How are parental functioning and single parenthood associated with court outcomes? An analysis of child protection cases

Impaired parental functioning and single parenthood are considered risk factors for child maltreatment and being involved in the child protection context. Past research has shown that an impaired mental functioning and being a single parent are indicators of limited parenting resources. These risk factors are likely to be considered by family judges, which might lead to more intrusive court decisions concerning parental custody. To date, court data have rarely been investigated. The present study examined parental mental health and single parenthood using data from family law proceedings. The role of the fathers has been understudied and the few existing studies yielded contradictory results with respect to fathers’ involvement as risk or protective factor. Therefore, the study included both fathers’ data and mothers’ data. A total of 220 child protection court files with 343 affected children were coded using a category system. Parental mental health was coded as parental functioning in daily life and was significantly associated with the court outcome. Multilevel mediation analyses showed a significant indirect effect of maternal functioning on the intrusiveness of the court decisions via child maltreatment. Single motherhood moderated the effect: The indirect effect was more pronounced for single mothers. This study contributes to a better understanding of the population getting before court and the judicial process. Psychological attributes do play a role in the decision-making of judges; and taking the role of the fathers into account is necessary.     

The ecology of young children’s behaviour and social competence: child characteristics,socio-economic factors and parenting

Using a longitudinal, UK representative sample from the Millennium Cohort Study, the present study examined the effects of socio-economic factors on mother- and teacher-rated behaviour, and the unique and cumulative contribution of both risk and protective factors inherent in children’s proximal and distal influences to behaviour during the toddler years and at school entry. The findings showed that although family income, parental employment and maternal education had a significant moderate impact on child problem behaviour as rated in the home and school, when considered in the context of child characteristics and family processes their contribution was negligible, especially for income. In contrast, parenting practices and parental well-being emerged as good predictors of behavioural difficulties and prosocial behaviour at school entry, pointing to the importance of supporting parents in order to promote social competence in young children. These findings have implications for family policy.     

Children’s sexual behavior problems: An ecological model using the LONGSCAN data

BackgroundAlthough prior research has indicated that sexual behavior problems (SBPs) are present among maltreated and non-maltreated children, risk factors for SBPs remain understudied. Further, few studies have examined multiple forms of trauma such as exposure to community violence and several likely important familial and environmental factors have yet to be investigated in the context of SBPs. The use of a more comprehensive ecological model of child, trauma-related, family, and environmental risk factors may help to further delineate the factors that contribute to the development of SBPs.ObjectiveThe aim of the current study was to build upon previous research by utilizing an ecological model that includes child, trauma-related, caregiver and familial, and environmental factors as potential predictors of SBPs.Participants and SettingThe present study was conducted with 1,112 8-year-old children (51.6% female; 48.9% Black) and their primary caregivers from the Longitudinal Studies in Child Abuse and Neglect (LONGSCAN) study.ResultsSeveral child, caregiver, and familial factors, as well as sexual and physical abuse demonstrated bivariate associations with SBPs. A number of these factors remained significant in a regression model, such as child’s living arrangement, child’s aggressive behaviors and posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS), sexual and physical abuse, caregiver’s psychological difficulties, and children’s perceptions of family health.ConclusionsThe findings highlight the role of select child, trauma-related, caregiver and familial, and environmental factors in the context of SBPs and also demonstrate the need to examine multiple levels of children’s environments when investigating SBPs.     

Parental resources, parental stress, and socioemotional development of deaf and hard of hearing children

In recent years, empowerment and resource orientation have become vital guidelines for many of the sciences. For the field of deaf education, it is also highly important to look carefully at these guidelines if we are to acquire a better understanding as regards both the situation of the parents involved and the development of the deaf and hard of hearing children themselves. A resource-oriented approach to deaf education has therefore proved especially helpful. If both the theoretical and practical aspects of educating deaf and hard of hearing children are to benefit, research on parental experience with deafness and research on the socioemotional development of the children must always be combined and studied in the context of resource availability. In a study of 213 mothers and 213 fathers of deaf and hard of hearing children, we used an array of different questionnaires (PSI, SDQ, SOC, F-SozU, etc.) to examine the correlation between parental resources, sociodemographic variables, parental stress experience, and child socioemotional problems by way of a path analysis model. The results show that high parental stress is associated with frequent socioemotional problems in the children, thus emphasizing the importance of a resource-oriented consulting and support strategy in early intervention, because parental access to personal and social resources is associated with significantly lower stress experience. Child development seems to profit enormously from a resource-oriented support concept. In addition, the results confirm two earlier findings: parents with additionally handicapped children are especially stressed and the child's communicative competence makes for a more sound prediction than its linguistic medium (spoken language or sign). The path models for mothers and fathers agree in all essential factors. The results are discussed with a view to their meaning for pedagogical practice, and recommendations for further research are given (longitudinal data, more representative samples, cochlear implant).     

Parental absence,child victimization,and psychological well-being in rural China

Using cross-sectional data regarding 793 rural children aged 10–16 in Sichuan Province of China, the present study examined the preceding-year rates of seven forms of child victimization (physical assault, property crime, peer/sibling victimization, child maltreatment, sexual victimization, witnessing family violence, and exposure to community violence) and poly-victimization, and found children’s victimization experiences increased as the degree of parental absence increased (from the presence of two biological parents, to parental migration and parental separation and divorce). Elevated levels of depression were also found among left-behind children and children of separated or divorced parents, compared to children living with both biological parents; and child poly-victimization added to the risk of child depression. Certain demographic characteristics (being a boy and younger) and parental factors were associated with child victimization in rural China. This study highlights the need for child protection in rural China, and in particular for parent-absent children.     

The effects of parental psychopathology and maltreatment on child behavior: a test of the diathesis-stress model

Past research on risk factors in child development has tended to focus on 1 risk factor rather than examining the effects of multiple factors simultaneously. The present research examines the main and interactive effects of parental psychopathology (schizophrenia, psychiatric control, and normal control) and maltreatment on child behavior. Child aggression, delinquency, and social withdrawal were assessed at 2 times so that the effects of risk factors on behavioral change could also be examined. The results indicate significant relations between the risk factors and child behavior. Most notably, parental psychiatric status and maltreatment interacted significantly, such that offspring of schizophrenic parents from maltreating families showed increases in externalized behavior problems over time. These results support a diathesis-stress model of psychopathology.     

Child emotional security and interparental conflict

Guided by the emotional security hypothesis developed by Davies & Cummings (1994), studies were conducted to test a conceptual refinement of children's adjustment to parental conflict in relation to hypotheses of other prominent theories. Study 1 examined whether the pattern of child responses to simulations of adult conflict tactics and topics was consistent with the emotional security hypothesis and social learning theory in a sample of 327 Welsh children. Supporting the emotional security hypothesis, child reports of fear, avoidance, and involvement were especially prominent responses to destructive conflict. Study 2 examined the relative roles of child emotional insecurity and social-cognitive appraisals in accounting for associations between parental conflict and child psychological symptoms in a sample of 285 Welsh children and parents. Findings indicated that child emotional insecurity was a robust intervening process in the prospective links between parental conflict and child maladjustment even when intervening processes proposed in the social-cognitive models were included in the analyses. Studies 3 and 4 explored pathways among parental conflict, child emotional insecurity, and psychological adjustment in the broader family context with a sample of 174 children and mothers. Supporting the emotional security hypothesis, Study 3 findings indicated that child insecurity continued to mediate the link between parental conflict and child maladjustment even after specifying the effects of other parenting processes. Parenting difficulties accompanying interparental conflict were related to child maladjustment through their association with insecure parent-child attachment. In support of the emotional security hypothesis, Study 4 findings indicated that family instability, parenting difficulties, and parent-child attachment insecurity potentiated mediational pathways among parental conflict, child insecurity, and maladjustment. Family cohesiveness, interparental satisfaction, and interparental expressiveness appeared to be protective factors in these mediational paths. No support was found for the social learning theory prediction that parent-child warmth would amplify associations between parental conflict and child disruptive behaviors.     

Overcrowded housing: One of a constellation of vulnerabilities for child sexual abuse

BackgroundEffective prevention of child abuse depends on an understanding of factors associated with the abuse. Increased risk of child sexual abuse has been associated with parental substance use and adverse socio-economic factors such as living in poverty and parental unemployment. This study investigated overcrowding as a potential socio-economic risk factor in child sexual abuse taking into account other socio-economic, child and parental factors.MethodThis study used de-identified linked data from health and child protection data collections for the cohort of children born in Western Australia from 1990 to 2009 (n = 524,478). Cox regression was used to estimate adjusted and unadjusted hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals for time to first sexual abuse allegation and first substantiated allegation, relative to the level of overcrowding and controlling for other risk factors.ResultsHigher levels of household overcrowding were associated with a 23%–46% increase in the risk of child sexual abuse allegations. Only the highest level of overcrowding was associated with a 40% increased risk of substantiated sexual abuse.ConclusionThe findings suggest that overcrowded living conditions are associated with an increased risk of sexual abuse for some children. This factor needs to be considered alongside other risk factors when assessing and improving child safety.     

Contextualising ECEC research: the case of Slovenia

In the present study the longitudinal relations between quantity of centre-based child care (in months) and teacher reports of internalising and externalising behaviour in the first and second grades were examined for 325 Slovenian children. The socio-political context of affordable, accessible and homogenously high-quality child care is quite different compared to the context in countries from which many child-care studies originate (e.g. the USA). In Slovenia quality standards are regulated (child:staff ratio, teacher education, curriculum), the service is subsidised and children are guaranteed a place after the end of parental leave (i.e. at 11 months). In the described socio-political context a beneficial effect of child care quantity was found for internalising behaviour, while there were negative effects for externalising behaviour. Children who spent more time in child care exhibited less internalising behaviour and more externalising behaviour in the first grade of school, both with small coefficient sizes. Our study shows that even in the context of progressive child care some positive as well as less positive effects of child care participation on child development occur.     

Does war contribute to family violence against children? Findings from a two-generational multi-informant study in Northern Uganda

After 20 years of civil war in Northern Uganda, the continuity of violence within the family constitutes a major challenge to children's healthy development in the post-conflict era. Previous exposure to trauma and ongoing psychopathology in guardians potentially contribute to parental perpetration against children and dysfunctional interactions in the child's family ecology that increase children's risk of maltreatment. In order to investigate distal and proximal risk factors of child victimization, we first aimed to identify factors leading to more self-reported perpetration in guardians. Second, we examined factors in the child's family environment that promote child-reported experiences of maltreatment. Using a two-generational design we interviewed 368 children, 365 female guardians, and 304 male guardians from seven war-affected rural communities in Northern Uganda on the basis of standardized questionnaires. We found that the strongest predictors of self-reported aggressive parenting behaviors toward the child were guardians’ own experiences of childhood maltreatment, followed by female guardians’ victimization experiences in their intimate relationship and male guardians’ posttrautmatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms and alcohol-related problems. Regarding children's self-report of victimization in the family, proximal factors including violence between adults in the household and male guardians’ PTSD symptom severity level predicted higher levels of maltreatment. Distal variables such as female guardians’ history of childhood victimization and female guardians’ exposure to traumatic war events also increased children's report of maltreatment. The current findings suggest that in the context of organized violence, an intergenerational cycle of violence persists that is exacerbated by female guardians’ re-victimization experiences and male guardians’ psychopathological symptoms.     

Parents’ perception of child behavior,parenting stress,and child abuse potential: Individual and partner influences

Based on the Social Information Processing model of parenting risk for child abuse, the present study examined the associations between mothers’ and fathers’ perception of child behavior and child abuse potential, as well as whether parenting stress mediates the association between these constructs. Two hundred and fifty-nine mother-father couples raising preschool children answered the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL), the Parenting Stress Index (PSI), and the Child Abuse Potential Inventory (CAPI). The results of dyadic path analysis showed that perception of child behavior was related to heightened parenting stress and abuse potential in both mothers and fathers. Concerning partner effects, we found that mothers’ perception of child behavior problems was positively associated with fathers’ parenting stress and that the higher the mothers’ distress, the higher the fathers’ risk of physical abuse. Finally, parenting distress partially mediated the association between parents’ perception of child behavior and child abuse potential, with mothers’ perception of their children as problematic showing a significant indirect effect through distress on their own abuse risk and on fathers’ CAP as well. These findings suggest that parental distress may represent a critical mechanism by which parents’ negative views of their children contribute to abuse potential. Moreover, mothers seem to influence fathers’ tendency towards abusive behaviors.     

Children at risk of neglect: challenges faced by child protection practitioners in Guatemala City

OBJECTIVES: The objectives were to (1) delineate the definition, common forms, and perceived risk factors contributing to child neglect in Guatemala from the perspective of different stakeholders and (2) identify the challenges faced by child protection practitioners in identifying children at risk of neglect within the context of Guatemala. METHODS: A range of qualitative methods were used: semi-structured interviews (SSI) with key stakeholders involved in child neglect (n=9); semi-structured interviews with professionals working in the child protection services (n=14); focus group discussions (FGDs) with professionals, voluntary workers and children (n=60), and the group consensus method with key informants (KI, n=10). Data analysis was conducted using the framework approach. RESULTS: Participants described child neglect as a complex social phenomenon combining parental omission of care and an indifferent or negative attitude towards the child compounded by governmental neglect. The main factors which were perceived as contributing to neglect were poverty, societal and cultural norms, and importantly, gender roles and relations. These contextual factors complicate the identification of neglect and raise a number of difficult dilemmas for child protection workers that are exacerbated by limited Guatemalan legislation on neglect and restricted alternative care options. CONCLUSION: Stakeholder perspectives were found to be useful for providing contextual information and highlighting associated challenges related to assessing child neglect in Guatemala.     

Child maltreatment in the "children of the nineties": a cohort study of risk factors

AIM: To analyze the multiple factors affecting the risk of maltreatment in young children within a comprehensive theoretical framework. METHODS: The research is based on a large UK cohort study, the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children. Out of 14,256 children participating in the study, 293 were investigated by social services for suspected maltreatment and 115 were placed on local child protection registers prior to their 6th birthday. Data on the children have been obtained from obstetric data and from a series of parental questionnaires administered during pregnancy and the first 3 years of life. Risk factors have been analyzed using an hierarchical approach to logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: In the stepwise hierarchical analysis, young parents, those with low educational achievement, and those with a past psychiatric history or a history of childhood abuse were all more likely to be investigated for maltreatment, or to have a child placed on the child protection register, with odds ratios between 1.86 and 4.96 for registration. Examining strength of effect, the highest risks were found with indicators of deprivation (3.24 for investigation and 11.02 for registration, after adjusting for parental background factors). Poor social networks increased the risk of both investigation (adjusted OR 1.93) and registration (adjusted OR 1.90). Maternal employment seemed to reduce the risk of both outcomes but adjusted odds ratios were no longer significant for registration. After adjusting for higher order confounders, single parents and reordered families were both at higher risk of registration. Reported domestic violence increased the risk of investigation and registration but this was no longer significant after adjusting for higher order variables. Low birthweight children were at higher risk of registration as were those whose parents reported few positive attributes of their babies. CONCLUSIONS: This study supports previous research in the field demonstrating that a wide range of factors in the parental background, socio-economic and family environments affect the risk of child maltreatment. By combining factors within a comprehensive ecological framework, we have demonstrated that the strongest risks are from socio-economic deprivation and from factors in the parents' own background and that parental background factors are largely, but not entirely, mediated through their impact on socio-economic factors.     

Mothers’ self-reported violence toward their children: A multifaceted risk analysis

The universal aim of decreasing parental violence against children requires the detection of risk factors associated with violent behavior among parents. Although research has identified a number of such risk factors, these findings are scattered and a comprehensive picture is lacking. In the present study, 20 child-, parent- and family-related factors have been included in a combined analysis to assess which of these may pose as risk factors for mothers’ severe violent behavior toward their children. The study is based on a representative sample of 2,716 Finnish mothers with 0–12-year-old children and was conducted as an anonymous survey. Analyses were carried out using logistic regression models. 6% of the mothers had committed severe violent acts, i.e. slapped, hit, punched (with a fist), kicked, bit, hit/try to hit the child with an object or shook (under 2 year old) child at least once during the 12 months preceding the survey. Corporal punishment experienced by the mother as a child (OR 2.45, CI 1.55–3.88) or used by the mother as a method of discipline (OR 11.14, CI 5.95–20.87), strongly increased the likelihood of severe violent acts. Additionally, work- or family-related stress (OR 1.83, CI 1.24–2.73) and lack of help in dealing with parenting problems (OR 2.55, CI 1.66–3.90) were detected as risk factors for severe violent acts toward one's own child. The findings suggest that prevention of corporal punishment may be an important hinder to the transmission of experiences of violence from one generation to another, and that contextual and situational factors may overlap the influence of individual-related risk factors.     

Mothers of children with externalizing behavior problems: cognitive risk factors for abuse potential and discipline style and practices

OBJECTIVE: Utilizing the conceptual framework of the Social Information Processing (SIP) model (Milner, 1993, 2000), associations between cognitive risk factors and child physical abuse risk and maladaptive discipline style and practices were examined in an at-risk population. METHODS: Seventy-three mothers of 5-12-year-old children, who were identified by their therapist as having an externalizing behavior problem, responded to self-report measures pertaining to cognitive risk factors (empathic perspective taking, frustration tolerance, developmental expectations, parenting locus of control), abuse risk, and discipline style and practices. The Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) provided a confirmation of the child's externalizing behaviors independent of the therapist's assessment. RESULTS: The results of this study suggest several cognitive risk factors significantly predict risk of parental aggression toward children. A parent's ability to empathize and take the perspective of their child, parental locus of control, and parental level of frustration tolerance were significant predictors of abuse potential (accounting for 63% of the variance) and inappropriate discipline practices (accounting for 55% of the variance). CONCLUSIONS: Findings of the present study provide support for processes theorized in the SIP model. Specifically, results underscore the potential role of parents' frustration tolerance, developmental expectations, locus of control, and empathy as predictive of abuse potential and disciplinary style in an at-risk sample.     

Fatal child abuse in Georgia: the epidemiology of severe physical child abuse

Decisions about the occurrence of child abuse are increasingly difficult to make because concepts of what qualifies as reportable child abuse may be broadening. We examined this question by comparing 51 fatal child abuse cases occurring in Georgia between July 1975 and December 1979 to non-fatal cases and to the Georgia population. Overall rates of fatal child abuse were higher for male perpetrators compared with female and black perpetrators compared with white. However, the latter finding varied with economic and geographic status. The highest child abuse fatality rates were found in poor, rural, white families (3.3/100,000 children) and in poor, urban, black families (2.4/100,000 children). Risk factors for fatal abuse included early childhood (RR 6:1), parental teenage childbearing (RR 4:1), and low socioeconomic status. These characteristics were similar to those of the severe child abuse cases noted in the early child abuse literature. Non-fatal cases did not clearly share these risk factors. Severe abuse, here represented by fatal cases, is a distinct subset of reported child abuse, but characteristics associated with it are frequently attributed to all reportable child abuse. Medical personnel should be aware that they cannot rely on the presence or absence of these characteristics in screening for risk of reportable child abuse. Child abuse research should use restricted, stated case definitions. When intervention and prevention programs are being organized, they should not generalize research findings to all forms of child abuse.     

Substance abuse and serious child mistreatment: prevalence, risk, and outcome in a court sample

This study examined the prevalence and specific types of substance abuse in a sample of 206 cases of serious child abuse or neglect brought before a metropolitan juvenile court on care and protection petitions. In 43% of the cases, at least one of the parents had a documented problem with either alcohol or drugs, a figure which rose to 50% when alleged instances of substance abuse were included. Alcohol, cocaine, and heroin were the three most frequently mentioned abused substances. Parents with documented substance abuse were significantly more likely than nonsubstance-abusing parents to have been referred previously to child protective agencies, to be rated by court investigators as presenting high risk to their children, to reject court-ordered services, and to have their children permanently removed. When the two factors of court investigator high risk ratings and presence of parental substance abuse were combined, it was possible to obtain even higher levels of prediction of which parents would reject services and have their children permanently removed. Results suggest (1) the importance of increased screening, evaluation, and treatment of parental substance abuse in cases of serious child mistreatment; and (2) the possibility of adopting a predictive approach as to which families will be able to respond to court-ordered treatment requests and have their children returned.     

Parental Involvement in Deaf Children's Education Programs as a Predictor of Child's Language, Early Reading, and Social-Emotional Development

This study examined the impact of school-based, teacher-rated parental involvement on four child outcomes: language development, early reading skills, and positive and negative measures of social-emotional development. The 28 children were assessed for outcomes between 9 to 53 months post-graduation from a birth-to-3 early intervention (EI) program for children with hearing loss. Other factors included in the study were child's hearing loss, mother's education level, mother's current communication skills with her child, and maternal use of additional services beyond those offered by the early intervention program or the child's school program. Parental involvement in children's school-based education program is a significant positive predictor to early reading skills but shares considerable variance with maternal communication skill for this outcome. In this study, maternal communication skills and the child's hearing loss were the strongest predictors for language development. Maternal use of additional services was the strongest predictor to poorer social-emotional adjustment. The study's findings indicate that although parental involvement in their deaf child's school-based education program can positively contribute to academic performance, parental communication skill is a more significant predictor for positive language and academic development. Factors associated with parental involvement, maternal communication, and use of additional services are explored and suggestions are offered to enhance parental involvement and communication skills.