Single mothers,the role of fathers,and the risk for child maltreatment

Single motherhood has long been linked to the risk for child maltreatment. However, little is known about the role of fathers in buffering mothers' risk for child maltreatment. Using data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, this paper investigates (1) the ways in which non-resident fathers' economic contributions and involvement in parenting may moderate associations between mothers' transitions to being single and the risk for child maltreatment, and (2) whether these processes vary by race/ethnicity. Results indicate that mothers' transitions to being single are not strongly associated with the risk for child abuse. However, mothers' transitions to being single are associated with an increase in the risk for child neglect, and this is moderated by non-resident father involvement. Last, Black but not other mothers' transitions to being single are associated with the risk for child abuse, and are largely not moderated by non-resident father involvement.     

Mothers' Differentiation and Depressive Symptoms Among Adult Children

Parents' differentiation has been linked to negative psychological and behavioral outcomes in children, adolescents, and young adults. This line of research, however, has not been extended to families in later life. In this article, we use data from 671 mother‐child dyads in 275 families in the greater Boston area to explore whether mothers' differentiation among their children is related to psychological well‐being among offspring. We examined actual and perceived maternal differentiation in the domains of closeness, expectations for care, and conflict. We hypothesized that depressive symptoms would be higher when mothers differentiated among their children and when adult children perceived differentiation. Although the specific patterns varied somewhat by mothers' and children's reports, the findings indicated that, across all 3 domains, maternal differentiation was related to higher depression scores.     

Is stability always a good thing? Low-income mothers' experiences with child care transitions

Recent research has drawn attention to the deleterious effects of instability on child development. In particular, child care instability may make it hard for children to form secure attachments to their care providers which may have a negative impact on their development and school readiness. These effects seem to be heightened for low-income children and families. However, there remains a lack of clarity regarding how and why low-income mothers make changes to their child care arrangements. Using ethnographic data from Welfare, Children, and Families: A Three City Study, this study explored 36 low-income mothers' experiences of child care instability and stability and the factors that promoted each. We identified four kinds of child care transitions: planned, averted, failed, and forced. Financial resources, transportation and the availability of care during the hours that mothers work were important for helping mothers find and maintain preferred care arrangements. Our findings have implications for research on child care instability as well as the development of policy and programs to help low-income families secure high quality child care and maintain stable employment.     

Fathers' alcohol use and spousal abuse and mothers' child abuse in multicultural families in South Korea: The mediating role of acculturation and parenting stress

There is a potential high risk for child abuse by foreign-born mothers in multicultural families in Korea, particularly given that they experience acculturation and parenting stress at the same time. Further, the risk for child abuse by foreign-born mothers may be aggravated through the high rate of alcohol abuse among Korean husbands that may increase their spousal abuse and in turn the mothers' acculturation and parenting stress. Therefore, this study examined the associations between Korean fathers' alcohol use and spousal abuse and foreign-born mothers' child abuse in multicultural families, with particular attention to investigating whether foreign-born mothers' acculturation and parenting stress mediated the associations. This study overall found that fathers' alcohol use was directly associated with their spousal abuse, and that fathers' spousal abuse was directly associated with mothers' acculturation stress and child abuse. Further, this study found a full mediation path in which fathers' alcohol use was associated with mothers' child abuse through fathers' spousal abuse. Fathers' spousal abuse was also associated with mothers' parenting stress through mothers' acculturation stress, and mothers' acculturation stress was associated with their child abuse through their parenting stress. The findings of this study provide social work implications for child abuse in multicultural families in Korea.     

Disentangling over-representation of parents with disabilities in the child welfare system: Exploring child maltreatment risk factors of parents with disabilities

The study explores the risk factors for child maltreatment and self-reported child maltreatment among a population-based sample of parents with disabilities. Drawing on a nationally-representative, population-based data file that oversampled people of color, income-adjusted odds ratio tests were conducted to establish population differences among parents with and without limitations in activities of daily living (ADLs). Results suggest that parents with disabilities were more likely to report many of the risk factors associated with child maltreatment than parents without disabilities, including witnessing interpersonal violence as a child; experiencing violence, neglect or a foster care stay as a child; mood or substance use disorders; and engaging in or receiving interpersonal violence as an adult. Before controlling for income, parents with disabilities had only a negligibly higher rate of engaging in violence against their children. After controlling for income, parents with disabilities were 2.5 times more likely to engage in violence against their children. Parents with disabilities who did engage in violence against their children had greater amounts of some of the child maltreatment risk factors in comparison to parents with disabilities who did not engage in violence, particularly their own childhood experiences of maltreatment, witnessing of interpersonal violence as a child, childhood stays in foster care, and experiences with interpersonal violence as an adult. Findings add to the understanding of the risk factors for child maltreatment that are related to the collateral effects of having a disability, and through the use of income-adjusted data, help disentangle why parents with disabilities are over-represented in the child welfare system. The findings highlight the need for the child welfare system to increase its disability competence in working with both children and parents with disabilities.     

Parent-child aggression: association with child abuse potential and parenting styles

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.     

Maternal understanding of child discipline and maltreatment in the United States,South Korea,and Japan

The purpose of this study is to examine American, Korean, and Japanese mothers' perceptions of maltreatment, and the factors influencing those perceptions in the context of general parenting and discipline. Through a cross-cultural comparative approach, we hope to identify potential universalities as well as cultural specific perceptions of parenting behaviors. For this purpose, a total of 153 mothers with a child aged 3 to 6 years participated in the current study. Participants came from East Coast of the United States (N = 48); Seoul, Korea (N = 65); Japan (Tokyo and Saitama) (N = 40). A modified version of a previously established questionnaire (Ahn, Park, & Lee, 1998) assessed mothers' attitudes toward multiple disciplinary behaviors. This questionnaire presented 17 specific vignettes describing disciplinary scenarios that could occur while disciplining children in everyday life, some of which could be perceived as physical abuse, emotional abuse, and neglect. Results of the study suggest significant differences between groups in terms of maternal perceptions of maltreatment and the factors influencing maternal perceptions. American mothers reported the highest mean score among the three countries in perceiving discipline centered on corporal punishment as physical abuse. Korean mothers displayed a dual attitude of perceiving the scenario as maltreatment, but also rating it as likely to occur in everyday life. Japanese mothers showed the most permissive attitude toward harsh parental behaviors among the three countries on the grounds that they considered a strict and punitive attitude as a method of discipline. Overall, mothers of all three countries had the lowest scores for perceiving the vignette corresponding to neglect as maltreatment.     

Welfare Status and Child Care as Obstacles to Full-Time Work for Low-Income Mothers

SUMMARY

In this study, we use new data from the Philadelphia Survey of Child Care and Work to expand on previous analyses: we include child care problems as a work obstacle, and we analyze both current welfare recipients and non-welfare “working poor” mothers. Results show that two main obstacles have a large impact on full-time work: poor mental health and child care problems. Net of other factors, mothers with severe child care problems are 22 percent less likely to work full time. Dividing the sample by welfare status, we find a child care problems effect for both groups. Among welfare recipients, the gap in full-time work between those with severe child care problems and those without is 30 percent. Among the working poor, child care problems reduce the chance of full-time work by about 18 percent. Our findings show that improving mothers' child care situation can significantly improve their ability to support their families.     

Parenting Behaviors Among Mainland Puerto Rican Adolescent Mothers: The Role of Grandmother and Partner Involvement

Relations between grandmother and partner involvement (coresidence, social support, child care) and Puerto Rican adolescent mothers' parenting behaviors were examined. Few associations between grandmother involvement and behavior emerged, and these were moderated by coresidence. In contrast, partner involvement showed a number of significant (positive) direct and moderated relations with behavior. For both providers, the direction of the relations between social support and behavior during teaching was the opposite depending on coresidence: Greater social support was related to the display of more positive behavior among coresiding mothers but to less competent behavior among non‐coresiding mothers. The relations between child care support and behavior differed across providers. For grandmothers, greater child care was related to less positive behavior during teaching among coresiding mothers but to more competent behavior among non‐coresiding mothers. For partners, greater child care was more strongly related to positive behavior during play among non‐coresiding than coresiding mothers. Results are discussed in light of Latino cultural values, developmental issues, and implications for intervention.     

Self-report of health problems and health care use among maltreated and comparison adolescents

The study aims were to compare maltreated and comparison adolescents' health problems and to identify how individual, family and home characteristics and maltreatment status affect adolescents' self-report of health status and health care use. The sample was 224 maltreated adolescents (mean age = 18.3 years) and 128 comparison adolescents (mean age = 18.15 years). Comparison adolescents reported more cold and pain symptoms during the previous 30 days but no differences in other physical health problems, self-assessment of their physical and mental health or health care use compared to maltreated adolescents. Girls were more likely to have had a dental checkup, to have seen a psychological counselor, and to self-identify their physical health as poor compared to boys. Older adolescents were less likely to have had a medical checkup or seen a psychological counselor than younger adolescents. A history of maltreatment was not related to health or health care disparities for adolescents growing up in the same low-income environment as adolescents without a maltreatment report. The environmental context and geographical location in which these adolescents grew up may be the primary driver in their health behaviors and health problems and not the experience of maltreatment.     

Do Children's Behavior Problems Limit Poor Women's Labor Market Success?

Economically disadvantaged mothers face numerous barriers to stable, quality employment opportunities. One barrier that has received limited attention in previous research is having a child with significant psychological or behavioral problems. Using a representative sample of low‐income mothers and early adolescent children from the Three‐City Study (N = 717), we assessed whether adolescents' behavior problems prospectively predicted mothers' employment status, consistency, and quality. Lagged random‐effects regression models suggested that adolescents' psychological distress and delinquency inhibited the labor market success of disadvantaged mothers, although school problems were related to greater work effort among mothers. Links between labor market success and both psychological distress and delinquency differed across mothers with male and female adolescents.     

The Impact of Housing Instability on Child Maltreatment: A Causal Investigation

More than a half million children are confirmed as victims of maltreatment by the child welfare system each year. Children from unstably housed families are over-represented in child maltreatment reports, and a growing body of evidence links housing problems to maltreatment and Child Protective Services (CPS) investigation. The present study applies two propensity score analysis approaches—greedy matching and propensity score weighting—to data from the Fragile Families and Child Well-being Study to move toward a causal explanation of child maltreatment behaviors among mothers in low-income households. Utilizing two separate methods to correct for overt selection bias, the present study finds that housing instability leads to a small increase in maltreatment behaviors, yet this small positive net impact on child maltreatment does not fully explain the over-representation of unstably housed families in the child welfare system. Families experiencing housing problems likely have a range of needs that require earlier, targeted intervention to mitigate consequences of poverty, domestic violence, and maternal depression. Child welfare services should invest resources in housing assistance programs in-house as well as through partnerships with local public housing authorities to stabilize families, reduce housing-related strain on caregivers, and promote family preservation.     

The Child Well-Being Scales: a field trial.

The Child Well-Being Scales [Magura and Moses 1986] were developed to evaluate programs of child welfare services. Although appealing in format, the scales have lacked adequate validation. For the field trial reported here, 17 of the scales were extracted and used to form measures of physical and psychological care of children. A comparison between families identified as neglectful and low-income control families yielded differences in the predicted direction. The composite indices showed good internal consistency. The concurrent validity of this segment of the scales was supported. The scales yielded three factors that reliably classified families externally verified as neglectful and nonneglectful control families.     

Neighborhood racial & ethnic diversity as a predictor of child welfare system involvement

Using U.S. Census and child maltreatment report data for 2052 Census tracts in Los Angeles County, California, this study uses spatial regression techniques to explore the relationship between neighborhood social disorganization and maltreatment referral rates for Black, Hispanic and White children. Particular attention is paid to the racial–ethnic diversity (or ‘heterogeneity’) of neighborhood residents as a risk factor for child welfare system involvement, as social disorganization theory suggests that cultural differences and racism may decrease neighbors' social cohesion and capacity to enforce norms regarding acceptable parenting and this may, in turn, increase neighborhood rates of child maltreatment. Results from this study indicate that racial–ethnic diversity is a risk factor for child welfare involvement for all three groups of children studied, even after controlling for other indicators of social disorganization. Black, Hispanic and White children living in diverse neighborhoods are significantly more likely to be reported to Child Protective Services than children of the same race/ethnicity living in more homogeneous neighborhoods. However, the relationships between child welfare system involvement and the other indicators of social disorganization measured, specifically impoverishment, immigrant concentration child care burden, residential instability, and housing stress, varied considerably between Black, Hispanic and White children. For Black children, only housing stress predicted child maltreatment referral rates; whereas, neighborhood impoverishment, residential instability, and child care burden also predicted higher child maltreatment referral rates for Hispanic and White children. Immigrant concentration was unrelated to maltreatment referral rates for Black and Hispanic children, and predicted lower maltreatment referral rates for White children. Taken together, these findings suggest that racial–ethnic diversity may be one of the more reliable neighborhood-level demographic indicators of child welfare risk across different racial/ethnic groups of children. However, many of the other neighborhood characteristics that influence child maltreatment referrals differ for Black, Hispanic and White children. Consequently, neighborhood-based family support initiatives should avoid a one-size-fits-all approach to child abuse prevention and strategically consider the racial/ethnic make-up of targeted communities.     

Mothers' abusive childhood predicts child abuse

To examine the intergenerational transmission of abuse, the study compared 25 mothers whose child had been under the supervision of the child protection services (CPS) with 25 mothers who had had no contact with the CPS. The groups were compared with respect to their own self‐reported childhood abuse, their abuse of their own child and punitiveness. The data were gathered using interviews and files. There were no significant differences between the groups in self‐reported childhood physical abuse, but the CPS mothers had experienced more childhood psychological abuse, especially rejection, accusations, terrorizing and corrupting. The groups did not differ in the self‐reported physical or psychological abuse inflicted upon one's own child. In the total sample of 50 mothers, hierarchical regression analyses showed, however, that the mothers' childhood abuse experiences predicted their abuse of their own child. Punitiveness was best predicted by maternal childhood psychological abuse. The results thus provide evidence for the cycle of abuse model. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Polarization in Mothers' Employment

Using secondary analysis of large, nationally representative government data sets, we explore the interaction of occupational class and the age of youngest child in mothers' labour force participation. We show that levels of full-time working vary markedly in each occupational class and by age of youngest child. Within part-time working, the principal form of labour force participation for mothers, there are marked class differences in eligibility for ‘short-term’ and ‘long-term’ employment rights, as well as in the ‘quality’ of part-time working. We suggest that the impact on mothers' employment of the age of the youngest child is mediated by mothers' occupational class and conclude that there is growing evidence of polarities in the employment experience of mothers in different occupational classes.     

Pathways of risk and resilience between neighborhood socioeconomic conditions and parenting

This study examined pathways between neighborhood socioeconomic conditions (concentrated affluence and poverty), neighborhood resources and collective efficacy, and three parenting behaviors: warmth, harshness, and physical aggression. Data were drawn from the 3-year-old cohort of the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods, a neighborhood-based study (N = 999). Multilevel path models revealed that greater neighborhood affluence was indirectly associated with mothers' lower reports of physical aggression with their children via more neighborhood services for children, as reported by an independent sample of neighborhood residents. However, analyses using propensity score weights suggest the association between neighborhood affluence and parental aggression may be due to selection. Results are discussed with respect to implications for preventing child maltreatment.     

Protective factors among families with children at risk of maltreatment: Follow up to early school years

The purpose of this study is to explore both risk and protective factors of child maltreatment among at risk elementary school children. This study used data from the Longitudinal Studies of Child Abuse and Neglect (LONGSCAN), following a cohort of 405 children from age 4 to age 8. Multivariate logistic regression revealed that children attending preschool irregularly (OR = 2.98; 95% CI: 1.08-8.26), families with a high level of life events (OR = 2.68; 95% CI: 1.12-6.41), and mothers with a history of childhood maltreatment (OR = 2.26; 95% CI: 1.07-4.76) were more likely to have a child maltreatment report. In contrast, mothers who were married (OR = 0.19; 95% CI: 0.06-0.64), mothers who attained 12 or more years of education (OR = 0.09; 95% CI: 0.02-0.34), and family with high level of social support (OR = 0.29; 95% CI: 0.11-0.80) were less likely to have a child maltreatment report. For mothers who had not graduated from high school, adequate social support reduced the risk of child maltreatment by a factor of two. The provision of adequate social support should be incorporated into child maltreatment prevention programs, particularly those targeting at risk families.     

An intensive perinatal mentalisation-based intervention for women at risk of child removal and the role of restorative relationships

Pregnant women with a history of child removal are at greater risk of being found unsuitable to care for their new babies. Neglect, showing a lack of capacity to provide for the child's physical and/or emotional needs, is the most frequent reason why infants are removed from their parents' care. Parents with a history of child removal have often been themselves subject to maltreatment as children and suffer the sequelae of relational trauma which then becomes a barrier to establishing nurturing relationships with their own children. Attachment, and particularly mentalisation-based, parenting interventions focus on restoring relationships by developing parents' capacity to reflect upon their own internal mental experiences as well as those of the child, helping them to better understand themselves and their children. The DAISY programme is an intensive perinatal attachment and mentalisation-based intervention for pregnant women with a history of child removal, aiming to improve mothers' mentalising capacities and care proceeding outcomes. This article uses a case study to describe the programme's model and mechanisms of change. Additionally, we present preliminary observations about the programme's delivery and impact from the perspective of one of its practitioners.     

Cultural Definitions of Elder Maltreatment in Portugal

ABSTRACT

A small convenience sample of 34 participants (17 males, 17 females) from the Portuguese islands of the Azores and Madeira were asked to provide examples of how extreme, moderate, and mild maltreatment towards an elder would be defined in their culture and society. Neglect, especially psychological neglect, physical maltreatment, and psychological maltreatment were the most frequently reported types of maltreatment. References to neglect and physical maltreatment appeared most often as examples of extreme maltreatment. In general, men were somewhat more likely than women to provide examples of physical aggression in their examples of maltreatment. As examples of extreme maltreatment, females provided significantly more examples of abandonment than males. Although interpretations of the findings must be cautious because of the small sample size and limited statistical power, the study illustrates a procedure for assessing constructs of elder mistreatment in a way that attends to respondents' own constructions of the phenomenon.