Child Abuse Intervention Research Articles

Impact of Intervention Surveillance Bias on Analyses of Child Welfare Report Outcomes

Two studies using data from child maltreatment intervention outcome evaluations were conducted examining several aspects of surveillance bias, including directly measuring rates of surveillance reporting, comparing characteristics of surveillance versus nonsurveillance reports, examining differences across service types and doses, and testing how ignoring versus removing surveillance reports in the data affects survival analysis. The net effect of surveillance bias was small in the studies examined. Home-visiting services were not biased more than center-based services, and bias was not greater among intervention compared to prevention cases. Surveillance reports were equally as severe as nonsurveillance reports, failing to support the hypothesis that surveillance serves as early detection of less severe maltreatment. However, surveillance bias was far more substantial during time periods when participants were actively engaged in services. Therefore, the net impact of surveillance could vary with service engagement rates and the relative duration of service engagement and postservice follow-up times.

Characteristics of child abuse in immigrant Korean families and correlates of placement decisions

Objective This study examined the characteristics and patterns of child abuse among immigrant Korean families in Los Angeles and critical variables that contribute to the type of placement made by the child protective services (CPS) system. Method Data were obtained from reviewing and analyzing 170 active Korean case files maintained by the Asian Pacific Unit (APU) of the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services (LAC-DCFS) during July through September, 2001. Logistic regression analysis was employed to examine the odds of children being kept in or removed from the home. Results Some of the major findings from this study include: (1) immigrant Korean families are more likely to be charged with physical abuse (49.4%) and less likely to be charged with neglect (20.6%) in comparison with all other groups in Los Angeles (13.2% and 27.1%, respectively); (2) the circumstance under which physical abuse occurred most frequently was corporal punishment used by Korean parents with an intention to discipline their children; and (3) the context under which emotional abuse occurred among the Korean families was likely to be children's witnessing domestic violence. In addition, the logistic regression showed that response status, referral source, living arrangement, victim's relationship to perpetrator, and chronicity of abuse were significant in predicting out-of-home placement. Conclusions An analysis of Korean child abuse cases reported to child protective service revealed that culture and child rearing practices shaped the patterns of child maltreatment. A culturally sensitive approach is strongly suggested for effective child abuse prevention and intervention services with this group by CPS agencies.

Early Childhood Maltreatment: Substantiation related to Family Risk and Intervention Factors

Child maltreatment interventions had been targeted on intervening parental factors among risk families. However, limited knowledge was known about possible interaction effects between certain family risk factors and such intervention factors. The present study used existing Child Protective Service (CPS) data to explore interaction effects between two family risk variables (child maltreatment pattern and domestic violence) and three common intervention variables (quality of parent–child connection, caregiver knowledge and caregiver skill) on child maltreatment substantiation. Findings showed good quality of parent–child connection, caregiver knowledge, and caregiver skill significantly predicted lower risk of child maltreatment. However, the significant effects were found only among families of minor child maltreatment pattern and were greater for non-domestic violence families. In all, findings of this study suggested that different intervention emphasis might be needed to work with families of more severe risk issues.

Application of Child Protective Services in Korea

Because childrearing is a very culturally oriented practice, cultural sensitivity in Child Protective Services (CPS) is a very important factor for effective services. Korea has recently begun social intervention in cases of child abuse, but faces many difficulties resulting from cultural dilemmas. In particular, Korean society has the value of corporal punishment and negative attitudes toward social intervention into family issues. These cultural characteristics result in strong resistance to intervention by CPS. In the future, the success of child abuse intervention in Korean society will depend on how these cultural dilemmas are resolved. The development of a CPS model based on Korean culture can be an alternative to reduce conflicts in the application of CPS.

Predictors of Child Abuse Potential Among Military Parents: Comparing Mothers and Fathers

The present study examines the predictors of child abuse potential for at-risk fathers and mothers serving as active duty Army members and their spouses. Although fathers are perpetrators of child physical abuse and neglect in a substantial portion of reported cases, what is known about factors associated with child maltreatment comes almost exclusively from studies of perpetrating mothers. Thus, the inclusion of a large sample of fathers in the present study makes a significant contribution to the extant literature. Participants were 175 fathers (93% active-duty) and 590 mothers (16% active duty) of young children enrolled in an Army-sponsored home visitation program. Regression analyses indicated that there were both common and unique predictors of child abuse potential for mothers and fathers. Common predictors included depression, parental distress, and family conflict. Low family expressiveness was predictive only for fathers, whereas marital dissatisfaction, low social support, and low family cohesion were predictive only for mothers. Possible reasons for these gender differences and the implications of these results for child maltreatment interventions are discussed.

Effectiveness of Psychological Interventions for Child Maltreatment: A Meta-Analysis.

A meta-analysis tested the effectiveness of psychological treatments for child maltreatment (CM) using weighted least squares methods (e.g., L. V. Hedges & I. Olkin, 1985). A mean effect size of d 0.54 (SE .03, 95% CI .39– .69) was observed, indicating that on average, treated participants were better off than 71% of those in control groups. Partitioning by type and target of outcome assessment yielded homogeneous effects within each of 5 different outcomes. Treatment effects were weakest when linked to objective behavioral observations of the family (d .21) and strongest when associated with parent self-reported parenting attitudes and behaviors (d .53). Results of other moderator analyses are presented, along with limitations of current CM treatment research; implications for future research, practice, and social policy are discussed.

Child Abuse Prevention in Japan: An Approach to Screening and Intervention with Mothers

The number of reported child abuse cases is on the increase in Japan. This report describes the testing of an approach to prevention based on a key question: "Do you find any of your children irritating?" The study employed a focus group and a survey. The focus group consisted of 13 mothers who had been severely abusive to their children and were undergoing individual psychotherapy in Tokyo. The survey included 1,538 mothers living with at least one child less than 6 years of age in metropolitan Tokyo. The survey questionnaire asked about mothers' attitudes toward their children and about details and frequency of possibly abusive behavior for their children. All 13 mothers of the focus group reported the experience of feeling their children irritating. They talked extensively and provided many details of their feelings. Of the survey mothers, 3.6% reported feeling their children irritating and showed high scores of abusive behavior. There was a difference in attribution of source of the irritation between these mothers and focus-group mothers. We conclude that the question on irritability is effective in eliciting mothers' feelings and behavior, especially for providing public health nurses with an opportunity for intervention in child abuse.

Informal support in maltreating families: Its effect on parenting practices

Enlisting the aid of parents' informal support networks in child maltreatment interventions is a widely accepted practice; yet little is known about how support affects parenting in maltreating families. This study examines the role of informal support among families receiving child welfare services. It posits that financial strain and negative life events affect parenting through their negative effect on maternal depression and examines the influence of informal supports on these relationships, whether child welfare services affected the availability of support, and whether change in support is associated with change in parents' exposure to stressors and parental functioning. The study's findings suggest that increasing support may reduce the amount of stressors and depression that parents experience and improve their positive parenting. But using support to alter negative parenting may be a more complex undertaking and depend on the supporter's capacity to provide constructive support.

Dynamic prediction characteristics of the Child Abuse Potential Inventory

Objectives: Risk measures are commonly used to evaluate outcomes in child abuse prevention and intervention programs. This study examined whether pre-intervention to post-intervention changes on the Child Abuse Potential Inventory (CAP) Abuse Scale corresponded to actual changes in risk for future reports of maltreatment and evaluated the validity of several algorithms for classifying clinically significant change. Method: Participants in the study were 459 parents participating in any one of 27 community-based family preservation and family support programs. Most parents were low-income mothers with a variety of social risk indicators, about a third of whom would be classified as high-risk by the CAP Abuse Scale. Participants were administered the CAP at program enrollment, then at completion of the intervention (median time=150 days), then followed for an average of approximately 2 years for future official maltreatment reports. Dynamic predictive validity of the CAP Abuse Scale was modeled by comparing survival models using a time-dependent structure of pre- and post-intervention scores to identically structured models using only a pre-intervention score. Results: Pre-intervention CAP Abuse Scale scores demonstrated incremental future predictive validity. However, score changes failed to correspond to changes in likelihood of future abuse. Models using pre-intervention scores only were more predictive than time-dependent score models, and pre-intervention scores were better predictors than post-intervention scores of post-intervention CPS referrals. Common algorithms for classifying clinically significant change yielded results that could be counter-intuitive and misleading. For example, participants classified as improved on these algorithms were actually at similar or even higher risk than those classified as unchanged or worse. Conclusions: The results strongly supported the static predictive validity of the CAP and the use of the CAP for screening purposes. The results did not support the dynamic predictive validity of the CAP. Results of exploratory analyses suggested the possibility that the changes observed on the CAP Abuse Scale reflected changes in subscales assessing subjective distress or parenting attitudes, which may be markers for initial risk but when changed, do not necessarily translate into actual changes in future maltreatment behavior. Although replication and extension are needed before drawing firm conclusions, the current study raises questions about the common practice of using risk instruments as proxy measures for child maltreatment risk in intervention and prevention programs.

SCHWARTZ-KENNEY, Beth M., Michelle McCAULEY and Michelle A. EPSTEIN, eds., CHILD ABUSE: A Global View

SCHWARTZ-KENNEY, Beth M., Michelle McCAULEY and Michelle A. EPSTEIN, eds., CHILD ABUSE: A Global View. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2000, 296 pp., $49.95 hardcover. Research on family processes around the world is quite immense. However, few of these studies examine the issue of child abuse, even though anecdotal evidence and existing data from governmental and non-governmental (NGOs) agencies indicate that child harassment and sexual exploitation and the use of child labor is widespread around the world. Indeed, in the case of the developing world where the problem may be more acute and hidden under the rubric of culture and poverty, scholarly research on the topic is quite limited. Moreover, in the developing world, what constitutes child abuse can vary from one society to another as well as in time and space. Indeed, demographic researchers have long suggested that in many high-fertility countries around the world, children are beneficial to parents from an early age, as they are a major source of cheap labor. The extent to which these normative practices impact or lead to abuse is as yet unclear. It is in light of the above observations that the scholarly community and child care advocates would welcome a book devoted entirely to the topic of child abuse in different cultural settings. This edited volume by Schwartz-Kenney, McCauley and Epstein provide insights into the prevalence of various types of child abuse as well as the available treatment strategies in sixteen countries from all over the world. For each country, the authors) provide comparable data on the history, dimension and prevalence of various types of child abuse (e.g., maltreatment, physical abuse, sexual abuse, and neglect). For example, in the case of Canada, the author indicates that the government has established child victim support programs to help prepare children for court cases. In England, the author points to the existence of two main ideological orientations that have influenced child abuse intervention programs: the belief that physical abuse arises from factors like stress, poverty and immaturity of parents, and the perception that child abuse is the result of male power and dominance. According to the chapter on India, the country's constitution has a provision that deals with issues affecting children. Unfortunately, these provisions are rarely enforced. According to the author on Ireland, treatment programs for sex offenders are scandalously underdeveloped. In the case of Israel, we are told that the belief that the Jewish family is pro-children has made it difficult for many people to accept the existence of the problem. Thus, the author calls for mandatory training about child maltreatment in professional studies such as medicine, social work and law. Japan does not have a cohesive, integrated system of child protection we are told. …

The power of Filial Relationship Enhancement therapy as an intervention in child abuse and neglect.

Identified variables that influence intervention in child abuse and neglect and proposes a constructive approach that can help these children and their families change. This is a difficult and complex societal problem, and it is difficult to tease out the specific elements that are responsible for the frequency of its occurrence. The family context is often recognized as having a significant influence. Filial Relationship Enhancement, using an improved family context to support gains, has a long history of research and practice to support its efficacy to intervene in difficulties that impede optimum functioning in children. Filial Relationship Enhancement helps parents learn to conduct weekly child-centered play therapy sessions with their own children at home. This article presents the basic assumptions and the rationale for considering the potential power of this approach. It also describes a program of intervention incorporated by a child protective unit of a county agency. Using informal measures, outcomes are described as well. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)

Community Intervention in Child Abuse and Neglect

Community Intervention in Child Abuse and Neglect

Child Maltreatment in American Indian and Alaska Native Communities: Integrating Culture, History, and Public Health for Intervention and Prevention

This article addresses child maltreatment intervention and prevention among American Indians and Alaska Natives. The authors argue that history and culture must be included as context and variables for developing and implementing prevention programs in Indian Country. They propose that the public health violence prevention model would benefit from incorporating tenets of the history and culture(s) of diverse groups, in this instance American Indians and Alaska Natives. The authors offer an approach that focuses on population- and individual-level risk and protective factors for child maltreatment intervention and prevention in American Indian/Alaska Native communities. They include suggestions and examples for doing the work in Indian Country.

Evaluating the success of sweden’s corporal punishment ban

Objective: In 1979, Sweden became the first nation to explicitly prohibit all forms of corporal punishment of children by all caretakers in an effort to: (1) alter public attitudes toward this practice; (2) increase early identification of children at risk for abuse; and (3) promote earlier and more supportive intervention to families. The aim of this study was to examine trends over recent decades in these areas to assess the degree to which these goals have been met. Method: Primary data were collected from official Swedish sources for the following variables: public support for corporal punishment, reporting of child physical assault, child abuse mortality, prosecution rates, and intervention by the social authorities. Lines of best fit were generated and Cox and Stuart tests for trend were conducted. Results: Public support for corporal punishment has declined, identification of children at risk has increased, child abuse mortality is rare, prosecution rates have remained steady, and social service intervention has become increasingly supportive and preventive. Conclusions: The Swedish ban has been highly successful in accomplishing its goals. Spanish abstract not available at time of publication.

Introduction to the Commentary

No abstract available. Spouse Abuse Victim Spouse Abuse Intervention Domestic Violence Intervention Domestic Violence Victim Child Abuse-Spouse Abuse Co-occurrence Child Abuse Intervention Child Abuse Victim Child Physical Abuse Intervention Child Physical Abuse Victim Intervention Recommendations Child Protection Adult Female Adult Mother Adult Parent Adult Responsibility Adult Victim Mother Responsibility Parent Responsibility Child Victim Partner Violence Violence Against Women 08-02

The Spectrum of Child Abuse Presenting to a University Hospital in Riyadh

Child abuse is prevalent worldwide, although it is often underreported. we describe the pattern of child abuse and neglect presenting to the emergency room of our hospital, the sociocultural changes which brought this about, and suggest ways to deal with this emotionally sensitive issue. Thirteen cases of child abuse and neglect were seen in the emergency room of King Khalid University Hospital over a period of one year from July 1996 to June 1997. There were four cases of non-accidental injury, three of which had serious injury. There were three cases of sexual abuse, four cases of neglect, resulting in the death of one child and severe emaciation in another. There was one suspected case of Munchausen syndrome by proxy, and one case of child labor with neglect. Public awareness of the problem of child abuse has increased, and recent media reports reflect the significance accorded to the issue. As more information is obtained on this subject and policies and guidelines are set in place, efforts at reporting and preventing physical and psychological trauma will gather momentum.

Protecting Children from Abuse and Neglect: Analysis and Recommendations

An analysis of the challenges, pressures, and uncertainties facing the public child protection system, with recommendations for strengthening child protective services agencies, and expanding prevention and treatment resources. (Abstract Adapted from Source: The Future of Children, 1998. Copyright © 1998 by The David and Lucile Packard Foundation) Child Protection Child Abuse Victim Child Abuse Intervention Child Abuse Prevention Child Physical Abuse Victim Child Physical Abuse Intervention Child Physical Abuse Prevention Child Neglect Intervention Child Neglect Prevention Child Neglect Victim Child Victim Domestic Violence Intervention Domestic Violence Prevention Domestic Violence Victim Prevention Recommendations Intervention Recommendations 01-02

A Partnership-Directed School-Based Intervention for Child Physical Abuse and Neglect: Beyond Mandatory Reporting

Professionals in the schools are the major source of child maltreatment reports nationally. However, a review of the literature indicates that these professionals contribute only a small amount of school-based research data to our understanding of the consequences of child physical abuse and neglect or the treatment of child victims. A strategic multi-systems approach for designing school-based intervention research for vulnerable preschool child victims is presented. The approach involves establishing research collaborations with parents, educators, and child protective service agencies. Descriptions of the multi-level intervention strategy, which includes school district, school, and classroom levels, are provided to illustrate this approach. Public policy implications of school involvement in child maltreatment intervention are discussed.

Social Work Intervention in Child Abuse—An Ever-Widening Net?

This paper considers some of the issues concerning the social work response to child protection which are currently being debated by professionals involved in this field. In particular, the paper considers where there is an imbalance in the system, with too much emphasis being placed on child protection at the expense of child welfare. It describes how one authority has sought to focus its child protection investigation system. This has been achieved firstly through the use of management information to measure performance and make comparisons between different areas. This information was then used as the basis of training, encouraging staff to renew their practice and ensure that an appropriate response is made to child care referrals and that children are not drawn into the child protection net inappropriately but are dealt with within a child welfare framework. Examination of a sample of child protection investigations showed that where welfare needs were investigated, attempts were made to use available resources to meet these needs.

A representational perspective of child abuse and prevention: Internal working models of attachment and caregiving

Attachment theory provides a rich theoretical framework for research and intervention in child abuse. This paper examines the central role of internal working models in the development of child-parent relationships. Mental representations of child attachment (in infancy and middle childhood), adult attachment and parental caregiving are discussed in light of the adaptational deficits that researchers have found to be associated with attachment insecurity. A reconceptualization of the link between insecurity and child abuse is described, highlighting disorganized attachment. Implications for child abuse intervention are discussed.