Poster #100 - Robustness of the Child Life Challenges Scale (CLCS) to Parents’ Early Adversity and Current Distress

• In Event: 3-053 - Poster Session 10
  In Poster Session: PS 10 Section - Family Context & Processes

Integrative Statement

The purpose of this study was to examine the robustness of a new parent-report measure of children’s lifetime adversity, the Child Life Challenges Scale (CLCS), against influences that might bias parental reports. The CLCS, a single global item rated from 0 (few mildly challenging experiences) to 100 (many extremely challenging experiences), was developed to provide a quick parental estimate of children’s lifetime exposure to adversity (Figure 1). In prior research with homeless families, children’s exposure to higher numbers of negative life events was associated with higher parent-reported CLCS scores (Merrick et al., 2017).

Research has documented, however, that parents’ own childhood adversity affects how they report their children’s experiences of adversity (Cohodes et al., 2015) and that adults’ inconsistencies in reporting their adversity may be linked to current distress (Colman et al., 2016). These studies raise the possibility that parental variables may moderate the relationship between counts of children’s negative life events and parents’ global ratings of their offspring’s adversity. Thus, we hypothesized that the total number of children’s negative life events would predict parents’ global estimate of offspring adversity on the CLCS and examined whether parental adversity, distress, and demographics moderated the strength of this association.

Participants were 101 biological parents recruited from an urban emergency homeless shelter (92% mothers; M age = 30.07 years, SD = 7.34; 72% African American, 13% Caucasian, 7% American Indian, 8% other/missing). Parents reported on their children’s total lifetime exposure to specific negative events with a modified version of the Child Lifetime Events Questionnaire (Masten et al., 1994) and global adversity using the CLCS. They also reported on their own childhood adversity with the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) scale (Felitti et al., 1998), current psychological distress using the K-6 Symptom Screener (Kessler et al., 2003), and family demographics (e.g., parent and child age, child sex, parental education).

Dichotomous moderators included child sex (male versus female), ACEs (i.e., four or more, associated with multiplicative long-term health risk (Dube et al., 2003), and psychological distress (i.e., using the validated K-6 cut-point). All moderators were examined in hierarchical regressions.

In the overall sample, parents’ CLCS scores and reports of children’s negative life events were moderately correlated (r=.38, p < .001). Preliminary correlations were significant for parents with ≥ 4 ACEs and parents below the cutoff for psychological distress, but not for parents with < 4 ACEs or above the cutoff for psychological distress. Formal follow-up regression analyses with ACEs and parental distress as categorical moderators showed no significant interactions. Interaction analyses for parent age, child age, child sex, and educational attainment also were not significant.

Findings reveal that the association between parents’ reports of children’s total negative life events and CLCS ratings of children’s global adversity was robust to parents’ childhood adversity, parental distress, and demographics. The CLCS could be a useful screener in pediatric primary care settings as it provides a brief global estimate of parents’ reports of children’s adversity. The current study illustrates its validity against lengthier life events checklists for child adversity exposure.

Authors

• Jillian S. Merrick, University of Denver
  Presenting Author

• Madelyn H. Labella, University of Delaware
  Non-Presenting Author

• Angela J. Narayan, University of Denver
  Non-Presenting Author

• Christopher D. Desjardins, University of Minnesota
  Non-Presenting Author

• Andrew J. Barnes, University of Minnesota
  Non-Presenting Author

• Ann S. Masten, University of Minnesota Twin Cities
  Non-Presenting Author