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Biomedical subjects

R P Barth

Publications and source records attributed to R P Barth.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

Externalizing symptomatology among adoptive youth: prevalence and preadoption risk factors.

The extent of symptomatology related to attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) was examined in a statewide sample of adopted youth, aged 4-18 years (n = 808). The use of normed questionnaires in a nonclinical sample decreased biases associated with past research on adopted children. According to parental report, a striking number of the youth qualified as manifesting significant symptom levels of externalizing behavior problems: 21% met symptom cutoffs for ADHD (with or without ODD) and 20% met criteria for ODD (with or without ADHD), for a combined total of 29% of the sample. A number of parent-reported, preadoptive risk factors distinguished these groups from one another and from the nonexternalizing youth. The clearest associated factors included histories of preadoption abuse/neglect, later age of adoption, prenatal drug exposure, and placement in multiple foster homes prior to adoption. We discuss implications regarding both etiology and current controversies surrounding the disproportionate levels of behavioral difficulties in adopted youth.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2000

From maltreatment report to juvenile incarceration: the role of child welfare services.

OBJECTIVE: This study examined whether children who received child welfare services (e.g., in-home or out-of-home placement) were more or less likely to become incarcerated as serious and violent youthful offenders than those children who were investigated as victims of abuse and neglect but received no further child welfare intervention. METHOD: Administrative data on child abuse reporting, foster care, birth records, and juvenile corrections (CYA) were linked to prospectively examine the risk of incarceration as an adolescent following an investigation of abuse or neglect after age 6. The 10 county California sample included 159,549 school-aged children reported for abuse and neglect after 1990. RESULTS: About 8 per 1,000 children in the sample were later incarcerated in CYA. African American and Hispanic children who received in-home or foster care services after the index investigation event had a lower risk of incarceration than those whose cases were closed after the investigation. Among females, the rate of incarceration was highest for those who experienced foster or group care placements. Children initially reported for neglect were more likely to be incarcerated than those reported for physical or sexual abuse. CONCLUSIONS: Public child welfare services have rarely been assessed in terms of future negative child outcomes. This study finds that one serious negative outcome, CYA involvement, can only be understood when a number of factors are considered. The importance of understanding the differences between how different subpopulations respond to services is highlighted. Specifically, our findings suggest that more attention should be focused on children who are now receiving no services after an investigated child abuse and neglect report, on females, and on victims of child neglect.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1999

Adult transracial and inracial adoptees: effects of race, gender, adoptive family structure, and placement history on adjustment outcomes.

Adjustment outcomes of 224 transracial and inracial adoptees were investigated using data collected over 17 years. Findings reveal an association between adoptees' outcomes and their race, gender, and adoptive family structure. Placement history was not significant. Implications for policy and practice are discussed, as are future directions for research.

Adoption↗
PubMed1999

Adoption and race: implementing the Multiethnic Placement Act and the Interethnic Adoption Provisions.

Passage of the Multiethnic Placement Act of 1994 (MEPA) and the 1996 provisions on Removal of Barriers to Interethnic Adoption (Interethnic Adoption Provisions) provides an ideal opportunity to examine what can be done to increase adoptions of foster children, particularly children of color. To assist states and child welfare professionals in serving children better and meeting legal obligations, this article discusses racial matching, MEPA, and the Interethnic Adoption Provisions. Implications for practice and challenges in implementing the law also are discussed. The article suggests principles for adoption practice, recruitment, and placement that provide a framework for simultaneously meeting the requirements of the law and serving the best interests of children. Recommendations for practice, policy, and research are offered.

Adoption↗
PubMed1998

Infants entering foster care compared to other infants using birth status indicators.

OBJECTIVE: Infants comprise nearly one fourth of all entries to foster care. Linkage of administrative birth and placement data can provide information about these infants that may otherwise be unavailable or difficult to obtain. METHOD: Statewide birth records and foster care placement histories were linked via probability matching. Logit regression was used to compare 26,460 maltreated infants who entered foster care between 1989 and 1994 with a random sample of 68,401 other infants born during that time frame. RESULTS: Infants in care were more than twice as likely to have single parents and be born with low birthweight, and twice as likely to have been born with a birth abnormality as other infants, controlling for other factors. The largest difference was in the eightfold increased likelihood for mothers of infants in care to have had no prenatal care. Infants in care were nearly three times as likely to be born into larger families (third or greater live births to the mother). Mothers of infants in care were more than twice as likely to be African American compared to White than mothers of other infants, while Hispanic and Other ethnic groups were underrepresented in the group of infants in care. Foreign born mothers, especially Hispanic women, were much less likely to have infants in care than they were to have children in the other group. CONCLUSIONS: Administrative datasets, while often limited in the number of variables they include and scope of their information, can be a valuable tool when used to understand demographics and frame questions for future research. Infants who enter foster care differ in substantial ways from other children. These findings have important implications for future research aimed toward targeting of child welfare services and supports.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1996

Pathways of older adolescents out of foster care: implications for independent living services.

This article reports the results of a study of final discharge outcomes for an exit cohort of 2,653 foster youths in California who were at least 17 years old at exit and had spent at least 18 months in care before their final discharge. A logistic regression model of discharge status was developed that expresses the effect of selected variables on the odds that a child exited foster care via one of three routes: (1) by reaching the age of majority while still in care or being legally emancipated to independent living; (2) by family reunification, placement with a relative or guardian, or adoption; or (3) by an "unsuccessful" exit from care. A youth's number of placements in foster care, time spent in care, and the type of placement the child last resided in were all found to be related to final discharge status. The implications of these findings for efforts to prepare foster youths for independent living are discussed. Of particular interest is the finding that a large proportion of youths who have spent a long time in foster care away from their families nevertheless return to their families at exit from care.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1996

The juvenile court and dependency cases.

Most child abuse and neglect reports do not reach the juvenile court. However, those that do constitute a significant and demanding portion of the court's workload. These cases are often the most serious and require intense efforts at preserving the family and a temporary or permanent change in custody for the child. The children involved are increasingly very young and have histories of repeated contact with the child welfare system. The limited available data about the effectiveness of the court and child welfare system's response to these cases are reviewed in this article and show that improvement is needed in protecting children and ensuring safe and stable placements for them.

Child↗
PubMed1993

Cocaine treatment and outcome.

This article describes the dimensions of the current cocaine problem in the United States, drug treatment models, and cocaine treatment effectiveness and outcome. Research on the effectiveness of specific drug treatments, including women-sensitive services, is analyzed. The recommended treatment approaches incorporate a variety of rehabilitative services (for example, housing, education, vocational training, medical services, and child care) and call for social workers to improve linkages with treatment programs and to facilitate referrals. The emerging evidence on treatment models and drug treatment effectiveness can guide social workers in better assisting their clientele by incorporating social services that encourage the development of new and rewarding lifestyles to compete with drug-using activities.

Cocaine↗
PubMed1992

Gender differences in knowledge, intentions, and behaviors concerning pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease prevention among adolescents.

Gender differences in knowledge, intentions, and behaviors regarding preventing pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases were studied. Data for the study were collected from 1,033 students in 13 California high schools. Females in this sample were more likely than males to have discussed sexuality topics with parents, to have engaged in sexual intercourse more frequently, to have experienced a pregnancy scare, to have used oral contraceptives during their last sexual encounter, to perceive that a larger proportion of their peers were engaging in sex and using birth control, to obtain birth control from health facilities, and to report intentions to abstain or use protection in hypothetical situations placing them at risk for unprotected sex. In contrast, males reported that they were more likely to have always used birth control, to have used birth control during their first sexual encounter, and to have used a condom during their last sexual encounter. Furthermore, males were more likely to obtain birth control from a store or a friend. Finally, males knew more about using condoms correctly and their role in preventing sexually transmitted diseases. The efficacy of interventions designed to reduce unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases among adolescents may be increased by addressing these gender differences. Understanding gender differences may also facilitate an increased role for males in the overall prevention scheme. Further research is clearly needed to increase knowledge about these gender differences.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

Preventing adolescent pregnancy with social and cognitive skills.

A 15-session sex education program was delivered by teachers to 586 10th graders using techniques based on social learning theory, including modeling, in-class and out-of-class practice of skills for abstaining from sexual intercourse, and for contraception. Knowledge about reproduction and birth control, intentions to use skills to avoid pregnancy, and communication with parents about pregnancy prevention were significantly greater at posttest and 6-month follow-up for the trained group than for the control group. Members of the trained group tended to use birth control more often, especially those who started to have sexual intercourse subsequent to the program. No differences in the frequency of sexual intercourse, pregnancy scares, or pregnancies were found. Satisfaction with the program was high. Although skill training by itself may not be sufficient to significantly prevent pregnancies, this program offers promise of being a useful component of combined school, home, and community activities to prevent pregnancy.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1991

An experimental evaluation of in-home child abuse prevention services.

Perinatal child abuse prevention projects are rarely rigorously evaluated. Women were referred to the Child Parent Enrichment Project (CPEP) project during or just after pregnancy if identified as at-risk of engaging in child abuse by community professionals. Clients were randomly assigned to CPEP services (n = 97) or traditional community services (n = 94). CPEP services are based on ecological theory and involve six months of home visiting by paraprofessional women and linkage to other formal and informal community resources. No advantages on self-report measures for the CPEP group were measured at posttest, and follow-up reports of child abuse were similar for both groups. Consumer satisfaction indicates that clients highly valued the program. Some indication of greater success with families with less serious problems was observed. The results argue for caution regarding the capacities of perinatal child abuse prevention services to serve the high-risk clientele they often receive.

Child Abuse↗
PubMed1990

Health beliefs and practices of foster parents.

This study considers how foster parents and social workers contribute to the routine health care of foster children. Health beliefs and practices of foster parents, their relationship to obtaining health care for foster children, and issues of social workers' and foster parents' responsibility for coordinating and obtaining medical care are explored. Suggestions for improved coordination are tendered.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1988

Services to adolescent fathers.

Until recently, service programs for adolescent fathers have been rare. Such a program for teenage fathers and service characteristics that encourage the involvement of teenage fathers are described. In particular, fathers who did not live with the mothers of their babies had dramatically greater participation in prenatal activities if they used teenage father services. Services to fathers and fathers' participation in prenatal activities also were associated with higher birthweights. Engaging adolescent fathers in pilot fatherhood projects thus has high potential to benefit teenage fathers and mothers and their infants.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1986

Identifying, screening and engaging high-risk clients in private non-profit child abuse prevention programs.

Child abuse prevention programs rely on varied strategies to identify, screen, obtain referrals of, and engage high risk parents. Available literature on community-based child abuse prevention projects is not conclusive about project outcomes nor sufficiently descriptive about implementation. From the literature, experience and interviews with staff from more than 20 programs, barriers to implementation are identifiable. Barriers arise during identifying and screening at-risk families, referral, continued collaboration with referrers, and engaging clients in services. The paper describes a diverse set of strategies for surmounting these barriers. Staff characteristics and concrete services partially predict the success of program implementation. So does the program's relationship to other agencies. Child abuse prevention programs assume independent, interdependent, and dependent relationships with other agencies and referrers. Interdependent programs appear to have the best chance of obtaining referrals and maintaining clients who match their program's intent.

Child↗
PubMed1986

Adolescent mothers, stress, and prevention.

Adolescent mothers face problems that can lead to psychological stress. Based on prospective data from the present study, these problems point toward the need for a coping skills prevention approach to help adolescent mothers manage stress. This paper reports data from outcome research on such an approach with adolescent mothers. Subjects were 79 adolescent mothers who were tested before, immediately after, and three months following the provision of coping skills intervention in an experimental condition. Subjects in a test-only control condition received no special intervention. At posttest, experimental condition subjects showed more positive outcomes on measures of social support, cognitive performance, conflict management, and interpersonal competence. At three-month follow-up, experimental condition subjects had more positive outcomes on social support, cognitive performance, parenting ability, child care self-efficacy, and measures of psychological well-being.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Power through choices: the development of a sexuality education curriculum for youths in out-of-home care.

Youths in out-of-home care demonstrate high rates of sexual risk-taking behavior and elevated rates of unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections (STIs). This article profiles the development and characteristics of an innovative pregnancy/HIV/STI prevention curriculum tailored to the needs of youths in out-of-home care. Promising results from an implementation study suggest the need for further dissemination and rigorous testing.

Adolescent↗