Road Blocks or Building Blocks?:A Qualitative Study on Challenges and Resilience in Romantic Relationships of Youth Exposed to Family Violence

Romantic relationships are an important part of many people’s lives and at least partly shaped by experiences during childhood. Youth exposed to family violence during childhood are more likely to experience difficulties in their later romantic relationships. However, a more holistic perspective on the romantic relationships of youth with a history of family violence is lacking. Using both theoretical and inductive thematic analysis, this qualitative study explored challenges as well as positive experiences within romantic relationships of youth exposed to family violence during childhood. In-depth individual interviews were conducted with 18 youth aged between 16 and 20 years, who were reported to child protection services. The narratives reflected that youth experienced challenges related to support, connection, trust, boundary setting, emotion regulation and conflict resolution. Furthermore, family violence during childhood seemed to be important in the emergence of these challenges, consistent with theoretical mechanisms described in observational learning theory and attachment theory. However, youth also described positive experiences in their romantic relationships and demonstrated an ability to learn from others (e.g., their current romantic partner) how to communicate effectively or solve problems. Therefore, with the right social or professional support, at-risk youth may be able to overcome these challenges.</p

Road Blocks or Building Blocks?:A Qualitative Study on Challenges and Resilience in Romantic Relationships of Youth Exposed to Family Violence

Romantic relationships are an important part of many people’s lives and at least partly shaped by experiences during childhood. Youth exposed to family violence during childhood are more likely to experience difficulties in their later romantic relationships. However, a more holistic perspective on the romantic relationships of youth with a history of family violence is lacking. Using both theoretical and inductive thematic analysis, this qualitative study explored challenges as well as positive experiences within romantic relationships of youth exposed to family violence during childhood. In-depth individual interviews were conducted with 18 youth aged between 16 and 20 years, who were reported to child protection services. The narratives reflected that youth experienced challenges related to support, connection, trust, boundary setting, emotion regulation and conflict resolution. Furthermore, family violence during childhood seemed to be important in the emergence of these challenges, consistent with theoretical mechanisms described in observational learning theory and attachment theory. However, youth also described positive experiences in their romantic relationships and demonstrated an ability to learn from others (e.g., their current romantic partner) how to communicate effectively or solve problems. Therefore, with the right social or professional support, at-risk youth may be able to overcome these challenges.</p

The impact of cessation or continuation of family violence on children

Children exposed to family violence are at risk for developing long-lasting problems. Family violence is a pervasive problem, however, studies comparing continuation with cessation of family violence are limited. Understanding the cessation or continuation of family violence on child development is a prerequisite to prevent enduring problems and develop interventions. This study compares posttraumatic stress and delinquent behavior of children aged between eight and eighteen years for whom severe violence continues to children for whom violence diminishes or ceases. Children (N = 162, 43% boys, mean age 12 years) and their parents reported to child protection services (CPS) with severe violence were included. Levels of family violence, posttraumatic stress and delinquent behavior were re-assessed after 18 months. Most families (74%) still experienced severe family violence at the second assessment despite involvement of CPS. Structural equation modelling was applied. In the group where violence diminished or stopped, delinquent behavior decreased. A decrease of posttraumatic stress only occurred when violence diminished but surprisingly no decrease was observed when violence stopped completely. The findings demonstrate that overall family violence is persistent. Differing paths can be discerned for delinquent behavior and posttraumatic stress, indicating different developmental and recovery pathways after cessation of family violence. Nonetheless, it is fair to state that specialized and long-term care is crucial

Hoarding and Emotional Reactivity: The Link Between Negative Emotional Reactions and Hoarding Symptomatology

Hoarding disorder (HD) is characterized by difficulty discarding, clutter, and frequently excessive acquiring. Theories have pointed to intense negative emotional reactions (e.g., sadness) as one factor that may play a critical role in HD\u27s etiology. Preliminary work with an analogue sample indicated that more intense negative emotions following emotional films were linked with greater hoarding symptoms. Symptom provocation imaging studies with HD patients have also found evidence for excessive activation in brain regions implicated in processing emotions. The current study utilized a sample with self-reported serious hoarding difficulties to examine how hoarding symptoms related to both general and hoarding-related emotional reactivity, taking into account the specificity of these relationships. We also examined how two cognitive factors, fear of decision-making and confidence in memory, modified this relationship. 628 participants with self-identified hoarding difficulties completed questionnaires about general emotional reactivity, depression, anxiety, decision-making, and confidence in memory. To assess hoarding-related emotional reactivity, participants reported their emotional reactions when imagining discarding various items. Heightened general emotional reactivity and more intense emotional reactions to imagined discarding were associated with both difficulty discarding and acquisition, but not clutter, controlling for age, gender, and co-occurring mood and anxiety symptoms. Fear of decision-making and confidence in memory interacted with general emotional reactivity to predict hoarding symptoms. These findings provide support for cognitive-behavioral models of hoarding. Experimental research should be conducted to discover whether emotional reactivity increases vulnerability for HD. Future work should also examine whether emotional reactivity should be targeted in interventions for hoarding

Geographical patterns and predictors of malaria risk in Zambia: Bayesian geostatistical modelling of the 2006 Zambia national malaria indicator survey (ZMIS)

BACKGROUND: The Zambia Malaria Indicator Survey (ZMIS) of 2006 was the first nation-wide malaria survey, which combined parasitological data with other malaria indicators such as net use, indoor residual spraying and household related aspects. The survey was carried out by the Zambian Ministry of Health and partners with the objective of estimating the coverage of interventions and malaria related burden in children less than five years. In this study, the ZMIS data were analysed in order (i) to estimate an empirical high-resolution parasitological risk map in the country and (ii) to assess the relation between malaria interventions and parasitaemia risk after adjusting for environmental and socio-economic confounders. METHODS: The parasitological risk was predicted from Bayesian geostatistical and spatially independent models relating parasitaemia risk and environmental/climatic predictors of malaria. A number of models were fitted to capture the (potential) non-linearity in the malaria-environment relation and to identify the elapsing time between environmental effects and parasitaemia risk. These models included covariates (a) in categorical scales and (b) in penalized and basis splines terms. Different model validation methods were used to identify the best fitting model. Model-based risk predictions at unobserved locations were obtained via Bayesian predictive distributions for the best fitting model. RESULTS: Model validation indicated that linear environmental predictors were able to fit the data as well as or even better than more complex non-linear terms and that the data do not support spatial dependence. Overall the averaged population-adjusted parasitaemia risk was 20.0% in children less than five years with the highest risk predicted in the northern (38.3%) province. The odds of parasitaemia in children living in a household with at least one bed net decreases by 40% (CI: 12%, 61%) compared to those without bed nets. CONCLUSIONS: The map of parasitaemia risk together with the prediction error and the population at risk give an important overview of the malaria situation in Zambia. These maps can assist to achieve better resource allocation, health management and to target additional interventions to reduce the burden of malaria in Zambia significantly. Repeated surveys will enable the evaluation of the effectiveness of on-going intervention