Child MaltreatmentPub Date : 2025-08-01Epub Date: 2024-11-05DOI: 10.1177/10775595241297944
Lottie G Harris, Daryl J Higgins, Megan L Willis, David Lawrence, Franziska Meinck, Hannah J Thomas, Eva Malacova, James G Scott, Rosana Pacella, Divna M Haslam
{"title":"Dimensions of Child Maltreatment in Australians With a History of Out-of-Home Care.","authors":"Lottie G Harris, Daryl J Higgins, Megan L Willis, David Lawrence, Franziska Meinck, Hannah J Thomas, Eva Malacova, James G Scott, Rosana Pacella, Divna M Haslam","doi":"10.1177/10775595241297944","DOIUrl":"10.1177/10775595241297944","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Research suggests that the dimensions of childhood maltreatment (type, age of onset, duration, frequency and perpetrator) play an important role in determining health and wellbeing outcomes, though little information is available on these dimensions for any care experienced cohorts. This study aimed to determine if any variation in maltreatment dimensions were experienced between two subsets of the nationally representative Australian Child Maltreatment Study, both of which reported childhood maltreatment histories: care-experienced (<i>n</i> = 358) and non-care-experienced (<i>n</i> = 4922). Using a series of independent t-tests and chi-square tests, we compared the two groups on seven dimensions (number of maltreatment types, range of maltreatment items, age of onset, duration, frequency, perpetrator number, and perpetrator type) for the five child maltreatment types (physical, emotional, sexual abuse, neglect, and exposure to domestic violence). Results showed that the care-experienced group reported a higher intensity of maltreatment, being younger when maltreatment first started, experiencing greater variety of maltreatment types, for longer periods, more times and by more perpetrators than maltreated people with no care experience. We conclude that children and young people in out-of-home care experience maltreatment at a higher intensity than the rest of the population, which has implications for effective treatment.</p>","PeriodicalId":48052,"journal":{"name":"Child Maltreatment","volume":" ","pages":"525-539"},"PeriodicalIF":4.5,"publicationDate":"2025-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12144324/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142583469","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Child MaltreatmentPub Date : 2025-08-01Epub Date: 2025-01-03DOI: 10.1177/10775595241313134
Richard Alboroto, Tiberio Garza, Jon McNaughtan
{"title":"Enhancing Caseworker Job Satisfaction Through Empowerment: An Innovative Tool for Employee Retention.","authors":"Richard Alboroto, Tiberio Garza, Jon McNaughtan","doi":"10.1177/10775595241313134","DOIUrl":"10.1177/10775595241313134","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Child welfare caseworkers typically have high turnover rates, and little is known about how to increase their job satisfaction. Utilizing structural equation modeling, this study investigates the connections between empowerment, leadership, learning culture, physical environment, and job satisfaction among social workers in child welfare organizations. We employ a dataset from a comprehensive organizational health assessment survey of 2801 individuals to analyze the direct and indirect effects of empowerment variables on job satisfaction, as well as the influence of leadership, learning culture, and the caseworkers' physical environment. The findings highlight the potential for empowerment as a tool for strengthening culture and increasing job satisfaction. Specifically, trust and self-determination had the strongest relationship with the empowerment construct in this study.</p>","PeriodicalId":48052,"journal":{"name":"Child Maltreatment","volume":" ","pages":"553-564"},"PeriodicalIF":4.5,"publicationDate":"2025-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142928383","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Child MaltreatmentPub Date : 2025-08-01Epub Date: 2024-11-27DOI: 10.1177/10775595241304097
Jingjing Chen, E Scott Huebner, Lili Tian
{"title":"Relations Between Psychological Maltreatment by Teachers and Cyberbullying Perpetration Among Elementary School Students: The Roles of Self-Esteem and Sex.","authors":"Jingjing Chen, E Scott Huebner, Lili Tian","doi":"10.1177/10775595241304097","DOIUrl":"10.1177/10775595241304097","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The topics of psychological maltreatment by teachers and children's cyberbullying perpetration have both attracted increasing research attention. However, clarification of the development and specific psychological mechanisms linking psychological maltreatment by teachers to cyberbullying perpetration by students remains necessary. Thus, this study examined the longitudinal relations between psychological maltreatment by teachers and subsequent cyberbullying perpetration, along with the mediating role of self-esteem and the moderating role of sex. A total of 5563 Chinese elementary school students (56% boys; <i>M</i><sub><i>age</i></sub> = 9.92 years, <i>SD</i> = 0.74) completed self-report measures on 5 occasions across 2.5 years. Latent growth curve mediation modeling was applied to examine the longitudinal relations among the variables. Results showed that (a) Psychological maltreatment by teachers was positively associated with subsequent cyberbullying perpetration; (b) The developmental trajectory of psychological maltreatment by teachers was indirectly associated with the developmental trajectory of cyberbullying perpetration through the mediating role of self-esteem; (c) Sex moderated the relations among psychological maltreatment by teachers, self-esteem and cyberbullying perpetration among children such that self-esteem mediated the relation between psychological maltreatment by teachers and cyberbullying perpetration for boys but not girls. Implications for the prevention of psychological maltreatment by teachers and cyberbullying perpetration were discussed.</p>","PeriodicalId":48052,"journal":{"name":"Child Maltreatment","volume":" ","pages":"422-433"},"PeriodicalIF":4.5,"publicationDate":"2025-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142740959","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Child MaltreatmentPub Date : 2025-08-01Epub Date: 2024-07-29DOI: 10.1177/10775595241270042
Martin Eiermann
{"title":"The Impact of Data Suppression Rules on Data Access and Re-Identification Risk in Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System Annual Files.","authors":"Martin Eiermann","doi":"10.1177/10775595241270042","DOIUrl":"10.1177/10775595241270042","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>One of the most widely used data sources for research on foster care and adoption is the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS). County identifiers in AFCARS are suppressed for all counties with fewer than 1000 cases to prevent the re-identification of vulnerable children, but this also impacts researchers' ability to study smaller communities and analyze how local environments may affect out-of-home placements. This study uses non-public AFCARS datasets to assess, for the first time, how data suppression rules impact data access and re-identification risk. It compares the long-standing 1000-case threshold against a wide range of potential alternatives and finds substantial data access gains coupled with moderate risk increases for thresholds between 400 and 700. Adopting a 700-case threshold leads to a 50% increase in the number of identifiable counties while also keeping the percentage of fostered children who face an elevated risk of re-identification below 1%. Making data from a substantial number of rural counties available to researchers requires much larger threshold changes, which in turn increases re-identification risks.</p>","PeriodicalId":48052,"journal":{"name":"Child Maltreatment","volume":" ","pages":"512-524"},"PeriodicalIF":4.5,"publicationDate":"2025-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141793800","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Child MaltreatmentPub Date : 2025-08-01Epub Date: 2024-09-27DOI: 10.1177/10775595241267236
Gabriel Piña, Kristin Moore, Brittany Mihalec-Adkins, Kristen Darling, Fadumo Abdi, Alyssa Liehr
{"title":"State Policy Levers for Reducing Early Childhood Maltreatment: The Importance of Family Planning and Economic Support Policies.","authors":"Gabriel Piña, Kristin Moore, Brittany Mihalec-Adkins, Kristen Darling, Fadumo Abdi, Alyssa Liehr","doi":"10.1177/10775595241267236","DOIUrl":"10.1177/10775595241267236","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Children experiencing maltreatment in the first 3 years of life are at risk for several developmental challenges throughout the lifespan. Researchers and practitioners have emphasized understanding how institutional supports implemented through state governments may support infants and toddlers' development, but less attention has been paid to the potential effects of state policies on maltreatment specifically. We tested whether state-level policies providing economic and family planning support implemented between 2005-2019 were associated with rates of reported and substantiated abuse and neglect among children under three. Two-way fixed effects models indicate that implementing a state Child Tax Credit, expanding contraception access, raising minimum wages, and expanding eligibility for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Programs were associated with decreased maltreatment according to various indicators among Black, White, and Hispanic children. Implications for future research and policy are discussed.</p>","PeriodicalId":48052,"journal":{"name":"Child Maltreatment","volume":" ","pages":"565-578"},"PeriodicalIF":4.5,"publicationDate":"2025-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12144322/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142337016","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Child MaltreatmentPub Date : 2025-08-01Epub Date: 2024-12-09DOI: 10.1177/10775595241307896
Yoonzie Chung, Haksoon Ahn
{"title":"Understanding the Mediation Effect of Social Cohesion on the Relationship Between Material Hardship and Child Maltreatment by Poverty Spells.","authors":"Yoonzie Chung, Haksoon Ahn","doi":"10.1177/10775595241307896","DOIUrl":"10.1177/10775595241307896","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The purpose of this study is to explore the association between material hardship and child maltreatment, mediated by social cohesion. We used three waves (age three, age five, and age nine) from Future of Families and Child Wellbeing Study (FFCW), a longitudinal cohort study of approximately 5000 families in 20 U.S. cities. The sample size was 2402. The independent variable was material hardship, and the dependent variable was child maltreatment (physical/psychological abuse and neglect). Using a multiple regression analysis, the current study found a positive association between material hardship and frequency of physical/psychological abuse. Social cohesion was found to mediate the relationship between material hardship and physical/psychological abuse among financially secure mothers in the Sobel test, which assesses the presence of indirect effects of the independent variable on the dependent variable. These findings suggest that material hardship mitigation and social cohesion enhancement are potential strategies to prevent physical/psychological abuse.</p>","PeriodicalId":48052,"journal":{"name":"Child Maltreatment","volume":" ","pages":"394-405"},"PeriodicalIF":4.5,"publicationDate":"2025-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142802697","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Child MaltreatmentPub Date : 2025-08-01Epub Date: 2024-09-06DOI: 10.1177/10775595241281267
Eunhye Ahn, Julia Reddy, Rebecca Rebbe, Lindsey Palmer, Emily Putnam-Hornstein
{"title":"Maternal Reports to the Child Protection System: A Longitudinal Analysis of Multiple Children.","authors":"Eunhye Ahn, Julia Reddy, Rebecca Rebbe, Lindsey Palmer, Emily Putnam-Hornstein","doi":"10.1177/10775595241281267","DOIUrl":"10.1177/10775595241281267","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Child maltreatment can affect multiple children in a family, yet its occurrence and chronicity has been often assessed by focusing on a single child. Although this approach provides valuable insights, considering the experiences of all children in a family may provide a more complete understanding of maltreatment dynamics. Using linked birth and child protection system (CPS) records from California, we analyzed 20 years of data on 194,514 first-time mothers to document the prevalence, timing, and chronicity of maternal CPS reporting across multiple children. Mothers were categorized by the number of live childbirths: one (25.7%), two (36.2%), three (20.9%), and four or more (17.2%). Overall, 33.0% of mothers were reported to CPS, increasing from 18.5% for mothers with one child to 63.1% for those with four or more children. For mothers with two or more children, more than 70% experienced an initial CPS report only after the second child's birth. Our findings have implications for understanding the dynamics of maternal reports to CPS, emphasizing the need for lasting and family-focused interventions.</p>","PeriodicalId":48052,"journal":{"name":"Child Maltreatment","volume":" ","pages":"434-446"},"PeriodicalIF":4.5,"publicationDate":"2025-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142143443","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Child MaltreatmentPub Date : 2025-08-01Epub Date: 2024-12-03DOI: 10.1177/10775595241305606
Kathryn Maguire-Jack, Derek VanBerkel, Olivia D Chang, James C Spilsbury, Yujeong Chang
{"title":"Testing the Appropriateness of Social Disorganization Theory in the Study of Neighborhood Factors and Rural Child Maltreatment.","authors":"Kathryn Maguire-Jack, Derek VanBerkel, Olivia D Chang, James C Spilsbury, Yujeong Chang","doi":"10.1177/10775595241305606","DOIUrl":"10.1177/10775595241305606","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The current study aimed to examine the extent to which neighborhood structural factors commonly found to be associated with child maltreatment in urban areas also apply to rural areas. Using three years of administrative child welfare data, we examined patterns of child maltreatment across metro and nonmetro census tracts in the State of Michigan. Extending from social disorganization theory, a principal components factor analysis was conducted to determine the extent to which neighborhood structural factors (neighborhood economic disadvantage, residential instability, and childcare burden) that have been tested in relation to child maltreatment in urban areas cluster together similarly in rural areas. Spatial analysis and negative binomial regression were used to examine: (1) the extent to which these three factors were related to child maltreatment substantiation rates in nonmetro census tracts; and (2) factors hypothesized to have unique impacts within nonmetro tracts, including seasonal housing and racial demographics of neighborhoods. Findings showed some similarities between metro and nonmetro areas, including associations of neighborhood poverty, single-parent households, and vacant housing units with increased levels of child maltreatment. Differences between metro and nonmetro areas were also identified, suggesting the need for additional research into the neighborhood correlates of rural child maltreatment.</p>","PeriodicalId":48052,"journal":{"name":"Child Maltreatment","volume":" ","pages":"406-421"},"PeriodicalIF":4.5,"publicationDate":"2025-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142773765","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Child MaltreatmentPub Date : 2025-08-01Epub Date: 2025-01-07DOI: 10.1177/10775595241312186
Leanne Heaton, William Sabol, Miranda Baumann, Arya Harison, Charlotte Goodell
{"title":"The Effects of Socioeconomic Contextual Factors on Racial Differences in CFSR-3 Permanency Outcomes.","authors":"Leanne Heaton, William Sabol, Miranda Baumann, Arya Harison, Charlotte Goodell","doi":"10.1177/10775595241312186","DOIUrl":"10.1177/10775595241312186","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>We examined the role of state and county socioeconomic contextual characteristics in explaining Black-White child differences in permanency within one year of foster care entry. We estimated race-specific hierarchical linear models consisting of individual-level demographic and case characteristics of children, state and county socioeconomic contextual factors, and CFSR-3 performance-improvement plans. Findings showed that socioeconomic contextual characteristics were significantly associated with permanency for Black and White children in different ways. Rises in per capita income increased permanency for Black and White children. Conversely, increases in unemployment and SNAP recipiency decreased permanency for Black and White children. Expansions in public welfare benefits for children in female headed households increased permanency for White children but decreased permanency for Black children. County variation in effects and the permanency gap between White and Black children imply the need for further race-specific research on the efficacy of localized, cross-system responses that address socioeconomic conditions.</p>","PeriodicalId":48052,"journal":{"name":"Child Maltreatment","volume":" ","pages":"540-552"},"PeriodicalIF":4.5,"publicationDate":"2025-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142956909","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Child MaltreatmentPub Date : 2025-08-01Epub Date: 2025-01-09DOI: 10.1177/10775595241311260
Gabriel W Hassler, Lynsay Ayer, Arielle H Sheftall, Beth Ann Griffin, Elie Ohana
{"title":"Age-Based Trends in Suicidal Ideation Among Child Welfare System-Involved Youth.","authors":"Gabriel W Hassler, Lynsay Ayer, Arielle H Sheftall, Beth Ann Griffin, Elie Ohana","doi":"10.1177/10775595241311260","DOIUrl":"10.1177/10775595241311260","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Youth involved with the child welfare system (CWS) exhibit elevated rates of suicidal ideation. This study explores age-, sex-, and race-specific trends of suicidal ideation among 7-18-year-olds within the CWS. Utilizing data from all three versions of the National Survey for Child and Adolescent Well-Being (<i>N</i> = 5783), which included nationally representative samples of CWS-involved youth, we stratified the sample by age, sex, race, and ethnicity to observe subpopulation-specific trends. Our analysis estimated rates of self-reported suicidal ideation in each demographic stratum. Notably, we discovered that 7-10-year-old males and females reported higher rates of suicidal ideation (∼26%) than any other demographic group except 15-16-year-old females (∼27%). This trend was consistent across all racial and ethnic subgroups. Additional investigations are required to identify the causes of these elevated rates in younger children and to determine if this trend extends to children outside the CWS.</p>","PeriodicalId":48052,"journal":{"name":"Child Maltreatment","volume":" ","pages":"387-393"},"PeriodicalIF":4.5,"publicationDate":"2025-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142956908","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}