Family context and caregiver characteristics in substantiated child maltreatment: A report-level analysis

Background

Child maltreatment is a major public health concern often affecting multiple children in the same household, shaped by shared family dynamics. Yet research has primarily focused on individual children, overlooking patterns of maltreatment across siblings in a shared family context.

Objective

This study examined household and perpetrator characteristics associated with substantiated child maltreatment using a family-level approach that analyzed all children within Child Protective Services (CPS) reports.

Participants and setting

The study analyzed 440,754 substantiated or indicated CPS reports from 21 U.S. states during fiscal years 2018 and 2019.

Methods

Using the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS), we categorized reports into four mutually exclusive groups based on the types of substantiated maltreatment across all children: neglect only, neglect with other, abuse only, and abuse with other (excluding neglect). Descriptive analyses compared these groups by family characteristics, perpetrator attributes, and the intersection of family size and perpetration pattern.

Results

More than half of reports (51.3 %) involved multiple children with mixed substantiation outcomes. Neglect only cases (58.5 %), predominantly involved very young children, female perpetrators with caregiving roles, and prior perpetration history. Abuse only cases (14.0 %) typically involved older children, sole perpetrators, and males in non-caregiver roles. Reports with multiple maltreatment types reflected complex family dynamics with multiple perpetrators.

Conclusions

Maltreatment often involves multiple children in a household, with patterns shaped by complex family dynamics, highlighting the need for tailored, family-centered interventions.