Child Maltreatment

Child physical abuse is a major public health issue in the United States. Environmental child welfare research has focused on neighborhood characteristics and the influence of alcohol and marijuana establishments. To our knowledge, child welfare studies have singularly examined the outcome in terms of victims, that is, at the level of child population, and have not considered the parent population. Thus, in this exploratory study, we use spatial scan statistics to analyze patterns of child physical abuse at the child and household level, and we use Bayesian hierarchical spatial conditional autoregressive models to determine the relative influence of alcohol availability and other environmental factors. We find that household clusters are nested in child clusters and that controlling for alcohol establishments reduces cluster size. In the Bayesian regression models, alcohol availability increased risk slightly, while neighborhood diversity (measured using Blau’s Index) elevated risk considerably. Immediate implications for child welfare agencies are discussed.

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are related to a host of deleterious physical and mental health outcomes. The ACE–International Questionnaire (ACE-IQ) was developed to assess categories of ACEs (e.g., sexual, emotional, and physical abuse) in internationally representative samples. Though the ACE-IQ has been used world-wide, little work has examined the structure of this measure. Further, much of the modeling techniques implemented lacked theoretical rationale. The present work used two principal components analyses (PCA) to evaluate the ACE-IQ structure using both the identified ACE categories as defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) and using the ACE-IQ items as individual indicators. Using the WHO method, a two-component structure was indicated. Alternatively, a PCA of the individual items yielded a six-component structure. Results highlight the importance of theoretically grounded measure evaluation and the potential distinctions amongst types of ACEs. Implications and future directions for research and practice are discussed.

Despite alarming rates of sexual assault on college campuses, little research has examined risk factors for sexual victimization among LGBTQ+ college students. This exploratory study aims to examine adolescent sexual assault, internalized homonegativity, and problematic alcohol use as mediators linking several types of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs; i.e., childhood sexual abuse, parental abuse, and household disorder) to collegiate sexual assault. Utilizing data from 241 LGBTQ+ college students, path analysis findings demonstrated that these proposed mediators increased risk for sexual assault and that various types of ACEs exerted differential impacts on sexual re-victimization, internalized homonegativity, and problematic alcohol use. Practice-based implications are offered, including the need for affirming programming that includes problem drinking prevention components and considers the role of ACEs and internalized homonegativity in increasing risk for sexual assault during college as well as the need for LGBTQ+ resource centers on campus.

Child sexual abuse is often perceived differently based on characteristics of the victim and the perpetrator. However, unknown is whether variations in perceptions occur when the relationship to and gender of the victim are manipulated—particularly when the offender is a woman. The current study sought to explore whether authority role (neighbor, teacher, family, or clergy) and victim gender affect perceived outcomes for the victim. A factorial vignette design was used to randomly assign participants to one of eight conditions, and a series of analyses of variance (ANOVAs) were conducted to assess differences in perceived victim outcomes for the vignettes. Results showed significant differences for authority role, victim gender, and the interactions between authority and victim gender for nearly all dependent variables. Respondents recognized that the scenarios presented were damaging and harmful; however, certain authority positions (i.e., teachers) were sexualized leading to diminished perceptions of negative outcomes, particularly for male victims.

We examined whether a policy banning corporal punishment enacted in Kenya in 2010 is associated with changes in Kenyan caregivers’ use of corporal punishment and beliefs in its effectiveness and normativeness, and compared to caregivers in six countries without bans in the same period. Using a longitudinal study with six waves of panel data (2008–2016), mothers (N = 1086) in Colombia, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, Philippines, Thailand, and United States reported household use of corporal punishment and beliefs about its effectiveness and normativeness. Random intercept models and multi-group piecewise growth curve models indicated that the proportion of corporal punishment behaviors used by the Kenyan caregivers decreased post-ban at a significantly different rate compared to the caregivers in other countries in the same period. Beliefs of effectiveness of corporal punishment were declining among the caregivers in all sites, whereas the Kenyan mothers reported increasing perceptions of normativeness of corporal punishment post-ban, different from the other sites. While other contributing factors cannot be ruled out, our natural experiment suggests that corporal punishment decreased after a national ban, a shift that was not evident in sites without bans in the same period.

Child welfare workers aim to promote the well-being and safety of children and are the link between the child welfare system and families. Families served by the child welfare system should expect similar service based on clinical factors, not based on their caseworker’s characteristics. Using secondary data analyses of the most recent Canadian Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect (CIS-2008) and multilevel modeling, this study examines whether child welfare worker characteristics, such as education level and field, age, and experience predict their perception of the risk of future maltreatment. A total of 1729 case-level investigations and 419 child welfare workers were included in this study. Several one-level logistic regression and two-level logistic regression analyses were run. The best-fit model suggests that caseworkers with a Master’s degree, more than 2 years of experience, and more than 18 cases were significantly more likely to perceive risk of future maltreatment. Further, the interaction between degree level and age also significantly predicted the perception of risk of future maltreatment. Results suggest that the perception of risk of future maltreatment may be influenced by caseworker factors, thus service to families may differ based on caseworker characteristics.

U.S. foster care policy prioritizes keeping siblings together while in foster care. However, prior research on the effects of sibling placement is limited in sample, measures, and research design. In this study, we use data on 2,297 children from an urban county in years 2015–2019 and assess how sibling separation is associated with placement instability. We use multilevel parametric hazard modeling with adjustments for child, sibling, and placement characteristics. Findings indicate that children placed with at least one sibling are less likely to experience a placement move and are specifically less likely to experience a non-progress move (e.g., moves due to problems or negative experiences in their foster home). For larger sibling groups, sibling separation was not consistently associated with placement instability and there was little difference in placement instability for children placed with some versus all siblings. Results were robust to differences in measurement and model specification. Black or Hispanic race/ethnicity was also associated with increased risk of instability, and associations between sibling separation and instability were stronger for Black children, implying enhanced efforts to maintain sibling groups may be especially beneficial for Black children. Overall, findings provide support for the continuation and expansion of policies promoting sibling placement.

It is perhaps surprising that we lack complete national information about why children enter foster care. While the annual Adoption and Foster Care Analysis Reporting System (AFCARS) report is informative, it leaves many questions unanswered, particularly “how many children enter foster care by means other than Child Protective Services (CPS) reports?” Drawing from a unique new integrated dataset, we examined foster care data (AFCARS) and CPS report data (National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System Child File). The linked dataset included 210,062 children with foster care placements in 2017 and no placements in the prior 5 years. We categorized each placed child along two dimensions of four levels each: Time since prior CPS report (if any) and stated AFCARS placement reason, ranging from clearly maltreated to clearly not maltreated. We also tracked the siblings of placed children, to see if non-maltreated children entered care because of maltreated siblings. We find that between 8–35% of children enter foster care for reasons other than maltreatment, depending how thresholds are set. These numbers decline somewhat when siblings are considered. A meaningfully large number of children are placed in foster care for reasons other than maltreatment investigated by CPS. Further research into these children is warranted to better inform foster care policy.

Adverse and advantageous childhood experiences (ACEs and counter-ACEs) during adolescence are understudied. This study examined how childhood experiences affect youth tobacco/alcohol use. Participants included 489 U.S. adolescents (baseline 10–13 years; 51% female) from the first five waves of the Flourishing Families Project. Results of the cross-lagged model showed ACEs were predictive of early tobacco use only. Counter-ACEs in wave two and wave three predicted, respectively, decreased tobacco and decreased alcohol use in the following wave. Counter-ACEs were also correlated with reduced alcohol and tobacco use in later waves. These findings indicate the salience of counter-ACEs over ACEs in persistent and late adolescent substance use, though ACEs may be important to consider to prevent very early initiation of tobacco.

Exposure to childhood maltreatment is a significant risk factor for the development and persistence of problematic alcohol use. The present study examined the role of risk taking and inhibitory control, key cognitive processes believed to govern behavioral regulation, as mechanisms that underlie the association between childhood maltreatment and the early stages of alcohol use. A sample of 129 maltreated adolescents and 102 socioeconomic status–matched, nonmaltreated adolescents and their parents completed three annual assessments, including computer-administered tasks and adolescent- and parent-report questionnaires, across ages 12–13 through 14–15 years. Childhood maltreatment was not directly associated with alcohol use in middle adolescence but was significantly associated with deficits in inhibitory control in early adolescence, which, in turn, led to significantly increased alcohol use in middle adolescence. Indeed, decreased inhibitory control was significant as a mediator, highlighting the salient role of this cognitive process in the early stages of alcohol use among maltreated adolescents.

Polyvictimization is a robust predictor of emotional and behavioral problems and is linked to involvement in juvenile justice and other public sector systems. This study extends prior research by employing person-centered methods for identifying polyvictimization patterns among trauma-exposed, clinic-referred, justice-involved youth (n = 689; ages 12–18 years) and how identified classes differ on psychosocial outcomes and demographic characteristics. Most participants had experienced multiple traumatic event (TE) types. Latent class analyses identified three classes: mixed trauma/bereavement exposure group (55.1%; Mean = 3.0 TE types); maltreatment polyvictimized group (29.3%; Mean = 5.7 TE types); and maltreatment plus extreme violence polyvictimized group (15.7%; Mean = 9.3 TE types). Polyvictimized youth were more likely to be female, in out-of-home placements, and experiencing negative psychosocial outcomes (e.g., Posttraumatic Stress Disorder). Hispanic/Latino youth were overrepresented in the extreme polyvictimized subgroup. Results underscore the need for cross-system coordination of trauma-informed, comprehensive services for clinic-referred, justice-involved youth.

Females involved in child welfare (CW) or juvenile justice (JJ) systems are at-risk for commercial sexual exploitation (CSE). This study used administrative data from CW and JJ agencies in Los Angeles County to examine out-of-home care experiences and identify the types of homes that were associated with housing instability for females who experienced CSE. Demographic and case characteristics of females with a history of CSE and a matched sample without a reported history of CSE were compared using χ2 analyses and t-tests. Females with a history of CSE experienced significantly more housing instability compared to their matched counterparts. Housing instability was associated with leaving care without permission (LCWOP), and females were most likely to move because of LCWOP from group homes. These findings highlight the extremely unstable living situations for females with histories of CSE. Recommendations align with new federal policy, which aims to reduce reliance on group homes.

Research has consistently shown that child maltreatment and witnessed violence lead to disrupted patterns of social functioning, yet the mechanisms underlying these pathways remain unclear. This cross-sectional study evaluated whether anger and/or attention problems mediated the links from abuse, neglect, and witnessed violence to peer problems and aggressive behavior. Participants included a diverse sample of 470 children (ages 8–11; 52.1% boys) living in out-of-home care. Subtype and severity of maltreatment exposure were coded using Child Protection Services’ intake reports and court records. Witnessed violence and anger were assessed using child-reports, and caregivers provided ratings of attention problems and social functioning. Indirect effects were tested using a series of structural equation path analysis models. Results indicated that anger fully mediated the links from witnessed violence to both peer problems and aggressive behavior. Further, attention problems fully mediated the links from physical abuse and physical neglect to both peer problems and aggressive behavior. These findings highlight the need for interventions to target anger regulation and attentional control among children in out-of-home care in order to mitigate their risk for social maladjustment.

Recent federal laws and state policies reflect the government’s investment in improving education and employment outcomes for youth with foster care histories. However, little research has assessed the roles of these programs using national data. Drawing on data from the National Youth in Transitions Database (NYTD) (n = 7797), this study examines the roles that state-level policies and programs, youth-level participation in programs and services, and youth characteristics play in youths’ connection to employment and education (“connectedness”) at age 21. Results from multilevel regression analyses find that foster youth in states with widely available tuition waiver programs increases the odds of connectedness to school. The amount of time youth spend in extended foster care, as well as receipt of postsecondary education aid and services, also increases connectedness. Study findings underscore the importance of material and relational supports in supporting foster youths’ connection to employment and education in early adulthood.

Given the detrimental impact of substance use (SU) on both parent and child outcomes including child maltreatment, research and service efforts have focused on incorporating parenting resources into integrated SU treatment programs. While promising, it is imperative to examine and test parenting programs in a variety of settings. This study examined whether SU moderated the relationship between treatment condition and parenting outcomes among parents who participated in SafeCare, and parent ratings of engagement, service satisfaction, and perceived cultural competency of services. Results indicated that SU did not moderate the relationship between treatment condition and abuse potential, but did moderate this relationship for depression and parental distress such that parents with higher levels of SU reported less improvement in depression and parental distress. Results underscore that SU problems may impact the effectiveness of SC on specific risk factors, such as depression and parental distress, potentially indicating unique treatment needs and the need to adapt interventions to ensure treatment success. In addition, this study found that SafeCare was not found to be beneficial for parents with SU problems above and beyond the treatment as usual condition. Finally, results indicated that parents with SU concerns and without SU concerns engaged very similarly in SafeCare.

A growing body of research has documented that childhood maltreatment is associated with increased risk of child aggression. However, little is known about the mediating and moderating mechanisms underlying the relationships between childhood maltreatment and reactive and proactive functions of aggression. Therefore, the present study examined whether callous-unemotional traits mediated the relationships between childhood maltreatment and two subtypes of aggression and whether these mediating processes were moderated by friendship quality. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 2407 adolescents between 11 and 16 years (M _age = 12.75, SD = .58) in Shanxi province, China. Participants filled out questionnaires regarding childhood maltreatment, callous-unemotional traits, aggression, and friendship quality. The results indicated that childhood maltreatment was significantly and positively associated with proactive and reactive aggression, and these relationships were partially mediated by callous-unemotional traits after controlling for demographic variables. Friendship quality moderated the relationship between childhood maltreatment and proactive aggression as well as callous-unemotional traits and proactive aggression. These relationships became weaker for adolescents with high levels of friendship quality. Friendship quality did not moderate the effects of childhood maltreatment and callous-unemotional traits on reactive aggression.

The objective of this article is to frame, understand, and draw implications from existing research on families screened out by child protective services (CPS) after a referral alleging child maltreatment. We review descriptive and outcome data together with emerging intervention research amidst a developing consensus that the current reactive role of CPS should be supplemented by supportive and preventative services that primarily address poverty. State-level data indicate that screened-out families are at high risk of re-referral and similar to higher-risk families reported to CPS. Intervention research is scant and mixed, but there is indication that providing community-based services may reduce future CPS involvement. Considering that screened-out referrals present an opportunity to prevent future maltreatment, CPS should identify and collaboratively engage screened-out families in community-based services. More research on the outcomes of these community responses is needed to identify best practices related to engagement and service provision.