Previous reports of child maltreatment from the Canadian Incidence Study (CIS) 2008 of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect: An examination of recurrent substantiation and functional impairment

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the associations between previous reports of non-substantiated and substantiated maltreatment with current reports of substantiated child maltreatment and child’s functional impairment. Data were drawn from the Canadian Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect (collection 2008) from 112 child protection sites across Canada (N = 15,980 investigations). 35.2% of the children who had current substantiated reports of child maltreatment had previous reports of non-substantiated child maltreatment and 27.5% had previous reports of substantiated child maltreatment. Previous reports of substantiated and non-substantiated child maltreatment were prevalent among current reports of substantiated child maltreatment. Previous reports of substantiated child maltreatment were associated with current substantiated reports of exposure to intimate partner violence, emotional maltreatment, and neglect (range of adjusted odds ratio [AOR], 1.32 to 3.29). Previous reports of non-substantiated child maltreatment were associated with current substantiated reports of neglect (AOR = 1.53). Both previous substantiated and non-substantiated child maltreatment reports were associated with increased odds of current child functional impairment. Independent of the level of substantiation, a greater emphasis should be placed on all previously alleged reports of child maltreatment in both the clinical and research settings as an attempt to potentially prevent future child maltreatment and functional impairments.