Previous studies have found that children with cleft lip and palate (CLP) and isolated cleft palate (CP) have elevated risk for a variety of psychosocial problems, but the origins of such problems are unclear. We expected that early medical and other stressors during infancy--including feeding problems and facial disfigurement--would have adverse effects on the infant, his or her caregivers, and the family environment, leading to a higher than expected rate of insecure attachments among infants with clefts. Twelve-month attachment classifications of CLP, CP, and comparison group infants were examined. No significant group differences in attachment status were found. When 3-month infant, maternal, and social/family characteristics were examined as potential predictors of insecure attachment, predictors interacted with diagnostic status. For the cleft group, infant and maternal characteristics, but not family characteristics, significantly predicted insecure attachment. For the comparison group, maternal and family characteristics, but not factors associated with the infant, were predictive. Infants with clefts, despite their special needs and caregiving requirements, seem not to have elevated risk for insecure attachments at the end of their first year. Contrary to social-psychological formulations, the facial appearance of infants with CLP had no adverse effect on the quality of their maternal attachment.
This study examines dissociation and posttraumatic symptomatology in a sample of maltreated preschool-age children in foster care. Analyses compared Child Behavior Checklist subscale scores for the foster care sample and a community sample, and also examined differences between maltreatment subtypes. Exposure to any type of maltreatment was associated with greater dissociation and posttraumatic symptomatology in this sample. Preschool-age children with documented sexual abuse displayed high levels of posttraumatic symptoms, whereas children with documented physical abuse tended to use dissociation as a primary coping mechanism. The finding that physically abused children had high levels of dissociation confirms previous research with preschoolers. Keywords dissociation; PTSD; maltreatment; child abuse; preschoolers Repeated childhood abuse has been extensively documented as resulting in serious longterm psychological effects, including the development of dissociation and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD;Briere, 1992;Freyd, 1996; Hornstein, 1993;Liotti, 1999;Putnam, 1997;Terr, 1991). However, there have been few studies of traumatic sequelae in early childhood. It is essential to consider how trauma may impact functioning at an early age to better target pathology with appropriate prevention and intervention strategies. The study of child maltreatment should thus be considered from a developmental psychopathology perspective, which emphasizes a transactional interplay between developmental challenges and trajectories, causal mechanisms, risk and protective factors, and ecological influences (Cicchetti & Lynch, 1993). Because pathology results from sequential deviations from a Address correspondence to Annmarie C. Hulette, 1227 University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403-1227. acholank@uoregon.edu. HHS Public AccessAuthor manuscript J Child Adolesc Trauma. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2017 February 28. Author Manuscript Author ManuscriptAuthor ManuscriptAuthor Manuscript normal trajectory, early childhood is a particularly important period to study due to the possibility of cascading developmental problems.Briere (1992) described dissociation as "a defensive disruption in the normally occurring connections among feelings, thoughts, behavior, and memories…invoked in order to reduce psychological distress" (p. 34). Dissociation is often conceptualized as a coping mechanism, enabling the child to deal with the distress of maltreatment. However, dissociation may be considered pathological when it has a negative impact on functioning and well-being in other areas of the individual's life. Abuse survivors often exhibit abrupt, maladaptive changes in mannerisms, access to knowledge, and age-appropriate behavior (Putnam, 1997). High levels of dissociation in childhood appear to result in problems negotiating developmental challenges and are frequently comorbid with other psychopathological symptomatology (Putnam).According to Putnam (1997), there are three major categories of dissociation: behavior automatiz...
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.