Although child neglect is the most prevalent form of child maltreatment, there has been a comparative lack of empirical research into the characteristics of neglecting families and the psychological consequences of neglect. In studying neglectful families, existing research has failed to distinguish between two forms of neglect -- denial of critical care and supervision -- and to use micro-social coding of direct observations of parent-child interactions to develop an understanding of the parent-child relations in neglecting families. The work will then be able to test the hypothesis that it is the relational aspects of neglect that determine the impact of neglect on the psychological outcome for the child. Because neglect is often associated with physical abuse and punitive discipline, the proposed research is also designed to understand the relative importance of neglect and punitive discipline in the development of children's aggression. By distinguishing between instrumental or proactive, and irritable or reactive aggression, the research will be able to determine whether neglect and punitive discipline differentially influence the development of two different kinds of aggression in young school-age children. To conduct the research and to assure a sample that is ethnically diverse and drawn from both rural and urban areas, 270 maltreating families and 270 economically disadvantaged, or high risk, families will be recruited in Iowa, Nebraska, and Wisconsin. Structural equation modeling will be used to determine the role of neglect, punitive discipline, and parent attributes, as well as the mediating influences of peer interaction and social competence, on young children's aggression. Because all of the constructs studied will be based on a multimethod/multisource approach, including direct observations of family interaction and social competence in children, and peer nomination indices of aggression, the research is designed to provide an understanding of family function and children's aggression that is not compromised by shared method and shared source variance.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01MH061731-03
Application #
6528851
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZRG1-SSS-C (01))
Program Officer
Boyce, Cheryl A
Project Start
2000-09-30
Project End
2005-08-31
Budget Start
2002-09-01
Budget End
2003-08-31
Support Year
3
Fiscal Year
2002
Total Cost
$633,963
Indirect Cost
Name
University of Iowa
Department
Psychology
Type
Schools of Arts and Sciences
DUNS #
041294109
City
Iowa City
State
IA
Country
United States
Zip Code
52242
Knutson, John F; Taber, Sarah M; Murray, Amanda J et al. (2010) The role of care neglect and supervisory neglect in childhood obesity in a disadvantaged sample. J Pediatr Psychol 35:523-32
Knutson, John F; Lawrence, Erika; Taber, Sarah M et al. (2009) Assessing children's exposure to intimate partner violence. Clin Child Fam Psychol Rev 12:157-73
Valles, Nizete-Ly; Knutson, John F (2008) Contingent responses of mothers and peers to indirect and direct aggression in preschool and school-aged children. Aggress Behav 34:497-510
Shay, Nicole L; Knutson, John F (2008) Maternal depression and trait anger as risk factors for escalated physical discipline. Child Maltreat 13:39-49
Latzman, Robert D; Knutson, John F; Fowles, Don C (2006) Schedule-induced electrodermal responding in children. Psychophysiology 43:623-32
Knutson, John F; DeGarmo, David; Koeppl, Gina et al. (2005) Care neglect, supervisory neglect, and harsh parenting in the development of children's aggression: a replication and extension. Child Maltreat 10:92-107
Sternberg, Kathleen J; Knutson, John F; Lamb, Michael E et al. (2004) The child maltreatment log: a computer-based program for describing research samples. Child Maltreat 9:30-48
Knutson, John F; Johnson, Christina R; Sullivan, Patricia M (2004) Disciplinary choices of mothers of deaf children and mothers of normally hearing children. Child Abuse Negl 28:925-37