Family Child Abuse Research Articles

Parents with disabilities, mandated reporting, and nursing: A scoping review

BackgroundMany nurses report feeling underprepared and insecure about the mandated reporting of concern for child maltreatment, which is further compounded by parental disability. PurposeThis scoping review examined the body of literature on nurse mandated reporting responsibility within the context of parental disability. MethodA scoping review was conducted as informed by the Arksey and O’Malley Framework and the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews. FindingsInitial database search identified 2,669 records, which then underwent title and abstract screening (n=2458), assessment for full text review (n=53), and full review (n=28). Analysis of 106 quantitative and 22 qualitative variables revealed sparse evidence and guidance to help nurses navigate mandated reporting of child abuse in families with parental disability. DiscussionFindings identified opportunities to inform research, policy, and practice to better meet the needs of nurse mandated reporters and families with parental disability.

Child Maltreatment in Families Receiving Mandatory Versus Voluntary Child Protection Support: A Matched Cohort Study

ABSTRACTChild safety is an important outcome of child protection services (CPSs); however, this is often assessed in terms of official registries (e.g., rereports). Little empirical evidence is available about how the frequency of child maltreatment changes during CPS intervention by using self‐report measures. The present study evaluates the frequency of child maltreatment experienced by children receiving mandatory child protection support compared to carefully matched children receiving voluntary child protection support. The current study is part of an ongoing Dutch longitudinal study on family violence consisting of several cohorts with similar designs. Both parents and children reported on the frequency of child maltreatment using validated questionnaires at two timepoints, 12 months apart. To facilitate careful comparison, both groups were matched using propensity scores based on background variables, resulting in two groups of N = 178 children. GLMM analyses showed a significant decrease in the mean number of child maltreatment incidents over time in the total group. However, this decrease did not differ for children receiving mandatory and voluntary child protection support. The findings indicate that, despite possible motivational challenges in the mandatory group, mandatory child protection support elicits comparable results as voluntary support. Implications for further research and practice are discussed.

Domestic violence and social services in Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia, and Nigeria: Comparative study

Objectives: with regard to neglect, deprivation, false allegations, exposure to traumatic experiences, and other factors, it is reasonable to claim that domestic violence is a major contributor to child abuse in families. Domestic violence also affects the national economy and the probability of poverty. The legal definition of violence and cultural traditions play a significant role in how it is perceived. This study focuses on exploring domestic violence and social services to respond to domestic violence in families with children and examines multidisciplinary approach to domestic violence in families across Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia and Nigeria. Materials and Methods: based on purposive sampling, 16 in-depth interviews were conducted with professionals from Lithuania, Latvia, Slovakia, and Nigeria who work with families and individuals who have experienced domestic violence. The data were analysed using ATLAS.ti 5.0 to generate themes and finalised by employing qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) with the software fsQCA 4.0. Results: data showed that several conditions impacted the effective intervention and prevention of domestic violence. Four of these conditions were identified as sufficient causal pathways for domestic violence: tradition for tolerance of violence, lack of or fuzzy national definition of domestic violence, cultural traditions, level of support for women’s empowerment, government policies addressing family violence, and multidisciplinary efforts of social intervention professionals. Conclusions. The observed level of violence tolerance provides some explanation for the low rate of self-reported domestic violence and rationale for a greater emphasis on human rights and dignity awareness. The multidisciplinary efforts of social intervention are evident in the services provided in Lithuania, Latvia, Slovakia, and Nigeria; there are professional referrals to little multidisciplinary collaboration in Nigeria. The example of Nigeria demonstrates that regulations exist to prevent domestic violence, but cultural traditions make it difficult for women to disclose abuse, resulting in many women suffering in silence.

Working with denial in families dealing with child abuse: A scoping review of the resolutions approach

AbstractThe Resolutions Approach (RA) is a solution‐based intervention that has a unique way of dealing with parental denial of child abuse occurrences. The aim of this scoping review is to summarise knowledge about the benefits of the RA and identify areas for future research. After describing the theoretical background, the intervention steps are illustrated. Next, results of a systematic literature search on the effectiveness and other clinical benefits of the RA are presented. Finally, we provide suggestions for future research. Our search identified two published articles and one dissertation. Findings indicate that the RA might be useful in stopping child abuse and in improving cooperation between families and professionals. Parents experienced more control over their situation, and guardians perceived the method to be transparent. The RA is a well‐described method that respectfully deals with families in which a lack of safety is observed. Future empirical research on the RA is necessary.Practitioner points The Resolutions Approach aims to stop and prevent child abuse in families when there are different perspectives on the abuse. Our study reveals that there are signs of a clinical benefit of the RA in establishing a safe family environment for the child. Families experienced more control over their situation, while guardians perceived the method to be transparent. For most families participating in the RA, a supportive social network could be established.

Scientific Misinformation and Gender Affirming Care: Tools for Providers on the Front Lines

In the United States, over 20 bills that criminalize the standard of care for gender-diverse youth have been recently introduced in the state legislatures and three have passed [1]. In these states, practitioners may face loss of licensure or imprisonment, while parents or legal guardians (henceforth referred to as “guardians”) may face child abuse investigations and family destruction [1,2]. The courts have enjoined the enforcement of these laws, but litigation is ongoing, and may negatively shape public opinion.

Longitudinal Relations Between Child Maltreatment in Families and Psychological Maltreatment by Teachers: The Mediating Roles of Internalizing and Externalizing Problems Among Chinese Children.

Relationships in the family (e.g., child maltreatment in families) and school environments (e.g., psychological maltreatment by teachers) are influential in children's socialization, but how family and teacher-student domains mutually affect each other and which mediating mechanisms are involved in cross-domain spillover at the within-person level are not well understood. This study examined the bidirectional relations between child maltreatment in families and psychological maltreatment by teachers and whether internalizing and externalizing problems functioned as mediators between them after separating between-person effects from within-person effects. A total of 4270 Chinese children (54.9% boys; Mage = 9.92; SD = 0.51) participated in a five-wave longitudinal study with 6-month intervals. Results from random intercept cross-lagged panel modeling mainly found that: (1) Child maltreatment in families predicted psychological maltreatment by teachers, and vice versa; (2) child maltreatment in families influenced psychological maltreatment by teachers through externalizing problems; child maltreatment in families affected the likelihood of psychological maltreatment by teachers via the sequential effect from internalizing problems to externalizing problems at the within-person level; and (3) internalizing and externalizing problems mediated the longitudinal relations from psychological maltreatment by teachers to child maltreatment in families separately. Findings demonstrated bidirectional spillover effects in the domains of family and teacher-student relationships, suggesting that children may be trapped in a vicious cycle of negative relationships through internalizing and externalizing problems, either directly or indirectly. Thus, these two domains influence each other through children's internalizing and externalizing problems. Interventions aimed at addressing maltreatment should include family, school, and individual (i.e., internalizing and externalizing problems) components to prevent a downward spiral.

Bullying Victimization Among Ukrainian College Students: The Role of Family Communication and Satisfaction, Corporal Punishment and Child Abuse

Bullying involves aggression that is proactive, intentional, and repeated in a relationship with unequal power. We assessed the association of recent bullying victimization with family processes during childhood using standardized measures in a sample of 1008 young adults attending 10 Ukrainian universities in Ukraine. Structural equation modeling was utilized to examine the associations between family communication and satisfaction, childhood corporal punishment and abuse, and adulthood bullying victimization. The majority of participants had been bullied by a peer or teacher (62.38%) and had a history of corporal punishment (63.46%). There were direct effects of child abuse and corporal punishment and family communication style on bullying victimization during young adulthood. The extent of satisfaction with students’ families of origin showed indirect effects. The results highlight the present needs of many students, as well as the risk factors associated with bullying victimization during their post-secondary education years.

반영팀 형식의 집단 슈퍼비전 경험 연구: 아동보호전문기관 상담원을 대상으로

This study is a qualitative study on the experiences of counselors in child protection agencies that participated in the form of a reflecting team for the solution-focused family therapy approach for the supervision of child abuse family counseling cases. Although the use of the reflection team in social constructivist interventions is universal, I would like to explore the meaning and applicability of the reflection team in the field of Korean counseling. In-depth interviews with counselors or counselors from child protection agencies were conducted to identify and organize important themes. Participants were able to escape from the problem-centered view of the family, understand the case from different perspectives, and gather extensive experience in how to approach the case by reflecting various opinions. Group supervision in the form of a reflection team, centered on counselors for child protection agencies, helped counselors find the strengths of child abuse families and allowed them to value minor changes.

Assessing an Adapted Approach to Communities That Care for Child Maltreatment Prevention

Objective: Communities That Care (CTC) is an evidence-based community mobilization model designed to prevent problematic adolescent behaviors such as delinquency and substance use by organizing community coalitions that choose and implement evidence-based practices to address community-specific risk and protective factors. This paper presents findings from the evaluation of Keeping Families Together (KFT)—an adapted CTC approach that targets community-wide prevention of child maltreatment in families with children ages 0–10. Method: We compared findings from 2 Oregon communities that implemented KFT with those from 12 communities that implemented traditional CTC as part of a site-randomized controlled trial. We analyzed data collected approximately 3.5 years into implementation to determine whether this adapted approach resulted in similar implementation quality, board functioning, community transformation, and perceived program sustainability as original CTC. Results: Board functioning, communities’ adoption of a science-based approach to prevention, and sustainability in the adapted KFT approach were equal or superior to traditional CTC sites 3.5 years into implementation. Conclusions: As an adaptation of the evidence-based CTC community mobilization approach, KFT offers the potential of a promising extension of CTC for prevention of child maltreatment.

Child maltreatment is mediating long-term consequences of household dysfunction in a population representative sample

Background: Adverse childhood experiences (ACE) exhibit long-lasting consequences on later life and are considered as a major public health problem. ACEs can be divided into household dysfunctions, which affect the child indirectly, and direct maltreatment. As a high correlation between ACEs in general is known, we assessed the risk for child maltreatment associated with the occurrence of household dysfunctions. To provide a better understanding for the mechanisms leading to the deleterious sequelae of ACEs, we furthermore assessed whether the long-term consequences of household dysfunction are mediated by child maltreatment and thereby might be targeted by effective child protection programs.Methods: A representative sample of the German population above the age of 14 (N = 2531) was assessed in a cross-sectional observational population-based survey.Results: The data reveal that mental illness of a household member was associated with significantly increased risks for all child maltreatment subtypes (ORs 4.95–5.55), just as household substance abuse (ORs 5.32–6.98), violence against the mother (ORs 4.43–10.26), incarceration of a household member (ORs 6.11–14.93) and parental separation (OR 3.37–4.87). Child maltreatment partially mediated the association of household mental illness, substance abuse and parental separation with later depression, anxiety, life satisfaction and subjective general health status and completely mediated the associations of intimate partner violence (IPV) and incarceration of a household member with anxiety, depression and subjective health status in adulthood.Conclusions: ACEs linked to household dysfunction are associated with an increased risk for all subtypes of child maltreatment. The assessed widespread consequences of household dysfunction are mediated by child maltreatment. This underlines the role of prevention of child maltreatment in families with household dysfunction and implies child protection as a priority in any interventions.

Risk markers for physical intimate partner violence victimization: A meta-analysis

Abstract This meta-analysis provides a comprehensive overview of risk markers for intimate partner violence (IPV) victimization. Data from 391 studies, yielding 1731 effect sizes, were analyzed. Using Dutton's (1995) nested ecological theory, we categorized risk markers into the exosystem, microsystem, and ontogenetic levels. We examined 50 risk markers for IPV victimization for women, and 28 risk markers for IPV victimization for men. Using a random-effects approach, the overall strength of each risk marker for men and women was calculated to find out which risk markers were most strongly correlated with IPV victimization for both men and women. Next, gender was used as a moderator on 28 risk markers to test if there was a significant difference in the strength of risk markers between men and women. We found that the strongest risk markers for IPV victimization for both men and women were risk markers located in the microsystem, and specifically risk markers associated with previous relationship violence. We also found that the strength of 5 out of 28 risk markers for IPV victimization significantly differed between men and women (alcohol use, child abuse in family of origin, depression, older age, sexual IPV victimization). Implications for future research and for clinicians are discussed.

The intergenerational transmission of child maltreatment: A three-level meta-analysis.

A parental history of experiencing child maltreatment is an important risk factor in several etiological theories of child maltreatment. In the past, two reviews have been conducted on the available evidence for intergenerational continuity in child maltreatment, but were only qualitative in nature. Therefore, the present review aimed to provide a quantitative summary of the current knowledge on intergenerational transmission of child maltreatment. In our 3-level random-effects meta-analysis, we included 84 studies reporting on 285 effect sizes and found a medium summary effect of r = 0.289; 95% CI [0.257, 0.337], with significant variation in effect sizes within (level 2) and between (level 3) studies. This implies that in families of parents who experienced maltreatment in their own childhood, the odds of child maltreatment are almost three times the odds of child maltreatment in families of parents without a history of experiencing child maltreatment (OR = 2.990). However, as indications for bias were found, caution is warranted in interpreting this effect. Moderator analyses revealed that the effect of intergenerational transmission was the smallest in children who experienced physical abuse. Further, study quality was negatively associated with effect size magnitude. We highlight the need for an improvement in quality of primary research, and discuss implications of our findings for clinical practice.

Maternal intimate partner violence victimization and child maltreatment

There is some limited evidence of an association between maternal intimate partner victimization (IPV) and children’s experience of maltreatment. Using data from a longitudinal study, we examine whether this relationship is independent of range of potential confounders including socio-economic, familial and psychological factors. Data were taken from the 14 and 30-year follow-ups of the Mater-University of Queensland Study of Pregnancy (MUSP) in Australia. A subsample of 2064 mothers and children (59.0% female) whose data on maternal IPV and child maltreatment was available, were analysed. In families with maternal IPV, two in five children reported being maltreated, compared to one in five children maltreated in families without maternal IPV. Except for sexual maltreatment which was consistently higher in female offspring, there was no gender differences in experiencing different types of maltreatment in families manifesting maternal IPV. Although both males and females were at increased risk of child maltreatment in families where mothers were victimized by their male partners, male children were more likely to be emotionally maltreated. The main associations were substantially independent of measured confounders, except for father’s history of mental health problems which attenuated the association of maternal IPV victimization and male offspring’s physical abuse. Our findings confirm that there is a robust association between maternal IPV and child maltreatment. Both maternal IPV victimization and child maltreatment co-occur in a household characterized by conflict and violence. Consequences of IPV go beyond the incident and influence all family members. Efforts to reduce child maltreatment may need to address the greater level of IPV associated with the cycle of family violence.

虐待防止三法の施行と家族 : 児童虐待防止法施行と家族構成(シンポジウム「家族をめぐる法的課題」)

虐待防止三法の施行と家族 : 児童虐待防止法施行と家族構成(シンポジウム「家族をめぐる法的課題」)

Risk factors for fatal and non-fatal child maltreatment in families previously investigated by CPS: A case-control study

The objective of this study was to identify individual, family and caregiver risk factors for serious child maltreatment, resulting in hospitalization or death, among children and families investigated by Child Protective Services (CPS). We conducted a matched case-control study of 234 children who sustained fatal or serious nonfatal maltreatment due to physical abuse or neglect and whose mother was named in a CPS investigation between 1999 and 2013. A total of 702 children and their caregivers were included in the study with 234 cases matched 2:1,resulting in 468 controls. Data on potential risk factors were abstracted from three county administrative databases. Differences between cases and controls were calculated and multivariable conditional logistic regression was used to estimate risk models. Variables associated with increased risk for serious maltreatment included male child gender,younger caregivers, three or more children under the age of 5 living in the home, families in which a biologic child was not living with either parent, and scoring moderate or high on the Structured Decision Making Risk Tool®. Caregiver involvement in intimate partner violence (IPV) and child enrollment in public health insurance appears to mitigate the risk of serious maltreatment.

Teacher's Readiness to Work with Children While Playing

Abstract The article deals with the problem of revealing qualities that define Russian teachers’ personal readiness to work with children while playing. This problem is topical for Russia and has not been studied well enough. The traditional stereotype of a Russian teacher was connected with strictness and exactingness. Child abuse (in the form of punishment, even physically) was unofficially considered to be a norm in family education. Isolated instances of child abuse in families and day-care centres may be observed even today. Pedagogical cooperation which was formerly recognized in the 1990s tended to scare off educators over violations of pedagogical ethics and tact, often bordering on familiarity and lack of professionalism. The 2013 new pre-school education standard emphasizes the use of games as children's leading activity type. It actualized teachers’ qualities such as self-consciousness, empathy, colloboration, etc. As a result of it, cognitive development of children began to take a backseat. Russian school standards and programs are not as unrestricted as those in day-care centres. That is why schools are unwilling as yet to meet day-care centres halfway; instead they set down their own requirements for pre-schools (including the level of children's cognitive development) and the latter have to adapt to them. One of the forms of such adaptation is a didactic game. The research suggests that in day-care centres a game is played under a teacher's strict control. Consequently, it loses its freedom and fails to provide self-actualization to either teacher or child. Moreover, there is a different perception of the game among representatives of different religions. For example, the population of the Volga region (Kazan) consists of Russians, Tatars, Chuvashes, Maris. These peoples’ religious and national self identification is on the rise. Some of them fully approve of the games while others don’t.

Maternal involvement in a nurse home visiting programme to prevent child maltreatment

Purpose – Nurse home visiting programmes designed to reduce the likelihood of child maltreatment in families at risk have been widely implemented in Australia and overseas. The purpose of this paper is to examine the intensity and duration of maternal involvement in a nurse home visiting programme to prevent child maltreatment. Design/methodology/approach – A retrospective, longitudinal design was employed. The clinical records of 40 mothers who had received nurse home visits following the birth of a new baby for at least six months, and had provided consent for their details to be accessed for research purposes, were selected for analysis. The influence of antenatal characteristics and well-being on maternal involvement in a nurse home visiting programme was examined using reliability of change indices. Findings – Mothers with impaired family functioning reporting they experienced violence at home were more likely to leave the programme early and received fewer than the prescribed number of home visits compared to mothers who had been enroled into the programme for other complex psychosocial needs. At the same time, mothers enroled on the basis of impaired psychological functioning and who did not report violence in the home remained, and received more than the prescribed number of home visits over the course of their involvement. Originality/value – Results showed that domestic violence increased the risk of poor engagement with a targeted nurse home visiting programme. At the same time, home visitors responded to complex individual and family needs by increasing the number of home visits accordingly. This theoretically based pilot research has helped to disentangle antecedents of maternal involvement and the subsequent impact on programme outcomes. Further investigation using a larger study sample is needed.

Invisible Victims: Delayed Onset Depression among Adults with Same-Sex Parents.

The relationship of elevated depression risk recently discovered among adult persons raised by same-sex parents with possible precipitating conditions in childhood has not previously been acknowledged. This study tests whether such inattention is supportable. Logistic regression based risk ratios were estimated from longitudinal measures of mental health outcomes observed in three waves (at ages 15, 22, and 28) of the US National Survey of Adolescent to Adult Health (n = 15,701). At age 28, the adults raised by same-sex parents were at over twice the risk of depression (CES-D: risk ratio 2.6, 95% CI 1.4–4.6) as persons raised by man-woman parents. These findings should be interpreted with caution. Elevated risk was associated with imbalanced parental closeness and parental child abuse in family of origin; depression, suicidality, and anxiety at age 15; and stigma and obesity. More research and policy attention to potentially problematic conditions for children with same-sex parents appears warranted.

Child abuse predicts adult PTSD symptoms among individuals diagnosed with intellectual disabilities.

Prior research has shown that people with intellectual disabilities (ID) are more likely to experience child abuse as well as other forms of traumatic or negative events later in life compared to the general population. Little is known however, about the association of these experiences with adult mental health in intellectually disabled individuals. The present study aimed to assess whether child abuse in families and institutions as well as other types of adverse life events, were associated with current posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression symptoms in individuals with ID. We conducted clinical interviews which included standardized self-report measures for childhood abuse, PTSD, and depression in an unselected sample of 56 persons with a medical diagnosis of ID who were attending a specialized welfare center. The frequency of traumatic experiences was very high, with physical and emotional child abuse being the most common trauma types. 87% of the persons reported at least one aversive experience on the family violence spectrum, and 50% of the sample reported a violent physical attack later in adulthood. 25% were diagnosed with PTSD and almost 27% had a critical score on the depression scale. Physical and emotional child abuse was positively correlated with the amount of institutional violence and the number of general traumatic events, whereas childhood sexual abuse was related to the experience of intimate partner violence in adult life. A linear regression model revealed child abuse in the family to be the only significant independent predictor of PTSD symptom severity. The current findings underscore the central role of child maltreatment in the increased risk of further victimization and in the development of mental health problems in adulthood in intellectually disabled individuals. Our data have important clinical implications and demonstrate the need for targeted prevention and intervention programs that are tailored to the specific needs of children and adults with intellectual disability.

Household illness, poverty and physical and emotional child abuse victimisation: findings from South Africa's first prospective cohort study.

BackgroundPhysical and emotional abuse of children is a large scale problem in South Africa, with severe negative outcomes for survivors. Although chronic household illness has shown to be a predictor for physical and emotional abuse, no research has thus far investigated the different pathways from household chronic illness to child abuse victimisation in South Africa.MethodsConfidential self-report questionnaires using internationally utilised measures were completed by children aged 10-17 (n = 3515, 56.7% female) using door-to-door sampling in randomly selected areas in rural and urban locations of South Africa. Follow-up surveys were conducted a year later (96.7% retention rate). Using multiple mediation analyses, this study investigated direct and indirect effects of chronic household illness (AIDS or other illness) on frequent (monthly) physical and emotional abuse victimisation with poverty and extent of the ill person’s disability as hypothesised mediators.ResultsFor children in AIDS-ill families, a positive direct effect on physical abuse was obtained. In addition, positive indirect effects through poverty and disability were established. For boys, a positive direct and indirect effect of AIDS-illness on emotional abuse through poverty were detected. For girls, a positive indirect effect through poverty was observed. For children in households with other chronic illness, a negative indirect effect on physical abuse was obtained. In addition, a negative indirect effect through poverty and positive indirect effect through disability was established. For boys, positive and negative indirect effects through poverty and disability were found respectively. For girls, a negative indirect effect through poverty was observed.ConclusionsThese results indicate that children in families affected by AIDS-illness are at higher risk of child abuse victimisation, and this risk is mediated by higher levels of poverty and disability. Children affected by other chronic illness are at lower risk for abuse victimisation unless they are subject to higher levels of household disability. Interventions aiming to reduce poverty and increase family support may help prevent child abuse in families experiencing illness in South Africa.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12889-015-1792-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.