The Child Rating Scale: The Development of a Socioemotional Self-Rating Scale for Elementary School Children

Effects of a Multilevel Resilience-Based Intervention on Mental Health for Children Affected by Parental HIV: A Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial

The present study aimed to examine the efficacy of the Child-Caregiver-Advocacy Resilience (ChildCARE) intervention, a multilevel resilience-based psychosocial intervention, on mental health outcomes, including depressive symptoms, school anxiety, and loneliness, among children affected by parental HIV in central China. Seven hundred and ninety children (51.6% boys, 6-17 years of age) affected by parental HIV were randomly assigned by cluster to a control group or one of three intervention groups designed to test the three conditions of the ChildCARE intervention (child-only, child + caregiver, child + caregiver + community). Linear mixed-effects modeling was performed to test the intervention effect at 6, 12, and 18 months. The intervention did not yield significant changes in mental health outcomes in the child-only group at any follow-ups, whereas significant reductions in depressive symptoms and loneliness were observed in the child + caregiver group at 12 months. The observed intervention effects were not sustained at 18 months. Also, children who received the additional community component that, was implemented after 12 months did not show larger improvements in mental health outcomes than the control group at 18 months. Lastly, older children (i.e., ≥12 years) were found to benefit more from the intervention than their younger counterparts (i.e., <12 years). Overall, the findings provide some support for the promise of multilevel resilience-based interventions in improving mental health of children affected by parental HIV, but more research is needed to further determine whether multilevel resilience-based interventions can yield sustained effects on mental health.

Long-term effects of a resilience-based intervention on mental health of children affected by parental HIV in China: Testing the mediation effects of emotion regulation and coping

Resilience-based interventions have been suggested to improve mental health among children affected by parental HIV. Very few studies, however, have explicitly tested the mechanisms of change underlying the effects of resilience-based interventions on mental health among this group of children. The present study utilized a cluster randomized controlled trial to determine the effects of the Child-Caregiver-Advocacy Resilience (ChildCARE) intervention on mental health for children affected by parental HIV. Specifically, we examined the effects of the intervention on three mental health outcomes (i.e., depressive symptoms, school anxiety, loneliness) and whether emotion regulation and coping played mediating roles in the intervention's effectiveness. Child-caregiver dyads (N = 790) were randomly assigned by clusters to three intervention groups and a control group. Children reported on mental health outcomes for 36 months at 6-month intervals. Latent growth curve models showed that there were no direct impacts of the ChildCARE intervention on changes in mental health outcomes beyond 18-month follow-up. Mediation analyses showed that the ChildCARE intervention yielded significant improvements in positive coping, but not negative coping or emotion regulation at 18 months. Emotion regulation, positive coping, and negative coping were consistently associated with the intercepts (i.e., mean at 18 months) of mental health outcomes. Negative coping also significantly predicted the rates of change of mental health outcomes over time. Findings provide important implications for future resilience-based intervention development and highlight the promise of interventions that aim to strengthen emotion regulation and coping skills to improve mental health for children affected by parental HIV.

The role of school connectedness and maladaptive cognitions in the association between stress and Internet addiction: A serial mediation model

PURPOSE

To explore the mediating effect of school interest and maladaptive cognitions in the relationship between stress and Internet addiction.

DESIGN AND METHODS

A total of 2271 high school students were recruited from a Chinese high school. Serial mediation model was used.

RESULTS

School interest and maladaptive cognitions had 0.03 and 0.13 indirect effects in the association between stress and Internet addiction, and accounting for 7.9% and 34.2% of the total effect, respectively. The serial indirect effect of school interest and maladaptive cognition was 0.05, accounting for 13.2% of the total effect.

PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS

The present study highlights the need of reducing stress and increasing school interest among high school students to prevent and intervene the occurrence of Internet addiction.

Correlates of students' internalization and defiance of classroom rules: A self-determination theory perspective

BACKGROUND

It is generally accepted that well-established classroom rules prevent problem behaviour, while also supporting students' achievement gains. Yet, there might be considerable variability in students' underlying motives to comply or refrain from complying with classroom rules, with some students adhering to them because they fully accept them as their own, and others feeling compelled by external or internal demands to do so or even defying the rules altogether.

AIMS

Grounded in self-determination theory, this study aimed to examine whether students' reasons for following (i.e., internalization) and for refraining from following (i.e., defiance) classroom rules differentially and uniquely predict student outcomes, including feelings of resentment, acting out, cheating, and truancy.

SAMPLE

A total of 1006 students (46.7% boys; M = 14.18 years ± 1.73) out of 56 different secondary school classes participated in the study.

METHODS

Students were invited to fill out an online survey about experiences with their head teacher.

RESULTS

For three out of four outcomes, identified regulation and external regulation to follow classroom rules were found to be, respectively, negatively and positively related, whereas a null relationship with introjected rule following was found. Controlled non-rule following was most strongly predictive of maladaptive functioning, as indexed by more feelings of resentment, acting out, cheating, and truancy.

CONCLUSIONS

Whereas students' ownership of rules is critical to prevent classroom misbehaviour, their pressured non-adherence is a risk factor.

Improving school outcomes for children affected by parental HIV/AIDS: Evaluation of the ChildCARE Intervention at 6-, 12-, and 18-months

Children affected by parental HIV/AIDS are at-risk for poor school outcomes including reduced attendance, lower grades, and lower school satisfaction compared to unaffected peers. Resilience-based interventions offer promise to improve functioning across a number of domains. A four-arm randomized controlled trial was conducted with 790 children affected by parental HIV/AIDS in rural, central China to examine the effects of a multi-level, resilience-based intervention (i.e., ChildCARE) on school outcomes. Child and caregiver dyads were randomized to a control group, child-only intervention, child + caregiver intervention, or child + caregiver + community intervention. School outcomes at 6-, 12-, and 18-months suggest that participation in the ChildCARE program yielded improvements in academic performance, school satisfaction, and school interest. Opportunities for school psychologists to engage in psychosocial and educational intervention for children impacted by HIV/AIDS are discussed.

Relationships Between Teachers and Urban African American Children

The purpose of this study was to examine students' and teachers' perceptions of their relationship. Eighty-nine African American children in Grades 3 through 6 and their teachers independently rated the quality of the teacher—child relationship and completed a range of questionnaires regarding the children's school-related adjustment. Teacher and child reports on the quality of the relationship were correlated significantly ( r = 0.33, p < 0.01). Positive teacher—child relationships, as reported by children, predicted several school outcome variables above and beyond teacher ratings of the relationship. Specifically, they predicted better classroom rule compliance, more interest in school, more feelings of connectedness towards school and more involvement in school-related activities. Generally teachers' perceptions of the relationships were best at predicting teacher rated outcomes and children's perceptions of the relationships were best at predicting children's rated outcomes, highlighting the importance of considering both children's and teachers' points of view as well as the likely contributions of shared method and informant variances. Findings suggest that teacher efforts to improve their sensitivity to child needs and supportiveness of students can have a broader influence on children's overall school functioning. This study also calls for the development of intervention studies to enhance the quality of teacher—child relationships and better examine the direction of the effects suggested by this study.

[Attachment Patterns and their Relation to the Development of Anxiety Symptoms in Childhood and Adolescence]

From the perspective of attachment theory, insecure attachment can be seen as a key risk factor for the development of anxiety symptoms and anxiety disorders. This systematic review addresses the current state of empirical research on the relationship between attachment status and anxiety symptoms respective anxiety disorders in childhood and adolescence. 21 current international studies published between 2010 and 2014 were included in this systematic review. These studies were heterogeneous in target populations, methods and study design. The majority of studies supported the assumed correlation between insecure attachment and anxiety symptoms or anxiety disorders. These findings are more evident in studies with school-age children than with preschool children or adolescents. Furthermore, the disorganized-disoriented type of attachment seems to be a particular risk factor for the development of anxiety symptoms and anxiety disorders. Results were discussed in relation to attachment theory and with reference to the results of previous relevant reviews.

Test correlates of stress resilience among urban school children

Compares subsamples of 37 highly stressed children with stress affected (SA) outcomes and 40 demographically similar children with stress resilient (SR) outcomes, identified within a larger sample of 4th-6th grade urban youngsters. Comparisons were made on a battery of 11 measures believed on conceptual and empirical grounds to have potential for differentiating the groups, in an effort to expand the nomological definitional net for childhood resilience. SR children judged themselves as significantly better adjusted and more competent than SAs. They had higher self esteem, more empathy, and both a more internal and more realistic sense of control. They reported more effective problem solving skills and more positive coping strategies. A combination of five predictor variables used in a discriminant function analysis correctly classified 84.1% of the sample as SRs or SAs.

Parenting and problem behaviors in children of substance abusing parents

BACKGROUND

This study examined parenting practices, parental stress, and problem behaviors among urban Children of Substance Abusing Parents.

METHOD

One hundred and seven children completed the Child Rating Scale and the Children's Depression Inventory. Parents completed the Parenting Practices Scale-Parent Version, Parenting Stress Index, and internalizing and externalizing scales on the Parent Observation of Classroom Adaptation.

RESULTS

Structural Equation Modeling findings support an indirect effects pathway in which unfavorable parenting practices predict parental stress and parental stress predicts internalizing and externalizing behaviors.

CONCLUSION

The results argue for assessing parental stress and including activities to improve the parent-child bond in family intervention programs.

Relative importance of various measures of HIV-related stigma in predicting psychological outcomes among children affected by HIV

To assess the relative importance of four different measures of HIV-related stigma in predicting psychological problems among children affected by HIV in rural China. Cross-sectional data were collected from 755 orphans (i.e., children who lost one or both of their parents to HIV), 466 vulnerable children (children who were living with HIV-infected parents), and 404 comparison children who were from the same community and did not have HIV-related illness or death in their families. Four HIV-related stigma measures include perceived public stigma against people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA), perceived public stigma against children affected by HIV (orphans and vulnerable children), personal stigmatizing attitudes against PLWHA, and enacted stigma among children affected by HIV. Psychological problems included depression and adjustment problems. Various measures of HIV-related stigma independently and differentially contribute to children's psychological problems. Enacted stigma and children's perceived public stigma against PLWHA or children affected by HIV are generally stronger predictors of psychological problems than their own feelings or attitudes towards PLWHA. Various aspects of HIV-related stigma are important for us to understand the perception, attitudes, and experience of children affected by HIV, including both children experiencing HIV-related parental illness and death in their own family and children who were living in the communities hardly hit by HIV. Future health promotion and psychological care efforts for children affected by HIV need to consider the effect of various forms of HIV-related stigma on these children's psychosocial well-being and mobilize the community resources to mitigate the negative effect of HIV-related stigma on PLWHA and their children.

Parental loss, trusting relationship with current caregivers, and psychosocial adjustment among children affected by AIDS in China

The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between parental loss, trusting relationship with current caregivers, and psychosocial adjustment among children affected by AIDS in China. In this study, cross-sectional data were collected from 755 AIDS orphans (296 double orphans and 459 single orphans), 466 vulnerable children living with HIV-infected parents, and 404 comparison children in China. The trusting relationship with current caregivers was measured with a 15-item scale (Cronbach's α = 0.84) modified from the Trusting Relationship Questionnaire developed by Mustillo et al. in 2005 (Quality of relationships between youth and community service providers: Reliability and validity of the trusting relationship questionnaire. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 14, 577-590). The psychosocial measures include rule compliance/acting out, anxiety/withdrawal, peer social skills, school interest, depressive symptoms, loneliness, self-esteem, future expectation, hopefulness about future, and perceived control over the future. Group mean comparisons using analysis of variance suggested a significant association (p < 0.0001) between the trusting relationship with current caregivers and all the psychosocial measures, except anxiety and depression. These associations remained significant in General Linear Model analysis, controlling for children's gender, age, family socioeconomic status, orphan status (orphans, vulnerable children, and comparison children), and appropriate interaction terms among factor variables. The findings in the current study support the global literature on the importance of attachment relationship with caregivers in promoting children's psychosocial development. Future prevention intervention efforts to improve AIDS orphans' psychosocial well-being will need to take into consideration the quality of the child's attachment relationships with current caregivers and help their current caregivers to improve the quality of care for these children. Future study is needed to explore the possible reasons for the lack of association between a trusting relationship and some internalizing symptoms such as anxiety and depression among children affected by HIV/AIDS.

Lifetime incidences of traumatic events and mental health among children affected by HIV/AIDS in rural China

Cross-sectional data were gathered from 1,625 children (M age = 12.85, SD = 2.21) which included 755 AIDS orphans, 466 vulnerable children, and 404 comparison children. Participants completed self-report measures of exposure to traumatic events, and psychosocial adjustment including behavior problems, depression, self-esteem, and future orientation. AIDS orphans and vulnerable children reported experiencing a higher total occurrence, density, duration, initial impact and lasting impact of traumatic events compared to comparison children. Scores reflecting adjustment were lower among orphans and vulnerable children than among comparison children. Both orphan status and traumatic events contributed unique variance in the expected direction to the prediction of psychosocial adjustment. The data in the current study suggested that children affected by HIV/AIDS in China are exposed to more trauma and suffer more adjustment problems than children who do not experience HIV/AIDS in their families.

Perceived social support and psychosocial distress among children affected by AIDS in china

The psychosocial wellbeing of the children affected by Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) receives growing international attention. However, limited data in this area are available in China, which hosts an estimate of 100,000 AIDS-orphaned children. The study aims to examine the relationship between perceived social support (PSS) and psychosocial wellbeing among children affected by AIDS. A cross-sectional survey was administered to 1,625 children (aged 6-18 years) in Henan Province, an area with a large number of HIV cases due to unhygienic commercial blood/plasma collection. Our sample included 296 double orphans (i.e., children who lost both parents to AIDS), 459 single orphans (children who lost one parent to AIDS), 466 vulnerable children (children living with HIV-infected parents) and 404 comparison children (children who did not experience HIV-related illness and death in family). Data suggest that vulnerable children reported the lowest level of PSS compared to AIDS orphans and comparison children. Level of PSS was significantly and positively associated with psychosocial wellbeing even after controlling for potential confounders. The study underscores the importance of providing social support and mental health services for children affected by AIDS in China.

The role of children's future expectations in self-system functioning and adjustment to life stress: A prospective study of urban at-risk children

Study I examined relationships between an interview measure of children's future expectations and variables reflecting self-system functioning with 136 9–11-year-old urban children exposed to high psychosocial stress. As expected, future expectations related to affect regulation, self-representations, and school adjustment. Study II, done with a subsample of the original group, showed that early positive future expectations predicted enhanced socioemotional adjustment in school and a more internal locus of control 2½–3½ years later and acted as a protective factor in reducing the negative effects of high stress on self-rated competence. These findings: (a) are consistent with prior data showing positive expectations to be characteristic of resilient children; (b) suggest that early positive future expectations influence later adjustment; and (c) underscore the role children have in actively structuring their environments and, thus, influencing their development. The heuristic value of the construct of self for future studies of resilience is suggested, and implications for preventive interventions are considered.

Measuring protective factors: the development of two resilience scales in Norway

The prevalence of mental disorders among adults and adolescents is high, and World Health Organization estimates indicate an increase in the near future, especially in depressive disorders. Clarifying the development of psychopathology and preservation of mental health is of the utmost importance. Identification of influential protective and vulnerability factors is a primary focus. The development of valid and reliable operationalizations of protective factors may be one step toward determining which factors are important and influential in preserving good mental health and preventing the development of psychopathology. This article summaries of the development of an adult and an adolescent scale for measuring protective factors associated with resilience.

The Child Rating Scale and its use with middle school-age students

The Child Rating Scale is a socioemotional self-report rating scale design for elementary school children. This study examined the Child Rating Scale with a middle school-age sample (Grades 5 to 8) of 240 students. The Child Rating Scale's four scales have shown moderate to high coefficients alpha. Factor analysis yielded the 4 underlying factors consistent with the current subscales. Supportive convergent validity was found based on the Child Rating Scale subscales' predicted association with the Self-perception Profile for Children and the Psychological Sense of School Membership-Brief. Consistent with current research, decline over grades in rule compliance/acting out and school interest was documented as well as the expected mean sex differences on these two subscales. Possible areas of study are indicated, and the present study's limitations are described. The Child Rating Scale seems to be a promising self-report measure for middle school-age youth.

Cultural, contextual, and intrapersonal predictors of risky sexual attitudes among urban African American girls in early adolescence

The role of cultural factors in explaining sexual attitudes among African American urban girls, aged 10-13 years, was investigated in this study. The authors predicted that girls with higher school interest, family cohesion, religiosity, and behavioral self-esteem would endorse less risky sexual attitudes. Also, older girls were expected to have more risky sexual attitudes than younger girls, and girls from 1- rather than 2-parent households were expected to have more risky sexual attitudes. The authors hypothesized that ethnic identity and gender role orientations would contribute to explaining variability in sexual attitudes after controlling for contextual and intrapersonal variables. A questionnaire containing measures of the study constructs was administered to 214 girls who were participants in a substance abuse prevention program. Pretest data were used in analyses. A final regression model accounted for 23% of the variance in sexual attitudes. Age and behavioral self-esteem were significant predictors, with younger teens and teens with higher behavioral self-esteem having less risky sexual attitudes. Cultural variables contributed to explaining variation in sexual attitudes after other variables were controlled for. Higher levels of ethnic identity were associated with less risky sexual attitudes. A masculine gender role orientation was associated with more risky sexual attitudes.

Object relations and ego development: comparison and correlates in middle childhood

The significance of ego development and object relations for adaptation and adjustment in middle childhood was examined in a study of 92 nine- to twelve-year-old children. Subjects completed the Sentence Completion Test (SCT) and the Blatt Object Relations Scale (BORS) in individual sessions. BORS ratings were factor analyzed and a predominant factor of parental nurturance emerged. This factor was positively related to children's self-reported perceptions of parental involvement and autonomy support but was unrelated to the SCT. SCT findings revealed an expected pattern for middle childhood with the preponderance of children falling into impulsive, self-protective, and conformist stages of ego development. Both the SCT and BORS were examined in relation to aspects of children's cognitive and social functioning, assessed via teacher ratings, peer sociometrics, self-evaluations, and academic achievement records. Results showed that the SCT was primarily related to cognitive complexity variables, while the object relations measure was associated with both peer and self-evaluations. These nonoverlapping relations with varied child outcomes are discussed both in terms of methodological limitations and theoretical significance.