An ecological analysis of infant neglect by adolescent mothers

To inform efforts to prevent child neglect, we investigated a wide range of risk factors that have been largely unexamined in relation to infant neglect, the most commonly occurring form of child maltreatment. Using an ecological model of child neglect, we assessed the influence of characteristics at the level of the child, the mother, the family, and broader childrearing contexts on adolescent mothers’ likelihood of being a perpetrator in a substantiated case of neglect against their firstborn infants (n = 383, M = 12 months). Several factors were associated with infant neglect by young mothers: median block income, low infant birth weight, maternal smoking, maternal childhood history of neglect and of positive care, intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetrated by either the mother or her partner, and maternal use of mental health services. In multivariate models, income, a maternal childhood history of positive care, IPV by either a mother or her partner, and mental health service usage made significant contributions to the odds that a mother neglected her infant. Our findings suggest that these factors have particular salience to policymakers’ and practitioners’ efforts to identify high risk families and to intervene during the earliest months of life to prevent child neglect.