Choosing and Using Child Victimization Questionnaires.

Youth service professionals are increasingly expected to monitor local child victimization trends and evaluate the effectiveness of prevention and treatment programs. The use of questionnaires to measure victimization can elicit considerable data, but which questionnaires are best suited to address which needs? This Bulletin notes several benefits deriving from the use of standardized questionnaires. Specific guidelines are provided to help the reader determine the type of victimization to be measured, how the questionnaire should be administered, whether the results need to correspond to crime and child protection categories, what period of time is being measured, what the children’s ages are, and whether the results will be compared with national norms. Specific questionnaires are reviewed, and recommendations for further reading are offered. In the wake of increased public attention to the victimization of children and adolescents, the need for solid information has never been greater. Standardized questionnaires are important tools to accurately measure child victimization. Fortunately, many types of questionnaires are available, and the information that this Bulletin provides should assist you in determining which questionnaire will best meet your needs

Advancing the Measurement of Violence: Challenges and Opportunities

Our understanding of the causes and consequences of violence depends on accurately defining and measuring the constructs we study. Although the methods used most often in violence research have led to a wealth of important findings, the field is ripe for both reflection and innovation. The purpose of this special issue is to highlight critical measurement issues in the study of violence and to describe innovative approaches that will move this research forward. In this Introduction to the special issue, we identify 3 challenges for the valid measurement of violence—defining constructs, accurately capturing responses in scoring, and diversifying measurement methods—and discuss how the 8 studies that constitute the issue address these challenges and identify promising directions for future work

Questions and Answers About the National Survey of Children\u27s Exposure to Violence.

Presents an overview of the National Survey of Children\u27s Exposure to Violence (NatSCEV), the most comprehensive nationwide survey to date of the incidence and prevalence of children\u27s exposure to violence, sponsored by OJJDP and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and carried out by the Crimes Against Children Research Center of the University of New Hampshire. It outlines the survey’s objectives and key features, how exposure to violence was measured, and plans for followup surveys and publications. NatSCEV bases its estimates on a large, nationally representative sample of more than 4,500 children ages 17 and younger. The survey interviewed caregivers of children ages 9 and younger and children and youth ages 10 to 17 about 45 different kinds of violence, abuse, and victimization in the past year and over the course of their lifetime

Health Effects of Adverse Childhood Events: Identifying Promising Protective Factors at The Intersection of Mental and Physical Well-Being

Research documents how exposure to adversity in childhood leads to negative health outcomes across the lifespan. Less is known about protective factors – aspects of the individual, family, and community that promote good health despite exposure to adversity. Guided by the Resilience Portfolio Model, this study examined protective factors associated with physical health in a sample of adolescents and adults exposed to high levels of adversity including child abuse. A rural community sample of 2565 individuals with average age of 30 participated in surveys via computer assisted software. Participants completed self-report measures of physical health, adversity, and a range of protective factors drawn from research on resilience. Participants reporting a greater burden of childhood victimization and current financial strain (but not other adverse life events) had poorer physical health, but those with strengths in emotion regulation, meaning making, community support, social support, and practicing forgiveness reported better health. As hypothesized, strengths across resilience portfolio domains (regulatory, meaning making, and interpersonal) had independent, positive associations with health related quality of life after accounting for participants’ exposure to adversity. Prevention and intervention efforts for child maltreatment should focus on bolstering a portfolio of strengths. The foundation of the work needs to begin with families early in the lifespan

Resilience Portfolios and Poly-Strengths: Identifying Protective Factors Associated with Thriving After Adversity

Objective: Interest in protective factors for adversity has burgeoned, but the set of examined protective factors remains limited and most studies have focused on a single or narrow set of adversities. Using the resilience portfolio model as a conceptual framework, this study seeks to identify promising protective factors for individuals exposed to violence and other adversities. We include strengths drawn from the positive psychology literature in addition to established protective factors. We also explore the utility of the concept of poly-strengths, or the number of different types of protective factors an individual has. Method: Participants were 2,565 adolescents and adults from a rural, low-income community in southern Appalachia (64% female). Three kinds of adversity were assessed (victimization, stressful life events, financial strain) along with 23 protective factors representing 3 broader domains that are the focus of the resilience portfolio model: self-regulation, interpersonal strengths, and meaning-making. Results: The combination of strengths and adversities accounted for 42% of the variance in trauma symptoms, 50% of the variance in posttraumatic growth, and 58% of the variance in subjective well-being. Strengths associated with thriving included purpose, optimism, religious involvement, emotional regulation, emotional awareness, psychological endurance, compassion, generativity, and community support. Poly-strengths was uniquely associated with well-being after controlling for other protective factors. Conclusions: Expanding the range of studied protective factors and considering poly-strengths hold considerable promise to better understand resilience. A more strengths-based approach to prevention and intervention could improve outcomes in individuals who have experienced adversity

Strengths, Narrative, and Resilience: Restorying Resilience Research

Objective: To envision a path toward a more strengths-based approach to violence research, prevention, and intervention—a path that focuses on thriving and resilience. Key Points: Both the content and the process of research need to change if we are to transform our efforts to understand and overcome adversity. Greater focus on strengths and the achievement of well-being despite adversity is 1 important avenue; focusing on the narrative and the power of story is another important path. However, merely shifting the focus of traditional research and scholarly efforts is not enough. At another level of analysis, the field needs communication across the fragmentary subdisciplines of social science (“silo busting,” as we informally call it). We must also do more to encourage experimentation and innovation with regard to research question and design, community–practitioner–researcher partnership, and approaches to dissemination. Implications: Existing challenges in innovation and experimentation call for trying new approaches. Specific suggestions for adapting conference formats are provided. The commentaries in this special section offer feasible actions that could improve violence research, including incorporating measures of well-being in addition to symptoms as outcome measures; involving a wider variety of stakeholders in research design and dissemination; taking advantage of new insights from positive psychology and narrative research; and incorporating aspects of community and culture into research, assessment, prevention and intervention

Polyvictimization: Children\u27s Exposure to Multiple Types of Violence, Crime, and Abuse.

Presents the findings of the National Survey of Children\u27s Exposure to Violence (NatSCEV) regarding children\u27s direct exposure to multiple types of violence, crime, and abuse, also known as polyvictimization. Children and youth who are exposed to multiple types of violence are at particularly high risk for lasting physical, mental, and emotional harm, even compared with children who experience repeated exposures to a single type of violence. Among the key findings: 8 percent of all youth in the nationally representative NatSCEV sample had seven or more different kinds of exposures to violence, crime, and abuse in the past year. These youth also had a disproportionate share of the most serious kinds of victimizations, such as sexual victimization and parental maltreatment. Polyvictimization was most likely to start near the beginning of grade school and the beginning of high school and tended to persist over time. It was associated with a cluster of four prior circumstances or pathways: living in a violent family, living in a distressed and chaotic family, living in a violent neighborhood, and having preexisting psychological symptoms. In addition, polyvictims are overrepresented among certain demographic groups, including boys, African American children, and children in single-parent, stepparent, and other adult caregiver families. This is the third in a series of bulletins that present findings from NatSCEV, the most comprehensive nationwide survey to date of the incidence and prevalence of children\u27s exposure to violence across all ages, settings, and timeframes

Child and Youth Victimization Known to Police, School, and Medical Authorities.

Presents the survey results from the National Survey of Children\u27s Exposure to Violence (NatSCEV) regarding authorities\u27 knowledge of victimization incidents involving children and youth, particularly police, school, and medical authorities. Compared with a similar study in the early 1990s, the survey found that authorities were more likely to know about NatSCEV survey participants\u27 exposure to violence, which may reflect efforts by authorities, criminal justice and child protection agencies, and advocates to promote disclosure. This increase in disclosure is also consistent with the decrease in child victimizations during the last two decades. The survey found that 46 percent of children who were victimized in the previous year had at least one victimization known to school, police, and medical authorities, with school authorities (e.g., teachers, principals, and counselors) being the most likely to know of the victimizations. However, police were most likely to know about many of the most serious victimizations. In general, authorities were most likely to know about serious victimizations, including sexual abuse by an adult, kidnapping, and gang or group assaults. They were least likely to know about victimizations committed by other youth, including peer and sibling assaults, dating violence, flashing, and completed or attempted rate. This bulletin also discusses factors that promote or hinder disclosure of victimization incidents to authorities, and the implications of the increase in disclosure for prevention and treatment. This is the fourth in a series of bulletins that present findings from NatSCEV, the most comprehensive nationwide survey to date of the incidence and prevalence of children’s exposure to violence across all ages, settings, and timeframes

Children\u27s Exposure to Intimate Partner Violence and Other Family Violence.

Explores in depth the survey results from the National Survey of Children\u27s Exposure to Violence (NatSCEV) regarding exposure to family violence among children in the United States, including exposure to intimate partner violence, assaults by parents on siblings of children surveyed, and other assaults involving teen and adult household members. These results confirm that children are exposed to unacceptable rates of violence in the home. The bulletin presents information regarding the types of exposure to family violence, the gender of the perpetrator, the relationship of the child witness to the perpetrator, and youth\u27s reactions to the incident. It also discusses the implications of the survey data for researchers, practitioners, and policymakers and makes policy recommendations, including better screening protocols for exposure to family violence, improved interventions for those exposed, increased coordination of services for adult and child victims of family violence, and more prevention and education programs to reduce family violence. This is the second in a series of bulletins that present findings from NatSCEV, the most comprehensive nationwide survey to date of the incidence and prevalence of children’s exposure to violence across all ages, settings, and timeframes

Beyond Collective Efficacy: New Brief Measures to Assess the Outer Layers of the Social Ecology

Abstract Introduction: Community support can be a valuable interpersonal resource anywhere, yet past research has largely been focused on adults in urban neighborhoods. Because communities are no longer solely defined by a shared physicality, we offer psychometric data on three new measures to assess other communal resources: informal community support, support for community youth, and workplace integration. Methods: Participants (N=1706) from a largely rural, low-income Southern region completed a computer-assisted questionnaire as part of a larger study on character development and personal strength. Ages range from 11 to 70 years old (M=29.3 years; SD=12.3 years); 63% of participants are female. Results: Internal consistency was good for our 3 new measures, .70 to .86 and each scale comprised a single factor in exploratory factor analyses. Correlations with collective efficacy (convergent validity) were all positive and significant and range from .18 to .57. Correlations with measures of subjective well-being range from .21 to .29, and correlations with mental and physical health outcomes ranged from .14 to .23. Implications: Studying communities in addition to individuals and families can potentially shed light on the variety of ways in which community ties can foster well-being and resilience. The three new measures presented here assess important but understudied aspects of communities