“Part of the abuse is not letting me get him medical care”: A qualitative examination of children's unmet health needs in the context of post-separation abuse

IF 3.4 2区心理学 Q1 FAMILY STUDIES

Child Abuse & Neglect Pub Date : 2025-04-14 DOI:10.1016/j.chiabu.2025.107451

Kathryn J. Spearman , Lea Marineau , Adebola Owolabi , Kamila A. Alexander , Jennifer Hardesty , Viola Vaughan-Eden , Christina Bethell , Jacquelyn Campbell

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Background

Children exposed to intimate partner violence (IPV) experience disparities in health outcomes and healthcare access. Mechanisms explaining how IPV affects children's health needs, particularly after parental separation, are poorly understood.

Objective

The aim of this qualitative study is to examine maternal survivors' experiences of IPV following separation from an abusive co-parent (“post-separation abuse”) and their children's health needs.

Participants and setting

The research team conducted individual semi-structured interviews with N = 33 maternal post-separation abuse survivors from 18 states in the United States.

Methods

Qualitative interviews were coded and analyzed using ATLAS.ti through an iterative thematic inquiry approach, with each interview coded by at least 2 study team members.

Results

Most participants (85 %) reported difficulty accessing healthcare for their children. The analysis team identified five broad domains of post-separation abuse tactics contributing to children's unmet health needs: (1) obstruction and manipulation of children's healthcare, (2) stalking and intimidation, (3) legal abuse, (4) disregarding children's well-being, and (5) economic abuse.

Conclusions

This study provides foundational insights into specific behaviors by abusive co-parents and court-imposed barriers that impact children's health needs. Improved understanding of post-separation abuse is essential to design interventions and policies to ensure children's access to needed healthcare and to reduce health disparities.

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“虐待的一部分是不让我为他提供医疗服务”：在分离后虐待的背景下对儿童未满足的健康需求进行定性检查

遭受亲密伴侣暴力（IPV）的儿童在健康结果和获得医疗保健方面存在差异。解释IPV如何影响儿童健康需求的机制，特别是在父母分离后，了解甚少。目的本定性研究的目的是检查母亲幸存者在与虐待共同父母分离后的IPV经历（“分离后虐待”）及其子女的健康需求。研究小组对来自美国18个州的N = 33名分离后受虐待的母亲进行了单独的半结构化访谈。方法采用ATLAS对定性访谈进行编码和分析。通过迭代的主题调查方法，每次访谈由至少2名研究小组成员编码。结果大多数参与者（85%）报告其子女难以获得医疗保健服务。分析小组确定了导致儿童健康需求未得到满足的五大分离后虐待策略：(1)阻碍和操纵儿童保健；(2)跟踪和恐吓；(3)法律虐待；(4)无视儿童福祉；(5)经济虐待。结论：本研究为了解虐待父母的具体行为和法院施加的障碍对儿童健康需求的影响提供了基础见解。增进对分离后虐待的了解对于制定干预措施和政策至关重要，以确保儿童获得所需的保健服务并减少健康差距。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Child Abuse & Neglect Multiple-

CiteScore

7.40

自引率

10.40%

发文量

397

期刊介绍： Official Publication of the International Society for Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect. Child Abuse & Neglect The International Journal, provides an international, multidisciplinary forum on all aspects of child abuse and neglect, with special emphasis on prevention and treatment; the scope extends further to all those aspects of life which either favor or hinder child development. While contributions will primarily be from the fields of psychology, psychiatry, social work, medicine, nursing, law enforcement, legislature, education, and anthropology, the Journal encourages the concerned lay individual and child-oriented advocate organizations to contribute.