Modeling risk for child abuse and harsh parenting in families with depressed and substance-abusing parents

doi:10.1016/j.chiabu.2015.01.017

Child Abuse & Neglect

Volume 43, May 2015, Pages 42-52

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2015.01.017 Get rights and content

Abstract

Children with substance abusing parents are at considerable risk for child maltreatment. The current study applied an actor–partner interdependence model to examine how father only (n = 52) and dual couple (n = 33) substance use disorder, as well as their depressive symptomology influenced parents’ own (actor effects) and the partner's (partner effects) overreactivity in disciplinary interactions with their children, as well as their risk for child maltreatment. Parents completed the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D; Radloff, 1977), the overreactivity subscale from the Parenting Scale (Arnold, O’Leary, Wolff, & Acker, 1993), and the Brief Child Abuse Potential Inventory (Ondersma, Chaffin, Mullins, & LeBreton, 2005). Results of multigroup structural equation models revealed that a parent's own report of depressive symptoms predicted their risk for child maltreatment in both father SUD and dual SUD couples. Similarly, a parent's report of their own depressive symptoms predicted their overreactivity in disciplinary encounters both in father SUD and dual SUD couples. In all models, partners’ depressive symptoms did not predict their partner's risk for child maltreatment or overreactivity. Findings underscore the importance of a parent's own level of depressive symptoms in their risk for child maltreatment and for engaging in overreactivity during disciplinary episodes.

Section snippets

Parenting Behavior and Risk for Child Maltreatment among Parents with SUD

Mothers with SUD exhibit less warmth and sensitivity and use harsher discipline with their children than mothers without SUD (see Gruber & Taylor, 2006 for a review; Hien and Honeyman, 2000, Pears et al., 2007). Children of opioid-using, alcohol-using, or dual substance-using mothers, for example, endorsed high levels of maternal rejection, psychological control, and inconsistent discipline on the Child's Report of Parenting Behavior Inventory (CRPBI; Slesnick, Feng, Brakenhoff, & Brigham, 2014

Participants

The sample consisted of 85 heterosexual couples in which the father only (n = 52) or both parents (n = 33) met Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (4th ed., text rev.; DSM-IV-TR; American Psychiatric Association, 2000) criteria for a drug and/or AUD. Families were recruited for a larger study examining the effects of parental treatment for SUD on their children at one of two outpatient treatment centers (one in western New York, one in southeastern Virginia). Data for the present study were obtained

Preliminary Analyses

Data were first examined for missing values and outliers. Boxplots revealed no univariate outliers (i.e., outside the three interquartile range) on fathers’ or mothers’ depressive symptoms (assessed by the CES-D), child abuse potential (assessed by the BCAP), or overreactivity (assessed by the PS) among father SUD couples or dual SUD couples. Missing data ranged from 5.88% on mothers’ depressive symptoms to 12.94% on fathers’ depressive symptoms, child abuse potential, and overreactivity.

Discussion

Parental SUD is associated with overly punitive parenting and child maltreatment (see Staton-Tindall et al., 2013 for a review). Relative to our understanding of maternal SUD and depression and risk for child maltreatment, we know less about the impact of fathers’ SUD and depressive symptoms on risk for child maltreatment and overreactivity during disciplinary encounters. Furthermore, whether partners’ depressive symptoms have crossover effects on their partners’ reports of risk for

Conclusions

Results of two multigroup structural equation models using an actor–partner interdependence framework revealed that mothers and fathers’ own reports of depressive symptoms predicted their risk for child maltreatment and overreactivity in disciplinary episodes in both father SUD and dual SUD couples. In all models, partners’ depressive symptoms did not predict their partner's risk for child maltreatment or overreactivity. Findings demonstrate the importance of a parent's own levels of depressive

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank the families that participated and members of the research and clinical team who assisted with work.

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^☆: This work was supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse R01 DA024740 to the first author.

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Research articleModeling risk for child abuse and harsh parenting in families with depressed and substance-abusing parents☆

Abstract

Section snippets

Parenting Behavior and Risk for Child Maltreatment among Parents with SUD

Participants

Preliminary Analyses

Discussion

Conclusions

Acknowledgments

Drug and Alcohol Dependence

Journal of Adolescence

Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment

Child Abuse & Neglect

Child Abuse & Neglect

Child Abuse & Neglect

Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment

Behaviour Research and Therapy

Child Abuse & Neglect

Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment

Clinical Psychology Review

Biological Psychiatry

Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment

Biological Psychiatry

Drug and Alcohol Dependence

Addictive Behaviors

Alcohol

Child Abuse & Neglect

Clinical Psychology Review

Daily transmission of tensions between marital dyads and parent–child dyads

Journal of Marriage and the Family

Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders

The Parenting Scale: A measure of dysfunctional parenting in discipline situations

Psychological Assessment

The impact of maternal depression on familial relationships

International Review of Psychiatry

It takes two to replicate: A mediational model for the impact of parents’ stress on adolescent adjustment

Child Development

Coping with stress in a family with an alcoholic parent

Family Relations

A conceptual model predicting internalizing problems in middle childhood among children of alcoholic and nonalcoholic fathers: The role of marital aggression

Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs

Interrelatedness of marital relations and parent–child relations: A meta-analytic review

Psychological Bulletin

Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I Disorders Clinician Version (SCID-CV)

Familial transmission of alcohol use: V. Drinking patterns among spouses, Tecumseh, Michigan

Behavior Genetics

Prevalence and co-occurrence of substance use disorders and independent mood and anxiety disorders: Results from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions

Archives of General Psychiatry

A family perspective for substance abuse: Implications from the literature

Journal of Social Work Practice in the Addictions

A closer look at the drug abuse—Maternal aggression link

Journal of Interpersonal Violence

Maternal and child health disparities: Considering the influence of fathers

American Journal of Public Health

Research article
Modeling risk for child abuse and harsh parenting in families with depressed and substance-abusing parents☆