Commitment to school and learning among youth in residential care: The role of mother and father support and parents' divorce.

Commitment to school, commitment to learning, and educational expectations have been shown to contribute to positive outcomes among youth in the general population. However, it is an underexamined phenomenon among youth in care. This study examines the contribution of mother and father support and the moderating role of parents' marital status to commitment to school and learning among youth in residential care settings (RCSs) in Israel. The study was based on the reports of a random cluster sample of 1,409 adolescents (Grades 8 to 12) in 16 educational RCSs for youth from underprivileged backgrounds, who completed structured questionnaires. In line with social capital theories, the findings showed that, after controlling for youth background characteristics and grades at school, both father and mother support were linked positively with youth commitment to school and learning among the whole sample. The findings showed that although there was a positive significant relationship between father support and commitment to school and learning among youth in married-parent families, the link was insignificant among adolescent children of divorced parents. However, the interaction between divorce and mother support was insignificant. These findings highlight the importance of nurturing parent-youth relationships in RCSs and suggest circumstances in which father support is at risk to be less beneficial to youth in RCSs-a risk that should be considered by the care system as a target for prevention and intervention programs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Out-of-home care for children at-risk in Israel and in Spain: current lessons and future challenges / La acogida a niños en riesgo de separación familiar en Israel y en España: lecciones actuales y retos futuros

This article compares the out-of-home care (OOHC) systems for children at-risk in Spain and Israel. Both countries share a strong tradition of placing children at-risk mainly in large residential care settings rather than familial solutions, and both face the challenge of the deinstitutionalization of care, including the tendency to substitute family-based solutions for institutional care. This article follows the historical development and current status of out-of-home care systems, as well as the main research contributions on these topics in both nations, revealing a great similarity. Both countries share a Mediterranean culture, in which the family ties are dominant in providing personal and social well-being. The strong family ties are assumed to be related to the slower consolidation of foster family care as an alternative for out-of-home placement. In Spain it has led to a high prevalence of kinship foster care, while in Israel this has led to high use of residential care settings. The challenges Spain and Israel face given this structure of public child care are discussed

Este artículo compara los sistemas de separación familiar de niños en riesgo en España e Israel. Ambos países comparten una fuerte tradición de dejar a los niños en riesgo principalmente en grandes ispositivos asistenciales residenciales en vez de recurrir a soluciones familiares; ambos hacen frente al reto de la desinstitucionalización de la asistencia, así como la tendencia a sustituir las soluciones centradas en la familia por la acogida institucional. Este artículo sigue el desarrollo histórico y el estado actual de los sistemas de separación familiar y las principales aportaciones de la investigación principal sobre estos temas en ambos países, que muestran una gran semejanza. Ambos países comparten la cultura mediterránea, en la que predominan los lazos familiares en la prestación del bienestar personal y social. Se supone que la fortaleza de estos lazos familiares tiene que ver con la lenta consolidación del acogimiento en una familia como alternativa a la separación familiar. En España esto ha dado lugar a una elevada prevalencia del acogimiento en la familia extensa, mientras que en Israel se han utilizado dispositivos de acogida residencial. Se discuten los retos que afrontan España e Israel ante esta estructura de acogida infantil pública

Father support and adjustment difficulties among youth in residential care: The moderating role of peer victimization and gender.

Father support of young people living in out-of-home settings is a neglected area of research. The study examines the moderating role of peer victimization in the association between father support and adjustment difficulties among male and female adolescents in residential care settings. Using random cluster sampling, the study includes the reports of 1,409 young people, in Grades 8 to 12, residing in 16 Israeli educational residential care settings designed for youth from underprivileged backgrounds. The findings show that, on average, fathers are highly involved in these young people's lives. They also show that male adolescents, adolescents whose parents are married, Israeli-born adolescents, and those whose fathers have higher education levels have higher levels of father support. Father support is negatively associated with adjustment difficulties. A significant interaction was found between peer victimization, father support, and gender in predicting adjustment difficulties. Among boys who had experienced peer victimization at any point during their lives, the findings show a significant negative association between father support and adjustment difficulties. For boys who had never experienced peer victimization, the association was statistically insignificant. For girls, the picture revealed is different; for those who had experienced peer victimization, the level of father support was insignificantly linked with adjustment difficulties. For girls who had never experienced peer victimization, there was a significant association between increased father support and reduced adjustment difficulties. These findings shed light on ways in which father support is beneficial to young people in residential care, with implications for child welfare and education professionals. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Change trajectories of aggressive behavior among children in long-term residential care.

This study examined change trajectories of aggressive behaviors among children in long-term residential care in Israel and identified various child-, family-, and placement-related predictors of the change trajectories. Records of 799 children (average age at the beginning of the four years=10.4, 33.1% female) in their first four consecutive years in care were analyzed using the TRF aggressive behavior subscale (Achenbach, 1991) to measure the outcome variable. Children's and parents' characteristics and placement-related factors were used to explain variance in change trajectories. Latent Class Growth Analyses identified four aggressive behavior trajectories: 'stable-low' levels of aggressiveness over time (45% of the children), 'stable-high' levels (13%), 'improvement' (20%), and 'deterioration' (22%). Predictors of less resilient trajectories (i.e., stable-high or increasing aggressiveness) included mothers' difficulties and disabilities, children's attendance of special education classes, more intensive type of care, and non-immigrant status. The Attachment Theory, Life Course Perspective theories, and the General Strain Theory are used to interpret some of the findings of the study. Identifying the factors that predispose children to certain patterns of change may help direct resources to children at risk of having high or increasing levels of aggression while in residential care.

The moderating role of cultural affiliation in the link between emotional closeness to grandparents and adolescent adjustment difficulties and prosocial behavior.

A growing body of research has shown the positive contribution of grandparents to adolescents' well-being. However, studies often overlook the cultural context in which this relationship is embedded. The current study examined whether emotional closeness to the grandparent identified by the adolescents as their closest grandparent varied among Arab and Jewish adolescents and whether cultural affiliation serves as a moderator in the association between emotional closeness to grandparents and adolescent adjustment difficulties and prosocial behaviors. The study was based on a sample of 2,751 Jewish and Arab secondary school students (aged 12-18) from Israel who completed a structured questionnaire. Among the whole sample, greater emotional closeness to the closest grandparent was associated with reduced emotional symptoms, reduced hyperactivity, and increased prosocial behaviors. While there were lower levels of emotional closeness to the closest grandparents among Arab adolescents, emotional closeness to grandparents was found to be more strongly associated with reduced emotional symptoms and increased prosocial behavior among Arab adolescents than among Jewish adolescents. These findings emphasize the importance of considering culture when examining intergenerational relationships in the family and their contribution to grandchildren's well-being. (PsycINFO Database Record

Emotional closeness to parents and grandparents: A moderated mediation model predicting adolescent adjustment.

Warm and emotionally close relationships with parents and grandparents have been found in previous studies to be linked with better adolescent adjustment. The present study, informed by Family Systems Theory and Intergenerational Solidarity Theory, uses a moderated mediation model analyzing the contribution of the dynamics of these intergenerational relationships to adolescent adjustment. Specifically, it examines the mediating role of emotional closeness to the closest grandparent in the relationship between emotional closeness to a parent (the offspring of the closest grandparent) and adolescent adjustment difficulties. The model also examines the moderating role of emotional closeness to parents in the relationship between emotional closeness to grandparents and adjustment difficulties. The study was based on a sample of 1,405 Jewish Israeli secondary school students (ages 12-18) who completed a structured questionnaire. It was found that emotional closeness to the closest grandparent was more strongly associated with reduced adjustment difficulties among adolescents with higher levels of emotional closeness to their parents. In addition, adolescent adjustment and emotional closeness to parents was partially mediated by emotional closeness to grandparents. Examining the family conditions under which adolescents' relationships with grandparents is stronger and more beneficial for them can help elucidate variations in grandparent-grandchild ties and expand our understanding of the mechanisms that shape child outcomes.

Indirect and verbal victimization by peers among at-risk youth in residential care.

Verbal and indirect violence among peers in residential care settings (RCSs) are understudied social problems. This study, based on a sample of 1,324 Jewish and Arab adolescents aged 11-19 in 32 RCSs, examines the prevalence and multilevel correlates of verbal (such as cursing) and indirect (such as social exclusion) forms of victimization by peers in RCSs. Adolescents completed a self-report anonymous questionnaire in their facility. Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM) is used to examine the links between adolescents' victimization, individual-level characteristics (gender, age, adjustment difficulties, self-efficacy, staff maltreatment experiences and perceived institutional social climate), and RCS-level characteristics (setting type of care, size, structure, and ethnic affiliation). Most adolescents reported having been verbally (73%) and indirectly (62%) victimized by their peers at least once in the month prior to filling out the questionnaire. Vulnerability to indirect violence is higher among girls and those with low perception of their social self-efficacy. Younger adolescents, adolescents with higher levels of overall adjustment difficulties, those experiencing high levels of physical maltreatment by RCS staff and those perceiving levels of child friendliness in their RCS as poor, were all more vulnerable to verbal and indirect victimization by peers. Verbal victimization is positively associated with residence in Jewish RCSs and indirect victimization is positively associated with residence in therapeutic settings which contain higher concentrations of vulnerable youth compared with rehabilitative settings. The findings can assist in designing anti-bullying intervention and prevention programs tailored for the at-risk children and institutions identified in the study.

Understanding the mediating role of corporal punishment in the association between maternal stress, efficacy, co-parenting and children's adjustment difficulties among Arab mothers.

This study, guided by the Family Systems Theory, examines the direct effect of maternal use of corporal punishment on children's adjustment difficulties. Also, it explores whether corporal punishment serves as a mediating factor in the relationship between several maternal characteristics, marital relationships, and children's adjustment difficulties. A total of 2,447 Arab mothers completed anonymous, structured, self-report questionnaires. The use of corporal punishment was generally strongly supported by the Arab mothers in our sample. A greater likelihood of using corporal punishment was found among mothers of boys rather than girls, among mothers with lower perceived self-efficacy to discipline children, and among mothers with a lower perception of their husbands' participation in child-related labor. In addition, the higher a mother's reports on disagreement with her husband about discipline methods and the stronger her level of maternal stress, the more likely she was to use corporal punishment. Corporal punishment also mediated the association between the above mentioned factors and child adjustment difficulties. Furthermore, a husband's emotional support and family socioeconomic status were directly associated to children's adjustment difficulties. The results of the current study emphasize the need to observe children's development within the context of their family systems and to consider the mutual influences of different subsystems such as marital relationships and mother-child interactions. Prevention and intervention programs should raise parents' awareness concerning the harmful effects of corporal punishment and take into account the impact of dynamic transactions of parental conflicts and disagreements regarding discipline methods on child outcomes.

Adolescents' reports of physical violence by peers in residential care settings: an ecological examination.

Physical victimization by peers was examined among 1,324 Jewish and Arab adolescents, aged 11 to 19, residing in 32 residential care settings (RCS) for children at-risk in Israel. Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM) was used to examine the relationships between physical victimization and adolescents' characteristics (age, gender, self-efficacy, adjustment difficulties, maltreatment by staff, and perceived social climate) as well as institution-level characteristics (care setting type, size, structure, and ethnic affiliation). For this study, we define physical violence as being grabbed, shoved, kicked, punched, hit with a hand, or hit with an object. Over 50% (56%) of the adolescents surveyed reported having experienced at least one form of physical violence by peers. Boys and younger adolescents were more likely to be victimized than girls and older adolescents. The results show that adolescents with adjustment difficulties or low social self-efficacy, and adolescents who perceive an institution's staff as strict and/or had experienced maltreatment by staff, are vulnerable groups for peer victimization. Lower levels of victimization were found in RCS with a familial element than in traditional group settings. Institutions with high concentrations of young people with adjustment difficulties and violent staff behaviors had higher levels of violence among residents. Applying an ecological perspective to an investigation of peer victimization in RCS enables the identification of risk factors at adolescent and institution levels. This type of examination has implications for child welfare practice and policy that can help in the development of prevention and intervention methods designed to tackle the involvement in violence of youth in care.

An ecological approach to children's rights and participation: interrelationships and correlates of rights in different ecological systems.

Current knowledge emphasizes either a developmental or a cultural/contextual theoretical framework for understanding children's approaches to the concepts of rights and participation. This study, carried out among 1,753 Israeli adolescents (ages 15-17), uses a socioecological perspective instead to understand children's rights and participation. It examines adolescents' approaches to their rights and participation at 4 ecological levels-family, school, community, and the larger sociopolitical system-as well as a number of possible child, family, and societal correlates. It also looks at the interactions between some of these correlates. The findings show that different correlates have different links with various ecological circles. For example, girls reported higher levels of participation in the family and at school, but no significant differences were found between boys and girls in their participation in the community and at civic-political levels. Israeli Palestinians reported higher levels of participation in their schools and at the civic-political level but lower levels of participation in the family and the community compared with their Jewish counterparts. The significant interaction effect between nation and gender showed that, among Arab students, there were larger gaps between boys and girls in the different participation domains than there were among Jewish students. Furthermore, higher rates of participation in the family and lower rates of civic participation were found among students from single-parent families. This study shows that employing an ecological framework to the efforts to understand children's approaches to rights and participation is a first step in the right direction for fostering children's rights and participation.

Child abuse and neglect: reporting by health professionals and their need for training.

BACKGROUND: For health professionals who interact professionally with children, adequate awareness and training regarding the clinical indicators of child abuse and neglect, as well as subsequent reporting and procedures, are essential. OBJECTIVES: To study Israeli health professionals experiences with identification and reporting of suspected cases of child abuse and neglect, and their perceived training needs in this area. METHODS: The study group was a convenience sample comprising 95 Israeli health professionals (physicians, nurses, social workers, psychologists, etc.) attending workshops on medical aspects at a national conference on child abuse and neglect. In this cross-sectional survey, the health professionals were asked to complete an anonymous structured questionnaire on their experience with child abuse and neglect and on their training needs. RESULTS: The participants in the survey had relatively high levels of involvement with child protection. Nevertheless, they strongly expressed their need for training, especially in mastering practice skills. The need for training was greater for professionals with less experience in child protection, and there were different needs according to profession. CONCLUSIONS: Despite their prior extensive experience in dealing with child abuse and neglect, most of the health professionals participating in the conference reported the need for training in certain areas.

Adverse life events, area socio-economic disadvantage, and adolescent psychopathology: The role of closeness to grandparents in moderating the effect of contextual stress.

The study, using data from 801 11-16-year-olds clustered in 68 schools across England and Wales, tested whether closeness to grandparents moderates the association between contextual stress and adolescent psychopathology and prosocial behavior, measured with the strengths and difficulties questionnaire (SDQ). Contextual stress was measured at both school area level (assessed with the index of multiple deprivation) and child level (assessed, as life stress, with the number of proximal and distal adverse life events experienced). At baseline, area stress (multiple deprivation) was unrelated to psychopathology (SDQ), and although both proximal (during the last 12 months) and distal (before the last 12 months) life stress was associated with broad and specific child psychopathology, the association with proximal life stress was stronger. Closeness to the most significant grandparent moderated both the effect of proximal life stress on hyperactivity and broad psychopathology, and the effect of the interaction between distal and proximal life stress on broad and externalizing psychopathology. These findings suggest that the role of grandparents deserves further attention in future investigations of the development of resilience in youth.

Peer sexual harassment victimization at school: the roles of student characteristics, cultural affiliation, and school factors.

This study examines the links between students' reports of sexual harassment victimization by peers and a number of individual and school contextual factors. It is based on a nationally representative sample of 16,604 students in Grades 7 through 11 in 327 schools across Israel who completed questionnaires during class. Hierarchical Linear Modeling was used to examine the links. Overall, approximately one in four students (25.6%) were victims of at least one unwanted and unwelcome act of harassment by peers (such as being touched or pinched in sexual manner) in the prior month. The most vulnerable groups were Israeli-Arab boys and students with negative perceptions of their school climate. The school correlates associated with higher levels of victimization were a higher share of students with less-educated parents, larger schools and classrooms, and negative school climate. The interactions between gender and school-related factors indicate that the gender patterns are different for Israeli-Arab and Jewish schools and for schools with different concentrations of students' families with low socioeconomic status. The study emphasizes the need for an ecological perspective in addressing school-based sexual harassment.

School functioning of children in residential care: the contributions of multilevel correlates.

OBJECTIVE: This study, using an ecological approach, examines the relationships between problems in school functioning (including academic and behavior problems) of children in residential care with a number of variables describing the child and the care setting. METHODS: The study reports on 4,061 children and youth (ages 6-20) in 54 Israeli residential care facilities supervised by the Ministry of Welfare. It is based on data derived from an ongoing system of monitoring care based on annual reports by social workers on children in care settings. Additionally, data on the characteristics of the settings were collected through a structured questionnaire completed by the supervisors at the Ministry of Welfare. Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM) was utilized to examine how characteristics of the individual children and the care settings were related to problems in school functioning among the children. RESULTS: Most of the children (about 62%) had at least one problem in school functioning. The most vulnerable children were boys, children who were taken from parental homes by court decree, children with problems in quality of contact with their biological parents, and children who stayed in the care setting for shorter periods. The settings' characteristics most associated with poor performance at school are group structure (vs. mixed and family home structures), higher levels of peer violence, fewer after-school activities, and settings in which children tend to stay for shorter periods of times. CONCLUSIONS: The findings demonstrate the need for an ecological perspective in addressing children's problems in school functioning within the care system. The results help to identify the types of placements that should benefit from additional resources in order to promote adaptive performance in school among the children. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: Social workers in residential care should give high priority to children's positive academic involvement. The study demonstrates the need for identifying the intersection of the individual, familial and institutional contexts in which problems in school functioning are more prevalent. Therefore, it is important to allocate sufficient resources to care settings which serve these children. The study suggests some priorities and directions for policy and practice with children in residential care.

Grandparenting and adolescent adjustment in two-parent biological, lone-parent, and step-families.

There is limited research on the links between grandparenting and adolescents' well-being, especially from the perspective of the adolescents. The study examined whether grandparent involvement varied in two-parent biological, lone-parent, and step-families and whether this had a different contribution to the emotional and behavioral adjustment of adolescents across different family structures. The study is based on a sample of 1,515 secondary school students (ages 11-16 years) from England and Wales who completed a structured questionnaire. Findings of hierarchical regression analyses showed that among the whole sample, greater grandparent involvement was associated with fewer emotional problems (p < .01) and with more prosocial behavior (p < .001). In addition, while there were no differences in the level of grandparent involvement across the different family structures, grandparent involvement was more strongly associated with reduced adjustment difficulties among adolescents from lone-parent and step-families than those from two-parent biological families. A possible implication is that the positive role of grandparent involvement in lone-parent and step- families should be more emphasized in family psychology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2009 APA, all rights reserved).