The Center for the Study of Violence Against Children (CSVAC)

CATS Research Agenda

The research agenda established by the CATS project involves generating questions and hypotheses about relationships among the identified variables of study. This allows the project to contribute to the knowledge base of the field of child maltreatment, and make generalizations that indirectly benefit clients.

The domains of variables identified for study include:

Maltreatment Factors	Child Factors
Frequency	Child's age and stage of development
Duration	Gender
Relationship between child and perpetrator	Temperament
Severity of Maltreatment	Medical/biological/physical conditions
Use of force	Pre-maltreatment adjustment
Co-occurrence of other forms of maltreatment	Intelligence and cognitive skills
	Internal vs. external locus of control
	Coping strategies (active vs. passive)
	Self esteem
	Child's perception of, and attribution re: maltreatment
	Nature and quality of attachment to caregiver
	Academic performance

Family Factors	Environmental Factors
Family Support of the child post-maltreatment	Cultural-societal toleration of maltreatment
Acknowledgement of the maltreatment	Community's reaction to the child and family
Belief in the child feelings and attitudes toward the child	Supportive social relationship for child and family
Provision of adequate parenting post-maltreatment	Availability of appropriate and accessible resources
Abilty to protect the child from further maltreatment	Provision of appropriate services for child and family
Presence or absence of an intact family unit	Criminal justice involvement
Family functioning and parenting pre-maltreatment	Quality and availability of academic resources
Adequacy and health of parents relationship (violence)
Individual functioning of parents (e.g. mental or SA disorder)
Poverty: stability of residence
Discipline/parenting effectiveness and appropriateness
Accurate perception of child's needs and capacity to respond
Impulse control
Nature and quality of attachment to child
Utilization of appropriate child and family support services
Nature and quality of interactions with academic institution

Researchers and/or faculty members who are interested in conducting collaborative studies with the CATS team should submit a proposal outlining the proposed project to:

Ginny Sprang
PhD at The University of Kentucky
3470 Blazer Parkway Suite 100
Lexington, Kentucky 40509

All proposals will be reviewed by the CATS Research Advisory Board.