Abstract
Parental empowerment has been related to their well-being and self-efficacy. Learning more about the signs describing child maltreatment risk are crucial for the welfare of children and families. The aim of this study was to assess the risk of child maltreatment (CM) and related worrying factors of parents and associations between the CM risk, worries and parental empowerment. The study is based on self-report surveys administered to parents in primary health care and hospital settings. The risk of CM and related worrying factors were measured by the Brief Child Abuse Potential Inventory (BCAP) from 453 parents. Family empowerment was measured by The Generic Family Empowerment Scale (G-FES). Parents expressed worries such as loneliness and distress (20%), feelings of persecution (9%), family conflict (17%), rigidity (21%) and financial insecurity (4%). The BCAP found 27 parents with increased risk. Parents with CM risk expressed more empowerment in connection to services for their child and family. It is crucial to discuss worries in child and family services before they raise the risk level. Tools such as the BCAP are useful in systematically identifying the child maltreatment risk and parental worries under discussion, offering possibilities for preventing child maltreatment and increasing well-being of children.
Highlights
The anticipation and prevention of problems in the life control of families and increasing awareness about parental worries are crucial for the well-being of children and families
The aim of this study was to describe parental worrying factors linked to risk of child maltreatment (CM) and how parents express empowerment connected to health care services, especially for children
The short form of the Child Abuse Potential Inventory (BCAP) [14,15,35] was used to assess the risk of CM and worrying factors involved in families in the general population
Summary
The anticipation and prevention of problems in the life control of families and increasing awareness about parental worries are crucial for the well-being of children and families. Services should be arranged on the basis of children’s and families’ needs [1] The latest research, both in Finland [2,3,4,5,6,7] and globally [8], shows that children and young people experience a wide range of maltreatment at home, including physical, emotional and sexual violence, neglect and witnessing violence between parents. Validation of the BCAP among the Finnish general population resulted in a structure with five sub-scales: loneliness and distress (9 items), problems with others (4), family conflict (3), rigidity (3) and financial insecurity (2) [6]. In the BCAP, each item receives a score of 1 [35,41]
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