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In the current study, the associations between multiple types of child maltreatment (CM), parent-offspring interactions, and family cohesion were examined in an extended family study. A total of 366 parent-offspring pairs from 137 nuclear families participated. Parents (Mage = 52.8 years, age range: 26.6-88.4 years, 57% female) reported about perpetrated CM and offspring (Mage = 25.7 years, range: 7.5-65.5 years, 58% female) about experienced CM during their childhood. Parent-offspring interactions were observed during a conflict interaction task. Cohesion within the nuclear family was observed during a playful tower building task. Results showed that parents and offspring displayed more aversive behavior in parent-offspring dyads characterized by higher levels of child abuse, but not in dyads characterized by higher levels of child neglect. In addition, less dyadic affective similarity was observed in parent-offspring dyads characterized by higher levels of child neglect, whereas dyadic affective similarity was higher in dyads characterized by higher levels of child abuse. Findings imply that interventions focused on parent-offspring interactions with a somewhat different content for neglectful and abusive families may be efficacious for families in the child welfare system. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

The aim of this study was to investigate (a) the extent to which child maltreatment co-occurs with parental separation and (b) associations between different types of child maltreatment and various types of separation-associated interparental conflict. Professionals working with children ( N = 785) reported each case of suspected child maltreatment they observed during a 3-month period and indicated whether parental divorce or separation was about to take place or had taken place. This resulted in 530 reported cases that matched the definitions of child maltreatment for which information on parental relationship status was available. Most of the maltreated children (60%) also experienced (impending) parental separation. In 69% of these cases child maltreatment was associated with parental separation. Particularly, cases of emotional neglect, and emotional abuse co-occurred with parental separation. In addition, four clusters of separation-associated interparental conflict were distinguished— No observed conflict, Non-physical conflict, Verbal and physical conflict, and Multiple conflict—which were associated with child and family characteristics and specific types of child maltreatment. The results of this study suggest that child maltreatment often co-occurs with parental separation, especially when there is a considerable amount of interparental conflict.

In the context of urban slums in Makassar in Indonesia, this study aimed to test whether maternal sensitivity was associated with maternal history of childhood maltreatment, and whether this association was mediated by current partner conflict and current cumulative sociodemographic risk. A total of 98 mothers and their 2-4 year-old children were videotaped in a naturalistic observation. Maternal sensitivity was coded using the Ainsworth scales. In addition, mothers were interviewed to assess childhood trauma, current partner conflict, and current sociodemographic risk. There was a significant negative correlation between maternal experienced childhood maltreatment and observed maternal sensitivity. Current partner conflict and sociodemographic did not mediate the association between childhood maltreatment and maternal sensitivity.

The aim of the present study was to examine child maltreatment prevalence rates during the first COVID-19 related national closure of schools and childcare settings (the lockdown) in the Netherlands. Based on reports of childcare professionals and primary and secondary school teachers ( N = 444) the prevalence of child maltreatment during the 3 months of this first lockdown was estimated at almost 40,000 children, or 14 per 1,000 children. The prevalence of emotional neglect was found to be three times higher during the lockdown compared to a period without lockdown. This significant difference was reflected in overall emotional neglect as well as for two main subtypes of emotional neglect: educational neglect and witnessing domestic violence. No significant differences were found for other types of child maltreatment. Most of the reported cases of maltreatment were already problematic before the lockdown and became worse during the lockdown. The results of this study indicate that the closure of schools and childcare settings may have enormous negative consequences for vulnerable children.

The correlational nature of previous studies on household chaos does not allow claims about causal effects of household chaos. The present study used an experimental design to assess the causal effect of household chaos on stress, negative emotions, and caregiving. Ninety-six female students (18–25 years) participated in our study. They took care of an infant simulator in a normal living room (neutral condition), and a chaotic living room (chaos condition), while caregiver sensitivity was observed, operationalized as perceiving, correctly interpreting, and responding accurately and promptly to the infant's signals. Participants reported on their current emotional state, and saliva was collected four times for analysis of salivary alpha-amylase (sAA). Results showed that there were no significant time or condition effects on negative emotional state. Yet, sAA levels were higher in the chaos condition compared to the neutral condition. We found no evidence for negative emotional state or sAA mediating the relation between household chaos and caregiver sensitivity. Because household chaos affected physiological stress in a parenting situation, it should not be ignored when using interventions aimed at reducing stress in parents. More research is needed on the effect of reduced (as opposed to increased) levels of household chaos on physiological stress levels in families with young children.

Out-of-home placement decisions are complex and have a high impact on the lives of children and their parents. This study investigated whether information regarding parents' response to an attachment-based intervention impacted placement decisions and agreement among decision-makers. We presented 144 professionals and Master students with vignettes reflecting child protection cases. In addition to the standard information, half of these vignettes included a description of parents' response to an attachment-based intervention. Participants were asked to read four vignettes (randomly selected out of sixteen) and to indicate whether they would advise an out-of-home placement. Generalized Estimating Equations showed that overall, participants did not converge more in their decisions for vignettes that included a description of parents' response to an attachment-based intervention than for vignettes that contained only standard information. However, the description did increase agreement when the vignettes reflected more ambiguous cases or when parents' described response was positive. Negative descriptions of parents' response increased agreement for Master students, but not for professionals. These findings provide initial evidence that information regarding parents' response to an attachment-based intervention may enhance the quality of placement decisions.

To date, results have been inconsistent in whether mothers show higher parental sensitivity to their infant than fathers do. The context in which sensitivity is measured may play a role in these inconsistent findings, but this has not been examined yet. The aim of the current study was to test context as a source of variability in parental sensitivity, comparing maternal and paternal sensitivity to infants in four different observational settings. Participants included 109 families with their 4-month-old infants. Parental sensitivity was observed during a routine caregiving session, free play episode, and the baseline and reunion of the Still Face Procedure. Results demonstrated that parental sensitivity showed weak to strong stability (correlations) across the four contexts. Furthermore, overall levels of parental sensitivity were higher in more naturalistic contexts (routine caregiving > free play > Still Face). Lastly, mothers and fathers were overall equally sensitive across contexts. Our findings highlight the importance of taking context into account when observing parental sensitivity in research as well as practice. Furthermore, future research should examine the emergence of possible differences in maternal and paternal sensitivity over time. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

The development of social-cognitive abilities in infancy is subject to an intricate interaction between maturation of neural systems and environmental input. We investigated the role of infants’ attachment relationship quality in shaping infants’ neural responses to observed social interactions. One-hundred thirty 10-month-old infants participated in an EEG session while they watched animations involving a distressing separation event that ended with either comforting or ignoring behavior. Frontal asymmetry (FA) in the alpha range - which is indicative of approach-withdrawal tendencies - was measured with EEG. Attachment quality was assessed using the Strange Situation procedure at 12 months. Overall, infants with disorganized attachment showed a lack of right-sided – withdrawal related – FA compared to secure and insecure infants. Furthermore, only avoidant infants exhibited reduced right-sided FA responses following the separation. Contrary to our expectations, the type of response (comforting vs. ignoring) did not elicit differences in FA patterns, and attachment quality did not moderate the effects of the type of response on frontal asymmetry. Implications for research on attachment-related biases in social information processing and on the neural underpinnings of prosocial behaviors are discussed.

This study represents the first video observation of parenting practices conducted in Yemen, where women are generally fully veiled, showing only their eyes, in the presence of strangers. A total of 62 mothers and children (aged 2-6 years) were filmed in their homes for 15 minutes during free interaction. The mothers' veils did not hamper the coding of sensitivity. Consistent with the socioeconomically deprived context, average sensitivity levels were low, but over 25% of mothers were rated as (very) sensitive. Mothers with a higher educational level and those experiencing more social support were more sensitive. About half of the mothers had their child perform household chores, which was related to lower sensitivity. Observations revealed frequent looking at the camera. Almost half of the mothers verbally expressed insecurity about the videotaping, and a third expressed awareness of being filmed. Interestingly however, these behaviors were unrelated to Ainsworth ratings of maternal sensitivity.

Narrative coherence reflects parents' ability to provide a believable, clear, relevant, and internally consistent story about their child. Parents demonstrating more narrative coherence have been theorized to show higher parental sensitivity, but this has not been examined in a normative sample, nor across the transition to parenthood, and only once in fathers. The aim of this study was to examine stability and change in narrative coherence across the transition to parenthood in mothers and fathers, as well as the relation between pre- and postnatal narrative coherence and postnatal parental sensitivity. The sample consisted of 105 primiparous expecting parents. Narrative coherence was measured at 36-weeks pregnancy and when the child was 4 months old, using the Five Minute Speech Sample procedure. Parental sensitivity was observed in three episodes. Results demonstrated that narrative coherence was moderately stable (correlations) across the transition to parenthood in fathers only. Both mothers' and fathers' narrative coherence improved over time. Furthermore, mothers and fathers were overall equally coherent, and maternal and paternal narrative coherence were positively interrelated during pregnancy only. Lastly, our findings showed weak evidence for the theorized link between narrative coherence and parental sensitivity: only postnatal narrative coherence predicted paternal sensitivity, only during free play. Our findings give new insight in the development of narrative coherence across the transition to parenthood, and how it relates to actual parenting. More research is needed to confirm our findings and further explore this topic.

Background Definitions of child maltreatment vary between studies, and few are informed by research in non-Western countries. Objective We examined attitudes about child maltreatment in China and the Netherlands. Participants and setting The sample consisted of 304 participants from three groups (mothers, fathers, and teachers) and two countries (China and the Netherlands). Methods Participants completed the Maltreatment Q-sort in which 90 items reflecting four types of child maltreatment (physical abuse, emotional abuse, physical neglect, and emotional neglect) are divided in 9 stacks of 10 cards from least (1) to most (9) damaging to the child. Results The average within-country (r = .57) and within-group (r = .58) agreement about the order of harmfulness of the behaviors did not differ from the average between-country (r = .49) and between-group (r = .53) agreement. Physical abuse was seen as the most harmful form of child maltreatment and emotional neglect as the least harmful form (pƞ2 = .88). Higher thresholds were found for labeling the behaviors as child maltreatment, and the perceived need for intervention by a professional than for the need for intervention by a non-professional (pƞ2 = .67). These thresholds were higher for Chinese than for Dutch participants (pƞ2 = .31). Conclusions The areas of agreement found are promising because successful collaboration within and between countries and groups could lead to more successful prevention and intervention of child maltreatment. The difference between China and the Netherlands however, stresses the importance of cultural sensitivity when implementing child maltreatment prevention and intervention programs.

Research is demonstrating the effectiveness of attachment-based interventions for maltreating families. However, parents' own traumatic childhood experiences may interfere with treatment effects. The current study investigated in a sample of maltreating families whether effects of the Attachment Video-feedback Intervention (AVI) on parent-child interactive quality were moderated by parental childhood trauma. Families were randomized to receive AVI (n= 29) or a Psychoeducative intervention (PI;n= 19), or they were in anon-randomized comparison group (RS;n= 40). Parents filled out the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire and videotapes of parent-child interactions were coded for interactive quality. Parents who received AVI showed improved parent-child interactive quality compared to parents in PI and RS groups. However, parents with more severe levels of childhood trauma showed less improvements. Future research should explore whether clinical attention with a specific focus on trauma would increase treatement effects.

Contains fulltext : 226861.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access) Indiscriminate friendliness (IF) is atypical behavior often seen in postinstitutionalized and foster children. The current exploratory study examined the associations of children's attachment security, parental sensitivity, and child inhibitory control with reported and observed IF in 60 family-reared, never-institutionalized foster children. IF was measured with a parent-report questionnaire (Indiscriminate Friendliness Questionnaire) and an observational measure (adapted version of the Stranger at the Door procedure; Bucharest Early Intervention Project). Attachment security and inhibitory control were related to reported IF (i.e., a secure attachment and poor inhibitory control were associated with higher levels of IF), but parental sensitivity was not. No associations were found between observed IF and attachment security, parental sensitivity, or inhibitory control. Thus, foster children with a secure attachment relationship may be more prone to socially interact with others including strangers, whereas better inhibitory control may serve as a buffer against IF but these results were found for reported IF only. More research is needed to gain more knowledge about different measures, other possible correlates, and underlying mechanisms of IF. 18 p.

Previous research has linked higher levels of household chaos to parenting problems, but it is not clear whether household chaos actually causes parenting problems. In this study, we used an experimental design in which levels of household chaos were manipulated to test the effect of household chaos on caregiver sensitivity. As sensory-processing sensitivity has been linked to the perception of household chaos, we also tested whether household chaos has a stronger effect on participants with higher sensory-processing sensitivity. Ninety-six young adults (nonparents) visited our lab twice and took care of an infant simulator in a lab furnished like a living room. In the neutral condition the room was orderly and calm, and in the chaos condition it was cluttered, noisy and smaller (order counterbalanced). Caregiver sensitivity was observed, and sensory-processing sensitivity was measured through questionnaires and observational data. Multilevel modeling showed caregiver sensitivity decreased over time in both conditions and that condition had a small effect on caregiver sensitivity, with sensitivity being lower in the chaos condition. We found that participants with higher sensory sensitivity decreased faster in the chaos condition than in the neutral condition. According to our findings, household chaos leads to less positive caregiving behavior and parents with higher sensory sensitivity may be more affected by household chaos. Thus, reducing household chaos may be effective in promoting positive parenting. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Even though Parenting Capacity Assessments (PCAs) are essential for child protection services to support placement decisions for maltreating families, presently no evidence-based PCA protocols are available. In this randomized controlled trial, we tested the quality of an attachment-based PCA protocol based on Video-feedback Intervention to promote Positive Parenting and Sensitive Discipline (VIPP-SD). We recruited 56 parent-child dyads (MA pesar de que las Evaluaciones de Capacidad de Crianza (PCA) son esenciales para los servicios de protección al niño para apoyar las decisiones de dónde colocarlo por razones de familias maltratadoras, en el presente no se encuentran disponibles ningún protocolo PCA basado en la evidencia. En este ensayo controlado al azar, pusimos a prueba la calidad de un protocolo PCA basado en la afectividad para lo cual nos basamos en la Intervención de Video Informativo para promover una Crianza Positiva y Disciplina Sensible (VIPP-SD). Reclutamos 56 díadas de progenitor-niño (edad promedio de los niños = 3.48 años) en clínicas residenciales de familias holandesas que utilizan las PCA para apoyar las decisiones de dónde colocar. Después del pre-examen, las familias fueron asignadas al azar para recibir el Procedimiento de Evaluación Regular (RAP) (n = 28), o una evaluación adicional basada en VIPP-SD (n = 28). Se llevaron a cabo un examen posterior inmediato y un seguimiento a los 10 meses. Los modelos de niveles múltiples mostraron que los terapeutas se sintieron igualmente confiados acerca de sus recomendaciones con respecto a dónde colocar al niño en ambos grupos y que ellos igualmente modificaron a menudo su recomendación inicial de dónde colocarlo. Es más, los niños en el grupo VIPP-SD no mostraron menos problemas de conducta y no experimentaron maltrato infantil recurrente menos a menudo que los niños en el grupo RAP. Por tanto, no encontramos evidencia de que las PCA que incorporan el protocolo VIPP-SD tuvieran mejores resultados que las PCA en su forma usual. Discutimos posibles explicaciones de por qué en el presente estudio los VIPP-SD no parecieron agregar nada a la calidad de RAP.Contexte: Des interventions favorables et ciblées pour les familles sont nécessaires afin d'optimiser l'ajustement parental et la relation parent-bébé conformément à un diagnostic précédant de risque neurodéveloppemental pour les bébés. Buts: Le but de cette revue systématique était de déterminer l'efficacité des interventions pour l'amélioration de l'ajustement psychologique et le bien-être pour les parents ayant un bébé ayant été diagnostiqué comme ayant ou étant à risque d'avoir un trouble neurodéveloppemental. Méthodes: La stratégie de recherche du Cochrane Review Group a été suivie avec une recherche des essais contrôlés du Registre Cochrane Central, de PubMed, CINAHL, PsycINFO, et Embase entre juillet et décembre 2017. La qualité méthodologique des articles inclus a été évaluée au moyen de l’échelle de la base de données de preuve de physiothérapie (PEDro Physiotherapy Evidence Database) par deux évaluateurs indépendants. Résultats: Douze études ont rempli les critères d'inclusion. Un petit nombre d'essais de grande qualité ont révélé une efficacité modérée à importante de la réduction chez les parents de symptômes psychologiques indésirables de trauma et de stress des parents. Des améliorations importantes dans les symptômes de dépression et d'anxiété ont émergé lors de follow up post intervention à plus long terme (6 mois-8 ans). Conclusions: On constate un soutien prometteur pour l'efficacité de certaines interventions à réduire les symptômes psychologiques de mésadaptation chez les parents avec des bébés diagnostiqués comme étant à risque d'un trouble neurodéveloppemental. D'autres ECR de qualité d'intervention psychologiques portant sur les conditions plus grandes de risque neurodéveloppemental sont nécessaires.Die Wirksamkeit einer bindungsbasierten Intervention zur Beurteilung der elterlichen Kapazitäten in Familien mit häuslicher Gewalt: Eine randomisierte kontrollierte Studie Eine Beurteilung der elterlichen Kapazitäten (Parenting Capacity Assessments; PCAs) ist für die Kinder- und Jugendhilfe unerlässlich, um Entscheidungen zur Unterbringung von Kindern zu treffen, die von häuslicher Gewalt betroffen sind. Trotzdem sind derzeit keine evidenzbasierten PCA-Protokolle verfügbar. In dieser randomisierten kontrollierten Studie haben wir die Qualität eines bindungsbasierten PCA-Protokolls untersucht, das auf einer Video-Feedback-Intervention basiert, um positive Erziehungskompetenz und sensibles Maßregeln (Positive Parenting and Sensitive Discipline; VIPP-SD) zu fördern. Wir haben 56 Eltern-Kind-Dyaden (mittleres Alter der Kinder = 3,48 Jahre) in niederländischen Familienheimkliniken rekrutiert, in denen PCAs durchführt werden, um Entscheidungen zur Unterbringung von Kindern zu treffen. Nach dem Prä-Test wurden die Familien randomisiert und erhielten entweder das reguläre Beurteilungsverfahren (Regular Assessment Procedure; RAP) (n = 28) oder eine zusätzliche Beurteilung basierend auf VIPP-SD (n = 28). Nach der Beurteilung folgte ein sofortiger Post-Test und nach 10 Monaten ein Follow-up. Multilevel Modelle ergaben, dass sich die Therapeut_innen hinsichtlich ihrer Empfehlungen zur Unterbringung der Kinder in beiden Gruppen gleichermaßen sicher fühlten und dass sie ihre erste Unterbringungsempfehlungen gleichermaßen häufig revidierten. Darüber hinaus zeigten Kinder in der VIPP-SD-Gruppe nicht weniger Verhaltensprobleme und erlebten nicht seltener wiederkehrende Misshandlungen als Kinder in der RAP-Gruppe. Daher fanden wir keine Hinweise darauf, dass PCAs, die das VIPP-SD-Protokoll enthalten, gegenüber den üblichen PCAs einen Vorteil haben. Mögliche Erklärungen, warum VIPP-SD in der vorliegenden Studie die Qualität des RAP nicht zu verbessern schien, werden diskutiert.虐待する家族の育児能力の評価におけるアタッチメントに基づく介入の効果:ランダム化比較試験 育児能力評価(PCAs) は、児童保護サービスにとって、虐待する家族に対しての 配置決定を裏付けるために必要不可欠であるが、現在エビデンスに基づくPCAプ ロトコルはない。本研究のランダム化比較試験において、我々は、“積極的な子 育てと繊細なしつけを促進するためのビデオ・フィードバック介入(VIPP-SD)”を 基にしたアタッチメントに基づくPCAプロトコルの質をテストした。我々は、配 置決定を裏付けるPCAsを実施しているオランダの家族滞在クリニックで、56組の 親子 (子どもの平均年齢:3.48歳) を採用した。事前テスト後、家族は通常の評 価手順(RAP) (n = 28)を受けるか、VIPP-SDを基にした追加の評価(n = 28)を受 けるかを、無作為に選ばれた。直後のテストと10ヶ月のフォローアップが実施さ れた。マルチレベルモデルは、セラピストが両グループとも子どもの配置に関す る自分たちの提案に等しく自信を感じていること、また自分達の最初の配置提案 を等しい頻度で変更していることを示していた。さらに、VIPP-SD グループの子 ども達は、RAPグループの子ども達より、より少ない行動問題を示すということ はなく、またより少ない児童虐待の再発を体験しないということもなかった。以 上のように、VIPP-SD プロトコルを取り入れたPCAs が、通常のPCAs より優れて いるという証拠は見られなかった。本研究においてVIPP-SDがRAPの 質を向上さ せるように見られなかった理由について考えられる解釈を議論する。.尽管育儿能力评估 (PCAs) 对儿童保护服务至关重要, 以支持虐待型家庭的安置决策, 但目前还没有循证PCA方案。在这项随机对照试验中, 我们测试了基于“积极养育和敏感管教的视频反馈干预 (VIPP-SD)”的PCA干预方案的质量。我们在荷兰家庭寄宿诊所招募了56对母婴 (儿童平均年龄 = 3.48) 进行PCAs以支持安置决策。经过预测试后, 家庭被随机分配以接受常规评估程序 (RAP) (n = 28), 或根据VIPP-SD (n = 28) 进行额外评估。开展了一次即时后测和10个月随访。多层次模型显示, 治疗师对两组儿童安置的建议同样有信心, 而且他们同样经常修改最初的安置建议。此外, 与RAP组相比, VIPP-SD组的儿童没有表现出更少的行为问题, 也没有经历反复的儿童虐待。因此, 我们没有发现任何证据表明, 采用VIPP-SD方案的PCAs的质量优于常规PCAs。我们讨论了可能的解释, 为什么在目前的研究中VIPP-SD似乎没有增加RAP的质量。.التعلق وتنظيم الإجهاد عند الأطفال المحرومين اجتماعيا ً واقتصادياً: هل تقدم رعاية الأطفال العامة التعويض المطلوب؟ الأطفال الذين ينشأون في أسر تعاني من الحرمان الاجتماعي والاقتصادي (SED) هم أكثر عرضة للعجز في التعلق وتنظيم الإجهاد مقارنة بأقرانهم في الأسر ذات الموارد الاجتماعية والاقتصادية الأكثر. افترضت هذه الدراسة أن مقدمي الرعاية في الرعاية العامة للأطفال قد يساعدون هؤلاء الأطفال على التعويض. ولذلك قمنا بالتحقيق مع 60 طفلاً (30 طفل من الفئات المحرومة اجتماعيا واقتصاديا و30 طفل من الطبقة المتوسطة) وقيمنا تعلق الأطفال(AQS) بالأم ومقدم الرعاية الأولية في مراكز رعاية الطفل العامة. وعلاوة على ذلك، تم قياس إيقاع الكورتيزول اليومي للأطفال على أساس 12 عينة من اللعاب تؤخذ عبر ثلاثة أيام في الأسبوع. وأظهر الأطفال المحرومون درجات أقل على مقياسAQS مع أمهاتهم مقارنة بمقدمي الرعاية. بالمقارنة مع نظرائهم، أظهر الأطفال المحرومون أيضًا إفراز كورتيزول متزايد وملامح الكورتيزول التملقية التي تعكس أنشطةHPA العالية بشكل عام وقدرات أقل لتنظيم الإجهاد. وأبرزها ومع ذلك، ربط نمذجة المسار متعدد المستويات أعلى مستوى الرعايةAQS عشرات لخفض الإفراج الكورتيزول على مدار الأسبوع.

Analyses of the present data are reported in the article “Crossing Boundaries: A Pilot Study of Maternal Attitudes about Child Maltreatment in Nine Countries” [8]. Data were collected during home visits using the Maltreatment Q-Sort (MQS). A total of 466 mothers from nine different countries gave their opinion about child maltreatment by sorting 90 cards with parenting behaviors taken from the literature that reflect four types of child maltreatment, into 9 evenly distributed stacks (with 10 cards each) from least to most harmful for the child. This data article provides an overview of the content of the 90 items, which type of maltreatment they reflect, and the source of the items. The percentage of mothers labelling each of the MQS items as maltreatment is also presented. In addition, instructions are included about the administration of the MQS as well as data-entry and analyses of Q-sort data, accompanied by example datasets and syn- taxes. This can serve as a manual for researchers interested in using Q-sort data., (undefined)

Background: The third Netherlands' Prevalence study of Maltreatment of children and youth (NPM-2017) continues the tradition of periodically mapping the national prevalence of child maltreatment.Objective: The NPM-2017 provides an update of the current prevalence rates of child maltreatment and of changes in its prevalence over the last 12 years. In addition, risk factors for child maltreatment and its co-occurrence with domestic violence were investigated.Participants and Setting: Prevalence data were based on cases reported to 'Safe at Home' organizations (former CPS agencies) and observations of professionals working with children (sentinels).Methods: Sentinels (N = 785) filled out a form for each case of suspected child maltreatment that they observed within their professional sample during a three-month period.Results: An overall prevalence estimate of child maltreatment in the Netherlands in 2017 of 26-37 per 1000 children was computed. The most important risk factors for child maltreatment were low parental education (RR = 4.95), parental unemployment (RR = 3.64), immigrant status (RR = 3.61), and single parenthood (RR = 2.29). Neither prevalence rates nor risk factors changed significantly between 2005, 2010, and 2017. Finally, in 46 % of the reported families child maltreatment occurred in a context of domestic violence.Conclusions: The prevalence of co-occurring domestic violence may indicate that family violence observed within one dyad could be a marker for dysfunctional functioning of the family system. Child maltreatment remains a considerable problem in the Netherlands with a stable prevalence over the last 12 years and stability in characteristics that make families vulnerable for child maltreatment.

Decisions regarding out-of-home placement of children are complicated and of high impact for children and parents. Previous studies show low agreement between professionals on these decisions, and research regarding the influence of characteristics of decision-makers on the content of the decisions taken remains inconclusive. This study explored the relation between general and psychological characteristics of 144 professionals (child welfare professionals, children’s court judges, and master students) using vignettes and questionnaires. Professionals’ mind-set regarding the ability of parents to achieve change (parent-specific mind-set) and their attitude toward the harmfulness of out-of-home placements were related to their decision-making. General decision-maker factors (the professional’s background and work experience), the mind-set toward the ability of people in general to change (dispositional mind-set), and professionals’ attitude toward the effectiveness of out-of-home placements were not related to their decisions. This field of practice needs to reflect on the role of implicit beliefs in making placement decisions about children.

In the current study a three-generational design was used to investigate intergenerational transmission of child maltreatment (ITCM) using multiple sources of information on child maltreatment: mothers, fathers and children. A total of 395 individuals from 63 families reported on maltreatment. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was used to combine data from mother, father and child about maltreatment that the child had experienced. This established components reflecting the convergent as well as the unique reports of father, mother and child on the occurrence of maltreatment. Next, we tested ITCM using the multi-informant approach and compared the results to those of two more common approaches: ITCM based on one reporter and ITCM based on different reporters from each generation. Results of our multi-informant approach showed that a component reflecting convergence between mother, father, and child reports explained most of the variance in experienced maltreatment. For abuse, intergenerational transmission was consistently found across approaches. In contrast, intergenerational transmission of neglect was only found using the perspective of a single reporter, indicating that transmission of neglect might be driven by reporter effects. In conclusion, the present results suggest that including multiple informants may be necessary to obtain more valid estimates of ITCM.

The primary goal of the current study was to replicate our previous study in which was found that negative maternal attributions mediate the association between parenting stress and harsh and abusive discipline. In addition, we investigated this association in fathers, and added observational parenting data. During two home visits mothers and fathers were observed with their children (age 1.5-6.0 years), filled in questionnaires, and completed the Parental Attributions of Child behavior Task (PACT; a computerized attribution task). Similar to our previous study, negative parental attributions mediated the relation between parenting stress and self-reported harsh and abusive parenting for both mothers and fathers. For mothers, this mediation effect was also found in the relation between parenting stress and lower levels of observed supportive parenting in a challenging disciplinary task. In addition, the relation of partner-related stress and abuse risk with harsh, abusive, and (low) supportive parenting were also mediated by maternal negative attributions. When parenting stress, partner-related stress, and abuse risk were studied in one model, only parenting stress remained significant. Results are discussed in terms of the importance of targeting parental attributions for prevention and intervention purposes in families experiencing stress.

The current randomized controlled trial examined the effectiveness of Video-feedback Intervention to promote Positive Parenting and Sensitive Discipline in Foster Care (VIPP-FC) on parenting behavior and attitudes in foster parents (N = 60, 31–61 years, 83% female). The intervention group (n = 30) received VIPP-FC, consisting of six sessions. During the first four sessions, a specific theme from Video-feedback Intervention to promote Positive Parenting and Sensitive Discipline (VIPP-SD; e.g., attachment vs. exploration behavior), and an additional foster care theme (e.g., subtle or missing attachment signals) are discussed. Each theme is discussed during the consecutive sessions and the last two sessions are booster sessions during which all themes are discussed. The control group (n = 30) received a dummy intervention consisting of six telephone calls about general child developmental topics. The Ainsworth Scales for sensitivity and non-interference, the Erickson scale for supportive presence, and the Questionnaire Attitudes towards Parenting were used to measure parental sensitivity, sensitive discipline, and attitudes towards parenting, respectively. The intervention and control group did not differ on demographic characteristics or outcome variables at pretest. Multilevel analyses based on the intent-to-treat principle yielded no evidence that VIPP-FC was more effective in improving foster parents’ sensitive parenting behavior or eliciting more positive attitudes compared to the control condition. We suggest that the outcomes in this study may be explained by a possible selection bias, which may have resulted in a ceiling effect. Future research might include foster families that experience more severe challenges (i.e., elevated levels of child behavior problems) or indicate a need for help and support.

The coherence of parents' narratives about their children, which is the extent to which descriptions are accepting, consistent and complex, are thought to reflect optimal information processing of interpersonal relations and as such facilitate sensitive and responsive parenting. However, despite recent meta-analytic findings that have demonstrated links between the nature of prenatal thoughts and feelings about the unborn infant and later parenting, studies have yet to examine the narrative coherence of expectant parents' descriptions of their infant and future parent-child relationship. This study reports on the novel use of the 5-minute speech sample to capture variation in the coherence of 400 first-time expectant parents' narratives describing their unborn infant and future relationship with them. On average, both expectant mothers and fathers struggled to provide a coherent description of their unborn infant. Coherence ratings did not show within-couple associations and were not related to either demographic characteristics, depressive symptoms or mode of conception (e.g., use of assisted reproductive technologies). An actor-partner interdependence model did however demonstrate that reduced couple relationship quality and life satisfaction were associated with lower levels of narrative coherence in fathers, but not mothers. Model constraints illustrated the coherence of expectant fathers' narratives about their infant and future parent-child relationship may be particularly vulnerable to the influence of the couple relationship. Future longitudinal work is needed to establish the direction of this effect, to explore the stability of narrative coherence across the transition to parenthood and to study links with postnatal parent-child interaction quality and child outcomes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Child-driven genetic factors can contribute to negative parenting and may increase the risk of being maltreated. Experiencing childhood maltreatment may be partly heritable, but results of twin studies are mixed. In the current study, we used a cross-sectional extended family design to estimate genetic and environmental effects on experiencing child maltreatment. The sample consisted of 395 individuals (225 women; M age = 38.85 years, rangeage = 7–88 years) from 63 families with two or three participating generations. Participants were oversampled for experienced maltreatment. Self-reported experienced child maltreatment was measured using a questionnaire assessing physical and emotional abuse, and physical and emotional neglect. All maltreatment phenotypes were partly heritable with percentages for h 2 ranging from 30% ( SE = 13%) for neglect to 62% ( SE = 19%) for severe physical abuse. Common environmental effects ( c 2) explained a statistically significant proportion of variance for all phenotypes except for the experience of severe physical abuse ( c 2 = 9%, SE = 13%, p = .26). The genetic correlation between abuse and neglect was ρg = .73 ( p = .02). Common environmental variance increased as socioeconomic status (SES) decreased ( p = .05), but additive genetic and unique environmental variances were constant across different levels of SES.

In an experimental within-subjects research design, we studied the theoretical assumption that stress predicts negative parental attributions, which until now was mainly studied using cross-sectional study designs. During home visits to 105 families, mothers and fathers were subjected to two experimental conditions and two control conditions. In the experimental conditions, parents completed the Parental Attributions of Child behavior Task (PACT, a computerized attribution task) under two different stressful conditions (i.e., cognitive load and white noise); in the control conditions, the PACT was completed without additional stressors. Furthermore, parents completed questionnaires about existing risk factors (i.e., partner-related stress, parenting stress, and abuse risk). There were no main effects of induced stress on attributions for fathers and mothers, but we found that a combination of induced situational stress (cognitive load) and high risk resulted in the most negative parental attributions in mothers. The discussion focuses on intensity and origin of stressors, comparison between mother and father attributions, implications for interventions, and possible future research directions.

Foster and adoptive parents often face challenges while taking care of children who, due to their adverse early life experiences, are at risk of developing insecure attachment relationships, behavior problems, and stress dysregulation. Several intervention programs have been developed to help foster and adoptive parents to overcome these challenges. In the current study, a series of eight meta-analyses were performed to examine the effectiveness of these intervention programs on four parent outcomes (sensitive parenting,k= 11,N= 684; dysfunctional discipline,k= 4,N= 239; parenting knowledge and attitudes,k= 7,N= 535; parenting stress,k= 18,N= 1,306), three child outcomes (attachment security,k= 6,N= 395; behavior problems,k= 33,N= 2,661; diurnal cortisol levels,k= 3,N= 261), and placement disruption (k= 7,N= 1,100). Results show positive effects for the four parent outcomes and child behavior problems, but not for attachment security, child diurnal cortisol levels, or placement disruption. Indirect effects on child outcomes may be delayed, and therefore long-term follow-up studies are needed to examine the effects of parenting interventions on children.

The present study examined maternal religiosity as an underlying cultural factor in the effect of harsh physical parenting on child behavioral problems. Data was collected via a discipline observational task, religiosity-based vignettes, and a questionnaire in a group of 62 mothers and their children in slum areas in Yemen. Moderation and mediation models were tested, where the role of maternal religiosity as a predictor and a moderator in the association between harsh physical parenting and child behavioral problems was explored. Findings showed no direct association between harsh physical parenting, maternal religiosity, and child behavioral problems. However, maternal religiosity was found to significantly moderate the relationship between harsh physical parenting and child behavioral problems such that the positive association between harsh physical parenting and child behavior problems was stronger when parents were more religious. Implications of the moderating role of maternal religiosity on the association between harsh physical parenting and child behavioral problems are discussed.

Negative parental attributions are related to parent and family stressors and are thought to be important predictors of subsequent disciplinary actions and, potentially, abusive parenting. We examined if negative parental attributions mediate the relation between daily stressors (i.e., low SES, parenting stress, partner-related stress) parents' own history of child maltreatment, and harsh and abusive parenting. Mothers (n=53) completed a computerized attribution task and reported on daily stressors, their own history of child maltreatment and their discipline strategies. Mothers' negative parental attributions mediated the association between parenting stress (but not the other stressors) and harsh and abusive discipline. These finding implicate that interventions to decrease (the risk of) child abuse should not only focus on reducing abuse-related stressors, but also target negative parental attributions.

Parent-child agreement on child maltreatment was examined in a multigenerational study. Questionnaires on perpetrated and experienced child maltreatment were completed by 138 parent-child pairs. Multi-level analyses were conducted to explore whether parents and children agreed about levels of parent-to-child maltreatment (convergence), and to examine whether parents and children reported equal levels of child maltreatment (absolute differences). Direct and moderating effects of age and gender were examined as potential factors explaining differences between parent and child report. The associations between parent- and child-reported maltreatment were significant for all subtypes, but the strength of the associations was low to moderate. Moreover, children reported more parent-to-child neglect than parents did. Older participants reported more experienced maltreatment than younger participants, without evidence for differences in actual exposure. These findings support the value of multi-informant assessment of child maltreatment to improve accuracy, but also reveal the divergent perspectives of parents and children on child maltreatment.

Insight into the effects of methodological characteristics on reported child maltreatment prevalence rates can facilitate the interpretation of results of previous studies and improve the design of future prevalence studies. We reviewed findings from four previous meta-analyses (Stoltenborgh et al., 2011, 2012, 2013a, 2013b) on methodological moderators in self-report prevalence studies on child sexual (k = 323, N = 410,951), physical (k = 157, N = 250,167) and emotional abuse (k = 42, N = 76,586), and physical (k = 13, N = 59 406) and emotional neglect (k = 16, N = 59 655). We provide an overview of the moderating effects of participant characteristics (e.g. age), the sampling method and measurement characteristics (e.g. validation). No characteristic was without influence, but specific characteristics were significant moderators for certain types of abuse and not for others. This implies that the wide range of lifetime prevalence rates reported in the literature can partly be explained by methodological differences. Our best-evidence synthesis (sexual abuse: k = 4, N = 52 749; physical abuse: k = 2, N = 40 341; emotional abuse: k = 6, N = 4029; emotional neglect: k = 3, N = 3226) suggests that depending on the methodological characteristic under consideration a certain prevalence rate can be an over- or underestimation of the actual prevalence. Taking methodological characteristics' influence into consideration and choosing a sound methodology can help to get as close as possible to the actual child maltreatment prevalence. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. ‘We reviewed findings from four previous meta-analyses on methodological moderators in self-report prevalence studies on child sexual, physical and emotional abuse, and physical and emotional neglect’ Key Practitioner Messages The methodological quality of studies affects the reported lifetime prevalence rates of child maltreatment, but the direction of this effect depends on the indicator of methodological quality. A higher response rate is related to a higher reported lifetime prevalence of child maltreatment for all maltreatment types except physical abuse. A sound study design and methodology can help researchers to get as close as possible to the actual lifetime prevalence of child maltreatment.

It has long been claimed that “maltreatment begets maltreatment,” that is, a parent's history of maltreatment increases the risk that his or her child will also suffer maltreatment. However, significant methodological concerns have been raised regarding evidence supporting this assertion, with some arguing that the association weakens in samples with higher methodological rigor. In the current study, the intergenerational transmission of maltreatment hypothesis is examined in 142 studies (149 samples; 227,918 dyads) that underwent a methodological quality review, as well as data extraction on a number of potential moderator variables. Results reveal a modest association of intergenerational maltreatment (k = 80; d = 0.45, 95% confidence interval; CI [0.37, 0.54]). Support for the intergenerational transmission of specific maltreatment types was also observed (neglect: k = 13, d = 0.24, 95% CI [0.11, 0.37]; physical abuse: k = 61, d = 0.41, 95% CI [0.33, 0.49]; emotional abuse: k = 18, d = 0.57, 95% CI [0.43, 0.71]; sexual abuse: k = 18, d = 0.39, 95% CI [0.24, 0.55]). Methodological quality only emerged as a significant moderator of the intergenerational transmission of physical abuse, with a weakening of effect sizes as methodological rigor increased. Evidence from this meta-analysis confirms the cycle of maltreatment hypothesis, although effect sizes were modest. Future research should focus on deepening understanding of mechanisms of transmission, as well as identifying protective factors that can effectively break the cycle of maltreatment.

Child maltreatment has been associated with various cumulative risk factors. However, little is known about the extent to which genetic and environmental factors contribute to individual differences between parents in perpetrating child maltreatment. To estimate the relative contribution of genetic and environmental factors to perpetrating maltreatment we used a parent-based extended family design. Child-reported perpetrated maltreatment was available for 556 parents (283 women) from 63 families. To explore reporter effects (i.e., child perspective on maltreatment), child reports were compared to multi-informant reports. Based on polygenic model analyses, most of the variance related to the perpetration of physical abuse and emotional neglect was explained by common environmental factors (physical abuse: c2 = 59%, SE = 12%, p = .006; emotional neglect: c2 = 47%, SE = 8%, p < .001) whereas genetic factors did not significantly contribute to the model. For perpetrated emotional abuse, in contrast, genetic factors did significantly contribute to perpetrated emotional abuse (h2 = 33%, SE = 8%, p < .001), whereas common environment factors did not. Multi-informant reports led to similar estimates of genetic and common environmental effects on all measures except for emotional abuse, where a multi-informant approach yielded higher estimates of the common environmental effects. Overall, estimates of unique environment, including measurement error, were lower using multi-informant reports. In conclusion, our findings suggest that genetic pathways play a significant role in perpetrating emotional abuse, while physical abuse and emotional neglect are transmitted primarily through common environmental factors. These findings imply that interventions may need to target different mechanisms dependings on maltreatment type.

Most still‐face paradigm (SFP) studies have been done in Western families with infant–mother dyads. The present study investigated the SFP pattern in 123 Dutch and 63 Chinese 4‐month‐old infants with mothers and fathers. The classic SFP effect was found for positive affect and gaze in both countries. For negative affect, Chinese infants showed a different SFP pattern than Dutch infants. With fathers, in-fants displayed a less pronounced SFP pattern for positive affect and an increase from the still face to the reunion for negative affect. Only a minority of infants showed the ex-pected SFP pattern across episodes. Our findings support that infant emotion expression is influenced by parent gen-der and cultural context. An interesting avenue for further study is the exploration of the origins of within‐ and be-tween‐gender and culture differences in affective communi-cation between parents and infants.

Although childhood maltreatment has been shown to compromise adaptive parental behavior, little is known what happens in terms of physiological regulation when parents with a history of childhood maltreatment interact with their offspring. Using a sample of 229 parents (131 women), the present study examined whether childhood maltreatment experiences are associated with parents’ behavioral and autonomic responses while resolving conflict with their offspring. Self‐reported experienced child maltreatment was measured using a questionnaire assessing abuse and neglect. Parents (Mage = 52.7 years, rangeage = 26.6–88.4 years) and their offspring (Mage = 24.6 years, rangeage = 7.5–65.6 years) participated in a videotaped parent–offspring conflict interaction task. Parental warmth, negativity, and emotional support were coded. In addition, their pre‐ejection period and respiratory sinus arrhythmia were measured as indicators of underlying sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system reactivity, respectively. Findings demonstrated that experiences of abuse and neglect were associated with behavioral and physiological responses in different ways. Separating these two types of maltreatment in research and in clinical practice might be important.

This study aims to explore possible risk factors for child maltreatment in Vietnam by investigating the association of child and family factors with different types of child maltreatment (i.e., sexual abuse, physical abuse, emotional abuse, witnessing parental conflict, and neglect) and the occurrence of multiple types of child maltreatment. Cross-sectional data of 1,851 secondary and high school students aged 12 to 17 years (47.3% boys) in four provinces of Northern Vietnam were obtained using self-report questionnaires. Results indicated that the likelihood of emotional abuse, witnessing parental conflict, and experiencing multiple types of child maltreatment during lifetime increased with age. Boys had a higher risk than girls on lifetime sexual abuse, and past year and lifetime physical abuse. Living in a single parent family was the risk factor related to most types of child maltreatment including lifetime sexual abuse, neglect, and multiple types of child maltreatment, and both past year and lifetime witnessing parental conflict. Interestingly, low socioeconomic status (SES) and parental unemployment were associated with a decreased risk on experiencing emotional abuse in the past year and during lifetime, respectively. “Tiger parenting,” a parenting style observed frequently in East Asian parents, may be more common in families with high SES and might explain this finding. This study highlights the importance of prioritizing single parent families in parenting programs and implementing child maltreatment interventions early because of the risk on child maltreatment increased with age. More research on emotional abuse and “Tiger parenting” in Vietnam could clarify the association of emotional abuse with high SES and parental employment. Finally, the underlying mechanisms of the risk factors in Vietnam should be studied more to inform interventions.

In the context of urban slums in Makassar in Indonesia, this study aimed to test whether maternal sensitivity was predicted by maternal history of childhood maltreatment, and whether this associati...

In the current study associations between parents’ experiences of childhood maltreatment and their perceptual, behavioral and autonomic responses to infant emotional signals were examined in a sample of 160 parents. Experienced maltreatment (both physical and emotional abuse and neglect) was reported by the participants and, in approximately half of the cases, also by their parents. During a standardized infant vocalization paradigm, participants were asked to squeeze a handgrip dynamometer at maximal and at half strength while listening to infant crying and laughter sounds and to rate their perception of the sounds. In addition, their heart rate (HR), pre-ejection period (PEP), and vagal tone (RSA) were measured as indicators of underlying sympathetic and parasympathetic reactivity. Results indicated that participants did not differ in their perceptions of the infant vocalizations signals according to their maltreatment experiences. However, maltreatment experiences were associated with the modulation of behavioral responses. Experiences of neglect during childhood were related to more handgrip force during infant crying and to less handgrip force during infant laughter. Moreover, a history of neglect was associated with a higher HR and a shorter PEP during the entire infant vocalization paradigm, which may indicate chronic cardiovascular arousal. The findings imply that a history of childhood neglect negatively influences parents’ capacities to regulate their emotions and behavior, which would be problematic when reacting to children's emotional expressions.

Background: Children without disabilities in out-of-home care have a higher risk of child sexual abuse [CSA (Euser et al. 2013)]. In this study, we examined the year prevalence of CSA in out-of-home care for children with a mild intellectual disability, and compared it with the prevalence in out-of-home care for non-disabled children and children in the general population. Materials and Methods: Professionals (N = 104) from out-of-home care facilities reported cases of CSA that occurred in 2010 for the children they worked with (N = 1650). Results: In out-of-home care for children with a mild intellectual disability, 9.8 per 1000 children were victims of CSA. This prevalence was significantly higher than in regular out-of-home care and in the general population. Conclusion: Children with a mild intellectual disability in out-of-home care have an increased risk of CSA. Adequate education and support for both children and caregivers is necessary to recognize and prevent further sexual abuse. Copyright

Objectives In the context of the shortage of studies on child maltreatment changes over time in limited resource settings, this paper explored the changes in the prevalence of multiple types of child maltreatment over a period of 10 years in Vietnam and tested the moderating role of some demographic characteristics in these changes. Methods We used data from two prevalence studies conducted in 2004 and in 2014 using similar methodologies. Both studies used self-report questionnaires which were completed by randomly selected students aged 12–17 years from different provinces in Vietnam. We also compared Hanoi subgroups to examine the trend using the most equivalent samples. Results While the prevalence estimates of sexual abuse and neglect were unchanged over 10 years, the prevalence of physical abuse and emotional abuse declined. The decrease in the prevalence of physical abuse was larger for younger adolescents and boys than for their counterparts. For sexual abuse, older adolescents reported an increase in the prevalence of sexual abuse. In the Hanoi sample comparison, only the prevalence of emotional abuse declined and this reduction was smaller for younger adolescents than for the older group. Conclusion Despite the reduction of emotional and physical abuse in the whole sample and emotional abuse in the Hanoi sample, all types of child maltreatment were still highly prevalent in Vietnam. We argue that interventions on all types of child maltreatment should be further implemented. Similar studies could be conducted to evaluate the effect of child protection policies on the prevalence of child maltreatment.

Observation of parental sensitivity in a standard procedure, in which caregivers are faced with the same level of infant demand, enables the comparison of sensitivity between caregivers. We developed an ecologically valid standardized setting using an infant simulator with interactive features, the Leiden Infant Simulator Sensitivity Assessment (LISSA). The infant simulator resembles a real infant in appearance and crying sounds. In a previous study, we documented the LISSA's reliability and validity in a sample of 181 female undergraduate students (Voorthuis et al., 2013). In the current study, we tested the convergent validity in a sample of 34 mothers who were observed during free play with their own child as well as with the LISSA. Sensitive parenting behaviour was rated independently with the Ainsworth Sensitivity Scale (Ainsworth et al., 1974). Sensitivity with the LISSA was strongly correlated to sensitivity to the mother's own child, r = 0.53, p = 0.001. Mother-reported infant temperament was not associated with sensitivity to the mother's own child, and the mother's own infant's temperament did not moderate the correlation between sensitivity with the LISSA and sensitivity to the mother's own child. We discuss the potential of the infant simulator for research on sensitive parenting in parents and non-parents, for (prenatal) preventive interventions, and for clinical practices. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Handgrip force responses to infant signals were examined in a sample of 43 maltreating and 40 non-maltreating mothers. During a standardized handgrip paradigm, mothers were asked to squeeze a handgrip dynamometer at maximal and at half of their maximal handgrip strength while listening to infant crying and laughter sounds. Maltreating mothers used excessive force more often while listening to infant crying and laughter than non-maltreating mothers. Of the maltreating mothers, only neglectful mothers ( n = 20) tended to use excessive force more often during crying than non-maltreating mothers. Participants did not rate the sounds differently, indicating that maltreating mothers cannot be differentiated from non-maltreating mothers based on their perception of infant signals, but show different behavioral responses to the signals. Results imply that, in response to infant signals (i.e., crying or laughing), maltreating mothers may be insufficiently able to regulate the exertion of physical force.

We present new empirical data and meta-analytic evidence for the association of childhood maltreatment with reduced hippocampal volume. In Study 1, we examined the effects of maltreatment experiences reported during the Adult Attachment Interview on hippocampal volume in female twin pairs. We found that reduced hippocampal volume was related to childhood maltreatment. In addition, individuals who reported having experienced maltreatment at older ages had larger reductions in hippocampal volume compared to individuals who reported maltreatment in early childhood. In Study 2, we present the results of a meta-analysis of 49 studies (including 2,720 participants) examining hippocampal volume in relation to experiences of child maltreatment, and test the moderating role of the timing of the maltreatment, the severity of maltreatment, and the time after exposure to maltreatment. The results of the meta-analysis confirmed that experiences of childhood maltreatment are associated with a reduction in hippocampal volume and that the effects of maltreatment are more pronounced when the maltreatment occurs in middle childhood compared to early childhood or adolescence.

We investigated whether attachment quality is related to infant-mother dyadic patterns in monitoring animated social situations. Sixty 12-month-old infants and their mothers participated in an eye-tracking study in which they watched abstractly depicted distress interactions involving the separation of a "baby" and a "parent" character followed by reunion or further separation of the two characters. We measured infants' and their mothers' relative fixation duration to the two characters in the animations. We found that infant attachment disorganization moderated the correspondence between the monitoring patterns of infant-mother dyads during the final part of the animations resulting in reunion or separation. Organized infants and their mothers showed complementary monitoring patterns: the more the mothers focused their attention on the "baby" character, the more the infants focused their attention on the "parent" character, and vice versa. Disorganized infant-mother dyads showed the opposite pattern although the correlation was nonsignificant: mothers and their infants focused on the same character. The attachment-related differences in the nature of the synchrony in the attentional processes of infants and their mothers suggest that by 12 months the dyads' representations of social situations reflect their shared social-emotional experiences.

Background: definitions of child maltreatment vary widely between studies, and even more so between different cultural contexts. Objective: in this pilot study, we examine between-country variations in maternal notions about what constitutes child maltreatment. Participants and setting: the sample consisted of 466 mothers recruited in Chile, China, Greece, Iran, the Netherlands, Portugal, South Africa, Turkey, and Uruguay. Methods: all mothers completed a new Q-sort measure, ranking 90 parenting behaviors linked to subtypes of maltreatment (emotional neglect, emotional abuse, physical neglect, and physical abuse) from least to most detrimental to child development. Results: between-country agreement regarding the harmfulness of the parenting behaviors was high (r=.45), but there were different patterns of reported harmfulness of subtypes of maltreatment (although driven mostly by deviating patterns in the South African sample). Further, there were significant country effects on the number and type of behaviors labeled as maltreatment (pre=.15), and the number of items labeled as requiring intervention (pre=.19). Conclusions: variations in conceptions of maltreatment need to be studied in larger more representative samples and taken into account in the assessment and treatment of child maltreatment across cultures., NA