Search results for ‘Subject term:"mental health problems"’ Sort:
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Risk factors for child neglect: A meta-analytic review
- Authors:
- MULDER Tim M., et al
- Journal article citation:
- Child Abuse and Neglect, 77, 2018, pp.198-210.
- Publisher:
- Elsevier
Knowledge of risk factors and their effects is vital for successfully preventing and reducing child neglect. This study provides a meta-analytic update of research on risk factors for child neglect. A total of 315 effect sizes were extracted from 36 primary studies and classified into 24 risk domains. Effects of 15 risk domains were significant and ranged from small (r = .110) to large (r = .372) in magnitude. Most risks were found at the parental level, such as having a history of antisocial behaviour/criminal offending (r = .372); having a history of mental/psychiatric problems (r = . 259); having mental/physical problems (r = .207); and experiences of abuse in own childhood (r = .182). The effect of mother-related risk factors was not significantly different from the effect of father-related risk factors. It is concluded that child neglect is determined by multiple risk domains and that especially parent-related risk factors are important in preventing and reducing child neglect. Implications of the results for clinical practice are discussed. (Edited publisher abstract)
Cumulative risk exposure and mental health symptoms among maltreated youth placed in out-of-home care
- Authors:
- RAVIV Tali, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Child Abuse and Neglect, 34(10), October 2010, pp.742-751.
- Publisher:
- Elsevier
Maltreated children placed in out-of-home care are at high risk for exhibiting symptoms of psychopathology by virtue of their exposure to numerous risk factors. Research examining cumulative risk has consistently found that the accumulation of risk factors increases the likelihood of mental health problems. The goal of the current study was to elucidate the relation between cumulative risk and mental health symptomatology. The study consisted of a sample of 252 maltreated youths aged 9-11 who were placed in out-of-home care in the Denver metro area counties. The participants were interviewed to determine their exposure to 18 measures of risk and their mental health functioning. Analyses confirmed the high-risk nature of this sample and identified 7 salient risk variables. The cumulative risk index comprised of these 7 indicators was a strong predictor of mental health symptoms, differentiating between children who scored in the clinical range with regard to mental health symptoms and those who did not. Finally, the data supported a linear model in which each incremental increase in cumulative risk was accompanied by an increase in mental health problems.
Do chronic conditions increase young children's risk of being maltreated?
- Authors:
- JAUDES Paula Kienberger, MACKEY-BILAVER Lucy
- Journal article citation:
- Child Abuse and Neglect, 32(7), July 2008, pp.671-681.
- Publisher:
- Elsevier
This study aimed to examine whether and to what extent specific chronic health conditions place young children at risk of maltreatment. The study used a sample of Illinois children (born between January 1990 and March 1996) who were through age 3 continuously enrolled in Medicaid, a public health insurance program for low-income families. The study used “paid claims” data and ICD-9-CM health codes to identify children with one or more of three chronic conditions: chronic physical illness, developmental delay/mental retardation (dd/mr), and behaviour/mental health conditions (b/mh). The analysis used Cox proportional hazard models to estimate the risk of substantiated child maltreatment that each of these health conditions confer on children under age 6. Among children under age 6, 24.1% had chronic physical health conditions, 6.1% had b/mh conditions, and 4.2% had dd/mr. Among the children, 11.7% were maltreated (abused or neglected). Children with b/mh conditions were 1.95 times more likely than children without such conditions to be victims of child abuse or neglect. Children with chronic physical health conditions were 1.1 time more likely to be maltreated (p ≤ .001). In contrast, children with dd/mr were not at an increased risk of maltreatment. Further, if the child had a prior history of abuse or neglect before age 3 and was also diagnosed with a behavioural health condition, that child was 10 times more likely to be maltreated again. It is concluded that behavioural/mental health conditions placed low-income children under age 6 at the highest risk of abuse or neglect. Developmental delay/mental retardation, however, did not appear to increase the risk of maltreatment, while chronic physical health conditions increased the risk slightly among this group of children. Therefore, identified behaviour/mental health in young, low-income children should be considered a risk factor for potential abuse to paediatricians and other health professionals. Child protection agencies should be trained to identify behavioural/mental health conditions of children.
Adult psychiatry - a missing link in child protection network: comments on Falkov's 'fatal child abuse and parental psychiatric disorder' (DOH, 1996)
- Authors:
- REDER Peter, DUNCAN Sylvia
- Journal article citation:
- Child Abuse Review, 6(1), March 1997, pp.35-40.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
Discusses the Falkov report, the work of Falkov a child psychiatrist, which is primarily a statistical review of 'Part 8 Review' cases with the aim of identifying the prevalence of mental health problems in parents who abuse their children.
The ‘toxic trio’ (domestic violence, substance misuse and mental ill-health): how good is the evidence base?
- Authors:
- SKINNER Guy C. M., et al
- Journal article citation:
- Children and Youth Services Review, 120, 2021, p.105678.
- Publisher:
- Elsevier
The term ‘toxic trio’ was coined to describe the risk of child abuse and neglect stemming from a combination of domestic violence, parental mental health issues and/or learning disability, and parental alcohol and/or drug misuse (Brandon, 2009). Although concerns about the language have been raised in some quarters, it has become a dominant reference point in children’s social care in England and, to an extent, internationally over the past two decades. It has become embedded in the family justice system, child protection assessment processes and national data collection. There is evidence that each factor in isolation can lead to worse child outcomes, although this is of mixed quality and far from comprehensive. This article reports the results of a systematic review of evidence relevant to the relationship between the ‘toxic trio’ factors in combination and child maltreatment, identifying 20 papers. Despite the term’s currency, we found little quality evidence of the incidence of the ‘trio’ factors in child maltreatment, little consideration of intersectionality and almost no theoretical examination of the supposed relationships. Such studies as have been conducted have too rarely taken into account, or controlled for, contextual factors, such as the socioeconomic circumstances or the ethnicity of the families, or children’s ages. The discrepancy between the priority given to the ‘toxic trio’ and the paucity of the evidence-base makes a case for a shift away from over-simplified attributions of parental risk in policy and practice, and towards greater attention being given to other significant factors for child protection. (Edited publisher abstract)
Perinatal mental health and risk of child maltreatment: a systematic review and meta-analysis
- Authors:
- AYERS Susan, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Child Abuse and Neglect, 98, 2019, p.104172.
- Publisher:
- Elsevier
Background: Mental health problems in parents have been identified as a risk factor for child maltreatment. The perinatal period (from conception to 1 year) is a critical period but it is unclear whether perinatal mental health problems are also associated with increased risk. Objective: To review evidence on perinatal mental health and risk of child maltreatment. Methods: Searches were conducted on six databases and 24 studies reported in 30 papers identified. Studies were conducted in seven countries, mainly the USA (n = 14). Sample sizes ranged from 48-14,893 and most examined mothers (n = 17). Studies were conducted in community (n = 17) or high-risk (n = 7) samples. Results: The majority of studies found a relationship between parental perinatal mental health problems and risk of child maltreatment, but inconsistent findings were observed between and within studies. The few studies that examined fathers (n = 6) all found a relationship between fathers’ mental health and risk of child maltreatment. Meta-analysis of 17 studies (n = 22,042) showed perinatal mental health problems increased risk of child maltreatment by OR 3.04 (95% CI 2.29–4.03). This relationship was moderated by type of sample, with larger effects for risk of child maltreatment in high-risk samples. The relationship was not moderated by type of mental illness, child maltreatment; methodological or measurement factors. Conclusion: The association between perinatal mental health and risk of child maltreatment is similar to that observed at other times during childhood. Methodological heterogeneity and inconsistent findings mean conclusions are tentative and need to be considered alongside other individual, family and social/cultural risk factors. (Publisher abstract)
The childhood roots of adult psychological distress: Interdisciplinary perspectives toward a better understanding of exposure to cumulative childhood adversity
- Authors:
- HEIDINGER Loanna S., WILLSON Andrea E.
- Journal article citation:
- Child Abuse and Neglect, 97, 2019, p.104136.
- Publisher:
- Elsevier
Background: Although most children experience at least one adversity, it is the experience of multiple adversities that produces a context of disadvantage that increases the risk of various negative outcomes in adulthood. Previous measures of cumulative childhood adversity consider a limited number of adversities, overlook potential differences across experiences of adversity, and fail to measure the effects of multiple co-occurring childhood adversities. These limitations have led to inconsistent and incomplete conclusions regarding the impact of multiple adverse childhood experiences on adult mental health. Objective: This study assesses how the operationalization and modeling of exposure to cumulative childhood adversity (CCA) influences estimates of the association between CCA and adult psychological distress and develops an improved measure of CCA. Methods: This study uses data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, a nationally representative sample of households in the United States, and its supplement, the Childhood Retrospective Circumstances Study (N = 4219). This study compares four measures of CCA that consider various distinct aspects of adverse experiences (additive, severity, type, and patterns of experience using latent class analysis). Results: All measures of CCA were associated with increases in adult psychological distress, but effects depend on the measurement of CCA. Results suggest the sum score overestimates the overall impact of CCA. Latent class analysis captures the co-occurrence of adversities across severity and type, providing an improved measure of CCA. Conclusions: The heterogeneity across adversities impacts estimates of adult psychological distress. Measuring CCA as patterns of co-occurring adverse experiences is a promising approach. (Edited publisher abstract)
Why does child maltreatment occur? Caregiver perspectives and analyses of neighborhood structural factors across twenty years
- Authors:
- GROSS-MANOS Daphna, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Children and Youth Services Review, 99, 2019, pp.138-145.
- Publisher:
- Elsevier
Research on caregivers' views of factors that contribute to child maltreatment and analyses of neighbourhood structural factors offer opportunities for enhancing prevention and intervention efforts. This study compared explanations of the factors that contribute to child maltreatment in a neighbourhood-based sample of adult caregivers at two-time points: 1995–1996 and 2014–2015 along with analyses of neighbourhood structural conditions during the same period. The study sample consisted of two cross-sectional subsamples: 400 adult caregivers in 20 census tracts in Cleveland, Ohio from a 1995–1996 study, and 400 adult caregivers of the same 20 census tracts surveyed in 2014–2015. At each time point, residents were asked to rate how much each of 13 factors contributes to child abuse and neglect. Median regression analyses adjusted for individual and neighbourhood characteristics showed that “lack of religion” decreased somewhat in importance over time, while that of “single parents” increased slightly. Otherwise, there was substantial consistency in caregivers' perceptions of factors contributing to maltreatment over the two study points. In terms of overall ranking, at each time point the most important contributors to child maltreatment were “drugs,” “alcohol,” and “psychological or emotional problems,” while the least important were “divorce,” “single parents,” and “lack of religion.” Differences in ratings of contributing factors were associated with individual and neighbourhood characteristics, most consistently by participant race and age and by neighbourhood maltreatment investigation rate. Despite these differences, for any maltreatment prevention or intervention effort using or planning to use maltreatment etiology in some way in its activities, etiology seems to represent a fairly stable platform for programming.
Factors associated with mental health services referrals for children investigated by child welfare
- Authors:
- FONG Hiu-fai, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Child Abuse and Neglect, 79, 2018, pp.401-412.
- Publisher:
- Elsevier
Although child welfare caseworkers are responsible for facilitating mental health services access for maltreated children, little is known about caseworkers’ decisions to refer children to services. We aimed to identify factors associated with caseworker referral of children to mental health services after a maltreatment investigation. We analyzed data from 1956 children 2–17 years old from the Second National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-being. We examined associations of children’s predisposing, enabling, and need-related factors and caseworkers’ work environment characteristics with referral to mental health services. Caseworkers referred 21.0% of children to mental health services. In multivariable analyses controlling for potential covariates, factors associated with increased odds of caseworker referral included: older child age; child sexual abuse (versus neglect); child out-of-home placement; caregiver mental health problems; prior maltreatment reports; clinically significant child behavioral problems; and child welfare agency collaborative ties with mental health providers (all p < .05). Factors associated with decreased odds of caseworker referral included child Black race (versus White race) and lack of insurance (versus Private insurance) (all p < .05). In summary, children’s need for mental health services was positively associated with caseworker referral to services but certain predisposing and enabling factors and caseworker work environment characteristics also correlated with services referral. Interventions to reduce disparities in services referral by race and insurance type are critically needed. These may include child welfare agency implementation of policies for mental health screening, assessment, and services referral based on clinical need and establishment of child welfare-mental health agency collaborative ties. (Edited publisher abstract)
Transforming mental health services for children who have experienced abuse: a review of Local Transformation Plans
- Author:
- NATIONAL SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO CHILDREN
- Publisher:
- NSPCC
- Publication year:
- 2016
- Pagination:
- 20
- Place of publication:
- London
Reports on an analysis of 117 Local Transformation Plans from Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) to assess how they plan to support the mental health needs of children and young people who have experienced abuse. The review sought to assess to what extent they recognise that mental health issues can be attributed to abuse and neglect; whether the needs analysis incorporates abused and neglected children; and the information contained within each plan relating to existing or proposed new services for children who have experienced abuse or maltreatment. The results found that only 14 percent of plans considered the needs for support of all children who've experienced abuse or neglect and one third of plans made no mention of provision of services for this group of children. A small number of promising plans were identified and the report highlights examples of good practice. Key themes include: the recognition that abuse is a major risk factor for poor mental health; broad needs assessments; a commitment to addressing non-diagnosable mental health concerns following traumatic life events such as abuse; clear information about services. (Edited publisher abstract)