PUBLICATIONS

Hildyard, K., & Wolfe, D. A. (2007). Understanding child neglect: Cognitive processes underlying neglectful parenting. Child Abuse & Neglect, 31, 895-907.

To compare neglectful and non-neglectful mothers on information processing tasks related to child emotions, behaviors, the caregiving relationship, and recall of child-related information. A natural group design was used. Neglectful mothers (N = 34) were chosen from active, chronic caseloads; non-neglectful comparison mothers (N = 33) were obtained from community agencies serving families. Participants were administered the IFEEL Picture task to assess maternal perceptions of infant emotions, eight vignettes of young children's behavior to assess attributions for child behavior across different scenarios, and a passage recall task to assess information processing problems. A measure of depression was used as a covariate to control for this variable. Neglectful mothers were significantly less likely to recognize infants’ feelings of interest, more likely to see sadness and shame, more inaccurate at labeling infants’ emotions, and had a more limited emotion vocabulary. They also made more internal and stable attributions for children's behaviors in situations where it was not clear whether a child was at risk of harm, and had poor recall of information. Depressive symptoms had little effect on these findings with the exception of information recall. Neglectful mothers show significant problems in information processing concerning their child's emotions and behaviors, which may affect their childrearing behavior. Cognitive-behavioral interventions to improve parents’ abilities to recognize their child's emotions and to address maladaptive attributions may be of value.

Crooks, C., Scott, K., Wolfe, D. A., Chiodo, D., & Killip, S. (2007). Understanding the link between childhood maltreatment and violent delinquency: What do schools have to add? Child Maltreatment, 12, 269-280.

Child maltreatment constitutes significant risk for adolescent delinquency. Although an ecological model has been proposed to explain this relationship, most studies focus on individual risk factors. Prospective data from 1,788 students attending 23 schools were used to examine the additive influence of childhood maltreatment, individual-level risk factors, and school-level variables assessed at the beginning of Grade 9 on delinquency 4 to 6 months later. Individual-level results indicated that being male, experiencing childhood maltreatment, and poor parental nurturing were predictors of violent delinquency. School climate also played a significant role: Given the same individual risk profile, a student attending a school that was perceived by students as safe was less likely to engage in violent delinquency than was a student attending a school perceived to be unsafe. Moreover, the impact of childhood maltreatment on risk for engaging in violent delinquency was somewhat mitigated by schools' participation in a comprehensive violence prevention program.

Crooks, C. V., & Wolfe, D. A. (2007). Child abuse and neglect. In E. J. Mash & R. A. Barkley (Eds.), Assessment of childhood disorders (Fourth Edition, pp 639-684). New York, NY: Guilford.

Hurley, D., Chiodo, D., Leschied, A.., &, Whitehead, P. (2006).  Intergenerational Continuity and Child Maltreatment: Implications for Social Work Practice in Child Welfare.  Canadian Social Work, 8 31-44.

This study addresses a number of questions related to the intergenerational transmission of child maltreatment and the placement of children in child welfare care. A number of psychosocial factors were examined related to child maltreatment and the characteristics of intergenerational child welfare families referred to a large urban child welfare agency in 1995 and 2001. Results suggest that a significant proportion of children in the care of the Children’s Aid Society (CAS) have a primary parent who had contact with the CAS as a child, and that this number increased significantly between 1995 and 2001. In addition, these families, compared to those not having similar intergenerational histories, differed in their rates of exposure to violence, forms of maltreatment, parental psychopathology and scores on a risk-assessment measure. Implications for these findings, as they relate to policy and practice in child welfare, are discussed.

Leschied, A.W., Chiodo, D., Whitehead, P., & Hurley, D. (2006).  The association of poverty with child welfare service and child and family clinical outcomes.  Community, Work and Family, 9, 29-46.

The influences of poverty, family status and violence in the lives of children and families seen at a large urban children’s aid society are investigated. Comparative rates of social assistance dependency of child welfare families between 1995 and 2001 are reported. While the rate of poverty of child welfare families is stable across the two time periods, the ability of families to cope with poverty has dramatically changed, with the percentage of children from impoverished families being admitted into care nearly doubling across the six-year period. Violence as a mitigating factor in the relationship between poverty, the extent of child welfare service and child and family outcomes is also reported. Suggestions for enabling women who are caught in the complexity of choosing between physical safety and poverty are reported.

Azar, S., & Wolfe, D. (2006). Child physical abuse and neglect.  In E. J. Mash & R. A. Barkley (Eds.), Treatment of childhood disorders (3rd edition, pp. 595-646). New York: Guilford.

Wolfe, D. A., Francis, K. J., & Straatman, A. (2006). Child abuse in religiously-affiliated institutions: Long-term impact on men's mental health. Child Abuse & Neglect, 30, 205-212.

Objective: To describe the long-term impact of physical and sexual abuse of boys by someone in a trusting, non-familial relationship. This clinical study reports on the psychological functioning of men (N=76) with substantiated claims against a residential religiously-affiliated institution for multiple and severe incidents of sexual, physical, and/or emotional abuse during childhood. The abuse was perpetrated by several adults in positions of authority and trust at the institution. Methods: Each participant received a clinical interview and was administered psychological tests and a structured interview for DSM-IV diagnoses. The same clinician completed all of the assessments. Results: DSM-IV criteria were met for current PTSD (42%), alcohol (21%), and mood-related disorders (25%). Over one-third of the sample suffered chronic sexual problems, and over one half had a history of criminal behavior. Conclusions: The clinical findings provide direction for assessing victims of historical abuse, and underscore the importance of awareness, prevention, and treatment needs for those who have been abused in institutional settings. Conclusions are limited due to participants' involvement in civil action, unknown pre-existing conditions, and the lack of a suitable comparison group.

Leschied, A.W., Chiodo, D., Whitehead, P., & Hurley, D (2005).  The relationship between maternal depression and child outcomes in a child welfare sample: Implications for policy and treatment. Child and Family Social Work, 10, 281-291

Maternal depression is an extremely important parenting variable in relation to child general health. This investigation addressed the issue of maternal depression as it relates to the lives of children seen by child welfare authorities. Maternal depression was investigated in the context of the increasing rate of children coming to the attention of the London and Middlesex Children's Aid Society. A variety of child outcomes including those of particular relevance to child welfare, specifically disorders of attachment and neglect and physical abuse, school-related variables, conduct disorder and psychological distress, were investigated. The relative contribution of maternal depression along with measures of socioeconomic status and social isolation to childhood risk was examined. Results indicated that the rate of maternal depression doubled during the years 1995–2001. Maternal depression was related to children entering care through wardship. Additional poor child outcomes such as attention deficit disorder, conduct disorder and emotional adjustment were also related to maternal depression. The findings are discussed in terms of treatment and policies that can lower the risk to children through effective intervention with depressed mothers.

Wolfe, D. A. & Nayak., M. B. (2003). Child abuse in peacetime. In B. L. Green, M. J. Friedman, J. de Jong, S. D. Solomon, T. M. Keane, J. A. Fairbank, B. Donelan, & E. Frey-Wouters (Eds.), Trauma Interventions in War and Peace: Prevention, Practice, and Policy (pp. 75-104).Kluwer Academic / Plenum.

Maltreatment of children rarely raised concern prior to the mid-20th century, because many societies viewed harsh forms of discipline and corporal punishment as inconsequential and a parent’s right and responsibility. Sexual abuse remained hidden, as did the exploitation of children through the sex trade and child labor. Children who witnessed violence between their parents remained silent victims, seemingly unaffected by the unpredictable and frightening outbursts.

K. L. Hildyard and D. A. Wolfe (2002) Child neglect: developmental issues and outcomes. Child Abuse Negl 26, 38174p.679-95

OBJECTIVE: This article highlights the manner in which child neglect, the most common form of maltreatment, affects children's development. METHOD: The review is organized according to three developmental periods (i.e., infancy/preschool, school-aged and younger adolescents, and older adolescents and adults) and major developmental processes (cognitive, social-emotional, and behavioral). Although the focus is on specific and unique effects of various forms of child neglect, particular attention is paid to studies that allow comparisons of neglect and abuse that clarify their similarities and differences. RESULTS: Past as well as very recent findings converge on the conclusion that child neglect can have severe, deleterious short- and long-term effects on children's cognitive, socio-emotional, and behavioral development. Consistent with attachment and related theories, neglect occurring early in life is particularly detrimental to subsequent development. Moreover, neglect is associated with effects that are, in many areas, unique from physical abuse, especially throughout childhood and early adolescence. Relative to physically abused children, neglected children have more severe cognitive and academic deficits, social withdrawal and limited peer interactions, and internalizing (as opposed to externalizing) problems. CONCLUSIONS: The current review offers further support for the long-standing conclusion that child neglect poses a significant challenge to children's development and well-being. Limitations with regard to the state of the knowledge are discussed and directions for future research are outlined.

R. A. McGee, D. A. Wolfe, S. A. Yuen, S. K. Wilson and J. Carnochan (1995) The measurement of maltreatment: a comparison of approaches. Child Abuse Negl 19, 2p.233-49

This study examined the comparability and predictive validity of three approaches to the measurement of child maltreatment. Adolescents (N = 160, aged 11-17) were randomly selected from the open caseload of a child protection agency. Global ratings of maltreatment severity were made by three reporting sources: researchers on the basis of protection agency case files, protection agency social workers, and the adolescents themselves. Ratings were made of five types of maltreatment: physical, sexual, emotional, neglect, and exposure to family violence. Self-reported (YSR) and caretaker-reported (CBCL) adjustment measures were also obtained for each subject. Results indicated that over 90% of the sample had experienced more than one type of maltreatment. Comparison of ratings across sources indicated considerable disagreement with respect to judgments of maltreatment occurrence and severity. Relative to professional ratings, adolescent ratings were better predictors of externalizing and internalizing symptomatology in both univariate and multivariate analyses.

D. A. Wolfe, L. Sas and C. Wekerle (1994) Factors associated with the development of posttraumatic stress disorder among child victims of sexual abuse. Child Abuse Negl 18, 1p.37-50

This study examined the relationship between the development of PTSD and selected victim and event characteristics. The sample consisted of 69 girls and 21 boys (mean age = 12.4 years) who had been referred to a child witness preparation program following documentation of sexual abuse. Comparisons of PTSD positive (N = 44) and PTSD negative (N = 46) subgroups found significant differences on variables of age, sex, duration of the abuse, and the use of violence or coercion by the offender. Comparisons on psychological test data indicated that the PTSD subgroup significantly differed from the non-PTSD subgroup on the basis of children's abuse-related fears, anxiety, depression, and feelings of guilt related to the abuse. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis indicated that factors related to the nature and severity of the abuse and the child's self-report of guilt feelings each contributed significantly to explaining 37% of the variance in PTSD symptoms, even after the variables of receptive language ability, age, and sex were controlled. Discriminant function analysis correctly classified 78.4% of the respondents. The importance of considering PTSD in relation to child sexual abuse is discussed, along with limitations of the current study.

D. A. Wolfe, B. Edwards, I. Manion and C. Koverola (1988) Early intervention for parents at risk of child abuse and neglect: a preliminary investigation. J Consult Clin Psychol 56, 1p.40-7

D. A. Wolfe (1985) Child-abusive parents: an empirical review and analysis. Psychol Bull 97, 3p.462-82

D. A. Wolfe and M. D. Mosk (1983) Behavioral comparisons of children from abusive and distressed families. J Consult Clin Psychol 51, 5p.702-8