Mothers Who Participated in a

Mothers who participated in a clinical intervention program for families with abuse and neglected were the study population. These families were referred if the children involved were between birth and 60 months of age. The study sample was taken from the first 141 mothers who participated in the program, with data taken from March 1995 to 2004. Of these, 48 had incomplete data, and so the final analysis was based on a sample of 93. Consent was obtained from all participants. During the original evaluation at the project two self-report questionnaires were completed.

The Beck Depression Index (BDI) was a 21-item tool to measure self-reported depressive symptoms, with scores indicating the level of symptoms present. The Partner Violence Interview (PVI) was a 26-item tool to measure exposure to domestic violence. These were completed as interviews to account for differences in reading levels. Data was also collected on demographic variables as well as medical history through interviews. Finally, data was also collected on the outcome of the placement of the child, which was taken directly from the Court order.

Variables The BDI and PVI were used as measures of various risk factors such as substance abuse, psychiatric history, conviction history, education, child-abuse history, deperessive symptoms and partner violence. Evaluation of the Article Overall the article was interesting and did appear to offer some additional insight into the area of protective custody from vulnerable families. There did however appear to be a couple of issues in the paper. It would appear from the methodology of the study that some selection bias could possibly have crept into the study.

The sample was taken from the first consecutive 141 families which entered the project. Although this may not influence the results, excluding mothers from that may do so. For example it was not made clear why 31 of those individuals' forms were missing data. Comparisons between the two groups did however seem to indicate that there may be demographic differences between those who finished the study and those who were discounted. This could therefore indicate selection bias in the results.

The study indicated that cumulative risk factors were greater predictors of permanent loss of custody than single individual risk factors. This was interesting as it indicates the importance of considering all risk factors together when assessing the family situation. There were however some other risk factors which were not included which may also have.