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Psychological characteristics of Irish clerical sexual offenders

2011-09, Randall, Patrick, Carr, Alan, Dooley, Barbara A., Rooney, Brendan

Controlled studies suggest that clerical child sexual offenders may be better adjusted psychologically than their lay counterparts, although no studies of Irish clerical offenders have been reported. The aim of this study was to compare clerical and non-clerical sexual offenders with a normal control group, within an Irish context, on broad-band personality traits and narrow-band psychological characteristics that have been identified as risk factors for child sexual abuse. Thirty clerical men and 73 laymen who had sexually abused children and 30 lay controls completed the NEO Personality Inventory Revised (NEO-PI-R), the Sexual Offender Assessment Pack (SOAP) and the Multiphasic Sex Inventory (MSI). The three groups differed significantly on 11 of 18 dependent variables. The only variable which distinguished between the two groups of offenders was conscientiousness, with clerical offenders being more conscientious than lay offenders. The two groups of offenders showed significantly lower self-esteem than normal controls and scores indicative of greater denial on the MSI sexual social desirability scale. However, they also showed greater agreeableness and empathic concern than the control group. Compared with the control group, the lay offenders (but not the clerical offenders) showed greater neuroticism, less extraversion, less openness, greater emotional loneliness and more sensitivity to personal distress in others than the control group but also showed greater assertiveness. These results indicate that there were few differences between clerical and lay sexual offenders, and that clerical offenders differed from normal controls less than lay offenders on the Big Five personality traits and psychological risk factors for sexual offending assessed by the SOAP and MSI.

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Family and marital profiles of couples in which one partner has depression or anxiety

2005-04, Hickey, Deirdre, Carr, Alan, Dooley, Barbara A., Guerin, Suzanne, et al.

Twenty-nine couples in which one partner was depressed, 21 couples in which one partner had an anxiety disorder, and 26 nondistressed control couples were compared on measures of (1) quality of life, stress, and social support; (2) family functioning; (3) marital functioning; and (4) relationship attributions. The depressed group had significant difficulties in all four domains. In contrast, the control group showed minimal difficulties. The profile of the anxious group occupied an intermediate position between those of the other two groups, with some difficulties in all four domains, although these were less severe and pervasive than those of the depressed group..

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Family factors associated with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and emotional disorders in children

2005-02, Lange, Gregor, Sheerin, Declan, Carr, Alan, Dooley, Barbara A., Barton, Victoria, et al.

Few well-controlled studies have identified psychosocial profiles of families of boys with ADHD and boys with emotional disorders compared with normal controls. However, the clinical and theoretical literature pinpoints four domains in which distinctive profiles would be expected to occur. In this study, twenty-two mothers and thirteen fathers of twenty-two boys with ADHD; twenty mothers and fifteen fathers of twenty boys with a mood or anxiety disorder; and twenty-six mothers and sixteen fathers of twenty-seven normal controls were compared on: (1) stress, support and quality of life; (2) current family functioning; (3) parenting style and satisfaction in the family of origin and current family; and (4) current and past parental functioning. The two clinical groups showed higher levels of stress and lower levels of both social support and quality of life than did normal controls. Both clinical groups showed deficits in current family functioning, but contrary to expectations the ADHD and emotional disorder group did not show distinctly different profiles. Parents of ADHD children reported higher levels of authoritarian parenting styles, and parents from both clinical groups reported less parenting satisfaction than did normal controls in both their current families and their families of origin. Parents of children with ADHD and emotional disorders reported greater parenting satisfaction in their families of origin than in their current families. This discrepancy was greatest for parents of ADHD children. Parents of children with ADHD and emotional disorders reported greater psychological health problems and more childhood ADHD symptomatology than did normal controls. Parents of children with ADHD and emotional disorders have significant psychosocial difficulties in family and personal functioning. Family intervention is highly appropriate for families with children who are referred for help with both types of difficulties..

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Factor structures of measures of cognitive distortions, emotional congruence, and victim empathy based on data from Irish child sex offenders

2006, Waldron, Brian, O'Reilly, Gary, Randall, Patrick, Dooley, Barbara A., Carr, Alan, et al.

This study evaluated the factor structures of three instruments from the Sexual Offender Assessment Pack. The Children and Sex Cognitive Distortions Scale, the Children and Sex Emotional Congruence Scale, and the Child Victim Empathy Distortions Scale were administered to 203 sex offenders in Ireland. Confirmatory factor analyses did not support the proposed single factor structure for each of the three scales. Exploratory factor analyses suggested more complex factor structures. The Children and Sex Cognitive Distortions Scale was found to have two factors: (a) Perceptions of Children as Sexually Mature and (b) General Justifications for Sex With Children. The Children and Sex Emotional Congruence Scale was found to have three factors: (a) Positive Affect From Children, (b) Special Relationships With Children and (c) Preference for Relationships With Children. The Victim Empathy Scale was found to have two factors: (a) Positive Misattributions of Pleasure and (b) Denial of Negative Feelings in the Child. In clinical settings, the more complex factor structures identified in this study may used in scoring and interpreting responses to the three instruments investigated here. Our results require replication and further research should focus on the correlates of the factorial scales identified in this study.

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Child sex abuse and the Irish criminal justice system

2011-04, Connon, Graham, Crooks, Allian, Carr, Alan, Dooley, Barbara A., et al.

The aims of this study were to develop scales to assess experiences of sexually abused children in the Irish criminal justice system (CJS); identify aspects of the CJS which children experience as negative; compare the perceptions of children, parents and professionals of sexually abused children's experiences of the CJS; and determine correlations between perceptions of children's CJS experiences and current psychological adjustment. Forty-three children, 101 parents, 32 mental health professionals, 27 police officers and 21 lawyers completed parallel versions of the Criminal Justice System Questionnaire (CJSQ) which assessed satisfaction with aspects of the CJS relevant to sexually abused children, specifically: Gardaí (police), medical examination, Director of Public Prosecutions, waiting for court, court professionals, court context and the CJS. Fifteen scales were developed by conducting principal component analyses. Children gave negative ratings on nine of these, and on seven children, parents and professionals differed in their perceptions of how children experienced the CJS with mental health professionals viewing the impact of the CJS as more problematic than parents and children. Scores of children and parents on CJSQ scales correlated with indices of current psychological adjustment. These results point to the importance of making the Irish CJS more child-friendly and for evaluating these reforms with the CJSQ. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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Development and initial validation of the Institutional Child Abuse Processes and Coping Inventory among a sample of Irish adult survivors of institutional abuse

2009-09, Flanagan-Howard, Roisín, Carr, Alan, Shevlin, Mark, Dooley, Barbara A., Fitzpatrick, Mark, Flanagan, Edel, Tierney, Kevin, White, Megan, Daly, Margaret, Egan, Jonathan

Objective. To develop a psychometric instrument to evaluate psychological processes associated with institutional abuse and coping strategies used to deal with such abuse. Methods. As part of a comprehensive assessment protocol, an inventory containing theoretically derived multi-item rational scales which assessed institutional abuse-related psychological processes and coping strategies were administered to 247 Irish adult survivors of institutional child abuse. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were used to derive 6 factor scales, the reliability and validity of which were assessed. Results. Factor scales to assess the following constructs were developed (1) traumatization, (2) re-enactment, (3) spiritual disengagement, (4) positive coping, (5) coping by complying, and (6) avoidant coping. There were varying degrees of support for the validity of the scales with most support for the traumatization and re-enactment scales. Conclusions. The Institutional Child Abuse Processes and Coping Inventory (ICAPCI), particularly its traumatization and re-enactment scales, may be used in future research on adult survivors of institutional child abuse because they are currently the only scales that have been developed with this population to provide reliable and valid assessments of these constructs. Practice implications. The ICAPCI may be used, cautiously, to assess adult survivors of institutional child abuse.

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Differential outcomes to a pain management programme based on coping style

2010, McMorrow, Eva, Walsh, Rosemary, O'Keeffe, Declan, Dooley, Barbara A., Guerin, Suzanne, Carr, Alan

The study objectives were to investigate whether a heterogeneous sample of Irish chronic pain patients could be classified into subgroups using the Multidimensional Pain Inventory to profile the subgroups’ experiences of pain and distress, and to compare their responses to a multidisciplinary pain management programme. Ninety chronic pain patients completed the Multidimensional Pain Inventory (MPI), the McGill Pain Questionnaire (MPQ), and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) before and after a multidisciplinary pain management programme and at 6–23 months follow-up. Eighty-eight percent of patients were classified as Dysfunctional (DYS), Interpersonally Distressed (ID), or Adaptive Coper (AC) on the basis of their responses to the MPI. The proportions of patients classified into the three MPI groups were similar to those found in previous studies: 21% were AC, 20% were ID, and 47% were DYS. The three groups differed significantly in their levels of pre-treatment pain and distress. Compared with the AC group, the DYS group had greater pain and both the DYS and ID groups had greater distress. For measures of pain intensity and interference, from pre- to post-treatment, the DYS group improved significantly more than the AC group, but for pain intensity, the DYS group had relapsed at follow-up and the AC group’s interference scores had significantly improved. All patients who participated in the programme showed significant improvement in depression and the sense of control they had over their lives; this improvement was partially maintained at follow-up; and participants expressed a high level of satisfaction with all aspects of the programme. In conclusion, Irish chronic pain patients are not a homogeneous group and may be classified into subgroups based on psychological factors. Treatment response may be related to subgroup membership. Future research should evaluate whether tailoring treatments to patient characteristics will improve treatment outcome.

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Validation of a 28-item version of the Systemic Clinical Outcome and Routine Evaluation in an Irish context: The SCORE-28

2010-08, Cahill, Paul, O'Reilly, Ken, Carr, Alan, Dooley, Barbara A., Stratton, Peter

This paper describes the development, in an Irish context, of a 3-factor, 28-item version the Systemic Clinical Outcome and Routine Evaluation (SCORE) questionnaire for assessing progress in family therapy. The 40-item version of the SCORE was administered to over 700 Irish participants including non-clinical adolescents and young adults, families attending family therapy, and parents of young people with physical and intellectual disabilities and cystic fibrosis. For validation purposes, data were also collected using brief measures of family and personal adjustment. A 28-item version of the SCORE (the SCORE-28) containing three factor scales that assess family strengths, difficulties and communication was identified through exploratory principal components analysis. Confirmatory factor analysis showed that the factor structure of the SCORE-28 was stable. The SCORE-28 and its 3 factor scales were shown to have excellent internal consistency reliability, satisfactory test-retest reliability, and construct validity. The SCORE-28 scales correlated highly with the General Functioning Scale of the Family Assessment Device, and moderately with the Global Assessment of Relational Functioning Scale, the Kansas Marital and Parenting Satisfaction Scales, the Satisfaction with Life Scale, the Mental Health Inventory – 5, and the total problems scale of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. Correlational analyses also showed the SCORE-28 scales were not strongly associated with demographic characteristics or social desirability response set. The SCORE-28 may routinely be administered to literate family members over 12 years before and after family therapy to evaluate therapy outcome.

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Profiles of adult survivors of severe sexual, physical and emotional institutional abuse in Ireland

2010-12, Fitzpatrick, Mark, Carr, Alan, Dooley, Barbara A., Flanagan-Howard, Roisín, Flanagan, Edel, Tierney, Kevin, White, Megan, Daly, Margaret, et al.

Adult survivors of institutional abuse were interviewed with a comprehensive assessment protocol which included the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, the Institutional Child Abuse Processes and Coping Inventory, the Structured Clinical Interviews for Disorders of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders IV axis I disorders and personality disorders, the Trauma Symptoms Inventory, a Life Problems Checklist, the Experiences in Close Relationships Inventory and the Kansas Marital Satisfaction Scale. Profiles were identified for subgroups that described severe sexual (N = 60), physical (N = 102), or emotional (N = 85) abuse as their worst forms of maltreatment. Survivors of severe sexual abuse had the most abnormal profile, which was characterised by higher rates of all forms of child maltreatment and higher rates of post-traumatic stress disorder, alcohol and substance abuse, antisocial personality disorder, trauma symptoms and life problems. Survivors of severe emotional abuse were better adjusted than the other two groups. The profile of survivors of severe physical abuse occupied an intermediate position between the other two groups. A thorough assessment of abuse history and current functioning should be conducted when providing services to adult survivors of institutional abuse, since this may have important implications for the intensity of services required. Survivors of severe sexual abuse may require more intensive services.

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Factors related to well-being in Irish adolescents

2005, Nevin, Sheila, Carr, Alan, Shelvin, Mark, Dooley, Barbara A.

294 Irish adolescents were profiled after being classified as having high, moderate or low subjective well - being on the basis of their scores on the Oxford Happiness Inventory, the Satisfaction With Life Scale and the General Hea lth Questionnaire – 12. Compared with the low well - being group, the high well - being group reported fewer family and personal stressful life events, more task - focused and less emotion - focused coping. They had greater personal strengths (adaptive problem - solv ing, self - esteem, and optimistic attributional style) and greater social resources (perceived social support and adaptive family functioning). The profile of the moderate well - being group fell between that of the high and low well - being groups. Gender di fferences favouring girls were found for optimism, perceived social support and family functioning. A structural equation model which explained the relationship among the variables in these profiles was developed in which increased personal strengths were associated with better subjective well - being and fewer stressful life events; and increased social resources were associated with better task - focused coping.