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Convergent identities, compounded risk: intersectionality and parenting capacity assessment for disabled children
- Author:
- FLYNN Susan
- Journal article citation:
- Children and Youth Services Review, 129, 2021, p.106185.
- Publisher:
- Elsevier
Recent international literature review identified an immense lack of publications on parenting capacity assessment and childhood disability. This is problematic given the established and substantially higher risk of neglect and abuse that disabled children encounter. This heightened risk is also compounded by multiple barriers to effective professional safeguarding practice. This paper particularly focuses on one complex aspect of these capacity assessments. Specifically, the convergence of identities such as gender, ethnicity and disability are considered through an intersectionality lens rather than dealing with these identities in a separate way. Specifically, Crenshaw’s theory of intersectionality is applied to existing research evidence to derive themes. These themes are presented in the paper as a means of informing critical thinking, for practitioners seeking to address convergent identities, within existing parenting capacity assessment frameworks and disability supplemental tools. (Edited publisher abstract)
Systematic review and critical appraisal of Childhood Trauma Questionnaire — Short Form (CTQ-SF)
- Authors:
- GEORGIEVA Sylvia, TOMAS Jose M., NAVARRO-PEREZ Jose Javier
- Journal article citation:
- Child Abuse and Neglect, 120, 2021, p.105223.
- Publisher:
- Elsevier
Background: Child maltreatment is a complex and multidimensional construct that encompasses a great number of risk factors. The Childhood Trauma Questionnaire — Short Form, one of the most widely used and validated instruments to assess childhood maltreatment in the past ten years, is a retrospective instrument that assesses several types of childhood abuse and maltreatment which is divided into five dimensions. Objective: The objectives of this systematic review are to critically appraise, compare, and summarize the methodological quality and psychometric properties of published research articles validating the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire — Short Form utilizing the COSMIN checklist. Method: Articles published in English or Spanish, in the past ten years in the databases of Scopus, Web of Science, and ProQuest, and which, directly or indirectly analyzed psychometric properties of the CTQ-SF were screened, examined, and assessed utilizing the COSMIN checklist. Results: Main results indicate that there is a general pattern of assessing the same three psychometric properties (internal consistency, structural validity, and hypothesis testing) in a variety of samples, but leaving unassessed the rest of properties examined by the COSMIN checklist. Additionally, there are some problems with the internal consistency of several factors. Implications and conclusions: While replicability and internal consistency are good psychometric indicators of the CTQ-SF, there is a big scientific gap of information regarding some psychometric properties. It is suggested that future research should address the remaining psychometric properties, reliability, measurement error, content validity, cross cultural and criterion validity, as well as re-examining internal consistency of some dimensions, in order to advance in the knowledge on childhood maltreatment assessment. (Edited publisher abstract)
Measurement of aggression in older adults
- Authors:
- RAVYT Scott G., et al
- Journal article citation:
- Aggression and Violent Behavior, 57, 2021, p.101484.
- Publisher:
- Elsevier
Aggressive behaviors are prevalent in late-life and are associated with important consequences for older adults, caregivers, and healthcare providers. Age-related changes in the manifestation of aggression are precipitated in part by the rise of cognitive impairment. Such changes necessitate the use of psychometrically sound measures. The present article identifies existing measures of aggression for older adults, highlights the strengths and limitations of these measures, and proposes avenues for future research in this area. Five full-scale measures of aggression, as well as five subscales of aggression embedded within larger non-aggression measures in older adults were identified. Overall, measures of aggression specific to late-life are predominately observational and limited to individuals with dementia or older adults living in long-term care settings. The psychometric properties of aggression scales in late-life generally indicate adequate internal consistency, interrater reliability, and concurrent validity. In contrast, the reliability and validity of subscales of aggression contained within larger neuropsychiatric measures are more difficult to ascertain due to limited research. Future investigations would benefit from examining the psychometric properties of widely-used self-report measures of aggression among older adults, further evaluating the psychometric properties of aggression subscales, and developing additional measures which are predictive of aggressive behaviors. (Edited publisher abstract)
Screening for economic hardship for child welfare-involved families during the COVID-19 pandemic: a rapid partnership response
- Authors:
- FALLON Barbara, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Child Abuse and Neglect, 110(2), 2020, p.104706.
- Publisher:
- Elsevier
Background: Pandemics have a wide range of economic, health and social consequences related to both the spread of a disease and efforts made by government leaders to contain it which may be particularly detrimental for the child welfare-involved population. This is because child welfare agencies serve some of the highest needs children and families. A significant proportion of these families face economic hardship, and as a result of containment measures for COVID-19, more families inevitably will. Objective: Given the range of negative consequences related to the pandemic and the evolving supports available to families, child protection workers needed a clinical tool to guide and support work with families informed by an understanding of economic hardship. The objective of this paper is to report on the development and implementation strategy of a tool to be used for practice intervention during the pandemic. Methods: Action research methodology was utilized in the creation of the clinical tool. The tool’s development and implementation occurred through an academic/child welfare sector partnership involving child welfare agencies representing diverse regions and populations in Ontario, Canada. Factor analysis of representative child welfare data from the Ontario Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect 2018 (OIS-2018) on economic hardship was used to inform the development of questions on the clinical tool. Results: The development and implementation strategy of the clinical tool are described, including the results from analyses of the OIS-2018. Conclusions: Future directions for the project are discussed, including considerations for using this tool beyond the pandemic. (Edited publisher abstract)
A state-of-the-art review of direct observation tools for assessing competency in person-centred care
- Authors:
- EKMAN Nina, et al
- Journal article citation:
- International Journal of Nursing Studies, 109, 2020, p.103634.
- Publisher:
- Elsevier
Background: Direct observation is a common assessment strategy in health education and training, in which trainees are observed and assessed while undertaking authentic patient care and clinical activities. A variety of direct observation tools have been developed for assessing competency in delivering person-centred care (PCC), yet to our knowledge no review of such tools exists. Objective: To review and evaluate direct observation tools developed to assess health professionals’ competency in delivering PCC. Design: State-of-the-art review. Data sources: Electronic literature searches were conducted in PubMed, ERIC, CINAHL, and Web of Science for English-language articles describing the development and testing of direct observation tools for assessing PCC published until March 2017. Review methods: Three authors independently assessed the records for eligibility. Duplicates were removed and articles were excluded that were irrelevant based on title and/or abstract. All remaining articles were read in full text. A data extraction form was developed to cover and extract information about the tools. The articles were examined for any conceptual or theoretical frameworks underlying tool development and coverage of recognized PCC dimensions was evaluated against a standard framework. The psychometric performance of the tools was obtained directly from the original articles. Result: 16 tools were identified: five assessed PCC holistically and 11 assessed PCC within specific skill domains. Conceptual/theoretical underpinnings of the tools were generally unclear. Coverage of PCC domains varied markedly between tools. Most tools reported assessments of inter-rater reliability, internal consistency reliability and concurrent validity; however, intra-rater reliability, content and construct validity were rarely reported. Predictive and discriminant validity were not assessed. Conclusion: Differences in scope, coverage and content of the tools likely reflect the complexity of PCC and lack of consensus in defining this concept. Although all may serve formative purposes, evidence supporting their use in summative evaluations is limited. Patients were not involved in the development of any tool, which seems intrinsically paradoxical given the aims of PCC. The tools may be useful for providing trainee feedback; however, rigorously tested and patient-derived tools are needed for high-stakes use. (Edited publisher abstract)
Measuring the quality of care in kinship foster care placements
- Authors:
- STENE Katherine L., et al
- Journal article citation:
- Children and Youth Services Review, 116, 2020, p.105136.
- Publisher:
- Elsevier
Kinship foster care placements have become significantly more prevalent in both Canada and the United States. However, there are limited resources for child protection services (CPS) workers to assess the quality of the kinship caregiver placements. Although several measures exist to screen caregivers for general foster care, there are no instruments available for the assessment of quality in kinship foster care. Thus, the current study reexamined a kinship caregiver assessment using data from a study conducted at the Children and Family Research Center (CFRC). Inter-item and item-scale reliability coefficients were calculated for caregiver responses (N = 37) using Cronbach’s alpha and ordinal alpha through polychoric correlation matrices. Analyses revealed five distinct scales with good internal consistency (ordinal α > 0.75), suggesting a useful assessment tool. With the continuing shift to increased kinship placements, it is important that CPS workers have access to validated measures for this placement setting. Findings provide an innovative kinship caregiver measure to be used in the field of child welfare, and support further research in this area. (Edited publisher abstract)
The Protective Factors Survey, 2nd Edition: Establishing validity and reliability of a self-report measure of protective factors against child maltreatment
- Authors:
- SPRAGUE-JONES Jessica, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Children and Youth Services Review, 111, 2020, p.104868.
- Publisher:
- Elsevier
The Protective Factors Survey, 2nd Edition (PFS-2) is designed to support the evaluation of child maltreatment prevention programs. It measures four protective factors thought to be critical in the prevention of abuse and neglect: Family Functioning/Resilience, Nurturing and Attachment, Social Supports, and Concrete Supports. It also measures a fifth component, the Caregiver/Practitioner Relationship, to assess the respondent’s engagement with the program or service being evaluated. In this study, we describe a national field test collecting PFS-2 data across 60 individual program sites in seven states (N = 826). The results from this study indicate that the PFS-2 is a valid, reliable, and stable measure. Implications for the child maltreatment prevention field are discussed. (Publisher abstract)
Changes in Child and Adolescent Needs and Strengths (CANS) scores over time: a systematic review
- Authors:
- SOKOL Rebeccah L., et al
- Journal article citation:
- Children and Youth Services Review, 112, 2020, p.104917.
- Publisher:
- Elsevier
The Child and Adolescent Needs and Strengths (CANS) is an assessment tool that child-serving settings have used with children and their families to identify areas for intervention and monitor service outcomes over time. Despite its widespread application, the field knows little about how children’s CANS scores change over time in settings that provide CANS-informed services. The current study systematically reviewed changes in CANS scores over time in the existing longitudinal services research. Seven studies met inclusion criteria, and these studies assessed a total of 11 CANS domains: Problems, Risk Behaviors, Functioning, Mental Health, Traumatic Stress Symptoms, Behavioral/Emotional Needs, Acculturation, Externalizing, Child Strengths, Care Intensity, Caregiver Strengths, and Caregiver Needs and Strengths. Overall, the existing evidence on longitudinal CANS applications is limited. Scores within three CANS domains–Risk Behaviors, Functioning, and Child Strengths–improved over time in five of the seven studies. For the majority of CANS domains, however, there was little to no evidence for improvement over time following CANS-informed services. (Edited publisher abstract)
Using vignettes as a ‘safe space’ for low-income children to discuss sensitive topics in social work assessment
- Authors:
- LEE Charmaine J.M., GOH Esther C.L.
- Journal article citation:
- Children and Youth Services Review, 111, 2020, p.104882.
- Publisher:
- Elsevier
Summary: This paper aims to examine the usefulness of vignettes in eliciting and discussing sensitive issues, such as the lack of financial resource, with children to aid the social work assessment process. Vignettes are defined as short stories, embedded in a tangible context, about a fictional individual or situation that is relevant to a specific theme. Method: Ten children aged seven to 12-years-old from economically disadvantaged families were invited to participate in this study. A two-pronged data collection method was used where (1) interviews incorporating vignettes was conducted with children followed by (2) small group discussions with social workers. Vignettes were crafted that placed the children in hypothetical dilemmas namely, (1) childcare responsibility versus desire for peer activities and (2) tight family finances versus personal wants. Preliminary findings from interview data with children guided small group discussions with social workers on the applicability of this method in the social work assessment process with children in Singapore. Findings: Findings of this research provide evidence that vignettes seem to enable access to children’s viewpoints regarding sensitive topics and provide insights on how they make meaning of and construct solutions to cope with their difficult circumstances in a relational context. It further provided insights into children’s ability to exercise agency in a relational context. (Edited publisher abstract)
Identifying Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder and psychiatric comorbidity for children and youth in care: a community approach to diagnosis and treatment
- Authors:
- PATEL Mitesh, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Children and Youth Services Review, 108, 2020, p.104606.
- Publisher:
- Elsevier
Background: Several challenges exist when making a diagnosis of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) and identifying co-morbid psychiatric illness, particularly for children and youth accessing child welfare services. Here, the study describes an integrated three-phase approach to the identification of FASD and psychiatric co-morbidity for children and youth in care, consisting of: (1) completion of a standardised neurobehavioral screening tool by a child protection worker (CPW); (2) assessment by a paediatrician, including facial measurements and; (3) integration of findings in a psychiatric assessment. Main Findings: The majority of participants (14/18, 78%) of youth who were suspected by a CPW and paediatrician of a diagnosis of FASD using the screening tool were determined to have met criteria. A diagnosis was made in all cases where there was confirmed history of prenatal exposure and a majority of these youth were found to have sentinel facial features of FASD. Psychiatric co-morbidity was diagnosed and treatment recommendations made for all children and youth referred. Conclusions: This study supports the utility of an integrated community approach to diagnosing and treating co-morbid psychiatric disorders in FASD by employing existing child protection and physician services in a community setting. Based on these preliminary findings, the study encourages that youth who access formal care systems be screened for FASD by their CPW and are provided with appropriate paediatric and psychiatric assessments to clarify the diagnosis, while also identifying co-morbid psychiatric illness to target appropriate interventions. (Edited publisher abstract)