Browsing by Author "Pejovic Milovancevic, Milica (57218683898)"

Corporal punishment (CP) is a widely spread disciplining practice among parents and caregivers globally. Our paper aimed to explore the relationship between the parental attitudes towards CP, expected outcomes of CP, and parenting practices on one hand, with the reported dysfunctions of their children, on the other. Additionally, we aimed to explore the relationship between the use of CP and the reported academic, developmental, and psychological–emotional dysfunctions of their children. The present study involved a nationally representative sample of 1186 parents in Serbia, who had at least one child aged 0–18 years at the moment of interviewing. The parents filled out a series of questionnaires on their attitudes towards CP, expectations of CP outcomes, and their parental practices. Findings indicate that parents that report having a child with dysfunctions have positive attitudes towards CP and expect positive outcomes of CP. These parents also report using more CP as a disciplining method, as well as other harsh disciplining practices. We also identified parental positive expectations of CP, use of physical assault, psychological aggression, neglect as significant predictors of reported child dysfunctions severity. Having all the results in mind, we can assume that children with health-related and school-related issues might be at potential risk of further maltreatment. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany.

Corporal punishment (CP) is a widely spread disciplining practice among parents and caregivers globally. Our paper aimed to explore the relationship between the parental attitudes towards CP, expected outcomes of CP, and parenting practices on one hand, with the reported dysfunctions of their children, on the other. Additionally, we aimed to explore the relationship between the use of CP and the reported academic, developmental, and psychological–emotional dysfunctions of their children. The present study involved a nationally representative sample of 1186 parents in Serbia, who had at least one child aged 0–18 years at the moment of interviewing. The parents filled out a series of questionnaires on their attitudes towards CP, expectations of CP outcomes, and their parental practices. Findings indicate that parents that report having a child with dysfunctions have positive attitudes towards CP and expect positive outcomes of CP. These parents also report using more CP as a disciplining method, as well as other harsh disciplining practices. We also identified parental positive expectations of CP, use of physical assault, psychological aggression, neglect as significant predictors of reported child dysfunctions severity. Having all the results in mind, we can assume that children with health-related and school-related issues might be at potential risk of further maltreatment. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany.

Introduction The COVID-19 pandemic is likely to have a prolonged impact on mental health (MH); however, the long-term MH effects of the COVID-19 pandemic remain unknown. The Serbian national survey-CoV2Soul.RS-was launched to document the MH status of the Serbian population following the COVID-19 pandemic and to contribute to an international evidence base about MH prevalence rates during different phases of the pandemic. Methods and analysis This cross-sectional study was designed to collect a nationally representative sample (N=1200; age 18-65 years; estimated start/end-June/November 2021) using multistage probabilistic household sampling. Trained staff will conduct in-person diagnostic interviews. A battery of self-report instruments will be administered to assess the quality of life (QoL), general distress and associated protective and harmful psychological and societal factors. Analyses will be conducted to delineate the prevalence rates of MH disorders, how MH conditions and QoL vary with respect to sociodemographic variables, personality, health status and traumatic events during the COVID-19 pandemic, and to test how these relations depend on geographical region. Moreover, this study was designed to explore mechanisms linking personality and the perception of pandemic consequences and associated distress. Prevalence rates of MH disorders will be calculated using descriptive statistics. For additional analyses, we will use correlations, analysis of variance and regression analyses. The hierarchical structure of the data will be explored using multilevel random coefficient modelling. Structural equation modelling will be used to investigate the indirect effects of personality on distress through relevant variables. Ethics and dissemination Ethical Committees of the Faculty of Medicine (1322-VII/31) and Faculty of Philosophy in Belgrade (02-33/273) and Faculty of Philosophy in Novi Sad (05-27, br.893/1) approved the protocol. Only respondents able to provide informed consent will participate in the study. Research reports will be submitted to peer-reviewed journals and the results will be placed on the website www.cov2soul.rs to be available to funders, researchers, policy-makers and interested laypeople, and will be advertised through social media. Trial registration number NCT04896983. ©

This study aims to explore the prevalence of alcohol and substance use among young refugees along with the indicators of experienced psychological difficulties. It is based on a sample of 184 children and adolescents aged 11–18 years old, residing at two refugee centers in the Republic of Serbia. Out of 184 participants, the majority was male (N = 155; 84.29%). More than a half of participants (53.3%) displayed significant symptoms of PTSD. 50% consume energy drinks, 28% use tobacco; 13% use alcohol; 4.6% use marijuana; 1.7% use LSD, amphetamines, glue, tranquilizers and cocaine. Female respondents were more frequently expressing emotional difficulties (p < 0.05) while male participants were more frequent users of alcohol or substances (p < 0.01). Younger children were more frequently expressing symptoms of hyperactivity and prosocial behavior, while they were less frequently using substances. There is also a significant negative correlation between the years of education and individual proneness to substance use. Furthermore, those who resided in a greater number of refugee camps were found to experience greater levels of emotional and behavioral difficulties and face a greater risk of physical abuse. The burden of migration increases proneness to substance use, as a consequence of scarce coping resources and the stress of adjusting. Migrants are vulnerable to substance use, since some of them have commonly witnessed and/or personally experienced pre-and post-migration stress and trauma, including loss of homes and livelihoods, violence, torture and family separation. Preventive programs need to focus on the problem of alcohol and substance use among this vulnerable population. Copyright © 2021 Vasic, Grujicic, Toskovic and Pejovic Milovancevic.

Purpose of Review: Still obscure mechanisms of intergenerational child maltreatment (ITCM) have been investigated partially, from various psychological and biological perspectives and from various time perspectives. This review is aimed at integrating the findings on different temporal ITCM pathways, emphasizing the mind–brain–body interplay. Recent Findings: Psychological mediators of ITCM involve attachment, mentalization, dissociation, social information processing, personality traits, and psychiatric disorders. Neurobiological findings mostly refer to the neural correlates of caregiving and attachment behaviors, affected by several physiological systems (stress-response, immune, oxytocin), which also affect physical health. The latest research clusters around the epigenetic pathways of ITCM, suggesting the additional, prenatal, and preconception forms of transmission. Summary: Data suggest that ITCM needs to be conceptualized as a longitudinal process, with various interrelated psychological, neurodevelopmental, and somatic paths. Future research and prevention should take into account both, each path and each phase of ITCM, in an integrative way. © 2017, Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.