Child Maltreatment最新文献

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.

This study aimed to investigate the connection between childhood abuse history and cardiovascular health indicators among a nationally representative sample of young adults aged 24-32. Using data from waves three and four of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (n = 4, 164) multivariate logistic regression was employed to investigate childhood trauma (i.e., childhood physical abuse, sexual abuse, and neglect) as predictors for cardiovascular disease, hypertension, high cholesterol, diabetes, and obesity. Results showed that adults who reported history of sexual abuse were 4.3 times more likely to report diagnosis of cardiovascular disease and those who reported childhood physical abuse at wave three had 1.4 times the odds of reporting high cholesterol diagnosis. Although trauma history is often calculated as a composite, some forms of childhood abuse may have greater impacts on cardiovascular risk than others.

To slow the spread of COVID-19 many mental health providers transitioned to telehealth delivery of trauma-focused treatment for maltreated children. However, these providers faced myriad challenges, including equitable access to equipment and technical demands of telehealth software. Training clinics overseeing pre-doctoral clinical psychology interns experienced the added challenge of providing quality supervision and training via telehealth. This study involves a retrospective application of the Exploration, Preparation, Implementation, and Sustainment (EPIS) framework to describe the innovative adaptation to a telehealth service delivery model in a training clinic providing evidence-based trauma-focused treatment to children and their families. Mixed methods data from clinic records and intern evaluations indicate that compared to pre-COVID (February 2019 - February 2020), during early COVID (April 2020 - April 2021) more patients accessed clinic services, interns reported fewer hours of individual supervision, and interns reported greater satisfaction with their training experiences. Implications for ongoing provision of telehealth services are discussed.

Children were at a greater risk of adverse experiences, including maltreatment, during the COVID-19 pandemic given the increased stress experienced by families and reduced visibility outside the home. Child maltreatment investigators witnessed the effects of the pandemic on maltreated children and offer valuable insight regarding children's experiences during the pandemic. The objective of this study was to examine child maltreatment investigators' perspectives of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on maltreated children and their families in Canada. Sixteen child maltreatment investigators were recruited from agencies across Canada that investigate or offer services to children suspected of having been maltreated. Three focus groups were conducted, which followed a semi-structured interview guide developed by the researchers. Thematic analysis resulted in five primary themes regarding maltreatment investigators' perceptions of the pandemic's effects on children, including child maltreatment during the COVID-19 pandemic, increased exposure to violent and traumatic events, stress and challenges faced by families, reduced access to services, and challenges and delays with maltreatment investigations. Child maltreatment investigators perceived that the pandemic profoundly impacted maltreated children and their families. It is critical to ensure children and parents have access to services during future emergencies.

The COVID-19 pandemic and associated mitigation efforts created stress that threatened parent and child well-being. Conditions that increase stress within families heighten the likelihood of child abuse, but social support can mitigate the impact. This short-term investigation considered whether cumulative risk, COVID-19 specific risk, and emotional support (one aspect of social support), were associated with child abuse potential during the pandemic. Additionally, we investigated whether emotional support moderated the association between COVID-19 specific risk and child abuse potential, and associations between child abuse potential and emotionally positive and emotionally negative parenting. Participants included 89 parents, from a metropolitan area with a large number of economically distressed families, who completed online questionnaires. COVID-19 specific risk and emotional support each explained additional variance in child abuse potential beyond cumulative risk, but emotional support did not moderate the association between COVID-19 specific risk and child abuse potential. Consistent with expectations, child abuse potential was negatively associated with emotionally positive parenting and positively associated with emotionally negative parenting practices. Results highlight the importance of addressing both risks and supports at multiple levels for parents during times of stress.

Because COVID triggered elevated rates of child abuse, but diminished rates of child abuse reporting, we explored predictors of nurses' attitudes toward reporting suspected child abuse during the COVID pandemic. In particular, we expected that compassion fatigue and compassion satisfaction would mediate the effects of COVID-related stressors (i.e., exposure to COVID patient death and suffering; COVID-related family income loss; frequent direct care of COVID patients; and parental burnout) on nurses' negative attitudes toward reporting suspected child abuse. Employing chain-referral sampling, we recruited a sample of 244 registered nurses (83% White; 87% women). Supporting hypotheses, compassion fatigue mediated the effects of job-related COVID stressors (exposure to COVID patient death and suffering; COVID-related family income loss; and frequent direct care of COVID patients) on nurses' negative attitudes toward reporting suspected child abuse. In addition, among nurses who were also parents, nurses' self-reported parental burnout mediated the relation between compassion fatigue and negative attitudes toward reporting suspected child abuse. In addition, compassion satisfaction mediated the effect of nurses' parental burnout on nurses' negative attitudes toward reporting suspected child abuse.