Penelope Trickett - US grants

This study examines the psychological and biological effects of sexual abuse on female children and adolescents. Subjects are 90 sexually abused females (6 to 15 years of age) and their mothers (or other non-abusing caretaker) and 90 demographically similar non-abused girls and their mothers. A cross-sequential design is employed and both cross-sectional and longitudinal data are collected at three yearly intervals. A multi-method approach to data collection includes Tanner staging of pubertal stage; assaying of blood hormonal levels; standardized tests and interviews of child and parent; observation of parent-child interaction; and records from schools, teachers and other agencies. The main hypotheses being tested are that (1) sexually abused girls will have a more difficult transition through puberty; (2) sexual abuse alters hormonal levels and affects the timing of puberty; and (3) that sexually abused girls will maintain higher levels of dissociation into adolescence.

This study examines the psychological and biological effects of sexual abuse on female children and adolescents. The main hypotheses being tested are that (1) as compared with nonabused girls, sexually abused girls will have a more difficult transition thorough puberty which may adversely affect subsequent development; (2) sexual abuse alters hormonal levels and affects the timing of puberty; and (3) as compared with nonabused girls, sexually abused girls will maintain higher levels of dissociation into adolescence and adulthood. A multimethod approach to data collection includes Tanner staging of pubertal stage; assaying of salivary hormonal levels; standardized tests and interviews of the child and parent; observation or parent-child interaction; and records from teachers, schools, and-other agencies. Subjects are 86 sexually abused females and their ( non-abusing) mothers and 82 demographically similar non-abused females and their mothers. At time of entry into the initial study, the girls ranged from 6 to 15 years of age with a median age of 11. A cross-sequential design has been employed and both cross sectional and longitudinal date collected. In the original study, there were three times of measurement (Time 1, Time 2, and Time 3) at yearly intervals. This continuation proposal is for two more times of measurement, two years apart when the median age of the sample will be 16 and 18. This would result in two important additions to the original study. (1) By the 2nd assessment (Time 5), essentially all subjects will have reached menarche and thus the hypotheses concerning the mediating role of puberty in adjustment, the timing of and rate of progression through puberty, etc., can be more adequately tested. (2) By Time 5, about half the sample will be young adults. Thus, it will be possible to examine long term impact of sexual abuse and certain outcomes (e.g., possible educational attenuation, early childbearing, and parenting problems) that could not be examined when the subjects were younger.

DESCRIPTION (Adapted from applicant's abstract): This is a request for an Independent Scientist Award (ISA). The proposal aims to allow the applicant to develop a multifaceted research program examining the impact of different forms of abuse and other violence on the development of male and female children and adolescents of different ethnic groups. The main objectives of the research program are: (1) To better understand the relationship between physical and sexual abuse and adverse psychological development in childhood, adolescence, and young adulthood in males and females from different ethnic backgrounds (especially Caucasian, African American, and Hispanic). (2) To better indicate how the child's stage of development is related to the psychological impact of abuse: To examine whether abuse that occurs before the onset of puberty and entry into adolescence has a greater impact than if it occurs at other times. (3) To show whether or not sexual abuse of children is associated with the timing of entry into and passage through puberty. To examine the generalizability of this association for physical abuse as well as sexual abuse and for males as well as females from different ethnic backgrounds. (4) To provide evidence for (or against) hypotheses that child sexual abuse causes hormonal changes that contribute to the development of adjustment and behavioral problems: To examine the generalizability of these changes for physical abuse as well as sexual abuse and for males as well as females from different ethnic backgrounds. (5) To examine the impact of neighborhood or community violence on children's psychological development, to determine whether hormonal changes, such as cortisol dysregulation, are associated with this type of violence exposure, and to understand how the child rearing context of the home (including the presence of abuse) may mediate this impact. (6) To work toward a multivariate theory of the consequences of different forms of child abuse and violence that integrates developmental, psychobiological, and contextual (ecological) perspectives. Three research studies are described. One is ongoing, funded by an R01. The other two are being planned and external funding will be sought. A career development plan is outlined that emphasizes efforts to expand the candidate's knowledge in two areas critical to the planned research program. The first of these areas concerns the biology and endocrinology of development during childhood, with an emphasis on the pubertal transition, and how this development is affected by stress. The second area concerns the design and analysis of complex, multivariate longitudinal research. The institutional environment of the applicant's university, USC, is especially strong in both these areas. This career development plan will be implemented through a number of activities including graduate course work, seminars, and expanded collaborations with internationally known and respected experts in these areas.

This is a proposal for a longitudinal study of developmental outcome correlates of neglect of female and male young adolescents from different ethnic backgrounds (Latino, African- American and Caucasian). It is a multidisciplinary study that is guided by a developmental, ecological perspective (National Research Council, 1993), and as such will consider physical development and psychological impact and will have a developmental focus with an emphasis on the transition from childhood into adolescence. It will consider the developmental contexts of the neglected adolescent, including not only child- rearing context and other family variables, but also neighborhood characteristics including the prevalence of community violence. A sample of 400 adolescents (ages 9 to 12) will be selected from active cases in the Los Angeles County Department of Child and Family Services (LACDCFS). A stratified random sample will include approximately equal numbers of male and female Latinos, African-Americans and Caucasians. A comparison group of non- neglected adolescents will be developed from local schools. Measures will focus on physical development, social competence, problem behaviors, and social deviance-including substance abuse and delinquency.

Child abuse and neglect are huge social problems affecting millions of infants, children, and adolescents in America. Several decades of research indicate that experiencing abuse or neglect is associated with substance abuse and a variety of other problems, including anxiety and depression;aggression and delinquency;cognitive delays and school achievement problems;problems with interpersonal relationships;and health problems. We know little about the role of maltreatment in increasing the risk for substance use, and in particular have much to learn about the mechanisms that may be responsible for this association. What is proposed is the first prospective, longitudinal study to examine the relationship of different child maltreatment experiences, carefully measured, to adolescent substance abuse with an emphasis on the role that psychobiological dysregulation and timing of puberty may play in this relationship. A second focal adolescent outcome of this study is high-risk sexual behavior, which is commonly associated with substance abuse. Also unique to this study will be analyses that examine trajectories of psychosocial functioning from early adolescence, during the pubertal transition, to mid/late adolescence in order to examine different patterns of resilience and maladaptation. This proposed study is a follow-up of maltreated (N=303) and comparison (N=151) adolescents (47% female) at ages 16 and 17, first assessed at approximately 11 years of age. The samples form balanced subsets of Latino, African-American, and Caucasian maltreated and comparison children residing in the inner-city of Los Angeles. Maltreated children were recruited through the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services (LACDCFS). We recruited comparison children from the same neighborhoods as the LACDCFS sample. The sample of children has been measured on 3 occasions (known as Time 1, 2, and 3) at 1 to 1.5 year intervals in a cross sequential research design. A battery of measures on each occasion targets correlates and predictors of substance abuse and includes indicators of substance use;delinquency;competence in social and peer relationships;mental health and behavior problems (depression, anxiety, PTSD, aggression);psychobiological indictors of stress reactivity (salivary cortisol and salivary alpha amylase) and autonomic nervous system arousal (skin conductance, heart rate);indicators of cognitive abilities and school performance;and pubertal development. These same measures will be obtained at follow up, along with measures characterizing development in later phases of adolescence, including measures of the use and abuse of drugs and alcohol and measures of risky sexual behavior.