Growing up in foster families or institutions: Attachment representation and psychological adjustment of young adults

ABSTRACT

Background: Attachment Theory has become one of the leading theories in human development. Nonetheless, empirical studies focusing on how attachment unfolds during adolescence are still scarce particularly in Spain, due to the lack of adequate measures. Objective: This study aims to validate the Important People Interview (IPI) in a shorter questionnaire version (Important People- Questionnaire; IP-Q); to analyse the changes in different affiliative bonds to multiple figures -family, peers, romantic partners – over the course of adolescence; and to identify boys’ and girls’ hierarchical ordering of their specific attachment bonds. Method: 1025 Spanish adolescents, aged 12–17 years old completed the IP-Q. Results: The results showed that the IP-Q has convergent and divergent validity. Moreover, this measure indicated that peers overtake some family members in proximity-seeking and support-seeking, but not in the overall hierarchical ordering of the attachment bond during adolescence. Conclusions: The bond with the romantic partner increases in terms of scoring on the affiliative subscales as adolescence progresses. There are significant gender differences among the hierarchy patterns of attachment for boys and girls. Developmental changes in adolescent attachment are discussed.     

Family and Staff Perspectives on Service Use for Individuals With Intellectual Disabilities in Crisis

Carers of individuals with an intellectual disability are often responsible for managing their children's psychiatric crises when they arise. The purpose of this study was to examine the experiences of families using crisis and short-term transitional supports from the perspectives of families and of crisis and transitional support staff. Three focus groups were conducted. Families and staff were asked to discuss their positive experiences and challenges when accessing and utilizing crisis and transitional support services. Families and staff spoke about their positive experiences with crisis and transitional supports, the staff characteristics that enabled these positive experiences, the challenges they encountered with crisis and transitional support services as well as the general service system, and the impact that these service limitations had on families. Findings highlight the importance of understanding family needs in order to help them address crises before, during, and after they occur.     

Witchcraft branding and the abuse of African children in the UK: causes,effects and professional intervention

The branding of children as ‘witches’, capable of harming others is a widespread practice in some countries in Africa and across the world. There is evidence of this within specific communities and faith groups; however, the extent to which this phenomenon occurs in England is unclear as is the response by childcare professionals, statutory agencies and Voluntary Organisations. Between 2000 and 2010, at least six children lost their lives in different parts of the UK following periods of abuse, neglect and trauma linked to what is now known as abuse arising from being labelled ‘witches’. Each of these children, died because their parent or carer believed that they were responsible for ill luck, ill fortune and/or ill health that had befallen them and/or members of their families.Drawing upon a children's rights framework, this paper aims to provide a critical examination of child abuse that is caused by a belief that children can and are ‘witches’ or possess some evil spirits, making them capable of causing harm and discord within a family. Existing literature will be interrogated to provide some background and a historical context to this alarming and abusive practice.     

Connecting experiences of community shared responsibility and collective competence to the well-being of adults in military families

Drawing from the social organization theory of action and change, the role of community-capacity elements (shared responsibility and collective competence) for military members' and their civilian spouses' well-being is examined. With data from 266 active-duty military families, military members and their spouses are classified by theory-based community-capacity type. A path analysis examines associations between community types, elements of military context (rank and transitions), and dimensions of well-being (anxiety, depressive symptoms, self-efficacy, life satisfaction). There were few variations in community capacity across rank and transitions. For military members' and their civilian spouses, community types were differentially associated with well-being, particularly in disengaged and synergetic communities. Well-being was generally highest for those in synergistic communities (high shared responsibility and collective competence) and lowest in disengaged communities (low shared responsibility and collective competence). Findings inform intervention and prevention efforts seeking to activate communities as a mechanism for fostering well-being.