Toward an Etiology of Child Maltreatment: An Ecological Study of Primary Caregivers at Risk of Child Welfare System Involvement.

Abstract

Despite the primacy of primary caregivers in both children’s development and child welfare investigative practice, little is known about how caregiver characteristics contribute to both child well-being and child welfare investigation. Are there characteristics that can predict positive child outcomes from a longitudinal perspective? Is being investigated and/or substantiated for neglect/abuse more likely for certain groups of caregivers? These questions were considered in this secondary analysis of the Longitudinal Studies of Child Abuse and Neglect. 720 caregiver-child pairs were studied, using 6 waves of data collected every two years starting when the child was 4 years old. A latent profile analysis of caregivers by known risks for child welfare involvement revealed seven profiles. Three profiles were identified with a single risk: poor social supports, alcohol misuse, or harsh caregiving. Three profiles were identified with compounded risks: depression with alcohol misuse, stress, and poor social supports; aggressive caregiving in poor neighborhoods by caregivers with poor attitudes; depression with poor social supports and stress. One profile demonstrated no apparent risk. These profiles were used to predict children’s externalizing and internalizing behaviors over time. Compared to the no-risk profile, all other profiles predicted more internalizing and externalizing behaviors in children at age 4, with children from the three compounded profiles demonstrating the most behaviors. Caregiving profiles did not predict differences in behavior over time; group differences remained stable. However, experiencing abuse and neglect predicted more internalizing behaviors over time while experiencing neglect predicted more externalizing behaviors in early and middle childhood only. Risk factors, race, and poverty were analyzed in relationship to child welfare decision-making. White caregivers were more likely to be investigated for physical abuse, though no risk factors other than poverty predicted investigation. Neglect investigation was predicted by poor social supports, poor parenting attitudes, children’s externalizing behaviors, neighborhood quality, and geographic location. Race and geographic location predicted neglect substantiation with Black caregivers more likely to be substantiated. Results confirm the complex interaction of factors affecting both child behavior and child welfare investigation with no one risk factor emerging as a universal predictor. Implications for interpersonal and agency practice are discussed.