Dr. Christina M. Rodriguez

Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Massachusetts, USA

Dr. Christina M. Rodriguez

Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Massachusetts, USA

Co-authors

Following

Followers

Research Focus & Metrics

Explore full metrics on Scilit

Academic Career Length

38Years (1989-Present)

(Calculated once Scilit publication data is synced: current year − year of first publication + 1)

Representative Publications

View All Publications

1 April 1997 in Child Abuse & Neglect

Journal Article

Parenting stress and anger expression as predictors of child abuse potential

Christina M. Rodriguez

Andrea J. Green

23 December 2020 in Child Maltreatment

Journal Article

The Perfect Storm: Hidden Risk of Child Maltreatment During the Covid-19 Pandemic

Christina M. Rodriguez

Shawna J. Lee

Kaitlin P. Ward

Doris F. Pu

The Covid-19 pandemic upended the country, with enormous economic and social shifts. Given the increased contact from families living in virtual confinement coupled with massive economic disarray, the Covid-19 pandemic may have created the ideal conditions to witness a rise in children’s experience of abuse and neglect. Yet such a rise will be difficult to calculate given the drop in official mechanisms to track its incidence. The current investigation utilized two studies conducted early in the pandemic to evaluate maltreatment risk. In the first cross-sectional study, parents (n = 405) reported increased physical and verbal conflict and neglect which were associated with their perceived stress and loneliness. In the second study, parents (n = 106) enrolled in a longitudinal study reported increased parent-child conflict, which was associated with concurrent child abuse risk, with several links to employment loss, food insecurity, and loneliness; findings also demonstrated increases in abuse risk and psychological aggression relative to pre-pandemic levels. Findings are discussed in the context of a reactive welfare system rather than a pro-active public-health oriented approach to child maltreatment, connecting with families through multiple avenues. Innovative approaches will be needed to reach children faced with maltreatment to gauge its scope and impact in the pandemic’s aftermath.

1 December 2010 in Violence and Victims

Journal Article

Parent–Child Aggression: Association With Child Abuse Potential and Parenting Styles

Christina M. Rodriguez

The present investigation predicted that greater use of corporal punishment as well as physical maltreatment would be associated with child abuse potential and selected parenting styles. Three independent studies were examined, two with community samples and a third with a clinical at-risk sample of parents. Parents across all studies anonymously completed the Child Abuse Potential Inventory, the Parent–Child Conflict Tactics Scale to assess physical discipline and maltreatment, as well as the Parenting Scale to measure dysfunctional parenting styles. Findings support that overall parent–child aggression, as well as physical maltreatment behaviors specifically, were associated with child abuse potential. Parent–child aggression was also related to dysfunctional parenting styles, particularly an overreactive, authoritarian parenting style. Permissive parenting was also identified as potentially associated with physical maltreatment, although the findings regarding such lax parenting styles are less clear. Intriguing findings emerged regarding the connection of psychological aggression to both child abuse potential and dysfunctional parenting style. Child abuse potential was also associated with dysfunctional parenting style, particularly harsh, overreactive approaches. Recommendations for future study with at-risk samples and additional research on permissive parenting and psychological aggression are discussed.

1 November 2007 in Child Maltreatment

Journal Article

Stress and Anger as Contextual Factors and Preexisting Cognitive Schemas: Predicting Parental Child Maltreatment Risk

Christina M. Rodriguez

Michael J. Richardson

Progress in the child maltreatment field depends on refinements in leading models. This study examines aspects of social information processing theory (Milner, 2000) in predicting physical maltreatment risk in a community sample. Consistent with this theory, selected preexisting schema (external locus-of-control orientation, inappropriate developmental expectations, low empathic perspective-taking ability, and low perceived attachment relationship to child) were expected to predict child abuse risk beyond contextual factors (parenting stress and anger expression). Based on 115 parents' self-report, results from this study support cognitive factors that predict abuse risk (with locus of control, perceived attachment, or empathy predicting different abuse risk measures, but not developmental expectations), although the broad contextual factors involving negative affectivity and stress were consistent predictors across abuse risk markers. Findings are discussed with regard to implications for future model evaluations, with indications the model may apply to other forms of maltreatment, such as psychological maltreatment or neglect.

19 November 2010 in Journal of Child and Family Studies

Journal Article

Association Between Independent Reports of Maternal Parenting Stress and Children’s Internalizing Symptomatology

Christina M. Rodriguez

1 November 2003 in Journal of Marriage and Family

Journal Article

Parental Discipline and Abuse Potential Affects on Child Depression, Anxiety, and Attributions

Christina M. Rodriguez

About Me

Christina Rodriguez joined Old Dominion University in Fall 2022 as a Professor and Director of Clinical Training of the PhD program in Clinical Psychology. She is a licensed clinical child psychologist in Virginia, and her primary area of research focuses on at-risk, abusive parenting and family violence. To better understand potential avenues leading to at-risk compared to positive parenting, her Parenting Challenges with Kids (PaCK) Lab advances the theoretical and methodological science to understand factors that affect parenting in challenging circumstances. She obtained her PhD in clinical and health psychology from the University of Florida and then completed her pre-doctoral internship and postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Tennessee-Memphis. She began her academic career at the University of Otago in New Zealand, followed by work at the University of Utah, the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, former president of the association’s Society for Child and Family Policy and Practice division, and former elected member of the association’s Board for the Advancement of Psychology in the Public Interest. She serves on the Editorial Boards of four empirical journals, including the Journal of Child & Family Studies, Journal of Marriage & Family, Child Abuse & Neglect, and Child Maltreatment.

Dr. Christina M. Rodriguez

Dr. Christina M. Rodriguez

Research Focus & Metrics

Academic Career Length

Publication Type Breakdown

Representative Publications

About Me