Child neglect and its association with social living ability: does the resilience attenuate the association?

Abstract

ABSTRACTOur study aims to explore child neglect among preschool children in rural China and examine its association with social living ability. Furthermore, another purpose is to examine whether there is a mediated effect of resilience on this association. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 2397 children aged 6–72 months in rural area of Anhui province. Social living ability, neglect and resilience were measured by Infant-Junior Middle School Student’s Ability of Social Life Scale, Child Neglect Evaluation Scales and Devereux Center for Resilient Children (DCRC) Assessment Tools (DECA), respectively. Binary logistic analysis was performed to explore the relationship. The results showed that overall prevalence of child neglect was 59.4% among children aged 6–72 months. Children aged 36–72 months who suffered physical neglect, educational neglect and medical neglect were more likely to express lower social living ability. After adjusting resilience, the association between lower social living ability and child neglect was slightly attenuated but remained significant. In conclusion, neglect would exert the adverse effect on children in 36–72 months group. Children experiencing physical, educational and medical neglect have more chance to express lower social living ability. High resilient subjects may be partly protected against the detrimental effects of child neglect.