Profiles of Maltreatment in the Child Welfare System: Predicting Mental Health Outcomes and Examining Age as a Moderator.

This longitudinal study explored the unique profiles of maltreatment among youth in the child welfare system and examined their relation to mental health outcomes over time. We additionally examined the moderating role of age. Participants included 316 youth in the foster care system (age range: 6-13 years). Data were collected through the Department of Children and Family Services upon youths' entry into foster care, then quarterly for the duration of care. A latent profile analysis identified five profiles of maltreatment, categorized as primary neglect (PN), neglect and physical abuse (PA), complex trauma, complex trauma with severe sexual abuse (SA), and neglect with SA. A hierarchical general linear model applied to the data revealed that all four classes predicted higher internalizing symptom trajectories compared with the PN reference class, event rate ratios (eRRs) = 1.19-1.37, but none of these associations were significantly moderated by age. Membership in the two classes categorized by complex trauma predicted higher externalizing behavior trajectories as compared to the PN reference class, eRRs = 1.11-1.13. The relation between membership in the neglect with SA class and externalizing behaviors was moderated by age, eRR = 0.83. Finally, membership in all four classes predicted higher posttraumatic stress symptoms as compared with the reference group, eRRs = 1.84-2.45, and with all associations moderated by age, eRRs = 0.51-0.53. These findings provide insight into the maltreatment experiences of youth in the child welfare system and have important implications for treatment needs.

Ecological disruptions and well-being among children in foster care.

Bronfenbrenner's framework highlights the importance of considering ecological systems to understand child well-being. Children entering foster care often experience disruption across systems. Yet, prior research has focused on specific disruptions linked to outcomes. This longitudinal study examined the impact of multiple ecological disruptions (i.e., changes in or separation from siblings, friends, school, church, community) on children's internalizing symptoms and externalizing behaviors over time. This study included 211 children between the ages of 6 and 13 years (M = 10.23, SD = 2.37; 55.0% female; 57.3% African American). Children entered foster care for up to four reasons: Neglect (73.9%), physical abuse (29.4%), dependency (10%), and/or sexual abuse (9.5%). Most of the children experienced a change in school (64.0%), 46.9% were separated from siblings, 25.1% lost friends, 12.8% experienced community disruptions, and 10.0% were separated from church. Hierarchical Linear Modeling was employed to examine the association between ecological disruptions and longitudinal internalizing symptoms and externalizing behaviors, while controlling for baseline internalizing and externalizing, demographic variables (i.e., child age, gender, and race), and maltreatment severity. Maltreatment severity, along with school and community disruptions related to the presence of internalizing symptoms. Loss of friends was associated with the absence of externalizing behaviors, while community disruption was associated with the presence of externalizing behaviors. This study suggests that maintaining children's connections to their school and community is important for well-being. Under certain circumstances, separation from friends may relate to improved behavioral functioning. Future research should explore additional and interacting facets of children's ecological systems and related outcomes. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

The Health and Development of Young Children Who Witnessed Their Parent's Arrest Prior to Parental Jail Incarceration.

Most U.S. incarceration occurs in jails, with more than 10 million annual admissions, and most individuals in jail are parents of minor children. In this short-term longitudinal study, we examined the health and development of young children who did or did not witness their parent's arrest prior to parental jail incarceration. 228 individuals in 76 triads (incarcerated parents, children, at-home caregivers) were enrolled from four jails in two states. Jailed parents and caregivers reported on whether the child witnessed the parent's arrest or crime. Children's caregivers completed questionnaires about children's emotional symptoms during the prior 6 months and demographics, as well as children's emotional reactions to separation from the parent and child health at the initial assessment and 2 weeks later. Trained researchers conducted a developmental assessment with children while waiting to visit parents. Results of regression-based moderated mediation analyses indicated that when their emotional symptoms were high, children who witnessed parental arrest were more likely to have poorer health initially and more intense negative reactions to the parent leaving for jail. In addition, when children's general emotional symptoms were low, children who witnessed their parent's arrest were more likely to exhibit developmental delays, especially in their early academic skills, compared to children who did not witness the arrest. Witnessing the parent's crime related to missed milestones in social and adaptive development. Findings have implications for policies regarding safeguarding children during parental arrest and referrals for health- and development-promotion services following parental criminal justice system involvement.

Impact of Emergency Shelter Utilization and Kinship Involvement on Children's Behavioral Outcomes.

Youth in child welfare often experience emergency shelter care, a type of congregate setting, while a permanent placement is arranged. The present longitudinal study explored the impact of initial emergency shelter placement on long-term externalizing behavior (i.e., aggression, delinquency) and internalizing symptom (i.e., anxiety, depression) trajectories, and whether kinship involvement moderated the effect of shelter placement on behavioral outcomes. The sample consisted of 282 youths (55.3% male) with an average age of 9.90 years ( SD = 2.37); 36.9% experienced an emergency shelter placement. Data were collected from the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services. Caseworkers completed the Child and Adolescent Needs and Strengths, which measured youths' behavioral outcomes. Results suggested that shelter care was not associated with externalizing behavior trajectories. However, shelter care was associated with internalizing symptoms among children with less kinship involvement. Results from this study suggest that best practices for shelter care should leverage kinship involvement.

Intention and Initiation of Breastfeeding Among Women Who Are Incarcerated.

The Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative recommends that all mothers be shown how to breastfeed, even when mothers and newborns are separated. Most incarcerated women are separated from their infants after the postpartum hospital stay, creating barriers to breastfeeding. We examined breastfeeding among a sample of women participating in a prison-based pregnancy program. Quantitative data indicated that women who discussed breastfeeding with their doulas were more likely to initiate breastfeeding. Three qualitative themes were identified: Benefits of Breastfeeding, Barriers to Breastfeeding, and Role of the Doula. We identified incongruence between the expected standard of breastfeeding support and the care incarcerated women received. Findings suggest that prison-based doula care might be an effective intervention for supporting breastfeeding among incarcerated women and highlight the importance of education for perinatal nurses about breastfeeding support of incarcerated women.

Comparing Emotion Recognition Skills among Children with and without Jailed Parents.

Approximately five million children in the United States have experienced a co-resident parent's incarceration in jail or prison. Parental incarceration is associated with multiple risk factors for maladjustment, which may contribute to the increased likelihood of behavioral problems in this population. Few studies have examined early predictors of maladjustment among children with incarcerated parents, limiting scholars' understanding about potential points for prevention and intervention. Emotion recognition skills may play a role in the development of maladjustment and may be amenable to intervention. The current study examined whether emotion recognition skills differed between 3- to 8-year-old children with and without jailed parents. We hypothesized that children with jailed parents would have a negative bias in processing emotions and less accuracy compared to children without incarcerated parents. Data were drawn from 128 families, including 75 children (53.3% male, M = 5.37 years) with jailed parents and 53 children (39.6% male, M = 5.02 years) without jailed parents. Caregivers in both samples provided demographic information. Children performed an emotion recognition task in which they were asked to produce a label for photos expressing six different emotions (i.e., happy, surprised, neutral, sad, angry, and fearful). For scoring, the number of positive and negative labels were totaled; the number of negative labels provided for neutral and positive stimuli were totaled (measuring negative bias/overextension of negative labels); and valence accuracy (i.e., positive, negative, and neutral) and label accuracy were calculated. Results indicated a main effect of parental incarceration on the number of positive labels provided; children with jailed parents presented significantly fewer positive emotions than the comparison group. There was also a main effect of parental incarceration on negative bias (the overextension of negative labels); children with jailed parents had a negative bias compared to children without jailed parents. However, these findings did not hold when controlling for child age, race/ethnicity, receipt of special education services, and caregiver education. The results provide some evidence for the effect of the context of parental incarceration in the development of negative emotion recognition biases. Limitations and implications for future research and interventions are discussed.