Parental Efficacy, Experience of Stressful Life Events, and Child Externalizing Behavior as Predictors of Filipino Mothers\u27 and Fathers\u27 Parental Hostility and Aggression.

This study assessed relations of parental efficacy, experience of stressful life events, and child externalizing behavior to Filipino mothers and fathers’ parental hostility and aggression. Orally-administered surveys were conducted with 117 mothers and 98 fathers for the first year of data collection, and again a year later with 107 mothers and 83 fathers. Path analyses showed that mothers’ report of child externalizing behavior predicted subsequent parental hostility and aggression. For fathers, child externalizing behavior and experience of stressful life events predicted parental hostility and aggression. Additionally, fathers’ parental efficacy was found to moderate the relationship between experience of stressful life events and parental hostility and aggression. Results suggest that child externalizing behavior and experience of stressful life events have direct relations to parental hostility and aggression, while parental efficacy has a moderating effect to it. The differences between the results for fathers and mothers are explained in the context of distinct parenting roles and parenting in the local context

Filipino Mothers’ Self-Efficacy in Managing Anger and in Parenting, and Parental Rejection as Predictors of Child Delinquency

The authors tested a model in which Filipino mothers’ self-efficacy in managing anger/irritation influenced child delinquency via two parenting variables: parental self-efficacy and parental rejection. Structured interviews were conducted with 99 mothers twice with an interval of one year with efficacy beliefs and rejection measured in the first year and child delinquency data collected in the following year. Path analyses showed that self-efficacy in managing anger/irritation negatively predicted child delinquency indirectly through the sequential mediation of parental selfefficacy and parental rejection. Results provided further evidence for the importance of efficacy beliefs, particularly self-efficacy in managing anger/irritation and parental self-efficacy, in the domain of child development

The Development and Initial Evaluation of Katatagan: A Resilience Intervention for Filipino Disaster Survivors

This paper documents the development, pilot, and initial evaluation of Katatagan, a group-based resilience program designed to hone coping skills of Filipino disaster survivors. The paper describes vulnerabilities and protective factors of Filipino survivors based on previous research and key informant interviews. It also explains how Luthar and Cicchetti’s (2000) resilience framework and guidelines for the development of interventions were incorporated in the objectives and the design of the resilience intervention. The intervention consists of six modules that aim to improve self-ecacy, adaptive coping skills, and well-being of Filipino survivors. The paper presents an initial evaluation of Katatagan among college students in Tacloban. Results revealed signicant improvements in adaptive coping behaviors and a decrease in anxiety and depressive symptoms. Although more robust evaluations are necessary, the results provide encouraging evidence for the value of group-based and culturally-nuanced interventions. Moreover, the paper describes a collaborative and systematic process of designing a needs- based resilience interventions for Filipino disaster survivors

Adolescent Positivity and Future Orientation, Parental Psychological Control, and Young Adult Internalising Behaviours during COVID-19 in Nine Countries

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted many young adults’ lives educationally, economically, and personally. This study investigated associations between COVID-19-related disruption and perception of increases in internalising symptoms among young adults and whether these associations were moderated by earlier measures of adolescent positivity and future orientation and parental psychological control. Participants included 1329 adolescents at Time 1, and 810 of those participants as young adults (M age = 20, 50.4% female) at Time 2 from 9 countries (China, Colombia, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, the Philippines, Sweden, Thailand, and the United States). Drawing from a larger longitudinal study of adolescent risk taking and young adult competence, this study controlled for earlier levels of internalising symptoms during adolescence in examining these associations. Higher levels of adolescent positivity and future orientation as well as parent psychological control during late adolescence helped protect young adults from sharper perceived increases in anxiety and depression during the first nine months of widespread pandemic lockdowns in all nine countries. Findings are discussed in terms of how families in the 21st century can foster greater resilience during and after adolescence when faced with community-wide stressors, and the results provide new information about how psychological control may play a protective role during times of significant community-wide threats to personal health and welfare

Effectiveness of a parenting programme to reduce violence in a cash transfer system in the Philippines: RCT with follow-up

Background Parenting interventions and conditional cash transfer (CCT) programmes are promising strategies to reduce the risk of violence against children, but evidence of the effectiveness of combining such programmes is lacking for families in low- and middle-income countries with children over two years of age. This study examined the effectiveness of a locally adapted parenting programme delivered as part of a government CCT system to low-income families with children aged two to six years in Metro Manila, Philippines. Methods Participants were randomly assigned (1:1) to either a 12-session group-based parenting programme or treatment-as-usual services (N = 120). Participation in either service was required among the conditions for receiving cash grants. Baseline assessments were conducted in July 2017 with one-month post-intervention assessments in January-February 2018 and 12-month follow-up in January-February 2019. All assessments were parent-report (ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT03205449). Findings One-month post-intervention assessments indicated moderate intervention effects for primary outcomes of reduced overall child maltreatment (d = -0.50 [-0.86, -0.13]), emotional abuse (d = -0.59 [-0.95; -0.22]), physical abuse (IRR = 0.51 [0.27; 0.74]), and neglect (IRR = 0.52 [0.18; 0.85]). There were also significant effects for reduced dysfunctional parenting, child behaviour problems, and intimate partner violence, and increased parental efficacy and positive parenting. Reduced overall maltreatment, emotional abuse, and neglect effects were sustained at one-year follow-up. Interpretation Findings suggest that a culturally adapted parenting intervention delivered as part of a CCT programme may be effective in sustaining reductions in violence against children in low- and middle-income countries. Funding This research was supported by UBS Optimus Foundation and UNICEF Philippines, and by the Complexity and Relationships in Health Improvement Programmes of the Medical Research Council MRC UK and Chief Scientist Office (Grant: MC_UU_00022/1 and CSO SPHSU16, MC_UU_00022/3 and CSO SPHSU18)

Effectiveness of a Parenting Programme to Reduce Violence in a Cash Transfer System in the Philippines: RCT With Follow-up

Background Parenting interventions and conditional cash transfer (CCT) programmes are promising strategies to reduce the risk of violence against children, but evidence of the effectiveness of combining such programmes is lacking for families in low- and middle-income countries with children over two years of age. This study examined the effectiveness of a locally adapted parenting programme delivered as part of a government CCT system to low-income families with children aged two to six years in Metro Manila, Philippines. Methods Participants were randomly assigned (1:1) to either a 12-session group-based parenting programme or treatment-as-usual services (N= 120). Participation in either service was required among the conditions for receiving cash grants. Baseline assessments were conducted in July 2017 with one-month post-intervention assessments in January-February 2018 and 12-month follow-up in January-February 2019. All assessments were parent-report (ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT03205449). Findings One-month post-intervention assessments indicated moderate intervention effects for primary outcomes of reduced overall child maltreatment (d = -0.50 [-0.86, -0.13]), emotional abuse (d= -0.59 [-0.95; -0.22]), physical abuse (IRR = 0.51 [0.27; 0.74]), and neglect (IRR = 0.52 [0.18; 0.85]). There were also significant effects for reduced dysfunctional parenting, child behaviour problems, and intimate partner violence, and increased parental efficacy and positive parenting. Reduced overall maltreatment, emotional abuse, and neglect effects were sustained at one-year follow-up. Interpretation Findings suggest that a culturally adapted parenting intervention delivered as part of a CCT programme may be effective in sustaining reductions in violence against children in low- and middle-income countries. Funding This research was supported by UBS Optimus Foundation and UNICEF Philippines, and by the Complexity and Relationships in Health Improvement Programmes of the Medical Research Council MRC UK and Chief Scientist Office (Grant: MC_UU_00022/1 and CSO SPHSU16, MC_UU_00022/3 and CSO SPHSU18)

What does that mean? : The content validity of the ISPCAN Child Abuse Screening Tool - Child version (ICAST-C) in Romania, South Africa, and the Philippines

Background: The International Society for Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (ISPCAN) Child Abuse Screening Tool (Children\u27s Version), known as the ICAST-C Version 3, is used widely to assess violence against children, but there is limited psychometric evidence, especially on content validity. Objective: This study aimed to assess the content validity of the ICAST-C with adolescents in Romania, South Africa, and the Philippines. Methods: A purposive sample of adolescents (N = 53, 51 % female) were recruited from urban areas in Romania, the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa, and Metro Manila, Philippines. Semi-structured one-on-one in-depth cognitive interviews sought adolescent perspectives on the relevance, comprehensibility, and comprehensiveness of the ICAST-C. Data were analysed using template analysis. Results: The ICAST-C was broadly perceived to be relevant and comprehensive in measuring violence against children in all study locations. However, there were issues with the comprehensibility of the measure, described at three levels: interpreting items, undertaking coherent elaborations of relevant behaviors and places, and generating a coherent response to the questions. Conclusions: Suggestions to revise the ICAST-C include, among others, adding a practice or how-to section on answering the survey, clarifying the intent of questions, especially on neglect and sexual abuse, emphasizing that questions cover all locations, and asking more positive questions. Pilot studies testing the content validity and cultural appropriateness are needed as a matter of practice in large self-report surveys

Corporal Punishment of Children in Nine Countries as a Function of Child Gender and Parent Gender

Background. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to a global perspective on corporal punishment by examining differences between mothers' and fathers' use of corporal punishment with daughters and sons in nine countries. Methods. Interviews were conducted with 1398 mothers, 1146 fathers, and 1417 children (age range = 7 to 10 years) in China, Colombia, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, the Philippines, Sweden, Thailand, and the United States. Results. Across the entire sample, 54% of girls and 58% of boys had experienced mild corporal punishment, and 13% of girls and 14% of boys had experienced severe corporal punishment by their parents or someone in their household in the last month. Seventeen percent of parents believed that the use of corporal punishment was necessary to rear the target child. Overall, boys were more frequently punished corporally than were girls, and mothers used corporal punishment more frequently than did fathers. There were significant differences across countries, with reports of corporal punishment use lowest in Sweden and highest in Kenya. Conclusion. This work establishes that the use of corporal punishment is widespread, and efforts to prevent corporal punishment from escalating into physical abuse should be commensurately widespread

Boys’ and Girls’ Relational and Physical Aggression in Nine Countries

Distinguishing between relational and physical aggression has become a key feature of many developmental studies in North America and Western Europe, but very little information is available on relational aggression in more diverse cultural contexts. This study examined the factor structure of, gender differences in, and associations between relational and physical aggression in China, Colombia, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, the Philippines, Sweden, Thailand, and the United States. Children ages 7 to 10 years (N = 1410) reported on their relationally and physically aggressive behavior. Relational and physical aggression shared a common factor structure across countries. Unsurprisingly, boys reported being more physically aggressive than girls across all nine countries; surprisingly, there were no significant gender differences in relational aggression. In all nine countries, relational and physical aggression were significantly correlated (average r = .49). The countries differed significantly in the mean levels of both relational and physical aggression that children reported using and with respect to whether children reported using more physical than relational aggression or more relational than physical aggression. Despite mean level differences in relational and physical aggression across countries, the findings provided support for cross-country similarities in associations between relational and physical aggression, as well as links between gender and aggression

Parenting, culture, and the development of externalizing behaviors from age 7 to 14 in nine countries

Using multilevel models, we examined mother-, father-, and child-reported (N = 1,336 families) externalizing behavior problem trajectories from age 7 to 14 in nine countries (China, Colombia, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, the Philippines, Sweden, Thailand, and the United States). The intercept and slope of children\u27s externalizing behavior trajectories varied both across individuals within culture and across cultures, and the variance was larger at the individual level than at the culture level. Mothers’ and children\u27s endorsement of aggression as well as mothers’ authoritarian attitudes predicted higher age 8 intercepts of child externalizing behaviors. Furthermore, prediction from individual-level endorsement of aggression and authoritarian attitudes to more child externalizing behaviors was augmented by prediction from cultural-level endorsement of aggression and authoritarian attitudes, respectively. Cultures in which father-reported endorsement of aggression was higher and both mother- and father-reported authoritarian attitudes were higher also reported more child externalizing behavior problems at age 8. Among fathers, greater attributions regarding uncontrollable success in caregiving situations were associated with steeper declines in externalizing over time. Understanding cultural-level as well as individual-level correlates of children\u27s externalizing behavior offers potential insights into prevention and intervention efforts that can be more effectively targeted at individual children and parents as well as targeted at changing cultural norms that increase the risk of children\u27s and adolescents’ externalizing behavior