The purpose of this research is threefold; the ultimate aim of all three phases is to provide treatment recommendations based on knowledge of causal factors in child social adjustment and of clinically-relevant subgroups of abuse families. First, an integrative causal model developed to explain factors that impact on physically abused children's social adjustment in peer interactions will be tested. Outcome measures will be collected 6 months after initial assessment of parent factors, parent- child interactions and children's social cognition, adding to the interpretation of causal mechanisms in child adjustment. The model is based on social learning theory and social information processing explanations of social behavior. The model first posits that parents' emotional health and their social cognitive processes (i.e., attributions, expectations, and problem solving approaches) have a direct impact on behavior and affect in interactions with their children. Further, interactive style of parents has a direct and indirect influence on children's social adjustment. The indirect path is proposed to be mediated by children's own social cognitive processes (i.e., attributions, generation of alternative solutions to problems, and enactment of solutions). Thus, it is proposed that parenting style and social cognition of children make independent contributions to social adjustment. Structural equation modeling using 200 abusive parents and their young children will be conducted to test the fit of the proposed and an alternative model. The second purpose of this research is to identify clinically-relevant subgroups of abusive parents that will predict differential outcomes in child social adjustment. A cluster analysis will be used to identify these subgroups, followed by an assessment of differences in parent and child characteristics across the subgroups. Finally, group comparisons of 100 abusive parents and abused children with 100 matched comparison subjects will be conducted on all major variables in order to provide an expansion and replication of prior research showing significant group differences in affect, behavior, and social cognition of abuse and nonabuse groups. Influences of parent and child gender and ethnicity will be explored in all analyses.
| Haskett, Mary E; Allaire, Jason C; Kreig, Shawn et al. (2008) Protective and vulnerability factors for physically abused children: effects of ethnicity and parenting context. Child Abuse Negl 32:567-76 |
