The Opioid Crisis and Child Maltreatment Across Counties and Time in the United States, 2007–2017

Abstract

Rising opioid mortality coincides with reported rises in child maltreatment since the early 2000s. I consider mechanisms that link the opioid epidemic and child maltreatment, focusing on social disorganization, the geographic and temporal patterns of opioid mortality, and community-level substance use and child maltreatment. I combine data from the ACS, CDC WONDER, and NCANDS in county-level analyses. I show a positive association between adult opioid mortality and child maltreatment that varies over time, and the results suggest a stronger association between opioid mortality and child maltreatment in high-poverty counties. Counties with high levels of residential mobility show negative associations between opioid mortality and child maltreatment when mortality levels are low. These findings bolster arguments that child maltreatment can be decreased by reducing poverty and opioid mortality and by increasing opportunities for residential mobility.