Resumen: Antecedentes: Entre las cogniciones parentales que explican la parentalidad desadaptativa, las atribuciones sobre el comportamiento del niño parecen importantes. Sin embargo, hay pocas investigaciones sobre los padres negligentes, y los patrones de atribuciones parentales que se asocian con el abuso y la negligencia siguen sin explicarse. Éste estudio examina las atribuciones parentales asociadas con el abuso y la negligencia infantil. Método: La muestra estaba compuesta por 218 madres que evaluaron viñetas que describían transgresiones infantiles, la mitad con información situacional. Abuso y negligencia se evaluaron a través de informes de madres y profesionales. Resultados: Los resultados indicaron que la edad del niño y el estatus socioeconómico estaban correlacionados con las atribuciones y con el abuso y negligencia, por lo que fueron controlados en los modelos. Los resultados de las regresiones jerárquicas indicaron que las atribuciones disposicionales se asociaron con el abuso (informes de madres), incluso en presencia de información situacional. Las atribuciones disposicionales se asociaron con la negligencia (informes de profesionales), pero no hay efecto en presencia de información situacional. Conclusiones: Estos hallazgos corroboran a los actuales enfoques sociocognitivos del maltrato infantil y proporcionan aportaciones relevantes para entender los diferentes mecanismos atribucionales que subyacen al abuso y la negligencia infantil.

Abstract: Background: Among the parental cognitions explaining maladaptive parenting, attributions about a child's misbehavior seem important. However, there is little research on neglectful parents, and the different patterns of parental attributions associated with child abuse and child neglect are still underexplained. The current study examines parental attributions associated with child abuse and child neglect. Method: Mothers (N = 218) were asked to evaluate vignettes describing child transgressions, half of which were followed by situational information. Child abuse and child neglect were evaluated through mothers' and professionals' reports. Results: Preliminary results indicated that the child's age and maternal socioeconomic status were significantly correlated with attributions and child abuse and neglect scores and thus were controlled in the models. The results from hierarchical regressions indicated that dispositional attributions were associated with higher abuse scores (reported by mothers), even in the presence of situational information. Likewise, dispositional attributions were associated with higher neglect scores (reported by professionals), but the effect was no longer significant in the presence of situational information. Conclusions: These findings contribute to the current socio-cognitive approaches to child maltreatment and provide relevant input for understanding the different attributional mechanisms underlying child abuse and neglect.

Este estudo tem como objetivo testar a capacidade discriminante do Inventário de Potencial de Abuso na Infância (CAP), numa amostra de 641 progenitores portugueses. Trinta e sete por cento da amostra é constituída por progenitores maltratantes sinalizados às Comissões de Proteção de Crianças e Jovens e avaliados através do Questionário de Avaliação do Mau Trato, Negligência e Abuso Sexual. Os resultados indicaram que os progenitores maltratantes reportam valores significativamente superiores na Escala de Abuso e em todas as suas dimensões. Do ponto de vista da capacidade discriminante, a função da Escala de Abuso Global classificou corretamente 79,9% e a função das subdimensões da Escala classificou corretamente 83,3% dos casos. Estes resultados revelam a potencialidade do instrumento na identificação de situações de potencial abuso na infância no contexto português.

This study aims to test discriminant ability of the Child Abuse Potential Inventory (CAP) in a sample of 641 Portuguese parents. Thirty-seven percent of the sample is composed by abusive parents reported to the Comissions for the Protection of Children and Young People and evaluated by an assessment questionnaire of maltreatment, neglect and sexual abuse. Abusive parents showed significantly higher scores on the Abuse Scale and in all of its dimensions. Considering the discriminant analysis, the Abuse Scale correctly classified 79.9% of the cases and the function of sub dimensions correctly classified 83.3% of the cases. These results reveal the capacity of CAP in identifying cases of potential child abuse in the Portuguese context.

O presente estudo tem como objectivo adaptar e validar um questionáriode clima organizacional para instituições sociais, a partir do Organizational Climate Survey (The University of Tennessee Children’s Mental Health ServicesResearch Center, 2000), utilizando uma amostra de profissionais que trabalham em diversas áreas de intervenção social. O instrumento original apresenta uma abordagem multidimensional do conceito de clima, integrando uma estrutura com quatro temas gerais (clima, estrutura, tecnologia e atitudes face ao trabalho). Após a tradução do instrumento, e de forma a observar as qualidades psicométricas da versão portuguesa, procedeu-se à análise da sua estrutura factorial através de análises factoriais confirmatórias, análise da fidelidade, análise da sensibilidade e validação relativa a um critério. Os resultados da análise factorial confirmatória indicaram que o modelo original é suportado em apenas três dos quatro factores do questionário original. As análises de fidelidade realizadas revelam uma consistência interna adequada de cada factor, e as análises de sensibilidade sugerem que o instrumento é sensível a diferenças individuais. Os resultados da validação relativa a um critério (i.e., validade concorrente) mostraram, ainda, evidência preliminar de que as dimensões de clima organizacional se associam às percepções de satisfação e implicação organizacional dos inquiridos.

The present study aims at adapting and validating an organizational climate questionnaire for social organizations, based on the Organizational Climate Survey (The University of Tennessee: Children’s MentalHealth Services Research Center, 2000), using a sample of professionals working in several social welfare organizations. The original instrument entails a multidimensional approach to the concept of climate and is characterized by a structure with four general themes (climate, structure, technology and work attitudes). After translating the instrument and in order to explore the psychometric characteristics of the Portuguese version we analyzed the factorial structure through confirmatory factorial analyses, reliability, sensitivity and criterion-related validity. Results from confirmatory factorial analysis indicate that the original model is supported in only three of the four factors of the original questionnaire. Reliability analyses showed adequate levels of internal consistency for each factor and sensitivity analysis suggested that the instrument is sensitive to individual differences. Criterion-related validation results (i.e., concurrent validity) showed preliminary evidence for the association of the dimensions of organizational climate with respondents’ perceptions of satisfaction and organizational commitment.

Neste artigo analisam-se os efeitos directos de um conjunto de factores exo-sistémicos da família e os efeitos de mediação da violência, coesão e conflito familiar nas práticas maternas abusivas. 102 mães, seleccionadas através do Questionário de Avaliação do Mau Trato e Negligência, responderam a um conjunto de questões sobre a percepção de ambiente familiar (coesão e conflito) e acontecimentos de vida. Os resultados indicam efeitos directos do nível socioeconómico na negligência e da estrutura familiar no mau trato. Os acontecimentos de vida negativos têm um efeito indirecto através da violência doméstica nas diferentes práticas abusivas. Os resultados indicam ainda que o conflito e a coesão, controlados os factores do exossistema, são pouco importantes na explicação das práticas abusivas. A partir dos resultados são discutidas as implicações dos modelos de mediação na compreensão das práticas abusivas, assim como os programas de intervenção com mães que experienciam stress em diferentes domínios de vida familiar.

This paper analyses the direct effects of family structure, socio-economic level and negative life events and the mediating role of family violence, cohesion and conflict in mothers’ maltreatment and neglect. One hundred maltreating and negligent mothers participated in this study. The mothers were selected by the scores obtained in a questionnaire evaluating maltreatment and neglect; this was completed by technicians from CPM (Minors’ Protection Commission) who also assessed the families’ socio-demographic characteristics, and domestic violence. Data collection tools were based on both child-care files and empirical knowledge regarding the child/ family. Both the data about negative life events and family perceptions (cohesion and conflict) was collected in a semi-structured interview with the mothers. A multiple regression analysis indicated the direct effect of socio-economic level on neglect and also of family structure on maltreatment. The results also pointed out that domestic violence mediated the relationship between the negative life events and maltreatment and neglect. Furthermore it was found that, after controlling the exo-systemic factors, cohesion and conflict were not relevant to understand abusive practices. The study will contribute to the discussion about the implications of mediating models to understand mal-treatment and neglect and also provide the direction for multi-systemic and preventive intervention programs with mothers who experience stress in different domains of family life.