Addressing Systemic Racism in the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children Publications.

The United States continues to grapple with longstanding policies and systems that have adversely impacted historically marginalized communities who identify (and are racialized) as non-White. These stem from a legacy of structural and systemic racism, and the long-term consequences of sanctioned colonization. This legacy rests upon a field of scholarly research that is similarly fraught with white supremacy. As a field, we must examine the process of producing and publishing the body of evidence that has codified harmful policies and practices. Although racial and ethnic disparities have been discussed for decades in the child welfare and health systems, systemic racism has received comparatively little attention in academic research and journals. In this commentary, the authors detail concrete steps over the coming years that will advance diversity, equity, inclusion and justice through American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children's (APSACs) flagship journal, Child Maltreatment. The journal is committed to anti-racist publication processes, such that the journal pledges to develop procedures, processes, structures, and culture for scholarly research that promotes diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice in all forms.

How Do Families Experience and Interact with CPS?

The lived experiences of child protective services (CPS)-involved parents is rarely considered from a social justice perspective. Parents and children endure the oversight of the child welfare system in myriad ways, and these experiences usually vary based on race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. This article explores how CPS interactions affect family dynamics and well-being and how family members view their experiences with CPS, including their sense of autonomy and empowerment. I focus on the inherent power dynamics between CPS workers and parents, race and ethnicity, and family. I highlight the perspectives of parents and their intended (rather than unintentional) parental behaviors (e.g., providing healthy food choices) to understand ways in which their socioecological contexts impact the well-being of their children. I report results of a pilot study designed to enhance the voices of parents in the literature and provide recommendations for policy and practice that inform innovative solutions to better support CPS-involved families.

Familial financial stress and child internalizing behaviors: The roles of caregivers' maltreating behaviors and social services.

Based on the family stress model and the stress-buffering model, the present study examines the relationship between caregivers' financial stress and child internalizing problem behaviors, the mediating role of caregiver maltreating behaviors, and whether social services for caregivers buffer this relationship. The current study is based on data from wave two of the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being dataset (N = 2670). Results indicated increased high familial financial stress was associated with child internalizing problems. Caregivers' psychological aggression, physical assault, child neglect, and sexual maltreatment emerged as mechanisms mediating this relationship. Tangible service and social network service were found to mitigate the deleterious effect of financial stress on child internalizing behaviors, but primarily for those whom financial stress was high. These findings highlight the role perceived financial stress has on potential maltreatment and child outcomes, rather than relying on objective measures of economic status. Implications for social services focused interventions for children and caregivers coping with high levels of perceived financial stress are discussed.

The Effect of Childhood Supervisory Neglect on Emerging Adults' Drinking.

This study investigated the effect of childhood supervisory neglect on emerging adults' drinking. Child supervisory neglect is the most common form of child maltreatment in the United States, but few studies explore supervisory neglect separate from other forms of maltreatment among emerging adults, 18-25 years old. The study sample included (n = 11,117) emerging adults, 18-25 years old who participated in Waves I and III of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health). We conducted separate analyses for male and female emerging adults, because they have different rates of alcohol consumption and alcohol risk behaviors. Our study used latent class analysis to understand how patterns of alcohol risk behaviors clustered together. For males, we found the following four classes: (1) multiple-risk drinkers, (2) moderate-risk drinkers, (3) binge-drinkers, and (4) low-risk drinkers or abstainers. For females, we found the following three classes: (1) multiple-risk drinkers, (2) moderate-risk drinkers, and (3) low-risk drinkers or abstainers. For both males and females, supervisory neglect increased the odds of membership in the multiple-risk drinkers' class compared to the low-risk drinkers or abstainers' class. Single males who did not live with their parents, and who were white had increased odds of being in the multiple-risk drinkers. For females, being more educated, or in a serious romantic relationship increased the odds of membership in the multiple-risk drinkers' class. Practitioners should ask about histories of supervisory neglect among emerging adults who engage in alcohol risk behaviors.

Correlates of optimal behavior among child welfare-involved children: Perceived school peer connectedness, activity participation, social skills, and peer affiliation.

Understanding the association between children's behaviors and their perceptions regarding the quality of school friendships is useful for intervention strategies focusing on the interpersonal networks of children involved with the child welfare system. Rarely are measures of the strength of peer relationships assessed as a protective factor for maltreated children in the context of understanding their behaviors. This research investigates the link between these youth's expressed relational experiences and nonproblematic behavior. Analyses were conducted on 1,054 children (ages 11-17) from the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being II (NSCAW II) dataset. Utilizing a factored measure of perceived school friend connectedness, children's behaviors were predicted using Generalized Ordered Logistic regression analyses. Results demonstrated stronger school friend connectedness is a protective factor in that, children who perceive strong peer connections at school are more likely to classify below the problem behavior threshold than those with weaker peer connections. Further, children with increased social skills; fewer deviant peer affiliations; and those who take responsibility in part-time jobs and chores are more likely to display normative behaviors. Compared with all other types of maltreatment, physically abused children are significantly less likely to display behaviors below the problem range. Moreover, physical abuse has a negative impact on the protective nature of strong peer connections. Attention should be given to supporting children's perceived positive friendships, developing social skills, and encouraging participation in part-time jobs (e.g., babysitting, paper routes) as protective factors associated with nonproblematic behaviors, rather than problematic behaviors. Implications for service delivery are discussed.

The Influence of Supervisory Neglect on Subtypes of Emerging Adult Substance Use After Controlling for Familial Factors, Relationship Status, and Individual Traits.

BACKGROUND: This study is the first to explore how child supervisory neglect influences patterns of substance use among young adults. This study investigated patterns of substance use among males and females, 18 to 24 years old, after controlling for adolescent parental drinking, living with parents, relationship status, delinquency, and depression. METHODS: The study sample (N=10,618) included individuals who participated in Waves I (1994-1995) and III (2001-2002) of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health). The study used latent class analysis to ascertain how patterns of substance use emerged as distinct classes. RESULTS: For both males and females, we identified the following 4 classes of substance use: (1) heavy polysubstance use, (2) moderate polysubstance use, (3) alcohol and marijuana, and (4) low-use substance use patterns. Multinomial logistic regression indicated that, for both males and females 18 to 24 years old, experiencing supervisory neglect, being depressed, being single, and engaging in adolescent delinquency serve as risk factors for heavy polysubstance use class membership. Conversely, being black or Hispanic lowered the likelihood of polysubstance use for males and females. For females only, living with parents served as a protective factor that reduced the risk of membership in heavy polysubstance use, moderate polysubstance use, and alcohol and marijuana classes. For males only, being less educated increased the risk of heavy polysubstance use class membership. CONCLUSIONS: Results from this exploratory study underscore the enduring effect of supervisory neglect on substance use among male and female young adults. Future studies should explore whether these relationships hold over time.

Do early care and education services improve language development for maltreated children? Evidence from a national child welfare sample.

Young children under 6 years old are over-represented in the U.S. child welfare system (CWS). Due to their exposure to early deprivation and trauma, they are also highly vulnerable to developmental problems, including language delays. High quality early care and education (ECE) programs (e.g. preschool, Head Start) can improve children's development and so policymakers have begun calling for increased enrollment of CWS-supervised children in these programs. However, it is not a given that ECE will benefit all children who experience maltreatment. Some types of maltreatment may result in trauma-related learning and behavior challenges or developmental deficits that cause children to respond to ECE settings differently. The current study uses data from a nationally representative survey of children in the U.S. child welfare system, the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being II, to assess whether young CWS-supervised children (N=1,652) who were enrolled in ECE had better language development outcomes 18 months later than those not enrolled in ECE. We also explore whether the type of maltreatment that brought children to the CWS' attention moderates the relationship between ECE and children's language development. After controlling for children's initial scores on the Preschool Language Scale (PLS-3), type(s) of maltreatment experienced, and child and caregiver demographics, we found that ECE participation predicted better PLS-3 scores at follow-up, with a positive interaction between ECE participation and supervisory neglect. ECE seems to be beneficial for CWS-involved children's early language development, especially for children referred to the CWS because they lack appropriate parent supervision at home.

Maltreatment type and behaviors: does listening matter?

This article presents an exploratory assessment of whether children's perceptions of caseworker support (e.g. feeling listened to) moderates the relationship between the type of maltreatment and problematic behaviors. Relying on data collected for the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being (NSCAW I), this research measures how often children felt listened to by their caseworkers and the effect on the relationship between two types of maltreatment (e.g. physical abuse and neglect) and problematic child behaviors. Results indicate that whereas children reported feeling listened to most of the time, there are significant differences in the probabilities of problematic behavior scores between physically abused and neglected children according to how often they felt listened to. With the exception of those children who felt listened to all of the time, physically abused children have a higher probability of problematic behaviors than neglected children. Comparisons between the two maltreatment types indicate a greater impact of listening on physically abused children across the continuum of feeling listened to (e.g. never to all of the time), than for neglected children, except for at the highest level of listening, as results indicate a small, but significant difference indicating neglected children are more positively impacted by listening than physically abused kids. Implications for practice are that children's perceptions of support from caseworkers may influence behavioral outcomes differently according to maltreatment type. Additionally, these findings encourage the inclusion of children's perspectives regarding the relationships they have with caseworkers.

Understanding the ecology of child maltreatment: a review of the literature and directions for future research.

Studies examining neighborhood characteristics in relation to social problems, including child maltreatment, have proliferated in the past 25 years. This article reviews the current state of knowledge of ecological studies of child maltreatment. Taken as a whole, these 18 studies document a stable ecological relationship among neighborhood impoverishment, housing stress, and rates of child maltreatment, as well as some evidence that unemployment, child care burden, and alcohol availability may contribute to child abuse and neglect. The authors include a discussion of methodological difficulties in conducting research at the neighborhood level and present a set of recommendations for future research that emphasizes movement from a simple examination of neighborhood-level characteristics toward a theoretically driven explication of processes and mechanisms supported by appropriate multilevel modeling techniques. The final goal of such efforts would be to enable practitioners to develop evidence-based neighborhood interventions that would prevent and reduce child abuse and neglect.