Friedrich, William N.

The quality of both family relations and marital satisfaction was assessed in 131 two-parent families who had a mentally retarded child. Both family relations and marital satisfaction were seen as outcome variables reflecting how families cope with the chronic strain of a special child. Social desirability was controlled, and family relations and marital satisfaction were related to a variety of psychosocial and child-specific variables.

This study examined sex differences in the self-report of depression in early adolecents. A sample of 269 junior high adolescents completed a biographical data sheet, short forms of the Beck Depression Inventory, the Family Environment Scale, a Social Support Index, and a Life Stress Inventory. A subset of 61 mothers completed a Beck inventory, and a Family Environment Scale on their children. Sex differences were demonstrated in the relation of depression to the family and individual variables. Depression in boys was correlated with life stress and lower grades, while for girls, depression was correlated with several types of social support and lower grades.

Ten children with lipomyelomeningocele were evaluated with the WISC—R, the Wide Range Achievement Test—Revised, the Developmental Test of Visual-motor Integration, and the Child Behavior Checklist. These children were consecutive referrals to a birth defects clinic. Unlike their meningomyelocele counterparts, as a group these children appear to be average in their intellectual, academic, and behavioral characteristics. However, they exhibited low average perceptual motor skills, a feature more commonly seen in meningomyelocele.

Exner's scoring (1990) was used on the responses by 46 sexually abused girls (6 to 14 years old) and 46 nonsexually abused girls (6 to 14 years old). Subjects were matched for age, race, family income, and family constellation. Sexually abused children exhibited significantly more unusual content, e.g., sex and blood, in their protocols as well as more frequent coping deficits.

The sexually abused child has been described as more fearful, anxious, depressed, and guilty in comparison to normal children. However, these descriptions are largely derived from clinical impressions and little systematic exploration of the nature and extent of behavior problems among these children. The present study investigated the problem behaviors of a group of preschool and elementary-aged sexually abused children (N = 93) in comparison with a sample of nonabused children from a psychiatric outpatient clinic (N = 64) and a sample of nonabused children from a well child clinic (N = 78). Behavioral strengths and weaknesses in these children were examined by administering the Achenbach Child Behavior Checklist to their mothers. Sexually abused children displayed a significantly greater number of behavior problems than normals but were not as significantly disturbed as the psychiatric outpatients. The sexually abused children did display significantly more sexual problems than either comparison group. Caseworkersl therapists for the sexually abused child provided ratings of family conflict, cohesion, and support of the child. These were significantly related to the extent of behavior problems in the sexually abused children. This relationship equaled or exceeded the relationship of severity of sexual abuse to behavior problems.

A treatment intervention program was developed for young sexually abused boys, and of the 42 boys who began treatment, 33 completed therapy. The treatment approach included a combination of group, individual, parent training, and family therapy. At follow-up, clinical and statistically significant improvements were noted in a number of areas, including overall behavior problems and sexual behavior problems. Therapy outcome was related to a number of family and abuse factors, including maternal depression and social support, family conflict, and severity of abuse.

This study assessed continuity of problematic sexualized behaviors (PSB) over a 1-year period. Ninety-seven 10-12-year-olds in either foster boarding homes or a residential treatment center participated at Time 1. Twelve months later, 78 youth were available for a second data collection assessment. At both data collection phases, researchers interviewed foster parents or primary therapists about the youths' sexual behavior. Findings revealed significant continuity in PSB over time, with children who at Time 1 exhibited PSB significantly more likely to exhibit PSB at Time 2. The reverse was also true in that the absence of PSB at Time 1 was associated with the absence of PSB at Time 2. In addition, a subset of specific PSB behaviors was noted to be most stable, although this varied across the groups. Youth with PSB exhibited several patterns of persistence in specific behaviors over time, including continuity, a mix of continuity and change, and complete discontinuity. The persistence of PSB over time was most true for the children living in a residential treatment center, the more disturbed group studied. We conclude that the persistence of PSB is more likely when the child has other problematic behaviors.