervasive and severe academic and socioemotional problems. Neglected children differed little from children who were neither abused nor neglected on measures of socioemotional development, but they displayed severe academic delays. Both groups of maltreated children showed unexpected strengths on measures of adaptive behavior.

The empirical base for the implementation of social skills training with maltreated children.

Empirical research on the psychosocial sequelae of child maltreatment has identified numerous and severe social skills deficits in abused and neglected children that negatively affect their healthy adjustment. Social skills training programs have been successful in helping adults and nonmaltreated children improve their skills in interpersonal communication, problem solving, self-control, assertiveness, and stress management. Such training appears promising for intervention with maltreated children. Guidelines and rationales are presented for developing social skills training programs specifically focused on the developmental and situational needs of abused and neglected children.

Child abuse and delinquency: the empirical and theoretical links.

There is an association between child abuse and delinquency, but problems with study design, definition, and method currently prevent a definitive understanding of the sequences and causal relations involved. The evidence indicates that a bidirectional relationship exists between child abuse and delinquency. A framework that uses Patterson's analysis of coercive processes suggests that child characteristics, parental inadequacies, and external stressors each play a part in child abuse and delinquency.

The psychological ecology of the neglectful mother.

Interviews were conducted with 152 neglectful mothers and with 154 non-neglectful, who were matched on race, economic status, urban/rural status and other life circumstances. The neglectful mothers reported less support available from informal networks; they also described their neighborhoods as less friendly and helpful than did the controls. However, the conclusion that neglect is related to living in settings that are socially impoverished was not supported by independent interviews with neighbors. Rather, it appeared that neglectful mothers are often isolated by those around them. Because they are seen as deviant and unlikely to reciprocate help, they do not have access to such support as there may be in their ecology. A new model is presented for preventive, community-based intervention, based on the findings of the research.