Fertility Patterns: Their Relationship to Child Physical Abuse and Child Neglect

Abstract

A 1973 study suggested that family planning might be effective in preventing child abuse and neglect. This paper presents data on the relationships of 5 fertility patterns (number of live births birth spacing maternal age at 1st birth number of unplanned births and number of children by different fathers) to 2 forms of maltreatment: child abuse and child neglect. Questionnaires were administered to 518 single mothers receiving Aid to Families with Dependent Children in Baltimore in 1984 and 1985. 118 abusive and 119 neglectful mothers were selected from 1744 families receiving child protective services. Child abuse was defined as use of physical force to produce injuries at a minimum severity level of 4 on a 6-point scale. Types of neglect included inadequacies in health care mental health care nutrition hygiene sanitation safety supervision and/or substitute child care. 281 controls were drawn from female recipients of Aid to Families with Dependent Children. Dependent variables were coded child abuse status child neglect status and child maltreatment status. Dependent variables were the 5 fertility patterns. Subjects were controlled for demographic variables: race lifetime marital status lifetime employment status mothers age and education. Child neglect was found to be positively associated with increasing number of live births and with the number of different fathers. Child abuse was found to be associated with number of children by different fathers and spacing between 1st and 2nd child as well as by number of live births. Both abuse and neglect were associated with fertility patterns independent of demographic characteristics. However the 2 types of maltreatment differed in the magnitude of their association with the fertility patterns: child neglect was more strongly associated with the fertility patterns than was child abuse. The 2 types of maltreatment displayed both similarities and differences relative to their relationships with the fertility patterns. Both abuse and neglect were associated with having children by different fathers. Both child abusers and child neglectors had more unplanned births than did controls but only when the other fertility patterns were not controlled which implies that adequate family planning would prevent some maltreatment. Age at 1st birth affected both kinds of maltreatment only if the other 4 fertility factors were uncontrolled. Number of live births had a significant effect on neglect while spacing had none. But for abuse spacing had an effect and number of live births did not. Spacing is the only fertility pattern that was consistently associated with abuse and number of live births was consistently associated with neglect. However it is not possible from these findings to conclude that family planning is important for the primary prevention of child neglect and abuse because the observed relationships may simply reflect coping inadequacies of these mothers.