Economic predictors of child maltreatment in an Australian population-based birth cohort

A correlation between socioeconomic disadvantage and child maltreatment has long been observed, but the drivers of this association are poorly understood. We sought to estimate the effects of economic factors on risk of child maltreatment after adjusting for other known influences using the Australian Temperament Project, a population-based birth cohort of 2443 individuals and their parents. We used logistic regression to estimate associations of childhood economic factors (parental education, occupation, and unemployment; type of housing; and retrospective perception of poverty) with retrospective reports of perceived child maltreatment (physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, neglect, and witnessing of domestic violence), controlling for demographic factors, parental mental health and substance use, and child health. We then used these estimates to approximate the proportions of child maltreatment—population attributable fractions—that are theoretically preventable by addressing childhood economic disadvantage. Economic factors were associated with all types of child maltreatment. For the most part, these associations diminished only partially when controlling for noneconomic confounders, supporting hypotheses of causal relationships. Jointly, economic factors were significant predictors of physical abuse, sexual abuse, and witnessing of domestic violence but not of emotional abuse or neglect. Retrospective perceptions of childhood poverty were, in particular, strongly associated with most forms of child maltreatment but not with sexual abuse after accounting for other economic factors. We estimated that 27% of all child maltreatment was jointly attributable to economic factors. These findings suggest that strategies that reduce economic disadvantage are likely to hold significant potential to reduce the prevalence of child maltreatment.     

Sexual Risk‐Taking Among Recently Emancipated Female Foster Youth: Sexual Trauma and Failed Family Reunification Experiences

Foster youth evidence shows elevated rates of risk behaviors, including sexual risk‐taking (e.g., unprotected sex). Some studies have identified child maltreatment, particularly sexual abuse, as a risk for later sexual risk‐taking, but none have examined how child welfare placement experiences relate to youth's sexual risk‐taking. This study investigated relations among child maltreatment, child welfare placements, and sexual risk‐taking among 114 recently emancipated female foster youth. Sexual abuse and failed reunifications with parents were associated with greater sexual risk‐taking. Moreover, dissociative symptoms exacerbated the relation between sexual abuse and sexual risk‐taking. These findings highlight the need for greater consideration of risks associated with emancipated youth's sexual risk‐taking and for more research to understand how youth experience unsuccessful family reunifications.     

Prevalence of childhood abuse in mothers taking part in a study of parenting their own children

This paper describes the incidence of maltreatment histories in a community sample of mothers of one‐year‐old infants in Northern Ireland. The occurrence of five subsets of childhood maltreatment is examined: emotional abuse, emotional neglect, physical abuse, physical neglect and sexual abuse. Of the 201 women who completed the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, 70 mothers (35%) reported that they had experienced one or more types of maltreatment during childhood. Forty‐eight mothers (24%) gave a history of being emotionally abused, 43 (21%) of emotional neglect, 27 (13%) of physical abuse, 20 (10%) of sexual abuse and 19 (10%) of physical neglect. Physical abuse was the only type of maltreatment which showed an association with maternal socio‐economic status, with a higher incidence reported amongst Occupational Classes 4 and 5 (lower supervisory and technical occupations and semi‐routine and routine groups). More than half of those with a history of abuse experienced more than one type of maltreatment (42 mothers or 60% of those reporting maltreatment). Differences in rates of incidence to more recent studies on younger adults are discussed, as well as implications for prevention and intervention. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Role of Early Maladaptive Schemas in the Appearance of Psychological Symptomatology in Adult Women Victims of Child Abuse

ABSTRACT

Child abuse affects people’s ways of thinking, feeling, and observing the world, resulting in dysfunctional beliefs and maladaptive schemas. Thus, consequences of child abuse may persist during adulthood. Therefore, the aim of this study was to analyze the psychological consequences (anxiety, phobic anxiety, depression, and hopelessness) of different types of maltreatment (physical, sexual, and emotional abuse and physical and emotional neglect) and to study the role of early maladaptive schemas in the onset of symptomatology in adult female victims of child abuse. The sample consisted of 75 women referred by associations for treatment of abuse and maltreatment in childhood. Sexual abuse was the type of maltreatment that was most strongly related to most dysfunctional symptomatology, followed by emotional abuse and physical abuse, whereas physical neglect was the least related. Also, early maladaptive schemas were found to correlate with child abuse and dysfunctional symptomatology. Finally, early maladaptive schemas mediated the relationship between sexual abuse and dysfunctional symptomatology when the effect of other types of abuse was controlled. These results may provide important guidance for clinical intervention.     

Early indicators of child abuse and neglect: a multi‐professional Delphi study

Through the application of the Delphi technique, this study draws on the expertise of British child protection academics and practitioners from a wide range of disciplines in seeking to develop a consensus opinion on possible early indicators of child abuse and neglect. The search for early indicators is described in the context of a secondary preventative approach to the problem of child maltreatment. A very tentative conclusion arising from the study is that the early indicators of child abuse and neglect that achieved consensus of agreement may help in diagnosing child abuse and neglect at an earlier stage, although they are not necessarily diagnostic. Alternative explanations, differential diagnoses and information‐gathering are paramount, as is a willingness and ability to act on concerns. Although great caution is urged, it is suggested that the findings from the study are credible and of interest to those who are working towards more timely recognition and referral of abused and neglected children. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Multisystemic Therapy for Child Abuse and Neglect: Do Parents Show Improvement in Parental Mental Health Problems and Parental Stress?

Multisystemic Therapy for Child Abuse and Neglect (MST-CAN) is an evidence-based program for families with children who experience maltreatment. This clinical trial is the first evaluation of MST-CAN in a German-speaking area. Parental psychological problems and parental stress have been shown to be risk factors for child abuse and neglect. By the end of treatment, parents reported significantly less psychological distress than before the start of MST-CAN. Six months after treatment, this reduction was still evident. However, parents did not report any significant reduction of parental stress at any of the three time points. MST-CAN is an effective intervention for child maltreatment that not only combats child abuse and neglect but also has the potential to alleviate parental psychological distress.     

Changes in Externalizing and Internalizing Problems of Adolescents in Foster Care

Using a developmental psychopathology framework, this study aimed to examine changes in externalizing and internalizing problems of adolescents in foster care and to determine whether type of maltreatment, gender, and age influenced trajectories. Authors used 3 waves of data from the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well‐Being. Growth‐curve analyses of 106 adolescents aged 13–16 in foster care revealed that externalizing and internalizing problems decreased over time. Adolescents, particularly boys, placed in foster care as a result of sexual abuse, physical abuse, or neglect demonstrated faster decreases in externalizing problems and, similarly but to a weaker degree, internalizing problems than did those placed in foster care as a result of other forms of maltreatment.     

Types and timing of child maltreatment and early school success: A population-based investigation

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the prevalence of types of child maltreatment and co-occurring risks in an entire county population of children in public education and to examine the unique relations of the child maltreatment types and timing on children's early academic success while accounting for the children's multiple-risk context. A cohort of 11,835 second grade students who were born in the county and attended the public school district served as participants. Information on first reported experiences of substantiated physical abuse, neglect, unsubstantiated child maltreatment reports, health, maternal, and social risks, and academic and behavioral outcomes was obtained and linked through a county-wide integrated data system. Results indicated that after controlling for demographics and the set of other risks, substantiated child neglect and unsubstantiated reports were associated with poorer outcomes than physical abuse. Also, first substantiated child maltreatment and unsubstantiated reports prior to kindergarten were related to a more comprehensive set of poor outcomes than post-kindergarten first reports. The differential patterns that emerged for the association between age of first reported maltreatment by type and educational outcomes were discussed with implications for future research and policy.     

Parenting stress and child maltreatment: The buffering effect of neighborhood social service availability and accessibility

The current study examines the relationship between aspects of social service availability and child maltreatment. Specifically, the study uses negative binomial regression to estimate whether service availability, accessibility, and receipt are associated with physical child abuse and neglect. Relying on Social Cognitive Theory and Stress and Coping Theory, the moderating effect of the service variables was tested on the relationship between parenting stress and maltreatment. The sample is comprised of 1053 parents who completed a survey in July of 2014. The findings suggest that service availability has a potential protective effect against physical abuse and neglect, and that service accessibility has an additional protective effect above and beyond sheer availability of services for child neglect. Further, the availability of services has a significant moderating effect – it decreased the relationship between parent stress and abuse and neglect. Service receipt had a paradoxical effect — although one might expect receiving social services to reduce maltreatment, there was a positive correlation between the two such that parents reporting receipt of a greater number of services tended to have higher levels of abuse and neglect. Further, service receipt moderated the relationship between parenting stress and neglect, such that the relationship was stronger. The study suggests that efforts to increase service availability and accessibility may prevent child maltreatment.     

Self-reported and case file maltreatment: Relations to psychosocial outcomes for youth in foster care

The aim of the current study was to explore the relation between maltreatment and psychosocial outcomes for youth in foster care, and how this relation differs according to reporter type (self-report or case file). Participants included 285 children and adolescents and their caregivers who completed self-report questionnaires about lifetime maltreatment and psychosocial adjustment. Youths' case files containing lifetime maltreatment reports were obtained from Division of Social Services (DSS), and were coded for physical and sexual abuse, emotional maltreatment, and neglect using the Modified Maltreatment Classification System (MMCS; English & LONGSCAN Investigators, 1997). Crosstabs analysis was used to summarize proportions of youth whose caregivers reported clinically significant internalizing and externalizing and average to high adaptive functioning within groups of youth who had a) neither self-reported nor case file maltreatment, b) only case file maltreatment, c) only self-reported maltreatment, and d) both case file and self-reported maltreatment for each maltreatment type (physical and sexual abuse, emotional maltreatment, and neglect). Results showed that externalizing symptoms differ according to reporter type for physical and sexual abuse, and that internalizing symptoms differ according to reporter type for sexual abuse. Implications for methodology in maltreatment research are discussed.     

A review of the relationship between poverty and child abuse and neglect: Insights from scoping reviews,systematic reviews and meta-analyses

An up-to-date and accurate picture of the evidence on the impact of poverty is a necessary element of the debate about the future direction of children's social care services internationally. The purpose of this paper is to update evidence about the relationship between poverty and child abuse and neglect (CAN) published since a previous report in 2016 (Bywaters et al., 2016). A systematic search was conducted, identifying seven reviews. Poverty was found to be consistently and strongly associated with maltreatment, be that in terms of familial or community-level poverty, or in terms of economic security. Findings demonstrated that both the type and the quantity of economic insecurities impacted child maltreatment. Certain economic insecurities – income losses, cumulative material hardship and housing hardship – reliably predicted future child maltreatment. Likewise, as families experienced more material hardship, the risk for maltreatment intensified. In some studies, the relationship between poverty and maltreatment differed by abuse type. Future reviews need to investigate individual papers and their findings across different CAN measures, definitions, samples, abuse types and conceptualisations of poverty to provide a comprehensive understanding of the current research base and the directions which need to be taken to further understand and prevent CAN.     

Prevention of child abuse and neglect and improvements in child development

The aim of the study was to evaluate the implementation of a section in the Danish Social Assistance Act which encourages local authorities to offer families services in order to support children at risk of child maltreatment. The specific purpose of the present paper is to answer the question: Will the socio‐psychological development of children known to social services be improved when abuse and neglect are reduced? A sample of 1,138 children was drawn at random from new social services cases starting in 1998. Subsequently, about 80 per cent were evaluated by local caseworkers on the basis of a standardised questionnaire covering a period of four years. The most damaging family conditions seemed to be psychological maltreatment, physical/sexual abuse and neglect. Maltreated children were more often in a depressed state, unhappy, socially isolated, or they had an eating disorder, inadequate or under‐nutrition, suicidal tendencies, lack of concentration, or disturbed behaviour, compared to those children who were not exposed to abuse and neglect. If parental behaviour improved, effects on children's well‐being were also observed and positive changes in children's socio‐psychological development were identified. The questionnaire explored the impact of various interventions, including services geared to strengthen the child's network, but results indicated that the child displayed reduced risk of reactive symptoms only when parental behaviour improved and abuse and neglect were reduced. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Parent gender and child removal in physical abuse and neglect cases

Criminal justice research frequently investigates relationships between punishment decisions and demographic characteristics of the accused, such as gender, race, and age. While there are many similarities between criminal justice and child welfare cases, research on child maltreatment has yet to examine potential demographic influences on case outcomes. The current study examines relationships between parent gender, type of maltreatment, and child removal among agency responses to child maltreatment cases. Using data collected by the National Data Archive on Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS), we identify differences in the likelihood of child removal from the parental home across type of maltreatment and perpetrator gender. Our results indicate that mother perpetrators of physical abuse not only face significantly higher likelihood of removal than mother perpetrators of neglect, but are more at risk for losing their children than father perpetrators of both physical abuse and neglect. Findings suggest that gendered attributions and stereotypes regarding parenting can shape assessments of parents' blameworthiness, dangerousness, and rehabilitative potential. We propose that future research on child maltreatment cases adapt and apply justice concepts and frameworks to uncover potential unwarranted demographic disparities in agency decision-making.     

Street Children in Nairobi and the African Cultural Ideology of Kin-Based Support System. Change and Challenge

Poverty, rapid urbanization, population growth rate, family instability and the declining role of the extended family system are among the key factors responsible for the prevalence of child abuse and neglect in Nairobi. In this state of flux, cases of children who have been battered, abandoned, abused and neglected by their families or displaced as a result of armed conflict in the region have increased at an astounding pace over the past several years. One out of every three children from poor urban families in Kenya is regularly battered or subjected to other forms of maltreatment by a parent or other family members, the public and the authorities. Basically, there are two levels of abuse and neglect. There is abuse and neglect which children experience at home and which drives them onto the streets. There is also abuse and neglect which street children endure while on the streets. This paper discusses some of the ways in which abuse and neglect affect the lives of street children and families. It also highlights the plight of a sample of street children as exemplified by the kinds of difficulties which they endure while on the street. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Pre-foster Care Maltreatment Class as a Predictor of Maltreatment in Foster Care

The majority of youth in the foster care system have been removed from their homes as means of protection against parental maltreatment. Studies have shown, however, that foster youth may continue to experience maltreatment after they have entered the child welfare system (Poertner et al. in Child Youth Serv Rev 21(7):549–563, 1999; Tittle et al. in Urbana 51:61801, 2008). In this study, we explore how maltreatment prior to foster care entry may predict maltreatment while in care for youth who are preparing to emancipate. Using latent class analysis and multinomial logistic regression, we find that current or former foster youth with histories of multiple maltreatment (particularly, combined pre-foster care histories of neglect and physical abuse) are more likely to report neglect, physical abuse and sexual abuse in care than those with histories of low maltreatment. These youth should be the target of prevention efforts in child welfare agencies.     

Is prior parental criminal justice involvement associated with child maltreatment? A systematic review

Parental criminal justice involvement is prevalent in the United States and potentially associated with a range of negative outcomes for children including child abuse and neglect. However, the association between prior parental criminal justice involvement and child maltreatment is not well understood. This paper reviewed the existing literature regarding maltreatment victimization among children of parents with prior criminal justice involvement. Results from ten reviewed studies demonstrated an association between prior parental criminal justice involvement and child maltreatment, but did not provide sufficient evidence to determine whether parental criminal justice involvement is an independent risk factor for child maltreatment or of the specific mechanisms through which this association occurs. Recommendations for future research include use of multivariate analysis methods that account for variations in the type and timing of parental criminal justice involvement and child maltreatment. Implications for practice include the development of strategies to address the adverse family contexts commonly found among these parents and children.     

Trends in US Army child maltreatment reports: 1990–2004

We present the victim rates and severity of child maltreatment in US Army families by the sex of the child and parent from 1990–2004. Neglect rates decreased from a high point in 1991 to a low in 2000, but by 2004 the rates had increased to about the 1991 level. During two large‐scale deployments of the US Army to the Middle East (1991 and 2002–2004), the rates of neglect increased. Neglect rates were highest for the youngest children and decreased as age increased. Physical abuse rates decreased from 1990–2004, but the decline was slowed during 2001–04. Physical abuse was more severe by male offenders. Emotional abuse showed wide fluctuations in rates. Emotional abuse rates were similar for boys and girls up to age 11, but the rates for older girls were higher. Sexual abuse had the lowest rates throughout the time of this report, decreasing from about 0.5/1000 to about 0.1/1000. The rates of physical abuse and neglect were generally higher for boys than for girls up to the teenage years when the rates reversed. Male offenders were more likely to maltreat children (even excluding sexual abuse) than were female offenders and offenders of both sexes were more likely to abuse male children. We provide suggestions for practice, prevention and research in child maltreatment. Published in 2008 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.