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Biomedical subjects

J S Milner

Publications and source records attributed to J S Milner.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1995

Empathic responsiveness and affective reactivity to infant stimuli in high- and low-risk for physical child abuse mothers.

Empathic responsiveness and affective reactivity to infant stimuli were examined in matched groups of high- and low-risk for physical child abuse mothers. Hypotheses were generated based on models of aggression and the child abuse literature. Although no between-group differences were found in empathy, within-group differences were observed. Compared to baseline, high-risk mothers reported no change (p > .05) in empathy across infant conditions (baseline, smiling, quiet, and crying), while low-risk mothers reported an increase (p < .0005) in empathy following presentation of the crying infant. Although there was no change in empathy, high-risk mothers reported more sadness, distress, hostility, unhappiness, and less quietness following presentation of the crying infant. Low-risk mothers reported no changes in sadness, distress, and hostility. The data for high-risk mothers are congruent with reports that physical child abusers are less empathic and more hostile in response to a crying child. The findings support aggression models which suggest the lack of empathy and the presence of negative affectivity precede abusive behavior. Post-hoc analyses also provide support for an emotional contagion perspective, where high-risk parents, compared to low-risk parents, are thought to more frequently reflect the emotional state of the infant.

Adult↗
PubMed1995

Childhood maltreatment, childhood social support, and child abuse potential in a Basque sample.

The present study obtained data on childhood physical and sexual abuse in a Basque sample in order to compare abuse rates with a similar study conducted in the United States. The study also examined the relationships between childhood physical and sexual abuse, childhood social support, and abuse potential in the Basque sample. Although the overall rates of physically abusive behaviors were similar in the Basque and US samples, the rates of physical abuse sequelae (bruises/welts, cuts/scratches, dislocations, burns, and/or bone fractures) were lower in the Basque sample. In addition, while the rates of sexual abuse were similar for females, the sexual abuse rates for Basque males were more than double the rates reported for US males. As expected, a childhood history of physical and sexual abuse were directly related to child abuse potential. Childhood social support, especially father support, was inversely associated with abuse potential. An interaction between a childhood history of physical abuse and father support was found where those with a history of abuse and low levels of father support had the highest level of abuse potential and those with a history of abuse and high levels of father support had the lowest level of abuse potential.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1995

Child maltreatment: the United States Air Force's response.

Families in the military are not immune to problems of child abuse and neglect, but few data have been disseminated which describe child maltreatment in the military. This article reports on the incidence of child maltreatment in the United States Air Force by presenting descriptive data on over 19,587 substantiated cases of child abuse and neglect which occurred over a 6-year period. Annual percentage increases in child maltreatment reports are discussed, as are substantiation rates for child abuse and neglect. This article also describes the United States Air Force programs serving military personnel and their families throughout the world. A subset of cases are analyzed and offenders' and spouses' perceptions of the services received and the benefits derived are reported.

Child↗
PubMed1995

Childhood physical abuse, perceived social support, and socioemotional status in adult women.

This study investigated the extent to which an interactional model, relative to a main effect model, predicts the relationship between childhood physical abuse, perceived social support, and various aspects of socioemotional functioning in adult women. The results indicated that perceived social support during childhood was significantly related to subsequent levels of adult depression, trait anxiety, and child abuse potential in a manner consistent with a main effect model. Childhood history of physical abuse was related only to adult child abuse potential. Implications and study limitations are discussed.

Adult↗
PubMed1994

Physiological responses to child stimuli in mothers with and without a childhood history of physical abuse.

The present study investigated changes in heart rate, skin conductance, and self-reported affect in response to child stimuli in mothers with and without a childhood history of physical abuse. The stimuli were videotape presentations of a smiling and crying infant. During baseline periods (prior to videotape presentations), mothers without a childhood history of abuse displayed a significant reduction in skin conductance, which was not observed in mothers with a childhood history of abuse, suggesting that mothers without a history of abuse habituated to the experimental setting. Although the two groups of mothers did not differ in self-reported affect or in heart rates in response to the crying and smiling infant, mothers with a childhood history of abuse showed increases in skin conductance while viewing the smiling infant, but not while viewing the crying infant. In contrast, mothers without a childhood history of abuse showed increases in skin conductance during the presentation of the crying infant, but not while viewing the smiling infant. Similarities between the skin conductance results for mothers with and without a childhood history of abuse and skin conductance data reported for physically abusive and at-risk mothers are discussed.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

Perceptions and evaluations of child transgressions and disciplinary techniques in high- and low-risk mothers and their children.

Perceptions and evaluations of children's transgressions (moral, conventional, personal), parental disciplinary actions (power assertion, love withdrawal, induction), and expected outcomes (compliance) were assessed in matched high- and low-risk (for physical abuse) mothers and their children. High-risk mothers and their children evaluated conventional and personal transgressions as more wrong than low-risk mothers and their children. Although both high- and low-risk mothers and their children varied disciplinary responses according to the type of transgression, high-risk mothers used power assertion (verbal and physical force) more often and induction (reasoning and explanation) less often. High-risk mothers also perceived the use of power assertion by others as more appropriate. With respect to outcomes, high-risk mothers, compared to low-risk mothers, expected less compliance following moral transgressions and more compliance after personal transgressions. Children of both high- and low-risk mothers made compliance predictions following moral and personal transgressions that were similar to the low-risk mothers' predictions.

Child↗
PubMed1993

Penicillin-binding proteins from Erwinia amylovora: mutants lacking PBP2 are avirulent.

Radiolabelled penicillin G was used to examine penicillin-binding proteins (PBPs) from Erwinia amylovora (OT1). This procedure identified seven PBPs with molecular masses ranging from 22 to 83 kDa. E. amylovora PBPs were compared with those from Escherichia coli (JM101) and from two spherical, avirulent TnphoA mutants derived from OT1. Radiolabelled penicillin G bound to only six proteins from the spherical mutants which lacked a 69-kDa PBP. The spherical mutants could be complemented by the cloned E. coli pbpA-rodA operon, which restored both cell shape and virulence to apple seedlings. This suggested that the E. amylovora 69-kDa PBP is probably the functional equivalent of the E. coli PBP2 protein. Southern blot analysis using the E. coli rodA and pbpA genes as radiolabelled probes showed that TnphoA had inserted into the E. amylovora equivalent of the E. coli rodA-pbpA operon. Southern blots to chromosomal DNAs of the two spherical mutants, using the cloned hrp and dsp genes from E. amylovora as radiolabelled probes, confirmed that the TnphoA insertions were not located in the region of the E. amylovora chromosome postulated to encode known virulence factors. Both of the spherical TnphoA mutants synthesized amounts of extracellular polysaccharide equivalent to those synthesized by the wild-type strain (OT1), were resistant to lysis in distilled water and to lysozyme, and elicited the hypersensitive response on nonhost plants. These results indicate a possible role for cell shape in the virulence of this plant pathogen.

Bacterial Proteins↗
PubMed1992

Family functioning and child abuse potential.

Family conflict and the lack of family cohesion are believed to set a foundation for coercive interactions that increase the likelihood of child abuse. The present study investigated the relationship between the family social environment (Family Environment Scale and Index of Marital Satisfaction) and physical child abuse potential (Child Abuse Potential Inventory) in maltreating (n = 376) and comparison (n = 148) parents. As expected, the strongest positive relationship was between family conflict and abuse potential. The strongest inverse relationships were between family cohesion, family expressiveness, marital satisfaction, and abuse scores, which indicates that the lack of positive interactional patterns is related to abuse potential. However, regression analysis revealed that family interactional patterns did not account for the majority of variance in abuse potential.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Physiological responses to non-child-related stressors in mothers at risk for child abuse.

Physical child abusers and adults at risk for child abuse, relative to comparison subjects, are reported to be more physiologically reactive to child-related stressors. It is not known if the reported physiological reactivity is child specific or if physical child abusers and at-risk parents are also more reactive to other types of stressful stimuli. The present study investigated changes in heart rate and skin conductance in response to four types of non-child-related stressors in at-risk and matched low-risk mothers. The four types of stressful stimuli were: a cold pressor; a stressful film depicting industrial accidents; unsolvable anagrams; and an aversive car horn. At-risk mothers, relative to low-risk mothers, had greater and more prolonged sympathetic activation during presentations of the cold pressor and the stressful film, the stimuli rated as the most stressful. The present data, combined with previous findings, support the view that generalized sympathetic activation to both child and non-child-related stressors may serve as a mediator of physical child abuse.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Family violence in the Air Force: a look at offenders and the role of the family advocacy program.

Family violence exists throughout society and, unfortunately, also among military families. The Air Force's Family Advocacy Program is designed not only to treat victims, offenders, and families of abuse and neglect, but also to provide prevention services. Each Air Force base has a Family Advocacy Officer, who is a credentialed clinical social worker, charged with the duty of addressing spouse abuse and child maltreatment problems. To evaluate the effectiveness of current services, and to improve the quality of the services provided through the Family Advocacy Program, the Air Force is currently conducting a 4-year evaluation study. This research represents the largest study ever conducted on family violence, with either military or civilian offenders. This paper, based upon the first year of data collected at approximately one-third of all Air Force medical treatment facilities, reported on the descriptive characteristics of the substantiated cases of spouse abuse and child abuse/neglect, and the interventions which were being recommended to alleviate the abusive situations and to prevent future maltreatment. The results will guide policy and future manning and staffing decisions for the Air Force Family Advocacy Program, and serve to document the kinds of treatment strategies which work most effectively for which kinds of problems. Findings are expected to help improve the quality of services to victims, offenders, and families, and to do so for those who are civilians as well as for those who are in the military.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Child↗
PubMed1991

[Validation of a Spanish version of the Child Abuse Potential Inventory administered in Spain].

A translation into Spanish of the Child Abuse Potential Inventory was administered to a group of perpetrators of maltreatment and physical abuse (n = 66) and to a demographically representative sample (n = 829) of the general population of the País Vasco (Spain). Results were studied with item analysis, regression, factorial analysis with the total sample so as to determine the descriptive characteristic of the Spanish version. Since this inventory is designed specifically for the detection of physical maltreatment, similar analyses were carried out with a subgroup of physical child abuse perpetrators (n = 24) and with a similar comparison group (n = 156). For the total number of perpetrators and the representative comparative group a differential analysis indicated that 91.7% had correct classification. For the group of physical child abuse perpetrators and the similar comparative group, the percentage was 98.3%. For these two comparative groups, the variance for the total of items in the abuse scale was 64.8%. Factorial analysis revealed that both English and Spanish versions of this inventory have a similar factorial structure. This preliminary data sustained the idea of working in the development and validation of a Spanish version of this inventory for the detection of physical maltreatment.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Applications of the Child Abuse Potential Inventory.

Five hundred and fifty administrators, direct services providers, and researchers were surveyed to determine the extent of knowledge of uses/misuses of a physical child abuse screening instrument, the Child Abuse Potential Inventory. Overall, parent screening and treatment evaluation applications were mentioned most frequently. These applications are congruent with the stated purpose and recommended use of the Child Abuse Potential Inventory. Application differences were found between researchers and non-researchers. A number of test applications not warranted by existing validity data also were found. The number and frequency of test misapplications support the view that additional professional training in the use of child maltreatment screening instruments is needed.

Child↗
PubMed1989

Inconsistent response patterns and the prediction of child maltreatment.

Inconsistent response patterns have been used with other measures to screen for child maltreatment. To date the inconsistency (IC) scale, a validity scale on the Child Abuse Potential (CAP) Inventory, has not been used as a screening criterion for physical child abuse. The present study examined the responses of 89 physical child abusers and 108 comparison subjects to determine if the CAP Inventory IC scale has any utility in the screening for physical child abuse. While results indicated the CAP Inventory IC scale scores were significantly higher for the physical child abuse group, a series of discriminant analyses indicated that the IC scale did not account for any meaningful variance after variance related to child abuse factors was removed. Further, the results indicated that dependence on the IC scale alone for physical child abuse screening purposes could be expected to produce excessive false positive and false negative classifications.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

Convergent validity of the Child Abuse Potential Inventory.

The convergent validity of the Child Abuse Potential Inventory (CAP) was investigated (N = 254). Because the CAP was designed to measure elements of individual pathology and interactional problems related to physical child abuse, it was predicted that CAP scores would be related to a measure of psychological status, the Mental Health Index (MHI). Specifically, it was predicted that the CAP would be correlated positively with MHI measures of psychological distress and, to a lesser degree, correlated inversely with MHI measures of psychological well-being. Because the CAP measures variables predictive of abusive behavior, a substantial relationship was expected between the CAP and the MHI Loss of Behavioral/Emotional Control scale. All hypotheses were supported.

Adult↗
PubMed1987

Child abuse potential and work satisfaction in day-care employees.

The Child Abuse Potential (CAP) Inventory and a Work Satisfaction Questionnaire were administered to 228 day-care employees at 40 centers to investigate the relationship between potential for child abuse and degree of job satisfaction. In addition, the ability of the CAP abuse scale to distinguish between groups of day-care employees thought to differ in the quality of child care provided was studied. Small, albeit significant, inverse correlations were observed between abuse scores and two job satisfaction items. As clarity of job expectations and as overall job satisfaction increased, abuse scores decreased. Although abuse scores for all day-care employees were not significantly different from norm scores, significantly lower scores were found for employees from "superior" day-care centers and for employees rated "high" by center directors. Abuse scores for employees rated "high" were also significantly below scores for employees rated "low." While these data indicate only limited relationships between child abuse and job satisfaction, the findings suggest the CAP abuse scale can distinguish some subgroups of day-care employees thought to differ in quality of child care provided.

Adult↗
PubMed1986

Screening spouse abusers for child abuse potential.

This study investigated the ability of the Child Abuse Potential (CAP) Inventory to screen for child abuse in a group of spouse abusers. Eighty-seven untreated male spouse abusers and 95 nonabusers were administered the CAP Inventory. All of the subjects were active duty, United States military personnel. The completed, valid protocols revealed that 36.5% of the spouse abusers had elevated child abuse scores, while only 9.1% of the nonabusers had elevated abuse scores. An analysis of variance indicated that the spouse abusers had significantly higher mean abuse scores. Four concurrent reports of child abuse were made in the spouse abuse group. Two of these spouse/child abusers had valid protocols, and both scored significantly higher than those spouse abusers with no reported child abuse. The finding that over 36% of the spouse abusers had elevated child abuse scores supports Walker's (1979) finding that one-third of spouse abusers are child abusers. A limitation in this study is that no longitudinal data were obtained to determine whether those with elevated child abuse scores who were not reported for child abuse subsequently would abuse their children.

Adult↗