Predicting child maltreatment recurrences during treatment.

UNLABELLED: The primary purpose of the child protective services system is to protect children from the recurrence of child maltreatment. Understanding more about what predicts recurrence may help us more adequately target interventions to reduce the risk of future maltreatment. OBJECTIVE: The specific objective of this study was to identify correlates of recurrence during CPS intervention for families who were provided continuing intervention following a confirmed index report of physical abuse or neglect. METHOD: This nonconcurrent prospective study selected 446 subject families who met study eligibility requirements from 1,181 families randomly selected from the 2,902 families who had experienced a substantiated report of child abuse or neglect during the sampling year. Data were collected and coded from archival sources for 5 years following the index report. Each record was coded by two research analysts to increase inter-rater reliability. Data were analyzed with survival analysis methods: (1) Kaplan Meier and (2) the Cox Proportional Regression Model. RESULTS: Predictors of recurrence were child vulnerability, family stress, partner abuse, social support deficits, and an interaction between family stress and social support deficits. CONCLUSIONS: Implications of this and earlier research suggest that increasing social supports may help families cope with life events that increase stress and the risk of continued child maltreatment; that collaborations between CPS and domestic violence agencies are needed; and that screening maltreated children for mental health problems and other disabilities and assuring that children with these needs and their families get effective treatment may reduce the likelihood of continued maltreatment.

Parenting behaviors and perceived parenting competence of child sexual abuse survivors.

OBJECTIVE: This paper reports data testing two alternative hypotheses: (1) the relationship between child sexual abuse and subsequent parenting attitudes and behaviors is a function of the third variable, growing up experiences other than CSA; and (2) maternal depression mediates the relationship between CSA and the same parenting variables. METHOD: The current study was a retrospective survey of 516 very low-income, urban mothers. Parenting was assessed with three measures: The Parenting Competence Scale and the verbal and severe violence subscales of the Conflict Tactics Scale. RESULTS: Findings for two of the dependent variables, perceived parenting competence and severe violence, supported the third variable hypothesis. The mediational hypothesis was not supported for any of the parenting indicators. CONCLUSIONS: Findings regarding the third variable hypothesis are discrepant from those of the one earlier study that tested this hypothesis, suggesting that before conclusions can be drawn regarding the effect of CSA on parenting further research is in order.

Child maltreatment in family foster care.

Predictors of maltreatment of children living in family foster care were sought in characteristics of foster homes. Four characteristics that presented increased risk were identified: homes that had younger foster mothers, homes in which children shared bedrooms with other family members, homes about which case-workers had reservations, and homes that were restricted for placement of certain children. Kinship-care homes were found to present decreased risk.

Unplanned childbearing and family size: their relationship to child neglect and abuse.

Mothers from 198 low-income, female-headed families enrolled in child protective services because of child abuse or neglect were compared with an equal number of age-matched controls, to determine if unplanned childbearing and family size increase the risk of child neglect or abuse. Logistic regression analyses suggest that unplanned childbearing increases the risk of child abuse but not of child neglect. Large family size significantly raises the risk of both types of maltreatment, although this factor had a greater effect on the risk of abuse than on the risk of neglect. Finally, unplanned childbearing appears to be indirectly related to abuse through its effect on family size.

Severity of maternal depression and three types of mother-to-child aggression.

This study of low-income, single mothers suggests that severity of depression conditions the relationship between depression and three types of mother-to-child aggression. Compared to nondepressed mothers, moderately but not severely depressed women are more likely to be physically violent, and both moderately and severely depressed women are at increased risk for high frequencies of verbal/symbolic aggression.

The ecology of child abuse and neglect: review of the literature and presentation of data.

This report assesses current knowledge about the ecological determinants of child maltreatment and presents data from an aggregate study of co-variation between seven community characteristics and maltreatment rates. A review of these findings revealed literature in the early stages of development. Nothing is known about the ecology of sexual abuse, and studies of physical abuse and neglect have done little more than demonstrate co-variation between reported incidence and neighborhood population and housing characteristics. Study findings reveal that (a) five of the seven community characteristics are significant and independent correlates of neglect, and four are correlates of abuse; (b) the strongest predictors of both types of maltreatment are percentage of families with income less than 200% of poverty and percent of vacant housing; and (c) the pattern of co-variation between the two economic stress indicators and three inadequate social support indicators are consistent with the ecological hypothesis. Discussion focuses on interpretation of findings and recommendations for future research.

The ecology of child maltreatment: identifying and characterizing high-risk neighborhoods.

This article proposes a multimethod strategy as a way to reduce the existing confusion of methods for determining which neighborhoods within a community are at high risk for child maltreatment, and identifying neighborhood characteristics and problems associated with child abuse and neglect. Description of the multimethod strategy includes examples of the type of data that can be obtained.

Anonymous reports of child physical abuse: are they as serious as reports from other sources?

Anonymous reports of child physical abuse were compared to reports made by professionals and by nonprofessionals on three characteristics: substantiation rate, seriousness of substantiated incidents, and severity of allegations. Data pertinent to the characteristics were abstracted from 1,207 reports made to the Baltimore City Department of Social Services during 1983. Results suggest that reports made by anonymous sources are more likely to be unfounded than reports made by the other two sources. However, despite the lower substantiation rate, those few anonymous reports (15.5%) that do get substantiated seem to represent equally as serious incidents of physical abuse as founded reports from the other two sources. An attempt to explain the lower substantiation rate of anonymous reports in terms of seriousness of allegations reveals that professional but not nonprofessional reporters make more serious allegations than anonymous reporters. Discussion focuses on drawing conclusions about anonymous reports from existing knowledge and recommendations for future research.