Family Relations and Child Development
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At-Risk Parenting
This work is part of an on-going project to assess the differences between adolescent and non-adolescent mothers' parenting. Distinguishing processes that initiate differences between children of adolescent and adult mothers in infancy from processes that maintain those differences in childhood improves models of adolescent parenting. Among 44, 54-month-old children (24 girls) of adolescent mothers (61% Caucasian, 34% African-American, 5% other minority; m age = 16.61) attachment in infancy explained 16% of the variance in children's internalizing behavior problems. Maternal depression during children's preschool years explained an additional 15% of the unique variance in those same problems. Thus, adding maternal depression as a maintenance process improves predictions of the socioemotional functioning of children of adolescent mothers.
Sponsor: State of Oklahoma
PI: Rex Culp
Bartlett Independent Living Center: An Applied Day Treatment, Educational, and Research Program
This past year the College of Human Environmental Sciences and Willow View Mental Health System created a partnership to provide services to the elderly and educational, research, and instructional opportunities for gerontology students. Willow View provides clinical services for the elderly and houses its Reflections Day Treatment Program in the Bartlett Independent Living Center. This facility created an on-campus facility that is accessible to older adults with mental and physical disabilities. During the past year, over 15 elderly clients have participated in the Adult Day Treatment Program. Assistantships have been provided for two graduate and seven undergraduate students. Numerous graduate and undergraduate students have included the Bartlett Center experience in their internship requirements.
Sponsor: Willow View Mental Health Systems
PIs: Joe Weber
Gladeen Allred (College of Education)
Child Sexual Abuse
This longitudinal project is designed to expand the knowledge base of family characteristics of intrafamilial and extrafamilial child sexual abuse victims. This prospect study will help to identify which children are at risk of being denied parental support, what factors lead to parental acceptance and rejection, and which antecedents and correlates will predict parental acceptance and rejection on child sexual abuse. Family factors include family cohesion and adaptability, parental support, post-abuse factors, and family structure. Data collection is in progress.
Sponsor: State of Oklahoma
PI: Kathleen Briggs
Child Sexual Abuse: Family Dynamics
This longitudinal study examines the perceptions of children and their families who have experienced child sexual abuse. Specifically, this project examines: (1) the perceptions of family functioning (e.g., communication, affection, adaptability), (2) the degree of parental caretaking (e.g., support, acceptance), (3) the perceived responses of family members to the sexual abuse, (4) the differences between therapist's and family members' perceptions of the family dynamics requisite to adjust, and (5) the relationship between the type and severity of the abuse and the familyŐs ability to cope.
Sponsor: State of Oklahoma
PI: Kathleen Briggs
Children of Adolescent Mothers: Attachment Representation, Maternal Depression, and Later Behavior Problems
Underlying the responses of 34, 44-month-old children of adolescent mothers to attachment narratives were two internally consistent factors, Departure and Reunion. The Departure factor included children's disorganized and insecure responses to a narrative about parents' departure on a trip. The Departure factor also included disorganized responses to narratives about children's misbehavior and fear. Children's scores on the Departure factor predicted their externalizing behavior problems (e.g., aggression) 10 months later (R2 = .20). Maternal depression at 44 months explained significant incremental variance (14%) in these same behavior problems 10 months later. These results are interpreted as supporting both the additive model of adolescent parenting (Hubbs-Tait, Osofsky, Hann & Culp, 1994) and the emphasis of attachment theory on Departure and Reunion.
Sponsors: State of Oklahoma and John and Sue Taylor Professorship
PI: Laura Hubbs-Tait
Establishing a Network Training Concept for Distance Learning
A consortium of seven land grant universities--Iowa State University, Kansas State University, University of Minnesota, University of Missouri, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, North Dakota State University, and Oklahoma State University--identified common interests and needs related to distance learning at the graduate level. This initial grant provided faculty development for cooperative programming and model curriculum development for teaching distance learners via telecommunication. Two video conferences on visioning for distance learning and constructing learning modules were held. Initial module development topics included: child and family policy, food safety, work force issues, ethical issues in the globalization of textiles and apparel, and the prevention of violence.
Sponsor: Iowa State University
PIs: Patricia K. Knaub and Margaret J. Weber
Family Antecedents of Caring Behavior in Adolescents
This project investigates how adolescent perceptions of family system qualities and parental behaviors relate to adolescent caring toward family members, peers, and strangers. Two sets of videotaped vignettes (one for males, one for females) were developed and produced that depicted day-to-day situations that might elicit caring responses. One hundred and forty-nine subjects completed self-report questionnaires, viewed the vignettes, completed rating scales regarding the vignettes, and participated in videotaped interviews. Responses to the self-report questionnaires, rating scales, and the verbal and nonverbal responses during the interviews were examined as multiple indicators of caring. Path models were developed to examine the relation of family system and parental qualities to caring toward family members, peers, and strangers.
Sponsor: Lilly Endowment, Inc.
PI: Carolyn Henry
Inherited Personality Traits
Successful completion of the proposed research requires progress through several stages. Data collection trips have been made to The Children's Place. As a result, all consent and data have been obtained. Consent was obtained from parents/guardians of the children who were participants. A total of 41 children were videotaped while doing the MacArthur Story Stems. The Family Social History (FSH) form was completed for these children. The FSH provides information regarding the child's maltreatment history and family demographic information. The Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT), a measure of receptive vocabulary, was collected immediately following the videotaping session. Therapists of Extended Treatment participants and teachers of Day Treatment participants completed the Preschool Behavior Questionnaire (PBQ), Emotionality Activity and Sociability (EAS) Teacher forms, and the Taxonomy of Problem Situations (TOPS). All paper and pencil measures (PPVT, CBCL, PBQ, EAS, and TOPS) have been scored. Individual summary sheets were compiled for each child. The sheets contain a description of each measure, the scores obtained, and an indication of the range in which the score falls (e.g., clinical, borderline, or normal range). Progress is being made in coding the videotapes for attachment and aggression.
Sponsor: Child Advocacy Services Center, Inc.
PI: Rex Culp
Intimate Relationships in Young Adulthood
This project explores familial, dyadic, and individual factors related to relationship quality in young adulthood. In general, relationship anxiety, conflict resolution, and family adaptability were found to be significant predictors of various dimensions of intimacy, including trust, self-disclosure, genuineness, empathy, and comfort. Predictors of relationship anxiety included family cohesion, self-esteem, and conflict resolution.
Sponsor: State of Oklahoma
PI: Linda Robinson
Maternal Age as Proxy: Differentiating Initiation from Maintenance Processes in Models of Adolescent Parenting
Distinguishing processes that initiate differences between children of adolescent and adult mothers in infancy from processes that maintain those differences in childhood improves models of adolescent parenting. Among 44, 54-month-old children (24 girls) of adolescent mothers (61% Caucasian, 34% African-American, 5% other minorities; m age = 16.61) attachment in infancy explained 16% of the variance in children's internalizing behavior problems. Maternal depression during children's preschool years explained an additional 15% of the unique variance in those same problems. Thus, adding maternal depression as a maintenance process improves predictions of the socioemotional functioning of adolescent mothers.
Sponsors: State of Oklahoma and John and Sue Taylor Professorship
PIs: Laura Hubbs-Tait, Nancy Hurlbut, Anne McDonald Culp, and Rex Culp
Perceiver Bias in Expectancies for Sexually Abused Children
College students (N=134) judged children in vignettes. Vignettes varied on child gender and family history label (sexually abused, mom dying of cancer, normal). Perceiver bias was confirmed. Sexually abused children were expected to have more behavior problems than children whose mothers had terminal cancer. When acquaintance with victims of sexual abuse was controlled, male and female respondents' perceptions did not differ. However, perceptions of female sexual abuse victims were more biased than perceptions of male victims.
Sponsors: State of Oklahoma and John and Sue Taylor Professorship
PIs: Kathleen Briggs, Laura Hubbs-Tait, Rex Culp, and Maureen Blankemeyer
Perceptions of Family Dynamics as Predictors of Adolescent Adaptation
This study is designed to investigate the relation of adolescents' perceptions of family system characteristics and parental behaviors to adolescent adaptation (i.e., satisfaction with family life, self-esteem, lack of substance abuse). Results indicate that the age of adolescent variable, family flexibility, family bonding, and parental support were positively related to adolescent family life satisfaction, while parental punitiveness showed a negative relationship. In addition, adolescents in single parent families reported lower family life satisfaction.
Analyses were conducted on a subsample of the adolescents in remarried families to investigate how differences in perceptions of overall family system characteristics and parent-adolescent communication related to the adaptation of adolescents in remarried families. Results indicated that family flexibility, regularity in family time and routines, and communication with the parent were related to overall family life satisfaction for adolescents in remarried families. Family flexibility and communication with the stepparent were positively related to satisfaction with the parental subsystem. Using multiple regression analyses, adolescent reports of family bonding, parental support, and parental substance use were associated with variation in adolescent substance use. Additional examination of how family factors suggest that interventions in families with adolescents can benefit from consideration of both overall family system qualities and parental behaviors.
Sponsor: Agricultural Experiment Station
PI: Carolyn Henry
Relationship of Social, Emotional, and Family Variables to "Risk Status"
This project includes a series of studies of variables that place children of all ages at higher risk for deleterious outcomes. One of the studies proposes a model of adolescent parenting in which maternal age serves as proxy for a number of other variables, including maternal depression. The data confirm one component of the model: that continuities and discontinuities in adolescent mothers' depression have a significant effect on their children's risk for developing aggression and social withdrawal. Children of adolescent mothers who were not depressed during their children's infancy but who became depressed during their children's preschool years scored significantly lower than children of continuously depressed mothers on social withdrawal. These same children score significantly higher than children of continuously not depressed adolescent mothers on aggression. Thus, the absence of adolescent mothers' depression during their children's infancy serves as a protective factor against the development of children's social withdrawal but not aggression.
Sponsors: State of Oklahoma and John and Sue Taylor Professorship
PI: Laura Hubbs-Tait
Star School: The Next Generation
The purpose of the grant is to provide appropriate in-service instruction in literacy and science to teachers working with children who may be at-risk for academic failure. The specific targeted programs are Head Start, four-year-old programs in the public school settings, and the primary grades through third grade. Increasing the availability of in-service training has often been identified as a way to increase participation by teachers who are underserved by such opportunities. Therefore, satellite technology was selected as the training format in order to reach a larger section of educators.
The first year of funding, which began in October 1994, was designed as a pilot project. During this pilot year, we designed our five teleconference programs, we marketed the programs to six states, we tested the programs on these states, and we designed and tested evaluation materials. We also offered the material for course credit through our college's extension program.
Professional educators in six states (Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas) participated in the five training teleconferences. Official training sites were targeted in geographic areas with high density of low income and minority families. Training was provided to 153 registered participants at seven official sites and 11 unofficial sites. A detailed script was written for each production. Each script provided a variety of visuals to include word visuals, graphics, photo stills, and video segments from schools, the OSU Child Development Laboratories, and Head Start programs. Visuals were created to illustrate specific ideas, concepts, and techniques discussed in the presentations. Feedback from participants indicated that this multimedia approach was very helpful. Internal and external evaluation materials were developed and tested throughout the year.
The principal investigators met with the external evaluation team from the University of New Mexico. Together, the external and internal teams designed materials to be used to evaluate the effectiveness of the specific training and teleconference technology. Evaluation criteria included instructor knowledge and style, opportunities for interaction, instructional design, technical production factors, and handling unexpected problems.
The second year will be used to redesign the material for the five teleconferences based upon the evaluation information received during the pilot project. The materials will then be presented through teleconference technology to 20 states. During this main phase, we will also target educational professionals working with children who may be at-risk for academic failure. We will finalize the external and internal evaluation materials and collect evaluation data on the teleconference presentations.
Sponsor: U.S. Department of Education
PIs: Nancy Hurlbut, Faye Ann Presnal, and Mona Lane
The Evaluation Research on Early Intervention Parent Education/Home Visitation Program
One hundred and twenty-five first-time mothers, whose mean age is 18 years, are currently in the program across seven sites in Oklahoma. Most of the mothers are Caucasian, are not married, are poor, have less than a high school education, and either live with their parents or with a husband/boyfriend. The Parent Educators make approximately 3,200 home visits a year to teach parenting skills, child development, and how to access community resources.
Preliminary findings indicate that among the mothers actively involved in our program, there are no documented cases of child maltreatment and only six cases of a second pregnancy among the teens, four of which occurred to mothers who had dropped out of the program and recently returned with a second pregnancy. Research findings emphasize that delaying second pregnancies directly relates to lowering the incidence of child maltreatment. As the program begins, we measure the mothers' attitudes toward parenting skills and their knowledge of child development.Based on this first assessment, over 70% of the mothers have parenting skills that reflect a medium to high risk of committing child maltreatment, and 100% of the mothers lack knowledge in child development.
We have follow-up measures on 66 mothers after three months in the program: they have significantly increased their knowledge of infant development and have increased the safety of their home. After six months in the program, 51 mothers have completed follow-up data and significantly improved their empathic understanding of their childrenŐs needs, and they better understand that children's roles in the family are different than adult roles. In addition, their knowledge of infant development has increased significantly, and their homes continue to become safe. After nine months and 12 months in the program, these results are maintained and become stronger. Data continues to be gathered on all the mothers and children. In addition, the interaction patterns during feeding and play between the mothers and their childern are being collected.
Sponsor: Oklahoma State Department of Health
PI: Anne McDonald Culp
The Effects of Early Intervention Programming on the Quality of Parent-Infant Interaction Among Adolescent Mothers and Their Children and on Child Development Outcome
The previous abstract details the findings of intervention effects for first-time mothers. Data analysis for this report was analyzed for group differences comparing the adolescent mothers with the other mothers. Significant differences between adolescent and older mothers are found in race, marital status, who they live with, educational level, and employment.
The typical adolescent mother in the sample is 16.9 years, single (78%), uneducated (91% without a high school degree or GED), unemployed (88%), living with their parents (63%), poor (92% have annual incomes below the national poverty level for families of four), and Caucasian (64%)--with some Native Americans (18%) and African-Americans (10%).
The typical older mother in the sample is 21.4 years in age, single (61%), educated (74% have a GED, high school degree or better), unemployed (71%--although 10% are working full time), living with a husband or a boyfriend (47%), poor (83% live below the poverty level for a family of three), and Caucasian (85%).
Outcome measures on parenting knowledge and child development knowledge show significant differences between groups: it takes the adolescents longer than the older moms to understand empathic responsiveness to their children's needs and to understand that the roles differ between parent and child.
It is clear the adolescents take longer to understand infant development; however, they seem to catch up with the older mothers after they experience 12 months of intervention. The data that do not show significant differences between groups are: use of community resources, self esteem, and safety of the home.
Both groups of mothers utilize community resources at the same rate; both groups of mothers do not change their level of self esteem, and both groups of mothers start out with poor scores on safety and improve their scores quickly.
Sponsor: State of Oklahoma
PI: Anne McDonald Culp
Understanding the Grandparent-Grandchild Relationship
The grandparenting role in America is extremely diverse and complex. With increased life expectancy, many people will experience the grandparenting role for many years. Surveys and interviews with grandparents have uncovered a number of important intergenerational family issues. Qualitative data suggests that many grandparents are interested in family continuity. Results show that increasing numbers of grandparents are helping raise grandchildren and providing support for their adult children. These findings suggest the importance of intergenerational family relationships.
Sponsor: State of Oklahoma
PI: Joe Weber
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