PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

Dante Cicchetti

Publications and source records attributed to Dante Cicchetti.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed2004

A longitudinal study of child maltreatment, mother-child relationship quality and maladjustment: the role of self-esteem and social competence.

This study examined the concurrent and longitudinal relations of mother-child relationship quality, self-esteem, social competence, and maladjustment among maltreated (n = 206) and nonmaltreated (n = 139) school-aged children from low-income families. Results of the path analysis using structural equation modeling revealed that maltreatment at Time 1 was related to internalizing and externalizing symptomatology at Time 1, both directly as well as indirectly, through its influence on social competence at Time 1. Regardless of maltreatment status, secure mother-child relationship quality was negatively related to internalizing symptomatology at Time 1 and to internalizing and externalizing symptomatology at Time 2 via its influence on self-esteem at Time 1. The results are discussed as suggestive of the role of self-esteem and social competence as mediating mechanisms in the link between relational risks and children's maladjustment.

Child↗
PubMed2004

The impact of child maltreatment on expressive syntax at 60 months.

Although child maltreatment has often been described as leading to language deficits, the few well-controlled investigations of language acquisition in maltreated children have focused on language content rather than form, or have used qualitative rather than quantitative measures. This study examines syntactic complexity in 19 maltreated and 14 nonmaltreated preschool-aged children. Mother-child dyads participated in play sessions that were transcribed and scored for the presence of morphosyntactic forms in child speech and for specific sentence constructions in maternal speech. Findings indicated that child maltreatment was associated with language delay in both vocabulary and production of syntactic structures. There were also qualitative differences in characteristics of maternal utterances between maltreating and comparison groups. Because maltreatment initially occurred before age 2, this study highlights the long-lasting negative influence of maltreatment on language development and also provides the first demonstration of child language delays and differences in maternal speech within a single maltreatment sample.

Child Abuse↗
PubMed2003

Moving research on resilience into the 21st century: theoretical and methodological considerations in examining the biological contributors to resilience.

Empirical investigations of resilience over the past 30 years have examined a wide range of psychosocial correlates of, and contributors to, this phenomenon. Thus far, theoretical treatments of resilience have focused almost exclusively on psychosocial levels of analysis to derive explanatory models. However, there have been no formal discussions of either theory or research that have examined the biological contributors to, or correlates of, competent functioning despite the experience of adversity. This paper seeks to fill this gap and sets forth a preliminary theoretical framework and outline of empirical strategies for studying the biological underpinnings of resilience. The initial sections of the paper discuss the particular suitability of a transactional organizational theoretical perspective as a conceptual foundation for including a biological level of analysis within the extant theoretical framework of resilience. Subsequently, other important theoretical considerations for the inclusion of a biological perspective on resilience are discussed, including the avoidance of an approach that would reduce resilience to merely a biological process, the application of the constructs of multifinality and equifinality to a biological perspective on resilience, as well as a general discussion of the potential for utilization of brain imaging and other technologies in the study of resilience. The possible relation between the mechanisms of neural plasticity and resilience are examined in some detail, with specific suggestions concerning research questions needed to examine this association. Sections of the paper discuss the likely relation of several areas of brain and biological functioning with resilience, including emotion, cognition, neuroendocrine and immune functioning, and genetics. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications of a biological perspective on resilience for preventive interventions.

Affect↗
PubMed2003

False belief understanding in maltreated children.

False belief understanding was investigated in maltreated (N = 203), low socioeconomic status (SES) nonmaltreated (N = 143), and middle SES nonmaltreated (N = 172) 3- to 8-year-old children. Contrasts among the three groups provided an opportunity to examine the impact of family contextual influences on theory of mind development. Specifically, child maltreatment served as an "experiment of nature" in order to elucidate theory of mind abilities. Two false belief tasks and language assessments were administered. Among children with a verbal mental age of 49 months or greater, maltreatment was related to delays in the development of theory of mind, beyond the influence of chronological age and SES. The occurrence of maltreatment during the toddler period, onset during the toddler years, and physical abuse were features of maltreatment associated with delay in the development of theory of mind. Findings are discussed in terms of the influence of harsh caregiving on the development of theory of mind. Implications for the understanding of normal developmental processes are highlighted.

Child↗
PubMed2003

Acoustic startle in maltreated children.

We investigated the eyeblink component of acoustic startle reactions in maltreated children. Previous research indicates that acoustic startle is enhanced in adult males with posttraumatic stress disorders (PTSD) whereas findings on women with PTSD have been inconsistent. In accord with the only previous report for children with PTSD, we found that maltreated boys, particularly those who had been physically abused, responded to increases in startle probe loudness with smaller increments in amplitude of startle eyeblink and smaller reductions in blink latency than did comparison boys. Results for girls were inconsistent: younger maltreated girls had smaller startle amplitude and slower onset latency than controls, whereas older maltreated girls exhibited the opposite pattern.

Child↗
PubMed2003

Social self-efficacy and behavior problems in maltreated and nonmaltreated children.

Investigated the relations among child maltreatment, children's social self-efficacy, and behavioral adjustment. Data were collected on 305 maltreated and 195 non-maltreated children from low-income families (ages 5 to 12 years) who were assessed on perceived social self-efficacy and evaluated by camp counselors on internalizing and externalizing symptomatology. Younger (< 8 years) maltreated children exhibited inflated levels of perceived self-efficacy in confictual peer interactions compared to younger nonmaltreated children. Younger maltreated children with higher levels of social self-efficacy showed significantly less internalizing behaviors compared to younger maltreated children with lower levels of social self-efficacy. For older children (> 8 years), regardless of maltreatment status, higher levels of perceived social self-efficacy in conflict situations were related to lower levels of internalizing symptomatology. The results are discussed as suggestive of the role of children's social self-efficacy as a protective factor in the link between maltreatment and internalizing symptomatology.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed2002

The relative efficacy of two interventions in altering maltreated preschool children's representational models: implications for attachment theory.

A narrative story-stem task was used to evaluate the efficacy of two competing, developmentally informed preventive interventions for maltreated preschoolers and their mothers designed to modify children's internal representations of self and of self in relation to other. One hundred and twenty-two mothers and their preschoolers (87 maltreated and 35 nonmaltreated) served as participants. Maltreating families were randomly assigned to either the preschooler-parent psychotherapy (PPP, n = 23), psychoeducational home visitation (PHV, n = 34), or community standard (CS, n = 30) intervention group at baseline. Thirty-five nonmaltreating (NC) families served as comparisons. Narratives were administered to children at baseline and at the postintervention evaluation. Children in the PPP intervention evidenced more of a decline in maladaptive maternal representations over time than PHV and CS children and displayed a greater decrease in negative self-representations than CS, PHV, and NC children. Also, the mother-child relationship expectations of PPP children became more positive over the course of the intervention, as compared to NC and PHV participants. These results suggest that an attachment-theory informed model of intervention (PPP) is more effective at improving representations of self and of caregivers than is a didactic model of intervention directed at parenting skills. Findings are discussed with respect to their implications for developmental theory, with a specific focus on attachment theory and internal working models of relationships.

Child Abuse↗
PubMed2002

Relations among children's perceptions of maternal behavior, attributional styles, and behavioral symptomatology in maltreated children.

This investigation examined relations among perceptions of mothers, attributional style, and counselor-rated behavior problems in 187 school age children (88 maltreated, 99 nonmaltreated). Hypotheses regarding the presence of higher levels of internalizing and externalizing behavior problems in maltreated children were confirmed. Attributional style was found to function as a moderator of externalizing behavior problems, suggesting that attributional style exerts a protective role against the harmful effect of child maltreatment. Perceptions of mothers were found to operate as a mediator of both internalizing and externalizing symptomatology, with maltreated children with less positive perceptions of their mothers exhibiting greater internalizing and externalizing behavior problems. These findings advance knowledge of how cognitive processes contribute to behavior problems in maltreated children and possess implications for prevention and intervention efforts.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed2002

A developmental psychopathology perspective on adolescence.

Developmental psychopathology offers an integrative framework for conceptualizing the course of development during adolescence, with particular relevance for understanding continuity and the emergence of psychopathology during this and subsequent developmental periods. In this article, the utility of a developmental psychopathology perspective for informing the design of research, prevention, and intervention is highlighted. Interdisciplinary, organizational models of development, emphasizing the dynamic relations between the developing individual and internal and external contexts, are discussed. Examination of boundaries between abnormal and normal development during adolescence offers important vantage points for articulating diversity in the developmental course during this period. Conceptualizing divergence and convergence in developmental pathways, continuity and discontinuity in development, and the transactions of risk and protective processes leading to maladaptation, psychopathology, and resilience are highlighted.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2002

Links between community violence and the family system: evidence from children's feelings of relatedness and perceptions of parent behavior.

In this study, we examined some of the ways in which broader ecological systems may influence the organization of behavior within the family system. Specifically, links between exposure to community violence and children's relationships with maternal caregivers were investigated in a sample of 127 urban children between the ages of 7 and 13 years. Children were asked to indicate whether they had been exposed to a wide variety of violent events. In addition, their feelings of relatedness and separation anxiety, and their perceptions of maternal behavior were assessed. It was expected that exposure to community violence would be associated with feeling less secure with caregivers. Consistent with predictions from ecological-transactional theory, data supported this hypothesis. Children who reported that they had been exposed to high levels of community violence also indicated that they felt less positive affect when with their caregiver, were dissatisfied with how close they felt to her, felt more separation anxiety, and reported more negative maternal behavior than children exposed to less violence. Findings are discussed in terms of how violence may affect the family system and the protective function of human attachment.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2000

Recognizing emotion in faces: developmental effects of child abuse and neglect.

The contributions to the recognition of emotional signals of (a) experience and learning versus (b) internal predispositions are difficult to investigate because children are virtually always exposed to complex emotional experiences from birth. The recognition of emotion among physically abused and physically neglected preschoolers was assessed in order to examine the effects of atypical experience on emotional development. In Experiment 1, children matched a facial expression to an emotional situation. Neglected children had more difficulty discriminating emotional expressions than did control or physically abused children. Physically abused children displayed a response bias for angry facial expressions. In Experiment 2, children rated the similarity of facial expressions. Control children viewed discrete emotions as dissimilar, neglected children saw fewer distinctions between emotions, and physically abused children showed the most variance across emotions. These results suggest that to the extent that children's experience with the world varies, so too will their interpretation and understanding of emotional signals.

Attention↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Profiles of social competence among low-income African American preschool children.

Relations between children's personal attributes and peer play competence were investigated in a sample of 141 African American preschool children who participated in Head Start. Variable-oriented analyses confirmed that dispositions of temperament, emotion regulation, autonomy, and language were related to children's peer play competence in the classroom. Person-oriented analyses revealed distinctive profiles of personal attributes linked to adaptive preschool social functioning. A small group of resilient children whose profile was characterized by highly adaptable temperament, ability to approach new situations, and above average vocabulary development evidenced the greatest social competence with peers. Children who were disruptive with peers were equally divided between two profiles characterized by inattention and activity, but with differential performance on vocabulary tasks. A profile containing calm, reticent children was the group least likely to engage in disruptive peer play. Inspection of the six profiles revealed the within-group variability for this economically disadvantaged sample and illustrated the differential importance of temperament, regulation, and language constructs. Findings from the profile analyses and relations with peer competence inform the study of resilience in social development for urban African American children who participate in early intervention preschool programs.

Black or African American↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Impact of child maltreatment and interadult violence on children's emotion regulation abilities and socioemotional adjustment.

The present investigation sought to examine the unique and interactive effects of child maltreatment and interadult violence on children's developing strategies of emotion regulation and socioemotional adjustment, as well as the mediational role of emotion dysregulation in the link between children's pathogenic relational experiences and behavioral outcomes. Person-oriented emotion regulation patterns (EMRPs) were determined based on children's emotional behavioral and self-reported responses to simulated interadult anger. One hundred thirty-nine 4- to 6-year-olds (88 maltreated, 51 nonmaltreated) and their mothers served as participants. Maltreatment history predicted children's EMRPs, with approximately 80% of the maltreated preschoolers exhibiting dysregulated emotion patterns (i.e., undercontrolled/ambivalent and overcontrolled/unresponsive types) compared with only 37.2% of the nonmaltreated controls. Undercontrolled/ambivalent EMRPs were associated with maternal reports of child behavior problems, and were found to mediate the link between maltreatment and children's anxious/depressed symptoms. The present study's findings increase understanding of process relations in pathogenic relational environments, and provide insight into emotion regulation deficits that may impede the development of psychological well-being in maltreated children with varying histories of interadult violence exposure.

Adult↗