Evaluation of a personal safety program with 172 preschoolers found that participants demonstrated greater knowledge about sexual abuse and higher levels of personal safety skills than controls, that children taught by their parents recognized inappropriate-touch requests better than children taught by teachers, and that children taught at both…

Among findings of evaluation of the coping strategies of maltreated children (n=152) were that abused children and children both abused and neglected were difficult or compliant in interactions with their mothers, avoidant under stress, and aggressive with siblings; and that neglected children were cooperative in play with the mother, anxious…

Summarizes the small body of research to date that focuses on the effects of homelessness on children. In matters related to health, development, and education, homeless children are at a grave disadvantage, many from birth. Policy implications are outlined, concluding that children need permanent housing if they are to thrive. (DM)

Women (n=97) identified as at risk for engaging in child abuse were referred to the Child Parent Enrichment Project (CPEP) during or just after pregnancy. CPEP services involve home visits and linkage to community resources. No advantages on self-report measures or child abuse reports were found for the CPEP group compared to a control group. (DB)

This study, with 46 offending fathers/stepfathers, 47 mothers, 48 sexually abused adolescent daughters, and a control group, found increased behavioral and self-esteem problems in the abused daughters and differences in the familial environments of the 2 groups. Mothers in the incest group reported that daughters had more conduct problems than…

This paper addresses the issue of child protection protocols within research conducted with children. Based partly on primary data this paper raises questions about the role of ethics committees in defining the limits of confidentiality in relation to child protection protocols within research, the perceptions of both children and parents about…

Information on child sexual abuse is most meaningful and effective when given to the child from a parent. To investigate the kinds of prevention information that is exchanged in households and the obstacles to effective exchange, 521 Boston parents (187 male, 334 female), with children aged 6 to 14, were interviewed. The interview focused on…

Teachers are a potentially helpful resource for abused children, but generally lack training in child abuse identification and intervention. Elementary and junior high school teachers (N=104) were surveyed concerning their abuse-related experience, knowledge and attitudes. Sixty-eight percent of the teachers reported 3 or fewer hours of education…

Fifty-six 12-month-old infants, (10 maltreated infants; 18 nonmaltreated, high-risk infants; and 28 matched low-income controls) were videotaped at home with their mothers for 40 minutes and were observed two weeks later in the Ainsworth Strange Situation. Maltreating mothers could be discriminated by uninformed coders from nonmaltreating mothers.…

Nine women imprisoned for fatal child maltreatment were interviewed concerning their perceptions of interactions with their children, pregnancy and childbirth, mother-child separations and reunions, child development, rejection, children's behavior, and prior child abuse. Interpretation of their children as developmentally abnormal and…

Although fundamental in helping multiproblem families avoid placement, social support is a complex construct not easy to define and difficult to carry out conceptually and practically. Four family support programs are described that illustrate certain common denominators for implementation. (Author/RWB)

Greek parents (N=320) were given the Child Abuse Potential (CAP) Inventory and results were compared with American scores. Internal consistency reliability was high for four scales (abuse, distress, rigidity, and inconsistency). The Greek and American versions had similar factorial structures. Comparison found that Greek scores were significantly…

When 69 young adults who had been incarcerated as youth were interviewed, 26 gave histories of abuse discrepant with data from records and interviews conducted in adolescence. In clarification interviews with 11 subjects, it was found that all had been abused despite either their adolescent records or follow-up interviews being discrepant.…

Examines the victimization of runaways using a sample of 84 adolescents in a midwestern city of about 250,000 people. Finds that these youth, like runaways in larger cities, are doubly victimized by abusive family situations and by life on the streets. Sex differences in the processes that influence victimization are discussed. (FMW)

Data from the National Institute for Mental Health's Epidemiologic Catchment Areas Survey followed 7,103 parents who denied physical abuse/neglect of their children in Wave I but admitted it in Wave II, 1 year later. Social and demographic variables were limited predictors of maltreatment, while substance abuse disorders and depression were…