The Relative Influence of Family and Neighborhood Factors on Child Maltreatment at Critical Stages of Child Development

• Published in: Children (Basel) Vol. 9; no. 2; p. 163
• Main Authors: Maguire-Jack, Kathryn, Yoon, Susan, Chang, Yujeong, Hong, Sunghyun
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 27-01-2022; MDPI
• Subjects: Age; Behavior; Child abuse & neglect; Child development; child maltreatment; Children & youth; Domestic violence; Drug use; Ecosystems; Emotional abuse; Extracurricular activities; families; Families & family life; Mental depression; Neighborhoods; Parents & parenting; path analysis; Pediatrics; Psychopathology; risk and protective factors; Supervision; System theory; path analysis; child maltreatment; neighborhoods; families; risk and protective factors
• ISSN: 2227-9067; 2227-9067
• DOI: 10.3390/children9020163

This study examines the impact of family and neighborhood factors on physical and psychological abuse across three developmental stages of children: early childhood (age 3), young school age (age 5), and middle childhood (age 9). Data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, a longitudinal national cohort study of children from 20 urban U.S. cities, are used. Path analysis is employed to investigate the longitudinal relationships between family and neighborhood context variables and abuse risk, as well as the importance of different factors at key developmental stages. Economic hardship, maternal substance use, intimate partner violence, and exposure to community violence are found to be related to child abuse risk regardless of developmental stage, while maternal depression and neighborhood informal social control are found to have impacts only within certain child development stages. Findings suggest the need for early intervention and prevention strategies that specifically target economic hardship, poverty, intimate partner violence, and exposure to community violence.