Joining Forces

Joining Families

Volume 11, Issue 3 • March 2010

R e a l W o r l d R e s e a r c h f o r F a m i l y  A d v o c a c y P r o g r a m s

F e at u r e d I n t e r v i e w

LONGSCAN: The Complexity and Trajectories 		of Child Maltreatment
An Interview with Dr. Desmond Runyan; Conducted by James McCarroll, Ph.D.
Interview with Desmond K. Runyan, MD,
DrPH.

Dr. Runyan is Professor and Chair of Social
Medicine and Professor of Pediatrics and Epidemiology at the University of North Carolina
at Chapel Hill. Dr. Runyan is the Director of theLongitudinal Study of Child Abuse and Neglect(the LONGSCAN) Coordinating Center. The

In This Issue
As part of our gaining new knowledge to support U.S. Army families,
we often turn to civilian knowledge and databases to model our population. This issue is devoted to the Longitudinal Study of Child Abuse andNeglect (LONGSCAN) studies, a consortium of five sites conducting
research on child maltreatment. The project was initiated in 1990 with
grants from the National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect. Our featured
interview is with Dr. Desmond Runyan, Director of the LONGSCAN Coordinating Center. We also include a brief review of the history and somehighlights of the LONGSCAN. Our Building Bridges to Research describes
some of the methods used in their analyses. Websites of interest directs
the reader to the LONGSCAN website as well to the National Data Archiveof Child Abuse and Neglect (NDACAN) at Cornell University where thepublic use LONGSCAN data sets are archived and updated. As always,
we hope that JFJF continues to inform and enhance your work with our
nation’s service members and their families.
Contents
LONGSCAN: The Complexity and Trajectories of Child Maltreatment..............1
Highlights of Recent Longscan Project Findings.........................................3
Building Bridges to Research: Some Statistical Procedures in LONGSCAN...5
Website of Interest. .......................................................................................8

LONGSCAN project is a 20-year study of the
impact of child maltreatment, now in its 19th
year. The Center coordinates the five different, but
overlapping longitudinal studies in the U.S. [Editor’s note: At the end of this interview is a note
about the other LONGSCAN investigators.] Dr.
Runyan’s work involves the application of clinicalepidemiology to the problem of violence againstchildren. His research has focused on the impact
of societal intervention on the mental healthfunctioning of the child victims and the impactof the foster care system, court testimony, and the
medical examination on children.
Dr. McCarroll: As one of the principal
investigators of the LONGSCAN (Runyan &Litrownik, 2003), an invaluable landmark
study, what have been the major topics ofinterest to your group?
Dr Runyan: First, we have looked at the antecedents and consequences of abuse over time.
Secondly, we have been involved in developing
a set of statistical growth modeling procedures
to look at trajectories of the effects of maltreatment. Are the children who were abused early
the same kids that continue to be abused? Does
most of the risk happen to a smaller group of
kids? Are there kids who have a lot of maltreatment early and then nothing later on, and another group of kids who were doing pretty wellearly on and then get maltreated later? A third
set of questions is related to fathers and the roleContinued on page 2

they play. A fourth set is focused on social capital. An example is related to the impact of kids’
psychological development and later school
completion and work history.
I am currently looking
at the kids’ mental
health functioning atdifferent ages to see
which of the forms of
exposure to violenceor maltreatment ismost salient in termsof its impact on later
depression, anxiety, or
aggression.

Dr. McCarroll: How did you arrive at yourclassifications of the types of maltreatment?
Dr Runyan: We re-coded all the Department of Social Services (DSS) records using
the system we developed for LONGSCAN, theModified Maltreatment Classification System(MMCS), as opposed to taking DSS codes because there was a fair amount of disagreement.
Dr. McCarroll: In your classification ofmaltreatment, what did you find in the DSS
records on the histories of maltreatment?
Dr Runyan: That is one of the issues we are
wrestling with. The May 2005 edition of Child
Abuse and Neglect [Volume 29, Number 5]
was devoted to the LONGSCAN and included
measurement issues. So much of the literature
just lumps abused kids together and compares
them to non-abused kids. We have DSS recordsof all different kinds of things over time foreach of them, but also at age 12, 14, 16, and18 we have asked the kids about their own

Joining Forces
Joining Families
Editor-in-Chief
James E. McCarroll, PhD
Email: jmccarroll@usuhs.mil
EditorJohn H. Newby, MSW, PhD
Email: jnewby@usuhs.mil
Joining Forces Joining Families
is a publication of the U. S.
Army Family Morale, Welfare
and Recreation Commandand the Family Violence andTrauma Project of the Centerfor the Study of TraumaticStress (CSTS), Bethesda,
Maryland 20814-4799, tel.
301-295-2470. CSTS is a partof the Dept. of Psychiatry,
USUHS, and a partnering
center of the Defense Centersof Excellence (DCoE).

2 • Joining Forces/Joining Families

Editorial Advisor
LTC Ben Clark, Sr., MSW, PhD
Family Advocacy Program Manager
Headquarters, Department of theArmy
E-mail: Ben.Clark@fmwrc.army.mil
Editorial Consultants
David M. Benedek, MD, COL, MC, USA
Professor and Scientist
Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress
Uniformed Services University of the
Health Sciences
dbenedek@usuhs.mil
Nancy T. Vineburgh, MA
Director, Office of Public Education
and Preparedness
Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress
Email: nvineburgh@usuhs.mil

experiences. It turns out that for many of thekids who told us they were sexually abused, theauthorities had no idea they had been sexually
abused. The other group that is a little harderto understand is the group of kids where social
services said they were sexually abused, but the
kids said, no, they were not. So, there is thatlack of concordance. Overall, the concordance
figures look pretty high because most kids were
not sexually abused and neither they nor DSS
said so (Runyan, Cox, Dubowitz, et al., 2005).
It is really intriguing to think about the kids
who were abused and were not telling anybody
about it or only told us about it.
Dr. McCarroll: The Army only codes sexual
abuse as severe. Are you making finer
distinctions of sexual abuse?
Dr Runyan: That is an interesting question. A lot of people have published about
how sexual abuse is the most destructive of thedifferent forms of abuse. That is not what we
found. So much of the impact of sexual abuse
is determined not by the sexual abuse itself, butby the response of the people around them,
particularly the mother. It gets hard to sort out
and decide, “Well, this is worse than this.” Forsome kids, being fondled or having to copewith an exhibitionist is incredibly tough forthem. The traditional response is adult horror
at child sexual involvement, which I share, but
at the same time, what I think is salient andhorrific about sexual abuse may not be sharedby the kids who are the victims when we aretrying to look at outcomes.
Dr. McCarroll: That is terribly complex. Is thistrue in any other type of maltreatment?
Dr Runyan: I am currently looking at thekids’ mental health functioning at different ages
to see which of the forms of exposure to violence or maltreatment is most salient in termsof its impact on later depression, anxiety, or aggression. For example, Jonathan Kotch (Kotch,
Lewis, Hussey, et al., 2008) has published apaper showing that neglect in the first two yearsof life is related to aggression at ages 4, 6, and
8. (See Review of LONGSCAN Research andBuilding Bridges to Research for more information about this study.) Our data has also shownthat aggression at earlier ages is not associatedwith subsequent adolescent or adult aggression,
but aggression at age 8 is predictive of older
child and adult aggression.
Continued on p. 4
March 2010

Highlights of Recent LONGSCAN Project Findings
By James E. McCarroll, PhD

This theory is basedon the knowledge thatchildren’s response
to maltreatment andintervention varies byage, developmental
level, and the context ofthe maltreatment.

http://www.CSTSonline.org

The long-term effects of the maltreatmentof children are among the most persistent anddifficult questions to answer in the child maltreatment arena. With the Longitudinal Studyof Child Abuse and Neglect (LONGSCAN),
Dr. Runyan and colleagues have undertaken aseries of studies to answer these questions. In
1990, the Office of Child Abuse and Neglect(then the National Center on Child Abuse andNeglect) committed funds for the LONGSCAN(Runyan & Litrownik, 2003). This project isa consortium of five independent prospective studies designed to examine the longterm consequences of child abuse and neglect(Runyan et al., 1998). The five sites are widelydistributed across the United States: Eastern,Southern, Midwest, Southwest, and Northwest.
Children enrolled in the study were recruited at four years of age or younger. The
samples include maltreated and non-maltreated children, children at high risk of maltreatment, and children placed in foster care. The
goal of LONGSCAN is to follow the approximately 1,300 children and their families until
the children become young adults. Maltreatment data are collected from multiple sources.
Children and their caregivers have been regularly assessed at approximately 2-year intervals
using face-to-face interviews and standardized
instruments, some of which were created forthis study. Yearly telephone interviews are also
conducted on a subset of the study population incorporating factors at the child, parent,
family, neighborhood, and larger community
levels. Data collected at each interval include
exposure to maltreatment, age-specific potential risk and protective factors, and age-appropriate outcomes such as the domains of mental
health, behavior, social functioning, school,and employment.
Ecological-developmental theory (Belsky,
1980; Bronfenbrenner, 1977) has been the basis
for the selection of research questions, measurement, and analyses. This theory is basedon the knowledge that children’s response
to maltreatment and intervention varies byage, developmental level, and the context ofthe maltreatment. In addition to ecologicaldevelopmental theory, a social-developmental
model (Catalano & Hawkins, 1996) is a complementary framework for the investigations.
This model hypothesizes that interactions withothers mediate the influences of individual andsocial factors on outcomes.
The findings of LONGSCAN will provide
a scientific basis for policy-making, program
planning, and targeting service delivery by increasing our understanding of the following:■■ The child, family, and community factors
which increase the risk for maltreatment in
its different forms;■■ The differential consequences of maltreatment, depending upon its timing, duration,
severity, and nature, and upon the child’s
age and cultural environment;■■ The child, family, and community factors(e.g., chronic exposure to violence, parental
substance abuse) that increase the harm(measured by age-appropriate negative
outcomes) caused by different forms ofmaltreatment;■■ The factors that increase the probability ofpositive child outcomes despite maltreatment and other adverse life circumstances;■■ The strengths and weaknesses of various
societal interventions such as child welfare programs, foster care, mental healthservices, parenting classes, etc. Some of thesites are involved in intervention researchand evaluation of services, expediting the
integration of research findings into policy
and practice.
The LONGSCAN investigators and others
who have used the datasets have produced alarge volume of publications. Many of these areavailable on the LONGSCAN website. [Editor’s note: See websites of interest.] Two recent
publications focus on the importance of earlychildhood maltreatment, one on later aggression (Kotch, Lewis, Hussey, et al., 2008) and onadolescent sexual behavior (Black, Oberlander,
Lewis, et al., 2009). Early childhood neglect(birth to age 2 years) predicted child aggression
scores at ages 4, 6, and 8 years (Kotch, Lewis,
Hussey, et al., 2008). Boys had higher aggression scores than girls, younger children had
higher scores than older children, and morecaregiver depressive symptoms were associatedwith higher aggression scores. Surprisingly,
early abuse, later abuse and later neglect did notpredict later aggression at later ages beyond 8.
Joining Forces/Joining Families • 3

Many publications
from the LONGSCAN
include descriptionsof the relationship ofmaltreatment to various
health and social
outcomes.

The authors noted that the effects of juvenile violence are a serious concern, and on
a worldwide basis. The authors have shownthat neglect may have profound and longlasting effects on the child, especially if it
occurs early in development.
The relationship of childhood maltreatment to adolescent sexual behavior is an
important public health question. Analysesof the LONGSCAN found that all types ofchildhood maltreatment predicted adolescentengagement in sexual intercourse (Black,
Oberlander, Lewis, et al., 2009). Emotional
distress, as measured by the Trauma Symptom Checklist (Briere, 1996), mediated therelationship between maltreatment andsexual intercourse at age 14, but not at age
16. The authors concluded that maltreatedchildren are at risk for early sexual behavior,
but by age 16, other factors account for it.
Many publications from the LONGSCAN
include descriptions of the relationship ofmaltreatment to various health and social
outcomes. Other studies include the risks
for child maltreatment in different environments, ethical issues, costs and othereconomic issues, parenting and caretaking,development, foster care, prevention, typeof maltreatment, long-term outcomes andmany others. This very comprehensive effort
to collect longitudinal data across a variety
of domains will provide child maltreatment
researchers with much material for analysis
and study over many years to come.

References
Belsky J. (1980). Child maltreatment: An ecological analysis. American Psychologist; 35:320-335.
Black MM, Oberlander SE, Lewis T, et al. (2009).
Sexual intercourse among adolescents maltreated before age 12: A prospective investigation. Pediatrics; 124:941-949.
Briere, J. (1996). Trauma Symptom Checklist forChildren: Professional Manual. Odessa, FL:
Psychological Assessment Resources, Inc.
Bronfenbrenner U. (1977). Toward an experimental psychology of human development.
American Psychologist; 32:513-531.
Catalano RF & Hawkins JD. (1996). The social
development model: A theory of antisocial
behavior. In Delinquency and Crime: Current
Theories, JD Hawkins (Ed.). New York, NY:
Cambridge University Press, pp. 149–197.
English DJ, Upadhyaya MP, Litrownik AJ, Marshall JM, Runyan DK, Graham JC, & Dubowitz
H. (2005). Maltreatment’s wake: The relationship of maltreatment dimensions to childoutcomes. Child Abuse & Neglect; 29:597-619.
Kotch JB, Lewis T, Hussey JM, . (2008). Importance of early neglect for childhood aggression.
Pediatrics; 121:725–731.
Runyan DK, Curtis PA, Hunter WM, Black MM,
Kotch JB, Bangdiwala S, Dubowitz H, English D, Everson MD & Landsverk J. (1998).
LONGSCAN: A consortium for longitudinalstudies of maltreatment and the life courseof children. Aggression and Violent Behavior;
3:275-285.
Runyan DK & Litrownik AJ. (2003). Introduction to special issue: LONGSCAN and family
violence. Journal of Family Violence; 18:1-4.

Interview with Dr. Runyan, from page 2

At age 8, it looks like witnessing domestic
violence is far more destructive for kids’ mental
health than either sexual abuse or physical abuse; there was no relationship between
neglect and depression and anxiety. When we
repeated the same analysis with the kids at age
12, psychological maltreatment was the mostdestructive for the kids. In a sense, all abuse is
psychological maltreatment. When an eight
year old kid or younger is exposed to domestic violence, I think that is actually a form of
psychological maltreatment. The person who
protects you from the world and is your rock is
not safe herself. There is a lot more work to be
4 • Joining Forces/Joining Families

done on refining the definition and measurement of psychological abuse, but it does seemto be promising.
Dr. McCarroll: How did you categorize neglect?
Dr Runyan: Our system has two categoriesof neglect: failure to provide and failure to supervise. But, even those two categories may not
capture all that we want. At this point we are
not actually seeing a lot of adverse impact fromneglect but, the lack of precision of measuring is part of the complexity. We are looking
at parental monitoring and trying to measurefamily functioning, such as unreasonable parental expectations, in an attempt to find ways
to improve the definition of neglect.
Continued on page 6
March 2010

Building Bridges to Research:Some Statistical Procedures in LONGSCAN
By James E. McCarroll, PhD, David M. Benedek, MD, and Robert J. Ursano, MD

The LONGSCAN and its
databases provide theopportunity to examine
the effects of childmaltreatment over time.
Longitudinal analysis
requires measuring
the individuals at
multiple time points.

http://www.CSTSonline.org

Over the past several years, Joining Forces
Joining Families has provided basic statistical knowledge to readers. The purpose of thisinformation is to help readers understandsome basic principles of research design anddata analysis and to assist them in understanding behavioral science literature of interest to
the Army Family Advocacy Program (FAP)
community. In some literature, sophisticatedstatistical techniques are required, particularly
in longitudinal research as seen in the LONGSCAN. Longitudinal research incorporates
many variables over varying periods of time.
The investigator without a statistical background usually will consult a statistician for
guidance on model selection and interpretation of the results. In this article, we note twoof the statistical models that can be used to
examine longitudinal data and provide somebasic information on why and how they wereused in the LONGSCAN.
The LONGSCAN and its databases provide
the opportunity to examine the effects of childmaltreatment over time. Longitudinal analysis
requires measuring the individuals at multiple
time points. Some variables may be predictors,
such as age and type of maltreatment; some
may be outcomes, such as school performance;others such as parent’s income, parent andchild gender and race may be predictors, mediators, or outcomes or also may be statisticallycontrolled (held constant), depending on theanalysis.
In experimental studies, variables can becontrolled by many methods such as selecting participants, randomly assigning themto treatment and non-treatment groups andother methods. Experimental control allows
the investigator to examine the direct effect ofa variable (or variables) of interest on one ormore outcomes. When data are collected innaturalistic setting, such as in the LONGSAN,
such experimental control is not possible. In
such cases, the investigator will use statisticalcontrol in order to hold variables constant.
Holding a variable constant, whether throughexperimental or statistical control, is how theinvestigator can come to conclusions about the
research and make statements (with appropri-ate qualification of the limitations of the methods) about the results. Control is the method
used to reduce biases due to multiple effects ofdifferent variables acting at the same time on
the outcome.
Kotch, Lewis, Hussey et al. (2008) described
the statistical model they used to predict aggressive behavior scores in children who had
been subjected to early (birth to 2 years) childhood neglect. The model used was a general,
linear, mixed model. The dependent variable(the outcome you are trying to understand)
was aggression at ages 4, 6, and 8, as measured
by the Child Behavior Checklist (Achenbach,1991) completed by the caregiver at the age
for which the child and parent were assessed.
There were 12 control variables (covariates):child gender, race/ethnicity, age, caregiver marital status, depression, years of education, family income, neighborhood safety, early neglect,early abuse, later neglect and later abuse. Of
the non-maltreatment variables in the model,child gender, child age, caregiver depression,neighborhood safety, and the Midwest studysite were all significant predictors of aggression
at age 8. Of the maltreatment variables, only
early childhood neglect predicted aggression.
It was hypothesized that the Midwest site wassignificant due to selection of the recruitment
strategy. However, regardless of the site, thesignificance of early neglect in predicting aggression was detected. Complex models such as
this are increasingly used in behavioral science
research and are available in many commercial
statistical packages.
In his interview, Dr. Runyan referred toanother statistical technique, growth modeling. This statistical technique allows theinvestigator to examine the trajectory of events
following maltreatment. This model allows
the investigator to examine effects that are
directly and those that are indirectly related
to the outcome. In the direct approach, theoutcome is not mediated by other intervening
variables whereas an indirect effect is mediatedby an intermediate (or intervening) variable.
Maltreatment is measured first, then possible
intervening variables, and then the outcome ofContinued on p. 6
Joining Forces/Joining Families • 5

Some variables may
be predictors, suchas age and type ofmaltreatment; some
may be outcomes, suchas school performance;others such as parent’s
income, parent and childgender and race may be
predictors, mediators, orinterest. Such a model is flexible and sophisticated and offers the researcher many advantages over earlier statistical models. However,such models cannot automatically infer causes.
The experience and judgment of the investigator are still required.

References
Achenbach TM. (1991). Manual for the Child
Behavior Checklist/4–18 and 1991 Profile. 2nd
ed. Burlington, VT: LEA Associates.
Kotch, Lewis, Hussey, et al. (2008). Importanceof early neglect for childhood aggression.
Pediatrics; 121:725–731.

Additional background reference
Author. Building Bridges: Using Statistics
in Family Program Research. (2008). Family
Bethesda, MD: Violence and Trauma Project, Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress,
Department of Psychiatry, Uniformed Services
University of the Health Sciences. www. usuhs.
mil/csts or www.CSTSonline.org.
Building Bridges: Using Statistics in Family
Program Research is available for freethrough the Center for the Study of TraumaticStress. See page 8 for a brief description of
the book and for ordering information.

outcomes or also may
be statistically controlledInterview with Dr. Runyan , from page 4(held constant),

Dr. McCarroll: One needs to think about thenuances of childhood and adult maltreatment.
Dr Runyan: That is right. When we looked
at measurement we ended up sorting out
severity, type and the chronicity. Did it happen
lifelong or was it episodic? Was it at one point?
Did it happen early in life or later in life? All
those seemed to lead to different outcomes.

depending on theanalysis.

Dr. McCarroll: What kinds of outcome data areyou collecting?
Dr Runyan: We collect data in an annual
telephone interview with the parents about
their contact with social services in the lastyear. We also ask the parent whether the childhas been hospitalized or has been seeing thedoctor or other professionals for mental healthor special education services. We have completed data collection to age 14 and are not quite
done with age 16. We have about 900 14-year
olds, 760 16-year olds and 400 18-year olds sofar.
Dr. McCarroll: What new data will you
present? Is anything being collected at ages
16 and 18 that has not previously appeared?
Dr Runyan: We have gone back and asked
about employment and work, school completion, and, at ages 16 and 18, asking the kids fortheir own self-reports about their maltreatment. The report that will be really useful is
at age 18 when we do not have to tell themthat we have to share information with social
services.
Dr. McCarroll: One of the results that mightcome out of this is some sense of a life
trajectory based particularly on early abuse.
Dr Runyan: That is a topic that we are
6 • Joining Forces/Joining Families

interested in describing. A lot of people thinkthat kids who are maltreated are going to havea bad outcome. We want to address risk. Right
now it looks like about 35% of our kids escapepretty unscathed. About a similar percentage do
not escape and are pretty severely affected. The
other 30% do not look red hot either. We are
excited about looking at the 35% that look really pretty good on all our measures. Were thosekids looking pretty good all the way along? Are
there kids that looked bad earlier and then thatlooked better? We are trying to follow thosepathways.
Dr. McCarroll: You also have non-maltreated
kids, too?
Dr Runyan: Right. However, over the courseof the study many of those non-maltreated kids
have been maltreated. So, out of the original
cohort of 1,354 kids, we have 188 kids who havenever had any maltreatment reports.
Dr. McCarroll: What do you think has quick
applicability to the maltreatment field? Has
anybody picked up on any of your findings toeither change their policy or procedures or
statutes?
Dr Runyan: I think what is most applicableis the impact of fathers. Even the kids wholive in “single families without fathers” havefather figures. There is some real applicability
to social services, to think more carefully about
that. If you just ask the simple demographic
question, “Is there a father in the home?” theanswer is “No”. When you ask the kids if they
have somebody who is like a father, all the kids
name somebody. Howard Dubowitz (2006) has
published a number of papers on fathers.
Continued on page 7
March 2010

I think what is mostapplicable is the impactof fathers. Even the
kids who live in “single
families without fathers”
have father figures.

Dr. McCarroll: Have any findings fromLONGSCAN surprised you?
Dr Runyan: The first big surprise to me is
how little impact we could find for neglect. I
was also surprised by the strength of the impact of domestic violence exposure. Our datasuggest that it is important for the kids’ ownneeds that we address that. We really cannot
afford to operate separately from the folks whoworry about domestic violence. We really need
to be working with them.
Dr. McCarroll: Thank you for your work andyour leadership on the LONGSCAN study. It
will be an important database for researchersand practitioners for years to come.
Dr Runyan: You are welcome.

References
Dubowitz H. (2006). Where’s Dad? A need to understand father’s role in child maltreatment.
Child Abuse & Neglect; 30:461–465.
Kotch JB, Lewis T, Hussey JM, English D,
Thompson R, Litrownik AJ, Runyan DK.
(2008). Importance of early neglect for childhood aggression. Pediatrics; 121:725-731.
Runyan DK, Cox CE, Dubowitz, H, Newton RR,
Upadhyaya M, Kotch JB, Leeb RT, Everson
MD & Knight ED. (2005). Describing maltreatment: Do child protective service reports
and research definitions agree? Child Abuse &Neglect; 29:461–477.
Runyan DK & Litrownik AJ. (2003). Introduction to special issue: LONGSCAN and family
violence. Journal of Family Violence; 18:1–4.

Principal Investigators
The following notes the LONGSCAN principal investigators and the focus of studies at
each of the five sites.
■■ Howard Dubowitz, MD, is a Professor of
Pediatrics and Director of the Center for
Families at the University of Maryland
School of Medicine, Baltimore. His site
focuses on a cohort of children drawn fromthree Baltimore pediatric clinics serving
children with non-organic failure to thrive,children of drug-abusing or HIV-positive
mothers, and low-income, inner-citychildren. Site-specific objectives of thisstudy are the developmental impact ofchronic neglect, the mediating influence ofhome interventions, and the importance offathers in children’s adaptive, academic, andsocial development.
http://www.CSTSonline.org■■ Diana English, PhD, is the Director of
Research for the Child Welfare ResearchGroup at the School of Social Work, University of Washington, and the Director of
Research and Development for the Child
Welfare League of America. Her site focuses
on a cohort study of children (ages 1-4),
consecutively classified as moderate risk byChild Protective Services offices in Seattle.
This study will yield data about the risk assessment process and allow an examinationof the impact of social service and mental
health interventions.
■■ Jonathan Kotch, MD, MPH, is Professor
in the Department of Maternal and Child
Health, School of Public Health at the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
His site focuses on infants identified as highrisk by the state public health department’s
infant tracking program. These children
constitute a birth cohort, recruited not for
maltreatment history, but identified becauseof extreme poverty, young maternal age,
single parenthood, and low birth weight.
A control group of unreported children
matched for gender, race, social class, andfamily composition is also included in the
research. Of special interest to this study isthe extent to which family stress and social
support predict child maltreatment andsubsequent child outcomes such as school
failure, adolescent pregnancy, substanceabuse, and criminal or violent behaviors■■ Alan Litrownik, PhD, is Professor of Psychology at San Diego State University. Hissite focuses on a cohort study of maltreatedchildren who were placed in foster care in
the first 18 months of life and followed until
age 4. This study will examine kinship vs.
non-family foster care, the consequencesof re-unification, and the utilization andimpact of health care and mental healthservices.
■■ Richard Thompson, PhD, is the Director of
Research for the Juvenile Protective Association in Chicago, IL, and Assistant Professor
at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Hissite focuses on comparing the life courseof infants whose families are receiving
comprehensive services after a report ofchild maltreatment to infants of similarlyreported families who have only received
follow-up by the state welfare agency andContinued on page 7
Joining Forces/Joining Families • 7

Websites of Interest

The Longscan project website is
http://www.iprc.unc.edu/longscan/. This
website includes extensive information on
this complex project. There are over 500
separate databases for analysis in Longscan, one for each set of measures by
age group. The website includes detailed
descriptions of the measures, computing
information, publications and presentations, and reports to the funding agencies.
The Longscan data bases are forpublic use under the conditions specified
by the investigators. Many different public
use data sets are archived at The National
Data Archive of Child Abuse and Neglect(NDACAN) at Cornell University (http://
www.ndacan.cornell.edu). The NDACAN
is a repository for public use data setsfrom researchers and national data collection efforts. These data sets may be usedby investigators for secondary analysis.
NDACAN also supports informationsharing through its Child Maltreatment
Research List Serve, its e-newsletter,
Updata, and training opportunities to researchers through conference workshops
and its annual Summer Research Institute.
In addition to listing data sets andrules for their use, the website has anumber of additional resources such as
bibliographies of studies resulting fromtheir datasets, links to agencies promoting child maltreatment research and childwelfare, and other useful resources.

Interview with Dr. Runyan , from page 7

to a control group up of matched infants.
This cohort is drawn from among themost violent neighborhoods in Chicago
and will examine the differential impact
of experiences of child abuse or neglectversus witnessing violence from the timeof infancy.
The first big surprise to me is how little
impact we could find for neglect. I was
also surprised by the strength of the
impact of domestic violence exposure.
8 • Joining Forces/Joining Families

The Longscan project website: http://www.iprc.unc.edu/longscan/.

Statistics Book Available

In 2008 the Family Violence and Trauma
Project (FVTP) published Building Bridges(pictured left). This book, a collection of
statistics articles from previous Joining
Forces Joining Families, presents basic
statistical concepts in simple language,
with examples. Building Bridges aims tofurther the professional knowledgeof Army Family Advocacy Program
personnel. Free copies are available fromthe FVTP by contacting John H. Newby,
jnewby@usuhs.mil, or James E.
McCarroll, jmccarroll@usuhs.mil.
March 2010