Effects of the Sacramento Neighborhood Alcohol Prevention Project on rates of child abuse and neglect 7 years post-implementation (1999-2010).

Introduction: Evaluations of alcohol environmental prevention efforts examine short-term effects of these interventions on alcohol-related problems. We examine whether the effects of the Sacramento Neighborhood Alcohol Prevention Project (SNAPP), an alcohol environmental intervention aimed to reduce alcohol-related problems in two neighbourhoods, on child abuse and neglect remained 7 years post-implementation.

Methods: SNAPP used a quasi-experimental non-equivalent control group design, where intervention activities occurred in the South area, followed by those in the North area 2 years later.

Using ecological momentary assessments to understand how drinking during special occasions relates to parenting behaviors.

Background: Drinking on special occasions (e.g., Super Bowl, Christmas) often results in more alcohol consumed.

Longitudinal Changes in Self-Reported Alcohol Consumption by Mothers' During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Previous research shows that drinking by mothers was higher during the initial stages of the pandemic. Less is known about whether these drinking levels were maintained years after the first stay-at-home orders. Using three waves of data, each approximately a year apart, drinks per day remain elevated, whereas drinking frequency and continued volume have decreased during subsequent waves.

Sequencing drinking events and use of punitive, nonpunitive, and positive parenting behaviors with ecological momentary assessment.

Background: The relationship between alcohol use and parenting is primarily predicated on use of both past year drinking and parenting behaviors, making it difficult to develop prevention and intervention efforts that target alcohol-related maltreatment. Here, we assess the sequencing of parenting behaviors in relation to alcohol use (e.g.

Promoting permanency in families with parental substance misuse: lessons from a process evaluation of a multi-system program.

Background: Families affected by substance misuse are at increased risk for child maltreatment and child welfare system involvement. The Enhancing Permanency in Children and Families (EPIC) program uses four evidence-based and informed multi-system practices to promote safety and permanency outcomes for children involved with the child welfare system due to parental substance misuse: 1) Peer Recovery Support (PRS), 2) Family Treatment Drug Court (FTDC), 3) Medications for Opioid Use Disorder (MOUD) and 4) Nurturing Parent Program (NPP) relational skill-building. The purpose of the current study was to identify barriers, facilitators, and lessons learned in the implementation of and client engagement with the main components of EPIC.

Assessing the effects of the Sacramento Neighborhood Alcohol Prevention Project (SNAPP) on child abuse and neglect.

Background: The role of alcohol use in the etiology of abusive and neglectful parenting is significant. We examined how the Sacramento Neighborhood Alcohol Prevention Project (SNAPP) may have reduced rates of substantiated child maltreatment, entries into foster care, and entries into foster care where alcohol use was a factor.

Participants And Setting: The study sample is 326 Census block groups: 21 and 16 in the South and North intervention areas, respectively, and 289 in the At-Large comparison area in Sacramento, California.

Neighborhood market potentials for alcohol use and rates of child abuse and neglect.

Background: Alcohol use can lead to child abuse and neglect even if the person using alcohol does not use heavily. Yet relatively few measures that reflect alcohol use are available at smaller geographic units. We assess whether the estimated level of total alcohol use per capita is related to measures of child abuse and neglect that include substantiated reports of maltreatment, total entries into foster care, and alcohol-related entries into foster care.

Disentangling the physical, social, and situational contexts of young adolescents' initiation to alcohol use and intoxication: A mixed methods study.

Background: The onset of alcohol use during adolescence is associated with concurrent and subsequent related problems. Research on drinking contexts that underly these key first-time experiences and how they differ by initiation type is needed. The current study examined the physical, social, and situational characteristics of three types of initiation: first drink, first heavy episodic drinking (HED), and first intoxication and considered variations between early and later initiating adolescents.

Families in Crisis: The Relationship Between Opioid Overdoses and Child Maltreatment in Neighborhood Areas.

Objective: The increase in the use of opioids in Ohio is believed to have contributed to a crisis within county child welfare agencies throughout the state. Prior research has found a connection between opioid use and child abuse and neglect, but no previous studies have examined the relationship between opioid overdoses and child maltreatment rates at the neighborhood level.

Method: The sample is 9,231 Census block groups in Ohio for 2015.

Daily Stress and Use of Aggressive Discipline by Parents during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

To assess the relationship between stress throughout the day and aggressive discipline practices by parents during COVID-19 stay at home orders. For this study, participants took baseline survey online, then provided data three times a day (10 a.m.

Relationships Between Social Host Policies, Youth Drinking Contexts, and Age.

Objective: We examined associations of city-level policies and enforcement operations (i.e., social host laws and party patrol operations) with youth drinking, heavy drinking, and drinking-related problems in private and public drinking contexts.

Contrasting Methods of Measurement in Spatial Analyses Examining the Alcohol Environment and Child Maltreatment.

Child physical abuse is a major public health issue in the United States. Environmental child welfare research has focused on neighborhood characteristics and the influence of alcohol and marijuana establishments. To our knowledge, child welfare studies have singularly examined the outcome in terms of victims, that is, at the level of child population, and have not considered the parent population.

Understanding at-the-moment stress for parents during COVID-19 stay-at-home restrictions.

Rationale: In spring 2020, many states in the United States enacted stay-at-home orders to limit the spread of COVID-19 and lessen effects on hospitals and health care workers. This required parents to act in new roles without much support. Although studies have asked parents about stress before and during the pandemic, none have examined how stress may have fluctuated throughout the day and the characteristics related to those daily changes.

Stress, alcohol use, and punitive parenting during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background: Emerging research suggests that parents are experiencing heightened stress during the COVID-19 pandemic. Parental stress is a risk factor for harsh or punitive parenting, and this association may be exacerbated by the use of alcohol.

Objective: We examine whether parental stress is associated with use of punitive parenting, as well as whether this association is modified by drinking pattern.

Enhancing Permanency in Children and Families (EPIC): a child welfare intervention for parental substance abuse.

Background: Across Ohio, parental substance abuse has contributed to a marked increase in the number of children in foster care. Children exposed to parental substance use have a higher likelihood of physical abuse and neglect, and consequently a variety of physical, psychological and cognitive problems. The Enhancing Permanency in Children and Families (EPIC) program is a collaborative effort between the Ohio State University College of Social Work, two county offices of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, two juvenile courts and local behavioral health agencies.

Parenting in poor health: Examining associations between parental health, prescription drug use, and child maltreatment.

Rationale: Child maltreatment and problematic parenting are related to negative outcomes for children. Poor parental health could be a risk factor for problematic parenting through several mechanisms: 1) inadequate emotional regulation and coping; 2) impairment of parental capacity; and, 3) impairment of the parent-child relationship.

Objective: This study examines relationships between self-rated parental health, prescription drug use, and a broad array of negative parenting outcomes.

Alcohol Use and Harm to Children by Parents and Other Adults.

This study used mixed methods to examine parent-reported harm to children (lack of supervision or physical harm) due to alcohol use by themselves or someone else as well as parent beliefs about alcohol, parenting, and harms to children. We conducted a cross-sectional general population survey of 1,599 parents who were primary caregivers to a child aged 10 or younger and follow-up interviews with 23 parents who responded "yes" to one of the questions about alcohol use causing harm their child. Survey data were analyzed using multilevel logistic models.

Activity Spaces: Assessing Differences in Alcohol Exposures and Alcohol Use for Parents.

Parental alcohol use and alcohol outlet densities in residential areas are related to risk for child maltreatment. However, some parents spend significant time outside of their residential neighborhood. Thus, we may not be accurately assessing how alcohol environments are related to risks for problematic parenting.

"It just depends on the environment": Patterns and decisions of substance use and co-use by adolescents.

This study used rich qualitative data to examine the role that social and physical contexts play in decision-making related to simultaneous use of alcohol and marijuana among adolescents. In-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 13 adolescents who used alcohol and marijuana within several hours of each other. Decisions about whether to use alcohol and marijuana simultaneously as well as use patterns (e.

Investigating Relationships Between Drinking Venues, Drinking Companions, and Corporal Punishment of Children.

Limited evidence suggests that how much a parent drinks in a particular venue, such as a bar, restaurant, or a friend's home, is associated with use of corporal punishment. However, these relationships could differ depending on their drinking companions (e.g.

Social Work Matters: Californians' Perceptions of Social Welfare.

This article reports on findings from a representative survey of Californians (N = 946) and their perception of social work and its professionals. Analysis of the survey data indicates that the public holds a generally positive view of social work and its "helping" nature, although social work is considered one of the least prestigious professions. Respondents primarily associated social work with child protection and behavioral health roles, and less often with tasks such as community organizing, promoting social justice, and crafting social policy.

Child maltreatment reporting in the general population: Examining the roles of community, collective efficacy, and adverse childhood experiences.

According to bystander theory, factors such as the community environment, collective efficacy, and history of adverse childhood experiences could be related to likelihood of reporting or intervening against maltreatment. An online survey was conducted with 946 general population Californians obtained through mixed-mode random probability and quota-based recruitment methods. Using an experimental vignette design, participants were randomly assigned to two scenarios: a) potential child abuse occurring in their neighborhood; b) potential child abuse in an unfamiliar neighborhood.

Prescription Drug Misuse and Child Maltreatment Among High-Risk Families.

Prescription drug misuse is increasingly common in the United States. To date, little is known about how prescription drug misuse relates to negative parenting behaviors like child maltreatment, even though use of illicit drugs increases rates of both child neglect and physical abuse. This study used secondary data from the Fragile Families and Child Well-Being Study (FFCWS), a clustered national sample of families at high risk for both prescription drug misuse and child maltreatment ( = 2,917).

Drug Use, the Drug Environment, and Child Physical Abuse and Neglect.

Although drug use is considered a risk factor for child maltreatment, very little work has examined how the drug environment may affect physical abuse and neglect by parents. Utilizing information from a telephone survey with 2,597 respondents from 43 cities with valid police data on narcotics incidents, we analyzed the relationship between drug use, drug availability, and child maltreatment using multilevel models. City-level rates of drug abuse and dependence were related to more frequent physical abuse.

Understanding the Roles of Context, Frequency, and Quantity of Alcohol Consumption in Child Physical Abuse: Risks for Mothers and Fathers.

Introduction: Alcohol use is related to child physical abuse, although little is known about gender-specific risks factors. This study examines the relationships between alcohol outlets, context-specific drinking, dose-response drinking and child physical abuse for mothers and fathers.

Method: Telephone interviews were conducted with 1,973 female and 1,050 male respondents in 50 California cities.